Chapter 476: Exchange
Editor: Atlas Studios
Chen Guangdi was Chen Fang’s clan brother and also came from the Chen clan. Although he did not become an official, his knowledge and reputation were not inferior to Chen Fang’s. This was because he had once been the head of the Pine Mountain Academy in Jiangnan. Although he was idle at home now, he was currently guiding a few disciples in their studies.
In the current Imperial Academy, the Left Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Rites and several attendants in the Imperial Court had all been under his tutelage. In recent years, most of the village examinations in Jiangnan had been set by his students. Although the main examiner for this year’s examination had yet to be decided, that person was definitely somewhat related to him.
By studying with Chen Guangdi, students could at least grasp a general direction when it came to revision. This was a huge opportunity for the candidates.
However, it was not that easy to become a disciple of Chen Guangdi. Previously, Fan Zijin had asked a teacher of the academy to help recommend him, but he did not even manage to see Chen Guangdi. Fan Zijin had seen him twice whilst with Chen Qian, but he could not catch Chen Guangdi’s eye, so he had not been able to get what he wanted.
Chen Qian felt that his granduncle was benign and openhearted, but Qi Haoran didn’t think so. He didn’t know any great principles and only recognized one thing. If Chen Guangdi was really benign and openhearted and didn’t care about fame and fortune, then the disciples he accepted wouldn’t coincidentally all come from official families and aristocratic families.
Moreover, his disciples’ family backgrounds were not lowly. In his opinion, Fan Zijin was not inferior to his disciples at all. In spite of Fan Zijin’s knowledge, methods, and character, coupled with his relationship with Chen Qian, he still could not make Chen Guangdi agree to take him in. Qi Haoran reckoned there could only be one reason for that—the Fan family did not have enough qualifications and power.
Qi Haoran looked for Chen Qian because he wanted to take a shortcut. He didn’t ask that Chen Guangdi accept Fan Zijin as his disciple. He only wished that Chen Guangdi could let Fan Zijin study peacefully alongside him for four months. He could still afford this price.
After returning home, Chen Qian went to the study to look for his grandfather.
Seeing that it was already dark outside and he had only returned, Chen Fang asked gently, “Did you go out with your colleagues today?”
Chen Qian shook his head and said, “Grandfather, I have a request for you.”
When Chen Qian came out again, he was holding a letter in his hand. After thinking for a while, he walked towards his father’s study and stopped at the entrance of the courtyard. He asked, “Where’s Father?”
The old servant guarding the door bowed and said, “Master has already returned to the backyard. You may look for him in the backyard.”
Chen Qian nodded nonchalantly and frowned. “I’m here to look for a book that I need to use tonight. I thought Father might be here.”
The old servant smiled and said, “Young Master, if you want to find books, just go straight in. I’ll tell Master later.”
Chen Qian smiled. “There’s no need to trouble you. I’ll just tell Father when I go to pay my respects to Mother later. Help me open the door.”
Young Master Chen Qian was the youngest and most promising person in the family. Not only the eldest master, but even the old master doted on him very much. Although he was a little mischievous previously, he had improved a lot ever since he became a jinshi1. Hence, he went forward and opened the study door without any doubts.
Chen Qian went in and asked the servant to guard outside while he lit up the lights in the study. Chen Qian walked to the innermost corner with familiarity, where there was a huge bookcase with a painting above.
Chen Qian gently moved the chair underneath the painting and stepped on it. After fumbling around the cabinet, he opened a mechanism. Then, he quickly took out a long box and opened it to take a look. There was a painting inside. Ignoring it, Chen Qian touched the bottom of the box directly and took out a folded book wrapped in silk. He carefully opened it and saw that it was indeed the “Emperor Shizong’s Admonishment Memorial” that his father had kept.
Chen Qian smiled until his eyes narrowed. He wrapped the folded book in a cloth and stuffed it into his arms. Then, he placed the box back and covered it properly before carefully moving the chair back to its original position.
Chen Qian casually took a random book and went out. Not at all suspecting anything, the old servant smiled and locked the study room again, watching the capable young master leave.
The next day, after his grandfather and father went out for court, Chen Qian also wanted to leave the residence. Madam Chen-Shu was very puzzled. “You don’t have to go to court. Why are you in such a hurry?”
Right now, Chen Qian was only a lowly official in the Ministry of Official Personnel Affairs who didn’t have to go to court. It wasn’t time for him to start work at the government office yet.
Chen Qian just randomly made up something before rushing to the agreed meeting place with Qi Haoran. As he handed the thing in his hand to Qi Haoran, he asked, “Haoran, I’m risking offending my father for you. You must keep your word.”
Qi Haoran opened the silk bag and took a look. He said nonchalantly, “Don’t worry. When have I ever gone back on my word?”
Although he said that, Chen Qian was still trembling in fear. He confirmed yet again, “Are you sure that what your Big Brother has is the real one?”
Qi Haoran rolled his eyes and said, “What do you think? It’s stamped with the Imperial jade seal. Chang’an was originally the capital of my Great Zhou. Back then, when we fled south, we were in a hurry and didn’t bring many things out of the palace. ‘Emperor Shizong’s Admonishment Memorial’ was probably left behind like that. When the nobles of the Jin Kingdom who barged into Chang’an divided the things among themselves, they didn’t recognize that this was a treasure and casually tossed it in the storeroom. Fortunately, it was kept inside a box. Otherwise, it would have been damaged long ago. Back then, when my Big Brother rushed into Chang’an, more than half of the Jin Kingdom’s capital’s governor’s storeroom was emptied. I originally thought that the things left behind were all garbage. Who knew that I could find this item in a pile of trash? You guys were lucky.”
Qi Haoran waved the silk bag in his hand and said, “Then a fake can be exchanged for an authentic one.”
Chen Qian spat at him. “If you don’t know, don’t spout nonsense. What fake? This was drawn by the famous Confucian scholar Kong Yi of Emperor Shizong’s dynasty. It’s said that it’s exactly the same as Emperor Shizong’s handwriting. When Emperor Shizong saw it, he was overjoyed and took his personal seal to stamp upon it. If it wasn’t for the jade seal on the real painting, no one would be able to tell that this is a fake.”
“You said it yourself—it’s a fake.”
“But this is also something that can’t be bought with money. Back then, in order to snatch this thing, my father fought with that old man from the Cui family’s third branch. Not only did he empty his private stash, but he also embezzled my mother’s dowry… In short, I took a huge risk to take it out. You have to get the real thing for me. Otherwise, my father will really kill me.”
Qi Haoran patted his shoulder and promised, “Don’t worry. I sent a pigeon to my Big Brother last night. He’ll receive the letter in a few days. You only need to stall them for half a month before you receive the real thing.”
Chen Qian felt a little uneasy. Although he knew that he shouldn’t ask, he still couldn’t help himself. “Why did you think of using this to bribe my granduncle? Logically speaking, if you can take out the real thing, not to mention letting Zijin study with my granduncle, it shouldn’t be a problem for my granduncle to take him in as a disciple.” This was the real reason for his uneasiness. Although Qi Haoran looked silly, he didn’t think that he would make such a mistake when it came to Fan Zijin.
Qi Haoran glanced at him. “Do you want to hear the truth?”
Chen Qian nodded.
Qi Haoran sighed and said, “I just don’t want Zijin to be too involved with the Chen family. Your granduncle looks aloof, but I think he’s even more ambitious than your grandfather. If Zijin acknowledges your granduncle as his teacher, I’m afraid it’ll trip him up. Anyway, our goal is only to pass the general examination. Why must he acknowledge a teacher?”
If they were to do anything treasonous in the future, a teacher would be equivalent to one’s father. In the future, when the matter was exposed, with Chen Guangdi’s status and personality, he would probably step forward to suppress Zijin with his identity. That would only put Zijin in the center of the storm. Qi Haoran was not an idiot, so he naturally would not do such a thing.