Ji Yunshu went to find Teacher Yu!

What had just happened left her mind unsettled. The crowd of students had already been dismissed and sent away by her. After Muruo returned the letter, only Teacher Yu remained alone in the room.

The record book that Tang Si had torn apart lay scattered on the ground in disarray!

No one had cleaned it up.

Ji Yunshu stood outside the door without entering. She saw Teacher Yu sitting at the desk, head lowered, supporting his forehead.

His graying hair and long white beard obscured his face!

Presumably, he must be feeling terrible.

She raised her hand and gently knocked twice on the doorframe.

For a long time, she received no response.

But she was a persistent person and continued knocking once more.

Only then did Teacher Yu slowly raise his head and turn to look at the young scholar standing at the door.

“Master Ji, is there something else?”

That voice was weary and weak, carrying an indescribable sorrow.

Ji Yunshu stepped forward and raised her hand in a respectful bow.

Then she inquired, “I know that Teacher is deeply saddened by Guo He’s death. Despite this, I’ve still come to inquire further, though I don’t mean to pierce Teacher’s heart.”

Teacher Yu seemed to have come to terms with it. “As long as we can find out who the murderer is, ask whatever you wish.”

“I would like to borrow one of the practice writings that Guo He wrote during his lifetime.”

“What use would that be?”

“To resolve the confusion in my mind.”

Since she put it that way, Teacher Yu didn’t ask further. He pushed himself up, went into the inner room, and when he came out, he held several of Guo He’s practice writings in his hands.

He passed them to Ji Yunshu.

“There are a few more. If you like, I’ll give them all to you.”

“That won’t be necessary for now. I’ll just look through them.”

She opened the thick practice writing book. Her eyes moved like a scanner, rapidly sweeping over the pages. She even flipped the pages extremely quickly. When she reached one page, her movements stopped, and the corners of her mouth imperceptibly curved upward. Then she continued flipping and stopped again at another page.

Back and forth—in just a short while, she had finished looking through the writing in her hands.

There seemed to be a sudden sense of clarity and relief.

“Thank you, Teacher.”

She returned the book.

But Teacher Yu was completely bewildered!

Confused in his heart.

He thought to himself, what medicine was Master Ji selling in this gourd? If she wanted to investigate the case, she should investigate properly. If she wanted to read, she could go to the school hall where there were plenty of books for her to read. Why come to flip through an ordinary practice writing book that couldn’t be more ordinary?

So he asked, “Could it be that this writing contains something related to Guo He?”

She nodded. “Roughly speaking, it contains everything. But I still have one thing I’d like to know. I must trouble Teacher to tell me—did Guo He write with his left hand during his lifetime? Or did he use his right hand?”

Hmm?

“Why do you ask this?”

“This matter is related to his death.”

Upon hearing this, Teacher Yu quickly replied, “He used his right hand.”

“Then, could he also write with his left hand, only Teacher didn’t know about it?”

“I’ve never seen him use his left hand. He probably couldn’t. I watched him grow up. If he could write with his left hand, how could I not know?”

Master Ji had just left moments ago, and now she had returned. Although it was for the case, after looking through Guo He’s practice writings, why was she asking such a boring question?

Utterly incomprehensible!

However, she continued asking, “Then, is there anyone in the academy who writes with their left hand?”

“No.”

Definitely not!

The knot in Ji Yunshu’s heart seemed to have found an answer. The corners of her mouth lifted in a faint smile, somewhat mysterious and inscrutable.

Teacher Yu took a small step forward and asked, “Why does Master Ji suddenly ask about this matter?”

“It’s not sudden!” she said. “It’s because this matter concerns Guo He’s death. Therefore, I’m somewhat obsessive about it. I hope Teacher won’t mind.”

“But what does the difference between writing with the left hand and right hand have to do with his death?”

She raised those clear yet complex eyes. Her delicate brows pressed down slightly with a few wrinkles as she uttered from her thin lips, “Because I believe that the letter seemingly left by Guo He before his death was actually not written by him.”

Uh!

Where did this statement come from?

A pale pallor suddenly rose on Teacher Yu’s weathered cheeks. He was clearly quite shocked!

His lips beneath his white beard trembled as he questioned, “Not written by him? But that handwriting is clearly his. There can’t be a mistake.”

“Can’t be a mistake?” She was actually amused by this statement in her heart. “Has Teacher ever heard of three phrases: chaotic objects transform into silk, mixing with rain in torrential confusion, yet falling without sound.”

The general meaning was that fine silk threads mixed with rain falling from the sky, yet without the pattering sound of rain hitting the ground. In plain terms, it meant confusing right and wrong. To put it more clearly and explicitly, it meant passing off the fake as genuine, escaping everyone’s notice.

Teacher Yu’s already furrowed brow tightened even more as he asked in a heavy voice, “Please speak plainly.”

“Please allow me to borrow that letter Guo He left behind for a look.”

He took it out without hesitation!

And passed it over.

Ji Yunshu carefully opened it. Those few lines of characters rushed into her eyes once again.

—Your teaching kindness I cannot repay, my heart does not return to the dove’s nest, I hope to fly back to my native soil, farewell to kindness.

And her gaze fell tightly on one particular character—”return.”

She said, “No matter how much the person who wrote this letter tries to imitate, they will ultimately reveal flaws.”

That faint smile at the corners of her lips deepened.

Teacher Yu didn’t see any irregularities in the letter. In his heart, he was certain that this letter was left by Guo He.

“There’s nothing unusual about the letter. I’ve watched him write for over ten years. It’s impossible for me to be mistaken. If someone wrote it on his behalf, who could have handwriting exactly the same as his?”

She didn’t rush to answer. Her gaze swept around the room in a circle and finally landed on a calligraphy painting hanging on the wall. She walked over with steps and stood beneath that painting, raising her eyes to look up.

“This is Zhang Zhizhang’s ‘Bamboo Forest.’ The genuine work is stored in the imperial palace. And this one, although a reproduction, has more of the lifelike quality of the original, yet lacks some of the cold pride and lofty integrity of the bamboo in the original work, making it even more endearing.” After speaking, her gaze fell on the lower end of this painting. Seeing a seal mark at the signature, she couldn’t help but praise, “That Young Master Shang who can copy calligraphy and paintings from all under heaven is truly admirable. That ‘Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix’ painting, as well as this ‘Bamboo Forest’ painting, through his hands, have almost no flaws or defects whatsoever. They’re remarkably lifelike.”

She truly admired Shang Zhuo. That person’s copying ability could simply be compared to a modern photocopier.

Even that photocopier wasn’t as good as him. After all, if it ran out of ink or had ink leakage, the printed calligraphy and paintings would be missing where they should be missing, and have extras where they shouldn’t.

But—

Why bring up Shang Zhuo’s paintings out of nowhere?

Could we bring the focus back? Right now, we’re talking about Guo He’s death.

However, it was precisely because of these words that she suddenly awakened Teacher Yu’s rigid mind.

He was astonished. “You’re talking about… Shang Zhuo?”