Chapter 651: A Cup of Tea for Eternity's Infamy

Chapter 651: A Bowl of Tea to Bear the Thousand-Year Curse

“You named him the killer. That’s exactly what Li Jun said.”

In the study of Zhenbao Village, Zhang Sigen sat cross-legged on a low table, frowning as he ground ink. “You said, what’s wrong with those people from Chunqiu Hall? Why did they do such a foolish thing?”

Zhang Fengyue sat upright, holding a brush and writing on the Xuan paper. The paper was filled with a detailed teaching syllabus and the educational plan for this small study room.

“So, do you think this name should be mentioned or not?”

“From my perspective, of course not. I not only need to help Old Li catch the person, but also help him deliver the knife and collect the bodies. The more people he kills, the happier I am. After all, it’s not my family’s people who are dying.”

After expressing his attitude, Zhang Sigen suddenly changed the subject: “But you and I are different.”

“What’s different?”

Zhang Fengyue didn’t look up, continuing to slowly add and modify the details of the plan.

“At present, the new Donglin Party and Chunqiu Hall are indeed incompatible. But no matter how they fight or struggle, it’s essentially an internal conflict within the Confucian school.”

“You let Old Li go to Songjiang Prefecture to help Yang Baisen, but they had a private relationship before, so it was still acceptable on the surface. But if you push Chunqiu Hall’s people out for him to kill, others will think you’re helping an outsider to deal with your own people. One wrong move could make you a target, and your prestige would plummet.”

Zhang Sigen frowned: “I now even suspect that Chunqiu Hall’s craziness and their willingness to fight to the death with Li Jun is not really about Xu Hai Chao. Their real goal is you!”

Zhang Fengyue remained noncommittal, calmly asking: “So, do you mean I should refuse Li Jun’s request?”

“That’s not possible either. If you refuse, the trust you and Li Jun have worked so hard to build will be gone. Without his help, you alone would have to deal with Longhu Mountain, Donghuang Palace, and Chunqiu Hall. Two fists cannot match four hands.”

Zhang Sigen paused his ink grinding, staring at the dark ink in the inkstone. After a moment of contemplation, he slowly spoke.

“So I think, since Chunqiu Hall wants to die, let them die. But you shouldn’t be the one to betray people.”

Zhang Fengyue said, “I can’t do it, so who will?”

“I will.”

Zhang Sigen replied without hesitation.

“What’s the difference between you and me?”

Zhang Sigen smiled lightly, his tone relaxed: “As long as you expel me from the Zhang family and sever the father-son relationship, the difference is there. In the eyes of everyone in the Confucian school, I’m already a dissolute young master. Doing something against my father for brotherly loyalty is nothing unusual.”

“That was before. Now it’s different. It’s not a petty fight over face, but a life-or-death struggle. Whether you or I go out, they’ll see it the same way.”

“So, what are you going to do?”

Zhang Sigen’s face turned tense as he asked cautiously: “You wouldn’t really choose to refuse Li Jun for the sake of the bigger picture, would you?”

“Why refuse? It’s just a little trick, not even a big picture in my eyes. If it’s not a big picture, why bother with it?”

At this point, the old man finally finished writing the plan, carefully reviewing it from start to finish.

After confirming there were no omissions, he carefully placed it on the other end of the low table to dry, then picked up a new sheet of paper and wrote three large characters.

Yan Dongqing.

Zhang Sigen stared at it, feeling the wild and defiant energy emanating from the characters.

“He’s a rare talent, lacking neither the sharpness nor the courage to win in a desperate situation. So it’s no surprise that he’s grown into a leader of the younger generation of the Confucian school, establishing a separate party to oppose the new Donglin Party.”

“But it’s precisely because of this self-confidence and pride that he won’t be willing to be a tool in someone else’s hands, having his own fate controlled by others.”

Zhang Sigen had never heard his old man evaluate a young Confucian scholar like this before, and he couldn’t help but gasp in admiration.

“The incident with the Xu family in Songjiang Prefecture wouldn’t have hurt Chunqiu Hall, but it served as a warning to him.”

The old man paused, then suddenly laughed: “No, he should have seen his situation clearly long ago. This time was just an opportunity to act on it. He knew that if he continued to play a game of cat and mouse with me, his only end would be death. So he decisively chose to go against the rules, betting his life and fortune in one go.”

Zhang Fengyue shook his head: “To get to this point is not bad. It’s just a pity.”

“Old man, don’t rush to criticize others. Can you explain the principle behind this more simply?”

Zhang Sigen was confused, unable to understand his father’s meaning.

“Where have you taken your ‘number arts’ to?”

The old man’s eyes narrowed, his expression full of disappointment.

“That’s your family’s secret skill. How could I not study it seriously?”

Zhang Sigen laughed awkwardly: “My ‘number arts’ are not weak now. No one can hide from the gun barrel, and every shot hits its target.”

After years of father-son relationship, the old man knew Zhang Sigen’s nonsense well and didn’t bother to argue about what true ‘number arts’ were. After a huff, he fell silent.

Zhang Fengyue picked up the teaching plan with the dried ink, stood up, and walked out of the study.

According to the plan, he was going to visit all 32 students in the study today.

It’s a tiring task, so he needs to hurry up.

The bewildered Zhang Sigen still sat in place, staring blankly at the low table.

The rectangular paperweight that had been covering the teaching plan was thrown down when the old man got up, landing right on the three characters ‘Yan Dongqing,’ as if a guillotine had chopped it in half.

“Old man, don’t rush to leave! You haven’t told me what to do yet!” Zhang Sigen suddenly snapped out of his trance and asked loudly.

Zhang Fengyue kept walking, waving his hand: “If you’re interested, go ask Pei Xingjian yourself. The Jiayan family has made butter tea. If you go late, it’ll be cold and not taste good.”

“What’s there to ask him about? This is your new Donglin Party’s business. You’re not in a hurry, so why should I be?”

Zhang Sigen watched the old man’s back disappear, muttering irritably.

“That’s how it is. The old man is now addicted to teaching in the frontier, and he thinks I can’t understand human language, so he wants me to ask Pei Uncle myself.”

In Chengdu Prefecture, Pei Xingjian looked at Zhang Sigen’s projection, his old face full of mischievous smiles.

“The old saying goes, like father, like son. How could you not understand such a simple thing?”

Zhang Sigen rolled his eyes: “If you speak like that, I’ll let Li Jun kill people. If he kills your people, it won’t be my fault.”

“Hey, when you used to wear open-crotch pants, I used to carry you. Now you’re grown up and don’t associate with old people like us. Today we finally see you, and you get angry at a joke?”

Zhang Sigen’s face was embarrassed, and he was furious: “Will you tell me or not? If not, I’m leaving!”

“Alright, alright. I’ll explain it to you.”

Seated on a bench, Pei Xingjian scratched his back with a stick, twisting his body left and right, as if he’d finally found the spot that tickled him, and let out a satisfied sigh.

“Zhang Sigen, I ask you, why do you think the old man went after the gentry?”

“Scrape the bone to heal the poison, kill a chicken to warn the monkeys. Focus the mind, unite against the enemy.”

“There are so many gentry under the Confucian school’s buttocks, all with shit. Why did he start with the Xu gentry first?”

“Of course, because Xu Hai Chao is a key member of Chunqiu Hall.”

“Have you ever thought that scraping the bone to heal the poison is a strategy that kills a thousand enemies but also harms eight hundred of your own. If it’s for safety, it should be from outside to inside, from light to heavy, and done gradually. Why would he start by biting the hardest bone first?”

Zhang Sigen was stunned, his expression becoming quite complex.

“Do you mean the old man did this on purpose? Why?”

“The old man did this to tell Chunqiu Hall and the people behind them to be sensible and not cause trouble at this time. Even if they still have to fight in the end, they should wait until the outsiders are dealt with, then close the door and settle the score slowly.”

Pei Xingjian said calmly: “The people behind Chunqiu Hall understood, so they gave up Xu Hai Chao. Yan Dongqing, who nominally controlled Chunqiu Hall, also understood, but he saw this as a rare opportunity and seized it.”

Zhang Sigen asked abruptly: “What opportunity?”

“An opportunity for him to establish his own party.”

Pei Xingjian intoned gently, “Those above can readily abandon Xu Haichao, but Yan Dongqing cannot. Though men often say the heartless are the most scholarly, if the head of a faction is also devoid of compassion, how could anyone sit idle while his trusted lieutenant is slain without a flicker of feeling, and yet willingly sacrifice himself for such a man?”

“Yan Dongqing refused to be merely a puppet thrust before the stage, to fall ignominiously after having lost the hearts of the people. Thus, that night in Songjiang Prefecture, the men of the Six Strategies and the Hongque emerged.”

“Although ultimately it failed to alter the outcome of the Xu family’s demise, this act demonstrated Yan Dongqing’s own stance, and sowed a seed of discontent among the members of the Spring and Autumn Society toward their hidden master.”

“I have a slight misunderstanding.”

Zhang Siyuan frowned, asking, “Why did Yan Dongqing employ men of the Six Strategies and Hongque rather than his own Spring and Autumn Society affiliates?”

“This is precisely his cleverness. Those who die are the master’s men, while the profit is the glorious reputation Yan Dongqing bestows upon himself. Such a risk‑free transaction, who would not wish to partake?”

Pei Xingjian sneered disdainfully and continued, “Yan Dongqing is not only clever but also ruthless and greedy. Once the situation in Songjiang was settled, before the authorities could react, he again contrived, spurring forward his revenge against Li Jun, deploying spies he had planted within the Six Strategies and Hongque, and dragging both houses down into the water.”

“In the ambush at Zhenluo Garden, beyond the two mentioned, he also enlisted Longhu Mountain and the Eastern Palace, arraying a sizable formation. The result? Only a brain‑less Six Strategies soldier perished.”

After a pause, Pei Xingjian fixed his gaze on Zhang Siyuan, “What do you think this is about?”

The other’s words struck like thunder, causing Zhang Siyuan to realize, and he said in a low tone, “Because from the start he never intended to kill Li Jun?”

“He certainly wanted to kill, but he knew the odds were too slim. Even those he sent realized this, so after a single failed strike they scattered like birds and beasts, fleeing with the regret of not having been born with two more legs, leaving Li Jun with no chance to keep more than a few heads.”

Zhang Siyuan followed up, “But in doing so he offended Li Jun and became a traitor—was it worth it for a mere reputation?”

“In life, the greatest are the words ‘fame and profit.’ Even if he had not acted thus, his fate would have been the same as Xu Haichao’s. Yet now he can claim a ‘name,’ is that not valuable?”

“Even if what Uncle Pei says is true, Yan Dongqing merely benefited himself.”

Zhang Siyuan, perplexed, said, “If the Spring and Autumn Society were gone, he would be but a low‑rank scholar, a solitary man—what standing could he achieve? Could he not, like Li Jun, become a power in his own right?”

“How could he be a solitary man? He betrayed only his master, not the Spring and Autumn Society.”

Pei Xingjian shook his head, “For the sake of a single subordinate, he dared to extinguish the last flame of the sect’s martial lineage and vowed to destroy the rising independent martial order—who would dare challenge such a leader bound by deep affection?”

“Even if this Spring and Autumn Society were lost, a man who dies for his confidant, possessing the hearts of many, could at any time rise anew, phoenix‑like, exactly to his liking.”

“Moreover, though he is but a scholar, he can summon so many sequence‑three members from the Six Strategies and Hongque. If you were his master, would you not be wary? Even if unconcerned, what of the Eastern Palace and Longhu Mountain? Their ties with Yan Dongqing are vague and obscure!”

Pei Xingjian sighed, “A young junior has indeed coalesced a tangled, massive power, and after long concealment seized a fleeting chance, boldly risking all his assets in a gamble—such depth of cunning and resolve humbles me.”

“Yan Dongqing played a masterful hand of calculations.”

Zhang Siyuan coldly laughed, “But in my view he miscalculated one thing: he should not have provoked Li Jun, for he is not a man who fears a mouse.”

“Yes, this is also why the old master voiced ‘regret.’ Yan Dongqing’s first error was recklessly provoking Li Jun.”

Zhang Siyuan asked in surprise, “What is the other point?”

“The fault lies in his failure to understand the old master.”

“Where does this begin?”

Pei Xingjian said, “Siyuan, you came to see me today because Yan Dongqing earned a fine reputation, only to shift the dilemma of betraying Spring and Autumn Society members onto the old master, forcing him to choose between his own reputation and Li Jun, is that right?”

In Zhang Siyuan’s view, this truly is an unsolvable dilemma.

Otherwise he would not have proposed the absurd suggestion of “cutting off the Zhang family,” nor rushed to find Pei Xingjian.

“Indeed, on the surface, whichever way the old master chooses, it is tantamount to cutting off a limb. Yet Yan Dongqing’s error was that he mistakenly believed the old master, like himself, cared about this trivial reputation.”

He gazed deeply at Zhang Siyuan, “On the contrary, you care deeply, which is why you have become a participant rather than a spectator today, throwing the situation into chaos. The old master understands your heart, so he refrained from saying these words himself, letting you ask me instead.”

“This matter never required a choice from beginning to end; Li Jun of the Spring and Autumn Society could kill however he wished. What we should contemplate is simply not to let this affair bring down the scholar.”

“I certainly care; who would not wish to spare his father from bearing such a nasty reputation?”

Zhang Siyuan’s face showed bitterness as he shook his head, “But what good is my caring? Others care not at all, and even consider a freshly boiled bowl of butter tea more important.”

Pei Xingjian wished to console him but did not know how, and could only sigh in helpless silence.

“Uncle Pei, speak plainly: did he know early on that Yan Dongqing and his hidden master were connected, and also that the Spring and Autumn Society, the Six Strategies, and Hongque were intertwined?”

“Mm‑hmm.”

Pei Xingjian lowered his brows and softly answered, “Mm.”

Zhang Siyuan, perplexed and angry, said, “Now that you know, why keep a tiger and create trouble for yourself, inviting so many troubles?!”

“Siyuan, you are a son; you should understand his thoughts better than I do.”

Pei Xingjian slowly said, “If the old master wished to become emperor, he had countless opportunities over the years, yet he never entertained such a notion.”

“I remember clearly; many years ago, on New Year’s Day, when he was the head of the New East Forest Academy, my companions and I celebrated his birthday.”

“That day, the old master rarely got drunk. He told us that if possible, he only wished to serve as a teaching instructor at the New East Forest Academy, with silk continuing until death, and the lamp’s wick turning to ash with tears.”

Pei Xingjian’s eyes went blank, his scattered gaze as if witnessing the scene of that year.

“Even if he cannot, he wishes only to be a loyal minister of the Great Ming for his whole life. This is the obsession known to all.”

Pei Xingjian’s words lingered for a long time, so long that one might think he would not speak again.

The nearby Zhang Siyuan waited patiently, standing silently, and finally heard Pei Xingjian’s final words.

“Perhaps, this is also the old master’s only weakness.”