After about half an hour, Zhang Chuyang returned. Upon seeing Fu Xuechen, he directly pulled out a stack of storybooks from his chest—all hand-copied thin booklets. Each booklet was only about seventy to eighty pages long, with just over a hundred characters per page. With only around ten thousand characters per booklet, Fu Xuechen felt she could finish one in less than a quarter of an hour."I don’t know if you’ve read these, Yuchen, but they’re said to be the latest," Zhang Chuyang explained.Fu Xuechen also didn’t know whether Fu Yuchen had read them. She casually picked one up and flipped through it. The cover had no title, and at first glance, it looked almost identical to the classics, histories, and philosophical texts. Only upon opening it could she see the title on the first page: Chronicles of Mountain Spirits—The Immortal Fox. The text was written in a mix of classical and vernacular Chinese. It began with two impoverished scholars traveling to study, encountering a heavy downpour on the way, and taking shelter in a dilapidated mountain temple…Fu Xuechen found herself unable to continue reading the story. Not only was the beginning rather plain, but the opening also featured a somewhat obscure seven-character poem reminiscent of Journey to the West, followed by lengthy descriptions of mountains and rivers—a style she simply couldn’t appreciate.Then there were the characters themselves. They were written in tiny regular script, but even so, they were twice as large as the printed fonts of later eras. Moreover, they were handwritten. No matter how high the average calligraphy skill of scholars in this era might be, it couldn’t guarantee that everyone’s handwriting would be neat and attractive.The calligraphy in this booklet was rather mediocre, merely free of corrections. Some characters were used in ways that made Fu Xuechen unsure whether they were alternative forms or simply copying errors that had been left uncorrected.She flipped to the next booklet. It was still Chronicles of Mountain Spirits, this time with a story titled The Monkey Taoist. Another booklet was different, titled Picking Up the Remains. The beginning seemed to be a detective story. Yet another was called Exchanging Handkerchiefs and Gifting Jade, starting with a young maiden being called by her mother and told that her cousin would be staying with them to prepare for the imperial exams. Another was titled Lü Yidao, seemingly about a young man from a farming family with a passion for martial arts…Fu Xuechen was impressed. She hadn’t expected the themes of storybooks in this era to be so diverse—supernatural tales, detective stories, tales of talented scholars and beautiful ladies, and even stories of chivalrous heroes. The only downside was their brevity; the stories were as short as those in modern short-story collections and didn’t take long to read.Zhang Chuyang asked from the side, "Are there any Yuchen has already read? If so, I can return them.""I’ll take them all! How much in total?" Fu Xuechen replied straightforwardly. As the legitimate daughter of a marquis’s household, she had plenty of pocket money, not to mention that Fu Yuchen would foot the bill afterward."Ten taels," Zhang Chuyang quoted.Fu Xuechen counted—ten booklets in total, exactly one tael per booklet. It was a bit pricey, likely because they were hand-copied and had few pages. Printed books from the market would have many more pages and, due to mass printing, would be cheaper—usually thirty coins for a thick volume.She settled the payment with Zhang Chuyang, who naturally tucked the silver into his chest without any pretense of politeness toward Fu Xuechen. This showed that he had already paid for these storybooks when he brought them over and had no intention of covering the cost for Fu Xuechen. He simply reminded her, "Be careful not to strain your eyes when reading at night, and don’t stay up too late reading in secret, as it might affect your rest.""I understand!"Fu Xuechen agreed, but inwardly thought she must remind Furong to keep a close watch on Fu Yuchen, lest he ruin his eyesight from reading. Fortunately, Furong was originally her personal maid, and sooner or later would return to her side, so she definitely wouldn’t dare disobey her orders. With Furong keeping an eye on him, even if Fu Yuchen was the young master, it wouldn’t matter—he couldn’t control Furong.After returning from school to the estate, there was still a short while before Jingbei Marquis returned from court and the Fu family gathered for dinner. Seizing the opportunity, Fu Xuechen took the storybooks and went to the Qingtong Courtyard to see Fu Yuchen. She dismissed the servants and tossed all ten volumes to him at once.“These are all the storybooks I could find for now.”“Only this many?” Fu Yuchen was somewhat dissatisfied.Fu Xuechen ignored him and stretched out her hand. “Pay up. Ten taels in total.”“I’ve already read ‘Lü Yidao’!” Fu Yuchen flipped through the books.“That’s not my problem. Whether you’ve read it or not, you still have to pay. No bargaining, fixed price.”Fu Yuchen was speechless. “Fine, fine, it’s all yours.”He wasn’t stingy when it came to money. Because he needed to study and socialize, his monthly allowance was much larger than Fu Xuechen’s. Without hesitation, he took out a small ten-tael silver ingot from his purse and handed it to her.“A new edition of ‘Chronicles of Mountain Spirits’ is out!” Fu Yuchen muttered excitedly, lovingly picking out the two volumes of the series first and tucking them under his pillow before looking at the other storybooks.Fu Xuechen watched him with amusement. “It seems you really like ghost and supernatural stories… well, storybooks.”“What ghost stories?” Fu Yuchen didn’t understand.Right, this world didn’t have Liaozhai. Fu Xuechen changed her wording. “I mean storybooks about mountain spirits, ghosts, and monsters.”“Who doesn’t like those? ‘Chronicles of Mountain Spirits’ is the most popular storybook at the Imperial College.” Fu Yuchen rolled his eyes.“Really? I don’t think it’s that great.” Fu Xuechen couldn’t help asking, “Have you read ‘Little Cui’? What about ‘Judge Lu’? Have you heard of ‘The Enchanting Shadow’?”“What are you talking about?” Fu Yuchen didn’t understand but sensed that Fu Xuechen seemed to be showing off, staring at her intently.“Haha!” Fu Xuechen couldn’t help feeling a little smug. “The storybooks I’ve read are far more exciting and captivating than you could ever imagine. The ones I just mentioned are only a tiny fraction, not even the tip of the iceberg!”This wasn’t a lie. In her previous life, she had a wide range of interests and especially loved reading novels. She had read almost every genre, from classic domestic and foreign masterpieces to the latest popular online originals. Compared to some novels that spanned millions of words, the few short stories from Liaozhai were minuscule—not even the tip of the iceberg, more like a tiny pebble on the iceberg.Fu Yuchen didn’t believe her. “I’ve never heard of you reading any storybooks. Besides, whatever you can buy in the market, I can buy too. There’s no way I’d miss anything. Not to mention, I’ve read far more storybooks from the Imperial College than you have. You’re just talking nonsense!”Fu Xuechen choked. She really couldn’t produce evidence of having read countless novels and stories. Snorting, she rolled her eyes and said, “It’s none of your business where I read them. Take the story of Judge Lu, for example—I guarantee you’ve never read it!”“Why don’t you try telling it?” Fu Yuchen urged."Great! Listen closely!" Fu Xuechen, who had intended to show off from the start, immediately began recounting the story of "The Judge Lu" from Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio in vivid detail: "It is said that in Lingyang, there lived a scholar named Zhu Erdan. Though he was not particularly accomplished in his studies, he was bold, forthright, and fond of drinking, often gathering with friends for wine…"
Chapter 9
The Prince Does Not Compete for the Throne