After learning that Li Tai was the genius who had set her up, Hypatia felt that as a teacher, she should establish her authority through this troublemaker. After consulting Yun Ye about the consequences of offending a prince, she went to prepare her plan with great delight.

It turned out there was actually such a wonderful thing in the world. In this country, teachers could completely control princes. Even if you beat them, there would be no trouble at all. The Emperor would even punish his own son again. The Great Tang was simply a paradise for teachers.

Teacher Hypatia ordered Li Tai to come to her office, saying that Li Tai had a small flaw in his density calculations that needed resolving. Hearing that the teacher intended to challenge his greatest strength, Li Tai hurried over, preparing to harshly mock her when the teacher’s explanation proved erroneous, then leave with a flourish. Yun Ye had said that in density calculations, he was the absolute authority. Now that his authority was being questioned, how could this be tolerated?

He had just reached the base of the teacher’s small building when a basin of ice water descended from the sky, drenching Li Tai thoroughly. Being splashed with cold water on a hot day wasn’t much, but water with ice added was different. Li Tai had just shrieked and was about to start cursing when Hypatia’s face appeared on the balcony. She said to Li Tai with surprise: “What happened to you? I was testing the density you mentioned and accidentally knocked over the water basin. Did it splash you?”

Li Tai forced out a smile, shook his head and said: “It’s nothing, Teacher. On such a hot day, a splash of cold water is rather refreshing. You think there’s a problem with the density table this student compiled?”

Li Tai flashed his white teeth and looked up at Hypatia with his question. As long as this damned woman couldn’t point out any errors, it would be time for him to explode. Yun Ye always said that when finding fault, you had to be reasonable, evidence-based, and measured. As a man, it really wasn’t good to fuss with a woman over a basin of water, but when it involved scholarship, that was different. This had to be sorted out as right or wrong—it had nothing to do with male or female.

He wrung the water from the corner of his robe with his hand. Li Tai climbed the stairs to go up. His boots were filled with water, making strange sounds with every step. After ascending the stairs, just as he was preparing to display his royal magnanimity of not holding grudges, his foot accidentally stepped on a small round piece of wood, and with a thud he sprawled on the stairs. Li Tai didn’t rush to get up but picked up the small wooden stick beside him to study it carefully. When he came up the stairs earlier, he hadn’t seen any wooden stick.

Hypatia hurried over to help Li Tai. As she bent down, a deep cleavage fell into Li Tai’s view—large, round, and most importantly, very elastic. Under the pressure of Li Tai’s arm, it even seemed to deform slightly.

He had long forgotten his purpose for coming. How could his fifteen-year-old concubine compare with this foreign woman? This was like cherries competing with cucumbers. Just as Li Tai was preparing to look more carefully, Hypatia shrieked and hurriedly covered her chest. Her hands naturally withdrew, so Li Tai had no choice but to heavily crash onto the floor again. Dust from between the floorboards scattered down to the first floor.

Hearing Hypatia’s cry, Professor Li Gang wheeled out from his office. Seeing Hypatia covering her chest with a bashful expression while Li Tai lay face-flushed and soaking wet on the ground, his expression immediately turned gloomy. Just as he was about to scold Li Tai, he heard Hypatia say softly: “It’s not Li Tai’s fault. Just now he fell, and I went to help him. I momentarily forgot about the separation between men and women. It’s my fault—I caused him to fall again.”

Hearing Hypatia say this, Li Gang nodded. Given Li Tai’s consistently good conduct, he was willing to believe this was a misunderstanding. Foreign people weren’t too concerned about the separation between men and women, so some misunderstandings were possible. He scolded Li Tai a few words, meaning he should maintain proper gentlemanly conduct and avoid improper gazing.

Li Tai stood up, bowed to thank the teacher for the kindness of covering for him, trying his best to calm his constantly twitching cheeks. He said gently: “Teacher, I don’t know where this disciple erred regarding density. Please instruct me, and this disciple will correct it when I return.”

Since the discussion had turned to scholarship, Hypatia immediately changed her expression. She folded both hands and placed them on her abdomen, saying to Li Tai: “I carefully reviewed your density table once. I must say this is a great achievement, but you’re still somewhat inexperienced with changes in things. You don’t know the principle of thermal expansion and contraction. You only blindly pursue the shape of objects in their normal state, not knowing that many objects change with variations in hot and cold. So there are some biases. Come, look at this experiment I did. The results I obtained are completely different.”

Li Tai looked at his toes, deciding not to look at Hypatia’s plump buttocks. He followed her into the office and found two copper basins on the shelf—one filled with water, one filled with ice. The basin with water was nothing unusual, but the ice in the basin filled with ice had already risen above the basin’s rim, obviously more than the water.

“You see, water has different volumes in different states. They’re the same amount of water, but after freezing, it’s about ten percent more than the water. If boiled and turned into vapor, it becomes much larger. So your density table needs to be supplemented. It’s not complete yet. You still have much work to do. Go on, I won’t delay your precious time.”

Li Tai opened his mouth and found he really had nothing to say. He had peeked at the teacher’s chest, and the teacher had covered for him—he owed her a huge favor. Moreover, the teacher wasn’t wrong. His density table did need further refinement. He could only bow to the teacher, turn around, and descend the stairs step by step. When he reached the bottom, he let out a long sigh and walked toward the back mountain with crunching sounds.

Hypatia watched Li Tai walk away, reached into the basin with ice, took out a piece of ice and put it in her mouth. Sucking on it, she picked up Li Tai’s density table again and said to herself: “This guy really is a genius. He can create something like this. I don’t know how his brain is structured. Wanting to express all things under heaven with mathematics—this way, it’s very helpful for humanity’s understanding of its own world. It seems Muhammad was absolutely correct when he said ‘Seek knowledge even unto China.'”

She looked back at the tall stack of books on her desk, sighed, picked up the open book, and reinvested herself in that world constructed of numbers and lines.

Yun Ye’s home was very lively. Yan Zhitui, Li Gang, Yushan, Kong Yingda, Chu Suiliang—all the great scholars of Chang’an were sitting in his house, waiting for Yun Ye to compose an exquisite poem for them using some chaotic format.

“Boy, if you compose it today, fine. If you can’t compose it, don’t blame this old man for turning hostile. If poetry could be composed so simply, what would we be needed for? This old man has been reciting poetry for over eighty years and hasn’t composed anything like ‘Yellow sands rising far to white clouds.’ If you dare to deceive people with your master’s poetry, this old man will definitely cripple your dog legs today.”

The top of Yan Zhitui’s bald head was so angry it was steaming. He kept pounding the floor with his cane, as if this alone were insufficient to express his fury.

Yun Ye’s intestines were green with regret at this moment. That day he had really drunk too much, his brain had lost control, and in a moment of heated blood, he had stood up for the military officers. He had been utterly foolish.

The old fellows were one thing, but behind the curtain, Zhangsun was holding a teacup and drinking tea. Grandmother was keeping her company, and Xinyue was serving at the side. They said today was coincidental—they hadn’t expected to see such a grand show.

Yun Ye didn’t doubt at all that the director of this grand show was sitting behind the curtain. He was now riding a tiger and couldn’t get off. From Zhangsun’s almost-smiling expression, he knew she had come today to expose fraud.

“Boy, I won’t make it difficult for you. Just compose a passable poem for this old man using the green grass on the ground.” Yan Zhitui stared at Yun Ye with ox-like big eyes. He didn’t believe that even with an impromptu topic, Yun Ye could find an appropriate poem.

Not doing it wasn’t an option. There was nowhere to run. Chu Suiliang and Kong Yingda were blocking the door. Watching Yun Ye like an ant on a hot pan, Zhangsun smiled somewhat sinisterly, while Xinyue looked at her husband with concern, very worried for him.

“Luxuriant grass on the ancient plain.” Yun Ye recited the first line, praying in his heart for Old Bai’s forgiveness. He really had no choice—these people were pressing too hard.

“Hmm, still on topic. The grass on the plain is indeed very lush.” Yan Zhitui commented with closed eyes.

“Each year it withers and blooms again.”

“This line is also conventional. Withering and blooming once a year is normal. Continue reciting. If you can’t recite the next two lines, this old man will take action.”

“Wild fires cannot burn it all; spring winds blow and it grows again.” Yun Ye recited both lines in one breath. The anger on Yan Zhitui’s face immediately disappeared. He recited this poem repeatedly several times, then said to Zhangsun behind the curtain: “This boy’s poetry is indeed excellent. Your Majesty the Empress need not doubt. Just this one poem, in this old man’s view, surpasses even that ‘Song of Liangzhou.’ The simpler the words in composing poetry, the more refined it actually is. Now that this poem has emerged, this old man is completely satisfied. Who cares how it was composed? Even if a wild boar rooted it out from the ground, so what? It’s still a magnificent work of our Great Tang.”

Zhangsun thanked Yan Zhitui, then said to Yun Ye through gritted teeth: “If you compose one following this painting, this palace will believe you.”

Zhangsun had originally meant the tiger in the center hall, but thinking it over, changed her mind. She pointed to a landscape and flower-bird design on the table instead. The design looked busy—mountains, water, flowers, and birds were all there, but it had no structure, no technique. It was the lowest quality painting. This was basically an auspicious design painted by a painter from the estate. Who would compose poetry about such a thing?

Yun Ye’s face contorted like a steamed bun. Even Yan Zhitui opened his eyes to glance at Zhangsun, muttered something, then closed his eyes again. It seemed he was somewhat dissatisfied with Zhangsun’s difficult question.

“What, can’t compose it? Your master never composed such a poem, right? If you’re capable, compose one for this palace to see.” Zhangsun was now just short of laughing up at the sky. If the old gentlemen weren’t present, she would definitely do so.

“From afar the mountain has color; up close the water makes no sound. Spring departs but flowers remain; people come yet birds show no alarm.” Yun Ye stammered through these four lines, then clasped his hands in supplication, begging not to be made to compose poetry anymore. It was too painful. He would never compose poetry again.