Chapter 459: Learning Fell Among Mortals, the Cloud-Lying Young Master!

【"A gentleman is not a vessel; he is inclusive, not partisan."】

【"When three people walk together, one of them must be my teacher."】

【Several passages Hua An read were all from the Sacred Words, nothing unusual—everybody in Da Qi was thoroughly familiar with them.】

【Except for the first line, he had never heard it before.】

【"The wind, the rain, the sound of books—each sound enters the ear. Family matters, state matters, matters of the world—each matter concerns the heart."】

【Even Hua An, a physician, could not help but admire. The words rolled off the tongue like a perfectly crafted couplet, yet concealed profound meaning that lingered in the mind.】

Hua An did not believe the boy had written it himself; he assumed it was merely copied.

【But the ink strokes of the annotations stood out remarkably.】

【Hua An picked up the book; aside from the printed black characters from oil ink.】

【The marginal notes, however, were neat and precise, identical to the printed text.】

【Curious, he flipped forward through the pages. At first, the handwriting was crooked and clumsy, like a child's first attempts.】

【Yet after just a few pages, the script became upright and orderly, indistinguishable from the printed characters.】

【Hua An, astonished, asked: "Are these characters written by the Young Master?"】

【You nodded faintly.】

【Hua An frowned: "It seems the Young Master has never been taught calligraphy?"】

【You smiled: "Never. I never removed the blindfold during the day—only at night, by moonlight, I copied the characters from the book."】

【Hua An found it hard to believe. He had seen the handwriting of many Young Masters and Young Ladies in the Xie household—some impressive, yes, but all had been guided from childhood.】

【Yet Xie Guan, with no model to copy, and as a boy with impaired sight, had produced such precise script.】

【As the saying goes: handwriting reflects the man.】

【Xie Hong, the Second Courtyard Master, was famed for his calligraphy; legend says the inkwell where he washed his brushes turned black, a celebrated tale.】

【Hua An often came to this small courtyard not only because it didn't unsettle him like other Xie household courtyards, but also because, though he was the Xie family's official physician, he was in truth their servant.】

【To be in the same room as his master made him feel like he sat on needles.】

【But in this small courtyard, though Xie Guan was also a Xie family scion, he carried no airs—making Hua An feel no pressure. That was one reason.】

【Second, perhaps, was that this Young Master Xie, though young, possessed an adult-like composure.】

【The boy conducted himself with propriety, showed filial devotion, and radiated an indefinable aura that drew Hua An near.】

【Pity—Xie Guan's status was awkward; he would likely never rise to prominence in the Xie household.】

【Hua An asked: "I heard Lady Yuan hired a tutor for Young Master Guan. It's nearly the end of winter—why hasn't he arrived yet?"】

【Wutong, beside him, spoke indignantly: "The maids from the Main Courtyard say one tutor recently caught a cold—he'll have to wait until next year."】

【"The other came six days ago, but only left Young Master two books: The Zuo Commentary of the Four States and The Doctrine of the Mean, along with selected writings and annotations by renowned Confucian scholars. He said Young Master must memorize them before he returns."】

【"But together, those two books exceed seventy thousand characters—add the annotations, and it's nearly four hundred thousand."】

【"This isn't teaching—it's deliberate cruelty disguised as instruction."】

【Your face showed no anger.】

【Hua An suddenly remembered someone: "Could this be Master Dong from Changning Street?"】

【Wutong sighed: "Yes—Master Dong Shao, the Licentiate."】

【Hua An chuckled: "That's just him. He has learning, but he's stubborn and rigid. He passed the Licentiate exam at fifteen—yet after thirty years, he's still just a Licentiate."】

【There's a saying in Da Qi: "Thirty is old for a Mingjing, fifty is young for a Metropolitan Graduate."】

【This shows how hard the imperial examination is. Beyond personal talent, one needs powerful patrons. During Emperor Qi Zhang's reign, four hundred years ago, examinations were "unsealed"—candidates had to state their names, hometowns, addresses, ancestral official positions, and their teachers.】

【As a result, officials were mostly drawn from noble families. Only later, when the Master reformed the system—introducing sealed exams and assigning questions solely to Academy professors—did this change.】

【The Master of Da Qi is not merely the head of the Academy—he is the greatest scholar of the age, succeeding the previous Master upon his death.】

【Since Da Qi's founding, forty emperors have ruled, two capitals moved, dynasties risen and fallen, and even a restoration by Emperor Wen—now the empire has endured over twelve hundred years.】

【Since its founding, the Academy has had only two Masters.】

【The First Master returned to the mortal world two hundred years after ascending to heaven, founded the Academy, took disciples, and died there, leaving the scholarly lineage to Da Qi.】

【Learning had fallen among mortals!】

【The Second Master still lives today—he journeyed east to the Eastern Sea two hundred years ago seeking immortals, and has not returned.】

【In the south, the Buddha founded a religion; his disciples are born with lotuses blooming overnight, and the eastern wall of every temple crumbles.】

【In the north, the Tartars worship the Eternal Heaven, and the Nur family's destined sovereign reigns; the Esoteric School records the Red Emperor descending to earth.】

【In the west, the Sui dynasty rose in four hundred years; Emperor Cheng of Sui, as a child, wandered into a fairy realm and stirred the winds of the world.】

【In the martial world, a swordsman watched the tides for twenty years, then cut the river in half with one stroke; a fisherman's son read books as a dragon maiden emerged from the sea to hold them; a half-demon boy gathered demons and spirits, raised a dragon palace on Dezehu Lake.】

【Yet amid all these changes, with mighty figures rising everywhere, the Academy's Master remains unquestionably first among all—no one in the past twelve hundred years has disputed this.】

【The Academy has no name—only "Academy." Built in Bianjing, it is not merely the sacred place where noble families send their sons to study, but the highest seat of Confucian learning in all the land.】

【Now, the Master has only four disciples—each a towering figure of the age.】

【In Da Qi, passing the Metropolitan Graduate exam allows one to cultivate using the empire's fortune—called a Grand Secretary; the strong can match six hundred armored soldiers.】

A Licentiate in Da Qi holds high status; serving as an elementary teacher is more than sufficient.

【Hua An smiled: "Master Dong may be stubborn, but his heart is good. Otherwise, with his learning, how could he end up so pitifully in the Xie household?"】

【"The Young Masters and Young Ladies of the Xie household despise him—he reads obsessively, ignorant of human relations. These golden branches and jade leaves are treasures in the courtyards' ladies' hands."】

【"If anything displeases him, he whips their hands—or expels them from the classroom."】

【"When the courtyard ladies pleaded for him, Master Dong refused to yield. Eventually, they removed him from his post as tutor in the Xie family academy."】

【Wutong, hearing this, felt a flicker of surprise.】

【She had never imagined the white-haired old man in Confucian robes, who came days ago, was such a passionate soul.】

【She had thought he deliberately tormented their powerless master and servant—but now, it seemed there was more to it.】

【Hua An smiled: "Young Master Guan, what do you think of Master Dong?"】

【He wanted to hear the views of this young yet mature "Young Master."】

【You smiled: "No better than Dr. Hua!"】

【Hua An stroked his beard and laughed.】

【Wutong glanced at her Young Master with curiosity.】

【Tea boiled on the stove, bubbling "gurgle-gurgle," pushing the lid.】

【Outside, snow fell like goose feathers, blanketing the world in silver.】

【Wutong added firewood; the room grew warm.】

【Hua An recounted recent amusing events; Wutong listened most attentively.】

【The Xie household should have split long ago—but after the palace coup they participated in, the eldest Xie fell into misfortune, leaving only Xie Ling and Xie Hong.】

【Xie Ling and Xie Hong grew estranged; their relationship was no longer harmonious.】

【Grandmother Xie feared greater upheaval ahead, so she decided to delay the split—instead, dividing the Xie household into two courtyards.】

【The Main Courtyard is managed by Lady Yuan, Xie Ling's lawful wife, who is also the legitimate matriarch of the Xie family, overseeing all household affairs.】

【The Second Courtyard is managed by Lady Zhao, Xie Hong's lawful wife; the two courtyards secretly feud.】

【Of the two Xie bloodlines, the Main Courtyard is destined to inherit the Marquis title.】

【The Second Courtyard has no such claim—but Xie Hong now cultivates ties with the empire's top officials. In his youth, he studied hard, was filial and courteous, and gifted beyond measure—he nearly became the Master's fifth disciple.】

【Lady Yuan, though years have passed since Xie Hong's return, still harbors some fear of him.】

【With Grandmother Xie still alive, the two courtyards dare not openly clash.】

【But the "rivalry" plays out in the upbringing of the next generation.】

【Otherwise, why would Lady Yuan make such a grand fuss over Xie Yu's recent academic progress, rewarding both courtyards?】

【Wutong, who chatted with maids from other courtyards, knew none of the Xie household's inner turmoil—unlike Hua An, whose family had served as Xie family physicians for generations. She listened, wide-eyed with curiosity.】

【You suddenly spoke: "Wutong, there's a visitor outside."】

【Wutong was startled, but knew that since the Young Master lost his sight, his hearing had become extraordinarily sharp.】

【He often heard movements beyond the courtyard gate.】

【Wutong wondered—who would come to this small courtyard on such a freezing day?】

【She opened the door and saw eight or nine people clustered around a Young Master, trudging through deep snow, one step deep, one shallow.】

【Wutong frowned, turning back: "It's Young Master Yuan from the Main Courtyard—brought a theater troupe. I wonder why he came here."】

【Hua An, hearing it was Young Master Yuan from the Main Courtyard, immediately rose from the heated bed.】

【Xie Yuan, thirteen years old, is the second son of Xie Ling's concubine, Lady Zhuge—a woman from the Nine Great Clans; the current Empress Dowager herself bears the Zhuge surname.】

【Lady Zhuge and Xie Ling grew up together; had Lady Yuan not intervened, she would have been the lawful wife. Xie Ling feels guilty toward her.】

【Xie Yuan is the fifth among his generation in the Main Courtyard and deeply favored by his father. He is Lady Zhuge's second son; her first died young, so she dotes on this only surviving son.】

【From childhood, Xie Yuan grew up spoiled and extravagant.】

【On the streets of Bianjing, if he saw a kite and found it amusing, he would buy a thousand at once and fly them wildly across the city.】

【When the wind carried them away, he even dispatched imperial guards to retrieve them. If children picked them up, he wouldn't be angry—he'd pay a hundred taels to buy them back.】

【If he saw something he liked in the market and the vendor quoted too low a price, he'd grow displeased—insisting on raising the price himself before he'd be satisfied to take it.】

【As for books and studies, to Xie Yuan they were torture—he longed for the martial world of promises worth a thousand taels and swift vengeance.】

【Now thirteen, he long ago grew weary of the dullness and constraints of the classroom, spending every day immersed in martial cultivation, ignoring all scholarly matters.】

【Lady Zhuge, his mother, seemed to impose no restraint.】

【Gradually, Xie Yuan declared himself the "Cloud-Lying Young Master," demanding that everyone in the household—servants and maids alike—address him by this title. Anyone who called him wrong suffered a beating; the maids of the Main Courtyard all trembled at the name, avoiding him entirely.】

【Even more astonishing: Xie Yuan often gifted the household's beautiful young maids to beggars on the street.】

Wu Tong felt uneasy; she had heard the other maids talk about this Young Master Xie, knowing he was notoriously capricious, so she naturally stepped closer to you.

Before you could rise to greet him, Xie Yuan had already strides into the room.

Hua An quickly bowed and said, "Greetings, Lord Wo Yun!"

You were veiled in white gauze, accustomed to not relying on sight; you heard only the scuffling of footsteps, snickers, and an overpowering fragrance—clearly, Xie Yuan's entourage had entered.

Wu Tong looked at the group behind Xie Yuan; they were all handsome youths of fourteen or fifteen, dressed in splendid attire, radiant and spirited.

They were all entertainers from the opera house, skilled in playing instruments, singing, and reciting, each with his own specialty. In Da Qi, it was common among scholars to keep courtesans, and many favored male companionship—especially among the literati, where this practice was widespread.

Wealthy households often kept fair-skinned, delicate boy servants to avoid tarnishing their family's reputation.

Xie Yuan adored listening to stories, so he was always surrounded by a retinue of entertainers, ready to amuse him at any moment.

This was Wu Tong's first time meeting Lord Wo Yun.

He wore a fox-fur cloak, tall and slender, with a silver belt around his waist bearing a slingshot, a jade-inlaid sword pinned to his left side, a long-life locket hanging from his chest, a tall crown on his head, refined features, and extremely thin lips.

His sleepy, crescent-shaped eyes exuded an unmistakable charm.

It was said that Xie Yuan bore a striking resemblance to his father, Xie Ling, in his youth, which earned him deep favor from Grandmother Xie.

Xie Yuan glanced at Hua An and smiled, "Hua the physician, you're here too? Then my trip wasn't wasted."

Hua An's heart tightened at those words. He had once been tested by Xie Yuan on medical skill—ordered to feel the pulse of a woman and deduce whether her unborn child had developed limbs, then to cut open her abdomen to verify—so terrified that the woman had knelt and begged for mercy.

That experience still haunted Hua An.

Thus, faced with Xie Yuan's question, he forced a faint smile but dared not reply lightly.

He feared that one misstep in speech might invite Xie Yuan's cruelty.

Xie Yuan's visit to Young Master Guan's residence was likely not benign.

(End of Chapter)