Female martial arts fanatics only love to fight, while men fight for their lives.

40

Lou Xiao returned home with a very bad complexion, which made Yu Jing and Lou Hong, who had been waiting for her return for a long time, dare not say a word.

She went straight into the study and didn't come out, which was unusual. Confused, Lou Hong followed her but couldn't get in. He didn't know what she was fiddling with by herself.

After a while, she opened the study and asked Lou Hong, "Do you have any good writing brushes, inkstones, paper, or inkstones? It doesn't matter if they are expensive or not. Bring them to me and let me try them."

"What are you going to write?"

Lou Hong ordered the people around him to go to the storehouse and get it for her. He had no hope for her writing, as it would bring shame to the Duke Zhenguo's Mansion. He wanted to understand what she was going to do first.

Lou Xiao coughed lightly and said with a guilty look, "Practice calligraphy."

Why do you need to close the door at this point? Are you afraid of someone seeing you?

He keenly realized that she might not be good at writing, so he said, "There is a collection of running poems in the third row of the bookshelf on the left, which is perfect for practicing calligraphy. There is also..."

Lou Xiao interrupted unhappily, "That's for children to practice. I'm not that advanced yet."

Lou Hong lowered his brows and thought, only to feel that she seemed unreliable in this regard, so he asked again, "Why... did you write it?"

After all, it's not a spur of the moment impulse, because you suddenly realized that you are not well-educated enough and need to practice calligraphy?

"If you need to write a document for the memorial, I can copy it. If it's some letters or unimportant writings, you can let the servants do it..." There is no need for her to write it herself.

Lou Xiao looked very depressed, and said lifelessly, "Nothing... His Majesty asked me to write a letter as a birthday gift... There are still a few days left... Is it too late?"

This immediately made the importance of the words clear. He did not dare to neglect it. He immediately propped the door of the study open, walked straight in, and spread out the paper skillfully.

He held it down with the animal head paperweight and said, "Come on, write a few words for me to see."

The inkstand and pen were ready. It seemed that she had made some preparations before coming.

Lou Xiao was not angry that he had taken over the host's position, but she was a little embarrassed and hesitated to pick up the pen.

Her hand was steady. A drop of ink fell from the tip of her pen and spread out on the paper. She never made any move to write.

Although he had guessed it a long time ago, seeing her hesitating like this still made Lou Hong feel a little disappointed.

"Let's first see what needs to be improved, then we can prescribe the right remedy. His Majesty has asked you to write, so you should do your best to prevent the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion from losing face in front of all the officials." He didn't dare to think of asking someone to write for him.

She has been accompanying the emperor in the palace for so many days, and His Majesty must have some understanding of her level. If the difference is too big, it will anger His Majesty, so it is better to try to improve her.

Writing some birthday poems with good meanings to please His Majesty would not be a difficult task.

Lou Xiao glanced at him and felt that he was right. After all, Lou Hong was a young master who was properly educated in the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion. His handwriting must be better than hers. It was good that he could offer suggestions.

So he calmed down, put down his pen, and wrote the two big words "Lou Hong".

When she finished writing, she felt a little embarrassed, obviously knowing that her writing was not good.

Lou Hong held his forehead with one hand at some point, feeling a little dizzy. It was the first time in his life that he saw his name written like this.

"...You can write your own name." Isn't it the most skillful to write your own name? Lou Hong turned his head to look at her, "How long have you practiced?"

Lou Xiao placed the pen on the pen holder and answered honestly, "I just wrote it casually... I haven't practiced it seriously. I occasionally read books and don't like writing."

The books I read "occasionally" are actually "homework" assigned by my senior sister, and I have no choice but to read them.

Lou Hong took a deep breath and comforted herself that since she was a martial artist, it shouldn't be too difficult to just practice a few words for a few days, and there was still time.

He turned around and went to look for the birthday speech he had copied before on the bookshelf. He had already started planning to quietly invite a calligraphy master to teach her. It would be best if he kept the secret so that the news would not get out that an illiterate person had appeared in the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion.

Unexpectedly, at this moment the doorman came with a message saying that the reward that His Majesty had asked servant Ling Yu to bring had arrived.

This has happened frequently since Lou Xiao returned to the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion. Lou Hong found several books of calligraphy and poetry and piled them on the table. He nodded to her and went to the front hall to receive the reward on her behalf.

Lou Xiao did not go, but sat down at the desk and casually flipped through the books and calligraphy he had found.

She couldn't understand how these two words could be written in so many different ways, or what kind of character and humanity could be seen in them.

She was blind and couldn't tell what was good about this or why that was praised.

However, the poems were still somewhat readable. She flipped through the pages one by one and only glanced at the general outline. She could neither appreciate the poet's feelings nor understand the deeper intentions of the poet.

She could barely understand them and comprehend their superficial meaning. This was the best result of her senior sister forcing her to study literature.

She tried to pick up the pen and randomly copied a line of poetry on paper. Although there were no mistakes, the handwriting was crooked and of different sizes. Compared with the copybook in her hand, there was a world of difference.

Lou Xiao threw the pen away in frustration, leaned back in the chair to relax, then reached out to pick up the neatly placed pears on the table and took a bite.

When I smelled the sweetness, I simply held the fruit plate and munched on one after another.

Not long after, the heavy footsteps of Lou Hong were heard approaching. Most of the time, he regarded himself as the son of the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion and paid great attention to his image. Every word and action of his was in accordance with etiquette and he would not make the slightest mistake.

Is there something wrong that makes you so impatient?

Lou Xiao put aside the empty fruit plate in her arms, ate the pit in her hand clean and threw it back into the fruit plate, then stood up to meet Lou Hong who was rushing over with a booklet in his arms.

"What's wrong? Why are you in such a hurry?" Seeing him with a stern face, Lou Xiao walked around her and put the booklet in his hand on the pile of books on the table.

"This is the New Year's Celebration Invitation sent by His Majesty, which specifically emphasizes that you should not slack off." He had a bad feeling. In the past, the rewards from the palace covered all kinds of novelties and fun things such as food, clothing, housing and transportation, but never poetry and books.

I just heard that His Majesty wanted her calligraphy as a birthday gift, and immediately this came...

"Your Majesty meant..." He stretched out his voice and looked at her, but heard Lou Xiao say nonchalantly, "Ah, that's it. Your Majesty asked me to write this."

She picked up the booklet casually and flipped through it. She felt that the content was nothing special. How about the handwriting?

Anyway... I can understand it.

Lou Hong felt dizzy again. She couldn't even write square characters properly, and she was asked to copy a calligraphy that many students found difficult to imitate.

If she didn't seem to still be favored, he would have thought that His Majesty was preparing to take action to clean up the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion.

He stared at her with some despair, confirming that she didn't understand the difficulty, and said in despair,

"I can't help you..."

Even he himself wouldn't dare to say that he could write good calligraphy in just a few days.

The Duke Zhenguo's Mansion is bound to make a fool of itself in front of all the officials this time.