I served as Li Bai's page.

"Madam, I'll draw it for you right now," I said.

"No rush, go to the study to paint. The painting studio rents out some space; I can't go to Anlu, so I can watch over it."

I took the paper and pen from the table, left my wife's room, and went to the study. I spread the paper and pen on the desk and began to carefully conceive my ideas while looking out the window.

It took me a whole day to paint these two paintings. When I took the two identical paintings into my wife's room after dinner, she was so excited that she stood up from her seat and said:

"My son has excellent taste; he chose such a beautiful location, and the page he selected is so capable."

"Madam, these are all things I've learned from the young master over the past two years. It's all thanks to the master and madam's excellent upbringing of him," I said casually.

"Yuehua, you've become quite the talker after two years out there. The saying 'read ten thousand books and travel ten thousand miles' is truly no exaggeration. Leave the painting here, go and rest."

I said goodnight to the old lady and then left.

This is my second day back at Longxi Courtyard, and only tonight do I finally have time to calmly observe the courtyard. Not much has changed. Since the servants' quarters are in another courtyard, this one feels quite deserted at night. The lights in the rooms flicker on and off, indicating that the master of the house is still awake.

I went back to my room, lit a candle, lay on the bed and read for a while, then turned off the light and went to sleep.

I woke up just as dawn was breaking. I got up, picked up the sword Li Bai had given me, and went to the courtyard to practice. The old lady stood at the door watching me. After I finished my morning practice, she asked:

"Does the young master still maintain the habit of morning exercise? This sword is his, isn't it?"

"Reporting to Madam, the young master's habit of morning exercise and reading has never changed. This sword was given to me by the young master when I boarded the ship in Jiangling, and he told me to use it for self-defense."

"Yuehua, do you know how many years this sword has been with the young master?"

"I don't know. He was carrying this sword ever since I met him."

"This sword was given to him by an old Taoist priest when he was studying at Daitian Mountain Academy as a child, and it has never left his side."

I picked up the sword and examined it closely. It was indeed a fine sword, with an incredibly sharp blade and a perfectly straight shape. The scabbard was cast from gilded brass and engraved with two dragons poised to take flight. A red tassel adorned the hilt. Having traveled with Li Bai for so long, I had never truly looked at this sword before.

"This sword is so precious, I shouldn't have accepted it when the young master gave it to me," I said.

"This shows that you are more important to my son than this sword. It seems you should return to Anlu sooner rather than later," the old lady said.

The woman in purple arrived at the inner courtyard gate and asked, "Madam, shall we bring your breakfast to your room, or would you like to eat in the dining hall?"

"Let's eat in the dining room, and then take a walk in the garden. Yuehua, come on, let's go eat."

I returned to my room, put down my sword, and followed the old lady and Yueyuan to the dining room. Ziyi had already served the food and was waiting for everyone to take their seats.

After breakfast, Yueyuan and the others accompanied the old lady for a walk in the garden. Ziyi and I, under Uncle Lu's arrangement, went to the back of Longxi Courtyard to wait for the construction of the new houses to begin.

At noon, a burst of firecrackers went off. Under the guidance of the feng shui master, Uncle Lu picked up a shovel and broke ground, marking the official start of construction on the Yueyuan Embroidery Building.

After I returned to Longxi Courtyard, apart from chatting with the old lady in the evenings, I spent most of my time on the construction of the embroidery building. In less than two months, the embroidery building had taken shape.

That day, Uncle Lu received a letter from the master and said to me and Ziyi, "The master's carriage has arrived in the county town. He has bought a lot of New Year's goods there. You two should take the carriage to pick him up."

Ziyi and I went to the stables to harness the horses to the carriage, then detoured around the front gate of Longxi Academy and headed towards Changlong County.

As soon as we entered the county town, Uncle Chen, the master's attendant, waved to us from afar by the roadside. We stopped the carriage next to him, jumped off, and saw a lot of New Year's goods on the ground.

"Uncle Chen, where is the master?"

"Master went shopping and hasn't returned yet. Let's wait."

Ziyi and I put the things on the ground onto the carriage, and a little while later, we saw the master driving the carriage back.

The master stepped down from the carriage, and I knelt down before him:

"On behalf of the young master and young mistress, Yuehua kowtows to the master."

"Get up quickly! Haven't the young master and young mistress returned? I asked them to come and pick me up, but they didn't come."

"The young mistress is pregnant; they haven't returned."

"I'm going to be a grandfather! What a joyous occasion! Come home and have a couple of drinks with me."

"Yes, sir."

Master and Uncle Chen drove one carriage, and Ziyi and I drove the other, heading towards Longxi Courtyard.

When they arrived at the main gate of Longxi Courtyard, Yueyuan, supporting the old lady, was already waiting with the servants. The master alighted from the carriage, and Yueyuan happily took his hand, saying, "Father is back."

Master held Yueyuan's hand and led everyone towards the inner courtyard. Ziyi and I drove the two carriages into the backyard, and everyone helped carry the New Year's goods into the kitchen.

Aunt Lu said, "Master bought so many New Year's goods because he must have thought the young master was coming back. He'll be so disappointed if he doesn't see him when he gets home."

"I've already told him why the young master didn't come back, and he's overjoyed. He told you to cook a few more dishes so everyone can drink with him tonight," I said.

"You're so good with words, you can make anyone happy. I wish my Ziyi was half as good as you." Aunt Lu said, gently tapping my head.

After unloading the goods, I went to the inner courtyard, where the master, mistress, and young ladies were chatting. Seeing me enter, the master called out, "Yuehua, come here and let me see you."

I walked up to the master, who said, "It's been years since I've seen you. You've been running around with the young master, and look how thin you've become."

"Sir, actually I've become stronger and can handle more responsibilities now."

"Take the blame for the young master; when he's drunk, he loses all sense of direction."

"No, young master usually doesn't get drunk."

"Come on, go to the study and tell me about your situation in Chengdu and Chongqing."

I followed the master and mistress to the study.

"Yuehua, let me ask you, when you left Longxi Academy, weren't Twelve and his master quite confident that they would be recommended if they met Lord Li in Chengdu? What exactly happened?"

"Master, in Chengdu, the young master was indeed highly regarded by Lord Li, who even wrote a letter of recommendation, though for some reason it wasn't sent out. Later, an earthquake struck, and the young master's junior sister died in the Jade Maiden Cave. The young master's master, heartbroken, returned to his hometown. The young master was also grieving for a long time. Then, he took me and Young Master Wu to Yuzhou to pay our respects to Lord Li Yong, the governor of Yuzhou. But Lord Li is an arrogant old man; he didn't even read the young master's essay before letting us leave. The young master got angry and gave him a poem. You probably already know that." I said, glancing at the master's expression from time to time.

"That's just Twelve's temper. After causing trouble for so long, now she knows how to rein herself in, doesn't she?"

"There's nothing wrong with the young master's temper; at least his writings are now famous throughout the land. Wherever we go, he has many admirers, and he's invited to drink almost every day."

"His temper will cause him trouble in the future. You should stay by his side and try to persuade him from time to time."

"I understand, sir," I said.