Chapter 2: Xingzhi Temple (2)
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Speaking of this marriage, when Lin Zikui’s father arranged it for him, Lin Zikui was only fourteen years old, still innocent and clueless about the matter of marriage.
At that time, Lin Zikui was solely focused on studying the classics. He began studying scriptures at the age of three, showing extraordinary talent. By the age of seven, he could write essays fluently, and at nine, he ranked first in the county school. At the tender age of fourteen, he even topped the local exam in Huainan and became the top scholar!
Such talent at that age was truly extraordinary!
Unfortunately, he suffered from eye disease. The following spring, during the provincial exam, Lin Zikui’s eyes suddenly began to ache unbearably. Although he was well-versed in the exam content, he couldn’t put pen to paper.
He failed the exam, feeling ashamed to become a Shangshu’s student. Dejected, he returned to Fengtai County.
Note: Shangshu is a official position, which is also called Chief Steward for writing.
At that time, Lord Xiao was only a minor official of the seventh rank. By chance, he handled a major case that caught the attention of a noble, leading his family to move to Jinling.
Lin Zikui remained in Fengtai County, studying hard. His vision continued to blur, making it necessary for him to get close to recognize characters. The physician forbade him from straining his eyes, preventing him from studying all the time.
Thus, his mind started to wander.
Second Young Miss Xiao was three years older than him.
Lin Zikui didn’t know her name or her appearance, but he had imagined what she might look like and what her personality might be like. She was his betrothed, yet he had never met her. What could she possibly look like? What kind of person could she be?
As his eye condition persisted, his father took him to see various famous physicians. Last winter, his father suddenly fell ill and passed away.
Lin Zikui cried until his eyes were swollen and remained in a daze for months. When he was cleaning up the old belongings in his home this year, he found the dusty marriage document, preserved meticulously.
In August, when the autumn exams results were announced, the neighborhood erupted into celebration with drums and gongs. Lin Zikui was listening to his attendant read when someone passing by his door called him “Graduate Lin.”
Shortly after, Lin Zikui took Mo Liu and headed to Jinling.
Upon arriving at the Xingzhi Temple, Lin Zikui first bowed to the God of Literature in the main hall. He felt ashamed when he saw his unkempt appearance.
Then, the master and attendant were led by the young Taoist priest to a secluded guest hall.
A plaque hung at the entrance of the guest hall, engraved with the words “Hall of Purifying the Heart.” Entering a small courtyard, there were two rooms, inner and outer, with bamboo curtains and elm wood tables under the eaves. The sunlight filtered through the ancient wooden table, rippling like water, and the fragrance of sandalwood wafted through the air.
The Taoist spoke warmly: “This is a guest hall specially prepared for scholars preparing for exams. If you stay for a few days, the Xingzhi Temple won’t charge for lodging. You can have three meals a day with the Taoists. The guest hall is rarely visited by scholars nowadays. Benefactor Lin, for you and your companion, one adult and one child, it’s twenty wens per day.”
It was indeed affordable!
Lin Zikui took out some money from his sleeve, thinking that if he and the Xiao family’s young lady called off the marriage, it wouldn’t be suitable to stay here. But… perhaps the Young Miss Xiao wouldn’t take kindly to him and would return to Jinling?
That possibility seemed likely.
Lin Zikui decided to stay for a while, but he couldn’t predict what might happen in the future. He paid two hundred wens in advance: “My attendant and I will stay for a few days. I’m grateful to you, Taoist. May I ask how should I address you?”
“No need to be polite. I am Ling Yuan.”
Lin Zikui looked around and could barely make out all the furnishings. There was no bath in the guest hall, but there was a worn-out bamboo screen.
He hesitated and asked, “May I ask, Taoist Ling Yuan, is there a bathtub in the guest hall? And where can I get hot water? I got my clothes dirty when I came up the mountain and need to freshen up a bit. Tomorrow morning, I have to pay respect the abbot.”
Taoist Ling Yuan: “Benefactor Lin arrived in a hurry, and these things have not been prepared yet. Today, the temple is busy, and a distinguished guest is staying in the eastern guest hall. Later, I will send some items for Benefactor Lin’s use. If Benefactor Lin is in a hurry to bathe, you can go to the back mountain, where there are several warm springs.”
Hearing this, Mo Liu leaned in close to Lin Zikui’s ear and said, “Young Master, I saw orange trees on the back mountain. Let’s go there!”
“Alright… Thank you, Taoist Ling Yuan.”
Lin Zikui put down his book, carefully took out his writing materials, and placed the book on the table.
Before long, Taoist Ling Yuan brought clean bedding, bamboo mats, two clean gray Taoist robes, and some food. Lin Zikui thanked him repeatedly.
He was gentle, frugal, and had a good temper, seemingly allowing anyone to take advantage of him.
After Ling Yuan left and it was just past noon, Mo Liu felt sleepy, but he remembered the oranges. Lin Zikui wanted to bathe. “With this appearance, not to mention paying respects to the God of Literature, it’s too sloppy even to visit the Second Young Miss.”
Mo Liu fought off his drowsiness and yawned, picking up some medicine. “Let’s go, Young Master. We’ll go to the back mountain.”
There were several paths on the back mountain, less traveled than those in the front, but not as easy to walk on.
Following the sound of flowing water, Lin Zikui ascended the steps, while Mo Liu picked oranges along the way, eating as he walked. When he saw a small shrine dedicated to the village deity by the roadside, he asked his young master to pay his respects.
Two of them walked for an incense stick and a half time, finally seeing a hot spring bubbling with steam, hidden behind a row of lush bamboo.
Lin Zikui reached out and felt the water. It was warm but not hot enough to scald.
Mo Liu took out a medicine packet. “Young Master, let’s apply the medicine.”
The thin packet, prescribed by the physician for Lin Zikui, was meant for both internal and external use. The medicine packet was to be applied to his eyelids and removed after two hours.
“The physician said that during bathing, the steam helps the medicine absorb faster,” Mo Liu said as he efficiently wrapped a black cloth around Lin Zikui’s eyes, covering them completely.
Mo Liu sat on a rock behind, yawning, holding oranges.
As darkness enveloped him, Lin Zikui said, “Mo Liu, your clothes are dirty too. Aren’t you going to wash them?”
“It’s okay for me. Young Master, you go ahead and bathe,” Mo Liu thought to himself. He wasn’t as concerned about cleanliness as his young master, and besides, Lin Zikui was shy and preferred to bathe alone without anyone around.
Lin Zikui could only comply. Though his eyes were covered, rendering him completely blind, his senses were still intact. He removed his clothes layer by layer until he was exposed to the air, feeling the cool breeze against his skin.
He let out a soft sigh, squatting down like a blind man, slowly lowering himself into the water. One foot touched the bottom of the pool, then the other, until he gradually submerged himself in the slightly warm spring water, feeling it rise over his waist, abdomen, chest…
Only his white collarbone and smooth shoulders remained above the water.
The delicate scholar Lin Zikui was unaware that on the other side of the spring, there was a martial artist Lord Marquis Dingbei, leisurely watching as he stripped down until there was nothing left but water, motionless and silent.
With eyes as captivating as peach blossoms and a naturally charming smile, Marquis Dingbei was rarely described as approachable.
As he gazed at Lin Zikui, his eyes moved inch by inch from the exposed lower half of his face to the faint outline underwater.
This blind man couldn’t see him at all.
Marquis Dingbei leaned lazily against the stone wall, propping his chin with one hand as he observed him.
Exhausted from the journey, Lin Zikui also yawned, leaning his head against a cool stone. Over the past three years of blindness, he had grown accustomed to it and was no longer as awkward as he was at the beginning. The scent of herbs filled the air, and Lin Zikui spoke up, “Mo Liu?”
“Young Master… ah, what’s wrong?”
“Nothing, just wondering if you accidentally fell asleep. We’ve traveled from Jinling, enduring hardships along the way. You’re still so young, yet you’ve suffered with me. I feel guilty about it. In the spring imperial examination next year, I will definitely become a successful candidate… Then, you won’t have to endure hardships anymore.”
Talking about the imperial examination seemed to invigorate Mo Liu.
“Following Young Master is Mo Liu’s fortune! Young Master taught me to read, educated me, gave me my name, and even brought me from Fengtai County to Jinling. My parents passed away early. Young Master is like a father to me!”
“…”
Lin Zikui sighed, “Mo Liu, I’m only four or five years older than you. How could I give birth to a big child like you?”
“Bah, bah, I misspoke. Young Master, you’re like an older brother to me. But if you and Second Young Miss Xiao become betrothed in the future, there’ll soon be little ones.”
Lin Zikui shook his head, “The marriage with Second Young Miss Xiao won’t happen.”
“Why not? If next spring, you pass the imperial exams, impress His Majesty in the palace exam, and are ranked at the top, receiving an official appointment in the Imperial Cabinet! When Lord Xiao, the minister of the Ministry of Revenue, sees you, won’t he regret it? He’ll definitely come personally to escort you and Second Young Miss Xiao to your wedding.”
“Don’t talk nonsense.”
“I know, Young Master, I remember what you said. But out here in the wilderness, away from Jinling, Mo Liu isn’t talking nonsense. Isn’t Lord Xiao just looking down on people….”
Lin Zikui shook his head, “Firstly, passing the imperial exams is as difficult as ascending to the heavens, not as easy as you think.”
“But Young Master, you could read at the age of three, write poetry at seven, and top the local exams at fourteen. As the saying goes, ‘A gold in the local exams, silver in the imperial exams.’ If it weren’t for your sudden eye ailment three years ago, you would have topped the local exams three years ago!”
Ignoring Mo Liu’s comments, Lin Zikui continued, “Secondly, I’ve never met Second Young Miss Xiao, and we have no emotional connection. I came to the Xingzhi Temple to meet her because I couldn’t see Lord Xiao and wanted to be open and clear with Second Young Miss Xiao about this marriage. Others may say I’m trying to climb the social ladder, but that’s not my intention. If she wishes to annul the engagement, I’ll tear up the marriage document and never mention it again. This old matter is unknown to anyone, so it won’t tarnish her reputation.”
Mo Liu suddenly understood, “That’s right. Second Young Miss is three years older than Young Master. In the future, when our Young Master becomes the top scorer in the imperial examination and catches the eye of the princess, he’ll become a royal son-in-law… As for this marriage, if it’s off, then it’s off! We don’t care!”
With the steam filling the air, Lin Zikui felt the water temperature rising and the medicinal properties spreading, steaming his eyes with heat.
Lin Zikui lifted his body slightly, his reddened chest emerging from the water, and joked, “The little one is wise beyond his years. I don’t care to be a son-in-law of the Xiao family, nor do I care to be a royal son-in-law.”
When he smiled, a small dimple appeared on his left cheek, adding a touch of charm to his elegant and refined demeanor.
The attendant asked again, “Then what does Young Master want to be?”
“A great man should support the world and help the weak! Although the world is peaceful, the current emperor is tyrannical and ignores people’s grievances. It’s really…” Lin Zikui’s voice trailed off slowly.
Even Mo Liu couldn’t hear clearly and asked, “What did Master say?”
“Nothing.” But to those who heard, it sounded like a death sentence.
As bamboo leaves drifted down onto his hair, Lin Zikui reached up and plucked two leaves. Sensing there might be more, he turned his head and submerged his hair in the water.
In the haze, he seemed to feel a pair of eyes fixed on him.
But he had just looked around, and there was no one there.
It must have been his imagination, he didn’t pay it much mind.
But the gaze became more intense, too intense to ignore! With the sound of flowing water, Lin Zikui felt uneasy. Coupled with the dizziness from soaking too long, he quickly scrambled to his feet and said, “Mo Liu, I need to get dressed. Don’t look at me.”
Turning his back, Lin Zikui still had droplets of water clinging to him, beads trickling down his spine and the curves of his waist and hips. With legs bent and completely nude, he stooped to pick up the clean clothes stacked on the rocks.
But being blindfolded, he fumbled with the clothes, struggling to put them on correctly. Mo Liu offered to help, but Lin Zikui refused, “Turn away. Don’t look at me. I may be blind, but I’m not crippled.”
The word “blind” was emphasized deliberately.
Although Lin Zikui had a good temperament, he could be stubborn at times. Mo Liu was his attendant, not his servant. Dressing himself was not something he should let Mo Liu do.
“Okay.” Mo Liu thought he was just shy and stole a glance. He thought to himself, Young Master’s skin is remarkably fair. He spends all his time reading at home, and except for calluses on his fingertips, his skin is as smooth as jade.
No wonder those scholars at the academy secretly called him a beauty.
After putting on his clothes, Lin Zikui leaned on Mo Liu’s shoulder and walked quite a distance before lowering his voice and asking, “Just now, did you see anyone else in the spring?”
Mo Liu widened his eyes, “I looked just now, there was no one!”
Lin Zikui’s expression slightly hardened, “Did you look carefully?”
“I…” Mo Liu shook his head, “I didn’t look carefully… Did Young Master notice someone?”
“It seems like there’s someone… That’s why I stopped you from looking just now,” even after bathing, Lin Zikui’s voice was loud to warn.
Mo Liu’s whole body bristled, “Then why didn’t Young Master make a sound? Is it a man or a woman?”
“I don’t know. If it’s a woman… she would scream upon seeing a man. Perhaps she saw a blind man like me and didn’t dare to make a sound, pretending not to be there. But if it’s a man…” Lin Zikui began to be puzzled, “then why would he keep staring at me?”
Mo Liu: “Needless to say, he’s a creep!”
Author’s note:
ps: At the age of fourteen, passing the county-level exams, at eighteen, passing the provincial-level exams. I looked through the Ming Dynasty history and found a case: Zhao Shichun, who topped the provincial-level exams in the spring exam of the fifth year of Jiajing’s reign, ranking third in the palace exam.
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Thank you so much for the chapter!!! I’m really enjoying it so far