Chapter 285: Thoughts
Jianle City, a quiet residence adjacent to the Liangzhe Circuit Guild Hall.
Wu Jie entered the main gate with hurried steps, heading straight for the back garden.
Mr. Dongxi sat in a pavilion where a cool breeze blew, writing letters one by one.
“Teacher,” Wu Jie entered the cool pavilion and bowed in greeting.
“Sit,” Mr. Dongxi said without looking up, “Did you see Minister Wang? What did he say?”
“I did. Minister Wang said he already knows about the Young Lord’s invitation for you to lecture, and that the Young Lord asked him to preside over the literary gathering. Minister Wang said he has already agreed,” Wu Jie’s brows remained slightly furrowed.
“Hmm?” Mr. Dongxi paused his writing and gestured to Wu Jie, “Make yourself some tea, and wait for me to finish this letter.”
“Yes,” Wu Jie sat down to make tea.
Mr. Dongxi finished writing the letter, sealed it, and called for a servant to instruct him to send it out immediately.
“What else did Minister Wang say? Why did the Young Lord ask him to preside over the literary gathering?” Mr. Dongxi took the tea Wu Jie handed him.
“Minister Wang also said: The Li sisters are renting out looms in Liangzhe Circuit and buying back fine cloth at very fair prices. This is a good thing for the common people. He said it’s not right that you, Teacher, are in Liangzhe Circuit and don’t know the root of this business,” Wu Jie observed Mr. Dongxi’s expression.
“I’m not saying this business is wrong, I’m saying the Li sisters’ conduct is inappropriate!” Mr. Dongxi huffed with annoyance, “Let’s not talk about this. Why did the Young Lord ask him to preside over the literary gathering?”
“Minister Wang didn’t say,” Wu Jie paused, swallowing the fact that Minister Wang’s expression had been consistently poor, and continued, “On the way back, I ran into Second Master Lu. Second Master Lu stopped me for a chat.”
“What did he say? Did he happen to run into you, or did he specifically wait to run into you?” Mr. Dongxi’s expression darkened as he thought of Lu Wentai and Zhou Shennian talking head-to-head that day.
Wu Jie glanced at the darkening Mr. Dongxi, “Second Master Lu came out of the tea house next door…”
“Then he specifically waited to run into you! What did he say?” Mr. Dongxi interrupted Wu Jie.
“He talked for a long time about matters at Hanshan Temple, how his Eldest Aunt was so thoughtful, and so on. Later, he said Zhou Shennian and his third brother shared similar temperaments, and he asked when you would return south,” Wu Jie summarized the essence of Lu Wentai’s lengthy speech in a few sentences.
“Is he trying to persuade me to leave?” Mr. Dongxi sneered.
“The Lu family has always been cautious,” Wu Jie offered a diplomatic remark.
“Is this his idea, or did Zhou Shennian ask him to persuade me? If it’s Zhou Shennian’s idea, then it’s the Young Lord’s command. Are they trying to drive me away?” Mr. Dongxi let out a cold laugh.
“Do you really want to face Miss Li directly?” Wu Jie asked vaguely, looking at Mr. Dongxi with concern.
“What is it? What are you worried about?” Mr. Dongxi asked sharply.
“Student feels that, given your status, facing Miss Li like this… I mean, it’s beneath your dignity,” Wu Jie said vaguely.
“I know what you mean,” Mr. Dongxi’s expression was grim, “The moment that Young Lord proposed this so-called ‘enlightening’ literary gathering, I realized it’s a tactic used by some of the more learned scholars from the Yunlang Hall and the Hanlin Academy in the early days of the dynasty. Winning brings no glory, but losing is utter ruin. However!” Mr. Dongxi sighed deeply, “I can no longer retreat. There is no turning back.”
“Since Second Master Lu passed on a message, is it that his side…” Wu Jie asked, bowing.
“No!” Mr. Dongxi interrupted Wu Jie, “To leave now would be to flee in disarray! Jianle City will have no place for us, and neither will Jiangnan!”
Wu Jie looked at Mr. Dongxi, opened his mouth, but couldn’t speak.
What Teacher said was true. That Young Lord was overbearing and forceful. If they were in Jiangnan now, there might still be room for maneuver, but now they were in Jianle City. They could only follow the Young Lord’s arrangements and push forward with gritted teeth.
“Teacher, we can’t just let them manipulate us,” Wu Jie said indignantly.
“The Young Lord’s plan is nothing more than to have Miss Li surpass me, just like that scholarly competition in the early days of the dynasty. But! Does Miss Li have the knowledge of those Yunlang Hall Grand Scholars from the founding of the dynasty? She’s just a country girl,” Mr. Dongxi sneered.
Wu Jie’s brows relaxed, and he let out a long sigh, “Yes, I was overly worried.”
“I’ve told you, your nature is too cautious. You need to be more open-minded,” Mr. Dongxi said, looking at Wu Jie.
“Yes, student has noted it,” Wu Jie bowed to receive the instruction.
……………………
Miss Shi lived in seclusion near a nunnery outside the city. She was much more isolated than before, but thanks to Ninth Lady Pan, whenever Ninth Lady Pan learned anything about Prince Rui’s Mansion or Li Xiaonan, she would make a trip to inform Miss Shi.
Ninth Lady Pan learned about Li Xiaonan and Mr. Dongxi’s argument that afternoon. The very next morning, she rushed out of the city to report this huge piece of gossip to Miss Shi.
After seeing Ninth Lady Pan off, Miss Shi sat in silence for a while, then called for Yu Lan and instructed, “Go to the nunnery and borrow a carriage from Abbess Qiao. I need to go into the city. You can come alone; don’t alert anyone else.”
“You?” Yu Lan hesitated, wanting to dissuade her, but Miss Shi interrupted, “Go borrow the carriage.”
“Alright,” Yu Lan turned to leave.
She had never been able to persuade her young lady, and it was extremely difficult for anyone else to persuade her young lady.
……………………
Li Xiaonan stood with her hands behind her back, thinking as she hopped up and down the few steps at the entrance of the main house.
When she was in Pingjiang City, she went out almost every day and got enough exercise. Now in Jianle City, even copying sutras at the temple wasn’t suitable, and wandering around like she did in Pingjiang City was definitely out of the question. To maintain her exercise routine, she had to make do with what she had.
“Hey!” A Wu’s head poked through the second gate, exclaiming with great surprise.
“What’s wrong now?” Wan Jing’s eyebrows shot up.
She was teaching Yu Ting and A Wu manners. Yu Ting was doing well, but A Wu was just not getting it! Look at him, stretching his neck out and exclaiming like that, what was that supposed to be?
A Wu ignored Wan Jing and stared at Li Xiaonan, beckoning her vigorously.
Li Xiaonan was hopping with her back to A Wu. Yu Ting understood A Wu best and stood up, “Did something happen?”
A Wu didn’t speak, pointed at Li Xiaonan, and beckoned again with force.
“It looks like something happened,” Yu Ting tugged at Li Xiaonan.
“You can’t grab at the young lady!” Wan Jing exclaimed, taking a deep breath in anger.
Yu Ting smiled apologetically, “Forgot in the rush.”
“In an emergency, rules can be bent,” Li Xiaonan defended Yu Ting, then hurried towards the second gate.
“No running!” Wan Jing called out from behind.
Alas, this young lady, like A Wu, gave her a headache.
“That person! That person! At the entrance!” A Wu’s expression was extremely animated.
“Who? The Young Lord?” Li Xiaonan brushed past A Wu and walked out.
“Not the Young Lord, it’s that, that, ex-wife?” A Wu, in his excitement, forgot how to phrase it.
Li Xiaonan stopped and shot A Wu a sideways glance, “Go brush your horse!”
“Hey! Be careful, I’ll be right there, just call me,” A Wu instructed, then stood in a corner behind the screen wall, craning his neck to watch Li Xiaonan usher Miss Shi in.
Miss Shi looked around the small residence as she walked.
“Shall I show you the back? There’s a small garden there. Although it’s a bit small, it’s quite exquisite,” Li Xiaonan said with a smile.
“No need. Just you few? It’s quite peaceful,” Miss Shi smiled and bowed her head to Wan Jing and Yu Ting.
“Yes, Eldest Uncle lives in the next courtyard. He has to go around through the main gate to get here. Sitting under the corridor? It’s a bit stuffy inside,” Li Xiaonan said with a smile, gesturing for her to sit.
“Alright,” Miss Shi sat down and looked around again.
“Are you passing by, or did you come specifically?” Li Xiaonan, surprised by Miss Shi’s arrival, asked directly.
“Mm,” Miss Shi gave a non-committal hum. Seeing Wan Jing bring tea, she looked at Li Xiaonan and smiled, “I thought it would be peaceful here, so I came to chat.”
Before Li Xiaonan could react, Wan Jing quickly smiled, “Shall I accompany Yu Lan sister to see A Wu’s two horses?”
Li Xiaonan finally reacted, “Alright, Yu Ting, you go too.”
Watching the three leave through the second gate, Li Xiaonan let out a long sigh.
Miss Shi understood the reason for Li Xiaonan’s sigh and said calmly, “These are minor matters. A clever person like Miss Li will understand after a few experiences.”
Li Xiaonan hummed dully, “You came so suddenly, did something happen?”
“I heard you and Mr. Dongxi had a debate?” Miss Shi stated directly.
“How did you know?” Li Xiaonan was extremely surprised.
The Young Lord had just told Shi Gun this morning that arrangements were almost complete, so how did Miss Shi already know?
“Ninth Lady Pan came to see me this morning and said a few words,” Miss Shi explained.
Li Xiaonan breathed a sigh of relief. So what she was referring to as a debate was yesterday’s event. Yesterday’s incident couldn’t be called a debate, she had just explained a few things.
“It was yesterday? That wasn’t a debate, I just explained a few things,” Li Xiaonan explained.
Miss Shi glanced sideways at Li Xiaonan.
“You came all this way for this matter? What’s so important about this… I mean, what’s the matter?” Li Xiaonan didn’t quite understand. “Do you know Mr. Dongxi?”
“I hadn’t heard of him before, but I just heard that he is highly respected in Jiangnan and can be considered a leader among Jiangnan scholars,” Miss Shi answered Li Xiaonan’s last question first, then continued, “He shouldn’t have used such base words like ‘despicable’ to describe your sister, but you shouldn’t have retorted so directly to his face.”
Li Xiaonan looked at Miss Shi and was silent for a moment, “In three days, I will have a face-to-face debate with him. If he can convince me, I will become his disciple.”
“Is this the Young Lord’s arrangement?” Miss Shi raised her eyebrows.
“Mm.”
“You agreed?” Miss Shi was even more surprised.
“Mm.”
“You!” Miss Shi glared at Li Xiaonan, not knowing what to say. After a moment, Miss Shi lowered her eyes, took a sip of tea, and calmed down.
“You want to refute Mr. Dongxi? Is this the Young Lord’s intention?” Miss Shi asked.
“I don’t think I can refute him. His scholarship is definitely much better than mine. I just don’t want to become his disciple,” Li Xiaonan replied.
“Is it that you don’t want to become his disciple, or that the Young Lord doesn’t want you to?” Miss Shi continued to ask.
“I don’t want to. The Young Lord thinks becoming a disciple is not a big deal. I just don’t like people like Mr. Dongxi,” Li Xiaonan confessed.
“Does the Young Lord think you can refute Mr. Dongxi?” Miss Shi asked after a moment of silence.
“Mm,” Li Xiaonan’s “mm” was a firm affirmation, “I don’t think I can. I told the Young Lord.”
Miss Shi was silent for a moment, then looked at Li Xiaonan and asked, “Can Mr. Dongxi influence court affairs? Or is he involved with the Maritime Tax Bureau?”
“I don’t know,” Li Xiaonan shook her head.
Miss Shi was silent for a long time, then looked up at Li Xiaonan, “Don’t you think the Young Lord is using you as a pawn?”
“I think he and I are both pawns, on the same pawn,” Li Xiaonan said after thinking.
Miss Shi was stunned for a moment, then sighed softly.
She understood a little. She had never been as united with her husband as Miss Li was.
“I don’t like Mr. Dongxi. I think he’s a menace. Coincidentally, the Young Lord doesn’t like him either. That’s all,” Li Xiaonan said, not quite sure of the meaning of Miss Shi’s sigh.
“If you truly refute Mr. Dongxi, you might offend the entire Jiangnan scholarly community, or even scholars throughout the world,” Miss Shi said, looking at Li Xiaonan.
“I haven’t thought about that,” Li Xiaonan met Miss Shi’s gaze.
They looked at each other for a long time. Then, Miss Shi leaned back in her chair and chuckled, “Indeed, thinking too much only hinders progress. It’s better to charge ahead. When is it set?” Miss Shi stood up.
“In three days. I don’t know the location yet. Once I do, I’ll have A Wu tell you,” Li Xiaonan stood up as well.
“No need. I am a person of spiritual cultivation,” Miss Shi said, lowering her eyes.
“Thank you,” Li Xiaonan said.
Exiting the second gate, Miss Shi stopped Li Xiaonan, “No need to see me off. If you have time, come to my place for tea.”
“Alright,” Li Xiaonan stood at the second gate, watching Miss Shi get into the carriage behind the screen wall.
