An old house, a narrow lane.
In front of a modest, old-fashioned residence, Squad Leader Xue asked Clerk Wang in a disbelieving whisper, "Are you sure this is the place? A grand member of the Langya Wang clan, a high official retired from the office of the Minister over the Masses, the Prince of Jiangxia's brother-in-law-and he lives here?"
"The greatest hermits hide in the marketplace. Distinguished gentlemen like that sort of thing. Did you think he was some nouveau riche?" Yet after saying this, Clerk Wang himself looked a little doubtful. "Though it does seem rather plain," he muttered.
The entrance was hardly impressive, but at the thought that the great personage named Wang Tai lived within, Squad Leader Xue could not help feeling awed. He looked at Clerk Wang. "You knock?"
Clerk Wang was a little intimidated too. While he was silently working up his courage, Wang Yang stood with his hands behind his back and said serenely, "Announce us."
Black Han answered and went up to the door, knocking three times with a heavy thud.
Watching Black Han, Squad Leader Xue drew a quiet, sharp breath. This fellow has grown bold in his eagerness to curry favor with the young wastrel. He just goes right up and knocks on the Langya Wang clan's door!
The door opened halfway. A man dressed in black stood inside, his face expressionless as he regarded them indifferently.
Clerk Wang plastered his face with smiles. "We are from A Qu Garrison in Jingzhou-"
Before he could finish, Poker Face moved to shut the door. Clerk Wang hastily changed tack. "We have escorted the young master of the Prince of Langya here, and have come expressly to pay a visit to his kinsman!"
Only then did Poker Face stop. His sharp gaze swept over them before finally settling on Wang Yang.
Wang Yang felt that gaze pierce like a sword, as though it would run straight through him. But he had already summoned every ounce of his spirit and resolve, determined to fight with his back to the river. His expression did not change in the slightest; he merely gave Black Han a mild glance.
Black Han presented the calling card. Poker Face accepted it and told Wang Yang, "Wait a moment." Then he closed the door.
"Well, would you look at that," Squad Leader Xue muttered. "Even a doorman puts on such airs!"
That "moment" lasted more than two hours.
Wang Yang was uneasy. He had no idea whether the meeting would bring fortune or disaster, so naturally he would not hurry things along. Squad Leader Xue, however, could no longer contain himself. Summoning his courage, he stepped up and rapped on the door.
Poker Face opened it again. Squad Leader Xue cupped his hands and asked, "May I ask, sir, what did your master say?"
"I don't know."
"You don't know? What... what's that supposed to mean? Did you deliver the calling card?"
Poker Face simply shut the door.
"Damn it," Squad Leader Xue could not help cursing under his breath. "A dog throwing its weight around on its master's strength!"
He looked at Clerk Wang. "Tell me, what do they mean by this?"
"Patience, patience. Last time I came to Jiangling, I heard that the commandery's Judicial Registrar paid a visit to a young gentleman of the Hedong Liu Clan. He waited from early morning until the moon came out-a whole day! In the end, he didn't even get a sip of tea! Think about it: that was the Judicial Registrar! Such a high-ranking official! He waited all day without even seeing the man! It's perfectly normal for the Langya Wang clan to make us wait."
Squad Leader Xue immediately deflated, but then something struck him. "That's not right! They aren't making us wait-they're making Young Master Wang wait!"
Both men looked at Wang Yang, each turning the matter over in his mind.
Wang Yang found it strange too. A calling card alone could not establish whether he was genuine, and he had even included a short poem to whet the recipient's appetite. Even if they did not invite him to meet immediately, surely they ought to let him inside and give him somewhere to sit while he waited. That was the proper way to treat a guest! Who left someone standing outside like this?
Although puzzled, Wang Yang began considering another possibility: might failing to meet the man actually be a good thing for him?
They waited more than another two hours, until their backs and waists ached and the sun sank in the west, yet there was still no sign of activity inside. By now, even Ding Jiu was looking at Wang Yang differently, while Squad Leader Xue and Clerk Wang had long since moved aside to whisper together. Only Black Han remained at Wang Yang's side, as respectful as ever.
"Could this boy really be an impostor?" Squad Leader Xue whispered. "But even if he is, surely they'd come out and say so."
"Not necessarily an impostor," Clerk Wang said thoughtfully. "But even if he's genuine, a great clan has countless tangled branches. Their standing and fortunes can be as far apart as heaven and earth. That's nothing unusual. If they're still treating him so coldly after seeing his calling card, I fear he isn't perched on any lofty branch."
"But isn't his second uncle a high-ranking cavalier official?"
"His second uncle is a Cavalier Attendant. He isn't."
Clerk Wang glanced at Wang Yang.
"Perhaps he's some down-and-out scion putting on airs under his second uncle's name! He says 'second uncle,' but who knows whether it's his own father's younger brother or some uncle so distant you couldn't reach him with eight bamboo poles? Besides, look at him. He's waited all this time without showing the slightest temper. How does that look like a nobleman's son? Calling him a wastrel gives him too much credit! It seems he's pulled the wool over both our eyes!"
At that moment, Wang Yang also realized he had made a mistake!
Unlike Squad Leader Xue and the others, who were restless with impatience, Wang Yang inwardly resisted meeting a member of the Langya Wang clan. He even thought that failing to meet him might be a good thing. If they did have to meet, delaying it would give him more time to prepare-why not welcome that? So he had waited very patiently, entirely forgetting that he was playing the part of a young nobleman. What young nobleman would stand outside someone's door waiting without a word?!
But sometimes, a mistake put to good use could produce unexpected results.
He put on a show of bluster masking cowardice and snapped, "What's so great about Wang Tai? I waited courteously out of respect for him as an elder, yet he's so arrogant, fawning on the high and trampling the low! He treats me coldly just because my family has no influence! How does he know I won't soar into the heavens one day? If he won't see me, so be it! I'm done waiting!"
Hearing this, Squad Leader Xue's heart sank halfway into ice.
So after all that, he was just a "fallen household" within the Langya Wang clan. Clerk Wang had guessed right!
He was about to speak when Clerk Wang caught his arm. "Very well. We'll accompany you on another visit when the opportunity arises, young master. For now, we shall take our leave." With that, he gave Squad Leader Xue a meaningful look.
Squad Leader Xue understood and cupped his hands as well. "Yes, we'll accompany you another time, young master."
Without waiting for Wang Yang to respond, the two hurried away as though their heels were on fire. Ding Jiu called after them, "Squad Leader! What about us?"
Without looking back, Squad Leader Xue waved a hand. "You get five days' leave too. Go home and see your family."
Once they were some distance away, Squad Leader Xue hurriedly asked, "Old Wang, what are you doing? Are we really just leaving?"
"What else would we do?" Clerk Wang countered. "Invite that little lord back and wait on him with fine food and drink? We don't have enough grain to begin with. Give him plenty, and he won't be grateful; give him too little, and he'll certainly resent us. How many dried fish do you have left? I certainly can't spare any more eggs."
At the mention of dried fish, Squad Leader Xue immediately said, "Right, right! We absolutely can't bring him back!" But he was still a little worried. "What if he's an impostor, though? Are we just letting it go?"
"And what if he's genuine? Aren't you afraid we'll meddle our way into trouble ourselves? However down on his luck he is, he's still one of the Langya Wang clan. Why offend him? One less complication is better than one more. Since neither possibility does us any good, why trouble ourselves over it?"
Squad Leader Xue thought that made sense, then asked, "Are we reporting this, then?"
"Of course we are! We didn't report it before because we hoped to skim off a little fat. Now that we know there's no fat to skim, we should get it off our hands at once and let our superiors decide what to do. That way, whatever happens later has nothing to do with us."
"But if he's finally proven to be an impostor, and our superiors hold us responsible for letting him get away..."
Clerk Wang looked at Squad Leader Xue with a strange smile. "We haven't let him go. Didn't we leave two soldiers there?"
Squad Leader Xue slapped his thigh and started to turn back. "Then I'd better give them their orders."
Clerk Wang caught him. "Oh, my dear squad leader, what orders do you need to give? If he's genuine and you order them to guard him, won't you still be offending him?"
"But if he's an impostor, and we don't tell them beforehand, what if they let him go?"
Clerk Wang smiled. "Then they've neglected their own duties. What does that have to do with you or me?"
Squad Leader Xue froze for a moment, then burst out laughing. "You scholars really are the devious ones!"
Note: Although the Langya Wang clan had an exalted pedigree, that did not mean all its members enjoyed wealth and influence. Different branches of the family sometimes lived in circumstances as far apart as heaven and earth. As Lin Xiaoguang wrote, "Within the so-called clan itself, there was also a division between the exalted, whose families held the Three Ducal Offices for generations, and the lowly, who farmed and wove with their own hands." (See chapter one of Lin Xiaoguang's Wang Rong and the Yongming Era: A Case Study of Southern Dynasties Aristocracy and Aristocratic Literature.) Yet even though Clerk Wang suspected that the protagonist might be a down-and-out member of the gentry, he remained unwilling to offend him, because gentry status was far more than a useless label. More on this later.
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