Lava - Kapitel 219
"What is this?" he couldn't help but ask.
Mo Yan said mysteriously, "It's an ancient secret recipe. Don't ask too many questions. I'll write down a few more for you. Just stick them on the corners of the walls, and they'll be effective at repelling snakes."
She wrote and talked at the same time, her brushstrokes flowing smoothly. Because she was writing in cursive script, she wrote very quickly, and in no time, she had written a stack of characters on the side.
"I think that's enough." Seeing her still writing furiously, Gongsun Ce had to speak up. It wasn't that he was embarrassed, but he really felt sorry for that stack of fine Xuan paper.
Mo Yan then stopped writing, looked at the talismans she had written beside her, and frowned, saying, "It should be almost done, but it's never a bad thing to write a little more." After saying that, she buried herself in writing seven or eight more sheets, and only put down her pen when the ink in the inkstone was almost used up.
"Alright! Stick all of these in the corner."
She took the paper and started to walk out, but Gongsun Ce quickly stopped her, saying repeatedly, "No, no, no, you can't bend over right now. Let me stick them on myself." Gongsun Ce was particular by nature, and seeing such a large stack of white paper to be pasted on every corner of the wall, the whole courtyard would look messy. He was already a little regretful, but seeing Mo Yan's good intentions, and since he had accidentally provoked her, he was too embarrassed to refuse her directly.
Mo Yan hesitated for a moment, then smiled and said, "Alright, but I guess you're probably not used to this kind of work. Let's get a servant to do it for you."
As luck would have it, a servant, seeing that a guest had arrived, brewed tea and brought it over. Mo Yan then shoved the stack of papers into his hand.
"This is……"
The servants were puzzled and looked at Gongsun Ce, who had no way to express his suffering and could only smile.
"Go to the kitchen and get some leftover rice grains. We need to stick these papers in the corners of the walls everywhere," Mo Yan explained.
"My lord..." The servant was still looking at Gongsun Ce.
"Well... Xiao Qi, it's hot, you should go back and rest first. I'll keep an eye on what they're doing next."
"No, I have to keep an eye on it for you. What if it's applied incorrectly and doesn't work?" Mo Yan was extremely responsible about this matter. Although she spoke confidently to Gongsun Ce, she herself was actually unsure, which made her even more concerned.
Gongsun Ce was an honest man after all, and he thought to himself: Oh well, let it stick on. I can just have someone tear it down after she leaves.
After working for almost half an hour, it was finally possible to cover all the corners of the walls with talismans. During this time, when they ran out of talismans, Mo Yan tirelessly wrote more than a dozen more.
Gongsun Ce looked at the white flowers covering the corners of the courtyard, which clashed terribly with the surrounding plants, and couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
"It should be fine now." Mo Yan nodded in satisfaction.
"Thank you very much. I'll have someone take you back." Gongsun Ce planned to tear up all the eyesores as soon as Mo Yan left.
"I can go back by myself," Mo Yan said casually as she walked out, her voice drifting back, "I'll come back to see you tomorrow!"
"You don't..."
Gongsun Ce was about to refuse, but Mo Yan had already left and hadn't heard a word he said.
Author's Note: When I was writing the first side story, some friends said it was utter nonsense. I really want to clarify that all the talismans appearing in the story have sources and were not made up by me.
I can't say whether it's effective or not, but I do know that one of the mosquito-repelling talismans is still in use today, and it's people in the city, not in the deep mountains and forests.
Side Story 4: Anecdotes of Kaifeng, Chapter 4
The next morning, right after breakfast, Mo Yan came over happily.
"How was it? Was it effective?"
Seeing the courtyard full of white talismans, she asked Gongsun Ce with a smile.
"It seems to be of no use. Someone saw it scurrying in the grass last night." The snake was still there, which made Gongsun Ce quite happy. It meant that the talisman was useless, and the paper could be torn up.
Mo Yan frowned: "How could this be?"
"I think this prescription is probably..." Gongsun Ce smiled and said, "but thank you for your kindness. Actually, it's not a big deal. Just buy some realgar and sprinkle it on, and it will be fine."
“The prescription should be correct.” Mo Yan was unwilling to give up. She walked around the yard, scratched her ear, and suddenly thought of something: “I know! I wrote it in cursive script, which must have been too cursive, so the snakes couldn’t recognize it. Let’s rewrite it. Mr. Gongsun, you write well, and those snakes live under the same roof as you every day, so they must recognize your handwriting.”
Gongsun Ce was stunned and speechless. After a long while, he said with difficulty, "I think we should forget about it. It's too much trouble..." What he really meant was that it was too wasteful of paper.
"It's no trouble, we should at least try again." Mo Yan walked towards the study. "I'll grind the ink for you, I promise it'll be quick."
"you……"
Gongsun Ce hurriedly caught up with her and stopped her, saying, "I'll do it myself. You just need to take care of yourself..." After all, Mo Yan was pregnant, and he didn't dare to let her overwork herself.
"fine."
"No, no, you should rest first."
Gongsun Ce had no choice but to go to his desk and start grinding ink. He picked up his brush and asked expectantly, "When will Guard Zhan return?"
"It will probably take five or six days."
"You've been gone for so long this time." Gongsun Ce's tone betrayed his disappointment.
"Is it a long time?" Mo Yan asked curiously. "I heard that when my elder brother was on official business, it wasn't uncommon for it to last three to five months."
Gongsun Ce smiled wryly and could only nod, "That's true." With no other options, he could only bury himself in writing, hastily completing several sheets before stopping.
Mo Yan leaned closer and exclaimed, "This clerical script is so well-written, with its many twists and turns. Mr. Gongsun, your calligraphy is good enough to be sold!"
Gongsun Ce smiled slightly: "I am a clerk. If I can't even write properly, I should go back to my hometown and farm."
"Farming?" Mo Yan chuckled, sizing up his refined appearance. "I'm afraid you couldn't even lift a hoe. You'd be more suited to being a doctor, but Lord Bao certainly won't let you go." She picked up the papers, counted them, and frowned, saying, "You've only written a few pages? Isn't that enough?"
"Let's try it first, we don't know if it's a problem with the font."
"That's true."
The two then ordered their servants to tear down all the posters from yesterday and put up the ones written today. The servants didn't know what they were doing and secretly found it troublesome, but they had no choice but to do as they were told.