Ji Zhibai stepped down from the armored ox carriage, his heart churning. He looked at the gates of the Left Prime Minister's Residence and, as always, struck the door knocker. "Your student has come to pay his respects, honored teacher."
Ordinarily, the gatekeeper would have hurried over, calling him Master Ji again and again. Today, however, no one opened the gate for a long while. At last, an impatient voice came from within.
"Who is it?"
Ji Zhibai knitted his brows, struck the knocker hard, and called out, "Your student, Ji Zhibai, has come to pay his respects, honored teacher!"
"Wait!"
Another long while passed before the gate creaked open, revealing a middle-aged man's head. He said impatiently, "Who is it? Oh? Lord Ji! Look at me, muddleheaded in my old age. What brings you here so late?"
Ji Zhibai clenched both fists, flames of humiliation and anger surging in his eyes. He wanted nothing more than to smash a fist into the gatekeeper's nose. As the Left Prime Minister's prized student and the illustrious Zhuangyuan of the Jing Kingdom, when had he ever suffered such contempt from a gatekeeper?
Rather than argue with the gatekeeper, Ji Zhibai coldly clasped his hands in greeting. "I wish to pay my respects to my honored teacher."
The gatekeeper sighed softly. "The master has been terribly busy lately, and it's already late. Why don't you go home for now, Lord Ji, and come back tomorrow?"
Ji Zhibai felt a vicious blaze of anger rush into his head and nearly turned to leave. But reason suppressed his fury. He took a small piece of silver from his purse, handed it to the gatekeeper, and forced an ugly smile. "Please make an exception. I have important matters to discuss."
The gatekeeper put the silver in