The On Learning debate had originally been scheduled for the start of the hour of the Snake. Even Kong Changyu, the household secretary and adviser whom the Prince of Badong trusted deeply, had arrived, yet the prince himself was nowhere to be seen.
At first, everyone could still wait quietly, but murmurs and complaints gradually arose. Kong Changyu was anxious too and sent out several groups to search for him. Nearly two full hours passed before Kong Changyu heard hoofbeats rumbling like an earthquake and finally breathed a sigh of relief.
A cavalcade of more than twenty riders charged into the Dharma Grounds, throwing up clouds of dust!
The scholars scrambled out of their way, three or four falling in succession.
A young man in a brocade robe, a Great Yellow Bow slung across his back, led the charge and leaped his horse straight onto the broad stone dais at the center of the Dharma Grounds!
The young man on horseback had a powerful build, a sharply defined face, and thick, upswept brows. He radiated a masculine martial vigor that made him look utterly out of place among the scholars. His gleaming eyes swept over the crowd, and he said casually, "Everyone here? Then let's begin."
Every scholar below the dais changed expression.
This was the emperor's fourth son, the Prince of Badong, bearer of the imperial tally, commander of military affairs in the seven provinces of Jingzhou, Xiang, Yong, Liang, Ning, and Northern and Southern Qin, concurrently General Who Guards the West and Governor of Jingzhou-Xiao Zixiang!
Leaving aside his long delay and complete lack of explanation, his entrance alone was truly shocking.
On an occasion like this, a prince charged with guarding a region ought to arrive in a carriage according to ritual propriety. What possible justification was