On the other side.
Wen Xin returned home and, after some thought, took his homework marked with Cinnabar to the study. Magistrate Wen said nothing upon seeing him, only gesturing for him to sit.
While handling county affairs, he asked bluntly:
“What is it?”
At this moment, the interaction between father and son was more about rules than warmth—a father like Magistrate Wen, who was not bound by rigid formalities, was rare. Wen Xin should actually have been standing respectfully to respond.
Clearly, Wen Xin was already accustomed to this way of interaction. He handed over his homework and asked Magistrate Wen to review it.
Magistrate Wen took it and skimmed through it rapidly, a smile unconsciously curling at the corners of his mouth. In his view, his son’s essay was among the best of his peers.
Taking the Children’s Examination would likely be as easy as reaching into a bag to take something out.
Therefore, Magistrate Wen did not hesitate to praise his son a few times, causing Wen Xin’s increasingly handsome young face to flush crimson.
Seizing the opportunity, Wen Xin glanced up at his father, carefully weighing his words in his mind before speaking:
“Father, Teacher Feng is truly an excellent mentor. I’ve made significant progress under his guidance, so…”
“You want to stay in Danyang County?”
His father cut him off. Though Magistrate Wen phrased it as a question, his tone was firm, his eyes seeming to see right through his son’s hidden thoughts.
Wen Xin lowered his head, muttering to himself. No wonder some said that if his father hadn’t pursued a civil career, he could have inherited his grandfather’s military achievements. That piercing gaze made him shiver.
He nodded, confirming Magistrate Wen’s guess, and quickly mustered several arguments to justify the benefits of staying in Danyang:
“Father, it’s not that I’m unfilial, but a mentor like Teacher Feng is a rare find. I don’t have the natural talent you had back then…”
At this point, Wen Xin cautiously observed his father’s expression and, sure enough, it softened slightly.
Truth be told, Magistrate Wen’s learning environment in his youth had been far from ideal. As the younger son of a noble family’s second wife, he had an older half-brother who inherited the title.
Though he studied, no one except his birth mother expected him to achieve anything. Yet, through sheer perseverance and a touch of talent, he managed to pass the imperial examinations as a Jinshi in the Second Class.
Now, in the family, his elder brother maintained the status quo, while Magistrate Wen forged new paths, with resources heavily tilted in his favor. Looking back at others in similar circumstances, they merely drifted through life as idle, wealthy individuals.
“…But I also want to follow in your footsteps. That’s why Teacher Feng is so important to me. And my classmates are all exceptional talents. Haven’t you often said, ‘One takes on the color of one’s company’? With excellent teachers and friends, I’m sure to make even greater progress.”
Wen Xin poured out all the arguments he had prepared and then anxiously awaited Magistrate Wen’s verdict.
After a long while.
“If you want to strive for improvement, how could I stand in your way?”
Magistrate Wen looked at his son and let out a derisive laugh, lowering his head to take a sip of tea to conceal the complexity in his eyes. In this son, he saw a reflection of his former self.
Both were younger sons of the main wife—on one side, a life of wealth without effort; on the other, years of arduous study with the very real possibility of achieving nothing.
How similar.
Wen Xin was overjoyed but dared not show it too openly in front of Magistrate Wen. He tried hard to suppress the corners of his mouth from curling upward but failed completely.
Seeing this, Magistrate Wen remarked coolly:
“In Danyang, your father has received the highest evaluation for this term and will be promoted to Assistant Prefect in another prefecture next term, which means I’ll be far away from you.”
“You speak so sweetly now, but if you end up straying from the right path without supervision while alone in Danyang, I won’t let you off easily.”
“No, I won’t.”
Wen Xin shook his head, denying his father’s suspicion, and said with a bitter expression:
“Now, I feel there aren’t enough hours in the day for studying. I’m terrified of being overtaken by Yue Ge’er—that would be utterly humiliating!”
After all, he was five years older than Yue Ge’er.
Although, lately, he had a vague sense that Yue Ge’er might, perhaps, have already surpassed him by a tiny bit.
But if he just worked a little harder and burned the midnight oil a bit longer, he should be able to close that small gap.
Yes, that’s how it should be.
Wen Xin pumped himself up internally, gradually stirring up his fighting spirit.
Unexpectedly, Magistrate Wen asked him curiously:
“Yue Ge’er—is that the youngest disciple Scholar Feng took on, Xu Yue? I recall your Third Uncle once said he was exceptionally gifted, a rare child prodigy?”
Magistrate Wen had even exempted the Xu family from corvée labor because of this.
But two years had passed, and Magistrate Wen, fully immersed in county affairs and overwhelmed with work, had gradually let the matter slip his mind.
“However, he was only three when he became a disciple, so he should be five now. Are you telling me you can’t even keep up with a five-year-old child?”
Magistrate Wen looked at his son with a mix of doubt and disappointment.
“It’s not the same at all—Yue Ge’er is a genius.”
Wen Xin grew flustered and exasperated, listing Xu Yue’s various astonishing traits: how he could memorize texts after reciting them just once, grasp the whole from a single clue, and think with remarkable agility.
Even in miscellaneous studies, he was a once-in-a-century talent—excellent in arithmetic, and when he played the Purple Bamboo Flute, even the servants would stop to listen.
He strove to prove that it wasn’t that he was incompetent, but that his opponent was unnaturally gifted.
“So, Scholar Feng truly found a treasure this time.”
Hearing his son’s words, Magistrate Wen felt a turmoil of regret in his heart.
As fellow scholars, who wouldn’t want a satisfying, enviable successor to carry on their legacy?
But such things are a matter of fate, not pursuit. Do you think promising seedlings are like cabbages, available whenever you want? It all comes down to luck.
Initially, when Third Master Wen mentioned it, Magistrate Wen hadn’t paid much heed—children are unpredictable, and as the saying goes, “Early ripe, early rot.”
Now, although Xu Yue was only five, he had been studying for two years, and his temperament and talents had been tested.
—He truly was a genius!
Magistrate Wen sighed for a while but then let it go, consoling himself that even if he had taken Xu Yue as a disciple, he wouldn’t have had the time to teach him. Hadn’t he even entrusted his own son to Scholar Feng?
Now that the boy was his son’s classmate, he could at least call himself an uncle by courtesy, forming some connection.
Thinking this, Magistrate Wen urged his son to build a good relationship with Xu Yue and not let jealousy drive him away:
“There will always be someone better than you, and skies beyond skies. What you should do is befriend outstanding people—it will benefit you. Don’t engage in actions that harm others for your own gain.”
“Although the Xu family are landowners, they’ve been dedicated to agricultural sericulture these past two years and started a clan school. Their household shows signs of prosperity. Perhaps if Xu Yue passes the exams, within a generation or two, they could become a renowned official family.”
Magistrate Wen added disdainfully:
“Only fools pride themselves on family background. Don’t be a fool.”
“Hmph, as if I needed you to tell me that!”
Of course, Wen Xin didn’t dare say this out loud—otherwise, a caning would be unavoidable. He nodded with all the obedience he could muster.
Stepping out of the study, he breathed a huge sigh of relief. Though it felt somewhat unfilial, Wen Xin was genuinely happy to remain in Danyang County.