"Though Caotang Notes is filled from cover to cover with tales of gods, monsters, fox spirits, ghosts, gifted scholars, beautiful women, and immortal maidens—both human and fox—it's really a collection of fables. No wonder its author was a chancellor of the previous dynasty and the founder of the Li School." Hong Yi opened a book and read a couple of lines, but his thoughts drifted to his mother, who had died when he was seven. Li Yan continued, "The sages teach that the upright and the wise are divine. As long as a scholar's heart is righteous and clear, his thoughts will naturally be as powerful as the gods'. How could gods and Buddhas punish him?" The title of "Madam" was no small distinction. There were three madams in the Marquis Mansion, a special favor granted by the court after Marquis Wuwen, Hong Xuanji, repeatedly distinguished himself. Marquis Wuwen was a prominent figure in the Great Gan Dynasty. His surname was Hong, and his given name was Xuanji. Just as the assembled scholars were about to press him with more questions, Li Yan said gravely, "Scholars should discuss only the people's livelihood and matters of state, benevolence and righteousness, rites and laws. To speak of spirits and ghosts at all is already going too far." "Those students from the academies, even the outstanding ones, know only how to cram books. They don't understand that a knowledge of human affairs is itself a fine composition. No matter how dazzling your essay is, if its ideas don't match the examiners' school of thought, they'll certainly fail you." Hong Yi would never forget the Mid-Autumn banquet at the Marquis Mansion, held to admire the moon when he was seven and just beginning to understand the world. The hall had been packed. His father and the guests were composing poems when his mother joined in with a line of her own. The principal wife immediately rebuked her in front of everyone: "Your behavior is frivolous and unvirtuous. You still haven't shed your brothel habits." Li Yan said, "The Yin Spirit can leave the body and wander. It's invisible to the human eye, without form or substance; a mass of soul and spirit that can only reveal its supernatural power by inhabiting external objects. The Yang God, however, is no different from a living person. It can manifest all kinds of forms, soar through the sky, burrow into the earth, and live forever." "So gods and Buddhas didn't exist to begin with, but were created by people's thoughts and faith? The book's line, 'Heaven sees through what the people see; Heaven hears through what the people hear; Heaven's Will is the people's will'—it can be interpreted that way, too? The upright and the wise are divine? Yin Spirits and Yang Gods?" What was more, when Hong Yi's mother married into the marquis household, Marquis Wuwen already had a principal wife and a secondary wife. She had entered the household as a concubine. Yujing was the capital of the Great Gan Dynasty. Though she was called a gifted woman, she had in truth been of the lowly courtesan class. Her status was extremely low after she married into a powerful family. This was the sixtieth year since the dynasty's founding, a full cycle of sixty years since the Great Gan Dynasty had established itself over all the land!... Scholars did not speak of the strange, force, disorder, or spirits. Those preparing for the imperial examinations didn't read books like this. The room was very plain. The brazier was iron, and the charcoal was ordinary, not the exquisitely crafted bronze tripod brazier used in a marquis's household, with its carved animal-shaped "beast charcoal." But Li Yan had stood firm against the others and declared that the daughter-in-law had been deified. The sages' books said, "Heaven sees through what the people see; Heaven hears through what the people hear." The people believed the daughter-in-law had become a god, and that was Heaven's Will—so she had become a god. The gathered scholars listened to Li Yan speak with such confidence and admiration that they asked him to explain the Daoist cultivation of celestial immortals and Yang Gods. "Heaven sees through what the people see; Heaven hears through what the people hear..." As Hong Yi was lost in thought, a sudden knocking came from outside. When concubines ate, they weren't even allowed to sit. They had to stand like the maids. In an ordinary noble household, only the principal wife was addressed as "Madam." The Great Gan Dynasty was prosperous and flourishing, vast and rich in resources, with tens of millions of people. It was a mighty empire. The story went like this: One of the scholars nodded, then asked, "If you tear down the temples of the gods and Buddhas and make people stop believing in them, what if they retaliate?" A village woman and her mother-in-law were asleep one night when the wall suddenly collapsed. The daughter-in-law was trapped inside. She braced the falling wall with all her strength, letting her mother-in-law escape, and was crushed to death. After she died, her mother-in-law was heartbroken. So the villagers comforted her, saying they had dreamed that Heaven had deified the daughter-in-law as the City God. The book's author was Li Yan, a chancellor of the previous dynasty. It was a collection of notes about demons and monsters, Daoist priests and immortals, gifted scholars and beautiful women, immortal maidens and fox spirits. He wore a green robe and had delicate, handsome features. He looked about fifteen or sixteen, with a slender build. After late autumn, there had been no snow, but the cold grew harsher by the day. Hong Yi suddenly came across a story and read it closely, astonished. Marquis Wuwen's Mansion stood in the southeastern part of Yujing. It covered a hundred mu of open, level ground. At its entrance stood a pair of vermilion-painted stone Qilins, each three men tall. Its gates were a deep red, with gleaming copper studs and knockers. The servants at the gate wore fine clothes, had booming voices, and sharp eyes—all signs of Marquis Wuwen's status. Bang! Bang! Bang! "A scholar who is upright and clear, whose thoughts are powerful and pure, is already close to the Daoist Yang God, a celestial immortal. He is far stronger than those Yin Spirits, which can't manifest and can only send dreams and bring retribution." "I've almost finished preparing for the examinations after the new year, but I still need to study the examiners' preferences." Hong Yi felt as if a whole new world had opened before him. This story seemed to have unlocked a mysterious door. Still, Hong Yi was reading it to prepare for the imperial examinations. The Great Gan Dynasty placed great importance on the exams. Once a man passed the palace examination, his family could be honored for three generations. The long rows of icicles hanging beneath the eaves of every house in Yujing—thick as a child's arm, crystal-clear, and sharp as blades—were enough to convey winter's severity. Early in the morning, the sound of reading rang out from a secluded little courtyard in the northwestern corner of Marquis Wuwen's Mansion. During these sixty years, four emperors of the Great Gan Dynasty had governed diligently, bringing the empire to a golden age of glittering prosperity. "Though Li Yan has long since passed away, most of the court officials who came through the imperial examinations are his disciples. The chief examiner this time will surely be from the Li School, too. If I study how Li Yan used tales of foxes and ghosts to express his allegories and cater to his disciples' tastes, I'll surely pass with flying colors." Under Great Gan law, there was one principal wife, two secondary wives, and four concubines. Concubines had very low status. Some noble families and scholars even exchanged concubines for pleasure. The gathered scholars had laughed at Li Yan for being too pedantic, but Li Yan had offered a profound argument: "Gods are nothing more than manifestations of human thought. The gods and Buddhas in temples can repeatedly show their power because they receive people's offerings and faith. There were no gods in this world to begin with. But when enough people believe, their thoughts gather, and gods and Buddhas are born. It's just as easy to destroy them: tear down their temples and make people stop believing in them and offering them incense. In time, they'll naturally disappear." "Whether I can give my dead mother the title she deserves depends on the spring imperial examinations and the autumn metropolitan examination. First I must pass the provincial exam, then the palace exam, place on the imperial list, and earn honors for three generations... The court will then confer the title of Madam on my mother. Her grave can be moved into the Hong family's ancestral cemetery, and her memorial tablet can be enshrined in the ancestral hall." After winning great renown in battle at the age of twenty-two, he abandoned the military for the civil path, passed the imperial examinations at the top of his class, and was appointed to office, where he took part in governing the court. The four emperors of the Great Gan Dynasty had praised him with the highest honor: "On horseback, he can command an army; on foot, he can bring peace to the people." "What a fine idea—that Heaven's Will is the people's will. So that's another way to understand it." He had no page or maid to grind ink or lay out paper while he read. All this showed that Hong Yi's standing in the marquis household wasn't high, though he still had time to study and wasn't just a servant. That night, after returning home, his mother grew so angry that her blood stagnated and she vomited blood, damaging her health. Two months later, she died of illness. She was only twenty-five. Before an examination, it was extremely important to study the examiners' school of thought, ideas, and preferences, then shape one's essays accordingly. Though Hong Yi was young, he understood this perfectly. At the time, Li Yan had been discussing the matter with a group of scholars. They agreed the daughter-in-law's filial devotion was admirable, but said that the talk of her being deified was nothing more than village gossip. This book's cover was fresh, but the paper was old; clearly, it had been left unread for years. Caotang Notes wasn't a book of the classics, rites, laws, and policy essays required for the examinations. It belonged to the realm of fantastical tales about spirits and monsters. Hong Yi understood perfectly well that if he passed the palace examination, he could leave the marquis household, take office, and make something of himself. More importantly, he could secure the title of "Madam" for his mother. "If I pass the palace examination—if I pass it—the court will confer the title of Madam on my mother. I wonder what the principal wife, Lady Zhao, will look like then." Among high officials and nobles, having the court grant one's wife the title of Madam was a tremendous honor, a greater kindness than a promotion in rank. Hong Yi furrowed his brow, rose, and opened the door. Hong Yi murmured, "Lady Zhao, Lady Zhao..." Hatred glimmered in his eyes. As he thought, Hong Yi closed his book of classics and policy essays, then opened Caotang Notes. This man was not only a marquis of great distinction but also a minister of the highest rank, serving as a Grand Secretary of the Inner Cabinet and Grand Preceptor to the Crown Prince. Skilled in both civil and military affairs, in his youth he could draw a nine-dan strongbow and fire repeatedly, and ride into battle on horseback, charging hundreds of enemy soldiers as easily as if strolling through a garden. (In the Great Gan Dynasty, one dan equaled one hundred jin; nine dan was equivalent to nine hundred jin.) As the son of a concubine, Hong Yi had no right to inherit the title or the family estate. His only way out was to pass the imperial examinations. Hong Yi had opened one of the windows halfway and started a charcoal brazier in the room. Sitting by the desk, he was reading, looking as though he were preparing for the exams and studying the classics' finer points. Someone was knocking, but the noise was loud. They were kicking the door.
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