By the eleventh month, the capital had already seen two snowfalls. The remnants of the first had not yet fully melted from the base of the walls when a new, heavier snowfall came drifting down.
The young people in the household had gone wild.
Lang Rui and the others had rarely seen snow this heavy, and once it fell they dove into the white curtain and ran about in it madly. When the sky cleared they started a snowball fight. Su Zhe and the others, having lived in the capital for some time and seen enough of it, had initially maintained their composure — but the moment a snowball came flying in and struck a shoulder, there was no more keeping their dignity, and they threw themselves into the battle.
The courtyard was instantly full of flying snowballs. They were all children of chieftain families, each with their own attendants, and quite naturally they each began commanding their retinues into battle. Before long, alliances had formed: Su Zhe with Lin Feng and Lu Danqing on one side, Lang Rui, Su Sheng, and Jin Yu on the other, each directing their servants to pile up mounds of snow as cover.
Su Zhe and her group had experience. They divided their servants into two simple waves — one rolling snowballs, the other launching them — and fought with genuine tactical order. Lang Rui’s side fought with sheer passion: all charging forward together in a rush, all pulling back together in retreat, which made for quite entertaining viewing.
Zhù Ying watched from the eaves for a while, then turned and went back to the study to continue her work.
While auspicious snows promised a bountiful year to come, they also brought disaster. People freezing to death, houses collapsing under the weight of snow and crushing those inside — such things happened every winter. These were normally matters for local yamen to handle. But once the affected area grew large enough, the Ministry of Revenue could no longer stand by and do nothing, and she would need to get busy.
Year’s end was drawing closer. Many governors from across the country had already arrived in the capital, and some had submitted memorials in place, requesting that the court provide relief.
In addition, intelligence was trickling back from the investigators she had covertly dispatched to various regions. She had promised the Grand Council Chamber that a conclusion would be ready by the end of the year, and this item was especially urgent. The eleventh month had arrived, and there were only days left before she would need to deliver her answer to the Grand Council.
The winter snow was lovely, but she could not yet indulge in play. She still needed to work furiously.
The young ones outside had snowballed each other for most of the day until their heads and bodies were thoroughly drenched, and only under Zhù Wen’s urging did they reluctantly return to their rooms to dry their hair, change their clothes, and gulp down ginger soup.
The pleasant day of rest passed immersed in this easy, carefree atmosphere.
In the meantime, quite a few people sent calling cards to the Zhù residence — on days of rest she was invariably at home, and those who wished to visit had arranged their dates days in advance.
It was not until nightfall, when the guests had all been seen out, that Zhù Ying’s day of rest finally yielded a moment of leisure for her.
Then came dinner.
There were more and more people now, and dinners at the Zhù household had grown livelier and livelier. In the middle of the meal, Lang Rui suddenly asked: “Grandfather, can I go outside the city to play tomorrow? I hear that hunting in winter is excellent!”
Having spent his life in the south, he had never had the chance to run free across such sweeping snowfields.
Zhù Ying said: “Do not go alone. Be back for dinner in the evening.”
“Understood!”
Su Sheng and Jin Yu heard this and quickly joined in: “I am going too!”
Lu Danqing added: “And me! Tomorrow evening I will personally supply the kitchen with extra provisions!”
Zhù Ying laughed: “Good — then I will be waiting. Whatever you bring back tomorrow, that is what we shall eat!”
The four of them rubbed their hands together eagerly.
Su Zhe and Lin Feng were somewhat disappointed: they both had to attend morning court the next day.
The following morning, the two guardian spirits escorted their adoptive mother/grandfather to court, the whole household in good cheer and harmony. They spent the day in the palace, and returned home in the evening — only to find Lu Danqing and the others coming back empty-handed.
Su Zhe laughed: “Careless, were you? There is a great deal in these parts that is nothing like back home.”
Lu Danqing muttered: “How is it that even the rabbits in the capital are more cunning than the ones in the mountains?”
Fortunately, Li Dauniang had not pinned her hopes on them to provide the household’s dinner, and had gone out early to buy chicken, duck, and vegetables, preparing a lavish evening meal. Lang Rui swore fiercely: “I am going out again tomorrow — I am simply not yet practiced! Once I get the knack of it, there will surely be a great catch!”
Zhù Ying laughed: “Hunting must not get in the way of your studies.”
This scheme being seen through at once, Lang Rui shrank into a ball, while Su Zhe mercilessly laughed at him.
The next day, instead of being kept inside the residence, Lu Danqing and the others were taken by Zhù Qingtian through the capital to become familiar with the local customs and way of life. Passing through the market, Lang Rui could not resist buying a crate of live rabbits to bring home, saying he was contributing extra provisions to the household. Back home this set Li Dauniang laughing again, though she accepted his rabbits and prepared them with generous seasoning.
At dinner, Jin Yu smilingly mentioned that the rabbit had been bought by Lang Rui, and Lang Rui, unwilling to concede, said: “Whether bought or hunted, the household has still been fed!”
The young troublemakers bickered away, sounding as though they had dragged the entire market’s stock of chickens, ducks, and geese back with them.
After the lively dinner, Zhù Qingtian requested an audience with Zhù Ying.
Zhù Ying thought to herself: How long has it been since Yao Zhen took over the Capital Prefecture? And now something has already come up?
She said to Zhù Wen: “Bring her to the study.”
Zhù Wen went out for a moment and led the person to the study. Seeing Zhù Qingtian’s manner, Zhù Ying gauged she had not encountered anything extremely alarming, and waited for her to speak first.
Zhù Qingtian cupped her fist in salute and said: “Madam, today when I went out with the young lords and ladies, I heard a strange matter, and I keep feeling there is something odd about it.”
“Oh? What matter?”
“A student at the National Academy hanged himself. There is no shortage of people who cannot see a way forward and take their own lives, and in winter there are those who freeze or starve to death as well. This would not ordinarily be startling news, and since you allocated money and grain to the National Academy, I understand they would see to a student’s needs if something happened — certainly they would at least supply him with a coffin, and it would not come to the sort of talk now going around.”
“What sort of talk?”
“That the death was a wrongful one. I had them make inquiries — people are saying he was so aggrieved within the National Academy that he could not bear it and took his own life, and that no one killed him. But there is a great deal of talk, especially among the scholars. Apparently, some of them even came to blows at the wake.”
Zhù Ying said: “Good. Continue investigating tomorrow.”
“Yes.”
A student or two dying at the National Academy was not a great matter; students getting into a brawl was not a great matter either. In this day and age, death was not an uncommon occurrence regardless of a person’s age. The National Academy was Yang Jing’s domain — if something happened there, Yang Jing would be the first to address it. If the matter came to nothing, there would be time enough to involve herself later.
By comparison, what pleased Zhù Ying more was that Zhù Qingtian was sharp and willing to dig for information when something arose.
The next day she did not press for more details on the matter. Zhù Qingtian continued her inquiries. The people of the Zhù household shared a common shortcoming with Zhù Ying herself: they did not understand scholars very well. The literacy rate among the Zhù household’s servants was likely the highest in the capital, but none of them were particularly “cultivated” — none truly understood the world of the educated gentry.
Zhù Qingtian’s subordinates were mostly rough-and-tumble types, who had even less in the way of scholarly ink in their veins.
Three days passed, and all that could be gathered was that the students had gotten into an argument over the question of academic schools of thought. Whenever her people tried to investigate more deeply, Zhù Qingtian found herself somewhat at a loss to make sense of it. The matter was not large, and Zhù Ying did not press her.
It was at that point that Huo Yu submitted a memorial, impeaching both Yang Jing and Yao Zhen!
This time, however, he had not passed his memorial up through his superiors for screening and presentation to the Emperor — he had submitted it himself, directly at court. As a result, not a single person in the Grand Council Chamber knew he was about to stir up this trouble. His own superior, the Grand Censor, also looked at him with an expression of acute headache — the superior had not known either.
Beneath the gazes of everyone present, Huo Yu remained unmoved: “A student has been driven to his death, and the Capital Prefect shows not the slightest concern.”
Zhù Ying stared at Huo Yu in astonishment, her mind full of puzzlement: What is he trying to do?
Zhù Ying knew that Huo Yu had grown somewhat estranged from Xian Jing — but Yang Jing was wholly absorbed in his teaching. What did that have to do with factional politics? Yang Jing was not close to Xian Jing either. If a student at the National Academy had died, Yang Jing should surely be given time to investigate the cause, set things right, and follow up properly. What did rushing to assign blame to Yang Jing mean?
As a person, Yang Jing formed no faction, expressed few opinions on court affairs, and when he spoke at all it was mostly to ask the Ministry of Revenue for money. Since Zhù Ying had taken it upon herself to provide funds, he had rarely even done that at court.
Alone in the capital, keeping himself beyond reproach — his private conduct exemplary as well. No concubines or entertainers, no extravagance or ostentation. He was even more agreeable than Liu Songnian!
It was not that one couldn’t attribute a student’s frustrated ambitions to Yang Jing — rather, it was that given Huo Yu’s background and standing, it seemed quite inappropriate for him to go before the court and make Yang Jing a target to strike down.
Beyond that, there was also the matter of Yao Zhen. Yao Zhen had been a neutral party when Zheng’s and Xian’s factions clashed. Even if Huo Yu could not be said to be a fully committed member of Xian’s faction, he still had no direct conflict with Yao Zhen. If anything, Zhù Ying thought, the probability of Huo Yu impeaching her was higher than the probability of him impeaching Yao Zhen.
And yet Huo Yu had chosen precisely these two!
The Emperor was also somewhat surprised, and asked: “Is this the case?”
Yang Jing’s expression darkened considerably. He stepped forward and submitted: “A student did indeed hang himself, but he was not murdered.”
Yao Zhen also stepped forward: “I heard of this matter. He did die by his own hand. There are no suspicious circumstances.”
But Huo Yu said: “How can there be none? Yang Jing’s conduct of his teaching is like placing those who please him at his knee and casting those he dislikes into the abyss! The examination questions he sets within the National Academy show clear bias!”
Once the conversation turned to matters of scholarship, Zhù Ying was even less able to insert herself. She glanced at Xian Jing — and saw that Xian Jing’s lips were pressed into a thin line. She looked at Yue Huan — and saw that Yue Huan’s usually mild gaze had gone uncharacteristically dark. She looked at Wang Shuliang — and saw that Wang Shuliang’s eyes held clear anger.
The Emperor said: “Let the Court of Judicial Review investigate the matter thoroughly.”
Zhù Ying endured until court was dismissed. She saw Yue Huan and the others gather around Yang Jing and made her way over to join them. She said nothing herself, just listened to them speaking of things like “academic schools.” Before long she had grasped the general shape of it: the student who had died had pursued a school of thought different from Yang Jing’s, and their views stood in opposition.
When Yang Jing selected students to recommend for official positions, he naturally chose those whose views aligned with his own. Seeing that all hope was lost, the student had left behind a letter denouncing Yang Jing for suppressing those who disagreed with him, and then hanged himself.
Yue Huan said: “If the National Academy would not recommend him, there were other avenues available to him — resorting to death as a final protest shows an unforgivably narrow spirit! Does entering the National Academy entitle one to a guaranteed official post from one’s teacher? Absurd!”
Yang Jing said in a heavy voice: “I have my own errors in this as well.”
“How can you say that?”
Wang Shuliang also said quietly: “There is likely something suspicious about this matter — do not lose heart, and wait until the Court of Judicial Review finishes its investigation before drawing conclusions.”
Only then did Zhù Ying speak: “Quite right. This death is a strange one — let us have a talk about it later.”
Yang Jing said quietly: “It is a matter of prejudice between schools of thought — there is nothing particularly strange about it.” He then addressed Yue Huan and Wang Shuliang: “Zizhang is straightforward and sincere by nature — did you not already know that?”
He then explained to Zhù Ying in brief: among these scholars, this contest of “orthodox lineage” was the kind of thing that could get people killed. It was not at all bizarre for a student who held opposing views to come and stake his life against him.
Yang Jing’s school of thought was quite good, but there existed an opposing school of equal standing — and here Zhù Ying found herself not entirely clear on the particulars. Her own study of the classics and histories had been haphazard and mixed, consisting mainly of what she had absorbed from Wang Yunhe’s teaching. Back in Wuzhou she had used Wang Yunhe’s essays as texts for her students to memorize, and what she had learned differed from what Yang Jing and his circle taught. But her own students had her to protect them, and could have a future without needing to flatter other teachers.
The greatest thing Liu Songnian had given her was a literacy song; it was not the teaching of all this scholarship.
Su Zhe and the others, though they had sought instruction from many teachers, had been shaped by Zhù Ying’s influence to simply take what was useful, regardless of which school it came from. They studied in their own selective fashion, and treated anything that pricked too deeply simply as so much wind.
Zhù Ying had not even known who Yang Jing was before he arrived in the capital. Asking her to immediately untangle all the strands of academic scholarship was a bit much. She thought it over and went first to find Chen Meng.
Chen Meng, though he might be counted among the well-born and carefree type, was in the current situation perhaps the most objective — and the most capable of laying things out clearly for her.
Zhù Ying went to find Chen Meng; Yue Huan, being no less blunt about it, went to find Zheng Xi.
In the Grand Council Chamber, the Counsellors-in-Chief each went to their individual offices. Zhù Ying and Chen Meng were alone together, and she went to him with her questions.
Chen Meng looked at her in surprise: “How have you gotten confused about this as well? Whoever teaches a student, that student follows that teacher’s line. Whoever sets the examination questions, the results will naturally reflect that teacher’s thinking. On that basis, the students who are selected enter official service with political views that naturally align with that teacher’s. This is not a contest between academic schools of thought — it is a contest for positions and power!”
He was genuinely puzzled. Had this not been exactly the sort of thing they had always done? Getting people who agreed with you appointed and promoted was something he had been doing ever more openly ever since he took over the Ministry of Personnel. Why was Zhù Ying even asking?
Zhù Ying had a sudden realization!
“I… I thought that they… their scholarship… damn it!“
She had been careless!
Chen Meng had rarely seen Zhù Ying look so purely bewildered and wide-eyed, and could not help but laugh: “You look truly remarkable like that.”
Zhù Ying was unable to laugh: “If that is how it is, I am afraid Yang Jing may be in a very bad way.”
“How so bad?”
“That was his student. A student who died to make a point — he will not be able to let that sit in his heart…”
“It would not come to that, surely? That student was not his personal disciple.”
Zhù Ying shook her head: “He carries more of the weight of a true gentleman than most people do.”
Chen Meng said: “Then what are we waiting for? Let Pei Tan investigate the cause of death thoroughly!”
Zhù Ying thought to herself: Difficult. The cause of death? If I were the one staging this, I would simply tell this student that his death would have meaning… and he could genuinely hang himself. No matter how far you investigate, it is still suicide.
Chen Meng said: “Do not worry. He was young and yet so narrow in spirit, so willing to implicate his teacher in injustice — even if he killed himself, what can come of it?”
Zhù Ying still felt uneasy: “Let us wait and see.”
Chen Meng said: “Being naïve again, are you? Would Yao Zhen stand by and do nothing? The case has been handed to the Court of Judicial Review. He will not sit there waiting for disaster. Once the Capital Prefecture closes the case as a suicide, he will protect himself, and Yang Jing can slip out from under this as well.”
“I can only hope.”
“And your own affairs? The year is nearly gone — that matter you mentioned before, you had better get on it.”
“Do not worry.”
Zhù Ying had learned what she needed about Yang Jing’s situation and took her leave. As she stepped out, she ran directly into Zheng Xi, who was personally seeing Yue Huan out — all four of them met face-to-face, and exchanged pleasantries to get past the moment.
Yue Huan went off to the Ministry of Rites. Zheng Xi, however, watched Zhù Ying with a growing expression of amusement: Zhù Ying had been right again — Xian Jing and his people would fall into infighting on their own, forever in pursuit of a “pure gentleman.”
Quite laughable, really.