Drive to the Tang Dynasty, where supplies are refreshed daily!

Chapter 54 An Alternative Form of 'Calligraphy'!
Zhang Jialin delivered it all the way here; I haven't eaten it yet, so this is a good opportunity to try it.

After unloading the goods from the car, Zhang Huaicai didn't rush to sell them. Instead, he took out Zhang Jinhe's letter.

Zhang Jialin's previous statement was not very clear.

Zhang Mingde and Zhang Jinhe knew Qin Qiong's identity but didn't tell anyone else, though Zhang Huaicai knew about what happened at the pool.

Zhang Huaicai knew exactly who the specially prepared persimmon cakes were for, as Princess Yuzhang and her companions were frequent customers of the roasted chestnuts.

After figuring everything out, Zhang Huaicai prepared wooden boards, wrote "Sugar-coated Persimmon Cakes" on one board and "Sugar-roasted Chestnuts" on the other, and placed them together at the entrance of the grain store.

"Sweet and fragrant roasted chestnuts, freshly roasted chestnuts."

As Zhang Huaicai called out, people slowly came over.

Roasted chestnuts are not cheap; only ordinary people can afford them.

Most of them are daughters of wealthy families.

"Candied persimmon cake? What is that?" a girl asked.

"Oh my! My lady, you've come to the right place. These sugar-coated persimmon cakes are no ordinary ones." Zhang Huaicai picked one up and broke it open. "My lady, please try one first."

After eating it, the maid strongly recommended it, and her mistress bought ten coins' worth.

After autumn arrives, it is the peak season for respiratory diseases, and Empress Zhangsun was no exception.

Not wanting the two little princesses to see, she had Li Lizhi and Princess Yuzhang take them out for a stroll.

Although they were worried, the princesses in the Lizheng Hall could only watch anxiously, unable to do anything about it.

Li Lizhi was somewhat worried, her delicate eyebrows furrowing slightly.

As the carriage entered the West Market, Princess Yuzhang asked the little princess, "Sizi, would you like some more roasted chestnuts?"

Everyone knows now that Zhang's Grain Store sells hot roasted chestnuts in the morning.

The little princess shook her head, "No, not seven!"

We've been eating this all the time, especially when we went to Kaolao Village, where Xiao Ran even made it fresh for us.

Passing by Zhang's Grain Shop, Princess Yuzhang subconsciously lifted the curtain to take a look.

I noticed that there were more people gathered in front of the grain store today than usual.

Upon closer inspection, there was an extra wooden board with the words "Sugar Heart Persimmon Cake" written on it.

Princess Yuzhang immediately thought of the persimmon cakes drying in Zhang Erya's house, and she even followed suit, turning and kneading persimmons.

Princess Yuzhang hadn't expected it to be ready yet, and she really wanted to try it. "Yushu, stop!"

"Sixth Sister, do you want to buy roasted chestnuts?" Li Lizhi asked.

"Sister, no, look."

Li Lizhi looked outside and spotted the 'sweet persimmon cake'.

I also became interested.

"Yushu, go and buy some sweet persimmon cakes," Li Lizhi instructed.

"Yes, madam!" Yu Shu got off the carriage.

This carriage belonged to Li Lizhi and Princess Yuzhang, and Zhang Huaicai recognized it; it was quite special.

"Shopkeeper, how much is this sugar-coated persimmon cake?" Yu Shu squeezed forward.

“My lady, you can buy two for just one coin,” Zhang Huaicai said.

"Give me five coins first." Yu Shu handed over the money.

Seeing the persimmon cake wrapped in lotus leaves, Yu Shu frowned. "So small?"

"My lady, persimmons are not very big to begin with, so they will naturally be smaller when made into persimmon cakes."

Yu Shu took it and was about to leave when Zhang Huaicai quickly called out, "Wife, please wait a moment."

"What is it?" "I've been asked to deliver this to your young mistress." Zhang Huaicai turned and called into the shop, "Madam, bring the things out!"

Qin gave the prepared persimmon cakes to Zhang Huaicai.

Yu Shu took it, somewhat puzzled, and muttered to herself, "My little wife?"

Then Yu Shu thought of the two little princesses.

He turned back to the carriage. "Wife, these aren't cheap either, two for one coin!"

Princess Yuzhang took it and said, "It is indeed quite different from before. There is more persimmon frost on it, it really looks like it has been sprinkled with flour."

"And this too, the shopkeeper is here on someone's behalf for the young lady." Yu Shu handed the items to Li Lizhi.

"Is this the young master?" Princess Yuzhang asked.

"That's possible," Li Lizhi nodded.

"Sister Niu~ How about Qi Ya~" The little princess thought the persimmon cakes didn't look very appealing.

Princess Yuzhang gently tore it open. "Hmm, elder sister, look, it looks pretty good. No wonder it's called a sugar-heart persimmon cake."

“It should be good,” Li Lizhi said.

Princess Yuzhang took a small bite and said, "It's delicious. Second Sister Sizi, have a taste."

He handed one to Li Lizhi as well.

Wow~ It's so soft and chewy~

"So sweet!" Princess Chengyang exclaimed.

There are many persimmons near Chang'an during this season, and the imperial palace naturally has no shortage of them, so the princesses don't care much for persimmons.

But persimmon cakes are different!
"Young man, you're really amazing! You can even make persimmons like this." Princess Yuzhang said while eating, "Xiangcao, go buy ten more coins' worth and take them back for Father and Mother to try as well."

"Yes, madam!" Xiangcao got off the carriage.

Li Lizhi ate a persimmon cake and said, "Persimmons aren't expensive this season, but persimmon cakes can sell for two for one cent. This will increase the income of the villagers quite a bit!"

“I heard Jinniang and Erniang mention this before, and it’s indeed not difficult. If the young master is willing to teach others, they can make it at home. No need to add anything else, just dry it.” Princess Yuzhang gave the two little princesses a persimmon cake.

“Young master should know how.” Li Lizhi opened the wrapped box.

Inside were also persimmon cakes, neatly arranged, 20 in total.

These weren't the main points; what caught Li Lizhi's attention was the snow-white A4 paper.

"Is this paper?" Li Lizhi was hardly sure; it was unbelievably white. "How can it be so snow-white?"

Princess Yuzhang leaned closer. "It does look like paper. It's really special. Sister, let's see what's written on it."

Li Lizhi was also curious, so she unfolded the letter and saw the neat and tidy regular script inside.

Li Lizhi was quite surprised, as she had never seen such a letter before.

Li Lizhi was also a master calligrapher with her own unique insights into calligraphy.

Every horizontal stroke on the A4 paper is as straight as if measured with a ruler, and every vertical stroke is as crisp as if cleaved by an axe. Even the curvature at the end of the strokes is perfect. The twenty characters are arranged like a military formation, so orderly that it is almost eerie.

Li Lizhi held the paper up to her eyes, examining the ink against the light: it was so uniform that there was no variation in ink density, no silkworm head at the beginning of the stroke, no swallow tail at the end, and even the pressure at the turns seemed to be carved with the same force.

As a calligrapher who had copied Wang Xizhi's "Le Yi Lun" since childhood and studied Yu Shinan's regular script extensively, she had never seen such "perfect" handwriting.

Every stroke strictly adheres to the rules of regular script, yet it seems as if the bones and flesh have been removed, leaving only a finely crafted empty shell.

“This character…” My fingertip lightly traced the hook of the character ‘heart’. The hook was as sharp as a knife tip, but it lacked the natural pauses and turns of a brush. “It looks like it was printed out by a craftsman using a mold.”

"It's too neat and tidy, which makes it lifeless."

Li Lizhi didn't look at the content; her attention was all on the words. "It's like a pavilion drawn by a painter with a ruler. Although the carved beams and painted rafters are exactly the same, it doesn't have the same sense of life as a thatched hut sketched by a painter with a freehand brush."

Princess Yuzhang nodded. “These characters are perfectly aligned, but how can one write with a brush so rigidly? The lifting and pressing of the brush, the turning of the wrist, will cause slight differences in the strokes. That is the beauty of ‘the character’s writing reflects the person.’”

(End of this chapter)