Martial Saint through Reading

Chapter 378: Chapter 280: Delving into Abstract Paintings, Reconstructing Ancient Shell Script_3

He lowered his eyes, placed the hastily written page to the side, then took out a blank sheet of paper, and quickly wrote:

One word... two words... three words...

Outside the hall.

"Lord Tang, how is the research on the fragment of the ancient text Mountain and Sea Great Wilderness Scripture·Sea Scripture sent a few days ago?" Zuo Yuan suddenly lowered his voice.

"The Ancient Armor Script on the Sea Scripture is quite complex. Using the previous Ancient Shell Script system, we have currently deciphered about ten pages."

"Ten pages... Would you like me to petition His Majesty to send more manpower? The Crown Prince values this greatly, and His Majesty also inquired about it yesterday."

Zuo Yuan clearly thought that deciphering only ten pages after so many days was too few.

Tang Bai’s expression slightly changed.

When the fragment of Mountain and Sea Great Wilderness Scripture·Sea Scripture was sent to Wenlin Garden, it was only said to be important and needed to be prioritized for decoding, but it was not stated as urgent.

Normally, with such ancient texts, urgency is of no practical use.

He didn’t understand why the Crown Prince and His Majesty suddenly inquired about this matter after such a short period.

Could it be that Zuo Yuan, the Prime Minister, came today for the matter of deciphering the fragment?

Inside the hall.

The fragment of Mountain and Sea Great Wilderness Scripture·Sea Scripture?

Chu Ming felt a slight stir in his heart.

"Lord Tang, how about I petition His Majesty tomorrow to arrange a few more colleagues with some accomplishment in literature?" Zuo Yuan continued.

"..." Tang Bai pondered slightly, "Since the Crown Prince is in such a hurry, why not organize manpower separately for the decoding of the Sea Scripture fragment."

It’s clear that Tang Bai didn’t want too many people with ulterior motives to enter Wenlin Garden.

"That’s fine as well. Tomorrow I’ll petition His Majesty, but Lord Tang, you must take the lead on this matter." Zuo Yuan said with a smile.

Tang Bai nodded slightly.

Reorganizing manpower means he can no longer remain as leisurely at Wenlin Garden as now.

Seeing this, Zuo Yuan didn’t say much more but casually glanced inside the hall.

"Lord Tang, look, Chu Ming has started writing, hasn’t he? The first few words don’t seem bad."

"Oh?" Tang Bai was somewhat surprised and followed his gaze, "With less than half an incense stick left, he’s written out nine words... ten words... eleven..."

As he spoke, he saw the words flow from the young man in white’s pen, as if they had already been deduced and engraved in his mind, just now being written down.

To think for half a time and then sketch lines, could one decipher fifteen words like this?

Tang Bai’s gaze remained fixed, and the surprise on his face increased with each word on the paper.

Chu Ming’s brush continued to mark ink, and the word count continued to climb.

At twenty words, Tang Bai’s look of surprise grew into delight.

Deducing twenty words from lines meant Wenlin Garden indeed had gained a talent.

"Twenty-two words," Tang Bai said with seeming calm, "I wonder how many are correct?"

When Zuo Yuan saw this, a barely perceptible color flashed across the depths of his eyes, but outwardly he was also calm: "The Crown Prince’s recommendation is indeed a talent."

When Chu Ming reached the twenty-third word, his hand holding the pen paused, seemingly in thought.

Only the last bit of time remained.

"It seems twenty-three words is the limit. If all are correct, this child’s talent is not inferior to Qi Chen and Pei Yi."

Tang Bai’s eyes showed appreciation.

Zuo Yuan nodded in agreement.

"Twenty-three words?"

Chu Ming lowered his eyelids, looking at the few words at the bottom of the page, his eyes flickering slightly.

There were twenty-three words uncovered, and a covered portion of his arm contained seven more, totaling thirty words.

Zuo Yuan, the Prime Minister of this dynasty, happened to come here by chance?

For what purpose did he come?

His visit to Wenlin Garden was for matters beyond the Mountain Scripture, to also discover something from this Left Minister.

"Time’s up."

Tang Bai was the first to enter the hall.

Qi Chen and Pei Yi reluctantly put down their pens, Luu Xi had long since stopped, while Chu Ming slowly placed down the pen.

Tang Bai first looked at the dense characters of Qi Chen and Pei Yi.

"Qi Chen twenty-three words, Pei Yi twenty-two words."

Each had twenty-five words on their pages, but the last few were written haphazardly under pressure, so they were naturally incorrect.

Left Minister Zuo Yuan then looked at Luu Xi’s decoding.

"Luu Xi wrote twenty-eight words; I don’t know how many are correct, Lord Tang, please have a look."

Tang Bai took the answer sheet, glanced over it, and nodded, saying: "Twenty-eight words, all correct."

’Twenty-eight all correct’ struck like a heavy hammer on Qi Chen and Pei Yi’s chests, making them feel stifled.

He deciphered more words in half the time, clearly showing his ability was above the two of them.

But who wants to admit they are inferior to others?

Tang Bai didn’t show much expression and then moved to the back row to look at Chu Ming’s decoding.

At first glance, twenty-three words came into view, each precise, well-formed, and graceful, demonstrating the strong control of the brush.

Further down, there were seven more words.

Tang Bai was momentarily stunned, then more delight bloomed on his face.

Thirty words, not a single mistake.

"Chu Ming, thirty words." Tang Bai picked up the paper and announced after another look.

Only thirty...

How many?

Qi Chen and Pei Yi were initially disdainful, but ’thirty’ flashed like thunder in their minds, leaving their expressions stiff and expressionless.

Luu Xi’s eyebrows puckered slightly, a trace of violence flitting across his eyes, but he concealed it well.

As for Prime Minister Zuo Yuan, it would be difficult for ordinary people to notice any subtle changes in his emotions.

Without using the Sword Gourd Spirit’s observation, even Chu Ming wouldn’t have noticed the anger hidden in his eyes. It reminded him of Shen Yu’s evaluation of Zuo Yuan—old fox.

"A talent, Lord Tang, a true talent, with a gift beyond even Luu Xi’s." Zuo Yuan looked at Chu Ming appreciatively.

Beyond Luu Xi?

Luu Xi had deciphered twenty-eight words in just half a time and would absolutely surpass thirty words given a full time.