You Take After Your Grandfather!!!

Faced with Feng Yan's words, Wei Nisheng knew that the former chief grand secretary was testing his knowledge-and sounding him out.

Good question. Unfortunately for you, I'm a man who does his homework!

So Wei Nisheng raised his head, his gaze calm. After a moment's thought, he slowly replied,

"People interpret this saying as meaning that our Wei clan specializes in the Ministry of Revenue, holding one corner of the realm's finances and taxation. They take it as praise for my grandfather's practical expertise."

Feng Yan nodded. "Yes, that is the surface meaning. And beneath it?"

Wei Nisheng fell silent for an instant, then slowly said, "A corner stands alone."

Feng Yan's gaze sharpened.

"Like the corner of an upturned eave, it seems to soar into the air, yet hangs precariously. Like a corner of a chessboard, it seems to offer an early advantage, yet easily becomes a trap."

"Our Wei clan's power is concentrated in my grandfather alone. While he remains, he holds up half the sky at the Ministry of Revenue. But once he is gone, we will be rootless duckweed."

Having finished, Wei Nisheng looked at Feng Yan with an open gaze. "This saying is both praise and warning. It praises my grandfather's ability and warns of our Wei clan's peril."

As his words faded, silence settled over the side hall.

Outside the window, a koi leaped from the water and fell back into the pond with a soft plop.

Feng Yan stared at him, a keen light flickering in his eyes, and said nothing for a long time.

Only after a while did he suddenly speak. "If your grandfather were here to hear those words, I wonder what he would think."

"I don't know either."

"'I don't know,' indeed." At that, Feng Yan pointed to the teacup before Wei Nisheng. "Drink."

Then, as Wei Nisheng lifted the cup and took a small sip, he added, "I looked into you yesterday. That poem circulating through the Capital several years ago-you had someone spread it, didn't you?"

Wei Nisheng paused, set down his tea, then smiled faintly.

There was no panic in his smile, no denial, only the composure of someone who had been seen through.

"Nothing escapes your discerning eye, Lord Feng."

"It was merely... a child protecting himself."

Feng Yan stared at him, then suddenly clapped his hands and laughed. "Good! A child protecting himself, indeed!"

"But if protection was your aim, your reputation as the 'Fiery Child,' His Majesty's personal praise, and Qin Yan's particular favor should already keep you safe for several years."

"Why, then, did you still need to come see me?"

Wei Nisheng fell silent for a moment, then met Feng Yan's gaze without flinching or looking away, saying only,

"And after those years?"

Feng Yan raised an eyebrow.

"How many years can the name 'Fiery Child' protect me? How many years can Qin Gong's appreciation protect me?"

"Since you know of that poem, Lord Feng, you must also know my situation in the Wei Family.

"If I do not find a way, then several years from now, I fear I will once again be the abandoned child in the Side Courtyard, 'sipping leftover broth.'"

Watching Wei Nisheng, Feng Yan suddenly asked another question. "Then why not restrain yourself a little? Wouldn't it be better to study quietly in the Side Courtyard and make further plans once you are grown?"

Wei Nisheng lifted his eyes and countered without hesitation. "Why should I restrain myself?"

His tone changed so swiftly that even Feng Yan failed to react for a moment.

"When young and powerless, conceal your edge. Now that I have grown, able to wield both brush and sword, I should put myself first!!!"

Feng Yan stared at him. "Are you that certain of yourself?"

"Lord Feng." Wei Nisheng reached for the teapot and poured Feng Yan a cup instead.

At the same time, he spoke softly, yet every word rang clear and firm.

"What need have I for pale green or deep crimson? I am, by nature, first among flowers!"

Hearing that line, Feng Yan murmured it to himself.

"What need have I for pale green or deep crimson? I am, by nature, first among flowers..."

Then he raised his eyes and looked at the ten-year-old child before him, at the light in his eyes, at his bearing, neither servile nor overbearing.

For a moment, he seemed to see Wei Zheng as he had been forty years ago!

Back then, Wei Zheng had been posted away to the provinces, and all his colleagues thought he had fallen for good.

Kicked out of the Capital by the emperor to serve as a county magistrate in some impoverished backwater-what was that, if not a fall?

Before his departure, the two had shared drinks, and Wei Zheng had looked at him just like this, smiling as he said,

"Brother Boyuan, how do you know I won't return?"

The look in Wei Zheng's eyes back then had been exactly the same as the look in Wei Nisheng's now!!

Not arrogance, but certainty.

Not conceit, but self-knowledge.

"That very look." Feng Yan chuckled. "I have seen that look many times. But those people all sank in the end. Only your grandfather truly returned."

"Do you know why?"

Wei Nisheng shook his head.

"Because even after others trampled him into the mud, he could still smile and lift his head to look at the sky."

"And you are that sort of person too."

Feng Yan suddenly smiled, openly and heartily.

"Wei Nisheng, I finally understand why you have such a fiery temperament!"

He rose, walked over to Wei Nisheng, and looked down at him.

"You are nothing like your father!"

"You take after your grandfather!!!"

Feng Yan placed heavy emphasis on those last words.

"No, no, no. You are fiercer than Wenyue. You would never give anyone the chance to trample you into the mud..."

"You praise me too highly, Lord Feng," Wei Nisheng said modestly. "I merely... do not wish to tarnish my grandfather's good name."

"It is no excessive praise." Feng Yan waved a hand. "I have never misjudged a person."

"Tell me. What do you want from your visit today?"

Wei Nisheng looked at him and suddenly smiled. "When I came, there was indeed something I wished to ask for."

"But now, I no longer wish to ask."

Feng Yan raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"Because I have already received it."

"Your words, 'You take after your grandfather,' carry more weight than any office or wealth, Lord Feng."

Feng Yan froze for a moment, then burst out laughing. "Good! You little rascal! You even know how to flatter this old man!"

Yet when his laughter ended, his gaze had softened further.

This child was neither greedy nor impatient, and knew when to stop.

That was the kind of person who could accomplish great things.

At the same time, Wei Nisheng also raised his head and looked at Feng Yan.

He knew he had been right to come.

By then, Feng Yan had sat down again, and once more asked Wei Nisheng in a serious tone,

"Tell me. What do you want? You know I will not ask a third time."

Only upon hearing this was Wei Nisheng certain that Feng Yan truly would help him, and he slowly spoke.

"Ni Sheng would not presume to ask anything of you, Lord Feng. It is just..." He paused. "I only wish to ask you to point me toward a path."

"A clear path to freedom."

Feng Yan watched him without speaking for a long time. Then he slowly nodded. "Very well."

"I will point you toward a path-a path into the seas and up to the heavens."

Elsewhere, in a side hall, Wei Mingde sat in restless unease.

He had already drunk three cups of tea and eaten two pastries, yet Lord Feng still had not emerged.

Wei Shouzheng kept glancing toward the doorway, squirming as though needles were pricking his backside.

"Father, why has Lord Feng been talking to him for so long? Could it be..."

Wei Mingde glared at him. "Shut up! Just wait quietly!"

But after scolding his eldest son, Wei Mingde's own heart began to pound with apprehension again.

What exactly is that accursed son saying to Lord Feng?

The more he thought, the more uneasy he became, yet he dared not interrupt.

This was the Feng Residence, not a place where he could run wild.

Cui Shi held Wei Shoucheng in her arms, working out how to bring up her eldest brother's matter later.

Then she glanced at Wei Mingde, saw his tightly furrowed brows, and wisely kept quiet.

Time passed, second by second.

["What need have I for pale green or deep crimson? I am, by nature, first among flowers!"] comes from Li Qingzhao's "Partridge Sky: Osmanthus."

Its plain meaning can be summed up in one sentence: (I am inherently outstanding; I need not prove myself.)