The Village Head (Part Two)

Black Han and the Village Head both froze, while A-Wu burst out laughing.

Zhang Lisi flew into a rage and pointed at Wang Yang. "You! Who are you?! How dare you come here and make a fool of me?"

Black Han hurriedly said, "Village Head, this is a young master of the Langya Wang clan."

"I don't care what young mas... who did you say? The Prince of Langya?!" The Village Head broke off halfway and stared at Black Han in disbelief.

Little A-Wu huffed. "Village Head, you haven't kowtowed to Young Master Wang yet! Daddy and I both kowtowed this morning. When Third Master Du came yesterday, he kowtowed before leaving too!"

Wang Yang thought, This clever little imp is something else. She really knows how to bluff. Lies roll right off her tongue. If she helped me pass myself off as someone else, she'd do a much better job than Black Han.

After all, few people would suspect a child so young of lying. Even more impressively, her lies were half true and half false, mixing falsehood into truth to make them all the more convincing.

Black Han, meanwhile, silently blamed his daughter for talking nonsense. If Third Master Du heard about this, it would bring another disaster down on them.

Great waves surged through Zhang Lisi's heart. He had been wondering why Third Master Du had made such a commotion, only to leave after asking for a brush and ink. So there had been an important person here!

But on second thought, this person was dressed so plainly. Where was the slightest trace of an aristocrat about him? Besides, would a noble young master of the foremost great house, the Langya Wang clan, come to this impoverished backwater? Without even a single attendant?

Yet if he was not from the Langya Wang clan, why had Third Master Du backed down?

Zhang Lisi could not make up his mind, nor did he know whether to believe A-Wu's claims about kowtowing. He stood there, bewildered and at a loss.

Wang Yang rebuked him coldly. "Confucius did not speak of prodigies, violence, disorder, or spirits. Vulgar taboos verge on delusion and superstition. Lord Mengchang was also born on the fifth day of the fifth month, yet he brought his family to greatness and left a name that endured through the ages. Clearly, the claim about children born on Double Fifth has nothing but words of taboo behind it, with no evidence of ill effects. It is one thing for ignorant men and women to blindly believe and spread talk of Double Fifth children. But you are the head of a village, charged with overseeing its households. What kind of conduct is it if you join in their foolish clamor? Would that not reduce the Imperial Court's principles of governance and moral instruction—educating the common people and reforming their customs—to empty talk?"

Cold sweat streamed down Zhang Lisi as he listened. He bowed his back and murmured agreement again and again.

It was not that he truly thought Wang Yang's argument sound, but that such a speech was certainly beyond an ordinary person. Even if he was not from the Langya Wang clan, he had to be someone of consequence. Besides, he had brought the Imperial Court's moral instruction and reform of customs into it at the end. Who would dare argue with that?

Little A-Wu's large eyes brightened slightly when she saw Wang Yang extinguish Zhang Lisi's arrogance with just a few words.

Wang Yang had not said all this merely to vent little A-Wu's grievances. The brush and ink Third Master Du had borrowed yesterday had come from the Village Head's home, and from the way the Village Head had spoken just now, Wang Yang thought he must have had some schooling. He would first overawe the Village Head, making it easier to ask about matters only an educated man would know.

"Tell me, does Jingzhou have a Commandery Academy?"

Commandery Academies were government-established local schools. Together with the Imperial Academy in the Capital, established by the Imperial Court and known in antiquity as the "Grand Academy," they formed the system of official education.

The Village Head hurriedly replied, "Yes. There are two, both inside Jingzhou City."

"Two?" There was usually only one government school. Why did Jingzhou have two?

"One is Jingzhou's original local Commandery Academy. The other is Wang Academy, established by the Grand Marshal, the Prince of Yuzhang, when he governed Jingzhou."

Wang Yang noticed that when the Village Head mentioned the "Grand Marshal, the Prince of Yuzhang," he clasped his hands toward the heavens with the utmost respect. Though curious about who this Prince of Yuzhang was, he could not ask, or he would appear far too ignorant.

"Who are the libationers of the two schools?"

A libationer was the person in charge of a school, equivalent to a modern principal.

"The libationer of the local Commandery Academy is Lord Liu Zhao. The libationer of Wang Academy is Lord Liu Tan. You should know him, young master." Zhang Lisi stole a glance at Wang Yang.

"Why should I know him?" Wang Yang countered.

"Lord Liu comes from the Hedong Liu Clan. Like you, young master, he belongs to a great émigré house. I would imagine you know each other?" Zhang Lisi asked tentatively.

The Hedong Liu Clan was also among the foremost great houses of the Southern Dynasties. Though slightly below the Langya Wang clan, it was still strong enough to rival it. Especially since Liu Tan's father was the illustrious old Duke Liu! Only if this young master's father was the late chancellor Wang Jian could he compare! But Wang Jian had died last year too. Zhang Lisi muttered inwardly.

Wang Yang did not know what deeper meaning Zhang Lisi intended with this question of whether they knew each other, but whatever he was trying to probe, it had to stop here!

He raised his eyebrows slightly and said coldly, "Answer what I ask. Do not act like Du the Third, saying things you should not and only making yourself tiresome."

Du... Du the Third???!!!

Zhang Lisi's knees went weak with fright, and he nearly lost his footing!

Even Black Han was startled!

Third Master Du had powerful backing! The person behind him was said to be someone important in the Capital, and the yamen runners were all exceedingly respectful toward him. Yet someone actually dared call him Du the Third?!

The little boy did not understand any of this. Compared with Third Master Du being called Du San, A-Wu's earlier glare frightened him far more. He clutched his grandfather's clothes, not daring to look at A-Wu, and wanted only to go home immediately.

Zhang Lisi brushed his grandson's hand aside and bowed tremblingly. "Yes, yes. This humble fellow misspoke. Please calm your anger, young master."

Wang Yang continued, "Which classics do Liu Zhao and Liu Tan study?"

In ancient usage, to "study" meant to research a subject.

Zhang Lisi dared not say anything extra and answered honestly, "They both study the Book of Documents."

Wang Yang felt a surge of delight. Of the so-called "Four Books and Five Classics," the designation "Four Books" had only appeared during the Southern Song. Before that, the supreme Confucian texts had been the Five Classics: the Classic of Poetry, the Book of Documents, the Classic of Rites, the Book of Changes, and the Spring and Autumn Annals.

Among the Five Classics, he was weakest in the Classic of Rites. So long as it was not the Classic of Rites, the matter was already halfway settled.

He asked again, "Which school do they follow in their study of the Book of Documents?"

The study of the Book of Documents was divided into different traditions. Asking "which school" in ancient times meant asking "which scholarly tradition."

"Which... which school? This... this humble fellow does not know."

Wang Yang thought for a moment, then said, "You may go. Remember, treat the villagers kindly from now on, and do not stir up trouble without cause."

Zhang Lisi murmured his assent and withdrew, but Wang Yang called him back. "After you return, send over paper and a brush. I want to write."

"This humble fellow will go fetch them at once."

Zhang Lisi hurried away, pulling his grandson along. The little boy suddenly said, "Grandpa, she really did hit me first!"

"You still dare say that! If you cause trouble again, I'll beat you first!"

Though he said that aloud, a thought suddenly struck him. Weren't we supposed to be discussing who was in the wrong for hitting whom? And asking exactly who struck first? How did he seize on that remark about a "Double Fifth child" and lecture me, then skip over the fight without mentioning it once? In the end, I somehow became the one in the wrong! That's completely unreasonable!

But he immediately thought it through. What reason is there to argue with an aristocrat? I really must have lost my head!