A Clash of Gods - Chapter 144
Chapter 144 Four Expert Artists
Obviously, Tang Nuo was astonished that Yang Ning as the heir of the Marquis of Honor didn’t know the existence of Qionglin Academy, but she didn’t say more.
However, Yang Ning was confused and asked, “Miss Tang, you seem to know well about Qionglin Academy. Is Mr. Zhuo’s name Qingyang?”
Tang Nuo nodded her head slightly. “He is a famous Confucian scholar. As far as I know, he established Qionglin Academy, and he is the only principal of the academy up to now.” She seemed to be lost in thought and then said in a low voice, “He once travelled around the world and has many students in other places except for Qionglin Academy.”
“I see. It appears that Mr. Zhuo is really awesome.” Yang Ning laughed. “He must be old now.”
Tang Nuo replied, “If I remember correctly, he must be nearly seventy years old. It looks that Mr. Zhuo is healthy and still busy running about for the academy now.”
“Have you seen him?” Seeing that Tang Nuo knew well about Zhuo Qingyang, Yang Ning couldn’t help but ask.
Tang Nuo answered, “I have never seen him.” She paused for a while and then added softly, “My mother had seen him and been taught by him.”
“Oh?” Yang Ning was astonished. “It turns out that your family has contacts with Zhuo Qingyang, too.”
Tang Nuo responded, “When Mr. Zhuo travelled around the world, he taught my mother calligraphy. There are four experts in the world who are excellent at playing zither, the game of Go, calligraphy and painting respectively, and Mr. Zhuo is good at calligraphy, one of the four expert artists.”
“Four expert artists?” Yang Ning was stunned and had never expected that Tang Nuo was not only good at medical skills but also knew well about such things. He finally knew that she had many true abilities although she was young. Then he asked, “Miss Tang, who are the four expert artists?”
Tang Nuo pondered for a while and then replied, “Mr. Zhuo is called the supreme calligrapher, and his calligraphy is certainly outstanding, and the expert painter is also in the Chu State. You must know Divine Marquis Ximen.”
Yang Ning picked up the teacup and took a sip. Then he put it down and said in embarrassment, “Miss Tang, if I say that I don’t know Divine Marquis Ximen, and I have never heard of him, do…do you believe it?”
Tang Nuo responded without hesitation, “No, I don’t.”
It was so embarrassing.
“But…I really don’t know him.” Yang Ning even felt that his face was burning. “Miss Tang, who on earth is Divine Marquis Ximen?”
Tang Nuo looked Yang Ning up and down in surprise and suddenly asked, “Are you really the heir of the Marquis of Honor?”
Yang Ning wondered if this girl had found out something, so he felt shocked, but he still stated calmly, “If I am not the heir of the Marquis of Honor, how can I sit here and eat food?”
Tang Nuo expressed directly, “If you don’t sit here and eat food, I won’t believe that you are the heir of the Marquis of Honor. You are living in the capital city and the heir of the Marquis of Honor in the Chu State, so it’s impossible that you don’t know Divine Marquis Ximen’s name. He is Ximen Wuhen, the leader in the mansion of the Divine Marquis.”
“The mansion of the Divine Marquis?” Yang Ning felt that he seemed to have heard of this name, yet he couldn’t remember where it was.
“Except for the supreme calligrapher Zhuo Qingyang and Ximen Wuhen whose painting skill is preeminent, the Changling Marquis from the Northern Han State, Beitang Qing is one of the four expert artists, and he is skilled in playing zither. Since many years ago, he is almost second to none in this skill,” Tang Nuo said unhurriedly. “Many years has passed, and Beitang Qing must have made progress in playing zither, but there is no news about him for a lot of years.”
Yang Ning sat straight and stopped frowning, saying with a smile, “I know Beitang Qing. He is the Changling Marquis of the Northern Han State. I heard that he is good at battling and has a…hmm, Blood…army? It is very powerful and once fought against the Black Scale Camp from our Chu State on the battlefield.” He was familiar with the Changling Marquis’ name as Duan Canghai once talked about Beitang Qing with him.
Tang Nuo expressed, “The Blood Orchid Legion. The Black Scale Camp must be established by the Marquis of Honor, but the whole army was completely wiped out as it was defeated by the Blood Orchid Legion.”
Yang Ning waved his hand. “You can’t say that the Black Scale Camp was defeated. They were attacked sneakily by the lurking soldiers from the Blood Orchid Legion and both parties were damaged.”
Tang Nuo retorted, “However, as far as I know, the Black Scale Camp doesn’t exist now, while the Blood Orchid Legion from the Northern Han State is still existent. The one who uses his broadsword to make others bleed and plays zither after putting away the broadsword is Beitang Qing.”
“Who is the last one?” Yang Ning asked. “The last one of the four expert artists must be excellent at playing the game of Go. Who is it?”
“Beitang Huanye.”
“Beitang Huanye?” Yang Ning was stunned and frowned. “Judging from this name, he must be from the Northern Han State, too.”
“He is the Muyun Marquis of the Northern Han State.”
“Oh. So he is Beitang Qing’s brother?”
Tang Nuo shook her head. “No. Both of the Muyun Marquis and Changling Marquis are from the royal family of the Northern Han State, but they are uncle and nephew.”
“Uncle and nephew?”
“The Changling Marquis is one of the current emperor’s brothers from the Northern Han State, while the Muyun Marquis is the emperor’s uncle.” Tang Nuo was very familiar with the big shots in the two states unexpectedly. “All people know the Changling Marquis, while few people know the Muyun Marquis, who is low-key. It’s said that even the high officials in the Northern Han State can’t see the Muyun Marquis throughout the year. In recent years, there is even a rumor that the Muyun Marquis has died yet the royal family of the Northern Han State didn’t reveal the news to the public.”
“Why?”
Tang Nuo leered at Yang Ning and asked, “Do you know the Jiutian Tower?”
“Of course I know.” Yang Ning laughed. “The Jiutian Tower is a place for the Northern Han State to take in all kinds of people in order to help the state inquire about information. There are many spies from the Jiutian Tower in the Chu State.”
He was certainly familiar with the Jiutian Tower. The God of Wood from there had intimate contacts with him, and he couldn’t forget it even if he wanted to.
Tang Nuo explained, “The master of the Jiutian Tower is the Muyun Marquis. All people only know his name but have never seen him.”
“It appears that there are many talents in the royal family of the Northern Han State. Beitang Qing is outstanding in playing zither, and the Muyun Marquis Beitang Huanye is a peerless player of the game of Go.” Yang Ning sighed. “It seems that the royal family members in the Northern Han State are well-educated and elegant.”
At the moment, the sound of opening the door was heard, as Gu Qinghan pushed the door and entered. Seeing that they talked happily, she had a big smile. Then she twisted her waist and walked over, saying, “Why did you just talk? Eat something.” She talked to Tang Nuo, “Miss Tang, I have sent people to the Yong’an Hall and tell them. You can go there at any time.”
Tang Nuo expressed, “My Lady, thanks for your arrangement. If possible, I will go to have a look tomorrow.”
Gu Qinghan said, “Tomorrow? No hurry. Just have a rest for a few days first. Ning has come back. Let him hang out with you in the capital city.”
Tang Nuo shook her head. “I came to the capital to treat incurable diseases, not to visit the city.”
“Oh. In this case, tell Ning to escort you there tomorrow.” Gu Qinghan still had a warm smile. She turned to Yang Ning. “Ning, go with Miss Tang tomorrow.”
However, Tang Nuo got up. “My Lady, I have finished eating. Since I will go to the Yong’an Hall tomorrow, I am going to make preparations and wash up first.”
Yang Ning stated, “You haven’t eaten enough. Eat more.”
Tang Nuo just shook her head slightly and didn’t say more. Then she turned to leave.
After Tang Nuo went away, Gu Qinghan lowered her voice while speaking. “Ning, I find that you had a good talk. Shouldn’t I come in?”
“Aunt, why did Mr. Zhuo come?” Yang Ning didn’t answer her question but changed the subject directly. “Why did he come to ask for money?”
Gu Qinghan answered, “Mr. Zhuo has a long relationship with our family. When your father and uncle were young, the old marquis employed Mr. Zhuo to teach them in the mansion. They studied literatures under Mr. Zhuo’s instructions for three years. Later, Mr. Zhuo wanted to establish Qionglin Academy, and the old marquis tried his best to support him.”
“It turns out that he taught Father and Uncle.” Yang Ning was surprised. “I heard that only girls study in Qionglin Academy. Why did Mr. Zhuo think of opening a school for women?”
“Not only you, when the academy was opened, it was shocking and there were all kinds of comments and gossips.” Gu Qinghan chuckled. “In the beginning, no girl wanted to study in the academy. Who do you know first entered the academy to study?”
“Who?”
Gu Qinghan replied, “Your mother. She was the first girl who studied in the academy. Later…”
After Yang Ning came to the marquis’ mansion, almost nobody had mentioned the heir’s mother, and it seemed to be a taboo. In the past, Gu Qinghan never talked about her. Now hearing that she brought up the heir’s mother all of a sudden, he pricked up his ears and wanted to know more, but as soon as she said just a few words, she seemed to realize that she couldn’t talk more about this subject. Then she smiled and continued, “Later, the noblemen sent the girls in their families to the academy one after another and there are more and more students. There are more than one hundred students at most in Qionglin Academy.”
“My…did my mother study in Qionglin Academy? So Mr. Zhuo was also her teacher?” Yang Ning asked.
Gu Qinghan pondered for a moment and then responded, “I heard that she studied in Qionglin Academy for several years, and she had good literary grace… Forget it. Let’s stop talking about this.” She paused for a while before adding, “It doesn’t cost money to study in the academy. As long as Mr. Zhuo thinks that she is gifted, she can study there. Besides Mr. Zhuo, there are several teachers in the academy. The imperial court once issued an edict that Qionglin Academy is independent and without Mr. Zhuo’s permission, nobody can enter it arbitrarily, and not even the crown prince. The academy spends a lot of money every year, which mainly depends on the financial support of several mansions. When the old marquis was alive, he made a rule that our family should give the academy five hundred taels of silver every year, and it would never change no matter what happens. And the family of the Marquis of Loyalty gives them five hundred taels of silver every year, too. The other families give some more or less, but it is already a customary rule. The academy can get thousands of taels of silver every year.”
Yang Ning thought that it was a big amount of money. Thousands of taels of silver was more than enough for an academy to provide for the students and even pay the teachers’ salaries every year.
“Don’t think it is much money.” Gu Qinghan seemed to have seen through Yang Ning. “Qionglin Academy would have activities every year, which cost a lot of money. Moreover, they would choose the outstanding poems to make books, and it needs much money. We should have sent the silver to the academy earlier, but it delayed because General passed away. I almost forget this matter.”
“You have given him the silver?” Yang Ning asked.
Gu Qinghan shook her head. “Mr. Zhuo came and said that he wanted to visit the Dowager. Of course we can’t say it directly. If I gave him money this time, wouldn’t it mean that he came to ask for money? He is arrogant, and that would only offend him. I have to wait a few days and then send them silver.”
Yang Ning thought that Gu Qinghan was considerate. He suggested with a smile, “I will personally send the silver to them another day to offer our apologies to Mr. Zhuo.”