Lanke Chess Edge
Chapter 202: Old Stories

Faced with a person with such a clear and bright aura, the Old Turtle couldn’t help but want to take a closer look at the scholar’s fate, even though he knew he wouldn’t be able to see through it.

But the result was somewhat beyond the Old Turtle’s expectations. This scholar’s fate was not vague at all — or at least, it was not unpredictable at first glance. Instead, he could clearly see his profound aura of blessings and fortune, but it was impossible to closely observe the ups and downs of his life.

Had this been anyone else, the Old Turtle would not have taken it so seriously. After all, some people would live ordinary lives. But that was definitely not the case for this scholar. However, the Old Turtle didn’t dare to look into it any more; he had come here to listen to the other read, and he could not put the cart before the horse.¹

Yin Qing read “Understanding Justice” little by little, savoring the essence of what his father had written, and inserting his own emotions as he read.

It wasn’t that Yin Qing could understand the true meaning of the book just because it had been written by his father. In fact, this was how he read all the time: he seemed to be able to grasp some of the threads of intention of the authors of the books, and feel their emotions from when they were writing through his reading.

In truth, many scholars had a similar ability, and used it to distinguish the content of the books. Some books were just narratives without much emotion, while others often expressed passionate ideas.

But Yin Qing’s state of mind was different from simply being able to see through to the core principles of the book. It was something akin to spiritual perception, as if he could empathize with the author of the book, and thus discern what kind of person the other party was, whether he was aloof, passionate, or just posturing.

Therefore, for Yin Qing, some books, even those so-called classics, would be uncomfortable to read after a while. He still forced himself to memorize them in order to cope with exams, but he couldn’t say that he liked them.

Yin Qing’s favorite works were those written by people like his father, Yin Zhaoxian. He could clearly feel the ideas that the book wanted to promote, and even more clearly feel the author’s authenticity and genuine righteousness in wanting to cleanse away filth. The feeling of unity between the knowledge and the intent made him most comfortable.

So now, as Yin Qing read the text, he naturally released this feeling along with the sound of his reading. Sometimes, he even explained a few sentences in his own words, striving to allow the listeners to understand the point as well as he did. Without realizing it, the big black fish and the Old Turtle had become fascinated with his lecture.

Even the few people who had been standing to the side watching Ji Yuan fish were unconsciously captivated by his words. They felt that this scholar must be very knowledgeable, and upon seeing the uniform of Huiyuan Academy, concluded that it was to be expected.

If it were Yin Qing alone reading like this, he would want to comprehend and finish a book quickly, but since he wished to convey it to others, he wanted to say much more than what was expressed in the passages, so much so that he spent an entire day talking about “Understanding Justice” and still couldn’t finish it.

During the period of time, Ji Yuan made a trip to go buy some food for the two people’s and the fox’s lunch, trying not to interrupt Yin Qing’s first performance.

By the evening, the passersby around them had already gone home or boarded their boats.

Ji Yuan saw that it was getting late, so he put away the fishing rod that had not caught a single fish all day long, and turned to Yin Qing.

“Okay, let’s end here for today!”

Just as Ji Yuan’s voice rang out, Yin Qing abruptly stopped reading.

“Mr. Ji, how do you think I did today?”

Yin Qing asked Ji Yuan a little nervously. Seeing that there was no one around, he continued on while looking towards the river.

“Could the big black fish understand?”

Seeing him like this, Ji Yuan, who had just set down his bamboo pole along the shoreline, approached him in two steps and patted his right arm.

“It was very eloquent. Not even your father could have been as good as you are when he first came here, let alone me.”

Yin Qing felt quite embarrassed at Mr. Ji’s praise.

“Mr. Ji, your praise is too fake. I don’t know how you think you and my father are, but you’re definitely far ahead of me. Hu Yun, do you think so?”

Yin Qing asked the red fox beside him. The latter’s eyes twitched, but he did not agree immediately. He only spoke after a while.

“If it’s just about reading books for others to listen to, maybe Mr. Ji is telling the truth.”

At Hu Yun’s rare conscious words of praise, Yin Qing was obviously stunned for a moment. However, he was still very happy to receive the praise.

Ji Yuan wound up his fishing line from his newly fashioned emerald green bamboo pole and looked at the city gate in the distance.

“The city gate will close in half an hour. It’s almost time to go back. Well, let’s greet them before returning.”

Yin Qing followed the direction Ji Yuan’s finger was pointing, only to see a big black carp in the river bobbing up and down, blowing bubbles and looking at him. Its fins could not touch in a salute, so it could only nod up and down. Next to the big black carp, the thing he had originally thought to be a large black stone in the water had actually floated up to the surface, revealing itself to be an enormous turtle.

“This… is such a big turtle?”

Yin Qing was taken aback. Then the turtle actually rose half-out of the water and stood with its two feet together in a bow.

“I, Old Turtle Wu Chong, thank Mr. Yin for his teachings!”

“I don’t dare accept, I don’t deserve it. I’m Yin Qing, a student of Huiyuan Academy.”

Yin Qing hurriedly returned the greeting. This was the first time he had been addressed as “Mr.” and he still felt that it was quite novel.

“By the way, this big black carp will be called Luo Biqing from now on.”

As soon as Ji Yuan finished speaking, the big black carp by the river blew a bunch of bubbles in the water, as if responding. “Bo bo bo bo…”

Yin Qing also smiled and bowed to the big black carp. Then he packed up his books and bid farewell to Ji Yuan with some reluctance.

“Then, Mr. Ji, shall I be off now?”

He knew that after his departure, Mr. Ji and Hu Yun would probably leave Chunhui Prefecture.

“Go ahead, go ahead.”

Ji Yuan deliberately didn’t say too much. After seeing Yin Qing turn around and take a few steps, he silently counted to three. Sure enough, he turned back around.

“Mr. Ji, why didn’t you ask me how I am doing at Huiyuan Academy, or how I am getting along with my classmates and my teachers?”

Ji Yuan smiled mischievously.

“Oh, I almost forgot. How are you getting along with the others over there?”

“Mr. Ji, you are too perfunctory…”

“Hahahaha… Chunhui Prefecture has a well-developed nautical courier system. It only takes ten days for a letter to arrive to Ning’an County. Plus, this is the capital of the prefecture, so even if it is headed to Wan Province, it would have already saved a lot of time in being sorted and stored at the postal office. You can write a letter when you have the time!”

At that, Yin Qing smiled again, nodded, and finally turned around and left. After walking for a while, he eventually stopped glancing back every few steps, and trotted off into the city.

After Yin Qing left, Ji Yuan withdrew his gaze and sat cross-legged on the bank, facing the Old Turtle.

“Wu Chong, I told you last time to tell me about any deeds or individuals among the people you have met in your life that have left a deep impression. I think today is a good day, so tell me about one.”

Ji Yuan had long since finished reading his book titled “A Historical Account from Outside the Tao.” It had been a long time since he had read a “novel,” so it would definitely be more interesting to listen to the stories of those who had experienced them.

“As you command, Mr. Ji!”

The Old Turtle bowed in the water. From the conversation between Mr. Ji and Yin Qing, he could tell that Mr. Ji was likely to be leaving. After careful consideration, he thought of an event that happened a long, long time ago.

His body gradually sank back into the water, leaving only his turtle head exposed above the surface. The Old Turtle’s voice was filled with emotion.

“It was about 170 to 180 years ago. Dazhen had been founded only 20 or 30 years before. I can’t remember exactly when, and many things seem vague…”

The Old Turtle saw that Mr. Ji was not going to interrupt him because he had mentioned that “many things seem vague,” so he continued on with confidence.

“That year marked a little over 50 years after I, this Old Turtle, had refined my horizontal bone. There was a scholar surnamed Xiao who had come to visit Chunhui Prefecture to play. He was a man with good fortune… On a flower ship, a drunk man attempted to molest a songstress, when this scholar Xiao angrily rushed to the scene and assisted her…”

The Old Turtle smiled before continuing.

“Then he was kicked into the river by the drunkard. Although he was quickly rescued by the ship captain and his crew, it was still a disgrace. But this incident gave me the impression of him as an honest man.”

The Old Turtle spoke slowly, describing how he “had chance encounter” with Scholar Xiao in a way that would not frighten him too much, how he slowly got to know him, how he helped him divine his fortune, and how he advised him on the timing in dealing with certain essential matters.

“Originally, I just wanted to form a good connection with him, and point out some places where he could find some unexpected fortune, or what places were in urgent need of goods and when the timing was right. If he wanted to do business, he could make a small fortune. However, after the scholar and his family grew a little richer, he still wanted to become an official, specifically a high-ranking official…”

“Haha, the fate of a dynasty and the career of an official are no trivial matter. How can one’s career as an official be determined via fortune telling? One must rely on real talent and knowledge. Although he had some talent and some knowledge, it was not enough. So I told him frankly that if he was if he was unwilling to study, and study hard, he had no chance of becoming an official. It was especially taboo to achieve results by way of demonic powers. For a long time after that, Xiao Jing never came to see me again…”

Ji Yuan listened quietly. Naturally, he didn’t think the story would end there.

“When I next heard news of Xiao Jing again, he had somehow become the Imperial Censor² in just six or seven years…”

Ji Yuan frowned and looked at the Old Turtle. The latter narrowed his eyes and looked out at the river. This action belied the Old Turtle’s rising emotions.

As the story continued, he recalled some details that he had almost forgotten, and the Old Turtle’s thoughts became much clearer.

“It was the 32nd year of the Yuan Dynasty, and the founding emperor of Dazhen had already grown old. The chronic illness he suffered from during the founding of the country was frequently uncontrollable in his later years. It was time to pass the throne on to the crown prince. However, although the crown prince had already reached adulthood, his prestige was still too low. Most of the founding ministers in the court were old, and had succeeded alongside the emperor with unparalleled military achievements…”

As the Old Turtle spoke, his eyes narrowed more and more. In Ji Yuan’s heart, he could faintly feel a bloody aura about to rise.

“Alas… I, this Old Turtle, am really unlucky. The little help I gave Xiao Jing in the early years did not bring me any reward. Instead, when blood stained the Censorate, bad karma followed!”

He didn’t say anything specific, but this sentence basically let Ji Yuan understand the tone of what was to follow.

Killing meritorious officials was a fairly common practice among founding emperors of every feudal dynasty.

As for Xiao Jing, who had been appointed the Imperial Censor, he was in charge of supervising the court, able to impeach any and all officials. The role he played must have been disgraceful. The merit in providing a great contribution to establishing a dynasty was gained in following the Emperor.³ The evil karma that came with killing such old and excellent ministers was definitely too much for the Old Turtle to bear.

Ji Yuan placed his right hand on his knee and tapped slowly. As he sympathized with the Old Turtle and some of the innocent old ministers, his mind was deep in thought.

‘The surname of Xiao?’

1. i.e. investigate into his future without even having accomplished what he had come here to do
2. The Censorate was a very high-level supervising agency directly reporting to the emperor in order to prevent the corruption characteristic of the period. It was a powerful, feared position, with historically a mix of both righteous whistleblowers and corrupt officials.
3. Note that they’re using the word “dragon” to stand in for “Emperor” — since we already have a plethora of dragons I decided to use “Emperor,” but it’s a cool bit of language that I wanted to highlight