Outside the courtyard gate, all was silent.
The autumn wind moaned through the long street, sweeping up fallen leaves with a dry rustle.
Standing amid the crowd, Zhao Yuanlang found that his eyes had reddened without his noticing.
He remembered losing his father as a child. His mother had remarried, and his Older Sister had raised him single-handedly.
She had fed him, paid for his schooling, toiled for him...
He had failed the provincial examination this time, but his Older Sister would not blame him.
Yet guilt weighed on his heart. He had accepted Jiang Yu's task today
only because he wanted to buy his Older Sister a silver hairpin to take home.
If someone now called his Older Sister a "servant,"
would he, too, fight like Wei Nisheng, risking his life to secure her rightful standing?
Zhao Yuanlang suddenly realized how shameful it had been to come here today.
"What are you standing there for?" Jiang Yu nudged Zhao Yuanlang. "Argue with him!"
"Heir Apparent of Prince Ning, shame has left me speechless. This has gone too far."
"You..." Jiang Yu had never expected Zhao Yuanlang to do this.
"Provincial Graduate Wei." Zhao Yuanlang turned toward Wei Nisheng and bowed with clasped hands before speaking.
"I... I... I have behaved discourteously."
"To deny reality for the sake of a 'title,' to obscure kindness for the sake of a 'title'-this is not what the sages taught.
Zhao Yuanlang has learned his lesson today!"
Zhao Yuanlang bowed deeply, straightened, then turned and left.
Behind him, one, two, three...
The scholars silently followed. Not one looked back.
For scholars studied books, understood reason, and recognized the hardships of others.
Jiang Yu stood rooted to the spot, then shouted furiously,
"All of you, stop right there!"
Zhao Yuanlang halted and turned back, only