At five thirty in the morning, Fang Yun walked to the window outside Zhang Jing'an's bedroom. Hearing the child's steady breathing, he led a horse away from the Pearl River Marquis Residence.
At six, Fang Yun returned to the night-soil contractor's place on Xinming Street. He called Old Guo, whom he had worked alongside for many days, to a secluded spot and gave him ten banknotes worth a hundred taels of silver each, along with a document on which he had personally written "Zhang Longxiang, Pearl River Marquis." He told Old Guo to stop doing this work, use the money to treat his wife's illness, and then find an easier way to earn a living. If he ever needed help, he could take the document to the Pearl River Marquis Residence.
After giving these instructions, Fang Yun turned and left. His eyes blurred with tears, Old Guo knelt and knocked his forehead against the ground three times toward Fang Yun's retreating back.
Fang Yun never looked back.
Fang Yun did not give the night-soil contractor a single copper coin.
This was the Confucian School's blessing in return.
Early the next morning, Fang Yun took Zhang Jing'an to the finest elementary school in the Chu Kingdom, Zhurong Academy.
The people of Chu regarded Zhurong as their ancestor, so a King of Chu had founded Zhurong Academy several hundred years earlier. Originally, it accepted only children of the royal clan, but it later broadened its enrollment. Every year, the household of a Grand Academician, Great Scholar, duke, or marquis could recommend one child for admission.
Everyone in the Chu Kingdom considered it an honor to begin their education at Zhurong Academy.
Zhurong Academy taught only elementary studies, but even its least accomplished teachers were Provincial Graduates. There was no shortage of Metropolitan