Horse-head Wall Reflects the Qing Dynasty

Chapter 86 I wish to raise thunderclaps, shake mountains and rivers, and bow before the hall as a servant.

"How can I, a poor scholar, accept the invitation from the lady?" Cheng Heng was unaware that Cheng Jianwei was so capable that he could receive an invitation from the family of a high-ranking official in the capital so soon after arriving there.

Cheng Heng was originally worried about how to get through the cold winter in the capital, but unexpectedly, someone brought him a pillow when he was sleepy. In order to make his winter easier, and in order not to offend the officials in the capital before the big exam, Cheng Heng tidied himself up and waited at the door for the appointment.

"My son has reached the age to start his education, so my husband and I thought about finding him a tutor."

The lady of the house was polite and respectful, and maintained a perfect distance, so Cheng Heng didn't feel uncomfortable at all.

"Madam is too kind. However, I am not even a Jinshi yet. Why don't you personally teach the young master?" Cheng Heng was worried that Cheng Jianwei might have offended someone in the past, or that someone might have been watching him all along.
Cheng Heng had come with a greater purpose in mind. He didn't think he should use the power he had at his disposal. He wasn't a cultivator, so why should he worry about karma and karmic consequences? He was worried about owing others, but he also didn't want to drag people into this inevitable storm.

“My husband is originally from Huizhou. When he saw the list of students who came to the capital for the imperial examinations, he was delighted to see these students from his hometown.” The lady gestured to the maid beside her to bring a cup of tea. “My father is a businessman. He bought some tea at the beginning of the year and kept some that tastes good. Please have a taste, sir.”

“My husband is very busy with official duties and cannot devote himself to our son’s early education, but his studies cannot be neglected.”

“You’re right, Madam. Such is the way of the village.” Cheng Heng replied, and before taking a sip, he nodded to the lady of the house. “This tea is truly excellent. I have never tasted such a fragrant and delicious tea before.”

Cheng Heng carefully considered how to say those words before he spoke.

Praising the hostess is obviously inappropriate, but skipping over her and praising her father would make it seem like you're placing yourself on the same generation as an elder, which is also clearly inappropriate.

Naturally, one can only evaluate the quality of the tea from one's own perspective.

"If you find it palatable, that's fine." The hostess nodded slightly, returning the gesture as well. "My husband then inquired about the identities of the students and learned that you had been teaching at home for a long time. Therefore, he thought that you could teach our son."

This was an intentional move to make him his retainer. Cheng Heng understood it this way—the pros and cons of being made a retainer by a high-ranking official were too numerous to count, and Cheng Heng was not unable to make a decision immediately.

Putting aside other matters, becoming a retainer is tantamount to taking sides. If political views clash with those of other forces, Cheng Heng worries that he might be implicated before the matter is even settled.

"If you, sir, go to serve as an official outside the capital in the future, we will find another tutor for my son."

"Of course, it would be even better if you could stay in the capital and serve as an official in the future."

For a mere Jinshi (进士) or even a Tongjinshi (同进士) to stay in the capital and become an official is no easy feat. Moreover, even if one stayed in the capital, wouldn't there still be a lot of official business to handle? It would also delay the education of one's young master.

Not to mention that the master of this house holds a high position, so it wouldn't be impossible for him to hire a great scholar to tutor his young master...

This was clearly a pretext to lure Cheng Heng to his side. Considering that Zhang Shuwen had already fallen into someone else's hands, and that the cause and effect were clear, Cheng Heng knew that he could not hesitate in this matter.

Firstly, it's to show loyalty; secondly, as long as I don't perform too badly, the other party has guaranteed me a bright future.

Where in the imperial examinations is there not a trace of favoritism and corruption? Even in the Tang Dynasty, one had to have poetry and prose that caught the eye of high-ranking officials in the capital to have a chance of passing the exam early. Cheng Heng knew that this was unfair to ordinary students, but now that things had come to this, if he tried to avoid it, not only would he not have a bright future, but even if he had great abilities, he would still fail the exams repeatedly!

Cheng Heng knew that this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and even if he didn't want to take this path, he had no choice but to seize it.

Suddenly Cheng Heng understood why there were so many officials on the opera stage who didn't care about the lives of ordinary people, yet countless people still said that the stories on the opera stage depicted an ideal world.

The twists and turns on the stage are all for the sake of a good-for-good outcome and a bad-for-evil outcome, and so, as time went by, it got the name "high platform for moral education".

But the reality of navigating the treacherous waters of officialdom is far from this: there are no choices, only unavoidable actions. And even losing one's integrity doesn't guarantee a better future.

Thinking back to the Register of Honest Officials of Huizhou that has been passed down through generations, I remember buying it to find a niche character suitable for a play. Once I found one and finished my short play, I put the whole register aside and forgot about it...

Now that he was there in person, Cheng Heng realized just how great the people and their deeds in that book were.

Not everyone can find a wise ruler, and not everyone can go with the flow. What makes them stand out in history is nothing more than their integrity. Cheng Heng then realized that when he was rushing to finish his assignment and skipping over those details, he missed too many opportunities to learn from the sages of his hometown.

If he had the chance to return to the modern world where he had lived for more than twenty years, Cheng Heng felt it was not too late.

"I am grateful for your kindness, sir and madam, but I am still preparing for the spring imperial examination, and I am afraid that it will delay the young master's education." Cheng Heng tried his best to leave himself room for maneuver. "Madam, to be honest, when I received the invitation to visit, I was thinking that if I could be accepted as your student, I could learn something from you."

Cheng Heng was no fool. He had already learned about the official's family background before going to the appointment, so his words were not too abrupt: "In the countryside, many merchant families hope that their descendants can pass the imperial examination and enter officialdom like you, sir. I admire your poetry and calligraphy and have always wanted to ask for your guidance. I never thought that I would actually come to your house today and meet your wife."

"You're welcome, sir."

“My husband comes from a poor family and studied diligently to achieve his current official rank of second grade. He has faced many hardships along the way… Others may not know, but I, as his wife, have seen it all clearly.” Speaking of the past, the mistress’s brows furrowed with worry. Taking advantage of the tea break, she steered the conversation back to the original question, “I understand what you mean, sir. When my husband returns, I will tell him all about it.”

"Once a conclusion is reached, a formal invitation will be sent to your residence."

Having said all that, it was clearly time to conclude the discussion, and Cheng Heng didn't want to linger and become an eyesore. He had already conveyed the necessary message to the mistress of the house, a second-rank official in the capital; the remaining decision-making power was no longer in Cheng Heng's hands.

The hostess didn't make any extra arrangements, but when Cheng Heng left, he had an extra bag of tea that he couldn't refuse.

Needless to say, this bag of tea, weighing more than half a pound, is even better than the tea that was specially brewed for Cheng Heng earlier—it's pre-Qingming tea, made from the tenderest bud, the kind that retains its fragrance even after being steeped five times.

Stepping outside, Cheng Heng knew that his future achievements and accomplishments would be tied to this second-rank official position in the capital for a long time to come. His gaze fell upon the bustling street, and Cheng Heng felt utterly exhausted. This kind of life was nothing like what he had ever experienced before; the weight of it would be oppressive enough for anyone. "How can I go back…" Cheng Heng hated this era where everything had to be done with such foresight. "Why was I brought here for no reason?"

Cheng Heng had no power to mock the fairness of fate, because he would do everything in his power to ensure that the fairness he could control was applied to everyone he encountered.

If you treat me well, I will naturally treat you well in return; if you take advantage of me, I will take advantage of you in return—there's nothing wrong with that. Cheng Heng thought this way, but while the former was easy for him to do, the latter was much more difficult.

Long clouds have not yet ushered in autumn, and guests come and go. Cheng Heng, alone in the capital, is undoubtedly lonely. Sitting in his room, he mutters about Guan Yin and the others, and sometimes he can't even concentrate on reading.

If Cheng Heng had a third-person, God-like perspective, he would probably feel like the lovesick protagonist in "The Jade Hairpin." Unfortunately, lovesickness is easy to cure, but homesickness is difficult, and no one could offer Cheng Heng a single word of comfort.

The only person who could comfort Cheng Heng and provide him with emotional support was in Huizhou, facing a problem that was equally difficult for him to solve.

"What's going on? What are you all doing?" It's rare for someone to have time to personally bring their child to the private school, but to their surprise, the area around the school is already packed with people early in the morning. Some people have even reported it to the authorities, but there's still no sign of anyone from the yamen.

"Sir, what's going on?"

"Only you people still consider him a teacher? This teacher you're talking about is clearly an imposter!"

The quiet of the past few days had slowed Guan Yin's reaction time a bit. He had long known that Liu's father would not give up after that one failure, but when the trouble actually came to his door, Guan Yin was still on the defensive: "A teacher is one who imparts knowledge, teaches skills, and resolves doubts."

"To impart knowledge, teach skills, and resolve doubts."

"Someone like you, who came from a brothel, has the nerve to call yourself a teacher or a master?"

Putting aside the orders of those who sent this group to cause trouble, in this social environment, people from brothels are considered inferior by others. This is an obstacle that the original owner of this body could not avoid no matter what.

"Teacher, you teach so well, but who are you people?" The way the students stood in front of their teacher to defend him was truly inspiring. This alone gave Guan Yin, who had been in a passive state, a lot of confidence.

At school, Guan Yin wouldn't have so many people standing firmly in front of or behind him—this era's respect for teachers means that teachers are teachers first, and then learning is learning. So parents also set their roles, and everyone can do their job with peace of mind.

"The father probably doesn't realize that this so-called Mr. Cheng is clearly an imposter!"

"Fake?"

"How could a fake Mr. Cheng make my son's studies improve so dramatically? Even his mother wrote me a letter praising my son's progress." As a parent, he also stood up to defend the teacher, pulled his son over, and stood in front of the teacher and his son, saying, "I am not very talented, but I do know some people in the government. If you come here to cause trouble like this, you will regret it."

The troublemakers, of course, dared not produce any evidence of dubious origin. Seeing that all the students were defending their teacher, they were at a loss and began to panic.

"Is this how teachers are expected to have students rush to their front?"

"It's truly despicable."

"What does my student have to do with you?" In fact, Guan Yin had already shielded the student who rushed forward behind him. Now, with the support of the student and the parent, he felt a bit calmer and said coldly, "You have trespassed on other people's property. If you don't give me an explanation today and disrupt my student's studies, I, as the teacher, will naturally have to settle accounts with you."

Guan Yin was certain that they couldn't use the information in Liu's father's possession as evidence, and with so many people standing behind him, he naturally no longer acted passively.

"If I were not a qualified teacher, all my students would have been dissatisfied long ago. Why has no one ever questioned me until now?"

"If you really want to question whether I deserve to be called a teacher, why don't you sit down and have a class with my students!"

Having been demoted a generation for no reason and now being watched covetously by a group of students, the newcomer dared not cause any more trouble. He glared fiercely at Guan Yin, and even saw a hint of mockery in the latter's eyes.

"What? Are you saying you don't dare?"

"Does that mean you can't read?" The task of popularizing literacy is arduous and long-term, and Guan Yin did not want to use this to mock the group of people in front of him who might never have had the opportunity to read. "If you are willing to call me 'sir,' I don't want your money, and I can teach you for free."

The commotion coming from not far away indicated that people from the government office had arrived.

Liu Qingxian had already spoken to the yamen (government office) and told them that the teacher in the private school had offended some people, and if anyone caused trouble, they would send someone to deal with it later.

On one side was Liu Qingxian, and on the other was a high-ranking official far away in the capital. As the saying goes, "Even a powerful dragon can't suppress a local snake." The low-ranking clerk in the yamen couldn't offend either side, and seeing that this farce was about to end without any resolution, he came to mediate.

After sending away the people sent by Liu Qingxian, the minor officials didn't forget to threaten "Mr. Cheng," the least important of them all, telling him not to easily provoke others, otherwise, if things got out of hand, the weak scholar who couldn't even kill a chicken would be the one to suffer.

"Are you alright, sir?"

"I'm fine." As the noise subsided, Guan Yin was also somewhat exhausted. "It's just that I've delayed the students' studies. I don't know who I offended."

"Sir, you should really think about who you have offended... Judging from the way those constables acted just now, there must be someone behind them. You should be more careful."

Guan Yin knew who had instigated it, but he couldn't tell the student's parents in front of him. After thanking them, he had to think about how to protect his student from the harassment sent by Liu's father so that he could concentrate on his studies.