Echoes of My Heart Throughout the Court

The Court Ministers: “…”

Heh.

From that subtle whistle in his heart, they could already guess what was going on.

One of the ministers stepped forward under countless watchful eyes, carefully choosing his words: “Might Master Quan have misunderstood something? We have never…”

Quan Yizhang squinted his eyes.

Already quick-tempered by nature, seeing someone step forward only fueled his rage. He asked bluntly, “Are you a follower of the New Text School?”

The man who stepped forward—the former Imperial Censor Cui Yi, known for being henpecked—replied very politely, “Master Quan, it is an honor to have you here. I, Cui Yi, do indeed primarily study the New Texts.”

He should not have admitted it. The moment Cui Yi identified himself, Quan Yizhang’s face turned a shade of ashen-white fury. He lifted his cane with surprising agility and swung it down, shouting, “I’ll teach you how many ways there are to write the word ‘hui’! How dare you send a young boy to mock this old man!”

Cui Yi let out a yelp and instinctively crouched down, hugging his head. With his rich experience in taking beatings, he knew not to resist—how could he? The elderly scholar was 86 years old. If Cui Yi so much as laid a hand on him, he’d risk being drowned in the spit of Quan Yizhang’s fervent supporters.

What “how many ways to write the word ‘hui’”?

“Xu Yanmiao, what on earth did you do?”

“Wretch!” Quan Yizhang was even more enraged, and no amount of ministers trying to restrain him could stop his cane from raining down.

Quan Yizhang had his own logical train of thought.

Over the past eight or nine days traveling to the capital with the court’s envoy Xu Yanmiao, they had conversed extensively. Quan Yizhang realized that this young man truly had no understanding of the Classics. His most memorized passage seemed to be the phrase “You Peng Zi Yuan Fang Lai, Bu Yi Le Hu” (“Is it not a delight to have friends coming from afar?”), but even that sometimes got garbled in Xu’s mouth to “You Peng Zi Yuan Fang Lai, Sui Yuan Bi Zhu” (“If friends come from afar, eliminate them even from afar”

With such an illiterate young man, how could he have crafted the scathing critique: “The Old Text School is so pedantic, they have nothing better to do than study the various ways to write the word ‘hui,’ with their shallow and ostentatious ways”?

Clearly, someone must have secretly fed this rhetoric to him, sending this junior to act as the provocateur.

Thus, the entire court was now under suspicion. Anyone who dared to step forward was seen as guilty of a guilty conscience.

After all, if you had nothing to hide, why would you jump out so quickly?

Quan Yizhang, a seasoned Confucian who wrote scholarly works one moment and wielded his sword the next, was not one to let his advanced age slow him down. Despite being nearly 90, he had the strength of a bull. Within moments, Cui Yi’s face was battered and bruised. Meanwhile, Quan’s voice thundered with righteous fury:

“You pretentious Qi Rú! How dare you distort the sage Confucius’s core virtues into divine works! Stupid as sheep draped in tiger skins, yet the foundation of Confucianism lies in ren (benevolence), yi (righteousness), li (propriety), zhi (wisdom), xin (faith), yong (courage), and shan (kindness)—it is about humanity! Not gods, not saints, not kings! You venerate Confucius but abandon his principles, utterly disgraceful! Hypocrites cloaked in tiger pelts—punishment is your due!”

(Note: Qi Rú refers to followers of the New Text School, associated with the state of Qi, while Lu Rú refers to the Old Text School, linked with the state of Lu.)

Xu Yanmiao nudged his good friend, the Ministry of War Official, and whispered, “I know ‘Confucius,’ but what’s this about su gong (essential virtues of Confucius)?”

The Official gave him a bewildered look.

Xu Yanmiao, ever unashamed, clarified, “Well, after exams, I throw out all that study material. I just want to be a low-level bureaucrat who eats, waits for death, and doesn’t climb too high.”

Nearby, Princess Wanshou was also paying close attention.

Though she wasn’t versed in Confucian studies, she knew that understanding at least the basics was necessary to survive in the court. While expertise wasn’t required, she had to grasp what others meant when quoting Confucian classics.

The Ministry of War Official sighed and explained, “Ancient scholars regarded those with high virtue but no royal title as su wang (‘simple kings’). The New Text School, which reveres Confucius, thus exalted him as a su wang, claiming his ‘kingly deeds’ were encapsulated in the Spring and Autumn Annals. However, the Old Text School deeply despises this deification of Confucius, insisting that Confucius was no god or king, merely a man.”

Xu Yanmiao nodded in sudden understanding.

[Sō ka!]

[So Old Man Quan was essentially pointing at the New Text School and scolding them—]

[“Heh, you lot violate the true spirit of Confucius. The nonsense you spout doesn’t deserve to be called Confucianism. How dare you call yourselves scholars of the Classics?”]

Initially, the New Text School had been calmly debating.

But when Xu Yanmiao translated Quan’s scholarly rebuke into plain language, their collective temper flared.

——We respected you as an elder, but don’t push it, old man!

Conflicts between academic factions don’t discriminate by age or gender—any dissent must be crushed.

Cui Yi, who had been battered to the corner, let out a pained sigh. Touching his bruised face made him wince, but as he glanced towards the imperial dais, subtle changes flickered across his expression.

The Emperor’s intention in summoning the leader of the Old Text School wasn’t just for a friendly visit to the capital. The court needed a starting point for this scholarly debate. However, they couldn’t let it devolve into direct verbal sparring right away; there had to be a fall guy.

The fall guy’s rank couldn’t be too high, lest it embarrass the court, nor too low, or it wouldn’t show proper respect to Lord Quan.@@novelbin@@

Cui Yi, a fifth-rank assistant minister of the Ministry of Revenue, fit the bill perfectly.

Muttering to himself, Cui Yi lamented, “I hope His Majesty appreciates my tact and stops holding that last incident against me…”

Pausing, he added bitterly, “And if he does still bear a grudge, at least don’t send transcripts of my court remarks to my wife again! I was just boasting outside to save face; I didn’t actually want my wife waiting on me hand and foot. Why would you tell her that!”

For the past two weeks, Cui Yi had been sleeping on the floor. His wife had not only barred him from their bedroom but also confiscated all the mats and furniture from the rest of the house.

With teary eyes, Cui Yi cast another glance toward the escalating debate between the New and Old Text Schools.

At first, the discussion was still somewhat civil, an earnest exchange of views:

New Text School: Confucius is divine!

Old Text School: Confucius was human!

New Text School: Heaven and humanity are interconnected! Natural disasters signal societal decay! Confucius recorded countless disasters under doomed rulers in the Spring and Autumn Annals. Why? To warn future monarchs, urging them to govern in alignment with divine principles!

Old Text School: Nonsense! The Spring and Autumn Annals meticulously documents dates and events, proving it’s just a historical record. Doesn’t your history book note when and where disasters occurred?

New Text School: You’re the one talking nonsense! While the Spring and Autumn Annals is a historical work, it’s not just about history. Doesn’t it acknowledge the “mandate of heaven,” as seen when Yao abdicated to Shun? The Spring and Autumn Annals doesn’t abandon the concept of “divine destiny”!

Old Text School: Do you even know what ‘Don’t blame heaven or others; learn from below and rise above’ means? Confucius didn’t deny the existence of heaven, but he prioritized human efforts! Sure, Yao passing his throne to Shun was seen as heaven’s will, but Shun also admonished Yu to govern rightly or lose heaven’s favor. Human action comes first! Heaven’s mandate is secondary! Understand?

New Text School: Blah blah blah blah…