During this period of time, Zhao Changhe felt like he had returned to Beimang.
When no one is around, he hides in the house and studies the Heavenly Book, learning the Sword Emperor's methods step by step from the basic to the advanced.
When Tang Wanzhuang came, she spread out paper and ground ink, added fragrance with her red sleeves, wrote sword tactics, and drew illustrations.
Without fighting, the sword is still settling.
No need to listen to the piano, my heart is at peace.
It was just like the days when I went out to learn sword skills with Teacher Sun, and came home to have dinner with Chi Chi.
I originally thought that when I first entered the world I was in a bandit's den, and I was nervous and anxious. But when I looked back, I realized that was actually the most peaceful and stable period of my life.
When the accumulation reaches a certain level, it will rush like a long river and fall into the sky.
"Your handwriting is getting better and better." Tang Wanzhuang ground the ink and looked at the smooth handwriting coming out of his pen. She felt the joy of seeing a child making progress.
She didn't really teach Zhao Changhe calligraphy. She just gave him some pointers on brush strokes and structural layout for aesthetic reasons, but didn't teach him anything else in detail.
Zhao Changhe is not interested in this and his comprehension in this area is quite poor. Sometimes, no one can understand what he says after a long time. He is even dumber than Tang Buqi when he was a child. If you really want to teach him in detail, he will definitely piss off any teacher. He is completely different from his martial arts aptitude.
But once you have learned it, you have learned it. You can clearly feel that the handwriting has become more skillful and rounded, and you can also feel the calmness of the person, and the rough sharpness has become more restrained.
In terms of aesthetics alone, Zhao Changhe is actually quite different from her. Every word he writes is roughly laid out and has a flamboyant structure. It can be seen that he can never be associated with the elegant and refined prince in this life. One can also get a glimpse of the arrogance that is hidden under his peaceful life these days.
But it doesn’t matter, that’s Zhao Changhe.
"You said she would leave in the next two days. It's been seven or eight days. Is everything okay?" Zhao Changhe asked casually while writing the sword manual without raising his head.
"I just said it casually to urge you to hurry up. How could she set a time for you to leave? It's impossible for you to learn a whole set of sword techniques so quickly. I know that no matter how smart you are, you are not a god."
"What about you? You told your nephew that it would take ten days, and that's about it." Zhao Changhe asked, "You've been elusive these days, suddenly appearing to accompany me for a while, drawing a picture, and then disappearing somewhere else. Are there so many things to explore in the mausoleum? Aren't you afraid to go inside?"
"It's not the mausoleum... We have been preparing to reseal the mausoleum, and the preparations are almost complete." Tang Wanzhuang sighed: "What concerns me most is the Maitreya Sect."
Zhao Changhe paused his pen and turned to look at her.
Tang Wanzhuang said calmly: "The Maitreya Sect in Gusu has been purged in the past few days, but the whole Jiangnan is about to be in trouble. I know some things are unavoidable."
"So you just stay in Gusu? This place is more convenient than the capital."
"It's actually useless. The Demon Suppression Division only deals with Jianghu affairs. I can't dispatch troops to capture cities. Apart from collecting more intelligence and feeding it back to the capital, I can only watch helplessly."
There was no color in Tang Wanzhuang's eyes. She looked at the inkstone with some emptiness, just like looking at the wind and rain over the south of the Yangtze River at this moment. She knew where it came from, but could do nothing about it.
Although the current affairs of the martial arts world represent the power structure to a large extent, they are not completely consistent. No matter how much the Demon Suppression Division does, it will not be able to influence the overall situation.
Zhao Changhe suddenly asked: "Is the emperor in charge? Will he show up?"
"Yes, but not much."
“More in retreat?”
"Um… "
"He should know the situation, right?"
"I know. I have issued some orders, but they have had little effect. Apart from other things, the lazy government and slackness of the army in various places that you have seen cannot be reversed by a few orders at this time. Moreover, many people are pretending to obey but secretly disobeying, and are waiting and waiting. When the time comes, they may not obey the emperor's orders again."
Zhao Changhe continued to write the sword manual: "Since you know it's so rotten, the emperor doesn't completely ignore it, but it's useless... Then what's the point of you pasting it up? You might as well take control of Suzhou and Hangzhou and become a warlord."
Tang Wanzhuang stared at his profile speechlessly. This was not the answer she wanted: "Do you know what the certain time I'm talking about is?"
"Old Xia is the number one in the world, and his deterrent power is still there, but he is old, and it is said that something may have gone wrong. Even if others are eager to make a move, they can't wait for a few years. The so-called certain time is the day he dies, and there is no successor. Wouldn't that be a big mess?"
"It seems you know everything." "I also know that if we look at it coldly, the Maitreya Sect will not wait for that opportunity and will rebel now. This is actually a good thing. Daxia has not completely died yet, and it is still possible to extinguish the Maitreya Sect."
"Why do you say to treat it cold-bloodedly?"
“Because in the end it’s the people who suffer.”
Tang Wanzhuang was silent for a moment, then whispered, "So why do you think I should mount it? Even if it's rotten now, it's better than the chaotic times."
Zhao Changhe sighed and said, "It's useless. The situation is so overwhelming that how can one person stop it? He will just be crushed by the wheels."
Tang Wanzhuang stared at the ink on the inkstone for a long time before she said, "There has to be someone like this."
After saying that, he seemed not to want to talk any more, and stood up to sort out the manuscript Zhao Changhe had just written: "Your swordsmanship is already at the secret level, can you practice it?"
"I can barely show its form, but it's not very powerful. I can still draw a picture for you." Zhao Changhe did not continue the topic and changed it: "I want to compile a branch of swordsmanship by my own strength, but I'm afraid I can't do it now. I can't understand more advanced ones at my current level. For now, I may have to stop here... I don't know if it's enough for Sisi."
"Even if it's not enough, it's better than what she learned by stealing from everywhere in the past, and it also has an infinite future and a stable source of income. But compared with the sword seal she stole herself, the gap is a bit big..."
"The sword seal is not hers." Zhao Changhe said, "If you don't play tricks, and you obtain it through normal exploration and normal strength, this thing should be yours, and the distribution should be decided by you. She also knows it, otherwise why would she calculate it."
"Something is obtained, but it is lost again. Not many people can understand this... Come on, do you need to talk to her yourself? I haven't seen her for so many days. I don't think there is any need to be so stingy. She has been very honest recently."
Besides it makes me feel uncomfortable and I don't dare to kiss.
Tang Wanzhuang curled her lips slightly, she really didn't dare.
Why should you dare
"I'm not stingy. I'm still doing my best... Anyway, I really can't handle the follow-up. I'll go with you today and ask her if she needs anything else."
… …
"I don't have any demands." When she saw Sisi, her expression was very calm. "If the sword seal was given to me, I would not be able to interpret such a systematic sword technique with my current martial arts knowledge. If it was given to the elders in the clan to interpret, I would lose control and leadership. Looking back today, the current result is actually in my best interest. I got what I wanted, and I will still be the one in charge in the future."
Zhao Changhe looked into her eyes. The eyes that once were as charming as peach blossoms and as bright as stars were now hidden deep inside and blurred.
Her face was still full of smiles, but she no longer smiled and flattered like a maid, nor did she have the bright expectation when listening to stories. She looked very polite... and, by the way, very businesslike.
It used to be Tang Wanzhuang who handled things impartially, but now it has become her.
"Now that I have this, I should go." Sisi sighed, "I've been away for a long time. I miss home... Shenzhou is not a good place. The men there are more annoying than the others."
"..." Zhao Changhe was too lazy to refute her, and he didn't know what he was feeling at the moment, so he just asked: "I will learn a higher level of swordsmanship later, how can I give it to you?"
"I will come to find you." Sisi smiled slightly: "The river flows, and it cannot be stopped. I believe that as long as I enter Shenzhou again, I can hear the news of your whereabouts at any time."
Zhao Changhe asked, "What about you? Are those of you from special realms not included in the Book of Troubled Times?"
"It's possible, otherwise the Heaven and Earth Ranking may change... But I have entered Shenzhou, and the Book of Chaos knows me. Maybe I will have a share next time." Sisi's smile became a little sharp: "Zhao Changhe, don't let me catch up with you..."
Zhao Changhe was confused for a moment: "You can catch up, so what? There are so many people ahead of me..."
"Heh... I've been a maid for so long in vain, and I've been taken advantage of. It's because I'm not strong enough and I'm just pretending to be nice. If I were to gain the upper hand..." Sisi paused, her face suddenly showing her former charm again: "I wouldn't mind having another slave to wash my feet."
After saying that, he turned and left the mausoleum passage: "Don't you like to do things impartially? This is it."
Zhao Changhe watched her charming back as she left, and he always felt that she was being arrogant...
It was like two kids who had just broken up with each other and both had sullen faces.
Tang Wanzhuang, who was watching from the sidelines, felt that Zhao Changhe himself felt the same way.
She always felt that these two were outstanding figures in their respective tribes, and the consequences of this "breaking of friendship" might be even more turbulent.
(End of this chapter)