Gengyang Reading Studio
In times of peace one may sing and dance, but in chaotic times one writes no poetry. Better an incapable man in a well-governed age than a useful minister in a benighted court.
The culprit behind the endless turmoil in the Wulin stirred up by each issue of the "Jianghu Bulletin."
The scholars of the Gengyang Reading Studio are unmatched in pride, and every one of them is a recluse whose talent crowns the age. They till the fields in the countryside, unswayed by vanity and unenvious of fame. When Chancellor Shi Miyuan sent men to invite them, they were all driven out of the Reading Studio with sticks.
The master of the Studio once said: in times of peace one may sing and dance, but in chaotic times one writes no poetry. Better an incapable man in a well-governed age than a useful minister in a benighted court. Only when no one in the world dies of cold will they leave the mountains and sing of peace across the four seas. Until then they would sooner die than eat a single measure of the Imperial Court's grain, to show that their reading serves Heaven, Earth, and Man, not the whims of a single ruler.
Jianghu Bulletin
"This is a matter recorded in the Jianghu Bulletin! Do you dare doubt the great scholars of the Gengyang Reading Studio?"
To learn the latest news of the Jianghu from the mountains, there is nothing for it but to read the paper.
Published once a month, its contents include strange tales and anecdotes of the Jianghu, as well as serialized wuxia novels. How much is true and how much invented, only those involved know.
Zhao Huo can buy it from for 950 wen.
Stamps
The Gengyang Reading Studio has always printed only the Jianghu Bulletin; other works of their brush are hard to come by at any price.
At the paper's founding, short on funds, they made a promise to promote it: loyal readers who held the special stamp of the inaugural issue could collect the stamps from the foot of later issues and mail them back to the Gengyang Reading Studio in exchange for calligraphy and paintings by famous masters.
The inaugural issue is exceedingly rare, only a hundred copies printed, and who knows how many have been trampled and destroyed as they drifted through the Jianghu. Tang Sheng, a scholar, has bought it since the inaugural issue and only stopped in the last two years. At Nangong's Birthday Banquet there is a chance to use his stamps to exchange for calligraphy and paintings as gifts.
Secret Manuals
Notes
- Zhao Huo's scrawled calligraphy and paintings were taken by the Gengyang Reading Studio as possibly the hand of Du Fu, and bought up for study.
- Wei Ju, Shangguan Ying, and Nangong Shen once studied here together.
- Nangong Yuan once placed a missing-person notice in the paper while searching for Wang Erzhuang.
- In the Legend of the Wulin ending, the Gengyang Reading Studio compiles Zhao Huo's deeds into a book and publishes it in the market under the title Legend of Mortal.
Thanks to the activity of fan works, it has gradually drifted toward becoming the Longyang Reading Studio, and there is said to be even a Biai Tower branch.