The next day, the spring sunlight shone bright and fair.
Wei Nisheng brought Wei An to the Feng Residence, having been invited once again.
This time, however, things were utterly different from their last visit.
The moment the gatekeeper saw him, his face filled with smiles. He hurried out of the gatehouse and bowed.
"Young Master Wei, you're here? The master left instructions to show you straight in when you arrived. There's no need to announce you."
Wei Nisheng nodded and followed the gatekeeper inside.
They passed the screen wall and walked along the bluestone path. This time, rather than going to the main hall, they were led toward the rear courtyard.
Following behind, Wei An marveled inwardly.
Last time we came, Lord Feng was still sitting in the main hall, putting on airs.
This time, we're being invited straight into the garden.
The young master's standing really has changed.
Soon, they passed through a moon gate, and the view suddenly opened up. Only Wei Nisheng was allowed to enter, however; Wei An waited outside.
This was the Feng Residence's garden, with rockeries and ponds, little bridges and flowing water.
Several peach trees were in full bloom, their pink and white petals drifting in the breeze and scattering over the bluestone paths.
A garden pavilion stood beside the water, open on all four sides, with the spring breeze passing through it.
A string of bronze bells hung beneath the eaves, chiming crisply.
Inside the pavilion, Feng Yan stood before a large desk, writing with a brush.
The steward guiding them said softly, "Master, Young Master Wei has arrived."
Feng Yan did not look up. He merely murmured an acknowledgment.
The steward bowed and withdrew, leaving Wei Nisheng alone.
Wei Nisheng did not rush to speak either, but watched quietly.
Feng Yan was copying the visiting card Wei Nisheng had sent on his previous visit.
Unfortunately, though the forms resembled the original, they lacked its keen, unsheathed edge.
Only after a long while, when he finished writing, did Feng Yan set down his brush. He looked up, saw Wei Nisheng standing there, and smiled faintly.
"You're here? Come in."
Only then did Wei Nisheng step into the pavilion. He stopped before the desk and bowed. "My respects, Lord Feng."
Feng Yan waved a hand, indicating that he need not stand on ceremony.
Then he picked up the sheet he had copied, glanced at it, and set it down again, saying with a smile,
"The more I look at your calligraphy, the more I like it. Slender yet strong, upright and vigorous, with its sharpness held in reserve. Rare indeed."
"So I've spent several days copying it. Sadly, I still can't capture it."
"You flatter me, Lord Feng," Wei Nisheng replied modestly. "I merely scribbled it casually."
"Scribbled it casually?" Feng Yan looked at him. "Then were those words you spoke in the Wei Family's Ancestral Hall merely casual nonsense too?"
Wei Nisheng knew they had reached the heart of the matter.
Feng Yan continued, "I heard about your debate on ritual propriety in the Wei Family.
"Every statement drew upon the classics, every argument was clear and orderly. You argued those Clan Elders into speechlessness."
"But I'm very curious..." Feng Yan fixed Wei Nisheng with a blazing gaze.
"You were confined to the Side Courtyard for ten years. Even if you had a chance to study, it could only have been during the past month or two. How did you accomplish this?"
"Even a child prodigy shouldn't be so precocious. Could it be..." He paused, his tone growing meaningful. "Could there truly be people born with knowledge?"
Something stirred in Wei Nisheng's heart.
He knew Feng Yan must have investigated him thoroughly.
From his days in the Side Courtyard, to Wang Rong's death, to the lyric at the Apprenticeship Banquet, to the debate in the Ancestral Hall.
Feng Yan knew it all.
So if he answered this question poorly, he would be doomed beyond redemption.
But he absolutely could not reveal that he had transmigrated. Otherwise, Feng Yan would most likely burn him.
Yes, burn him! Never underestimate the feudal beliefs and worldview of people in ancient times.
Wei Nisheng therefore smiled faintly and said unhurriedly, "How could anyone in this world be born with knowledge? You jest, Lord Feng."
Feng Yan's brows drew together slightly. "Then how do you explain yourself?"
Wei Nisheng did not answer immediately. Instead, he said slowly, "Lord Feng, have you read the essays of Han Yu of the former Tang dynasty?"
Feng Yan nodded. "Naturally, I've read Han Changli's essays."
"Then Master Changli wrote a piece titled 'Preface for Sending Off Wang Xun.' There is a line in it that I have always kept in my heart."
"'A man traveling downriver, so long as he does not stop, will reach the sea, whether swiftly or slowly.'"
At these words, Feng Yan's gaze shifted slightly.
Wei Nisheng continued, "Though I was confined to the Side Courtyard for ten years and have supposedly studied for only a few months, how do you know, Lord Feng, that I ever truly stopped after first learning to read?"
"And how do you know that I truly studied for only a few months?"
Feng Yan fell silent.
Of course he understood what those words meant.
Wei Nisheng was telling him that he had kept studying from the day he first learned to read.
It was simply that no one had seen it, and no one had known.
To outsiders, he had "studied for a few months."
To him, it had been "ten years without wavering."
Feng Yan nodded, but countered, "Even if you never stopped, how could reading alone allow you to apply your knowledge with such ease?"
"You're only ten. Even if you memorized all the classics, histories, philosophical writings, and literary collections, without experience or trials, how could you adapt to a situation like the one in the Ancestral Hall and make every word ring true?"
Wei Nisheng looked at him frankly. "Lord Feng, there is something I would like to say, though I don't know whether I should."
Feng Yan raised an eyebrow. "Speak."
"Have you not heard..." Wei Nisheng enunciated each word. "Only when a scholar has a true heart unbowed by a hundred setbacks can he respond wondrously to endless change."
"It was precisely because I read, and because I endured setbacks and reversals while reading, that I drew from those books the principles of adapting to changing circumstances."
"Without those ten years of seclusion, without those nights kneeling in the Ancestral Hall, without those days when others trampled me into the mud..."
"Even if I had memorized the books until they fell apart, I would have been nothing more than a bookworm."
"Only when a scholar has a true heart unbowed by a hundred setbacks can he respond wondrously to endless change..." After hearing him out, Feng Yan remained silent for a long time.
Then he suddenly strode forward, stopping before Wei Nisheng and looking down at the boy, who barely reached his chest.
"What a line! 'A true heart unbowed by a hundred setbacks, a wondrous response to endless change'!"
"A true heart unbowed by a hundred setbacks is the substance. A wondrous response to endless change is its application."
"Only when both substance and application are present does one possess true learning."
"You taught yourself to this level, yet still claim you're no child prodigy? That you weren't born with knowledge?"
Wei Nisheng smiled faintly and did not answer.
But he knew he had passed this test.
He therefore took the initiative to change the subject. "Lord Feng, my main reason for visiting today was to thank you for showing me the way."
With that, he bowed deeply. "Without your suggestion and that letter, I could neither have left the Wei Family nor recovered the Eldest Branch Estate."
Feng Yan waved a hand, returned to the desk, and picked up his brush again. As he dipped it in ink, he said with a smile,
"You certainly ought to thank me. After all, because of this affair, an old retired fellow like me has come to His Majesty's attention again."
Before you continue