Chapter Thirty-Two: Entering the Hall to Pay Respects to the Family

Bringing Madam Pei back to the estate, she could not help but exclaim in admiration at the lavish and magnificent architecture of the Pei residence.

Pei Min led Madam Pei to meet Xue Ne, having already explained his relationship with Xue Ne to his mother along the way. Having received no small amount of care and consideration from Xue Ne throughout her journey, she felt a deep sense of gratitude and offered her heartfelt thanks and bows.

As a seasoned general accustomed to the decisive slaughter of the battlefield, Xue Ne was not one to care much for such elaborate courtesies. He simply instructed Pei Min to take Madam Pei to her chambers to rest.

Having endured a long and exhausting journey by boat and carriage, Madam Pei was indeed in need of a proper rest. Pei Min supported his mother to the room that had been prepared for her well in advance, where a clever and pretty maid named Hongqu had already readied hot water. Pei Min smiled and said, "Mother, this is the maid I hired to take care of you. Her name is Hongqu. If you need anything at all, just tell her..."

Before Pei Min could finish the introduction, Hongqu stepped forward with a nimble and bright demeanor to pay her respects.

"Hongqu greets the Old Mistress!"

In feudal society, there had always been a market for the buying and selling of maids. Hongqu was someone Pei Min had specifically instructed Steward Ning Ze to carefully select and purchase from the market. Having undergone specialized training, she was versatile in household management, sharp, and obedient—costing him a considerable sum of his official salary. Had Tang dynasty salaries not been settled on an annual basis, Pei Min's monthly stipend as a Duke would not even have been enough to purchase Hongqu.

Having lived a life of hardship and solitude for half her lifetime, Madam Pei had never imagined a day when she would have a maid to wait upon her. However, having lived in wealthy households before, she knew that a meticulously trained maid was extraordinarily expensive. Feeling a pang of distress for the cost, she said, "I have hands and feet of my own; there is no need for anyone to wait on me."

Pei Min smiled and said, "Even if you don't need to be waited on, it's good to have someone here to keep you company and chat with you! After all, I am now serving at the imperial court, and taking leave to accompany you can only be temporary. With Hongqu here at home to keep you company, I will feel much more at ease when I am away. I know how soft-hearted you are, Mother—you can even raise her as your own daughter if you wish. Whatever makes you happy is fine by me."

At the right moment, Hongqu put on a pitiful and endearing expression, which tugged at Madam Pei's heartstrings and made her relent. "You make your mother sound like a wicked person. Very well, let her stay. I am tired. Remember to prepare the gifts; do not forget to visit Xin'er's parents tomorrow."

"I know, Mother! I will go and prepare the gifts right away!" Pei Min bid farewell to Madam Pei and immediately set about making the arrangements. Valuing his bond with Yan Gaoqing deeply, he prepared generous and substantial gifts, and instructed Ning Ze to send someone to inquire about the location of the Yan residence. Yan Gaoqing was the great-grand-nephew of Yan Shigu, and since Yan Shigu was the most renowned Confucian scholar of the Tang dynasty, finding his residence was not difficult.

Having settled all of this, Pei Min finally began to ponder the idea that had occurred to him along the way: how to establish his reputation as matchless under heaven, so as to attract formidable martial artists to challenge him, thereby allowing him to improve his swordsmanship through actual combat. After a brief moment of thought, a plan formed in his mind.

"Ning Ze!" Pei Min sought out his capable steward.

"What are your orders, Young Master?" Ning Ze bowed politely and greeted him. Pei Min was not accustomed to being addressed as "Master" at such a young age, so everyone in the household addressed him simply as "Young Master."

"Do you know who has the best plaque-carving skills in Chang'an?" Pei Min did not intend to get the answer directly from Ning Ze; rather, he merely used this as an excuse to have him make inquiries. To his surprise, Ning Ze answered without the slightest hesitation.

"That would undoubtedly be the master craftsman Zheng Yongtai of Heping Quarter in the southwestern part of the city!"

"Who is this Zheng Yongtai?" Pei Min asked with delight. The greater the reputation of this carver, the better the effect his plan would yield.

Ning Ze smiled and replied, "Zheng Yongtai's ancestors have been carvers for generations. Every single plaque in the imperial palace, as well as the official seals of the chancellors in the Department of State Affairs, the Secretariat, and the Chancellery, were carved by members of the Zheng family. The epitaph for Lord Di was also handled entirely by him, and his ancestral craftsmanship is universally recognized as the absolute best. Young Master, are you thinking of having him carve a plaque? It's just that Old Zheng laid down his carving knives five years ago and stopped working. In the past five years, he has only made an exception for one person. If the Young Master truly wishes to find a carver, you could seek out his disciples. While his disciples naturally cannot compare to their master, they still possess seventy percent of his skill. However, the Zheng family has a strict rule: they will not carve anything unless it features the handwriting of a master. They stubbornly believe that only calligraphy truly worthy of being carved can do justice to the Zheng family's ancestral craft."

Pei Min's eyes lit up, and he smiled, asking, "Tell me, who was it that he made an exception for?"

Ning Ze replied, "It was Xue Ji, who used the four characters 'Restrain oneself and return to propriety' written in the hand of his teacher, Yu Shinan, to persuade Zheng Yongtai to make an exception and carve a plaque for him as a warning to future generations."

Pei Min hesitated for a moment. Yu Shinan was the foremost among the four great calligraphers of the early Tang dynasty, and the fact that Zheng Yongtai made an exception for him showed how exceptionally high his standards were. While Li Longji's calligraphy was by no means ordinary, compared to a calligraphy grandmaster like Yu Shinan, there was still a considerable gap. He wondered whether the handwriting of the current emperor would carry any added weight. Regardless of whether it would work or not, he decided to give it a try.

Pei Min continued, "There are a bit too many vacant rooms in this estate. I plan to renovate the guest room near the martial arts training ground and convert it into a private practice area for myself. Later on, I will give you the design blueprint, and you can be responsible for finding skilled craftsmen to renovate it properly."

Ning Ze acknowledged the order and accepted the task.

Of course, he was not building a martial arts training ground for his own private use; rather, he intended to design a venue resembling a Daoist temple specifically for dueling with martial artists from the jianghu. However, given his high position and great power, coupled with the fact that he was a favored favorite in the presence of Li Longji, while people might not dare to offend him openly, there were undoubtedly those plotting against him in secret. If he were to set up a martial arts school specifically to entertain martial heroes coming to challenge him, someone would inevitably concoct some baseless accusation and submit a memorial against him. Lacking deep roots in the imperial court for now, he wished to avoid unnecessary trouble, so he simply adopted a different approach—the purpose was the same, but the designation was different.

Working late into the night, he drew up the design blueprint. The structure of the dueling arena was extremely simple, consisting merely of an open space, with its most distinctive feature being the wooden plank flooring that exuded a classical aesthetic.

Early the next morning, after paying his respects to Madam Pei, Pei Min set off with gifts to visit the Yan family, urged on by his mother's promptings.

Meanwhile, the atmosphere within the Yan household was somewhat oppressive. Yan Gaoqing's father, Yan Yuansun, had been exceptionally clever and brilliant since childhood, excelling in literary composition and clerical script. In the early years of the Chuichui era, he passed the imperial examinations and enjoyed a smooth official career, serving successively in posts such as the Defender of Chang'an and Gentleman of the Palace Secretariat. Following Li Longji's ascension to the throne, Yan Yuansun was promoted to Drafting Officer of the Secretariat. However, this very promotion brought disaster upon him, as his advancement provoked the intense jealousy of Lu Fu. Lu Fu had also set his sights on the position of Drafting Officer of the Secretariat, and to that end, he had specifically become a disciple of Wang Ju, only to have Yan Yuansun snatch the prize away first.

Like Pei Min, Wang Ju was one of the founding ministers who aided Li Longji in securing the throne. Following the Xiantian coup, he advanced to become the Minister of Revenue. Enjoying extraordinary favor and participating in high-level state affairs, he was enfeoffed as the Vice Director of the Imperial Secretariat and Duke of Zhao, holding deep trust under Li Longji. He was currently referred to by the moniker "Inner Chancellor"—implying that while he lacked the official title of Chancellor, he functioned as the Chancellor by Li Longji's side. Being only a step away from becoming Chancellor himself, Wang Ju was busy building his own faction and cultivating his personal sphere of influence.

Lu Fu hailed from the Lu family of Fanyang. As one of the prominent aristocratic clans, the Lu family had indeed suffered a drastic reduction in power due to Wu Zetian's malicious targeting, but like a centipede that dies without stiffening, it still possessed a formidable foundation and a vast reservoir of talented individuals.

To win over the Lu family standing behind Lu Fu, Wang Ju used his official power to make things difficult for Yan Yuansun, picking quarrels everywhere in an attempt to drive him out of office. Yet Yan Yuansun was born into a scholarly Confucian lineage, with his ancestor being Yan Hui, the most talented and deeply valued disciple of Confucius. Perhaps he lacked the extraordinary administrative prowess of his son, Yan Gaoqing, but as a Drafting Officer of the Secretariat, the poetic rhapsodies and official memorials at which he excelled were exquisitely peerless, leaving no flaws to be found and thus failing to yield the outcome Wang Ju desired.

Guarding against Wang Ju day and night, Yan Yuansun worried himself into illness and was forced to stay at home to recuperate in peace. Reflecting on the treacherous nature of the imperial court, Yan Yuansun could not help but sigh repeatedly, while his wife, Madam Yuan, wept silently by his side.

Madam Yuan said, "If all else fails, why don't we abandon official life and go to Weizhou, living happily with Xin'er?"

Yan Yuansun let out a cold hum and retorted, "Absolutely not! My father passed down the Yan family's legacy into my hands; how could I simply abandon our ancestral heritage like this? I refuse to believe that as long as I remain upright and law-abiding, Wang Ju can do anything to me!" Even as he said this, he lacked any real conviction.

Just at that moment, Yan Yuansun and Madam Yuan were suddenly brought the news that Pei Min had requested an audience.

Yan Yuansun and Madam Yuan exchanged astonished glances.

Madam Yuan asked, "Which Pei Min?"

Startled so pale that the color drained from his face, Yan Yuansun trembled as he said, "In Chang'an today, how could there be a second Pei Min? Wang Ju is truly ruthless; the Imperial Censor has come knocking on our door in person."

Madam Yuan, however, furrowed her brow and said, "I think not necessarily. Do you remember the letter Xin'er sent the year before last, mentioning that he had made a close friend in Youzhou who was soon coming to the capital to take the imperial examinations, and asking us to look after him?"

Yan Yuansun said in a sudden realization, "Had you not mentioned it, I would have completely forgotten. It's just that Pei Min is now a favored darling of heaven, with a vastly different status and position—will he still remember a minor past kindness?"

Madam Yuan nudged him and said, "No matter what, let's meet him first and see."

"Very well!" Yan Yuansun smoothed his attire and walked out alongside Madam Yuan to meet Pei Min. On their way, they encountered the steward holding the gift inventory, and upon inquiring closely, they finally learned that Pei Min had come to perform the formal ceremony of visiting as a junior paying respect to family elders.

This formal visit was an elegant custom among the ancients, specifically referring to a bond of deep affection between the younger generation where one regarded the other's parents as their own. Historical examples included Fan Shi and Zhang Shao of the Eastern Han dynasty making a pact of life-and-death friendship and performing this formal rite of visiting parents, as well as Sun Ce and Zhou You in the Three Kingdoms period doing the same.

Neither Yan Yuansun nor Madam Yuan had imagined that the relationship between Yan Gaoqing and Pei Min would be so deeply affectionate, nor could they have anticipated that Pei Min, despite occupying a lofty and prominent position, would remain true to his original intentions. Deeply moved, they hurriedly issued orders for a grand and respectful reception.

"Your junior Pei Min shares a profound bond of righteousness and mutual understanding with Brother Yan! Having arrived in the capital many days ago without ever coming to the Yan residence to pay my respects to you both, I was remiss in my duties beforehand and feel utterly ashamed! Today, I have come specifically to confess my faults and pay my respects, and I hope the two elders will forgive me." Pei Min bowed deeply with folded hands, bestowing upon Yan Yuansun and Madam Yuan the most solemn protocol among the nine traditional bows of antiquity.

Flattered and overwhelmed, Yan Yuansun and Madam Yuan hurriedly stepped forward to help Pei Min up.

"Censor Pei, please do not be so formal! We are utterly unworthy of such courtesy!"

Pei Min replied, "Uncle Yan and Aunt Yan are Brother Yan's parents, and thus just like my own parents. There is no reason why I should not show this respect. If the two elders remain so overly courteous, it will only damage the bond between Brother Yan and myself, leaving me with no face to face him in the future."

Yan Yuansun sighed and said, "To have a close friend like you—Xin'er is truly fortunate in three lifetimes."

Seeing that Yan Yuansun did not look well, Pei Min asked with concern, "Is Uncle Yan feeling unwell? I am acquainted with the divine physician Liu; I can invite him to treat Uncle Yan."

Yan Yuansun shook his head and sighed.

Seizing the opportunity, Madam Yuan detailed the situation to him.

Upon hearing this, Pei Min flew into a rage and said, "Outrageous! Rest assured, Uncle Yan, this matter is entirely in your nephew's hands. Serving in the Censorate, my very job is to deal with petty villains who abuse their official positions and run amok for their own selfish gains." Before he could finish speaking, a delicately carved jade-like little boy stepped lightly into the hall.