"Simya Ji lightly patted Sima Shi's shoulder: 'Ziyuan, you're not even twenty years old, why are you so despondent?'"
"The sun is still early, there's still a long time. Even if it's another five or ten years before you come out to serve as an official, what can it change?"
Seeing Sima Yi's composed and indifferent appearance, Sima Shi was about to argue.
But thinking of his father who only began serving as an official at the age of thirty and became a tri-county marquis before he was fifty, he found himself at a loss for words.
Sima Yi said, "When you return to Wen County to reside, do you know what is most important?"
Sima Shi thought for a moment: "Reading books and cultivating my temperament?"
Sima Yi snorted, "In my opinion, Ziyuan already has no shortage of wisdom and knowledge."
"The most important thing when returning to Wen County this time is to procreate offspring!"
"Um..." Sima Shi looked at his father, with confusion in his eyes.
Sima Yi explained, "Our family in Wen County is just a river away from Luoyang. If there's anything I need to discuss with you, with letters traveling back and forth almost daily, what difference does it make between Wen County and Luoyang?"
"What you do at home in Wen County, such as reading books and cultivating your character, are all natural things. Having more offspring is the most important thing!"
"To be a respected family, if you do not have enough offspring, how can you be considered a respected family?"
Sima Shi was startled for a moment before nodding and replied, "Son understands!"
Sima Yi nodded and said, "Since that is the case, Ziyuan, set out tomorrow morning! I have already sent a message to the family. By the time you arrive tomorrow night, our family's mansion should be ready."
Sima Shi nodded silently, opened his mouth slightly, but still couldn't speak.
Sima Yi noticed his son's unease and asked immediately, "Ziyuan, are you still worried about something?"
"It's not that I'm worried about something," Sima Shi said softly. "Son...I have some resentment in my heart."
Sima Yi gazed into Sima Shi's eyes, did not respond, and just quietly watched.
The father and son sat cross-legged on the cushion in the study, gazing at each other.
Sima Yi's gaze became even more penetrating, as if he could see through people's hearts. Sima Shi's eyes, which had become gentle a few days ago, had gradually become silent and determined, as if he looked older by ten years overnight.
This is the clash of gazes, and also a silent dialogue between father and son.
Sima Yi looked into Sima Shi's eyes and involuntarily recalled his own time when he was over twenty years old, when Cao Cao, the Marquis of Wei, ordered people to invite him to serve in his court.
At that time, Sima Yi, unable to foresee the future trend, pretended to have gout and lay bedridden for a month as an excuse before finally escaping by chance.
A gentleman is not a mere vessel, nor is he like jade.
A truly noble gentleman, like a piece of jade,
Is cut and honed, polished and shaped.
Instead, Sima Yi sighed first and said, "Don't hate, hate is the most useless thing! Seek help from others instead of yourself, that's also some advice given to you by Heaven when you were crowned."
"Get up, Ziyuan. Let me take you to meet someone!"
"Who?" Sima Shi asked.
"Let me take you to see the Lord Keeper, Changle Cheng," Sima Yi said.
Unexpectedly, Sima Shi refused: "Father, I want to go see Xiahou Taizong first. Then, I'll follow father to meet the Guan public. "
"Alright." Sima Yi's expression remained calm. "Go quickly and return promptly."
"Son understands," Sima Shi bowed his hands.
Half an hour later, in front of the Xiahou family.
"Is it Ziyuan?" Xiahou Xuan leaned against the door, smiling and saying, "Come in quickly!"
Sima Shi shook his head and declined, "I won't go in. I can only stay here for a while, so let me say a few words to Taizong."
"Are you going back to Chou County?"
Xiahou Xuan replied, "Not Chao County, then where else could it be? I'm envious of you, Ziyuan. Your home is so close to Luoyang!"
"What's the use of being close? A person with such useful abilities is still confined by the court!" Sima Shi looked at Xiahou Xuan and said, "Taizong, how can you not show any resentment?"
Xiahou Xuan spoke softly: "The highest good is like water. Water is beneficial to all things and does not argue. It is in the most undesirable place, so it is close to the Dao."
"This is not a matter that we can decide. Besides using this opportunity to cultivate our character, what else can we do?"
Sima Shi furrowed his brow and asked, "Taizong, are you really thinking like this?"
"What else?" Xiahou Xuan countered: "We both know that the so-called extravagant case this time, is nothing but being entangled by the three of them: He Pingshu, Yan Geng, and Zhuge Gongxiu."
"There's a rise after a fall, and it's not political intrigue. Maybe next year, the ban will be lifted. The first purge of the Party during the time of Emperor Huang was only half a year long, wasn't it?"
"What's more, we, as scholars, can't even compare to the Party purges. "
"How can we waste such a beautiful youth...," Sima Shi spoke for half, but seeing Xiahou Xuan's leisurely and indifferent expression, he swallowed his words.
Sima Shi cleared his throat and said, "What do you plan to do when you return to Chao County, Taizong?"
Xiahou Xuan said, "Even though we both got tangled up by He Pingshu, I really think that his interpretation of the 'Dao De Jing' is better than Kang Cheng's."
"Perhaps after returning to Chao County, I will annotate both the 'Dao De Jing' and the 'Yi' together."
"What about you, Ziyuan? What do you plan to do after returning to Wen County?"
Sima Shi blurted out: "To go back to Wen County and have children!"
Xiahou Xuan hesitated for a moment, but upon thinking about who Sima Shi was going to have children with, he couldn't help but furrow his brow.
"Farewell, Taizong, take care!" Sima Shi bowed his hands and turned to leave.
"Take care!" Xiahou Xuan watched as Sima Shi mounted his horse in the distance and nodded in reply.
Watching Sima Shi's figure gradually fade into the distance, Xiahou Xuan leaned against the door, and a trace of sorrow finally appeared in his eyes.
Xiahou Xuan's refined mind knows well what Sima Shi is thinking.
But he doesn't want to.
After Sima Shi returned home, he and his father, Sima Yi, set out immediately to go to the residence of Chang Lin, the Marquis of Tai Chang.
Chang Lin was already in his mid-seventies and not in good health. Recently, he had been unable to go to the official residence to work, and he had been staying at home instead.
When the steward led Sima Yi and his son into the Chang Lin's residence, Chang Lin was seated in the hall.
Sima Yi walked to a distance of one chi from Chang Lin and bowed respectfully, "My humble self, Sima Yi, pays respect to Marquis Chang!"
Sima Shi was very surprised to see that.
According to the rules, as a senior official and a tri-county marquis, father's position is high. Chang Lin is only a nine-minute official of the Lord Keeper. Only nine-minute officials should pay tribute to tri-county marquises, not vice versa.
Even if the father is a tri-county marquis, he doesn't have to bow like this to the emperor, right?
Seeing his son standing there in a daze, Sima Yi stamped his foot and said, "Ziyuan, Chang Lin is a local elder, and you must pay respect!"
Sima Shi came to his senses and quickly mimicked his father's actions, bowing to Chang Lin.
Chang Lin smiled and looked at the two of them, tapping the ground with his cane, "Zhongda, Ziyuan, why have you two come to see an old man today?"
After sitting down, Sima Yi turned to Chang Lin and smiled, saying, "There's nothing major, it's just that Ziyuan will be leaving tomorrow for Wen County. I brought him to pay his respects to you one last time. I don't know when we will come back to Luoyang again."
Chang Lin frowned: "Zhongda, what happened? How can we not go back to Luoyang?"
Sima Yi slowly told Chang Lin about the case of extravagance. After listening, Chang Lin only nodded slightly, without much change in his expression.
Chang Lin turned to Sima Shi: "Ziyuan, since your father brought you here, I also have a few more words for you."
Sima Shi hurriedly said, "Marquis Chang's guidance, I wash my ears and listen."
Chang Lin smiled and said, "Returning to your hometown to study is not necessarily a bad thing. I have served as an official for most of my life, and now when I look back, I think that the time when I fled chaos during Dong Zhuo's rebellion and lived in Shangdang, farming and studying, was the best time for cultivating my character."
Sima Shi listened quietly without showing any signs of impatience.
But perhaps Chang Lin felt it too, and turned to Sima Yi, saying, "Is Zhongda thinking of letting me say something to Ziyuan?"
Sima Yi smiled and said, "Exactly, I would like to trouble Marquis Chang to explain to Ziyuan the concepts of 'unyielding in the face of difficulties' and 'seeking refuge at the gate of a neighbor's house'."
Chang Lin understood, turned to Sima Shi and said, "Ziyuan, do you know where these two terms come from?"
Sima Shi thought for a moment and said, "To Marquis Chang, I have some recollection of it. It seems to be about the late Grand Minister Qiao Xuan and the famous scholar Zhang Jian."
Chang Lin nodded: "For you young scholars, these two people are ancient figures. But when I was young, I did indeed see Qiao Xuan and Zhang Jian."
"Do you know what it means to be 'unyielding in the face of difficulties'?"
Sima Shi shook his head.
Chang Lin said, "When young, Qiao Xuan served as the office manager in the county. He could actively self-recommend to the governor and sentence the national minister to death with his own official status."
"Such a young man full of vigor, after four promotions, became the Prime Minister of Qi. He was punished with being a laborer in the city three times because of his mistake. After rising and falling three times, Qiao Xuan still received the condolences from Emperor Ling when he died."
Sima Shi sat there, his eyes squinting as if he had gained some insight.
Chang Lin asked again, "Ziyuan, do you know what it means to 'seek refuge at the gate of a neighbor's house'?"
Sima Shi replied, "I have heard of it. Zhang Jian, the famous scholar, was pursued by eunuchs and had to flee everywhere right?"
"Not just wandering," Chang Lin said, "Zhang Jian was hunted by the eunuchs. No matter where Zhang Jian fled to a scholar's house, not a single scholar's family dared to refuse to take in Zhang Jian! Even if it meant their own homes would be destroyed and their families would suffer."
"Every household that Zhang Jian visited was implicated, with dozens of people being affected! Kong Rong, Kong Wenjng's brother Kong Bao was killed by eunuchs because he had taken in Zhang Jian."
"Seeking refuge at the gate of a neighbor's house, a whole family stands up for justice!" Chang Lin looked at Sima Shi with slightly muddled eyes: "That was what the Party Purge was like. In an instant, one's family would be destroyed. Now the court has only sent you back to your hometown, to read and study for a few years. Ziyuan, what is there to worry about?"
"Marquis Chang, I..."
Sima Shi was about to speak, but was stopped by Chang Lin.
Chang Lin slowly said, "Today, Zhongda brought you here, perhaps because he wanted me to tell you about these former heroic scholars."
"Ziyuan, you must be as resolute and unyielding as Qiao Xuan, Marquis Qiao!"
Sima Yi nodded in agreement by one side and said, "Only by remaining steadfast in great crises can one contribute to worldly matters!" (End of this chapter)
