Jia Heng

Great Han · Divine Capital

Four or five li from Ningguo Mansion, a left turn led into a long, cramped alley. Less than a hundred paces along it, a courtyard stood quietly behind mottled blue-gray walls, looking somewhat dilapidated.

An autumn rain had fallen the night before, shaking pomegranate blossoms like little lanterns from the tree in the middle of the courtyard and scattering them across the ground, deepening the desolation left in the rain's wake.

Beneath the east window, beside bamboo so green it seemed ready to drip, stood a boy of no more than fourteen or fifteen. He wore a blue robe washed almost white, and his features were fine and handsome. Holding a blue-covered book, he read intently, flashes of thought appearing from time to time in the clear, bright eyes beneath his sword-shaped brows.

He had been a border guard in the armed police in a later age, but an accident had brought him into this Red Chamber World, his soul inhabiting Jia Heng, a member of a distant branch of the Ningguo line.

Although four or five days had passed, it still felt like a bewildering dream.

In the original Dream of the Red Chamber, Jia Heng had received only a few brief mentions.

And since Dream of the Red Chamber specified neither dynasty nor dates, his first move had naturally been to borrow history books and investigate how things had come to be.

"Gaozu was a native of Yuyao, a descendant of the ancient Emperor Shun..."

Even though this was not his first time reading those words, Jia Heng's astonishment had not diminished. His gaze passed over the two history books on the desk, and he sighed inwardly. This Red Chamber World differs considerably in its earlier dynasties. Some figures have been added, while others are missing... Most notably, during Shizong's reign, Emperor Jiajing devoted himself to pursuing Daoist mysteries, while the treacherous minister Yan Song wielded power. Beset by troubles within and threats without, in the twenty-ninth year of Jiajing, Altan Khan invaded, advanced upon the capital region, and captured the capital. Unwilling to retreat south, Jiajing burned himself to death in the palace... The Zhu Ming dynasty lasted only a hundred and seventy-two years. Fortunately, Chen Huan, a descendant of Chen Youliang, the Prince of Han at the end of the Yuan, raised an army in Yuyao, chased down the fleeing enemy, swept across the realm, and reestablished Chen Han, making the Western Capital its seat. More than ninety years have passed since then.

Chen Huan, Gaozu of Great Han, reigned for twenty-three years, followed by Taizong's thirty-one. Then came the present Retired Emperor, who reigned for thirty-nine years and abdicated in favor of the current sovereign thirteen years ago. After so many years of peace, a hundred abuses have accumulated.

Jia Heng pondered, silently working out the parallels between dynasties. Suddenly, his brows knitted. This year is the fourteenth year of Chongping. That rather matches Emperor Chongzhen's...

Knock, knock...

Just then, the sudden clatter of the door knocker outside interrupted Jia Heng's thoughts.

"Coming, coming..." A woman's voice sounded from the courtyard on the left. A woman past thirty, wearing a plain cloth skirt and a simple thornwood hairpin, with an apron tied around her waist, trod along the gravel path overgrown with forlorn weeds to open the gate.

Jia Heng also strolled out of his room and stood beneath the veranda to watch.

The woman, Cai, had been his predecessor's mother's dowry maid and had stayed after her death. His predecessor had lost his father in childhood and had been raised single-handedly by his mother, Dong Shi. A few years earlier, Dong Shi had fallen ill and never recovered, passing away after a short period confined to bed.

After that, Cai's family of three had looked after his daily needs.

"Oh, and who should it be! I heard magpies calling first thing this morning, and here it's Sister-in-law Zhu." Cai had a gift for pleasant talk. Beaming, she asked, "Madam Zhu, what brings you here...?"

Cai was puzzled as well. Apart from the New Year ancestral rites, we never see anyone from Rongguo Mansion. What could Jia Zhu's wife want in this humble house in a shabby alley?

Although Jia Heng descended from the Ningguo line, its eight branches in the capital had long since spread out, living along Rongning Street. His own branch was almost beyond the five degrees of mourning kinship.

Li Wan had come with her maid. Dressed in a sapphire-blue jacket and skirt with flowing sleeves, a phoenix-headed jade hairpin in her hair, she was slender and carried herself with composed grace. Her face bore no powder or rouge. She nodded slightly to Cai and asked, "Is Brother Heng at home?"

At that moment, a boy in a blue robe walked slowly over from beneath the veranda. Stopping before Li Wan, he cupped his hands in greeting. "Jia Heng pays his respects to Sister-in-law Zhu. I was just thinking of returning Brother Lan's books after breakfast. I never expected to trouble you to come in person. The fault is mine."

Having spoken, he regarded Li Wan with calm, fathomless eyes and thought, No wonder she's one of the Twelve Beauties of Jinling. Her looks and bearing alone would score ninety out of a hundred.

Li Wan looked Jia Heng over. Although his clothes were plain, his features were cool and refined, his bearing lofty and untrammeled, and his manners naturally courteous. Some of her displeasure faded, and she said clearly, "Lan is still young and isn't ready to read histories of earlier dynasties. When I looked through our books the other day, I wondered why a few were missing. I never imagined he had lent them to you, Brother Heng. Fortunately, you're family. But Lan is losing his baby teeth, so please don't buy him any more of those sour or sweet things."

Jia Heng fell silent at her words, knowing she had come to call him to account.

It had happened the day before yesterday. Having only just arrived in this world, he had wanted to read some histories to understand its background. By chance, he had encountered Jia Lan, so he had bought two sugar figurines on the street, struck up a conversation, and asked to borrow books from his family's collection.

In truth, his purse was embarrassingly light. He scarcely had enough money for the Four Books and Five Classics, brushes, ink, paper, and an inkstone. As for dynastic histories, he could only live by the maxim that books must be borrowed to be read.

As a member of a distant Ningguo branch, he would not be implicated even if the family's property were confiscated one day. But if he wanted to live respectably in this feudal age, he had to study and enter official service.

Thanks to Dong Shi's guidance, this body had entered a private school early. But his predecessor had been restless by nature and no scholar; after his mother's death, he had neglected his studies even more.

Seeing Jia Heng remain silent, Li Wan had no desire to say much more. She asked casually, "Brother Heng, you've finished with the books, haven't you?"

Of course, it was only a passing question. She did not believe Jia Heng could make much of them. Although she had learned through inquiries the previous year that his mother, Dong Shi, had been an ambitious woman, Jia Heng had been unruly as a child, interested only in wielding sabers and spears. He often ran about with his maternal cousin Dong Qian and had little love for books.

Jia Heng nodded without any change in expression. "Please wait a moment, Sister-in-law Zhu. I'll fetch them now."

Li Wan knitted her slender, willow-leaf brows, growing a little concerned for the books' "safety." "I'll go with you."

Jia Heng said no more, and the maid Su Yun followed them as well.

They walked into the study. Though called a study, it was also where he lived, simply furnished but clean and uncluttered.

A long lacquered wooden desk stood before the window. The black lacquer had peeled from its corners, clearly showing its age.

Beneath the candlestick, brushes, ink, paper, and an inkstone were all present. Several thick books lay at the right-hand corner, showing clear signs of having been read.

Li Wan and her maid entered the room prepared to hold their breath, but there was no unpleasant smell. Instead, a faint herbal fragrance refreshed the mind and lifted the spirits.

Jia Heng stacked the books together and smiled slightly. "Sister-in-law Zhu, the jade is returned intact to Zhao."

Su Yun stepped forward to take them. "Madam..."

Li Wan's lovely face stilled, her gaze shifting as a piece of calligraphy on the wall beside the desk caught her attention. It was a couplet that appeared to have been written recently: "Wind, rain, and the sound of reading-every sound enters the ear; affairs of state, home, and all beneath heaven-every affair touches the heart."

The writing was in running regular script, its strokes sharp as iron hooks and silver lines, like a sword drawn from its sheath. The writing mirrored the writer, its keen edge fully exposed.

"Did you write this, Brother Heng?" Li Wan's beautiful eyes paused on him, seemingly unable to believe it, and she asked in surprise.

Jia Heng hesitated, then smiled. "Last night I read until the third watch. As rain struck the plantain leaves, something stirred in me, and I wrote it on impulse. I'm afraid I've given you something to laugh at."

Before coming to this world, under the influence of his grandfather, a Daoist priest, he had practiced calligraphy diligently for more than a decade. Though he would not presume to compare himself with the great masters, he believed he need not fear comparison with any scholar in this world.

Li Wan looked Jia Heng over with her beautiful eyes, putting aside her contempt entirely. After a moment's thought, she said, "Brother Heng, if you wish to study, why not attend the clan school? They charge no tuition, and the clan even provides brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones."

At her words, something stirred in Jia Heng's heart, and a faint gleam moved through his eyes. He smiled. "I'm used to peace and quiet on my own. Studying at home is much the same."

How could he not know what the Jia clan school was like these days? It truly bore out the words of the Jinxi North Iron Triangle: Study? Study, my ass!