Chapter 98 Calligraphy and Painting
There is a fresh scent of tea in the study.

This is the Nanyue Yunwu prepared by Lao Liu. During this period of time, it should be called Yueshan Tea.

Its characteristics are high and long-lasting fragrance and clear and bright soup color.

Wu Xun sipped his tea before speaking, "I calculated last night that the best day in recent times is June 27th, which is suitable for getting married, getting engaged, and setting up the bed. If you miss this day, you will have to wait until after the Zhongyuan Festival."

Ou Zanghua calculated in his mind that there were still nineteen days left.

Old Liu started preparing a dowry for Qingqing since she was born, so there was no major problem on the woman's side.

What is needed now is Ou Zanghua to make preparations, but this is the first time he has gotten married in his two lifetimes combined, and he doesn't understand many things.

Thinking of this, Ou Zanghua stood up, bowed to the headmaster and teacher, and said, "I hope to marry Qingqing on June 27th. Please teach me, headmaster and teacher."

Cai Rupu and Wu Xun smiled and agreed to the deal.

"The engagement letter has been sent. What you need to do now is to prepare the betrothal gifts and gift book. You need to prepare 30 kinds of auspicious gifts and gifts to send to the girl's family."

"Students take note!"

Once you have a clue, you can do things quickly.

Thirty gifts that symbolize good luck may sound difficult, but with the guidance of the old housekeeper, Qu Feiyan spent only one day shopping in Hengyang City and almost collected them all.

For example, the vase and ruyi symbolize peace and happiness.

Lychees, longans and walnuts symbolize success in academic studies.

The paper fan, Heart Sutra, and bamboo symbolize that a family that accumulates good deeds will be able to ward off evil spirits and make progress step by step.

The statue of the Three Stars of Fortune, Longevity and Happiness, also known as the Three Stars Arching in Front of the Sun, symbolizes the attraction of good fortune, prosperity and longevity.

Ou Zanghua decided to do the rest of the things himself, such as "Hundred Blessings Picture", "Landscape Painting" and "Rising Sun" calligraphy.

Then came the gift money. Ou Zanghua was very glad that he had kept something in reserve. Xiang Xun's two thousand taels of silver and Miss Cheng's five hundred taels of gold were to be used at this moment.

He found Feiyan and asked her to take the silver note to Hengyang Commercial Bank to exchange it for gold, and to collect a total of one thousand taels, which means "a thousand gold".

In fact, in the early Ming Dynasty, Emperor Taizu stipulated that one tael of gold was equal to four taels of silver.

However, in recent years, the Central Plains economy has recovered, like a sponge, absorbing the silver of surrounding countries into its body. Therefore, this ratio has also changed. It was one to five in the Zhengde period.

In the study, Ou Zanghua had a calm expression as he held a brush and wrote the word "Fu" on paper.

This was his preparation for "A Hundred Blessings Picture". Thanks to the fact that China has had many literati since ancient times, there are more than sixty famous calligraphers. In addition, various gatherings after the imperial examination allowed him to witness the writing and calligraphy of various elites of the Ming Dynasty, which provided sufficient reference targets for this creation.

After finishing the last stroke, he stood there, feeling that the calligraphy looked weird no matter how he looked at it.

The more he looked at it, the more he disliked it. He simply waved his hand and used his internal energy to shatter the "Hundred Blessings Picture".

Then he picked up the pen and started to write the second picture, but was not satisfied with it, so he shattered it again.

When Qu Feiyan came back after exchanging the gold, Zhao Hu quickly pulled her aside and said, "Miss Qu, Lord Ou seems to be a little bit abnormal."

"What's wrong?" Qu Feiyan was stunned for a moment, then asked as she ran towards the study.

Zhao Hu shook his head and said, "I don't know either, but Lord Ou has used up all the paper in the study today. I went out and bought a stack of paper and used up nearly half of it."

When Qu Feiyan walked outside the study, she saw that the room was already piled with shredded paper, and her son, as if possessed, was still writing. At this time, she heard Ou Zanghua muttering, "No!"

The next moment, the paper shattered and fell to the ground.

He dotted some ink and continued writing.

Qu Feiyan also became a little worried. This state is called "going crazy" in martial arts, but when the young master shattered the paper, his control of internal energy was completely fine, and there was no sign of going crazy at all.

"Brother Zhao, have you ever seen anyone like this?" Qu Feiyan was unsure and had to ask.

Zhao Hu looked at Qu Feiyan speechlessly. If he had seen you before, would he still look for you?
Suddenly, Ou Zanghua's eyes lit up, and he picked up the big writing brush and wrote four words on the paper in a flamboyant manner: The rising sun in the east
Qu Feiyan stood on tiptoe to see it, and felt that the words had the same charm as the scene, like a red sun, containing amazing vitality.

"My Dao is great!"

Ou Zanghua held the pen and smiled brightly.

He studied literature and calligraphy for nine years, starting with the regular script of Yan Zhenqing, and then the regular script of Liu Gongquan and Ouyang Xun. Later, he met his mentor Wu Xun, who said that he had excellent talent and should not be wasted, and that his current handwriting lacked some weight, so he found the seal scripts of Li Si and Li Yangbing for him, and also asked him to learn "Changuoshan Stele" and "Sangongshan Stele".

However, Ou Zanghua was not that fond of seal script, so he did not take it seriously in learning it. Instead, he wanted to follow the path of Mr. Huang Yongyu, after all, he had studied it for several years in his previous life.

Today in "Hundred Blessings Picture", Ou Zanghua wrote down all the fonts he had learned and seen over the years, and finally completed the last step of the breakthrough - the confluence of hundreds of schools!
He clicked on the plug-in and saw that the calligraphy proficiency column had turned into calligrapher.

From this moment on, Ou Zanghua’s calligraphy will be worth a house a hundred years later!
"Come, come, come, whoever sees it gets a share!"

Seeing Qu Feiyan and Zhao Hu, Ou Zanghua smiled and wrote the words "Longevity and Prosperity" and "A House Full of Gold and Jade", stamped them with his own private seal, gave them to the two, and told them: "Keep them well!"

After Qu Feiyan took it, she looked at Zhao Hu with a smile and said, "Brother Zhao, I'll give you 100 taels. Can you sell this painting of yours to me?"

"I'll offer you two hundred taels, and you sell yours to me?" Zhao Hu rolled his eyes at Qu Feiyan and doubled the price.

"You two are full of money and you don't understand calligraphy"

Ou Zanghua looked at the two of them, sighed, and then returned to his original state of calm and composed to start writing "A Hundred Blessings" again.

This time the process went smoothly. After completing the last stroke, he looked at his work and smiled with satisfaction.

Next is landscape painting. Ou Zanghua’s talent in painting is not as good as that in calligraphy, so he seldom splashes ink after learning it.

Now that he has to get married, he no longer has time to practice.

Therefore, Ou Zanghua decisively spent ten reputation points to improve his painting skills from basic to proficient.

The next moment, three scenes of painters painting appeared in his mind: court painter Dai Jin, founder of the Qingteng School of Painting Xu Wei, and landscape painter Zhang Hong.

There are five colors of ink: thick, light, heavy, clear, and dot.

There are five painting techniques: outlining, incising, rubbing, dotting and dyeing.

All kinds of knowledge are poured into the brain, then digested and absorbed and become one's own.

After an incense stick of time had passed, Ou Zanghua slowly opened his eyes, thinking about what he wanted to paint.

Mountains and water.
There are springs in all the 72 peaks of Mount Nanyue, but the Water Curtain Waterfall is the most beautiful place in south China.

Then let’s draw a water curtain waterfall!
Ou Zanghua had a picture in his mind, and then he picked up the brush, dipped it in ink, and painted on the white paper.

(End of this chapter)