A stream of living water murmured down from the stone channel in the rear garden, winding through bend after bend before flowing into a small pool.
A path paved with patterned stones meandered from the poolside through the trees, ending at an airy study with tall windows and doors on all four sides. Open and unobstructed, it welcomed breezes in spring, drew in coolness in summer, offered the sound of rain pattering on banana leaves in autumn, and a view of snow weighing down the bamboo in winter.
With the windows shuttered and doors closed, nothing outside could be seen. Thus the study was named "Thousand-One Studio," meaning-closed, a single room; opened, a thousand miles.
This was Wang Rong's study.
At that moment, Wang Rong wore an ink-wash-patterned robe, his black hair loosely secured with a white jade hairpin. Holding a book behind his back, he strolled about the room.
His expression was delighted, his eyes bright. Sometimes he murmured passages to himself; sometimes he brought the book forward to take another look.
The book lay loosely rolled between his fingers, as though it were an old friend before whom there was no need to sit stiffly and formally.
It was the Questions and Answers on the Book of Documents, written by Wang Yang.
On the writing desk beside him lay One Hundred Questions on the Book of Documents, Pointing Out Flaws in the Modern- and Old-Text Book of Documents, Comprehensive Study of the Southern Barbarians, and six or seven miscellaneous books circulating among the public, including Selected Sayings of Wang Zhiyan, Records of Master Wang's Book of Documents Studies, Selected Lectures of Wang Zhiyan, Essentials of Langya Wang's Lectures, and Tears of the Barbarian Woman.
Apart from Pointing Out Flaws in the Modern- and Old-Text Book of Documents and