Late at night, outside the study at the Lin Estate.
The lamps beneath the covered walkway cast a dim yellow glow. The night breeze swept past, gently setting the bronze bells at the corners of the eaves ringing.
Two young attendants stood guard on either side of the door, both wearing expressions of barely concealed drowsiness.
One of them yawned and rubbed his eyes, unable to resist muttering, "Tell me, Heir Jiang only became his pupil today, and already he's sent someone over with an essay. Isn't he a little too eager for quick success?"
"Isn't that the truth!"
The other attendant gave a soft snort. "He's barely joined us, and he's already rushing to show off. His intentions couldn't be more obvious."
"Besides, he's a wastrel known throughout the Capital City. What good essay could he possibly write?"
"Hmph, I'll bet he just piled up a few flowery phrases to flaunt in front of the old master!"
"Exactly."
The first attendant lowered his voice, his tone distinctly disdainful. "He's ignorant and uneducated, spending his days at cockfights and chasing hounds, haunting brothels and gambling dens. Even if someone like him could manage a couple of lines of poetry, it would only be a lucky fluke."
"But an essay is different!"
"An essay takes learning, insight, and depth, all honed day after day over the years. How could someone like him write one just because he felt like it?"
"If you ask me, the old master's willingness to take him as a pupil was already a favor as vast as heaven."
The other attendant nodded in complete agreement. "Yet this Heir Jiang doesn't even know how to rein himself in. He's only just become a pupil, and already he's pulled this..."
"He really isn't worthy!"
Yet just as the two were whispering among themselves...
A voice brimming with excitement suddenly rang out from inside the study.
"Excellent!"
"Excellent, excellent, excellent! What a splendid essay!"
Huh?
As that voice burst forth, both attendants outside the door froze, their drowsiness vanishing in an instant.
They stared at one another, their eyes filled with bewilderment.
Had they... heard that correctly?
Was Elder Lin praising it?
And the excitement in his voice was almost impossible to contain.
Before either could react, the voice inside the study rang out again.
"Marvelous! Utterly marvelous!"
"'Scholars of old invariably had teachers. A teacher transmits the Way, imparts learning, and dispels doubts...' Excellent. Truly excellent!"
"From its opening lines, it explains the way of teaching so thoroughly. It declares its purpose at the outset and strikes straight at the root!"
"What a line: 'Transmits the Way, imparts learning, and dispels doubts'!"
"Hahaha, that boy... that boy has truly given this old man a tremendous surprise!"
As those praises kept pouring out, the two attendants outside the door were utterly dumbstruck.
They stood with their mouths slightly open, disbelief written all over their faces.
Elder Lin... was actually praising Jiang Xiaobai?
And praising him so effusively that he had lost his composure?
How was that possible?!
One attendant even raised a hand and pinched himself hard. Only after grimacing in pain did he confirm that he was not dreaming.
Inside the study, Lin Fengshuo sat upright before his desk.
Yet a closer look would have revealed that, although he was seated, the hand holding the essay was trembling faintly.
It trembled with excitement.
Neat lines of writing covered the pages, their literary spirit abundant and their progression clear.
Several passages in particular had drawn Lin Fengshuo back again and again. The more he read them, the more deeply they shook him.
"'If a man was born before me and heard the Way before I did, I shall follow him and take him as my teacher. If a man was born after me, yet also heard the Way before I did, I shall follow him and take him as my teacher...'"
Lin Fengshuo recited softly, the light in his eyes growing brighter.
"'A sage has no fixed teacher!'"
"'Thus, neither noble nor humble, neither old nor young matters. Wherever the Way resides, there resides the teacher!'"
At this point, Lin Fengshuo could no longer suppress the surge of emotion in his heart. He slapped the desk and sprang to his feet.
"What a declaration: 'Neither noble nor humble, neither old nor young matters. Wherever the Way resides, there resides the teacher!' With these words, the entire way of teaching beneath heaven is encompassed!"
"This is far more than an essay!"
"This... this vindicates every seeker of learning beneath heaven and gives their hearts a foundation!"
As he spoke, Lin Fengshuo could not help pacing a few steps through the study, his expression shifting between wonder, admiration, and an indescribable excitement.
"That boy..."
"That little rascal usually keeps his mountains and waters hidden, but once he puts brush to paper, a single cry startles the world!"
"Courage, talent, and insight like this!"
"No wonder he dared stand before me today and even challenge me!"
But just as Lin Fengshuo, his face alight with excitement, prepared to read on, his gaze suddenly stopped.
The next instant, his whole body stiffened.
Because... there was nothing more!
The essay came to an abrupt halt right there!
Lin Fengshuo looked down at the pages in his hand, then searched through his desk. His expression changed sharply.
"Hm? Why does it stop here? Where's the rest?!"
Almost instinctively, Lin Fengshuo flipped through the pages once more, but the result was the same.
Nothing more.
There really was nothing more.
Only the first part!
At that moment, a teeth-grinding frustration crept onto Lin Fengshuo's face, which had been filled with delight just moments before.
"That little rascal! He did this on purpose. It was absolutely on purpose!"
Leaning on his long staff, Lin Fengshuo paced back and forth, his face running through a spectacular array of expressions.
He looked like someone who had finally tasted a mouthful of peerless wine, only to have the jar snatched away halfway through.
Left hanging between satisfaction and longing, it clawed at his heart!
"Attend me!"
At Lin Fengshuo's sharp call...
The two attendants outside the study jolted and hurriedly pushed the door open. "Master!"
"Prepare a carriage for me at once!"
Clutching the essay, Lin Fengshuo wore a rare look of urgency. "I'm going to the Northern Guardian Marquis's Estate!"
"What?"
Both attendants froze where they stood.
Now?
It was the middle of the night!
With the night already so deep outside, the old master wanted to go to the Northern Guardian Marquis's Estate right now?
Wasn't that going a little too far?
Seeing the pair standing motionless, Lin Fengshuo frowned and nearly urged them again.
But the words reached his lips, only for him to force them back.
After a moment, Lin Fengshuo seemed to finally suppress the impulse in his heart and let out a heavy breath.
"Never mind, never mind. Going over at this hour would be rather unseemly."
"I'll go tomorrow!"
With that, Lin Fengshuo flicked his sleeve and returned to his desk, holding that half-finished "On the Teacher."
The two attendants exchanged a stunned glance, then tiptoed out, closing the door behind them.
Before long, Lin Fengshuo's hearty, irrepressible laughter rang out from the study once more.
"Marvelous!"
"Marvelous. Truly marvelous!"
"Hahaha!"
Peal after peal of laughter carried far through the stillness of the night.
Listening outside the door, the two attendants exchanged another glance. Their earlier disdain had long since turned to utter shock.
Even now, they could not quite collect themselves.
That Profligate Heir, notorious throughout the Capital...
Could he really write an essay that made even the old master lose his composure like this?
This world...
Why had it suddenly become so hard for them to understand?
Before you continue