Chapter 44 A Scholar in the Small Courtyard

When the Star Building was raging like a storm, the letter written by the emperor of Yanling in the imperial study was sent to the Ministry of Penalty soon. The Minister of Penalty, Wang Zhizhang who was always worried these days received it. After opening it, he turned pale. Then under the astonished eyes of all the officials in the Ministry of Penalty, he walked out of the hall and told the guards to prepare a carriage. Afterward, he left the ministry.

 

The coachman invited this big shot, one of the six ministers at the imperial court into the carriage and didn’t forget to ask where he would go. The minster just spoke out an address and then kept silent. The coachman didn’t dare to neglect him and soon waved the horsewhip to drive the horse away, walking slowly along the street in front of the Ministry of Penalty.

 

In the carriage, Wang Zhizhang still held the letter written by the emperor personally with red ink and showed a complicated expression. He was both regretful and relieved. As the government which had most connections with the cultivators in the empire, the Ministry of Penalty should deal with anything including that the cultivators showed up occasionally in the territory, and even the few cultivator officials in the empire were working for the Ministry of Penalty in name except for some in the imperial palace. Although they were reluctant to be ordered around by Wang Zhizhang, he was still their supervisor on the surface. However, in fact, this Minister of Penalty with great power detested these cultivators who didn’t take the laws and rules of the empire seriously. And he even always objected to the Yanling Confucian Temple on selecting students every year to study there. This boss in the Ministry of Penalty, who had been an official when the late emperor ruled the country, had learnt the laws and power in the beginning. After he became an official at the imperial court, he always advocated ruling a country with laws, but it was difficult to realize in Yanling. In the past few years, he was suppressed by the grand secretary and many Confucian masters and didn’t go smoothly as an official. However, when all the civil and military officials thought that this young man would be banished from the court after staying in Luoyang City for only a few years, the emperor made an imperial decree and told this young man to work in the Ministry of Penalty. After that, Wang Zhizhang was attentive to his job and turned the tables in several years unexpectedly. After the former minister retired and returned home, Wang Zhizhang became the person in charge of the ministry. Although he was inflexible as always, with the imperial decree, he didn’t judge the cultivators too harshly, but he wasn’t satisfied with what they had done.

 

Now he had the letter written by the emperor in his hands and felt helpless for no reason. Earlier, more than ten cultivators who went to the south with the Chen Country’s main force were officials in the Ministry of Penalty and the ministry should take responsibility for their death. Later the emperor dispatched three cultivators at the Fundamental Stage from this ministry to capture the chief criminals who had killed the more than ten cultivators by the Luosang River, but they failed again obviously judging from the words on this letter. Otherwise, the emperor wouldn’t tell him, the Minister of Penalty, a high official who would shock the imperial court even when he stomped, to bring this letter in person to invite a cultivator official that even he admired.

 

The emperor could dispatch most of the cultivator officials in the Ministry of Penalty with an imperial decree, and he would only invite few of them.

 

Few cultivator officials could be invited, but the number was more than ten. It naturally counted for much why this one was specially invited.

 

When Wang Zhizhang was lost in thought, the carriage stopped in front of a remote and narrow lane, and the coachman called gently outside the carriage, “My Lord, here it is.”

 

Wang Zhizhang came back to reality from his daze and put the letter in his pocket. Then he lifted the curtain and walked out of the carriage, ordering, “Stay here and don’t go anywhere. I will be right back.”

 

The coachman nodded and said yes. He didn’t dare to say anything else.

 

Wang Zhizhang turned around and entered the narrow lane. It was so narrow that only one person could pass some parts of it. On the halfway, his official uniform was stained with a lot of dust.

 

This Minister of Penalty didn’t show any impatience and just lowered his head to look at his shoes. Then he moved on.

 

He came to a small courtyard and stopped, looking down at two plants of orchids in front of the gate.

 

Wang Zhizhang knocked at the gate but there was no answer, so he waited patiently.

 

After a long time, a voice finally came from the courtyard.

 

Hearing the voice, Wang Zhizhang tidied up his clothes and hat and wiped off the dust on his official uniform before pushing the gate open and entering.

 

There was a wintersweet tree at a wrong time in the courtyard. It was not winter now, but the flowers were blossoming. A tall and big middle-aged man sat by a stone table next to the tree.

 

A board of the game of Go and a half cup of tea were on the stone table.

 

The man didn’t turn his head but asked, “My Lord, will you play Go with me?”

 

Wang Zhizhang kept silent for a while and came with a smile to sit in front of him, sighing, “I am not as leisurely as you, Master Yanqing. I have to complete my task given by His Majesty and can only rush about to work tiredly. Although we have the same family name, we have different destinies.”

 

Wang Yanqing smiled, “Lord Wang, you said so to sweet-talk me.”

 

Wang Zhizhang stopped smiling and looked serious, speaking, “Today I really have something to ask you for help, Master Yanqing.”

 

Wang Yanqing picked up the half cup of tea on the stone table and took a sip. Then he put it down and asked, “What thing needs a blindman to take actions?”

 

Hearing the word “blindman”, Wang Zhizhang looked at Wang Yanqing’s eyes subconsciously. This master’s eyes were opened, but they were blank and spiritless.

 

He was a blindman indeed.

 

Seeing such eyes, Wang Zhizhang couldn’t help but remember the old stories and then sighed. Different from other cultivators who couldn’t promote the strength in a long time and had to leave the Yanling Confucian Temple to “travel around the world”, Master Yanqing was a student in an academy in Yanling and the reason why he left the academy was simple. He had just read some forbidden books that the academy didn’t allow anybody to read, so the Yanling Confucian Temple poked his eyes out and expelled him from the academy. But with this man’s character, he might have no keen interest in those forbidden books, and he just loved reading. After he read almost all the books in the academy, this scholar naturally had other intentions. In fact, after this master was blinded, he came to Luoyang City. When he met the emperor of Yanling, the latter asked, “Master, how would I make you stay here?”

 

Wang Yanqing just smiled, “As long as I have books.”

 

The emperor burst into laughter. Since the next day, he found a maid-in-waiting with a smooth tongue for Yanqing. The maid would bring books from the imperial palace or the National Academy and read for him every day. In fact, this scholar had read a lot of books, and he desired for only a few books from the imperial palace.

 

These days, he happened to hear some poems. As the maid said, the emperor seemed to like those poems a lot and the books would be kept in the imperial palace after she read for the master.

 

The reason why Wang Yanqing chose to stay in Luoyang City was that he was blind and couldn’t be a scholar who would read thousands of books and walk for thousands of miles. And another reason was that he admired the emperor of Yanling.

 

The two were almost distracted and then smiled at each other with apology after they came back to earth.

 

Wang Zhizhang didn’t hide the fact but took out the letter from the emperor. Knowing that Wang Yanqing couldn’t see anything, Wang Zhizhang read it for him and then said softly, “Mr. Zuo is your old friend, and I think you won’t refuse, Master Yanqing.”

 

Wang Yanqing shook his head, “Zuo Sifan seemed to be my friend, but he just wanted to inquire about my feelings after cultivating. He remained at the Awakening Stage for so many years and wanted to break through long ago, but he couldn’t find a right way after seeking. If I didn’t think that he was good at playing Go, how would I talk with him?”

 

Wang Zhizhang was speechless for a while.

 

Wang Yanqing waved his hand, “Although he was not qualified to make me take actions, since His Majesty invited me, I will accept the task to have a long trip. The Ministry of Penalty needs to do nothing but arrange a coachman for me. What’s more, My Lord, please tell His Majesty that when I come back to Luoyang City, I want to play with him.”

 

Wang Zhizhang smiled bitterly and kept quiet. Everybody in Luoyang City knew that the best player of Go in Yanling was an official-in-waiting in the National Academy, Gu Shiyan, but only a few people knew that Gu Shiyan had to salute Wang Yanqing as a disciple. The emperor was not a good player. If he played with such a national champion, he would be defeated soon.

 

Wang Zhizhang didn’t say anything till the end. After he got up and said goodbye, he didn’t forget to remind, “Tomorrow morning, the carriage of the Ministry of Penalty would wait for you outside the lane.”

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Wang Yanqing nodded silently and just put a white stone on the board.

 

On the board, the party of the black stones lost the game.