The path was laid, but for ten straight days, Miss Tang never came again.

Lu Shi was cursed at by San Pang for a full ten days for wasting more than ten bundles of straw.

San Pang’s cursing was as thunderous as his snoring. Lu Shi didn’t talk back. When he finished cursing, Lu Shi would hand him a cup of hot tea.

San Pang would drink the tea while huffing and cursing a few more sentences.

At this time, a young servant came to deliver a message, saying the Crown Prince would arrive shortly.

San Pang was so frightened his hand shook and he couldn’t even speak properly.

“Crow, crow, crow…”

“Old man, stop crowing. Hurry and prepare.”

San Pang’s legs went weak and he sat directly on the ground. Having lived most of his life, he’d never seen such an exalted personage.

Lu Shi helped him sit to one side, then began working with his head down.

He first cleaned the stables thoroughly, then spread a layer of straw in front, and finally groomed Brain’s coat.

When everything was ready, the noble personages arrived gracefully. Besides the Crown Prince and his attendants, the girl also accompanied them.

Lu Shi pulled San Pang forward and pushed him in front, while he himself retreated to a corner and knelt silently.

The change in a person’s fate often happens inadvertently.

If that day the Crown Prince hadn’t suggested letting the girl try riding the horse…

If San Pang hadn’t volunteered, saying he would lead the horse…

If Brain wasn’t from the Western Regions with wildness in its very bones…

Unfortunately, there are no “ifs” in this world.

The moment the girl mounted Brain, Lu Shi felt something would go wrong.

No one knew this beast’s wild nature better than him. The patches of bruises all over his body were from that beast’s kicks, and San Pang was already old.

The instant the horse went mad, Lu Shi rushed out.

Initially, he wanted to protect the girl from falling off the horse’s back. When he saw the horse’s rear hooves viciously kick San Pang’s chest, Lu Shi instantly changed his plan.

He sprinted toward San Pang, caught him with both hands, gave a light push with his hands while throwing his body forward with all his might.

As he fell to the ground, the girl tumbled onto his back.

Half a shichen later, Tang Qiling questioned him: “Why didn’t you save the young miss first?”

He thought for a long time before replying: “San Pang is old and doesn’t have many years left, but the young miss is still young.”

This answer left Tang Qiling utterly bewildered.

“That day when you collapsed, it was my daughter who discovered you. It was also she who begged me to save you.”

Lu Shi was slightly stunned.

“She said you called out ‘Mother.’ She had just lost her mother and couldn’t bear to see someone in the same situation.”

Tang Qiling snorted coldly. “San Pang is merely a servant, while my daughter…”

“My lord, nobles and base people are actually the same—they all have only one life.”

“Outrageous!”

The head steward Tang Jin standing nearby couldn’t tolerate it and became furious.

“How can they be the same? Ten San Pangs aren’t worth one of the young miss’s fingers, not to mention the young miss’s life-saving grace to you.”

Lu Shi said, “Lord Tang, I didn’t know the young miss had life-saving grace toward me.”

“If you had known?”

Lu Shi lowered his head. After a long while, he said softly, “Forgive me, Lord Tang. I probably still would have saved San Pang.”

“You…”

“Ah Jin.”

Tang Qiling looked coldly at Tang Jin, then his gaze fell on Lu Shi. “Why?”

Lu Shi raised his head. “Because I calculated in my mind that if the young miss fell, she wouldn’t be seriously hurt, but San Pang…”

Before he finished speaking, there was a knock at the door. A servant entered.

“My lord, the imperial physician has examined her. The young miss is fine, just a bit frightened.”

“What about San Pang?”

“Three ribs broken in his chest.”

The way Tang Qiling looked at Lu Shi suddenly became profound.

“Your name is Lu Shi?”

“Yes.”

“How old are you this year?”

“Twenty-two.”

“Where is your home?”

“Liuhe, Jinling.”

“Who else is in your family?”

He was silent for a moment. “There’s still a mother.”

“You’ve studied?”

Lu Shi couldn’t hide it and had to admit: “Yes.”

“What books have you read?”

“The Four Books and Five Classics, the various schools of thought.”

“Who was your teacher in Jinling Prefecture?”

“Myself.”

Tang Qiling was silent for a moment.

“When I left, I left you a note and two verbal messages. As a scholar, why didn’t you accept the Tang family’s support? Why did you insist on becoming a stable hand?”

“I have hands and feet. I didn’t want to eat for free.”

“Don’t you know that tending horses delays your studies? Moreover, you’re not young anymore.”

“It doesn’t delay. I can manage both.”

Lord Tang looked at the clothes he wore, his eyes like black obsidian.

“From today, you’ll move to the back courtyard. The Tang family will provide all food and lodging.”

“…”

“It’s not free food and lodging. You’ll still tend the horse, just without wages. How about that?”

Lu Shi’s twenty-two years of life experience told him that pies don’t fall from the sky.

“Lord Tang, I didn’t save the young miss first. Why are you still…”

“No particular reason.”

Tang Qiling looked at him and suddenly smiled. “I just think you as a person… are very interesting.”

…

And so, Lu Shi transformed from a stable hand back into a scholar.

He had a room in the Tang family’s back courtyard—one bed, one table, one chair.

On the bed were clean bedding. On the table were unused writing implements.

That night, Lu Shi lay in bed feeling inexplicably anxious, tossing and turning unable to sleep. Even wrapping himself tightly in the blanket didn’t help him sleep.

Where was he interesting?

He was the type who couldn’t produce even a muffled fart with three sticks—utterly boring.

Many years later, he finally understood. Lord Tang said he was interesting because very few people in this world were like him—refusing to take shortcuts and instead preferring to walk the most difficult path.

The back courtyard wasn’t large—just seven rooms housing seven scholars.

The scholars came from all over, with different appearances and temperaments. The only thing they had in common was: poverty.

From the back courtyard to the front courtyard, there were three paths. Two were sealed off, leaving only the bluestone bamboo path leading to the garden for the scholars to use.

They could only walk it at night. During the day, because the Tang family’s female family members would stroll the garden, the gate was locked to avoid any impropriety.

When he went to tend horses at the Tang residence, he also had to circle around more than half the way from outside.

After a few days, Lu Shi finally figured out why those two paths were sealed.

Supposedly, in the past, some scholars, for the sake of their future prospects, had shamelessly barged into Lord Tang’s study to recommend themselves.

There were also scholars who, thinking the Tang family only had one daughter and that becoming a son-in-law who married in would mean soaring to great heights, schemed to “accidentally” encounter the young miss on the road.

After learning this, Lu Shi sneered inwardly.

The young miss was still just a child. These people even wanted to seduce a child—clearly behind their proper appearances lurked despicable intentions.

Lu Shi was accustomed to being solitary and didn’t like pretending to live among crowds. Over time, the scholars stopped associating with him and all said sarcastic things behind his back about him being aloof and arrogant.

To Lu Shi, sarcastic words didn’t even register. Even if they cursed his ancestors eight generations back, he’d act as if he hadn’t heard.

On New Year’s Eve, Lord Tang invited the seven scholars to the flower hall to celebrate—this was an old Tang family custom and also the only opportunity in the year when they could see Lord Tang.

The scholars all returned to their rooms to change into their most presentable clothes and shoes, hoping Lord Tang would think highly of them.

Lu Shi didn’t need anyone to think highly of him. He wore a washed-out old robe and went.