Chapter Fifteen: Are You Chen Xiaofu?
He was Sun Yue, the disciple of Master Jiang.
“Sir...!”
Sun Yue panted heavily and bowed deeply.
“The Prefect asks you to go to the square.”
“Has Xu Zizhou and his party arrived?”
“When I came over, they hadn’t yet arrived, but they should be here soon.”
“Oh…”
Master Jiang looked apologetically at the five before him and smiled, “Please enjoy some tea here; I will go greet an old friend.”
Young Master Pan stood up. “Let’s go together.”
He glanced at An Xiaowei. “Xiaowei, shall you come along?”
An Xiaowei slowly rose. Young Master Pan was about to be delighted, but unexpectedly, she said:
“I don’t quite like such commotion, so I won’t go. There are many books in the library of Lin’an Academy. Jingru, let’s go look at some books.”
The two women left together.
Young Master Pan’s eyes narrowed slightly, a trace of cruelty flashing beneath his smile, though his face remained pleasant.
“Very well, Master Jiang, please lead the way.”
“Then… Young Master Pan and the two ladies, please accompany me.”
An Xiaowei and Liang Jingru walked along the quiet path toward the library.
Liang Jingru glanced at An Xiaowei. “I really wasn’t the one who told Pan Qingyun about your trip to Jiangnan.”
“I know it wasn’t you.”
“That’s good. I didn’t expect him to follow us… By the way, you understand what he meant, right?”
An Xiaowei curled her lips. “My good mood was ruined by him.”
Liang Jingru was equally indignant. “He deliberately asked about Chen Xiaofu in front of Master Jiang!”
“But…”
Liang Jingru changed her tone, “Master Jiang also said Chen Xiaofu can barely read a few characters, you…”
“Enough!” An Xiaowei raised a hand, looking at Liang Jingru. “You know what I’m thinking. Don’t try to persuade me again, or we won’t be sisters anymore!”
Liang Jingru said, “No, although he survived jumping off the building, Master Jiang said he might have aftereffects… I mean, what if he’s mentally impaired?”
“Being mentally impaired is far worse than being illiterate!”
“Would you want to spend your life with a fool?”
An Xiaowei pondered for a moment. “No one knows if he’s actually impaired; you’d have to see it with your own eyes!”
“Besides… I’d rather marry Chen Xiaofu and live quietly with him here than marry Pan Qingyun!”
“Hmph!”
“They say Pan Qingyun is highly talented and will surely be the top scholar in next autumn’s imperial exams… but I think he’s just a hypocrite!”
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“Nothing more than a dog at the Second Prince’s door!”
“Hypocrite!”
Liang Jingru was startled and stopped An Xiaowei this time.
“Don’t speak recklessly. You know he’s a dog at the Second Prince’s door.”
“A villain is the hardest to deal with!”
“If he hears you badmouthing your fiancé in front of the Second Prince… It’s said the Second Prince is most likely to ascend to the Eastern Palace. Even if you marry here in Lin’an, you’ll never find peace!”
An Xiaowei curled her lips but said no more. The two continued toward the library.
To reach the library, they had to pass through the academy’s front square, crossing between two teaching buildings on the south side.
They arrived at the square and were about to pass under the southern archway when cheers suddenly rang out:
“Welcome the Qi Kingdom delegation!”
“Wow, is that the great scholar Xu?”
“Look, isn’t that the great talent Mo Zhiqiu from the Qi Royal Academy, standing to the right of Xu?”
“...”
Liang Jingru craned her neck to look that way. “Shall we go have a look?”
“What’s there to see? If you want to look, go ahead. I’m going to the library.”
“Fine, I’ll go have a look. I’ll come to the library to find you later.”
…
Chen Xiaofu hadn’t expected Lin’an Academy to make such a grand display in welcoming the visitors from Qi Kingdom.
The elderly man spoke with exceptional eloquence and insightful views; he must be a prominent figure from Qi.
Chen Xiaofu didn’t ask the old man’s name. He looked toward the dense crowd ahead, thinking he should find an excuse to slip away to the library.
He didn’t have time to accompany the old man any longer; such occasions were usually tedious.
Filled with meaningless chatter.
“Sir, I need to find some books in the library; it’s urgent. Perhaps another day we can—”
He didn’t finish speaking.
Three thousand students from Lin’an Academy, led by the Prefect and the Academy Director, were already approaching.
Having appeared in Lin’an City before and being quite handsome, some students recognized him.
Suddenly, a voice rang out:
“Hey, isn’t that Chen Xiaofu, Young Master Chen?”
“It really is him… How is he standing beside the great scholar Xu?”
An illiterate illegitimate son appearing beside Qi’s great scholar was clearly unusual.
Moreover, this was Lin’an Academy!
The academy was a place for studying!
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This was not a place he should be.
“Could it be that Xu and Old Master Chen from Huaxi Villa are acquainted? Old Master Chen invited Xu to bring him here to see the world?”
That might be the only explanation.
After all, Old Master Chen and Xu were about the same age. Xu studied at the Wenchang Academy in the old capital Jiqing during the previous dynasty. They likely knew each other and were somewhat familiar.
“But if he can barely read, what’s there to see?”
“True, compared to those talents from Northern Qi, he wouldn’t understand a word. He’s just here to watch the spectacle.”
These words naturally reached Xu’s ears. He turned to Chen Xiaofu, his eyes full of doubt.
“You are… the grandson of Chen Linyuan?”
Chen Xiaofu scratched his nose and candidly admitted, “Yes, and the illegitimate son of General Kaiyang.”
Xu Zizhou was stunned.
He hadn’t expected Chen Xiaofu to be the grandson of his old friend Chen Linyuan, nor that the young man would speak so frankly about being the illegitimate son of General Kaiyang.
Those students said he could barely read… but judging from his conduct on the way here, the boy’s speech was refined, hardly that of an illiterate commoner.
Could a commoner utter words like, “Sleeping until the second or third watch, all fame and fortune become illusions; thinking a hundred years later, none of the young or old remain”?
Could a commoner compose such exquisite poetry as, “Flowers do not bloom twice; people do not have a second youth”?
His teacher was Jiang Yuzheng!
So, perhaps those students had misunderstood him.
Just then, Master Jiang and his group arrived.
Along with the Prefect and the Academy Director, they came before Xu Zizhou.
Master Jiang’s gaze fell on Chen Xiaofu’s face beside Xu Zizhou.
He was greatly surprised.
“Why are you here?”
Three youths pushed through the crowd of Lin’an Academy students.
Pan Qingyun, hearing Chen Xiaofu was here, was overjoyed.
He came forward with Mei Changyu and Ye Shaoyan, his gaze fixed on Chen Xiaofu’s face. He snapped open the gold-threaded folding fan in his hand and was about to speak, but Chen Xiaofu bowed to Master Jiang.
“Student Chen Xiaofu greets you, sir!”
“I intended to visit the library to read, and by chance met this elder, so accompanied him.”
“Student has not seen you for many days and missed you greatly. Seeing you well today, student feels at ease. I shall now go to the library and will pay respects to you again when you are free.”
“Everyone, I take my leave!”
Chen Xiaofu bowed deeply, then turned to leave, but suddenly a voice called out sharply:
“Stop!”
“Are you Chen Xiaofu?”