Chapter 38 (1/2)

A Poem is Born

“If

Ziqian

had not left for Qingzhou, this would’ve been his duty,” said Zhang Zhen.

“He’s the best poet among us.”

Chen Tai’s long beard swayed as a cold wind blew into the room. “Brother

Jinyan

is more fit for the courts than myself.”

“Are you accusing me of passing the buck?” Zhang Zhen quickly followed up with a challenge. “Well, I can’t wait to hear your poem. I’ll be sure to have my ears wide open.”

As an argument was about to break out, a student of Zhang Zhen’s entered the room. He greeted them with a bow before saying, “Xu Cijiu is here.”

‘Xu Cijiu? Why is he here? Has he finished copying the sage’s quote?’ Zhang Zhen nodded. “Bring him in.”

The student nodded and left. Zhang Zhen stared across the chessboard at Chen Tai and smiled. “Speaking of which, I recently took in a new student, Xu Cijiu’s cousin. He’s an incredibly talented poet.”

Li Mubai immediately spoke up, “He’s also my student.”

Chen Tai looked between the two elders—realization dawned on him. “The man who wrote the line, ‘Fear not a journey of loneliness, for you are not a stranger to the realm’?”

Li Mubai and Zhang Zhen grinned.

Chen Tai let out a howling laugh as he wagged his finger at the two elders.

“What are you laughing at?”

Chen Tai held back his laughter and mocked, “I’m laughing at the fact that you’re both blinded by fame and jealousy. Yang Ziqian’s name will live on in the poem but you two should stop daydreaming. Beautiful poems are few and far between. Not every poem will end up in the history books.

“That epic poem probably took up all his talent. And now you expect him to come up with two more masterpieces so your names will be remembered? Has the noble spirit in you been swallowed up by greed?”

Li Mubai and Zhang Zhen were silent.

They knew Chen Tai was right about the scarcity of good poems. The man was not even a scholar, and the creation of the farewell poem could have just been a coincidence.

To pin their hopes of being written into the history books on some low-level constable was a tad ridiculous.

“Youping is right. As a scholar, we should be humble. For our names to be written into history, we should walk the proper path instead of seeking shortcuts. We have strayed from the teachings.” The two elders folded their hands and bowed before Chen Tai.

“To have a mistake rectified is the greatest deed,” Chen Tai intoned as he nodded.

Moments later, Zhang Zhen’s student came back with Xu Qian and Xu Xinnian in tow.

The two brothers greeted the room. “We’re here to see the teachers.”

Li Mubai and Zhang Zhen exchanged a glance—the arrival of Xu Qian was unexpected but welcomed.

“Sit,” Zhang Zhen said.

“Ningyan, you came. Is it because inspiration has struck you again?” Li Mubai probed.

Xu Qian shook his head and said, “I’m here to ask for a favor.”

“Go on.”

Xu Qian told the two elders about the request but hid the fact that it was part of a revenge plot against the Assistant Minister of Revenue. He did however mention Assistant Minister Zhou could be the mastermind of the missing tax silvers and once the inspections were over, it was highly likely that he would punish the Xu family.

“This…” Li Mubai looked over to Zhang Zhen who was equally as concerned. “The academy doesn’t allow outsiders to stay over, it’s the rule.”

Rules were important to scholars.

Before Xu Qian could argue, Xu Xinnian spoke up, “The crown princess often stays over in the academy too.”

Zhang Zhen shook his head. “She’s the crown princess.”

Xu Xinnian nodded. “So the academy’s rule applies to everyone but the Emperor’s kin.”

‘This young man hasn’t learned anything about tactfulness.’

The three elders in the room laughed.