In front of the desk at the center of the academy.
Ling Si watched Su Changqing, who was diligently writing with an earnest expression, and hesitated with her pen.
"Second brother Su asked me to go easy, to show mercy, but how...how to go easy here."
"The brush, ink, paper, and inkstone are all ordinary, and he can't even comprehend the righteous energy of the Confucian path. As for calligraphy, is it merely perfect in 'form'?"
"Or perhaps not even that?"
Ling Si was somewhat troubled, as the leniency and mercy she was asked to show was based on the assumption that the gap between them wasn't significant.
But now, forget letting him win, even if she let the sea pass, Su Changqing wouldn't stand on the same level as her.
"Oh well, let's write at the level of mastering 'skill', then encourage my junior brother afterwards to save some face."
Thinking of this, Ling Si picked up her pen, and line by line of delicate little characters danced across the paper.
...
