“I will have a look.”
Qingyuan leaned over to glance at the manuscript, then said, “This one was written by a young master named Chen Wenyuan. Is there any problem?”
“There is no major issue. It is well written. One can see he put his heart into it.”
Jin Feng said, “It is just that some parts need slight revisions.”
The scholars of the Great Kang studied solely to pass the imperial examinations, so what they wrote mostly flattered the court, with flowery and obstinate diction.
If Jin Feng had not once dated a girlfriend who studied classical literature and specialised in classical Chinese, he might not even have understood it.
Let alone the common people who could not even write their own names.
Among the manuscripts he had read so far, only Chen Wenyuan’s story leaned more towards the vernacular. Moreover, since the girl he loved was a brothel woman, he himself was not so rigid about notions of chastity. This happened to align with Jin Feng’s goals.
Added to his desire to earn money to redeem Xiaolian, Chen Wenyuan had written with great care. The story was very vivid.
“Young Master Chen is indeed skilled at crafting stories…”
Seeing that Jin Feng favoured Chen Wenyuan’s manuscript, Qingyuan recounted the matter between Chen Wenyuan and Xiaolian.
“No wonder he put so much effort into it.”
Jin Feng decided at once. “Please trouble Miss Qingyuan to send someone to fetch Young Master Chen. I would like to speak with him in person.”
“Yes!”
Qingyuan immediately left the tent.
She had originally wanted to go fetch Chen Wenyuan herself, but Jin Feng had not yet finished reviewing the manuscripts. Deep down, she also wanted to spend a little more time with Jin Feng, so she sent a guard to Hanxiang Tower instead.
The guards spent their days on duty at Damang Slope and were happy to go out for a run. He readily agreed.
Chen Wenyuan could not ride a horse. He walked out of the city, arriving at Damang Slope only in the mid-afternoon.
He had previously heard storytellers recount Jin Feng’s tales and thought they were embellished.
After all, how could a scholar fight battles? Especially leading not a proper army, but a group of escorts.
But upon reaching Damang Slope, Chen Wenyuan realised he was wrong.
On the drilling ground were many Weisheng Army soldiers as well as numerous escorts.
Apart from different clothing, their bearing and appearance differed greatly.
The escorts, men and women alike, all appeared extremely confident, while the Weisheng soldiers seemed much more slovenly.
Passing the hillside, he happened to see a hundred-man team in black armour training.
Neat formations, stern faces, dark armour. All exuded a thick aura of solemn killing intent!
Even the female escorts within were agile. They moved left and right with the square formation, taking turns to fire. Targets dozens of steps away were successively hit, with few misses.
This kind of terrifying military formation was something Chen Wenyuan had never heard of.
“This military sir, did Mr Jin truly defeat the Dangxiang people in the northern frontier with only a few hundred men?”
Chen Wenyuan asked tentatively.
“Of course!”
The escort said, “At that time, I was still serving in the Tielin Army. There were only a few hundred people on the mountain, while the Dangxiang had tens of thousands. I was already a veteran who had fought more than ten battles, yet I was still frightened badly. But Mr Jin was not afraid at all. He had us cut trees and build trebuchets…”
With nothing else to do, the escort vividly recounted the Battle of Qingshui Valley.
“Our Tielin Army used to obey only Marquis Qing. Now everyone obeys Mr Jin. So after retiring, I signed up for Mr Jin’s escort agency at the first opportunity. Back then, it was not yet called an escort agency. It was called the guard team.”
“A few hundred people held off the Dangxiang… No wonder Mr Jin could write the poem ‘Ten steps to kill a man, a thousand li without lingering’!”
Chen Wenyuan was deeply shocked by Jin Feng’s achievements. “The storyteller said Mr Jin can pacify the realm with the brush in writing and settle the universe on horseback in war. These words are truly not false!”
“In this world, only my master deserves such glory!”
The escort leading the way was also full of pride. “Mr Jin’s tent is just ahead. Young Master Chen, please wait a moment. I will go announce you!”
Jin Feng had just finished reading all the manuscripts. Hearing that Chen Wenyuan had arrived, he quickly had the escort bring him in.
“This humble scholar Chen Wenyuan pays respects to Mr Jin and Miss Qingyuan!”
Chen Wenyuan bowed in a scholar’s salute.
“I have met Young Master Chen!”
Jin Feng returned the courtesy, then casually pulled a stool for Chen Wenyuan. “Please sit, Young Master Chen.”
“I dare not, I dare not!”
Chen Wenyuan was frightened and quickly took the stool himself.
“Young Master Chen, do not be formal. We are all young people. It is best to be casual.”
Seeing this, Jin Feng smiled and pressed Chen Wenyuan onto the stool, then turned to pick up the manuscript from the table.
Only then did Chen Wenyuan secretly size up Jin Feng.
Jin Feng’s first impression on him was youthfulness.
Then, extraordinary approachability.
“Young Master’s story is very well written, but the story I asked you to write is meant to be told to the common people. So many dialogue sections need to be more vernacular. Best to write exactly how we normally speak.”
Jin Feng took out the manuscript and went straight to the point.
Speaking of the manuscript, Chen Wenyuan quickly composed himself and explained, “Understood, sir. I will buy more paper and ink when I return and rewrite it.”
Why is classical Chinese obscure and hard to understand?
This has much to do with the backwardness of papermaking and printing in ancient times.
Initially, writing was recorded on clay tablets or bamboo slips, carved one stroke at a time. It was extremely laborious, so naturally as concise as possible.
Thus, every character in classical Chinese carried meaning.
Though paper appeared later, paper and ink were still not cheap. Moreover, the literary style had already been passed down. Scholars’ reading and writing habits were formed.
Chen Wenyuan was no exception. Many dialogues in his work were written in literary language. How could common people understand them?
“Then I will trouble Young Master!” Jin Feng nodded.
“No trouble, no trouble!” Chen Wenyuan quickly waved his hand. “I must thank sir for giving me this opportunity. Otherwise, I fear I would never earn enough in my lifetime to redeem Xiaolian!”
“By the way, here is the remaining silver for Young Master!”
Qingyuan said as she took a money pouch from her bosom, placed several silver ingots on the table.
“Thank you, Mr Jin. Thank you, Miss Qingyuan!”
Chen Wenyuan took twenty-five taels from them. “I will change the rest into smaller pieces and return them to Miss.”
“No, Young Master Chen. These are all yours!”
Qingyuan pointed to the ingots on the table.
“How can that be?”
Chen Wenyuan shook his head repeatedly. “We agreed on twenty-two and a half taels. That is twenty-two and a half taels. I will not take a single wen more.”
Having made a living at the bridgehead for years, this was the first time he had received such a large commission.
If not for redeeming his beloved, he probably would not have accepted payment at all.
Yet Qingyuan said everything on the table was his.
This moved and surprised Chen Wenyuan.
“Young Master should take it. This silver was given to me by the master. If you do not accept, the master might think I embezzled it.” Qingyuan smiled.
“Young Master, take it. Consider it my congratulatory gift to Miss Xiaolian for regaining her freedom, and to the two of you! I wish you early birth of noble children and growing old together!”
Jin Feng directly picked up the silver and pressed it into Chen Wenyuan’s hand. “Congratulatory silver cannot be refused, or it brings bad luck!”
