As soon as Liu Chaoming arrived at the Liu residence, An’ran approached him and said, “My Lord, the master has been waiting in the main hall for nearly two hours.”

Liu Chaoming nodded slightly and entered the residence with a censor from the Imperial Censorate who had accompanied him.

The Liu family’s scholarly tradition honored Confucianism and respected the law. Liu Chaoming’s father, Old Master Liu, bore the courtesy name Xuzhi. He had once taught in the Hangzhou region, which is why some people also called him Master Xuzhi.

Since the founding of the Great Sui Dynasty, although many members of the Liu clan had entered government service, most held modest ranks. Among them, only Liu Yun stood out, having been appointed as a first-rank Grand Secretary. Had it been any other family with someone of Liu Yun’s stature, the other descendants would have risen to prominence through his patronage. However, the Liu family’s conduct was extremely strict, familial ties unusually sparse, and there was no interaction whatsoever between collateral branches. Even the two half-brothers from Liu Chaoming’s own branch had to earn their civil service degrees through their own merit. It was said that one half-brother served as assistant magistrate in a remote small county for four years. Last year, when the Ministry of Personnel learned he was the younger brother of the Grand Secretary, they wanted to promote him to county magistrate. Who knew that when Liu Yun learned of this, he ordered censors to investigate his governing record and discovered that this half-brother had mishandled two cases within a year, failing to meet promotion requirements. He actually rejected the Ministry of Personnel’s appointment.

Before Liu Chaoming even reached the main hall, Liu Xuzhi stepped out across the threshold and asked coldly, “Why have you come back?”

Liu Xuzhi was already at the age of knowing heaven’s mandate, his temples graying, and his frame not as upright as Liu Chaoming’s. Yet judging by their features alone, father and son still resembled each other greatly, except for the arc of their jaws, which differed significantly—Liu Xuzhi’s was cold and hard, Liu Chaoming’s gentle and soft.

“In response to Father, your son only learned yesterday that Father had come to the capital. After handling urgent matters, I rushed back to the residence. My failure to greet you from afar is truly unfilial. Please punish me, Father.”

He still wore his first-rank crane insignia robe and could not kneel, so he could only clasp his sleeves in a bow.

“You only know that I am your father and you are my son. But do you know that His Majesty is your sovereign and you are his subject?” Liu Xuzhi looked at Liu Chaoming and said, “As the current Grand Secretary and Chief Censor, you should examine yourself daily and lead by example. It’s only noon now, precisely the time for official duties. You return to the residence at this moment—did you seek His Majesty’s permission?”

Liu Chaoming remained quiet for a moment, then bowed even more deeply. “Father’s rebuke is correct. Your son acknowledges his error.”

“Is there a Buddhist hall in this residence?”

Liu Chaoming said, “There is. Inside is enshrined the memorial tablet of the Grand Ancestor Emperor.”

Liu Xuzhi nodded. “Good. Then go and beg forgiveness from the Grand Ancestor Emperor. Kneel in punishment before his tablet for one hour.”

The Grand Ancestor Emperor was the temple name of Zhu Jingyuan after his death.

The Imperial Censorate censor who had accompanied Liu Chaoming back to the residence couldn’t help but be shocked by this scene. He stepped forward to plead, “Reporting to Old Master Liu, the Grand Secretary has always been strict with himself in court affairs, diligent and never negligent. Today he only hurried back to the residence because he learned of your arrival from afar. I implore you to show leniency to my lord in consideration of your father-son bond.”

Liu Xuzhi clasped his hands behind his back. “Disregarding proper duties for private feelings—committing this error once is no different from committing it a thousand times.” Then he looked at Liu Chaoming. “Go. Add another hour. Come to the main hall to see me at the hour of the monkey.”

“Yes.” Liu Chaoming performed another bow, then headed to the Buddhist hall.

This censor was actually helping Liu Chaoming organize accompanying official documents and had originally planned to leave after paying respects to Old Master Liu. Seeing that Liu Xuzhi actually intended to punish Liu Chaoming, he offered a few more words of persuasion, but unfortunately his efforts backfired, so he could only leave hurriedly.

An’ran and A’Liu saw the censor off and returned to stand quietly in the main hall.

Liu Xuzhi drank tea alone for a while, then said, “You two need not attend to me. Go do whatever you should be doing.”

“Yes.” An’ran and A’Liu walked together to the center of the hall and performed a deep bow to Liu Xuzhi.

The entire Liu residence was silent, but this silence was different from usual. With Liu Xuzhi’s arrival, the surroundings were filled with an atmosphere of solemn gravity.

A’Liu only dared to speak once they had retreated to the middle courtyard. “After all these years, the master is still so strict with the young master.”

An’ran gently scolded, “Your old habit acting up again.”

“Yes, yes.” A’Liu slapped his own mouth. “I shouldn’t gossip about the master and young master behind their backs.” Then seeing An’ran’s steps turn, not heading toward the side rooms, he quickly asked, “Third Brother, where are you going?”

“I’m going to check on my lord at the Buddhist hall. You go rest.”

An’ran fetched a food box from the kitchen, pushed open the door to the Buddhist hall, and said to Liu Chaoming, “My lord rushed back to the residence in such haste, you surely haven’t had time for your midday meal. An’ran has brought food for you. Please eat something, my lord.”

Liu Chaoming was reciting the Liu family precepts. Hearing these words, he paused slightly and said, “No need.”

An’ran continued, “But the master has already stated clearly that he came this time regarding my lord’s marriage. What if later he also punishes you to kneel and recite the family precepts through the night? If my lord works day and night without eating, can your body withstand it?”

Liu Chaoming was silent for a moment, then replied, “If it cannot withstand it, we’ll deal with that then.” He closed his eyes again and resumed reciting the precepts.

Inside the Buddhist hall, incense smoke curled gently. An’ran watched Liu Chaoming kneeling on the prayer cushion and suddenly recalled many years ago, that young master of the Liu family who had picked him and A’Liu up and brought them home.

That was during a year of famine.

Their family fled north from disaster. Along the way, parents and siblings became separated. Passing through Hangzhou Prefecture, he and A’Liu huddled in a street corner, thinking they would freeze or starve to death, when a youth merely nine years old walked before them.

The youth wore a blue robe with a jade pendant of warm luster hanging at his waist. His features were the most beautiful they had ever seen, his cold jade-like eyes possessing a composure beyond his years.

He stared at them for a while, then said, “My name is Liu Yun. Will you two come back to the residence with me?”

At those words, An’ran was stunned. Back to the residence? Did this mean someone was willing to take in him and his fourth brother, that they would no longer have to wander homeless, hungry, and cold?

For a moment, he didn’t dare respond.

How could there be such good fortune? he thought. He feared this was a dream that would shatter the moment he spoke.

Seeing the two only staring blankly without speaking, young Liu Yun paused, then quietly nodded. “Very well, I understand.” With that, he turned toward the carriage waiting for him at the alley entrance.

Not until Liu Yun had nearly boarded the carriage did A’Liu finally react first, shouting, “We’re willing!” He then grabbed An’ran’s arm and stumbled toward Liu Yun, kneeling before him and kowtowing repeatedly. “Benefactor, we’re willing, willing to become your servants, willing to serve you for life! We beg you to take us in—my third brother and I haven’t eaten in five days.”

Later, when An’ran recalled this incident, he still found it amusing. That year the young master was only nine, while he and A’Liu were merely six or seven, yet they kept calling him “benefactor” as if as long as the young master would take them in, they would even call him “Heaven’s Emperor.”

So when the nine-year-old Liu Yun heard that “benefactor,” a hint of puzzlement showed in his composed eyes. After a long moment, he corrected them, “I am not a benefactor. My name is Liu Yun.”

He glanced at the attendant following him. The attendant understood, took water and dry rations from the carriage and handed them over, then quietly waited for them to finish eating before saying, “Let’s return to the residence.”

That was the first time An’ran and A’Liu witnessed the strictness of the Liu family’s conduct.

As soon as Liu Chaoming returned to the residence, he was punished to kneel in the Buddhist hall for five days and nights without food. The reason for the punishment was merely the phrase “If one cannot yet help oneself, how can one help all under heaven?”

At the time, little An’ran and A’Liu crouched outside the Buddhist hall, listening to the sound of the disciplinary rod from within, listening to Liu Xuzhi repeatedly demanding, “If one cannot yet help oneself, how can one help all under heaven?” They nearly burst into tears.

A’Liu asked, “Third Brother, do you think the young master won’t want us anymore?”

An’ran didn’t answer. During those days, virtually no one in the Liu residence paid them any attention. People came and went with cool indifference. At night they slept outside the Buddhist hall, and during the day someone did bring them food.

But the person delivering food would say the same thing every time: “This food is only for you two. If you dare share it with the young master, his punishment will be even worse.”

So they could only wait with suspended hearts, waiting and waiting until five days later when young Liu Yun emerged from the Buddhist hall. He was pale and dazed, glanced at An’ran and A’Liu, and said, “Come, I’ll take you to my courtyard.”

It was during late spring. After a rain, a magnolia tree in the courtyard stood gracefully. Liu Yun turned under the eaves and asked, “Do you two have names?”

An’ran didn’t answer, only noticing that the color of the magnolia seemed like the color of the jade pendant at the young master’s waist.

A’Liu said, “Young Master, do Third Child and Youngest count? Ever since my third brother and I can remember, we’ve been fleeing famine with our parents. They said they had no time to give us proper names, so they called me Youngest and my third brother Third Child.”

Liu Chaoming’s gaze followed An’ran’s toward the magnolia in the courtyard. After thinking for a moment, he said, “You two have wandered until now. From now on, you shall be called Let Remain and Peaceful Then.”

An’ran later learned that the magnolia in the courtyard had been planted by the young master’s birth mother, and the jade pendant was a keepsake she had left behind.

In Liu Yun’s childhood years that had withered to contain only black and white, that solitary magnolia was perhaps also the peace in his heart.

By the hour of the monkey, Liu Chaoming had finished reciting the family precepts sixteen times in the Buddhist hall. He returned to his room to change into a blue robe, then went to the main hall to perform a kneeling bow to Liu Xuzhi before personally presenting tea.

Liu Xuzhi accepted the tea and said, “Since you’ve been punished, I hope you will take this as a lesson and remember it always. Now that His Majesty is on campaign and not in the capital, as his subject, you should be even more strict with yourself during this time. Disregarding proper duties for private matters or private feelings is a great taboo. If there is a next time—” At this point, Liu Xuzhi covered his mouth and coughed several times. He lifted the tea bowl lid and took a sip before the coughing subsided.

Just then, An’ran came over and said, “Master, my lord, it’s the second quarter of the hour of the monkey.”

Liu Xuzhi nodded, set down the tea bowl, didn’t finish what he had been saying, and simply walked out of the main hall.

This was a rule of the Liu residence—meals and rest followed a set schedule. Not a moment earlier, not a moment later.

The dining place was in the side hall. After An’ran and A’Liu laid out the dishes, they stood to one side. Liu Chaoming waited until Liu Xuzhi was seated and had taken up his bamboo chopsticks before sitting down beside him. No talking during meals or sleep—dining was also conducted in silence. Halfway through eating, Liu Xuzhi’s earlier cough seemed not to have stopped. He turned his head aside, covered his mouth with his sleeve, and began coughing continuously again.

Seeing this, Liu Chaoming set down his bamboo chopsticks and asked quietly, “How has Father’s health been recently?”

Hearing this question, Liu Xuzhi paused slightly, finished coughing with his mouth covered, picked up his chopsticks again, but didn’t answer.

So Liu Chaoming didn’t ask again.

Not until the meal was finished did Liu Xuzhi say, “Let’s go to your study.”

Going to the study meant they would discuss serious matters.

But the Liu residence had always had a rule—except for An’ran, no one was permitted to enter Liu Chaoming’s study.

Liu Chaoming led Liu Xuzhi toward his own study. When they had nearly reached the end of the covered walkway, An’ran deliberated for a moment and said, “Master, my lord once said that no one may enter his study. Actually, the eastern courtyard where you’re staying also has a study, fully equipped with writing materials and books.” He immediately knelt down. “This humble one has spoken out of turn. This humble one deserves punishment.”

Liu Xuzhi asked Liu Chaoming, “Is this a rule of your residence?”

“Yes,” Liu Chaoming said, “but if Father wishes to use your son’s study, your son would not dare obstruct you.”

Liu Xuzhi said, “No need. You are the master of this residence. We shall observe your rules.”

Upon reaching the study in the eastern courtyard, Liu Xuzhi sat down at the desk. Liu Chaoming walked before it, stood quietly for a moment, then lifted his robe and knelt.

He had received word yesterday and already knew why Liu Xuzhi had come. Among the three forms of unfilial conduct, having no heir was the gravest. He was already nearing the age of thirty, with no wife, no concubine, no sons, no daughters—this was the greatest unfilial conduct.

Liu Chaoming bowed his head and kowtowed. “Your son already knows Father’s purpose in coming. Your son begs Father’s forgiveness. I submit entirely to Father’s judgment.”