Chapter Thirty-One: Seeking a Better Strategy

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It was evening, and the Weichuan Tavern in the northern part of the city was doing a thriving business. Customers filled the place, and the street-facing hall was packed with drinkers, noisy and bustling. High-legged stools had gradually become common in the Northern Song. Though low couches still represented a certain status and retained a faint foothold in some official households, sitting around tables had become the norm among ordinary people.

Beyond the street hall, the tavern also had a courtyard. Three sides of the courtyard belonged to the tavern as well, though they were somewhat more refined, divided by wooden panels and screens into small booths and private rooms. In the westernmost room sat He Zhen and Assistant County Magistrate Ma Fu.

Ma Fu held his wine cup and stared absently at a large vessel outside the window. Beyond it flowed the Tang River, whose surface had frozen over, trapping more than a dozen boats in the ice.

Yet Ma Fu seemed distinctly uneasy. Just moments earlier, He Zhen had unintentionally stirred up a painful memory he would rather have left buried.

Ma Fu had spent more than a thousand taels of silver convincing his superiors that he had played no part in the cheating scandal involving Li Daqi, insisting that his family had acted behind his back. Even so, the case had kept his head bowed for three full years. It was only after the prefect had been replaced the previous year that his circumstances improved slightly.

But now He Zhen had mentioned that name again. It was as if the poisoned barb of a scorpion had pricked him by accident, and the scar he had thought healed began to ache once more.

“How do you know he is Li Daqi’s son?”

The hand holding Ma Fu’s wine cup trembled faintly. He fought to remain calm, as though the name no longer affected him in the slightest.

“For this year’s Boys’ Assembly, I specifically sent people to investigate every school in the area. I wanted to know our opponents as well as ourselves.”

“You even investigated the school in Lushan Town? You certainly have confidence.” A mocking smile tugged at the corner of Ma Fu’s mouth.

The corner of He Zhen’s mouth twitched. Yet that same Lushan Town school, which had never been worth worrying about, had eliminated them today, turning them into the greatest laughingstock of the entire Boys’ Assembly.

“What are we supposed to do?” He Zhen asked anxiously. “We no longer qualify for the second round. Can we still place among the top four this year?”

“I will try to arrange for you to rank fifth in the written assessment. Then you must do your part and place among the top three in the policy examination. If you can manage that, entering the top four will be no problem.”

“But relying on ability alone, it will be very difficult for us to place among the top three. If Your Honor could—”

“Absolutely not this time!”

Ma Fu slammed his wine cup onto the table, cutting him off. “The County Magistrate himself said yesterday that Prefect Li would be coming to observe this year’s Boys’ Assembly. I have already made a fool of myself today. I cannot compound the mistake. I cannot help you this time.”

He Zhen was bitterly disappointed. Two hundred taels of gleaming silver! Was all that money simply gone without a sound? Ma Fu gave him a sidelong glance, then added blandly, “No one said this would be the last one. Why are you in such a hurry? If this year does not work, there is always next year.”

Hope surged through He Zhen once more. Could that be a hint?

He hurriedly produced a heavy bundle and placed it before Ma Fu. “This is three hundred taels of silver, entrusted to us by the people of Weinan Town. We beg Your Honor to help us enter the top four.”

Ma Fu narrowed his eyes and studied the bundle for a moment. How could he refuse three hundred gleaming taels? He drained the wine in his cup and said, “I will do my best. Master He, let this be the last time. In the future, if you have any business, come to the county office. I shall handle it strictly according to official procedure.”

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When he had finished speaking, Ma Fu picked up the silver bundle and hurried away. Once he was gone, He Zhen spat viciously on the floor.

“Bah! What are you pretending for? If you have any principles, you should have refused the silver.”

* * *

Wang Gui and Tang Huai finished their calligraphy, then hastily composed a few poems before fleeing back to their room one after another.

“Just look at those two!” Yue Fei said irritably to Li Yanqing. “If they showed even half that much enthusiasm for their studies, Master would not have to lose his temper with them all the time.”

“It is a novel. Of course it is more appealing than schoolwork.”

Li Yanqing yawned lazily. After composing poems for half a day, he was tired as well. To be honest, if he had not written *The Great Sage’s Demon-Slaying Tale* himself, he would have been no slower than Wang Gui in running back to the room.

He glanced at Yue Fei and saw that the latter still wore the same solemn expression. Smiling, he said, “Besides, Master did agree to let them read for a while after finishing their work. That is better than letting them sneak out and cause trouble. Everything has both drawbacks and benefits; we should focus on the brighter side.”

Only then did Yue Fei stop being angry. Li Yanqing had a point. For instance, Yue Fei had always thought his maternal grandfather was rigid and old-fashioned, but this time he had discovered that the old man was actually quite shrewd. Knowing that the heavy snow outside would tempt Wang Gui and Tang Huai to go out, he had preferred to let them read novels rather than permit them to leave the house. Yue Fei would never have imagined it.

When Master had discovered the novel hidden beneath Wang Gui’s clothes, he had not flown into a rage. Instead, he had flipped through it, returned it to them, and told them they could read after finishing their poems. His smile had even been remarkably gentle—nothing like his usual self.

Lost in these thoughts, Yue Fei forgot to write for a while.

Li Yanqing shifted into a more comfortable position, grabbed Wang Gui’s soft cushion, and placed it behind his back as a support. After testing it, he found it much more comfortable and smiled.

“Let’s talk about tomorrow’s contest. Fifth Brother, how much do you know about the Tangbei Township School?”

They addressed one another quite casually. Li Yanqing called Tang Huai all sorts of things: Old Tang, Brother Ah Tang, or simply Brother Tang, depending on his mood.

He did the same with Wang Gui, sometimes calling him Old Wang and sometimes Ah Gui. But all of them called Yue Fei Fifth Brother.

Yue Fei shook his head. “I know no more than you do. Perhaps Brother Tang knows something.”

“I’ll go ask Old Tang. Want to come?”

“You go ahead. I want to use the time to write a few more poems.”

Li Yanqing rose and walked toward the adjoining room. Yue Fei began pondering his poem again. He was not particularly concerned with how strong the Tangbei Township School was. The important thing was to study steadily and properly.

Li Yanqing did not think the same way. They had written only a few poems that evening; expecting that to surpass the Tangbei Township School was pure wishful thinking. Perhaps strategy could still give them a narrow chance.

He had been deeply impressed by He Zhen’s strategy that day. Although the Weinan Town School had ultimately failed, one could only say that He Zhen had been unlucky enough to choose a field in which his opponent was strongest.

The room was brightly lit. Wang Gui and Tang Huai were curled up on the bed, greedily devouring every line. They wished they could chew every word to pieces. This was a novel unlike anything they had ever read, and it left them thrilled and enthralled. They had just finished one page, yet already turned back to read it again. Judging by their expressions, they would not be satisfied until they had read the book three or five times.

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“Old Tang, who do you think the Red Boy is really the son of?”

Wang Gui had already finished the book once. The final mystery tormented him unbearably. The Bodhisattva Guanyin had taken the Red Boy away, and the Rakshasa Woman had gone to Thunder-Piled Mountain to beg her husband to rescue their son. Yet the Bull Demon King had roared harshly, “He is not my son. Go find his real father.”

Tang Huai read faster than Wang Gui and was already on his second reading. Wang Gui’s question touched precisely on the point that had been troubling him, so he lowered his book and said, “I have thought about it. I believe his father must be the Grand Supreme Elder Lord.”

“Why?”

“Think about it! The Red Boy can wield the Samadhi True Fire, so why can’t his father, the Bull Demon King? Aside from the Red Boy, the only person in the world who can use the Samadhi True Fire is the Grand Supreme Elder Lord. And there is the Rakshasa Woman’s Plantain Fan. The book says it grew from the same branch as the Grand Supreme Elder Lord’s Plantain Fan. It is obvious that he gave it to her!”

“What nonsense are you two talking?”

Li Yanqing came in laughing.

“The Red Boy is the Bull Demon King’s son. He only said that because the Jade-Faced Princess was there. Once he turns around, he will certainly go rescue his son.”

Wang Gui was utterly bewildered. He blinked and asked, “I never saw you reading the book. How do you know?”

“I read it while hiding in the privy. Of course you did not see me.”

Li Yanqing sat down beside Tang Huai, seized one of his extraordinarily long ears, and gave it a sharp tug.

“Yow! Let go! Let go! It hurts!”

Wang Gui pounded the bed with laughter. Eager to stir up even more trouble, he shouted, “Why not cut off the donkey ears and use them as a drinking snack? I’ll fetch a knife!”

Li Yanqing released Tang Huai’s ear and laughed. “Do you understand now? If the Bull Demon King admitted that the Red Boy was his son, he would be deceiving the Jade-Faced Princess. That would certainly be the result.”

Tang Huai punched Li Yanqing hard in the shoulder, then rubbed his reddened ear and protested, “When did the Bull Demon King ever tell the Jade-Faced Princess that the Red Boy was not his son? The book never says that.”

“It will be in the next book.”

Tang Huai curled his lips. “Do you think you are Xiaoxiaozi of Lushan? Just because you say it will happen, it will?”

Wang Gui was a simple fellow, but Tang Huai was sharp as a needle. Li Yanqing knew that the more he said, the more likely he was to give himself away, so he dropped the subject and changed tack.

“Tell me about the Tangbei Township School. I will think of a way to deal with them.”

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