Chapter 29

“Whether you buy or not is another matter—I’ll just try the corner scarf on the young master first, to see how it looks.” The shopkeeper warmly placed the corner scarf on Wang Yang, then stepped back to admire him, sighing: “Perfect, perfect! Absolutely perfect! White linen robe, blue corner scarf—now you just need a blue cloud robe.”

At the time, clothing consisted of an upper garment and lower skirt; although trousers existed, those worn externally were typically paired with a short tunic called a “zhe,” together known as “ku-zhe.”

Trousers were divided into crotch-sewn trousers called “kun” and open-crotch over-trousers called “ku”; scholar-officials wearing kun usually covered them with a skirt or Shang , and exposing the kun was considered impolite or undignified.

Yet someone like Wang Yang, wearing the crotch-sewn trousers—i.e., the “kun”—directly over his outerwear, was dressed like an ordinary commoner.

The shopkeeper casually pulled out a blue cloud robe: “This is spun from ramie cloth; though not as fine as Yue cloth, it’s still top-quality material! Only four hundred coins. Try it on, just once!”

Wang Yang waved him off and reached to remove the corner scarf, when the black man suddenly said: “Sir, you look perfect in this. If you’re satisfied, buy them both.”

The black man slapped his waist knife onto the counter: “Look closely—this is a ring-hilted sword forged by the Jingzhou Armory during the time when Prince of Yuzhang served as Inspector. I’m leaving it here as collateral for the scarf and robe—you won’t be losing out.”

The Armory was the official institution responsible for forging weapons.

Wang Yang noticed that when the black man mentioned Prince of Yuzhang, he, like the former village officer before him, bowed his hands upward to the right.

“Is this the Yuzhang sword?” The shopkeeper picked it up in astonishment, caressing the scabbard, then drew the blade to examine it closely.

When Prince of Yuzhang, Xiao Ni, served as Inspector of Jingzhou, it was the most glorious era for Jingzhou.

At that time, the post of Southern Barbarian Commandant had not yet been abolished; Prince of Yuzhang concurrently commanded both the Jingzhou Garrison and the Southern Barbarian Office, serving as Inspector of both Jingzhou and Xiangzhou, with all expenses supplied directly by the court, sustaining great prosperity. In other words, he brought powerful capital to blood-transfuse Jingzhou.

Thus, grain prices and taxes were the lowest since modern times. So low, in fact, that cheap grain harmed farmers—hence, farmers were specially permitted to pay taxes in grain instead of coin, and all back taxes owed by residents were waived.

Even though Prince of Yuzhang had long left Jingzhou, he was still deeply respected and beloved by its people.

Because Prince of Yuzhang had no lack of funds, he used the finest materials to forge weapons. To quell barbarian rebellions, he personally dispatched men to supervise the Armory, producing weapons of exceptional quality, which people called “Yuzhang swords”—famous throughout the land.

“You’re not a soldier, are you?” the shopkeeper eyed the black man suspiciously.

The black man remained unfazed: “Of course not—if I were, I’d be dead for daring to pawn a military sword.”

Soldiers selling swords was a capital offense; this was precisely why he never included this sword in his fundraising calculations. Now he understood: if he couldn’t repay the money in three days, keeping the sword would only mean fighting Du Sanye to the death—and the outcome was predictable. So whether he had the sword or not made little difference.

Besides, he had personally witnessed Wang Yang securing two thousand coins in a very short time, making him even more confident in Wang Yang’s abilities.

It was like betting on Ding Jiu’s gamble: since he’d already staked his entire life on Wang Yang, one more sword didn’t matter.

Wang Yang tried to stop the black man, but the black man beat him to it, telling the shopkeeper: “Agreed—this sword is only temporarily pledged to you. I’ll return in three days with the money to redeem it.”

“If you don’t come back in three days...”

“Then the sword is yours!”

“Good. Verbal promises mean nothing—let’s put it in writing.”

After leaving the shop, Wang Yang said: “Actually, there was no need to pledge the sword.”

The black man replied: “I don’t know what the young master intends to do, but I can sense you plan everything carefully—earlier, when you asked me to buy flour, I saw that. So if you’re looking at corner scarves, there must be your reason.”

Wang Yang patted the black man: “Don’t call yourself ‘this servant’ in front of me anymore.”

The black man looked alarmed: “I dare not!”

“I’m telling you to stop—what’s there to dare? In front of others, keep it as before. Only between you and me, don’t.”

The black man had long sensed this young master was different from others; he didn’t pretend modesty, immediately clasped his fists: “Thank you, young master!”

Though merely a change in address, the black man felt their bond had grown closer.

“Prince of Yuzhang had a good reputation in Jingzhou, didn’t he?” Wang Yang probed.

“Of course! When Prince of Yuzhang governed Jingzhou, our garrison ate wheat rice every day, and even got real rice—white rice! That taste...” The black man smacked his lips, as if recalling the flavor of white rice.

“How does the current Inspector compare to Prince of Yuzhang?” Wang Yang, though trusting the black man, knew trust had limits. Since he was pretending to be from the Langya Wang clan, he couldn’t directly ask who Prince of Yuzhang was—he had to use casual conversation to extract information.

“I can’t say. I don’t understand big matters. But grain and cloth prices have skyrocketed lately, and the barbarians are growing bold,” the black man lowered his voice, “I heard a month ago, the barbarians ambushed Cao Gonglin’s outpost—over thirty men died. But the higher-ups suppressed the news; it wasn’t made public. If Prince of Yuzhang were still here, such a thing would never have happened.”

“So the current Inspector isn’t popular with the people?”

“Not exactly. After all, the Prince was raised by Prince of Yuzhang, and everyone still remembers Prince of Yuzhang’s kindness, so they’re glad he governs Jingzhou. Besides, the Prince is a mighty warrior, strong as a god—he can draw a bow of four hu strength. Who in the army doesn’t respect him?”

The Prince? Another Prince?

Of course—the Southern Dynasties always practiced the system of “Imperial Princes stationed in command.” Clearly, the current Inspector of Jingzhou was also a prince.

But why was this Prince said to have been raised by Prince of Yuzhang?

The black man, unsuspecting, asked: “Young master, where to now?”

Wang Yang set aside his questions for now, turned his hands behind his back, and said: “The Commandery School.”

Jingzhou had two commandery schools: one was the official local school, the other was the “Wangguan Academy” established by Prince of Yuzhang.

Leaving aside Prince of Yuzhang’s influence, the head of Wangguan Academy was the Hedong Liu clan—a noble family equal in status to the Langya Wang clan; Wang Yang had no intention of approaching this place.

First, he feared its arrogance and exclusivity; second, he lacked confidence in his own disguise.

So from the start, Wang Yang had set his sights on the local official school.

The official school stood in the northwest old district, encompassing classrooms, pavilions, and ponds, occupying a large area. All surrounding streets were forbidden from vending or noise.

One felt solemnity and reverence as soon as approaching.

The two asked for directions and arrived at the school gate, where beneath a ginkgo tree wide enough for three men to encircle, the black gate stood half-open, and a long couch blocked the entrance. A boy sat upon it, holding a scroll, utterly absorbed in reading.

The boy wore a curved-hem long robe and a tall black cap; Wang Yang instantly recognized this as the Confucian attire known as “fengye yi” and “zhangfu guan.”

This man was a Confucian scholar!

To guide the world and illuminate teaching, nothing precedes Confucian learning. The foundation of Confucian learning lies first in the Five Classics.

The study of the Five Classics was called “Classic Learning.”

Though metaphysics and Buddhism flourished in the Southern and Northern Dynasties, official schools never wavered from Classic Learning.

A Confucian scholar in Confucian attire at the school gate was not unusual.

What was strange was the couch placed outside—was this some custom he didn’t know?

Wang Yang stepped forward: “Excuse me—”

“Here to see the Sacrificial Master?” the scholar asked casually, his eyes never leaving his scroll.

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Note: ① Although Confucian attire had evolved since the Warring States period, the basic form remained unchanged: a one-piece long robe (ancient “shenyi”) and a black cap (also called “zibu guan”). Given the location—outside the commandery school—Wang Yang could instantly identify it as Confucian attire.

② Cao Gonglin lies northeast of Jingzhou city, traditionally said to be where Cao Cao stationed his troops. The Taiping Yulan cites the Jiangling Records: “Twelve li northeast of the city lies Cao Gonglin. It is said that in the thirteenth year of Jian’an, Cao Cao pursued Liu Bei at Dangyang’s Changban, then turned back and camped here, hence the name Cao Gonglin.”