This Is a Fine Poem!

Within the west-wing courtyard, flowers and trees flourished, and birdsong rang without cease.

A bluestone path wound through it. Several long tables stood beneath the covered walkway, some bearing ancient volumes, others brushes and inkstones. Even the air seemed steeped in a faint fragrance of ink.

Quite a few people had already gathered in the courtyard.

There were attendant bookboys, as well as young scholars in scholarly robes, each with a distinct bearing.

Besides them, three elderly men sat to one side. Even as they laughed and chatted, they carried an air of authority that needed no anger to command respect. Clearly, none of them was an ordinary figure.

As Gu Zhiyan led Jiang Xiaobai and his companions into the courtyard,

everyone who had been scattered about in conversation involuntarily turned their eyes toward them.

"Elder Gu is here!"

"This student pays his respects to Elder Gu!"

"Mr. Gu!"

For a moment, many people rose and came forward to greet him, their expressions deeply respectful.

At the sight of Gu Zhiyan, the three elders also stood with smiles and offered a greeting in his direction.

Jiang Xiaobai took in the entire scene, a flicker of surprise passing through his eyes.

He had already felt that Elder Gu must hold considerable standing, but he had not expected the man to be so highly respected here.

At that thought, he quietly turned toward Zhang Xinnian beside him and lowered his voice. "Just who is this Elder Gu?"

"..."

Zhang Xinnian's eyes widened at the question.

Well, damn!

He had watched Jiang Xiaobai chatting and laughing easily with the man all the way here, opening with claims of having long heard his great name and following up with praise for his bearing and integrity.

He had assumed his young lord truly knew the man-or, at the very least, had heard of his background.

But after all that...

The young lord didn't know him at all?

For a moment, Zhang Xinnian's expression became rather colorful.

Unfortunately, he was a military officer by background, and his knowledge of these venerable literary figures and distinguished scholars had always been limited.

So, faced with Jiang Xiaobai's question, he could only clear his throat awkwardly and answer in a low voice, "Your subordinate... isn't too sure either."

The corner of Jiang Xiaobai's mouth twitched.

Fine.

That was a wasted question.

He said nothing more, merely looking up to continue studying the people in the courtyard.

From the conversations around him, he soon noticed something.

The true host, Elder Lin, apparently had not arrived yet.

Otherwise, given the man's standing, the atmosphere in the courtyard would never have remained so relaxed.

With that in mind, Jiang Xiaobai did not hurry. He simply stood to one side with Zhang Xinnian and waited quietly.

He had come here for only one purpose.

That was right: to become a disciple!

This, too, was preparation for a future fallback.

Jiang Xiaobai knew perfectly well that a marriage alliance with the chancellor's household alone would not be enough.

If he truly wanted the title of Top Graduate to fall to him in the future, then without a teacher's lineage behind him, he would still be an upstart wastrel in many people's eyes.

Even if he had the title, it would ultimately be hollow. The court would not believe in him, and neither would the people of the realm.

But if he became someone's disciple, things would be different.

Especially...

If he could enter Elder Lin's tutelage, things would be more different still!

What sort of man was Elder Lin?

A former Grand Tutor, a venerable scholar of the age, a man of immense renown whose students and old associates filled every level of the court.

If Jiang Xiaobai could become his disciple, the significance would be entirely different.

Who would then dare casually trample him with talk of wastrels buying official posts?

At that thought, a sharp gleam flashed through Jiang Xiaobai's eyes.

No matter what.

On this visit today, I have to find a way to force this closed door open.

Just as he was making his calculations, one of the three elders spoke. "Elder Gu, this young man behind you... could he be a student you recently accepted?"

"Why have we never seen him before?"

Indeed, all three had brought scholars with them this time precisely to appreciate fine works!

It was therefore perfectly reasonable for Elder Gu to bring a scholar as well.

As the elder finished speaking, quite a few scholars immediately turned to look at Jiang Xiaobai.

But before Gu Zhiyan could answer, a somewhat shrill voice cut in. "Hmph, I've seen him before!"

Everyone looked toward the voice. The speaker was a young scholar of about twenty, with a fair complexion and blue scholarly robes. His features were reasonably handsome.

Yet there was undisguised contempt in his expression. "He's the young heir of the Northern Guardian Marquis's Estate, and the most notorious wastrel in our capital!"

His words immediately stirred a low murmur all around.

"What? He's Jiang Xiaobai?"

"It's actually him?"

"No wonder he looked familiar..."

"But why would he come here?"

"Exactly. Is Elder Lin's west wing a place just anyone can enter?"

Though those voices were quiet, Jiang Xiaobai heard every word clearly. His expression did not change in the slightest.

He merely cast an indifferent glance at the scholar who had spoken.

The man looked entirely unfamiliar. Clearly... the other man had seen him, but he had never seen the other man.

At that thought, Jiang Xiaobai suddenly smiled. "Oh? This good fellow has seen me before?"

"Who in the capital wouldn't recognize someone like you, young lord?" the scholar replied with a cold laugh.

"True enough."

Jiang Xiaobai nodded, still perfectly composed, then continued at an unhurried pace. "Usually, I'm either at a gambling house or listening to songs in a pleasure house."

"Heh. I just wonder where you happened to see me?"

At those words,

the scholar's expression froze.

Everyone around them was taken aback as well.

No one had expected Jiang Xiaobai to follow the other man's lead and make a jab at himself.

Yet that single, casually delivered remark had left the scholar choking on his words.

Because there was simply no way to answer the question.

Where had he seen him?

Saying it had been in the street would sound too flimsy.

But if he said it had been in a gambling house, a pleasure house, or a brothel...

Would that not amount to publicly admitting that he frequented such places too?

For a moment, the scholar's face flushed scarlet. His lips moved, but he simply could not force out a complete sentence.

Meanwhile, Jiang Xiaobai looked as though he had suddenly recalled something, realization dawning on his face.

"Ah, I remember now."

"Spring Moon Tower!"

"I believe I saw you at Spring Moon Tower. You were sitting quite close to the front, watching the girls with such concentration!"

"You..."

At those words, the scholar was so ashamed and furious that he nearly jumped on the spot. "You scoundrel! I... how could I possibly visit such a filthy place!"

"Filthy?"

Jiang Xiaobai raised his brows at that. "Spring Moon Tower has songs and music, wine and meat."

Then the corners of his mouth lifted, and he recited softly, "Red lanterns light the guests by night; strings and pipes drift through lofty halls. If human hearts were washed clean, where would elegance not dwell?"

"What you call filthy... might well be a fine place in this world, as far as I'm concerned!"

As Jiang Xiaobai's voice faded, the previously noisy west-wing courtyard fell silent in an instant.

The expressions of everyone around him shifted slightly at that moment.

Gu Zhiyan's eyes, in particular, suddenly lit up once again.

What a fine poem!

Although it was not a poem on any formal assigned theme,

it was free and natural, carrying a devil-may-care wit beneath its words.

The first two lines painted the scene, but the final two abruptly turned and landed squarely on the human heart.

The line "If human hearts were washed clean, where would elegance not dwell?" hurled the other man's accusation of a filthy place straight back at him.

Whether a place was dirty did not depend on the place.

It depended on the human heart!

If a person's heart was upright, why could he not listen to songs and drink wine even at Spring Moon Tower?

If a person's heart was sullied, then even standing in this west-wing courtyard, he might not truly be any purer than anyone else!

For a moment, not only Gu Zhiyan but even the three elders who had been sitting to one side were filled with astonishment.

As for the scholar whose face had been so full of disdain moments earlier, he stood frozen, his face alternating between green and white, as though someone had slapped him hard in front of everyone.

Just then,

a voice filled with unmistakable admiration suddenly came from behind them. "Wonderful. This is a fine poem..."