Unsheathed

There were several small bookshops on Champion Scholar Alley, and aside from selling books, there were also some crude sets of four treasures of the study available for purchase. Thankfully, they weren’t very expensive.

After all, the customers of these bookshops were primarily impoverished scholars who had come to the capital city to sit the imperial examination, and Chen Ping’an purchased a few travel journals from one of the bookshops. He wasn’t going to read the travel journals anytime soon. Instead, he had purchased them to add to the collection on Downtrodden Mountain.

As Chen Ping’an returned to the alley where he was staying, the little boy also just so happened to return from his lessons. The two of them walked down the alley side by side, and the boy seemed to want to tell Chen Ping’an something, but was unable to muster up the courage to do so.

Chen Ping’an pretended to be oblivious to the boy’s dilemma. Upon returning to the house, he had dinner with the boy’s family that night. According to the rental agreement, the family had to supply meals to Chen Ping’an for an additional cost of thirty copper coins per day.

The old woman had promised him that every meal was going to have some form of fish or meat, but Chen Ping’an was often absent, either going out too early for breakfast and returning too late for dinner, or disappearing for a few days at a time altogether, and the old woman was very pleased to see this.

For this meal, there was no meat on the table, and the old woman smiled and apologized, telling Chen Ping’an that if he had told her earlier that he would be joining them for dinner, then she would’ve prepared more ingredients.

Chen Ping’an wasn’t bothered, telling her that he was satisfied as long as there was enough food to fill his belly.

The old woman asked him what his plans for the next day were, and upon hearing that he was going out again, she heaved a forlorn sigh, complaining about how busy he was and all the meals that he was missing. She also told him that her daughter-in-law was quite a good cook, and that she didn’t dare to promise fine dining, but hearty meals were definitely guaranteed.

The woman had her face buried in her bowl, eating only rice without even daring to touch the dishes on the table, and she looked up slightly with a bashful smile on her face. It was certainly not every day that she received praise from her mother-in-law.

After dinner, Chen Ping’an carried a little stool over to the corner of the street where the boy’s grandfather often played Go. It was a paved street, which was rather uncommon in the area. Seated on his stool, Chen Ping’an watched as people came and went, and there were many neighbors chatting with each other to pass the time.

Occasionally, a wealthy young master would pass by on horseback, or a renowned brothel worker would saunter elegantly through the area, and whenever this happened, they would instantly become the center of attention.

Chen Ping’an was sitting not far away from the Go board, which was surrounded by a large crowd, and the boy suddenly approached him with his own stool before sitting down beside him.

Chen Ping’an had left Lasting Qi in his room as it would’ve attracted far too much attention to be walking around with a sword on his back. He was carrying his Sword Nurturing Gourd with him, but he had left the more obedient Fifteenth back at the courtyard to keep a lookout in case Lasting Qi was stolen. At the moment, there was a great deal of unrest brewing in the capital city, and things were most likely going to come to a head very soon.

Chen Ping’an could sense that the boy had something on his mind, and he smiled as he asked, “Is there something bothering you?”

The boy had learned some etiquette from school, and he lowered his head in apology as he said, “I’m sorry, Young Master Chen.”

“What for?” Chen Ping’an asked.

The boy sat on his stool with his tightly clenched fists resting on his knees, not daring to look at Chen Ping’an as he replied, “My mother often goes to rummage through your stuff while you’re away.”

Chen Ping’an was rather taken aback to hear this. He had thought that it was the cruel old woman who was always going through his things, and he wasn’t expecting the culprit to be the boy’s mother, who appeared far more humble and timid.

The boy lowered his head even further as he continued, “During one of your longer absences, my mother took the books that you had on your table, and I couldn’t help myself, so I read them. I know what I did wasn’t right.”

Chen Ping’an was about to tell the boy that it was alright, but he quickly changed his mind and instead replied, “You’re correct in thinking that what you did was wrong.”

While visiting a temple fair on one of his strolls through the capital city, Chen Ping’an saw a woman and her son, both of whom were dressed in fine clothing, and they were followed by a group of alert servants. The boy was about five or six years old, and he spotted a beautiful young woman at a stall, so he rushed over to tug on the woman’s sleeve.

The boy harbored no ill will toward the young woman, and he merely wanted to grab her attention. Initially, the young woman paid no heed to him, but having had a privileged upbringing where he was used to being showered with attention, the boy was very disgruntled at being ignored, so he began to tug on the young woman’s sleeve with more and more force.

The young woman began to feel a little annoyed, but instead of getting angry at the child, she turned to the boy’s mother, who called out for him to come back to her side and to stop bothering the young woman.

If that had been the end of the story, then that sequence of events would’ve quickly slipped out of Chen Ping’an’s mind.

However, at the time, the boy’s mother had said something that Chen Ping’an had felt like was incorrect, but he was unable to place his finger on exactly why he felt this way.

In order to discipline her son, the woman had said, “Stop being so naughty! You’re making that big sister over there mad!”

At first glance, there seemed to be no problem. The woman was stern, yet still benevolent with her son, and she certainly didn’t display any animosity toward the young woman, either.

Only now, as Chen Ping’an was chatting with the little boy, did he finally understand what was wrong with that interaction.

It was similar to the tragedy that had befallen Song Yushao of Water Combing Nation, but was also somewhat different.

The way that the woman had educated her son was incorrect.

Was the boy not at fault if the young woman at the stall didn’t get mad?

Compared with the tragedy that had befallen Song Yushao, it seemed like this was just a completely insignificant event that could be brushed off without a second thought. In fact, if one were to pursue this matter and insist on taking the objectively correct course of action, they would definitely be accused of trying to make something out of nothing.

Perhaps the woman would feel insulted and become defensive about her son’s actions, and even the young woman by the stall may not be thankful for the interjection.

Chen Ping’an pulled out his bamboo slip, and his gaze slowly roamed down its length, where many notches had already been scratched into its sides.

Chen Ping’an held the ruler-like bamboo slip aloft between his right and left index fingers, then turned to the nervous boy with a smile as he said, “Your mother was definitely wrong to have done this, and you’re also somewhat at fault for going along with what she did, but you have to understand that there are magnitudes when it comes to right and wrong.

“Unless we’re talking about matters that concern major matters of principles, there is an element of human emotion to almost everything. For example, your mother only did this as she wants you to read more books so that you can become a scholar and perhaps even do well in the imperial examination in the future.

“Your mother is someone who’s endured a great deal of hardship, and she’s certainly not doing this for her own benefit. Instead, all she wants is a better future for you. If you understand why your mother did what she did, then you don’t have to think too much about it. Once you’re aware of her faults and everything that she’s done for you, then what you do next is up to you.

“You’ve read some books now, and you’ve seen the principles in those books, so you’ve learned etiquette. If you could go back in time and do things over again, what would you do?”

They boy was listening very earnestly, and the principles espoused by Chen Ping’an weren’t overly complex. On top of that, he was quite a smart boy, so he was able to understand Chen Ping’an, and after some careful contemplation, he replied, “I should’ve returned the books that my mother took back to your room, then openly requested to borrow your books to read. Is that the right thing to do?”

Chen Ping’an nodded in response. “All I can say is that this is already enough for me, but if someone else were in my place, then you may have to think a bit more about it.”

The boy was ecstatic to hear this, and he asked, “Does that mean you forgive my mother, Young Master Chen?”

Chen Ping’an patted the boy on his little head as he replied, “Some faults can be made up for, and that’s exactly what you’ve done.”

The boy nodded vigorously in response. “Our teacher told us that the ability to learn from and make up for our mistakes is a great virtue!”

Even in battles of life and death, Chen Ping’an was a man of few words, yet he had said so much to a child, and even he felt a little surprised by how talkative a mood he was in. However, after getting all of this off his chest, he was now in a much calmer mental state, and he felt as if he could resume his walking and standing meditation right away without any problems.

Chen Ping’an stowed the bamboo slip back up his sleeve, then continued, “We must eat every day in order to survive. If we are so fortunate as to not have to worry about food and shelter, we have time to read books and learn principles of life, but not necessarily because we wish to become sagely figures. Instead, it’s only to make our lives a little better.

“Of course, reading and learning may not necessarily change our lives for the better, but at the very least, the principles passed down by sages and virtuous figures throughout the years tell us the best ways to avoid making mistakes and how best to live our lives in order to maintain peace of mind.”

A perplexed look appeared on the boy’s face, and he said, “I’m afraid you’ve lost me there, Young Master Chen.”

Chen Ping’an smiled as he replied, “Truth be told, there are many things that even I haven’t figured out for myself yet. It’s just like building a house. At the moment, I only have a few pillars set up, and the house is far from complete, so there’s no need to take what I say too seriously, and it doesn’t really matter if you understand or not.

“If you have any questions that you can’t figure out the answers to in the future, you can take them to your teachers at school.”

The boy smiled as he rose to his feet, then picked up his little stool and extended a bow toward Chen Ping’an. He then told Chen Ping’an that he had to go home to transcribe some books. According to him, his teacher was very strict, and any form of slacking off would be sure to result in physical punishment.

Chen Ping’an smiled as he waved a dismissive hand.

Following the boy’s departure, Chen Ping’an remained seated as he suddenly said, “Drop the rock.”

A brief silence ensued, following which the sound of a rock clattering to the ground rang out, and it sounded like it was quite a large one.

An emaciated little girl then dusted off her hands before casually making her way over to Chen Ping’an’s side, and she squatted down as she asked, “Can you lend me your stool?”

Chen Ping’an paid no heed to her as he removed the Sword Nurturing Gourd from his waist and began drinking from it.

“You’re clearly very rich, can you give me some of your money? Didn’t you just say that we need to eat every day in order to survive? Without money to buy food, I could starve to death any day now,” the little girl said.

Chen Ping’an didn’t even look at her as he asked, “How did you find me?”

The little girl ignored his question as she put on a pitiable expression and continued, “I know you have a lot of money. You could easily spare me a few taels of silver, and it wouldn’t matter to you, but I’d be able to buy a lot of pancakes and steamed buns with that money.

“During winter, a bunch of old beggars always freeze to death in the capital every year, and if I want to make it through the winter, I have to peel the clothes off their bodies after they die. That’s where the clothes that I’m wearing now came from. If I had some money, I’d definitely be able to make it through the winter.”

Chen Ping’an continued to look away from her as he asked, “Where are the clothes that you were wearing last time? They were given to you by that little girl you tried to kill, right? Why aren’t you wearing them today? Are you intentionally wearing more tattered clothes just to come and see me?”

The little girl put on an innocent facade, seemingly having completely failed to understand what Chen Ping’an was implying as she replied, “These tattered clothes are better to wear during summer because they keep me cool. I usually only save the clothes that she gave me for winter as they’re the only warm clothes that I have.”

All of a sudden, Chen Ping’an rose to his feet, then looked both ways up and down the street as he said to the little girl, “Go and stand next to the wall, and no matter what happens next, don’t make a sound.”

The little girl was very crafty, and she had been secretly observing Chen Ping’an this entire time. Following Chen Ping’an’s lead, she also took a glance up and down the street, then grumbled something under her breath as she rose to her feet, yet right as she was about to rush over to the wall to avoid whatever trouble was coming, Chen Ping’an instructed, “Take the stool with you.”

“Why should I listen to you?” she asked in a disgruntled manner. “Are you my father?”

“I’ll give you ten copper coins,” Chen Ping’an replied in a concise fashion.

A bright smile immediately appeared on the little girl’s face, and she picked up the little stool before rushing away as she said, “Alright, whatever you say, Father!”