The ladies in the hall strived to maintain their elegant composure, but their ears were pricked up listening to the commotion outside.

The young ladies could no longer contain themselves and had quietly slipped out.

The corridor became increasingly crowded.

Everyone watched as the guest monk approached unhurriedly, accompanied by a middle-aged nun, adding to their curiosity.

The guest monk entered the hall and came before Old Madam Deng.

Old Madam Deng quickly glanced at Qiao Zhao, seeing her calm expression, and the heart that had been suspended finally settled.

“Master—”

Just as she began to speak, the guest monk stepped aside and introduced: “Old Madam, this senior brother serves beside Master Wumei. The Master specifically commanded this senior brother to escort Third Miss Li back.”

Jingxi pressed her palms together toward Old Madam Deng: “This humble nun is Jingxi.”

Old Madam Deng hurriedly returned the courtesy.

The gazes of everyone in the hall fell upon Jingxi with surprise and suspicion.

Third Miss Li was escorted back by the nun who serves Master Wumei—what did this signify?

So that scripture book was copied by Third Miss Li!

Heavens, just how excellent must Third Miss Li’s calligraphy be to warrant Master Wumei’s exceptional audience and personal escort back by her attendant?

Everyone was burning with curiosity, only regretting not having seen that scripture book.

It was in this atmosphere that Jingxi spoke: “Old Madam, Master greatly appreciates the young benefactor’s calligraphy and requests that the young benefactor come to Shuying Nunnery every seven days to copy Buddhist scriptures. Would this be convenient?”

Great Liang’s social customs were open, and women traveling was not considered difficult, especially when invited by Master Wumei of Shuying Nunnery to copy Buddhist scriptures.

Old Madam Deng hardly hesitated before saying: “For Third Girl’s calligraphy to catch Master’s eye is her good fortune. Naturally, there’s nothing inconvenient about it.”

Old Madam Jiang beside her suddenly looked at Qiao Zhao with completely changed eyes.

She was from the imperial clan. While others might not know, she was well aware of how supremely arrogant and disdainful that Master Wumei, the former Grand Princess, had been!

The Third Girl’s calligraphy caught her eye?

Yes, Third Girl’s scripture book was beautifully copied—it might even be among the finest in the entire Capital—but that Grand Princess’s calligraphy had been quite famous back then!

Perhaps people always change, like this girl before her, who remained so unnaturally calm.

By rights, having such a talented woman emerge from the Li residence should be cause for celebration, but Old Madam Jiang couldn’t feel happy thinking of the earlier humiliation. Moreover, Third Miss Li’s reputation was damaged—no matter how great her literary fame, proper families still wouldn’t marry such a person as a daughter-in-law!

If only this reputation could have fallen to any other girl in the Li residence.

Old Madam Jiang felt regret once again.

“This humble nun takes her leave. Young benefactor, we shall meet in seven days.”

With Jingxi’s departure, the entire Dafu Temple buzzed with excitement.

This was truly extraordinary—a young girl’s calligraphy could make the former world’s foremost talented woman, Master Wumei, with her princess status, treasure it to such a degree that she specifically invited her to copy Buddhist scriptures.

One must know that Shuying Nunnery never allowed outsiders inside. Over the years, those who had visited Shuying Nunnery were among the most noble women in the world.

The Empress Dowager was devout in Buddhism and had visited Shuying Nunnery less frequently in recent years, but communication with the nunnery had never ceased. It was said that the Ninth Princess had recently come to the nunnery to pray for the Empress Dowager’s well-being.

Those present were either imperial clan nobility or official families’ women. Their gravitational pull toward centers of power was practically ingrained in their bones—otherwise, how could a simple former princess who had renounced her status to become a nun without any foundation command such attention from them?

“Old Madam, may we ask who Third Miss’s teacher was?” The ladies surrounded Old Madam Deng with questions.

Old Madam Jiang felt quite annoyed.

This was the first time at a public gathering that she had been set aside while everyone surrounded Lady Deng in conversation.

“Teacher? Cough cough, our Third Girl hasn’t engaged any famous masters—she just studied alongside her sisters at home. However, her mother was very attentive to her, buying quite a few precious copybooks and paintings for her to practice from.”

Everyone listening secretly rolled their eyes.

If copying practice books could achieve such results, that would truly be extraordinary.

Seeing that everyone didn’t believe her, Old Madam Deng smiled and said, “I suppose Third Girl must have exceptional natural talent in calligraphy and painting.”

Natural talent—something others couldn’t envy.

Everyone: “…” Was there such shameless self-praise?

Du Feixue, who had somehow slipped into the hall, couldn’t contain herself any longer and said crisply: “Old Madam, I’ve seen Third Sister’s calligraphy before, and it seemed somewhat inferior to my Cousin Jiao’s.”

Li Jiǎo hurriedly tugged at her.

Du Feixue was the only daughter of Earl Guchang’s residence, and her willful temperament was well-known in this circle.

However, daughters of noble families differed from those of scholarly households—arrogant temperaments weren’t uncommon. So these ladies paid no mind, and even Du Feixue’s mother, Lady Zhu, only gave her daughter a warning glare without verbal reproach.

Rather than the young girl’s rudeness, they were more curious about Third Miss Li’s calligraphy.

Hearing an outsider question her granddaughter’s abilities, Old Madam Deng immediately grew displeased. However, since the other party was a young girl, she couldn’t be directly confrontational. The old lady smiled slightly and said: “Has Miss Du never heard of ‘concealing one’s skills’? Our Third Girl is still young and doesn’t wish to steal the limelight from her elder sisters.”

This “elder sisters” didn’t refer solely to the girls of the Li residence.

The ladies present all twitched their lips upon hearing this.

Too infuriating! Too arrogant! Too dismissive of those who had strictly taught their daughters music, chess, calligraphy, and painting! If Third Miss Li’s calligraphy couldn’t convince them wholeheartedly, they would take up residence in Dafu Temple and refuse to leave!

The guest monk, squeezed into a corner, looked innocent while wailing inwardly: They absolutely cannot stay—this is a monks’ temple, and the abbot would break his legs!

The ladies frequently exchanged glances with Earl Guchang’s wife, Lady Zhu.

At this moment, Lady Zhu’s feelings were quite complex.

She had never had her daughter receive such attention from outsiders, and the reason was their hope that she, as a mother, would encourage her daughter to step forward.

Lady Zhu struggled for a brief moment before quickly compromising.

Forget it—who told her she was also burning with curiosity to see Third Miss Li’s calligraphy?

“Feixue, don’t cause trouble. What you saw before doesn’t represent Third Miss Li’s current level. How can you doubt others based on that? Apologize to Old Madam immediately!”

Hearing her mother speak this way, Du Feixue immediately felt indignant, but she remembered not to appear too willful before the ladies. She curtsied to Old Madam Deng: “It was Feixue being hasty. Please forgive me, Old Madam. However, Feixue is also curious about Third Sister Li’s calligraphy—”

She paused, then clapped her hands: “Old Madam, how about this—why don’t you have Third Sister Li write something so we can all broaden our horizons and see just how excellent the calligraphy that caught Master Wumei’s eye truly is.”

Qiao Zhao, who had remained silent throughout, glanced at Lady Zhu.

This lady must be Big Brother Zhu’s aunt, then?

Her gaze shifted slightly, falling upon a girl beside another lady.

That young lady had skin like snow and radiated an inner tranquility from head to toe.

Earlier when passing through the corridor, she had heard Du Feixue call her “Zhu Yán,” and immediately retrieved some information from her memory.

This must be Big Brother Zhu’s legitimate younger sister.

Zhu Yán seemed to sense Qiao Zhao’s gaze and suddenly looked up, giving her a gentle smile.