Ch 342: Bai Zhenzhen, How Can You Be So Obtuse?

Baek Jin-jin, walking, cast a curious glance toward the table. Gun Mo-cho was writing very small characters in each box; they were so small that she had to lean over the table to see them properly.

“Don’t people usually write large characters when practicing literacy in a study? When I see Father writing, it’s all this size.”

Baek Jin-jin used her hand to gauge the size.

“Why are you writing characters so small? Are you training your eyes? It’s getting dark; can you see properly?”

Gun Mo-cho quickly stopped her with his hand when he saw the girl leaning forward again, almost falling onto the ink.

“Be careful with your clothes. You’ll get them dirty.”

Then he hastily explained this.

“Writing large characters shows spirit. However, usually a person lacking spirit would want to show something off by using that method. Small characters are like a sharp blade; they cultivate patience. A person holding a brush cultivates self-control and caution. When you write carefully with diligence, you won’t miss even the smallest thing.”

Gun Mo-cho said, handing the brush to Baek Jin-jin.

“Now, write.”

But Baek Jin-jin didn’t dare to receive it.

“I don’t write well, so don’t ask me to write. I’ll just ruin my interest.”

Gun Mo-cho laughed upon hearing that.

“What interest did This King have? I just wrote as I pleased.”

“But you wrote it so well!”

Baek Jin-jin pointed to the paper on the table.

“I don’t know much about this, but you really wrote it well. At least, it’s the prettiest of all the characters I’ve ever seen.”

Her words were not false at all. Although she hadn’t seen the writing of very many people, she had at least seen Baek Heung-eon and Baek Ho-sin write at home. She had also seen the writing of the Hong Family’s uncles. Each had their strengths and unique charm, but she could still tell the difference between good and bad.

Gun Mo-cho, as if obsessed, pressed the brush into Baek Jin-jin’s hand.

“Write however you want. You can write anything. If it’s really bad, This King will teach you.”

Unable to escape, Baek Jin-jin had no choice but to take the brush. Then, she circled the table, looking for space on the paper to begin writing.

She began writing people’s names arbitrarily. For example, Baek Jin-jin, Baek Ho-heon, Baek Hak-yeom, Gun Mo-cho…

“Hmm?”

Seeing his name suddenly appear among the Baek Family members written all over the paper, he wondered inwardly.

Baek Jin-jin also came to her senses. Her head buzzed, and her face instantly turned bright red, so she quickly explained.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. It’s a habit.”

After speaking, she almost slapped her mouth. It was an excuse worse than nothing. She had no choice. Raising her hand and picking up some ink, she tried to quickly erase the three characters, Gun Mo-cho, to destroy the evidence.

However, unexpectedly, just as she was about to draw a line, the paper with the characters left the table and went into his hand. Gun Mo-cho admired the elegantly written small characters. He felt quite good.

“It’s not as bad as you say. It’s still okay. But the last stroke of the last character of This King’s name needs more force. Look, like this…”

Gun Mo-cho took the brush from her hand and wrote the character ‘cho’ separately in the empty space.

“Isn’t this better? Now, try again.”

Baek Jin-jin picked up the brush and wrote it again next to the character he had written. But he was still not satisfied, and though she wrote it again, it was still not perfect.

She wrote it more than ten times. Gun Mo-cho was slowly getting a little frustrated.

“How can you be so clumsy?”

Baek Jin-jin became upset.

“You dislike me because I’m clumsy? It’s because your teaching method is wrong. And you call me clumsy?”

Gun Mo-cho was stunned by Baek Jin-jin’s rebuke.

“The method is wrong? I wrote once, you wrote once, and I even showed you how much force to put on the brush, and how far the last stroke should extend. Where is this method wrong?”

The girl rolled her eyes and scoffed coldly.

“The correct posture for teaching characters is like this: I stand in front and Your Majesty stands behind, I hold the brush, and Your Majesty holds my hand. Your Majesty provides the strength, and we write one stroke at a time. That’s the method of transmission; that’s how you can teach accurately and correctly. Just moving your mouth and not your hands like this—I’m not a tapeworm that came out of Your Majesty’s belly, how would I know?”

Gun Mo-cho, speechless from Baek Jin-jin’s words, reacted only with difficulty after a long time.

“That… is that using trickery on This King?”

Baek Jin-jin was angry.

“Who’s using trickery? Am I so full of myself that I would use tricks on Your Majesty? You’re King Yama, and you keep your face stiff all day and don’t even smile; how am I using tricks?”

Gun Mo-cho also became angry upon hearing that.

“Having you hold my hand isn’t trickery, what is it? Baek Jin-jin, are you misunderstanding something about gaining an advantage? Could it be that you think it’s a completely ordinary thing for a man and a woman to hold hands?”

“Of course, it’s not an ordinary thing!”

Baek Jin-jin’s voice began to rise.

“But even if I gain an advantage by using a trick, Your Majesty would be the one gaining the advantage. Surely, a grown man wouldn’t misunderstand this?”

“So, in other words, This King made you gain an advantage?”

He had firmly made up his mind to properly teach this girl today.

However, Baek Jin-jin was so angry that she stamped her feet.

“Ghosts or Your Majesty would gain an advantage! I only talked; I didn’t ask you to do it. If you don’t believe it, try it. See if you can handle it.”

“Let’s try it.”

Gun Mo-cho stood up, put her in front of the table, and spread his arms. In an instant, the girl who was standing in front of him was in his arms, and her two hands were held. The brush was firmly gripped between them.

However, the girl held in his arms seemed to be very unhappy. She struggled the whole time and shouted loudly.

“Let go, let go! You don’t need to teach me how to write Your Majesty’s name. Who wants to write Your Majesty’s name! Let go quickly!”

But Gun Mo-cho had no intention of letting go. Not only did he not let go, but he also leaned down and pressed down forcefully. He pressed her until Baek Jin-jin couldn’t straighten her back, completely enclosing her in his arms.

“This is the perfect angle for writing. A moment ago, you were standing too straight, and the brush didn’t reach naturally. The angle of your wrist and gaze was also wrong. When writing, you need to be slightly off.”

Gun Mo-cho patiently spoke to Baek Jin-jin and laid the paper on the table again.

However, Baek Jin-jin was insincere. With her left hand, she desperately clung to the edge of the table, and she pushed back with all her might. Gritting her teeth, she used her strength to push him away from her.

And right at that moment, a servant knocked on the door. In response to Gun Mo-cho’s words to enter, the servant who opened the door witnessed a scene that should not have been seen.

Baek Jin-jin was horrified. Facing the shocked faces of the Official Eunuch Ga Gonggong, she wished she could find a mouse hole to hide in.

“Gun Mo-cho, you did this on purpose!”

Baek Jin-jin asked fiercely, gnashing her teeth.

“You deliberately told someone to come in, didn’t you?”

Gun Mo-cho felt wronged.

“It really wasn’t intentional. Someone knocked on the door, so I naturally answered. But This King was only teaching calligraphy; there’s no problem with a servant coming in, is there? Why are you making such a fuss?”

Baek Jin-jin wanted to cry.

“Are you blind? Let me go, I said. If you don’t let go, you’ll completely ruin my integrity.”

The Eunuch Ga-taegam finally came to his senses and quickly took two steps back and left the room. The door slammed shut, and then the Eunuch Ga-taegam’s voice could be heard from outside.

“It’s all my fault. I ruined the fun of Your Majesty and the Fourth Young Lady. I just wanted to ask the Fourth Young Lady what she wanted to eat. So that I can prepare it quickly.”

Gun Mo-cho bowed his head and asked her.

“What do you like? This King noticed that you only ate meat at the Palace Banquet, so you must like meat. I ordered a lot of meat dishes prepared early today. Should I add some light dishes?”

Baek Jin-jin only shook her head and didn’t say anything more.

Gun Mo-cho had no choice but to say to the Eunuch Ga-taegam.

“Do as you originally planned. Place the dinner in Hwacheong next door and have it brought in half an hour later. Don’t come back to the study to bother me.”

The Eunuch Ga-taegam replied immediately.

“Yes, Your Majesty. Don’t worry, Your Highness. I will not come back.”

Finally, the people at the entrance disappeared. After Mu-eon was also led away by Ga Gonggong, Gun Mo-cho finally asked.

“Why are you doing this?”

Baek Jin-jin turned to look at him. Looking at the two of them standing so close together, she didn’t understand and asked.

“Don’t you really know what’s wrong? Didn’t you see the look in the eyes of the Official who just came in? Let’s stop teaching calligraphy now. Understand? If we continue teaching like this, Your Majesty’s servants will think we’re going to get married!”

Gun Mo-cho really hadn’t noticed anything unusual.

“Married?”

“The wedding candles of the wedding chamber.”

Gun Mo-cho finally understood and quickly let go of her, taking two steps back himself, and said.

“I’m sorry. I really didn’t mean to. I was just trying to teach calligraphy. But you were struggling, so I… I didn’t think about that.”

“Who would believe that?”

Baek Jin-jin looked at him as he walked away, feeling a little disappointed inside.

“Just now, you were arguing about who benefits whom, and after one touch, your mind went blank?”

Gun Mo-cho was too embarrassed to speak. The moment Baek Jin-jin struggled, causing her body to continuously bump into his, his mind had indeed gone completely blank. If not, he would not have told the person who knocked on the door to enter. However, when he came to his senses, he realized that it was not right for an outsider to see them so close. And when he recalled the shocked look in the Eunuch Ga-taegam’s eyes just now, he began to feel uneasy.

“I must issue a ban. From now on, no matter how big the matter is, even if the heavens collapse, no one is allowed to set foot in this Dongak Palace again. Will that do?”

Gun Mo-cho’s eyes, as he tried to consult with Baek Jin-jin, clearly showed his desire to win her over.

However, Baek Jin-jin did not give in at all, and she scoffed coldly and said.

“Isn’t this just covering your eyes and pretending there’s nothing there? How am I supposed to be seen by the servants in the palace? I’m an innocent young lady. But now this ambiguity has occurred here, how am I supposed to get married in the future? Who would marry me?”

Gun Mo-cho sighed and took a step closer.

“It’s all my fault. I didn’t think about that before. Or, how about this? If your marriage is affected by frequently visiting the Sinwangbu, then… then I will marry you!”

Baek Jin-jin remained silent.

“…”

“Say something!”

Baek Jin-jin remained silent.

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