Chapter 19: Heavy Responsibility

  Mao Zong held the paper, humming a little tune, and went straight to the last courtyard. In the courtyard, there was a small fish pond, and Mao Zong's sister, Mao Qiang, was leaning on the railing of a small pavilion by the pool, with one hand holding a handful of wheat bran and the other hand picking up a bit and throwing it into the water, watching the fish in the water competing for food. Hearing Mao Zong's footsteps, she raised her head and glanced at him, then lowered her head again: "Back?"

  "Back again, here is the question." Mao Zong said loudly: "I have solved it, I'm afraid you'll say my handwriting is not good-looking, so I specially asked a classmate to copy it over." While saying this, he handed the half sheet of paper to Mao Jie's face.

  Mei didn't take it, tilted her head and glanced at it, secretly calculating in her heart. "Heh" she laughed: "Chengming, you're cheating me again, is this your solution or your classmate's?"

  Mao Zong said loudly with a hint of emptiness: "I knew you wouldn't believe me, but it doesn't matter. I just want to ask my heart without guilt, and I don't need your belief."

  "Hmph! Don't think I don't know about your little trick? The problem that I couldn't solve for two days, you just went out for a trip and solved it. If this isn't cheating, what is?"

  Mao Zong regretted in his heart, but refused to admit it. He just pouted and turned away, snatching some wheat bran from Mao Qiang's hand to feed the fish.

  "Moreover, this is still wrong." Ma Jie poured all the wheat bran in her palm into Mao Zong's hand and said lightly.

  "It's impossible." As soon as Mao Zongyi heard that it was wrong, he panicked and blurted out without thinking: "Liu Deren deceived me?" As soon as the words were spoken, he discovered the cunning smile on Mao Chan's face, and immediately understood that he had been tricked by his sister again. He got angry and shouted loudly, turning around to leave.

  She burst out laughing, clapped her hands, picked up the paper that Mao Zong had thrown aside and took a look. As she walked into the house, she muttered to herself: "Liu Deren? Is he that little kid who became Mr. Lu's bookkeeper as soon as he arrived? Indeed, his handwriting is excellent, and he solved the problem quickly too. He's a talented person, no wonder Chengming can be friends with him." As soon as she entered the door, she shouted loudly: "Achu, Achu, the solution to the problem has been found!"

  The door curtain was lifted, and the woman in yellow who Liu Xiu had seen by the Peach Brook came out from inside. Seeing Mao Jie's triumphant expression, she smiled with pursed lips: "You don't have to be so loud, I know you... figured it out."

  She emphasized the word "you" particularly heavily, and Mao Niang understood its meaning, but didn't mind. She laughed and said: "You shouldn't laugh at me either. There are few women like you who not only look stunning, but also know literature and math. I'm afraid ordinary men won't have the luck to marry you, and in the future, they can only send you to the palace."

  "Stop talking nonsense." Achu's face darkened, and he scolded Maoqiang before taking the half-page paper. His eyes lit up instantly, and he first praised: "Indeed good calligraphy." Then he glanced at those numbers again, nodding repeatedly: "It's indeed someone with quick wit, able to figure it out in this short moment, I've never seen anything like it before."

  "How about it, are you moved?" Mao Qiang joked: "I heard Ming say that this Liu Xiu is not good-looking, and can be compared to that White Horse Lang Jun, but his martial arts are too poor, except for a strong body, he can't even ride a horse."

  "What if I couldn't ride a horse and shoot arrows?" Ah Chu retorted, "Look at the current three dukes and nine ministers, how many of them are martial artists? As long as you master the classics, your career path will naturally be smooth, why do you need to know how to ride a horse and shoot arrows."

  "Moreover!" Ma Qiang's face fell as she curled her lip: "You're just like those Confucian scholars, looking down on us common folk."

  Achu saw Mao Jie getting angry, and hastily accompanied a smile: "Sister, I didn't mean it that way, it was my sister who misspoke, okay? My sister is apologizing to you here, please forgive me, don't hold it against me."

  Mao Yan couldn't help but smile, and reached out to pinch A Chu's cheek: "I see you're still lovely, how could I possibly hold a grudge against you? By the way, when are you planning to leave? If you don't go soon, you won't make it back before the snow falls."

  "Chengming said he wants to participate in this village drill, I think I'll wait until he's done before leaving, anyway it doesn't make a difference for these two days." Achu smiled and said: "Besides, it's rare to have the opportunity to be with Lu Jun such a great scholar, I still want to ask him more questions, how can I bear to leave now?"

  Mao Dang shook his head, his face somewhat serious: "Lu Jun can stay here for a few days, but he will eventually have to go to Luoyang. Wouldn't it be more convenient for you to ask him questions then? Even if he goes to Liaoxi and comes back later, it won't be too late. You don't know the weather in the north, once August arrives, it may snow, and the Xianbei people are getting restless, what if something unexpected happens? Leaving early and returning early is the right thing to do."

  Azhu thought for a moment and felt that there was some truth to it, so she didn't say anything else. She looked at the half-page paper in her hand and suddenly smiled: "Since this person is good at math, why not let Chengming ask him a few more questions? Who knows, maybe there will be unexpected joy."

  Mei laughed and poked An Chu's forehead with her hand: "You should have been born a boy, entered the Imperial Academy as a scholar, and brought glory to the Wang family. Now, even if you have great knowledge, you can only hide behind the curtains and teach your children, it's really a pity. No wonder my uncle always smiles and sighs when he mentions you."

  "You'd better not talk nonsense." Ah Chu said with embarrassment: "My brother is no worse, Grandfather named him Bin, which means a versatile talent in both literature and martial arts. The fortune teller said that although he didn't achieve anything in his early years, he would later enter the imperial court as an official."

  "I'm afraid I'll have to rely on your glory." Mao Jie smiled and said with a hint of longing: "Once you enter Luoyang, I suppose young and talented men will be knocking on your door, but I'll be pitied, stuck in this remote place, and can only marry some rustic man and live a disordered life."

  "It's not like that." Ah Chu saw Mao Jie's melancholy and softly advised: "Sister, a hero doesn't yield to eyebrows, in the future you will definitely have a good companion."

  "Good companion?" Maos wife let out a long sigh, and became even more depressed: "I don't have your looks or education, my temper is also wild, I can only wield a sword and dance with knives, I'm not suited for needlework, the four virtues of a woman I don't possess any of them. Families with a good background look down on me, families without a good background I look down on, now that I'm almost twenty, there isn't even one person who has come to propose marriage, what good companion can I still hope for? Alas, forget it, anyway they all think I'm a man, Ah-yong is old and frail, Chengming is still young, I'll just take on the responsibilities of being the young master of the estate for a few years first. The four Maos of Zhuo county, can't let Xi Mao decline in my hands."

  Achu was silent. The four Maos of Zhuoxian, with Xima as the leader, relied on Mao Jie and Mao Zong's uncle, Mao Kai, who had served as the Sima of Yiwu in the past, achieved military merit, and was enfeoffed as a Tinghou. Unfortunately, Mao Kai died in battle at Puli Hai later on, and didn't even have a son to inherit his title. Fortunately, the imperial court remembered his contributions and allowed his younger brother, Mao Jie's father Mao Qin, to succeed him. However, Mao Qin was an honest but useless person. When Mao Kai was serving as the Sima of Yiwu, he had served as the Outer Yellow Commander, but didn't have any political achievements. After Mao Kai died, he no longer had opportunities for promotion and could only return home to live in seclusion. After taking over as the leader of the Xima family, he also did nothing, and the strength of the Xima family declined day by day.

  This time, Lu Zhi resigned due to illness and returned to his hometown to recuperate. After her father received the news, he immediately asked her to hurry to Zhuo County, hoping that Xi Mao would seize this opportunity to invite Lu Zhi to Peach Valley to teach students. Lu Zhi was the most talented person in Zhuo Jun for nearly a hundred years, with a great reputation, and inviting him to Peach Valley to teach students had a huge impact on enhancing Xi Mao's prestige. Mao Qin was initially hesitant, but it was Mao Niang who strongly advocated for this matter. After Lu Zhi arrived at Peach Valley, almost all the dignitaries in Zhuo County came to pay their respects, and Xi Mao welcomed a rare and glorious scene that had not been seen in decades. The other three Mao families could only look up to them.

  However, they all knew that once Lu Zhi recovered from his illness, he would definitely leave Peach Valley again to resume his official duties. He brought an opportunity for the Western Mao family, but whether they could seize this opportunity and revive their family business depended on the ability of the Mao family themselves. Mao Qin was weak and incompetent, Mao Zong was young and ignorant, and the burden fell entirely on the shoulders of a single woman, Mao Yan.