Sima Yi gently patted Sima Shi's shoulder and said, "Ziyuan, you are only twenty years old, why are you so depressed?"
"The sun is still young and there is still a lot of time. Even if I become an official five or ten years later, what difference does it make?"
Seeing Sima Yi's calm look, Sima Shi wanted to refute for a moment.
But when I thought about the fact that my father also started working as an official at the age of thirty and became one of the Three Dukes before he was fifty, I didn’t know what to say for the moment.
Sima Yi asked, "You are returning to Wen County this time. Do you know what is the most important thing?"
Sima Shi thought for a moment: "Reading and cultivating one's mind?"
Sima Yi sneered: "From your perspective, Ziyuan has no shortage of talent, intelligence and knowledge."
"The most important thing for me when I return to Wen County this time is to have children!"
"This..." Sima Shi looked at his father with confusion in his eyes.
Sima Yi explained, "Our family is in Wen County, which is only separated from Luoyang by a river. If your father has anything to tell you, the world's major events and the changes in the court can be sent back and forth almost in a day by letter. How much difference can there be between Wen County and Luoyang?"
"You are at home in Wen County, so studying and raising children are all natural things. Having more children is the most important thing!"
"Aristocratic family, if there are not enough descendants, how can there be aristocratic family?"
Sima Shi was stunned for a long while before he nodded and said, "Son, I understand!"
Sima Yi nodded and said, "In that case, Ziyuan, please set off tomorrow morning! Your father has just sent a letter to the clan. When you arrive tomorrow night, our house should be ready."
Sima Shi nodded silently, opened his mouth slightly, but still said nothing.
Sima Yi also noticed his son's abnormality and asked, "What is Ziyuan still worried about?"
"I'm not worried about anything," Sima Shi said softly, "My son just... has some hatred in his heart."
Sima Yi stared into Sima Shi's eyes without answering, just watching quietly.
The father and son knelt on the mat in the study and looked at each other.
Sima Yi's eyes became sharper, as if he could see through people's hearts. Sima Shi's eyes, however, gradually changed from being gentle a few days ago to being silent and determined, as if he had aged ten years overnight.
This is a confrontation of eyes, as well as a silent conversation between father and son.
Sima Yi looked into Sima Shi's eyes and couldn't help but think of himself when he was in his twenties, when Cao Cao, the then Prime Minister, ordered people to recruit him to work in the palace.
At that time, Sima Yi, unable to foresee the future trend, made an excuse that he had rheumatism and pretended to be paralyzed in bed for a month, only then did he manage to escape.
A gentleman is not an instrument; a gentleman is like jade.
There are gangsters, like cuts are like consultations, like cuts like grinding.
Sima Yi sighed first and said, "Don't hate. Hate is useless! It's better to rely on yourself than on others. This is also a little advice from God to you in your coming-of-age year."
"Ziyuan, get up. Your father will take you to see someone!"
"Who are you meeting?" asked Sima Shi.
"I'll take you to see Taichang and Changlin Changgong." Sima Yi said.
Unexpectedly, Sima Shi refused and said, "Father, I want to go see Xiahou Taichu first. After I come back, I will go with you to see Lord Chang."
"Okay." Sima Yi said calmly, "Go quickly and come back soon."
"My son understands." Sima Shi bowed.
Half an hour later, in front of Xiahou Mansion.
"Ziyuan is here?" Xiahou Xuan leaned against the door and said with a smile, "Come in quickly!"
Sima Shi shook his head and refused, "I won't go in. I can't stay for long anyway. I'll just talk to Taichu here for a few words."
"Are you going back to Qiao County?"
Xiahou Xuan replied: "If not Qiao County, where else could it be? I envy Ziyuan a little bit, as his home is so close to Luoyang!"
"What's the use of it recently? Isn't such a useful person imprisoned by the court?" Sima Shi looked at Xiahou Xuan: "Taichu, why don't you look angry at all?"
Xiahou Xuan said softly: "The highest good is like water. Water benefits all things without contending, and stays where people hate, so it is close to the Tao."
"This is not something you and I can decide. What else can we do except take this opportunity to temper our character?"
Sima Shi frowned: "Taichu, do you really think so?"
"What else?" Xiahou Xuan asked back, "You and I both know that this so-called Fuhua case was only caused by He Pingshu, Yuan Gongran, and Zhuge Gongxiu."
"There is a rise after a fall. This isn't a political dispute. Maybe the ban will be lifted next year. Didn't the first party ban during the reign of Emperor Huan last only half a year?"
"Besides, how can we scholars be considered as party-bound?"
"How can I spend my precious youth living in mediocrity..." Sima Shi started to speak halfway, but when he saw Xiahou Xuan's leisurely and composed expression, he stopped talking abruptly.
Sima Shi coughed lightly and asked: "What is Taichu going to do when he returns to Qiao County?"
Xiahou Xuan said: "Although you and I have both been implicated by Uncle He Ping, I sincerely think that his interpretation of the Tao Te Ching is better than Kang Chenggong's annotations." "Perhaps after returning to Qiao County, I will annotate the Tao Te Ching and the Book of Changes together."
"What about you, Ziyuan? What will you do after returning to Wen County?"
Sima Shi blurted out: "Go back to Wen County to give birth to the baby!"
Xiahou Xuan was stunned for a moment, but when he thought about who Sima Shi was going to have a child with, he couldn't help but frowned.
"Goodbye, Taichu, take care!" Sima Shi bowed and then turned and left.
"Take care!" Xiahou Xuan watched Sima Shi climb onto his horse not far away and nodded in response.
Looking at Sima Shi's gradually receding figure, Xiahou Xuan leaned against the door, a trace of sadness revealed in his eyes.
How could Xiahou Xuan, who was so smart, not understand Sima Shi's thoughts?
I just don't want to agree!
After Sima Shi returned home, he and his father Sima Yi immediately set off for Taichang Changlin's mansion.
Chang Lin is almost seventy years old and in poor health. He has been unable to go to the government office for work recently and has been staying at home all day.
When the butler led Sima Yi and his son into Chang Lin's mansion, Chang Lin was sitting in the hall.
Sima Yi walked to a distance of ten feet from Chang Lin, bowed respectfully and said, "Junior greets Lord Chang!"
Sima Shi, who was standing by, was extremely surprised when he saw this.
Logically speaking, his father was Sikong, one of the Three Dukes, and held a high position of power, while Chang Lin was only Taichang, one of the Nine Ministers. Only the Nine Ministers could pay respect to the Three Dukes, so how could the Three Dukes pay respect to the Nine Ministers?
Father doesn’t need to bow like this when he meets His Majesty!
Seeing his eldest son standing there in a daze, Sima Yi stamped his feet and said, "Ziyuan, Lord Chang is the elder of the village, we must pay homage to him!"
Sima Shi reacted and quickly imitated his father, bowing to Chang Lin.
Chang Lin smiled at the two of them and tapped the ground with his cane. "Zhongda, Ziyuan, why did you two come to see me today?"
After Sima Yi sat down at the table, he looked at Chang Lin and said with a smile: "There is nothing else important, but Ziyuan will leave Luoyang and return to Wen County tomorrow. Bring him to meet Lord Chang. I don't know when he will return to Luoyang next time."
Chang Lin frowned: "Zhongda, what happened? Why can't we go back to Luoyang?"
Sima Yi slowly told Chang Lin about the case. After listening, Chang Lin just nodded slightly, without even changing his expression.
Chang Lin looked at Sima Shi and said, "Ziyuan, your father brought you here, so I will talk to you a little more."
Sima Shi hurriedly said, "Mr. Chang, please give me your advice. I am all ears."
Chang Lin smiled and said, "Returning to my hometown to study may not be a bad thing. I have been an official for most of my life. Now when I think back, it was when I fled to Shangdang to farm and study during the Dong Zhuo Rebellion that I was able to cultivate my character the most."
Sima Shi listened quietly without showing any impatience.
But perhaps Chang Lin sensed something, so he turned to Sima Yi and said, "Zhongda wants me to tell Ziyuan something, right?"
Sima Yi smiled and said, "That's right. I would like to ask Mr. Chang to explain to Ziyuan the meanings of 'Perseverance' and 'Seeking a Place to Stay'."
Chang Lin understood and turned to look at Sima Shi: "Ziyuan, do you know where these two words come from?"
Sima Shi thought for a moment and said, "Replying to Lord Chang, I have some impression of it. It's probably about the former Grand Commandant Qiao Xuan and the famous scholar Zhang Jian, right?"
Chang Lin nodded: "To you young scholars, these two people are ancient. But when I was young, I saw Qiao Xuan and Zhang Jian with my own eyes."
"Do you know what perseverance means?"
Sima Shi shook his head.
Chang Lin said: "When Mr. Qiao was young and served as a Gongcao in the county, he could take the initiative to recommend himself to the governor and use his position as Gongcao to determine the crime of the prime minister."
"Such a high-spirited young man, after four promotions, became the Prime Minister of Qi, but was punished to serve as a city guard for some reason. After three ups and downs, before his death, Mr. Qiao still received condolences from the Emperor Lingdi.
Sima Shi sat aside, his eyes narrowed as if he understood something.
Chang Lin asked again: "Ziyuan, do you know what it means to stay at a door?"
Sima Shi replied: "I have heard a little about this. Mr. Zhang Jian was pursued by the eunuchs and had to wander around, right?"
"More than just wandering?" Chang Lin said, "Zhang Jian is wanted by the eunuchs. No matter which scholar's family Zhang Jian flees to, even if his family will be destroyed, no scholar will refuse to accept Zhang Jian!"
"Everywhere Zhang Jian passed by, dozens of people were implicated! Kong Rong and Kong Wenju took Zhang Jian in, and their brother Kong Bao was killed by the eunuchs because of this."
"Looking for shelter, a family is fighting for justice!" Chang Lin looked at Sima Shi with slightly cloudy eyes: "That's what the Party Imprisonment Disaster was like back then, it destroyed the family in an instant. Now the court is just sending you back to your hometown to study at home for a few years, Ziyuan, what else is there to worry about!"
"Mr. Chang, I..."
Sima Shi was about to speak when he was stopped by Chang Lin.
Chang Lin said slowly: "Zhongda brought you here today, probably because he wanted me to tell you about these heroes of the past."
"Ziyuan, you must be as unyielding as Master Qiao Xuanqiao!"
Sima Yi also nodded and said: "Only when facing a great event and not being able to be taken away can one serve the world!" (End of this chapter)
