Inside the bamboo tower, Lu Chenzhou was practicing his calligraphy.
Outside the window, the bamboo shadows swayed, and inside, a stick of sandalwood burned in an incense burner, its blue smoke curling upward.
The old man held his wrist steady as he moved the brush. He was just finishing the final stroke of the character for “circle” in the phrase “without rules and standards, there can be no order,” when a knock sounded at the door.
“Come in.”
Chen Zui pushed the door open and strode to the desk. Without waiting for an invitation, he plopped down onto the bamboo chair opposite the old man.
He leaned his red-tasseled spear against the wall with a soft thud.
“Old man, someone filed a complaint against me.”
Lu Chenzhou didn’t look up. He slowly finished the character, set down his brush, and then finally lifted his eyelids to glance at him.
“Oh? And who reported you?”
“Zhou Yuanhao.”
Chen Zui didn’t beat around the bush.
“I embarrassed him in front of everyone in the Debate Hall, so he’s unhappy. He ran here to tattle on me. Now, Old Master, I have a bit of a problem.”
“What problem?”
“I’m petty.”
Lu Chenzhou picked up his teacup and took a sip, watching him impassively.
“How petty are we talking?”
“I repay every slight.”
Chen Zui spoke quite candidly, as if he were stating a perfectly reasonable truth.
“If he troubled me openly, I’d respect him as a man. But since he’s stabbing me in the back, he shouldn’t blame me for stabbing back. So, I’ve come to file a complaint as well.”
Lu Chenzhou set down his teacup, the curve of his lips widening slightly.
“Then how do you want this old man to handle him?”
“I don’t know the rules of The Academy. You can handle it however you see fit, Old Master. But there’s one condition.”
“What is it?”
“It shouldn’t be light.”
Lu Chenzhou looked at his self-righteous expression, remained silent for a moment, and then suddenly burst into laughter.
The laughter echoed through the bamboo tower, shaking a few dewdrops off the bamboo leaves outside the window.
“I have lived for over seventy years and seen countless people come to file complaints. Some cry, some cause a scene, some argue their case logically, and some are humble and submissive.”
He stroked his white beard and shook his head.
“But you are the first to file a complaint so shamelessly.”
“I call it having reason on my side. It just depends on who you intend to favor, Old Master. Also, if it were your grandson being stabbed in the back, he would surely endure it himself, thinking that ‘repaying evil with kindness’ is the mark of a gentleman. But the hearts of people in this world don’t work that way; they won’t necessarily step back just because you do. Sometimes, when you take a step back, they advance ten feet.”
Lu Chenzhou’s gaze narrowed slightly.
“Are you teaching this old man how to discipline his grandson?”
“I wouldn’t dare.”
Chen Zui stood up and cupped his hands.
“I just feel that the things you asked me to teach him are useless if I only use my mouth. Letting him see it with his own eyes is better than anything else.”
With that, he didn’t wait for Lu Chenzhou’s reply. He shouldered his red-tasseled spear and turned to leave.
Lu Chenzhou watched his departing back for a long time before withdrawing his gaze.
He picked up the brush again and wrote a single character on the rice paper.
“Upright.”
***
Early the next morning.
A notice was posted in various locations throughout The Academy.
Zhou Yuanhao and two other students were sentenced to copy the entirety of the “Quli” section from 《The Book of Rites》 twenty times and were confined to the Hall of Reflection for half a month for “secretly criticizing a fellow student, stirring up trouble, and violating the Way of the Gentleman.”
The news caused a sensation throughout The Academy.
The Mountain Lord personally ordering a punishment for students was a first in nearly a decade at Qingya Academy.
Although Zhou Yuanhao was usually arrogant, his academic performance was not bad and his family background was excellent. No one expected him to suffer such a significant setback.
Xu Yanping ran to Xiao Langgan with a copy of the notice, his voice trembling with excitement.
“Chen-xiong! Look! Zhou Yuanhao was punished! He was punished!”
Chen Zui was lying on a bamboo chair in the courtyard soaking up the sun, his eyes barely opening.
“Oh.”
“Aren’t you surprised?”
“What’s there to be surprised about?”
Chen Zui rolled over and buried his face in his arms.
“He went to report me, so I went to report him. I did a better job of it, so I won. It’s that simple.”
Xu Yanping opened his mouth to say something but felt as though nothing needed to be said. He looked down at the notice and suddenly felt that this Chen-xiong possessed an aura he couldn’t quite describe.
It wasn’t the gentleness, kindness, and humility of Confucianism, nor the harsh punishments of Legalism, and certainly not the quiet inaction of Taoism.
It was a very simple, very direct kind of logic.
This kind of logic wasn’t found in the Four Books and Five Classics. Yet, he felt it was much more satisfying than many of the principles found within those texts.
Lu Qinghe also saw the notice.
He stood before the notice board for a long time, staring at the words “stirring up trouble and violating the Way of the Gentleman.”
...
The days passed by like this.
Chen Zui lived increasingly comfortably at Qingya Academy.
Every day, he slept until he woke up naturally, went to the kitchen to scrounge a breakfast, and then wandered around The Academy. When he got tired of walking, he would find a place to sit, pull out his wine flask for a couple of swigs, and daze off in the sun.
Xu Yanping and his group of students were true to their word.
Whenever they weren’t in class, they would come to Xiao Langgan to find Chen Zui. They didn’t ask about any profound principles; they just followed him around aimlessly.
When Chen Zui went for a stroll in the back mountains, they followed. When Chen Zui went to the kitchen for food, they followed. When Chen Zui lay on his bamboo chair in the sun, they sat on the ground nearby and quietly read their books.
At first, Chen Zui found it annoying, but later he realized these kids were quite well-behaved. They weren’t noisy, and the occasional questions they asked were about experiences in the martial world or the hardships of the common people. It was much more interesting than the nebulous topics in the Debate Hall.
“Chen-xiong, do you think those great heroes in the martial world really go around performing heroic deeds?” Xu Yanping asked once.
Chen Zui was wiping his spear and didn’t look up.
“Great heroes? Nine and a half out of ten are fakes. The ones who actually get things done are often people whose names no one even knows.”
Xu Yanping nodded thoughtfully and made a note in the book he carried with him.
Aside from students like Xu Yanping who were determined to found a new school of thought, several instructors at The Academy were also getting along famously with Chen Zui.
For instance, Old Master He, who taught 《The Book of Documents》, was a chess fanatic. Hearing that Chen Zui knew a simple game called “Five-in-a-row,” he rushed over to seek instruction. He ended up being utterly defeated. He went back to study it for three days and nights and returned on the fourth day, only to lose again. The old man was so frustrated his beard curled, yet he continued to lose and return with even more enthusiasm.
When these absurd stories reached the ears of Lu Chenzhou, the Mountain Lord merely smiled and said nothing.
Only Old Master Cheng had some reservations about a group of students surrounding a martial artist, feeling it was beneath their dignity. However, he later discovered that the studies of Xu Yanping and his group had not only not been neglected but had actually improved significantly.
Especially Xu Yanping; in the past, his essays were merely a pile of flowery language and classical references. Now, the things he wrote actually had a touch of the mundane world, reading as though they were vivid and lifelike.
Old Master Cheng didn't say it out loud, but he became increasingly curious about this young man named Chen Zui. Finally, one day, he carried a jar of Huadiao wine he had cherished for many years and paid a personal visit.
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