At noon, Fang Yun returned home and ate lunch as usual, as though he had completely forgotten he had a son named Zhang Jing'an.
That afternoon, Fang Yun went back to work. After finishing with Old Guo, he arrived home sometime after nine that night.
This physical labor was exceedingly easy for Fang Yun. Whether he served as a soldier, a precinct chief, or a night-soil collector, it had little effect on him. Most of the time, he immersed himself in the Strange Book World, studying without pause.
As his studies deepened, Fang Yun felt himself drawing ever closer to becoming a Grand Academician. Within two months at most, he would advance to that rank, though fewer than two years had passed since he became a Hanlin Academician.
After dinner, Fang Yun continued reading until late into the night, when a faint sound came from the Zhang Estate's main gate.
Zhang Jing'an walked into the courtyard, utterly dejected. He was about to return to his bedroom when he noticed the luminous pearl still glowing in his father's study.
Through the glass window, Zhang Jing'an gazed at the pearl's light and Fang Yun's silhouette, then froze. Only now did he realize that whenever he got up during the night, he could always see his father reading and studying.
Thinking back over the past several days, Zhang Jing'an remembered how his father would occasionally seem distracted while in the army or at work, his lips moving slightly. He had thought nothing of it then, but now he understood: his father must have been silently reciting the Classics of the Sages all along.
In Zhang Jing'an's heart, only his grandfather, Zhang Wankong, stood tall and majestic, like an immortal statue. Zhang Hua had described him as a hero capable of anything. By contrast,