“Mother, I’m home!”
Li Yao was in the courtyard, tinkering with medicinal herbs, when Wang Er’s voice rang out. He had been run off his feet for the past few days, assisting the county magistrate’s crews in digging wells for the various villages. He looked like he had lost quite a bit of weight.
“Mother!” Wang Er sprinted into the yard, bubbling over with excitement. “I scouted locations for 120 wells, and we struck water in every single one of them!”
“Not bad.”
Though it was only two simple words, they made Wang Er’s heart swell with pride. His mother never praised anyone lightly.
“Wang Er has really proven himself this time,” the village chief added, having followed him in. “The county magistrate is delighted and says he wants to reward him.”
Li Yao didn’t care much for rewards. However, now that the family had money, it was finally time to put Wang Er’s schooling on the agenda. The very next morning, she took him to the academy, only to be stopped at the gate by the doorman.
“Wait here.”
Watching the doorman’s impatient expression, Li Yao felt her respect for the academy evaporate.
…
Inside, Master Liu was supervising the students as they reviewed their studies. When he heard from the doorman that someone wanted to seek admission, he asked, “Where are they from?”
“They’re from He-wan Village,” the doorman replied. “It’s that boy who used to be Li Xian’s study companion.”
Master Liu’s brow furrowed. “Send them in to see me.”
Li Yao led Wang Er before Master Liu. Before she could even open her mouth, the Master snapped coldly, “So, it really is you—the little beast who beat your own elder in the street.”
Li Yao stiffened, her brow arching as she heard him resort to insults immediately. “What did you just say?”
“Silence!” Master Liu bellowed. “An academy is a place of learning and tranquility. Do you think a wild village woman is allowed to run her mouth here?”
Li Yao felt her temper flare. She had come with good intentions to enroll her son, fully prepared to pay the tuition in full, yet she was being treated with utter contempt?
“In which law of the Great Ling Dynasty does it state that a woman is forbidden from speaking in an academy?”
Master Liu sneered. “I have long heard that you are a notorious shrew. What is this? Are you planning to throw one of your tantrums here in my academy?”
Long heard?
Li Yao glanced over at Li Xian sitting at his desk, and suddenly, everything became clear. She had heard that Li Xian was bright and a favorite of the master. It was highly likely that the master had heard about the fight between him and Wang Er and was now intentionally dragging them in to humiliate them in public, all to side with his prize pupil.
For a man of letters, he certainly had a small, petty heart.
It seemed this academy would be a difficult place to enter, and even if they did, they would surely face constant bullying. But if not here, where else could Wang Er study?
“What is all this shouting about?”
An old man walked over with his hands behind his back. Master Liu hurried forward to offer a bow. “Mountain Chief, you are here.”
Li Yao looked up and recognized the old man as the one who had paid for a month’s worth of meals in advance at the stall. When they first met, she had known the old man was no ordinary person, but she hadn’t expected him to be the head of the academy.
“Haha, so it’s you two.” The Mountain Chief looked amiable as he gazed at Wang Er. “So, you want to join the academy and study?”
Wang Er nodded.
“A desire to learn is a wonderful thing!” the Mountain Chief said. “Pay the tuition today, and you can start tomorrow.”
“Mountain Chief, you must not!” Master Liu interjected, quickly trying to sway him. “This boy assaulted his elder in public; I fear his character is flawed. How can we allow such a black sheep to mix into our academy?”
“Is hitting someone proof of a flawed character?” the Mountain Chief asked coldly. “Have you bothered to ask why he hit him in the street?”
“This…” Master Liu hesitated, but he refused to back down. “Regardless of the reason, assaulting an elder in public is intolerable by both law and moral principle. If the Mountain Chief takes him rashly, I fear that if the county magistrate finds out, he will certainly take disciplinary action.”
The Mountain Chief frowned slightly. He hadn’t expected Master Liu to go as far as to drag the county magistrate into the matter.
“If they won’t take him, they won’t take him,” Li Yao said, having no patience to listen to two old men bicker. “He can study just as well without setting foot in that academy. Wang Er, let’s go.”
Once the mother and son were clear of the academy gates, Master Liu allowed a cold, mocking smirk to touch his lips. A wild brat from He-wan Village, dreaming of rising above his station through study? Dreaming indeed.
“I’m sorry, Mother,” Wang Er whispered as soon as they were out of earshot. “It’s because of me that you had to suffer such humiliation.”
“It has nothing to do with you.”
“No, it must be,” Wang Er insisted. “Master Liu has never liked me.”
According to Wang Er, back when he first started as Li Xian’s study companion, Master Liu had actually been quite fond of him because of his diligence. Though he was technically just a companion, the Master had allowed him to listen to lectures from outside the window. But suddenly, one day, Master Liu’s attitude had undergone a radical shift. Not only was he forbidden from listening in, but he was also frequently subjected to harsh reprimands and insults for nonsensical reasons, leading Wang Er to suffer many injustices in silence.
Li Yao was surprised. “Do you have any idea why?”
Wang Er shook his head. He had always been completely bewildered by the change. “But I do remember him saying once that no one from He-wan Village is any good.”
That was even stranger. Could Master Liu have some long-standing grudge against He-wan Village? Li Yao didn’t bother to dwell on it; it wasn’t worth the mental energy. After this incident, she abandoned the idea of sending Wang Er to the academy altogether—she would simply hire a tutor to teach him at home. However, scholars were scarce in Baichuan County, and those with any actual learning were even fewer, mostly concentrated within the academy or the magistrate’s office. She needed to think carefully about where to find a suitable teacher.
“First, let’s get you what you need.”
Li Yao led Wang Er into a bookstore. “How can I help you today?” a shop assistant greeted them with a warm smile. “We have every book you could want, and a complete selection of writing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones.”
Li Yao told Wang Er to choose his own books. Having already mastered the basics of elementary primers, he picked out the Four Books and Five Classics. Once he had mastered these, passing the exams to become a Xiucai scholar would be well within his reach.
The books cost 3 taels of silver in total. When Li Yao inquired about the “Four Treasures of the Study,” she was stunned by the exorbitant prices. Even the cheapest goat-hair brush cost 1 tael, and the top-tier wolf-hair brushes went for 15 taels! The inkstones, paper, and ink were equally prohibitively expensive. Since paper and ink were consumable goods, the cost of writing just one essay could easily reach twenty wen.
“Mother, there’s no need to buy those,” Wang Er said, trying to be helpful. “I can practice writing on the ground.”
Though they couldn’t afford the luxury items yet, it wasn’t quite that dire. Li Yao already had a plan. Moreover, she had just thought of a suitable candidate for a tutor.
Returning home, Li Yao sought out the village chief.
“Mother of Dazhuang, what can I do for you today?”
“I would like you to help me craft two slabs of bluestone,” Li Yao said. “Wang Er needs them to practice his calligraphy at home.”
Hearing that it was for a proper purpose, the chief agreed immediately.
“But letting Wang Er study at home isn’t a long-term solution,” the chief added.
“That’s exactly why I came to see you,” Li Yao replied. “I want to hire Scholar Lü to teach him, but I need you to step in and facilitate the request.”
“Him? Absolutely not!” The chief shook his head violently the moment he heard the name.
Though he was addressed as “Scholar Lü,” he was not, in fact, a qualified Xiucai. Years ago, his family had exhausted every resource they had to support his studies, but lacking the necessary talent, he remained a mere Tongsheng (entry-level student) even as he approached his fiftieth year. Having failed the exams repeatedly, with his parents long deceased and no children of his own, the man possessed no other skills. Scholar Lü had essentially become a “useless” man, relying entirely on his wife’s farming to keep him fed. Given the natural disasters of the past two years, they were likely already struggling to put food on the table.