Right Into My Grasp

To establish a heart for Heaven and Earth! To establish a life for the people! To carry on the lost teachings of the past sages! To establish eternal peace for all generations!

These four lines are so famous that even those who know nothing of Confucianism can recite them, often mistakenly attributing them to Confucius.

In reality, the source of these four lines is none other than the current titan of the literary world, Master Hengqu, Zhang Zai.

Zhang Zai was gifted from a young age. At twenty-one, he wrote the Nine Articles on Border Affairs and submitted them to Fan Zhongyan. Though he gained appreciation and wished to abandon the brush for the sword, he was persuaded otherwise. He went on to read extensively across Confucian, Buddhist, and Taoist texts, dedicating himself to study until he finally synthesized the strengths of all three schools.

Zhang Zai earned his jinshi degree at the age of thirty-eight. It was a late start, as he sat for the exams alongside the twenty-year-old Su Shi and his eighteen-year-old brother Su Zhe. Yet, by writing books and establishing his own school of thought, he proved to be a talent that matured late but shone brightly.

These four lines were the very embodiment of his philosophy, though they had not yet been refined and summarized; they were merely in their embryonic stage.

One can imagine the sheer impact they had on those hearing them for the first time.

Liu Yi was stunned.

He muttered to himself, reciting the words one by one, as a surge of heroic ambition welled up from the depths of his heart.

This is the true backbone of a Confucian scholar!

This is the true pursuit of a man of letters!

He looked at Huang Shengzhong again, his attitude having undergone a complete transformation. He bowed formally and said with genuine sincerity, "Huang Shengzhong, you possess great talent!"

Chen Sheng also walked over, recited the lines once, and felt an incredible, irrepressible jealousy rise in his eyes: "Shengzhong, once these four lines of yours spread, you will surely become famous throughout the Eastern Capital!"

Huang Shengzhong smiled faintly: "I dare not accept such praise! I dare not!"

I originally wanted to interact with you all as an ordinary person, but all I received in return was contempt.

Fine, I won't pretend anymore. I'm laying my cards on the table.

I am a top scholar!

This was not to seek unnecessary attention, but a decision made after weighing the pros and cons, as the samsara travelers had arrived much earlier than he had anticipated.

The crux of the matter was that the twenty-year-old Huang Shang was currently living in the historical backdrop of the Great Song, completely disconnected from the main plot.

If he waited to achieve real power, he would be fifty or sixty years old.

That was too long; he could not afford to wait.

If he did not want to follow the established path, he had to let the samsara travelers discover his existence, then naturally steer the trajectory of his fate so that this court official would become involved in the plot.

But a problem arose.

Not to mention the entire world or the entire Great Song Dynasty, just this Eastern Capital Kaifeng Prefecture alone had a population of 1.3 million.

In such a vast sea of people, Huang Shengzhong was merely a poor scholar; where were the samsara travelers supposed to find him?

Therefore, he had to become famous!

However, since he had spoken the words of a historical figure, the samsara travelers would inevitably feel curious or even suspicious, so the next step depended on how he spread and guided the narrative.

The choice of these four lines was very deliberate.

In truth, in the Great Song, a "literary plagiarist" could not survive.

Especially one who plagiarized poetry.

In the past, when Huang Shengzhong watched those transmigration novels or TV dramas, the protagonists would inevitably plagiarize a few poems famous throughout the ages to show off.

Plagiarizing poetry is fun for a moment, and it's always fun to keep plagiarizing.

But those protagonists never cared if the style was consistent, nor did they care about the allusions referenced in the poems; as long as the situation vaguely matched, they would use them indiscriminately.

Huang Shengzhong hadn't thought much of it before—I'm from the future, so I'll just copy the poems; what can you ancients do about it?

But once he truly arrived in the Song Dynasty, he realized it was not like that at all.

Scholars, especially ancient scholars, possessed an unimaginably critical attitude toward works that were famous throughout the world, picking bones out of eggs.

This brings us to a topic that still circulates throughout the Great Song—

The scandal of Ouyang Xiu and his niece.

It was originally a political attack by his rivals, but Ouyang Xiu had written some erotic poetry, including these lines:

At first glance, there was nothing wrong with them, but scholars began to study them, claiming they depicted the charm of a young girl with bone-deep precision.

When linked to the case, rumors spread that he lacked moral discipline and had illicit relations with his niece.

This was the Niece Scandal.

Of course, later generations have had many differing opinions; some say the poem wasn't written by Ouyang Xiu but by his enemy, the Nameless One, while others say Ouyang Xiu simply liked young girls and it wasn't necessarily his niece...

As for the truth, only the parties involved would know.

So, what would happen if a transmigrator without real talent used someone else's poem as their own?

When the poem spread across the world, scholars would study your history, your family, your parents, everything in your life, as well as the psychological state you were in when you wrote the poem and what kind of thoughts and feelings you were expressing.

Once the evidence was hammered home, it wouldn't be a matter of "fans are family, don't attack them"; all your dirty laundry would be aired, and your reputation would be ruined.

As long as you wrote excellent verses that contradicted your life experiences, even if those verses had never appeared before, they would be considered plagiarism.

And once the label of "plagiarist" was attached, your reputation would be destroyed, and you would be targeted in every field.

The same logic applied.

Even if he were jealous or green with envy, Chen Sheng could only swallow his tears.

Even if Huang Shang had no backing, Liu Yi would not dare to plagiarize.

Once discovered, let alone the Imperial Examination, his entire life would be ruined.

Not only that, but it had to be publicized.

Sure enough, a few days after Liu Yi and Chen Sheng left, scholars began to come knocking.

Then there were more and more, and still more.

"A mountain need not be high; it is famous if there is a fairy. A lake need not be deep; it is magical if there is a dragon. This is a humble abode, but my virtue makes it fragrant."

When one is obscure, poverty is simply poverty.

When these four verses spread throughout the Eastern Capital Kaifeng Prefecture, poverty transformed into the contentment of a scholar, a refusal to mingle with the corrupt ways of the world.

These four lines were even dubbed the Four Verses of the Humble Abode.

Huang Shang, conversely, became increasingly humble; he did not accept the invitations of those scholars to attend literary gatherings all day, but instead focused his heart on diligent study.

This attitude moved the literary giants who were observing him from the shadows.

On this day, as Huang Shang returned from a meal, a tall horse stopped in front of his courtyard.

Seeing Huang Shang return from afar, a stern and upright man dismounted, stepped forward, and bowed: "This Humble One is You Shixiong, courtesy name Jingshu. I have met Huang Shengzhong. Please forgive my presumptuous visit."

Huang Shang returned the salute.

Having been in this world for so long, he had finally met his first historical figure.

You Shixiong was a famous general of the Northern Song Dynasty, whose name went down in history for his meritorious service in pacifying the Western Xia invaders and protecting cultural relics; his essays, poetry, and calligraphy were all passed down, making him a talent in both civil and military affairs.

Of course, the You Shixiong standing before him now was still a young man who had not yet passed the Jinshi examination and held no official position; he had come here for other purposes.

He was a disciple of Zhang Zai.

Huang Shang had already learned that Zhang Zai was currently in Kaifeng Prefecture.

Upon hearing these four verses, Zhang Zai had felt a resonance and praised them endlessly, sending You Shixiong to make his acquaintance.

It is time to return these four verses to their source!

A weight lifted from Huang Shang's heart. When the four verses reached the ears of the reincarnators, they would naturally be suspicious; he had a comprehensive plan for this, and the key link was Zhang Zai.

Zhang Zai's invitation was exactly what he had hoped for; he would quickly become his student, and even if there had been no invitation, he would have taken the initiative to pay a visit.

In this era, without a good mentor, the difficulty of making a name for oneself in the literary world was undoubtedly much greater.

Huang Shang estimated that with "his" talent, the fact that he did not pass as the top scholar until the age of thirty-five was precisely because he had not studied under a good teacher.

Zhang Zai was the perfect candidate, and when combined with the Hengqu Four Verses, it was a match made in heaven.

Thus, Huang Shang stated directly that his four verses were inspired by Zhang Zai's Exposition on the Book of Changes.

Seeing his admiration for his teacher and his humility, You Shixiong felt even more favorably toward him.

However, just as the two were conversing happily, a servant entered to report.

Someone else had come to visit.

The person who arrived this time represented Sima Guang.