(2) The Way of Benevolence and Commerce

Turning back and seeing how tense and ill-at-ease Guo Huilian looked, Tian Xu told the matrons, older women, and servant boys to disperse at once, then turned to Han Jin and asked, "Can you not behave yourself for once?"

With his mouth still covered, Han Jin could only nod furiously in response. Tian Xu signaled for Yueming to let go, and Han Jin darted straight over to Tian Xu's side.

"This is Brother Han Jin—open-hearted, just a bit too lively by nature. Don't be afraid, Fourth Sister." Tian Xu turned and spoke gently to Guo Huilian, whose face still showed her unease.

In truth, Han Jin was simply an entirely ordinary fifteen-year-old boy, possessed of all the restlessness and boyish immaturity one would expect at that age. He was nothing like the old-beyond-his-years Tian Xu, and having grown up with a formidably capable elder sister who always kept him a rung below her, along with Yueming keeping him in check at every turn, he had naturally settled into the role of everyone's little brother—as though he, and not Tian Xu, were the youngest child in the whole manor.

Guo Huilian, still gripping Wang Qiugui's arm tightly and hiding behind her, only ventured a pair of wary, questioning eyes once Tian Xu had reassured her, studying Han Jin warily from a distance. Under Yueming's sharp, watchful glare, Han Jin only dared to give Guo Huilian a small, careful wave, an awkward smile on his face.

"Hello, Fourth Sister. I'm Han Jin, son of my father and mother..."

"Listen to yourself—who isn't born of a father and mother?"

Hearing Han Jin say such a thing, Yueming mocked him with open disdain. But unexpectedly, this was exactly what made Guo Huilian laugh. With that laugh, the tension she had been feeling eased considerably—and just then, a woman's voice reached them.

"Fourth Sister is such a lovely-looking girl, no wonder Jin'er's talking such nonsense. But she's far too thin—she'll need to eat well from now on."

It was Hu Yiwan. Knowing that Tian Xu would be bringing Guo Huilian back to the manor that day, she had skipped Mochou Hall and stayed at Yueyue Manor to welcome her instead.

"Physician Hu and Physician Zhou really are fellow disciples through and through—the two of them say exactly the same things! Physician Zhou said just the same thing when he saw us off in Chang'an." Wang Qiugui smiled and gave Hu Yiwan a small bow, then patted Guo Huilian's hand. "This is Hu Yiwan, your Uncle Da's fellow disciple—her medical skill is every bit as fine as his. From now on, just call her Auntie Wan, the same as your brothers and sisters do."

Everyone exchanged greetings and made polite conversation for a while, and then Tian Xu led the group toward the main hall. There, Hu Yiwan's disciple Ah Zhan and the herb-boy Ah Ran had already prepared medicinal tea and cups, waiting for everyone to come in. This medicinal tea had been specially prepared by Hu Yiwan for the party returning from their long journey, called "Road-Dust Tea," meant both as a welcoming gesture and to help dispel travel fatigue and restore one's spirits.

Climbing a few steps and crossing the threshold, the spacious, high-ceilinged hall struck an imposing, grand impression. On the wall directly opposite hung a great couplet: the first line read "With the spirit of chivalry and the bones of righteousness, meet the world"; the second read "With the standards of commerce and a heart of benevolence, the Yueyue way goes forth." The signature at the end read simply "Mingxi." Guo Huilian stared, transfixed—who was this Mingxi, whose calligraphy was so fine? Bold and expansive, yet touched with a certain refined grace; unyielding in its strength, yet carrying a gentle warmth all the same. Then, recalling everything Tian Xu had said and done, she realized it matched exactly the character and bearing expressed in the couplet—so this "Mingxi" must surely be Tian Xu's mother. Only a mother of such benevolent, righteous character could have raised a son as warm, kind, and honest as Tian Xu.

Tian Xu and Yue Heng walked to the seats of honor and sat down. Noticing Guo Huilian still lost in thought, gazing at the couplet, Tian Xu asked with a smile, "What is it, Fourth Sister?"

"This must have been written by your mother, wasn't it? It's beautifully composed, and the calligraphy is lovely too." At Tian Xu's question, Guo Huilian realized she had been staring, and felt a little embarrassed—though she couldn't quite hide her admiration either.

"Fourth Sister is really clever—how could you tell it was written by the Manor Lord's mother?" Before Tian Xu could answer, Han Jin jumped in first.

"Just because you're slow doesn't mean everyone else is too." Seeing Han Jin cut in, Yueming couldn't resist another jab at him.

"Fourth Sister must have been extremely well-read back home, with real learning to show for it. Not like you—always getting the ruler from your tutor, and still never learning a thing."

"Yueming..." Wang Qiugui felt that Yueming and Han Jin's constant bickering was really unbecoming, and as the elder among them, she felt obliged to speak up and put a stop to it.

"Do leave Jin'er a little face..."

"Fourth Sister, please sit. Yueming, you too. Let's hear Fourth Sister's insight." Tian Xu gestured for everyone to take their seats, and Hu Yiwan signaled for Ah Zhan and Ah Ran to serve the tea. Yueming, taking the hint, sat down and said nothing further.

Hearing Tian Xu call it "insight," Guo Huilian grew a little bashful and waved both hands. "It's hardly insight at all—only a guess, really. On the road here, Auntie Gui told me all about how Madam built Yueyue Manor from nothing, and for a woman to have accomplished such things is truly no small feat—Huilian admires her deeply for it. And looking at this couplet, whose hand could it possibly be but Madam's, to carry such breadth of spirit and character? Before all this happened, Huilian perhaps never fully understood what Father so often said—that 'adding flowers to brocade is easy, but sending charcoal in snow is hard.' Only after living through this disaster did I come to understand Tenth Brother's truly benevolent nature, willing to travel a thousand li to bring warmth in the depths of winter to an orphaned girl he had met only once. Such a fine young man, and the warmth and kindness of everyone at Yueyue Manor besides, must surely come from being steeped in Madam's own extraordinary breadth of spirit."

Having finished speaking, Guo Huilian rose again and bowed respectfully to Tian Xu and everyone present. "For such great kindness and virtue from all of you, Huilian will repay it in this life or the next, without fail."

"Fourth Sister, that's far too solemn a thing to say..." Seeing how earnestly Guo Huilian meant this, Tian Xu rose and returned her bow as well, and everyone except Yue Heng rose in turn to return the gesture.

Just as everyone was returning Guo Huilian's bow, sharp-eyed Han Qian noticed that Yue Heng's face, normally so utterly expressionless, had softened somewhat as he looked at Guo Huilian. She caught Yueming's eye and motioned for her to glance at Yue Heng too, and the two of them, understanding each other without a word, both suppressed a small, knowing smile.

Guo Huilian's praise for Chu Mingxi had, perhaps, struck a deep chord in Yue Heng. In all this world, aside from Chu Mingxi herself, scarcely anyone had ever received gentle treatment from him; whatever small measure of gentleness Yue Heng possessed—and it was never much, nor especially soft—had gone entirely to Chu Mingxi. It was only ever in her presence that the tight lines of his face would naturally ease, that light would come into his eyes, that he might even, on rare occasion, smile. His tender regard for Tian Xu stemmed partly from fulfilling the duty Cheng Siyuan had entrusted to him, a matter of pure obligation; and partly, too, from a love that extended even to what Chu Mingxi held dear. Since Tian Xu was Chu Mingxi's only son, Yue Heng was bound, whatever it took, to protect and watch over him completely. After Chu Mingxi's death, Yue Heng, never one for many words even before, had become like dead wood and cold ash—barely speaking at all, and cold toward the rest of the world. Except for the early morning hours at the training grounds, where he still showed some flicker of life instructing his disciples and the Eight Guards in their martial training, once training ended he fell silent again, staying shut away in Songlan Court for nearly the entire day. When the caravans traveled, he would go along like nothing more than a walking corpse, and this was more or less how he had spent every single day for the past two-plus years. Now, that faint softening in Yue Heng's expression could hardly escape the notice of sharp, perceptive young women. The rough men of the manor never noticed such things, but Han Qian and Yueming, close in age, had long since made a private, ongoing topic of gossip out of the mysterious, elusive relationship between Yue Heng and Chu Mingxi over the years. This subtle shift in Yue Heng's expression was, to the two of them, a rare treasure indeed—and served, once again, to confirm just how "unspeakably" important a place Chu Mingxi held in Yue Heng's heart.

"Lady Chu's own righteousness speaks for itself. This old monk has not come today to stir up trouble, nor to condemn Benefactor Yue—only to see Nanying's son with my own eyes. Having heard he still walks this earth, I felt I had to come and see for myself, whatever I might find. Now, seeing this couplet in your great hall, and hearing what Lady Chu has just said, this old monk is truly moved to admiration. If Benefactor Yue's heart is indeed as devoted to the common people as Lady Chu describes, delivering them from suffering, then he is a living bodhisattva, and this manor's 'Yueyue way' is truly a bodhisattva's path. For a father to raise a son of such benevolent heart, he himself must surely be a fine man indeed. Nanying was always a boy who honored his teachers and walked the straight and narrow; it was never that this old monk distrusted him back then—it was only to keep him from being drawn into the conflicts of the martial world that I expelled him from our sect. But events have proven this old monk wrong. What seemed a blessing turned to disaster after all; what disaster is fated to come, cannot be escaped. Those so-called righteous sects of the martial world did not spare Nanying for it in the end—they drove him and his wife both to their deaths instead. These many years, this old monk has lived in bitter regret, not knowing how I might ever atone for it... If Benefactor Yue would grant his consent today, this old monk wishes to restore Nanying's name to the ranks of Shaolin's lay disciples, that his spirit might finally find some comfort in the world beyond."

Years before, when all the great sects had gathered in this very hall, and after Xi'er had argued them all down single-handedly, Shaolin's abbot, Great Master Yuanyi, had finally broken a long silence to speak these very words. Yue Heng still remembered every detail of what had happened that day, with perfect clarity.

"He's been dead for years—and only now you come pretending to care?" Amid the clamor and uproar of the crowd, he had refused Great Master Yuanyi's offer flatly, with open contempt. "I don't need it, and neither does my father."

"What benevolent son? He slaughtered members of every sect without mercy—a living demon, plain and simple. Who could possibly believe such a thing from the Great Master?"

"That's right... that's right..." The crowd below stirred with indignation, everyone chiming in at once.

"Amitabha." Great Master Yuanyi bowed to the assembled crowd, then continued. "Just as Lady Chu has said, Benefactor Yue long ago laid down his blade and has since worked to help and protect the common people—yet all of you still cling to old grievances? If we were to examine, in full, who was right and who was wrong back then, are you all so certain the right lay entirely with you? And besides, when does vengeance for vengeance ever truly end? You kill him today, he kills you tomorrow—where does it stop? Doesn't such endless, unending retribution give any of you pause, once you truly think it through? This old monk is nearing eighty now, withered and worn, and has lived in regret over that affair ever since. All I hope, in whatever time remains to me, is to make some small amends for the wrong done then. I ask for nothing more."

At Great Master Yuanyi's words, the hall fell abruptly silent from its former uproar, and then, from that silence, gave way to murmurs and whispered exchanges. He himself, impatient, had wanted to argue back—but Xi'er turned and came to stand before him, speaking softly. "Ah Heng, don't say anything yet... Your father, ever since being stripped of his standing as a Shaolin disciple, lived out his days in constant melancholy, and yet every single day he still burned incense, praying for his master's continued health and for the flourishing of the Buddhist teachings. Your father devoted his whole life to Shaolin in his heart, and took pride at every moment in having once been its disciple. Being restored to the ranks of Shaolin's lay disciples might well be, apart from your own safety and wellbeing, the greatest comfort left to him in this life. Don't let your own resentment carelessly rob your father of the chance to return to Shaolin."

Hearing Xi'er lay out this larger truth for him so plainly, he found himself genuinely stunned. As Manor Lord of Yueyue, it was no great feat for Xi'er to know something of his father's past—but what stunned him was how clearly she remembered it, down to every last detail, reciting it as easily as if she'd been there to witness it all herself. He himself could barely remember it all anymore; the memories were too painful, and he had chosen, long ago, simply to let them fade. With Xi'er's sudden interjection, he genuinely forgot, for the moment, what he'd even meant to say—which suited perfectly what she'd asked of him, to hold his tongue for now. Satisfied, Xi'er turned once more and walked briskly to stand before Great Master Yuanyi, pressing her palms together in a respectful bow.