2. Chapter 2

Gu She watched the competition with trepidation. Young Master Yan was known for his popular soirees and once a calligraphy competition had been announced, Tao Mo had simply not let up in his insistence to participate, despite Gu She (and Lao Tao’s) gentle suggestions that he just observe.

After two years of training, Tao Mo’s calligraphy was...acceptable. Gu She was unreasonably proud of his husband’s advancement in the arts, and bragged about it openly, not that (oddly) anyone seemed to believe him. Yet, that hardly meant that Tao Mo was ready to compete with the most talented and educated calligraphers the court had to offer. He was outclassed, and while Tao Mo honestly did not care (did he ever? Thought Gu She with fondness), Gu She did not want to see his husband’s feelings hurt by the criticism of others. He would hate to have to kill someone in front of an audience.

Even Noble Consort Jing had made an appearance, with Crown Prince Jing escorting her. She had become a major patron of the arts now that her position had risen, and thus the initially friendly challenge between two ministers become the see-and-be-seen event of the social season.

Jingyan kept giving Gu She skeptical looks but there wasn’t much Gu She could do other than what he had already done, which was bribe the judges to only use poems with words Tao Mo knew how to write.

“You husband has an elegant hand,” Noble Consort Jing remarked as they watched from the royal platform that had been set up for them in the garden.

“Thank you, Auntie. He has been practicing a lot,” Gu She said. She was not technically his aunt but Jingyan was his cousin, so she had insisted he call her that a long time ago. He was glad some things had not changed. It was true, anyway, that Tao Mo captured the poise and elegance of an artist with his posture and confident strokes of his brush. The results, alas, would not match.

The judges declared his handwriting “too experimental” and he did not place. Tao Mo, of course, was not dissuaded in the least. He happily grabbed the large sheet he had worked on and walked up the platform, bowing properly before taking his place next to Gu She.

“I think it’s fine!” He said guilelessly, staring at his handiwork. Gu She could not help but smile.

“May I?” Noble Consort Jing asked with a tilt of her head. Tao Mo held up his work which was—

“Charmingly rustic, Magistrate. I find it truly captures the spirit of Su Xiaoxiao’s poem,” she said kindly. Gu She fell in love with her all over again and shared an indulgent look with Jingyan.

“Oh? Ah!” Tao Mo looked at his work again. “Thank you, Noble Consort!”

“You must call me Auntie.”

“Mother—” Jingyan tried to admonish but was cut short by a fierce glance from her.

“Oh Auntie! Thank you! Please call me Tao Mo. I fear I’m not worthy of being called magistrate by you!” He paused. “I would like to gift you this poem, as you expressed your appreciation of it!” He bowed, holding the paper out.

Several eunuchs and at least one handmaiden cringed. Jingyan blinked oppressively and Gu She tried to think of an out, but Noble Consort Jing nodded at one of her eunuchs who took the paper and gave it to her. “Thank you, Tao Mo. It will be a lovely addition to my visiting parlor.”

Tao Mo beamed. Helpless, Gu She took his hand and smiled gratefully at Noble Consort Jing. “Thank you, Auntie.”

She nodded regally and that, Gu She thought, was the end of it.

---

“I...I beg your pardon?” Gu She set down the tea cup. “What?”

Yujin sighed. “I was not prepared for your husband’s astute fashion sense! His work in the calligraphy competition has taken the court by storm! Noble Consort Jing’s approval just shows how refined his taste is, honestly. Rusticism is in right now! Everyone is wearing artfully unhemmed sleeves and writing with fuzzy brushes!”

“I don’t understand.”

“I know that it might be considered beneath you, cousin, but I tell you, some people would pay very good money for a poem hand-written by Tao Mo.”

“But...but why ?”

Yujin waved a hand at him, dismissing the question as if Gu She were a peasant, and then started talking to Mu Chun about trustworthy merchants to broker prices of Tao Mo’s calligraphic works.