Palace Fighting Naive Concubines’ Ascent to Power
Chapter 591: Forced Demands Are Futile

Chapter 591: Chapter 591: Forced Demands Are Futile

He read during the day, he read while eating, he read at night by the light of an oil lamp, jotting down what he learned as he went, deeply benefitting from his study. The more he read, the more he found himself immersed in it. The wisdom of the ancients was profound and vast. Sadly, some of the things mentioned in the books had been lost over time. Without the related materials, he could only ponder in vain.

Reading had tired his eyes, but his heart was full. His entranced state caused the students of the Imperial Academy who passed by to tread lightly, not daring to disturb him.

He stood up to stretch his sore shoulders and back, then looked down at the page again. There was a crease left by someone in the past. The text was too obscure, and it related to lost content. Despite reading it several times, he still could not understand it.

He had thumbed through this rare book so many times that it was nearly falling apart. That mysterious elder likely had read it numerous times as well. Most of the creases must have been left by him. He wondered what insights the elder might have had.

"Brother Lian, have you finished reading?"

Someone was walking towards his room. Lian Musu looked up and saw it was Liang Qi.

He smiled and walked out of the room to greet him with a bow. "Brother Liang," he said.

Liang Qi returned the greeting with a smile and the customary courtesy of a scholar, and they exchanged a few pleasantries.

Liang Qi mentioned some rumors he had heard from the court recently and comforted him, "It must be these matters that have caused the delay. Do not worry, Brother Lian. His Majesty has made a promise, and he will surely give you, and all the scholars in the land, an explanation."

Lian Musu replied, "Thank you for your concern, Brother Liang. His Majesty will have his judgment. I am not in a hurry."

He wasn’t worried—he had heard a bit about the situation at court over the past few days. The lack of news was actually a good sign; it meant that he had already passed the Son of Heaven’s scrutiny and that the situation was under control. However, given the current sensitivities, it wasn’t the right time to review his examination papers and discuss his case. In a way, this silence was protecting him.

If his examination papers were brought up during these turbulent times, it would not be a good sign. It would mean that the court needed to divert attention from more pressing matters. In such a scenario, both the united students of Taiyuan Prefecture and he himself would be expendable.

Lian Musu had a clear understanding of the situation.

The matter would be resolved eventually; it was only a matter of time.

Liang Qi, seeing his genuine lack of concern and his composure, didn’t know whether to feel relieved or worried on his behalf. His feelings were quite complex.

Since he lived close to Brother Lian, Minister Jia had even inquired in secret yesterday, asking if Brother Lian was truly alright, reasoning that if there were no issues, why would he seclude himself and not step outside?

He seemed to be truly fine.

Yet, considering that his future was at stake, Brother Lian was astonishingly composed. Liang Qi couldn’t help feeling anxious for him.

After chatting for a while longer, Liang Qi took his leave. As he did, he noticed the old man with white hair and beard appearing again.

As his neighbor, he had seen that old man several times. The man was peculiar, never coming close, just appearing at a distance with an odd smile on his face, as if laughing at some private joke.

Liang Qi signalled to Lian Musu with a soft voice, indicating him to look in that direction.

His timing was perfect. Lian Musu smiled and then called out loudly, "Brother Liang, are you familiar with the story of Bi Wanchang’s greatness?"

From afar, Minister Fan, stroking his white beard, paused his hand.

Liang Qi was startled, ready to reply, but then he remembered that Brother Lian was highly learned and widely read. Surely he knew this story.

He looked at Lian Musu, his eyes briefly flicking to the old man again, and then everything clicked. "I haven’t heard of it. I am hoping for Brother Lian’s guidance," he said.

Lian Musu did not answer but followed with another loud question, "The sage once said, ’Ancient scholars must have teachers; a teacher’s role is to transmit teachings, impart knowledge, and dispel confusion.’ If a teacher does not impart knowledge or transmit teachings, can he still be considered a teacher?"

Liang Qi shook his head, "Liang believes he should not."

"In that case, I understand now, thank you, Brother Liang," Lian Musu bowed with hands folded in respect.

Liang Qi returned the gesture, "Brother Lian is too courteous."

Lian Musu then stood up and, with a sigh resembling casual conversation, said, "Brother Liang, I must confess that I have read several books recently and have deeply felt the boundless wisdom of the ancients, hidden between the lines, so profound and enigmatic. Yet after much contemplation, it’s difficult to integrate and comprehend the essence, to make it one’s own, and thus hard to pass on their teachings, what a pity."

Liang Qi began to lament as well, "The way of the ancients, their mysterious principles, if lost, would indeed be a great pity."

Lian Musu spoke with a mix of regret and sorrow, "It seems it is due to my own dullness and ignorance that I can’t comprehend. Let it be, one shouldn’t force it."

After expressing his sentiments, without so much as glancing in the direction where Minister Fan was, he bid farewell to Liang Qi once more, one of them entering a room and the other entering the adjacent room.

Only Minister Fan remained in the distance, his face wrinkled with frowns.

At first listen, these few sentences seemed unrelated, yet they consistently made him feel as if they were directed at him.

It began with the reference to "the greatness of Bi Wanchang," which gave him pause. The story, from "Zuo Zhuan Poet during Min Gong’s first year," speaks of springtime when Bi Wan received the Wei Territory, and his descendants established the Wei State, signifying divine inspiration upon the younger generation, leading to their great expansion.

As he was musing on why his prospective disciple would suddenly ask this, he heard his prospective disciple’s question about the teacher’s role in passing on teachings and resolving doubts.

Before he could make sense of it, his disciple started talking to the young man about recent perplexities encountered in his readings.

Connecting the dots, Minister Fan thought, could it be his prospective disciple’s implication that although he was granted the rare volume and aspired to emulate Bi Wan’s descendants to magnify and honor it, he was not a true teacher as he had not imparted knowledge nor dispelled confusion? And with the rare volume being truly challenging to comprehend, was his prospective disciple acknowledging the futility of forcing understanding and thus giving up?

That simply wouldn’t do!

Minister Fan grew anxious, no longer adhering to his initial plan of baiting someone with the rare volume and waiting for them to seek his guidance. Right away, he rushed back to retrieve his annotations, which captured the essence of his lifetime’s understanding, determined to fulfill the role of transmitting teachings and resolving confusion.

Otherwise, if his disciple gave up, all his efforts over these days would have been for naught.

These rare volumes were extremely abstruse, and Minister Fan, after poring over them for the better part of his life and consulting numerous ancient texts, had finally made some insightful breakthroughs, deciphering about fifty to sixty percent of the content.

Originally, Minister Fan had purposely dropped the rare volume partly to favor Lian Musu, but he was also well aware that comprehending such a volume wouldn’t be possible in a short period, especially without the aid of many ancient texts.

As a result, Minister Fan’s second objective was to wait until a more convenient time to hint at his research on the volume, subtly revealing his insights to Lian Musu, prompting him to ask questions. Then he would provide a glimpse into his knowledge, seeming unfathomably profound, eventually overwhelming Lian Musu and, naturally, leading him to voluntarily take Minister Fan as his mentor.

It was an excellent plan, but he did not expect to encounter Lian Musu, a sly individual equal to himself. A sly person facing another, with Lian Musu having no requests for him, and given his frequent appearances revealing many flaws, the plan inevitably failed to unfold as he had envisioned.

Whether Minister Fan was aware of the pivotal point or not, regardless of his awareness, Lian Musu’s probe had been cast; if he truly wanted this disciple, he would have to accept the challenge.

After Minister Fan left, Liang Qi opened his door and, looking over, could not help but ask the person in the next room, "Brother Lian, what exactly does this elderly man want to do?"

Lian Musu also stepped out, smilingly responding, "We will know very soon."