Chapter 70: Censor He Receives a Letter
Carriages and horses are slow, and letters are slow too. Time drifts by leisurely.
By the time Censor He received the letter from his nephew, the imperial court was in complete disarray. In truth, the imperial court had always been in disarray.
The Emperor loved pleasure, yet was incredibly intelligent; if he had devoted even a fraction of his mind to governing the world, it would not be in such a state.
When a clever man seeks only pleasure, the court and the world are thrown into chaos. It would be better to have a fool who lets those willing and able to work do their jobs.
Censor He was a man of rare ambition; he had the common people in his heart, yet was also able to cater to the Emperor’s wishes. His emotional and intellectual intelligence were both very high. But it was also exhausting. He dared not make a single misstep.
Censor He had always held his nephew, Young Master He Chen, in high regard and supported him in traveling the world. The Meng Family had excellent family values, and Young Master He Chen had a good eye for making friends.
Along the way, he had received several letters, and watching his nephew grow, though still somewhat naive, brought him comfort. A young man should have the spirit of youth.
The last letter arrived much later than usual due to the unrest outside. This letter was slightly different from the previous ones. It lacked some of the youthful vigor but contained something else.
He saw that he had made a new friend. Since he called him a friend, he must have truly approved of him in his heart. Yet, he also seemed somewhat bewildered. This friend was actually the son of a man who lacked filial piety and brotherly love.
He had visited his home in person. The family was extremely poor, surviving on wild vegetables, but they borrowed fine grain to host them. Only then did he learn that one could charge interest on borrowed grain, and that grain, too, could accrue compound interest. No one in the village owned any land. The land belonged to Master Liu, the landlord.
After several years of famine, the villagers had mortgaged their land to Master Liu to borrow grain for survival. In the end, they survived, but could not repay the grain, so the land was naturally lost. If they died, they could repay even less, the land was still lost, and the debt was passed down to their descendants.
Seeing his nephew’s understanding of the villagers, he felt quite gratified. Ten thousand lines of text in books are not as good as seeing it with one’s own eyes. However, the human heart is treacherous, and his nephew, being young, could easily be deceived.
A person who lacks filial piety and brotherly love must certainly have some impropriety; otherwise, such a charge would be too severe. In the previous dynasty, there was a mother who accused her son of unfilial disobedience; the son was sentenced to death by slow slicing, and the mother was sentenced to three years for poor upbringing—it could be said that both mother and son were guilty. Although there were no such cases in the current dynasty, lack of filial piety remained a serious crime.
“Since this is a family matter of others, I am not in a position to investigate. I must trouble Uncle to help me look into whether there are any hidden circumstances regarding the youngest son of the late Grand Tutor Jiang. I have observed that he is graceful and elegant in his manners, clearly no ordinary person. I have always been haughty, yet in his presence, I feel somewhat uneasy.”
Censor He recalled the case of the late Grand Tutor Jiang. Grand Tutor Jiang was the Crown Prince’s tutor. When The Former Crown Prince was demoted and confined, the entire family of Grand Tutor Jiang was exiled. Later, the Emperor’s heart softened—it was said that Princess Huiyun had interceded—and while the Grand Tutor was on his way to exile, the Emperor issued an edict pardoning his crimes.
Grand Tutor Jiang was in poor health and could not withstand the hardships of exile, passing away from illness along the way. Because it involved The Former Crown Prince, it had always been a taboo in the court. Except for Princess Huiyun, the Emperor’s own younger sister, no one dared to mention it. It would be troublesome to investigate, but there would always be opportunities, and he would keep an eye out.
Looking at his nephew’s description of that family’s demeanor, he shook his head. Perhaps they were handsome, and young people are always easily attracted by appearances. He was still just a youth!
But when he saw the poem his nephew had written: “That youth used a stick to write on the dirt in the courtyard: ‘This horse is no ordinary horse; it is the constellation Fang itself. Strike its lean bones, and they still ring with the sound of bronze.’ Uncle, I was stunned. I opened my mouth several times, unable to speak, speechless for a long time…”
Upon reading this, the lightweight letter paper in Censor He’s hand suddenly felt heavy.
“Strike its lean bones, and they still ring with the sound of bronze.” “Strike its lean bones, and they still ring with the sound of bronze.” “Strike its lean bones, and they still ring with the sound of bronze.”
He first recited it softly, then his voice grew a little louder, and then much louder, as if he were engaged in a spirited debate with someone, reading aloud: “Strike its lean bones, and they still ring with the sound of bronze.”
In his mind, he envisioned a youth with bronze bones. A new name appeared in Censor He’s mind. Bronze-Boned Jiang Feng!
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