Chapter 320: What Cannot Happen Again?

【My disciple, in spring, sees kin mirror:】

It has been a long time since we parted; we have not yet met, and I miss you greatly.

That day I rejected you with rules of status and propriety, treating you coldly for a long while; after much thought during this prolonged separation, I realize I am still quite at fault.

Fortunately, you still treat me as before, accommodating me in everything and sending constant reports.

In these turbulent times, I have wandered everywhere following the Wise Lord; the road ahead is perilous, and everyone avoids it.

Only you, each time selflessly without hesitation; when our great undertaking was in distress, you repeatedly gave all you had, never once shirking or delaying.

I have seen and kept in my heart your selfless devotion.

Actually, upon reflection, worldly rites and teacher-student titles are ultimately just fleeting clouds.

Your sincere devotion to me has remained unchanged for years; such deep affection moves even an iron-hearted stone......

...... 【smudge】

....... But now, as I follow the Wise Lord in raising this righteous cause at a critical life-and-death juncture, I truly have no mind for romantic entanglements.

How about this: you temporarily lend me five thousand taels of silver to relieve my urgent need?

I know this sum is not small, but I trust your sincere heart toward me; you would surely not bear to see my years of effort go to waste.

If you are willing to help me again, I will properly weigh our bond and will no longer treat you coldly by rigid rules.

Awaiting good news.

【Your teacher Chen Weifang writes this by hand.】

Chen Weifang set down his brush, examined the letter once over, and couldn't help but be amused by his own hypocrisy.

The calligraphy on this letter, however, is his usual flowing dragon-like brushwork.

The only flaw is that, midway, he felt so disgusted with himself that he couldn't hold the brush steady, resulting in a blot.

That blot on the thin, translucent, bright xuan paper is indeed glaring, but fortunately the purpose of this letter was never to show how sincere he is, but rather......

Let the willing take the bait.

Therefore, Chen Weifang did not prepare another copy, but simply stuffed it into the already prepared envelope.

However, at the moment the envelope's opening was about to be sealed, he hesitated a bit, picked up his brush again, and wrote a small line near the seal:

【If the silver can be gathered by month's end, perhaps we can meet at the western pavilion under the moon.】

After saying that, Chen Weifang finally breathed a sigh of relief, took a short honey candle from nearby, dripped a few drops on the paper's edge, and then affixed his personal seal.

Once the seal was set, the letter was complete.

Before him still lay a mountain of official documents, which by rights should have been dealt with sooner.

Yet after finishing this letter, Chen Weifang did not plunge into his usual battle with paperwork; instead, a vague bewilderment lingered in his brows and eyes.

He vaguely sensed something was off, but that feeling was too faint to grasp or pin down, leaving him momentarily dazed.

Chen Weifang rarely experiences such a state.

The last time was when his parents had both died; he guarded their remains while staying in an empty half of a small courtyard.

Why was it only half?

Naturally, because his parents were dead, the clan's elder Shu, following custom, reclaimed land and houses according to the number of adult males.

The so-called 'ding' refers to males, adult males.

Although he came from a poor family, his household still had some ancestral heritage and a few wealthy relatives.

They were usually the clan's most 'orthodox' branches; whether to win over collateral lines or to avoid poor relatives losing face when going out, they would typically fund building houses and dividing fields.

But this 'ding' right must be repaid.

When a clan male is born, he receives a share; upon his death, it is reclaimed and given to the next newborn male.

Not to mention father-to-son, son-to-son......

More terrifying than state law are often the clan's rites, etiquette, and family rules.

Under these layered rules, unless one stands high enough to be seen, ordinary people never have any breathing room.

Back then, he stood in that courtyard that had been halved, just as bewildered as he is today.

The uncle who had just added a male to his household was still relatively well-off; he did not come to live in the half that had been taken away, but instead rented out that house.....

Thus his originally intact home was forcibly cut in half.

There he guarded his parents, wanting to weep, but before he could, the butcher who sold raw meat in that household loudly scolded the woman, told her to boil water, and then joked and played with the seven or eight children of various sizes......

The scent of boiling water seeped through the window cracks into his nostrils, mingling with the gradually rotting stench of his parents' corpses.

Chen Weifang often feels that he probably went mad back then.

But his madness is not as heart-wrenching and pitiable as Chinu's.

If one must describe it, it's as if someone lightly stabbed him years ago; he thought it was nothing serious, so he never looked back, continuing to struggle and numbly move forward......

However, however.

When, years later, he felt somewhat weary and wanted to lower his head to recuperate, he suddenly realized his body had long since rotted and begun to stink.

That stab, that stab, had already killed him long ago.

But he himself had not yet realized it, so he dragged his corpse along for many years.

And now he even wants to sell this corpse for a good price.

Night presses against the eaves, the moonlight like a mirror.

The lingeringly refined scholar in the study ultimately dare not face himself, so he closes his eyes to avoid it.

Chen Weifang thought that if he just relaxed a bit, he could still go on.

But he never expected that before he could even finish calming down, footsteps sounded at the study door.

The steps were hurried, not light; they did not sound like those of Chinu or the Wise Lord.

Chen Weifang was still wondering who would come tonight when he opened his eyes and saw the little ancestor who had just left a moment ago push the door open and walk in again.

Chinu completely changed from the previous whole-body chill when he left; now he can be described as beaming:

"Afang! Let me tell you a piece of good news, and another even better piece of good news; which do you want to hear first?"

What nonsense!

What nonsense!

Not sleeping late at night, coming here to let him make a decision, right?

Chen Weifang felt somewhat helpless, and for a moment didn't notice that the hint of bewilderment in his heart had faded.

"...... What good news could there be? Don't tell me it's that the Wise Lord finally let you keep those two oxen......"

Silly Saner is still as before, his temper as big as ever, but he's easily coaxed.

It's just twenty taels of silver, not five thousand taels; what's there to be so overjoyed about?

You need to know, he's now about to sell himself to raise money!

Chen Weifang wanted to let out a long sigh, urging everyone to hurry back to sleep.

But what he never expected was that Chinu actually shook his head repeatedly, picked up the pen he had previously set aside on the table, and with a raise of his hand wrote a character.

Chinu's handwriting, he knows, is not as cool and flowing as his, but also clear and handsome, vigorous and charming, containing vigor.

Therefore, when that character truly landed, it genuinely startled Chen Weifang.

The startle was not only due to the character's natural perfection, but also its meaning.

Chen Weifang stared intently at that large 【Rui】 character several times before slowly raising his head to look at Chinu.

From the moment Chinu entered the door, his brows and eyes held a smile, as if dazedly fallen into a grand beautiful dream.

His brows and eyes were gentle, harmless, pure.

Not like the former Chinu whose fierce reputation spread abroad, shouting to beat and kill anyone.

On the contrary......

On the contrary, somewhat like that, only appearing in Chinu's mouth, once famed for beauty surpassing Gold Hill, yet foolish and easily deceived; no matter how many said they'd take her away, she would willingly give her true heart, that courtesan.

Chinu spoke in a voice like delirium, murmuring softly:

"The Wife Master said, from now on our child's single name will be the character 【Rui】."

"From now on, if she can become emperor, she will let our child become emperor."

?? Waiting for the Moon in the West Wing: from Yuan Zhen's "Moon Bright, Three-Five Nights", 【Waiting for the Moon in the West Wing below, the wind-facing door half open. The flower shadows on the wall sway, as if a jade person comes.】

? Unlike the phrase 'Tryst at Wu Mountain', this word focuses more on private meetings, private agreements, leaning toward encounters, not directly referring to sexual relations.

? Why not return again: from Li Shangyin's "Jade Pond", 【The Jade Pond's mother opens her lovely window, the sound of yellow bamboo songs shakes the earth with sorrow. The eight steeds travel thirty thousand li a day; King Mu, why not return again?】

? The last two lines of the poem describe the psychological activity of the Queen Mother of the West not seeing King Mu: the eight steeds that King Mu rides fly swiftly, able to travel thirty thousand li a day; if he wanted to come, it would be as easy as turning over one's hand, yet why hasn't he come as promised?