Silence filled the Main Hall of the Shen Residence.
Wei Zi said nothing.
For a moment, Shen Duan thought his silence meant he had begun to waver.
"Zi'an, I admire your talent. You ought to join-"
"Heh. Three memorials like swords. They must have been bones stuck in your throat these past two days, Grand Secretary Shen?"
At those words, the smile froze on Shen Duan's face.
"Your mother died young, your whole family despised you, and you entered your teacher's tutelage because you had nowhere else to turn?"
"Heh." Wei Nisheng shook his head.
"Grand Secretary Shen, you are wrong about that.
I did not have nowhere else to turn!!
My teacher gave me a path.
Back then, the whole world thought Wei Nisheng was a burden. Only my teacher did not.
One person who reaches out to pull you from a dead end is enough for a lifetime.
I, Wei Nisheng, am not so greedy
that after acknowledging one honored teacher, I must acknowledge another."
Shen Duan's expression shifted slightly, and his smile faded a little further.
"You said I placed first in all three examinations, became the Top Graduate, and possessed the talent of a future chief minister."
Wei Nisheng's voice gradually rose, losing its earlier calm.
"Then how could I not know that nourishing the people depends on filling their bellies, and filling their bellies depends on removing the vermin?"
"You said that, as someone outside his family, I would be left alone and helpless once my teacher was gone."
Wei Nisheng stared straight at Shen Duan, his gaze sharp as a blade.
"You worry too much, Grand Secretary Shen.
Since I was ten, I have learned not to dwell on what happens after someone dies.
As long as my teacher lives, I remain his student.