From the side courtyard to the main courtyard, through the hanging-flower gate and along the covered walkway, a thin layer of snow had already accumulated.
Wei Nisheng drew his cloak close and followed behind Wei An. He had just rounded a corner when footsteps sounded behind him.
Leading the group was a boy about his height, wrapped in a brand-new sable cloak, its white fur collar framing his chin.
This was his elder legitimate brother, Wei Shouzheng.
The Wei family's so-called "lucky star." Even his name had been chosen with more care.
"Shouzheng"-upholding the righteous path. How lovely.
Seeing his elder brother approach,
Wei Nisheng paused and stepped half a pace toward the edge of the walkway.
He left the middle of the path to his legitimate elder brother and kept to the side himself.
A study attendant and a young servant followed Wei Shouzheng; he had clearly just returned from his lessons.
He was not walking fast, but his gaze was plainly directed at Wei Nisheng.
Wei Nisheng knew what he was looking at.
His face.
Although the brothers had been born together, they were not identical twins.
The face of this body resembled his mother, Lu Shi.
Fine brows and eyes, cool, elegant bone structure-even standing in the snow in a half-worn cloak, he still looked like a painting.
His elder brother, Wei Shouzheng, took after their father, Wei Mingde: a flat nose, narrow eyes, and features crowded together.
Put kindly, he was "ordinary." Put bluntly, he was "bland."
And the officials of the Great Zhou Dynasty prized "appearance and bearing."
Anyone with handsome, dignified looks would draw a second glance.
"The wretch who refuses to die still knows to make way."
The voice arrived before its owner.
Wei Shouzheng approached without stopping, merely turning his head to glance at Wei Nisheng.
"I'm going to the ancestral hall too. Follow behind."
As he spoke, he had already passed Wei Nisheng. After another two steps, he stopped and added without looking back,
"And keep your distance. It's the dead of winter; I don't need your ill luck." With a cold snort, he swept away with his servants.
Wei Nisheng lowered his eyes and said nothing.
How many years had he been hearing this?
Ever since they had begun their schooling and grown old enough to understand things, what ugly words had this legitimate elder brother not thrown at him, openly or otherwise?
Before others, he was the Wei family's eldest young master, upright and generous toward his kin.
In private, he never bothered to hide his contempt and rejection of his own younger brother.
Their father loathed him, but still cared about appearances.
Ever since that poem had spread, he had kept Wei Nisheng out of sight and out of mind, acting as though he had no such son.
But Wei Shouzheng was different.
When his studies grew burdensome, he turned that pent-up frustration into very tangible "care."
He personally oversaw everything Wei Nisheng ate, wore, and used.
Last year, Wei An had secretly brought in several history books from outside, hoping to help him understand the origins and course of the Great Zhou Dynasty.
Before he had even warmed them in his hands, Wei Shouzheng's people had searched them out and confiscated them.
A ten-year-old child, capable of doing such a thing.
Who knew whether it came naturally or he had learned it from the adults?
Sure enough, nothing good ever comes of this!
Wei Nisheng lifted his head and watched the figure receding ahead. He breathed into his palms, pulled his cloak closer, and continued forward.
Before long, they reached the Wei residence's ancestral hall.
Wei An was not entitled to enter, even though he had been granted the family surname.
So Wei Nisheng crossed the threshold and went inside alone.
The Wei Family ancestral hall was grand in scale, its incense offerings plentiful.
Two towering pillars stood before the entrance.
The left was the "merit" pillar, engraved with the ancestors' great achievements.
The right was the "service" pillar, recording the ranks and honors of successive generations of officials.
The Wei clan descended from a prominent family of Julu. Its most renowned ancestor was Wei Zheng, one of the "twenty-four meritorious officials of Lingyan Pavilion" during Emperor Taizong of Tang's reign.
But that was all in the past.
After all, Huang Chao had already used the great clans' genealogies as a name-by-name guide to playing elimination games.
Once inside the ancestral hall, Wei Nisheng instinctively looked up at the three spirit tablets standing at the front of the offering table.
His grandfather, Wei Zheng; his eldest uncle, Wei Mingyuan; and his mother, Lu Shi.
Fresh fruit stood before his grandfather's and uncle's tablets, water droplets still clinging to the orange peels. Blue smoke curled from the incense burner, where fine incense was burning.
His mother Lu Shi's tablet sat in a corner, with only a plate of dried, shriveled pastries before it.
And the father he had acquired in this life, Wei Mingde, stood before the tablets with his back to the door.
He wore an indigo scholar's robe beneath a dark gray crane cloak.
A rhinoceros-horn belt encircled his waist, a style permitted only to officials of the sixth rank or above.
Wei Mingde currently served as a principal secretary in the Ministry of Works' Construction and Maintenance Office, an idle Principal Sixth Rank post. The belt suited his status perfectly.
"Sinful Son, now that you're here, kneel properly."
Wei Nisheng answered and obeyed.
Wei Shouzheng, who had arrived first, was already kneeling on the other side.
But beneath his knees lay a very thick, soft cushion.
Wei Mingde turned around.
His gaze swept over his two sons.
They were as different as heaven and earth.
One wore sable; the other, a thin padded jacket.
One had a soft cushion; the other knelt on cold bricks.
"Do you know what day it is?"
"I don't. Please enlighten me, Father."
"There is good news today!" Wei Mingde said, his eyes full of satisfaction as he looked at his eldest legitimate son, Wei Shouzheng.
"Your elder brother is about to become a disciple of Qin Gong, the deputy director of the Imperial College. This is wonderful news that will bring glory to our family."
Deputy director of the Imperial College, a Subordinate Fourth Rank official... Wei Nisheng frowned, thinking to himself.
I never imagined my father, with his idle Principal Sixth Rank post in the Ministry of Works, had that kind of influence...
After all, the Great Zhou was not the Ming or Qing; there were no idlers coasting along in the Imperial College.
And the deputy director of the Imperial College was equivalent to a university vice president in his previous life.
Anyone holding that position would, at the very least, be a great scholar leading a school of thought.
"Rest assured, Father." The corners of Wei Shouzheng's mouth rose. "I will study diligently and betray neither your teachings nor Qin Gong's favor."
"Good, good!" Wei Mingde said twice in succession. "My son shall make this family prosper!"
Then, seeing Wei Nisheng remain silent, he immediately grew angry.
"You Sinful Son! Your elder brother has received such good news, and you can't even offer a word of congratulations?"
Hearing Wei Mingde's words, Wei Nisheng hurriedly clasped his hands and bowed.
"Congratulations, Elder Brother."
"You're too polite, Little Brother." Wei Shouzheng turned toward him with a gentle smile.
"You should work hard too. If you ever encounter difficulties, feel free to come to me."
"We're brothers by blood. There's no need to be so reserved."
After this performance from Wei Shouzheng, Wei Mingde found Wei Nisheng even more contemptible when his gaze returned to him.
"Look how generous your elder brother is! You, you... forget it!"
"Just kneel here before the grandfather and mother you cursed to death, and think hard about what right you have to live."
"Yes, Father." Wei Nisheng kept his eyes lowered and did not move.
There was nothing he could do; he had no cheat that could summon armies and mighty generals.
In ancient times, defying one's parents was a grave offense.
A father beating his son was deemed as natural as heaven and earth.
If the son dared talk back, that was a monstrous breach of filial duty.
Besides, his family already hated him.
Wei Nisheng was not foolish enough to hand them a knife himself.
So his best choice now was to hide his face and wait for this performance to end.
Just then, a fragrant breeze drifted in from outside the ancestral hall.
"Husband, in this snowy weather, how could you really make the child kneel here?"
The newcomer was his stepmother, Cui Shi.
She wore a moon-white, open-front Beizi, its collar and cuffs embroidered with intricate trailing floral patterns. The edge of a pale yellow chest wrap showed beneath it.
The Beizi reached below her knees, with slits at either side revealing the eight-panel skirt tied beneath.
Pale cloud patterns were embroidered on the skirt in muted silk thread, and a narrow sash tied at her waist swayed with each step.
Her hair was styled in a Joined-Heart Bun and secured with a simple silver hairpin, making her gentle face look all the more modest and proper.
She entered with her two-year-old son, Wei Shoucheng, her expression gentle and her eyes smiling.
The child wore a brand-new red silk padded jacket beneath a short rabbit-fur coat. Only his round face showed, his eyes roaming curiously about.
He looked as though he had just come from a warm chamber, still carrying the warmth of its charcoal fire.
As soon as she entered, Cui Shi walked over to Wei Nisheng and crouched down.
"The floor is so cold." She looked up at Wei Mingde, her tone carrying just the right measure of reproach.
"Really, husband, couldn't you say whatever you have to say kindly?" With that, she looked down at Wei Nisheng again.
"Making the child kneel in the ancestral hall just as the snow begins-how it must pain Father and Elder Sister to see him."
Wei Nisheng's expression changed at those words.
Damn it, this woman is coming after me!
Sure enough, the moment Wei Mingde heard that remark, his face turned livid.
"Pain them?" His voice rose. "This Sinful Son still has the gall to bring up Father and Lu Niang?!"
With that, he stepped forward and lashed out with his foot.
Caught off guard, Wei Nisheng was kicked to the floor.
"Look at whose tablets you're kneeling before!" Wei Mingde pointed at them.
"Your grandfather! Your mother! You still have the gall to make them grieve for you?!"
Bracing his hands against the floor, Wei Nisheng slowly resumed his kneeling position.
He neither raised his head nor spoke.
"Oh!" Having achieved her aim, Cui Shi cried out and hurriedly stood to catch Wei Mingde's sleeve.
"Calm yourself, husband, calm yourself. He's still a child..."
Then she looked at Wei Nisheng again, her eyes full of pity, and bent down as though she wanted to help him up but did not quite dare.
"Ni Sheng, don't blame your father.
"It's just... ah, what happened on the day you were born-who could ever put that behind them?
"Your father does everything for this family. His heart is heavy."
With a sigh, she reached out and brushed the dust from Wei Nisheng's shoulder.
"But you should be content." She smiled gently. "The Wei family hasn't mistreated you. You've lacked nothing in food, clothing, or daily necessities.
"Your elder brother is making something of himself. You ought to be happy for him.
"When he rises in the world, could he possibly forget his two younger brothers?"
Just then, two-year-old Wei Shoucheng, who had been watching for some time with round eyes, suddenly called out in his babyish voice,
"Mother, cold. Go back inside."
Cui Shi lowered her head and kissed her son's cheek, her whole face blooming with a smile. "All right, all right. We'll go right now."
Then she straightened, her gaze lingering on Wei Nisheng's face for a moment.
She was the daughter of a minor official and had married Wei Mingde as his second wife for the lingering prestige of the Wei family's "ministerial lineage" and its substantial wealth.
Before she had a son, she had harbored no particular designs against Wei Nisheng. She had even thought he could provide some security if she remained childless.
But now she had borne a son of her own. She dared not covet the eldest legitimate son's place, but what about everything else?
Though Wei Nisheng was the second legitimate son, if matters truly came to a dispute, the rules would still entitle him to a considerable share of the family property, however much they hated him.
That meant her own son, Wei Shoucheng, would receive less in the future.
So she dearly wished something would happen to Wei Nisheng at this age, clearing a place for her own son.
Ideally, he would fall ill and die after returning from that kick.
"Enough." Wei Mingde waved impatiently. "Take Shoucheng back first. Don't let him freeze here."
Cui Shi assented, picked up her son, and turned to leave.
But just then, Wei Nisheng suddenly spoke, calling out,
"Mother, please wait."
Before you continue