The four of them modestly entered the house, followed by the sweeping page who came in to offer mats and arrange seating. A young serving girl also emerged to pour tea and serve water. Wei Shufen had already noticed Ouyang Xun's heavy southern accent earlier, so she wasn't surprised to see tea served in his residence. However, when she saw Li Yuangui sipping the tea without any hesitation, she couldn't help but glance at him again.
After the customary pleasantries, they mentioned their purpose for visiting. Chai Yingluo and Li Yuangui explained their request for Ouyang Xun to authenticate Yi Niang's handwriting, presenting the suicide note and copied poems they had brought with them to the elderly man. Upon learning that this was a case ordered by Empress Zhangsun to investigate, Ouyang Xun didn't refuse. He opened the outer envelope and carefully laid out the suicide note and three copied poems side by side on the desk for examination.
As soon as the shaky, rigidly straight strokes filled the page came into view, the white-haired elder let out another long sigh. Li Yuangui, standing nearby, awkwardly explained:
"Princess Linfen lost her father at a young age and never received proper female education. Her initial writing practice lacked any formal method, Master Ouyang..."
It seemed Ouyang Xun had abandoned his family to live in seclusion here, devoting himself to calligraphy without worldly distractions. His eyes were accustomed to seeing masterpieces of past sages and exquisite contemporary works daily. Suddenly confronted with writing that resembled a child's scribbles, he might naturally find it offensive to his eyes—much like how the Son of Heaven had criticized Li Yuangui's calligraphy.
But before the young prince could finish speaking, the old man impatiently waved his hand to shoo him away, signaling him to "shut up." His expression turned domineering, completely shedding his earlier amiable and humorous demeanor.
Such rare masters of their craft, when fully immersed in their specialized skills, often become autocratic and arrogant, particularly annoyed by chatter around them. Wei Shufen and the other three tactfully fell silent, sitting upright without making a sound, not even daring to sip their tea audibly.
Ouyang Xun scrutinized the four sheets of paper spread on the desk, sometimes frowning in deep thought, sometimes shaking his head and muttering, as if greatly perplexed. This surprised Wei Shufen as well. She thought even she could tell that the handwriting on all four sheets clearly came from the same person. Could it be that this most famous calligrapher of their time couldn't determine it? Or had he discovered some subtle clues invisible to ordinary eyes, suggesting the suicide note might have been forged by someone imitating Yi Niang's handwriting?
Finally, the old man murmured, "Strange..."
"Strange?" Chai Yingluo cautiously echoed in a low voice.
"These four sheets were undoubtedly written by the same hand—that's beyond question," Ouyang Xun exhaled. "What's strange are two points."
"We'd like to hear the details," the four young people said, straightening their clothes and sitting properly.
"First, the handwriting is childish, clearly written by someone unskilled in learning. Yet the phrasing of the suicide note... while not particularly refined or exquisite, contains many allusions and parallel constructions, as if... the writer was accustomed to composing epitaphs or had read many of them—someone with rough literary skills who doesn't fully grasp the meaning, giving off the air of an old-fashioned scholar. Fourteenth Young Master mentioned earlier that Princess Linfen lived in seclusion at the Temple of Common Vocation for nine years. Where would she have learned these allusions and phrases?"
The four exchanged glances, none able to answer. They had discussed this before, but none knew exactly how or from whom Yi Niang had learned to read and write, making it impossible to determine what her literary level should have been. Ouyang Xun, a master accustomed to writing epitaphs and memorial inscriptions, naturally spoke with authority.
"And the second point?" Li Yuangui asked."Secondly, the brushwork in these four pages is far too similar in style." The white-haired old man tapped the suicide note with his bony fingers and sighed. "As the saying goes, laughter arises from joy, sighs from sorrow—emotions move the form to speak, capturing the essence of poetic sentiment. The brightness of yang and gloom of yin stem from the heart of heaven and earth. The wonder of calligraphy lies in drawing from oneself, exhausting variations at the tip of the brush, harmonizing emotions on paper. Multiple strokes applied together should differ in form; numerous dots aligned should vary in structure. This principle isn't limited to skill level. The princess, being a young maiden, would naturally write with soft, meticulous strokes when copying Qi-Liang poetry, her heart filled with tender thoughts. But this suicide note... Logically, when writing it, she should have been either despondent or emotionally agitated, resulting in hesitant, clumsy strokes. Yet the minutiae of these characters show no difference from when she copied poetry—isn't that utterly bizarre?"
The four young people exchanged glances. Wei Shufen suddenly thought of something and spoke up:
"Master Ouyang, are you saying the suicide note was written by Princess Linfen, but when she wrote it, she wasn't resolved to die—rather... she was filled with tender emotions?"
"Judging by the handwriting, that does appear to be the case," the white-haired old man nodded.
Wei Shufen turned to Chai Yingluo: "Ying-jie, do you remember? After we found those poetry copies in Yi Niang's old residence, we asked her younger sister, who said the original book was lent to Yi Niang by Consort Yang, Princess of Hailing..."
"I remember now," the female Taoist nodded. "The two were very close, closer than Yi Niang was with her own mother. The fourth aunt was beautiful and talented, quite a figure in her youth, renowned in the capital before her marriage. As for Yi Niang's suicide note..."
She trailed off, lost in thought. Li Yuangui, sitting across from the two women, suddenly said:
"There's another piece of handwriting evidence related to this case I'd like to examine, though we needn't trouble Master Ouyang to verify it."
"What evidence?"
Li Yuangui's thin lips curled into a bitter smile. Just as he was about to answer, another loud bang came from outside the paper window, making their ears ring. The four youths were startled again, but Ouyang Xun's aged face remained utterly unperturbed.
"What in the world is going on out there?" Chai Yingluo was the first to lose patience. "Master Ouyang needs peace and quiet to practice calligraphy—how can he work with all this noise? Later we should go see who's..."
"Ah, no no, don't bother," the white-haired old man stopped her. "That's something you can't handle anyway—you'll just get yourselves embarrassed. Young people will be young... At least they don't make noise at night, and they've provided dozens more pounds of lamp oil, heh heh heh..."
Seeing Ouyang Xun stroking his beard in delight, looking thoroughly pleased with his bargain, the four felt it improper to intervene on his behalf. Wei Shufen silently thought she'd only heard of mice climbing lamp stands to steal oil—do monkeys do that too...?
With the handwriting analysis complete, Li Yuangui and Chai Yingluo led the way in rising to bow and thank Ouyang Shuleng before taking their leave respectfully. Li Yuangui seemed particularly eager, politely declining the host's dinner invitation and striding quickly toward the peach grove exit once outside. Chai Yingluo called after him:
"Fourteenth Uncle, where are you going?"
"The imperial city. The Court of Judicial Review," Prince Wu answered without hesitation.
"What?" the other three exclaimed in unison. "Are you mad?" #####Author's note introducing Ouyang Xun and his calligraphy. For images, please visit the author's Weibo. Search ID "Tang Dynasty Tour Guide Forest Deer" on Sina Weibo. Welcome to discuss. ????
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