In the Northern Song Dynasty, he started by marrying the eighth daughter of the Su family.

......

"Lady Su! Lady Su!"

Han Zhi and Su Zhen were chatting at home when Bao Fu and Bao Wan's voices came from inside. They both turned around and saw that Bao Zheng's family had arrived.

"Sir!" Han Zhi and Su Zhen immediately stood up. "Why are you here?"

Bao Zheng smiled and said, "You two have only been in the capital for a little over a month, and you probably only have a few friends. Your master's wife and I thought we would come and spend the winter solstice with you."

"Thank you sir."

Bao Wan and Bao Fu pulled Su Zhen aside, leaving an empty space where Bao Zheng happened to see "Xizhou Qu" and "Nanfeng Ci".

Bao Zheng, intrigued, stepped closer to examine the poems. Bao Yi also joined in, asking, "Lord Han, what are these two poems...?"

Han Zhi said, "This is a love poem that Ba Niang and I wrote before our marriage, although it has no melody or format."

Bao Yi said, "This is indeed a beautiful scene, with a dreamlike and enchanting atmosphere. I wonder which poem was written by Master Han and which by Lady Su."

Su Zhen said, "The 'Xizhou Qu' was written by you, sir, while the 'Nanfeng Ci' was written by me. You wrote the 'Xizhou Qu' first, and then I wrote the 'Nanfeng Ci.' I wrote the 'Nanfeng Ci' as a matching poem, so it is not as good as yours."

Bao Zheng said, "But the style of this word seems somewhat familiar, almost like that poem 'Untitled'."

"Untitled?" Han Zhi and Su Zhen exchanged a glance and asked, "Which poem is 'Untitled'?"

“The first line is the one with ‘Half a lifetime of wandering among mountains and seas,’” Bao Yi said.

Han Zhi was taken aback, and Su Zhen spoke up for him, saying, "To be honest, Master Bao, this so-called 'Untitled' poem was also written by my husband."

"Oh?" Bao Zheng looked over with a smile and said, "I didn't expect you to have such talent? The 'Untitled' poem has a melody, but these two poems are hidden in your home without sheet music, which is a bit of a waste."

Su Zhen smiled and said, "Master Bao, we do have the musical scores for these two poems."

Upon hearing this, Han Zhi himself was stunned—what the heck? Could his wife also be a time traveler?!

Bao Zheng became interested and asked, "I wonder who composed this piece? May I borrow the sheet music to take a look?"

Su Zhen nodded and said, "Wait a moment."

Soon, she brought out a musical score, also in neat gongche notation. It contained complete pieces, which Han Zhi couldn't understand. He quietly asked, "Eighth Sister?"

"My lord? What's wrong?" Su Zhen blinked and asked.

"Where did this musical score come from? Can it be used to write our lyrics?" Han Zhi asked—he wasn't afraid of writing something shocking, after all, the other party was Su Ba Niang.

But if you can't get a match, that would be really embarrassing.

“I wrote it myself,” Su Zhen replied.

Han Zhi was immediately dumbfounded: "Eighth Sister, you wrote this?!"

Su Zhen nodded, and Han Zhi asked again, "When did Ba Niang write this? How come I didn't know?"

Su Zhen covered her mouth and chuckled, saying, "My lord, you must have forgotten that I am proficient in all the arts, including music, chess, calligraphy, and painting! Although I may not be as good as those three leading ladies, I can still compose a piece."

"Moreover, after you came to Bianjing, you will be going to the Imperial Academy to attend classes, leaving me alone at home. I'm so bored keeping the accounts. Besides, these two poems have been hanging in my room every day, without any music or score, which is a real shame."

Han Zhi was incredulous: "So, Eighth Sister, you composed a poem all by yourself?"

Su Zhen nodded, and Bao Wan and Bao Fu also came over and asked, "Madam Su, would you be so kind as to play a piece for us? We have only seen the lyrics before, but we have never heard the music."

"Yes, yes, we'd like to hear it too. Perhaps Lady Su's singing voice is even better than those three leading ladies. But... why don't we see any of your musical instruments?"

Su Zhen smiled and said, "That zither can't possibly be kept indoors, it would take up too much space. I just put it in the music room. If you two ladies don't mind, I can take it with me to have a look."

Han Zhi then came over, grabbed Su Zhen's arm, and said, "Eighth Sister, Eighth Sister, can I listen?"

“Yes,” Su Zhen said with a smile, pulling Han Zhi along. “This poem was written by you, my lord. How could I refuse to let you hear it?”

"That's good, that's good. Ba Niang's music must be very beautiful." Han Zhi started showering her with compliments again.

Su Zhen rolled her eyes at him and scolded, "What a rascal! How can you be so shameless?"

At this moment, Bao Wan and Bao Fu started joking again: "Oh my, this shameless rascal, where is the injustice? And where is the shame? Could it be that Lady Su had nothing to say to scold her, so she used this phrase?"

“My sister and I were tired of hearing about this before, but today we understand it a bit better. This injustice is probably not due to the ill-fated relationship between Lady Su and Mr. Han, and this shame is probably not due to Mr. Han’s affection.”

Su Zhen blushed at the words and quickly said, "Ladies, please don't say any more. I... I just say it every day. It just comes out naturally after a while."

"So, this Mr. Han is shameless and acts like Su Niangzi's enemy every day."

Another round of laughter erupted. If Bao Yi hadn't spoken up at this moment, saying, "Alright, alright, my two sisters, please stop talking, or we might have been kicked out by Madam Su today,"...

Bao Zheng said, "Madam Su, could you take us to the music room now, and then we can listen to something?"

Su Zhen nodded and led the group toward the music room.

......

Upon arriving at the music room, Su Zhen sat down in front of the zither. With a slight smile, she said to Han Zhi, "My lord, please listen carefully. I wonder if my piece matches the style of the lyrics?"

Han Zhi nodded and smiled, "I'm all ears."

Su Zhen took a deep breath, then began to play, softly singing: "From nothingness comes existence, sensing the changing seasons, every detail meticulously crafted, the brushstrokes linger. Leaving behind towering peaks, retaining the beauty of flowing water, witnessing the encounters of the four seasons, the fair maiden of the Western Continent..."

When Han Zhi heard the piece, he was completely stunned—it was so similar. Although it was played on a zither, every phrase was almost identical to what he had heard before.

"Colorful wings, whale tail, red silk, encompassing heaven and earth; where love leads, the heart roams freely."

As soon as the song ended, Han Zhi led the applause, exclaiming, "My God!"

Bao Zheng also smiled and said, "Lady Su is truly talented. Although the lyrics and music rhyme, they do not follow any set format, yet she has created a melody."

"Thank you for the compliment, Master Bao, but I am too stupid to write any better."