[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-my-life-as-a-rising-force-in-the-red-chamber":3,"chapter-my-life-as-a-rising-force-in-the-red-chamber-my-life-as-a-rising-force-in-the-red-chamber-chapter-3":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","My Life as a Rising Force in the Red Chamber",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2310801,4515,"Chapter 3: Couplets","my-life-as-a-rising-force-in-the-red-chamber-chapter-3",3,"\u003Cp>Aunt Zhao was not a household-born slave of the Jia Family; she was a new purchase made ten years ago by Lai Da, steward of Rongguo Prefecture.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ten years ago, Aunt Zhao’s former master fell into disgrace, and all the household slaves were to be sold; Lai Da’s family saw she was well-behaved and decent-looking, carrying an infant still in swaddling clothes, and bought her to be Jia Cong’s wet nurse.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Aunt Zhao’s husband died a few years ago; she and her only son, Guo Zhi, live in a single-story house on the back street of Rongguo Prefecture, where many dependents of household-born slaves from Ningguo and Rongguo Prefectures reside.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Early this morning, Aunt Zhao sent her son to paste up the couplets Jia Cong had written.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The vermilion paper used for writing the couplets was specially bought by Aunt Zhao; this paper is bright red, a cheap, low-quality type commonly purchased by common folk for couplets, and when sniffed closely, emits a pungent odor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The couplet reads: Spring arrives before the hall, bringing auspicious qi; the sun shines upon the courtyard, stirring forth blessed light.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The characters on the couplet are warm, elegant, graceful, and ethereal, with an extraordinary charm that strikes the eye with instant awe.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Soon after the couplets were posted, anyone passing by that gate—whether literate or not—could not help but glance several times.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But one middle-aged scholar passing by stopped before the couplets and stood there for a long time, his face filled with shock and awe.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jia Cong never had much spare money and could not afford other miscellaneous books; before his injury, he was neither enthusiastic nor averse to reading.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His cousin Jia Zheng, of equally dull talent, had a fate as distant as heaven and earth from his own.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After enduring a brutal beating, he suddenly became devoted to reading, which delighted Zhi Shao greatly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The instructor at the clan school was Jia Dairu, who had failed the imperial examinations his entire life—a dry, rigid, old-fashioned scholar.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jia Dairu was pitiable, but a man so stiff and conservative could hardly possess any real insight or originality in classical interpretation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Based on the original body’s lingering memories and Jia Cong’s understanding of the Red Chamber narrative, he had little interest in attending the Jia clan’s school.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After speaking, Zhi Shao stole a glance at Jia Cong and saw no trace of grievance on his face; his expression was calm, revealing no hint of joy or anger.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was because Jia Dashan had submitted a final memorial to the Emperor before his death that Jia Zheng, a poor scholar, received the official post of fifth-rank Assistant Minister of Public Works.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet inside the room, apart from a few basic primers, there were only a few incomplete copies of the Four Books.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jia Dairu, from a minor branch of the family, could only eke out a living by teaching in the clan school.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He lost his father in youth, his son in middle age, spent his life studying, yet achieved nothing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This old scholar was a tragic figure forged by this rigid, cold-blooded clan.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the cramped courtyard, Jia Cong looked at Zhi Shao’s pale face and asked: “Didn’t you get the monthly allowance?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although he strictly disciplined his only grandson Jia Rui, his education was undoubtedly a failure.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Perhaps aware that reading was his only path forward, he was of average talent; whether he could succeed in study was another matter entirely.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Since Jia Cong began recovering from his injuries, Zhi Shao had noticed he suddenly became diligent, reading every book he could find in the house over and over again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though not a high official, it was a prestigious Beijing post many third-rank jinshi struggled their entire lives to attain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“If they didn’t give it, then they didn’t give it—we won’t starve in this courtyard. I’ll find a way to handle reading myself.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Otherwise, he wouldn’t have failed the examination until his beard turned white.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jia Rui ultimately remained morally corrupt; he spied lustfully on Feng Jie and was tricked and destroyed by the “Feng the Fiend.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhi Shao remained silent, then stammered after a long while: “Wang Shanbao’s wife said Grandmaster Jia has ordered Third Young Master to stop studying.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What could one learn from such a hollow, ineffectual scholar? Before finding a true master, it’s better to study alone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In his past life, he had studied literature and history, with considerable exposure to Sinology; in that era of countless lecture platforms, he had accumulated some perspective and insight.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though insufficient to pass the examinations, his viewpoint and methods for studying classical texts far surpassed those of his contemporaries.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Moreover, Jia Dairu managed the clan school carelessly, even entrusting its administration to his unreliable grandson Jia Rui.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The school had long been turned into a chaotic mess by lazy, idle students; later, the dissolute Xue Pan came not to study but to pursue homosexual desires. Such a disgraceful place—better to avoid it entirely.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But not wanting to attend the clan school did not mean he didn’t want to read.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Reading was his only path to redemption; if he could not read, he would remain abused in this eastern courtyard, and by fifteen or sixteen, be officially cast out of the Jia Family to fend for himself.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He did not wish to live out this life in shameful, lowly obscurity.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He must devise a way to read legitimately; if Jia She and his wife insisted on being stumbling blocks, he would quietly remove them without notice.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though outwardly bound by filial piety and propriety, he would never defy these two; inwardly, he felt no filial affection, and they were determined to torment him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Quick footsteps echoed in the courtyard; Jia Cong saw Aunt Zhao walking in with a broad smile.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jia Cong asked curiously: “Why are you so pleased, Auntie? Did something good happen?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Aunt Zhao laughed: “It’s good news indeed! Brother hasn’t received his monthly allowance for a long time, and your recovery has cost much; now the famine is over.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She placed a ten-tael silver ingot on the table and said: “Take it, use it—buy paper, brushes, and good food as you please.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jia Cong knew this silver ingot nearly equaled half a year’s allowance for Aunt Zhao; because of him, her monthly stipend was often shortchanged by Lady Xing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fortunately, her son worked as a coachman in the Western Prefecture, where they never withheld his allowance; otherwise, life would have been unbearable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thus, she could never have produced so much silver on her own—Jia Cong knew there was another reason behind it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“They say scholars are precious—Brother wrote just one couplet, and I pasted it on the gate; now so many people stand there staring.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Then an old scholar passed by, loved the couplet so much he insisted on buying it for ten taels.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jia Cong and Zhi Shao were stunned—those dozen or so characters written yesterday were worth ten taels.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just yesterday, they had been angry over Wang Shanbao’s wife cutting their monthly allowance by two taels.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The old scholar said the characters were divine-grade, unlike anything he’d ever seen, and asked whose masterwork they were.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“When he heard they were written by a young master of Rongguo Prefecture—and that the boy is only ten—he refused to believe it, repeatedly saying, ‘The young are formidable indeed.’”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Aunt Zhao laughed heartily; her own nursling possessing such talent meant she had finally shown her face with pride.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jia Cong was puzzled—the old scholar must have been a learned man; could he not recognize the calligraphic style he was imitating?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In his past life, his maternal grandfather was the most renowned scroll-mounting master in southern Jiangnan.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Traditionally, skilled mounters were also accomplished calligraphers and painters, deeply cultured and broadly knowledgeable, otherwise they could never become masters of their craft.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His grandfather was precisely such a man, especially skilled in calligraphy; Jia Cong had learned solid foundations in calligraphy from him since childhood.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Later, while working at the provincial museum, he accidentally encountered a damaged, unnamed calligraphy scroll.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The scroll contained both regular and running script, tracing its lineage back to the Two Wangs, inheriting the Wei-Jin tradition, absorbing the essence of numerous Song and Yuan masters, and forming its own distinct school.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The script was exquisite and unparalleled, rivaling the greatest calligraphers of the Song and Yuan dynasties.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The man who wrote this calligraphy should have been famous, but because the scroll itself was incomplete, the author could not be identified.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only through paper analysis could it be determined the writer lived during the Yuan or Ming dynasties.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though the Red Chamber obscures the dynasty’s timeline, its setting clearly resembles the Ming and Qing dynasties, close to the era of the anonymous calligrapher.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>All scholars seeking advancement in office must master fine calligraphy; such exquisite, unique script should be widely known.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had assumed people of this era might recognize the origin of this script.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the old scholar was only astonished that a ten-year-old had written it, as if he did not recognize it as an imitation of any known style.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A quiet realization stirred within him; since awakening, he had been confined to this cramped, dilapidated courtyard.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He knew nothing of the outside world—what dynasty it was, how much it deviated from his historical memory.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To survive better in this world, he must know these things.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Now we have silver—I’m not fully recovered yet, so I can’t go out. Tomorrow, Auntie, buy me some books and Xuan paper.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Aunt Zhao said: “That’s easy—Wenhann Street has the largest bookstore in the capital; they have books, paper, brushes—all you need. You can go there and buy them directly.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of Chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>",1620,"2026-06-20T12:19:54.434Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","8700de33c887683f617b2414e59243ec8383352a968e9c129b3eaf67eb0788a4","my-life-as-a-rising-force-in-the-red-chamber-chapter-4","my-life-as-a-rising-force-in-the-red-chamber-chapter-2",920,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fmy-life-as-a-rising-force-in-the-red-chamber-cover.jpg"]