Chapter 10

In the early morning, the seventh son, Biao, had already prostrated himself at the temple in Linqu Village, weeping as he recounted the story of how his family had been "bullied" by the Fifth Clan.

The elder sitting behind the desk was none other than the village chief, the First Liu. He had a lean face and a long, thin beard, exuding an air of authority. Holding a bamboo scroll in his hand, he did not even glance at the pitiful seventh son, Biao, and said,

"You two brothers are truly foolish. Although the Seventh and Sixth Clans are no longer within the five generations of kinship, you are still of the same lineage. Being accused of sibling strife damages the moral fabric, and the county magistrate naturally does not wish to see you embroiled in disputes. It is only right that you suffer this humiliation. You should remember this lesson."

The seventh son, Biao, bowed again, "We indeed acted rashly, but Chief, the crux of the matter is not whether our family is right or wrong, but why the Fifth Clan is interfering in this!"

"My brother and I were in a dispute with the Sixth Clan over water, and even the Chief did not say anything, yet the Fifth Clan insisted on getting involved."

"Moreover, after making peace with the Eighth Clan, they are now supporting the Sixth Clan. The Fifth Ba and his grandson have grand ambitions, aiming to challenge the First Clan's position as the leading family in the village!"

The First Liu only smiled, but did not respond, waving his hand to indicate that the seventh son, Biao, could leave.

The seventh son, Biao, did not dare to say more and left the temple with a heavy heart.

Once he was gone, the First Liu, who had been pretending to read, put down the scroll and began to pace the room, deep in thought.

The seventh son, Biao's words had indeed struck a chord with him.

As the descendants of King Tian Guang of Qi, the First Clan often considered themselves the leading family, with all others being their younger brothers.

Recently, the Fifth Clan had become more prominent, first making peace with the Eighth Clan and then intervening in the water dispute between the two villages. The Fifth Ba possessed martial prowess, while the Fifth Lun sought fame and glory. Could they really be challenging the First Clan's position in the lineage and the village?

But upon further reflection, the First Liu shook his head, "To become a prominent family in the village? The Fifth Clan is not yet qualified."

The economic, land, and population gaps between the Fifth, Seventh, and Fourth Clans and the First Clan, the village elite, were not significant. However, they were only considered "village elites" and had never caught up to the First Clan, and there was a reason for this.

Being a prominent family was not just about wealth; it also required lineage and scholarly tradition.

Prominent families often placed two pillars at the entrance of their homes, the left one called "Fang" and the right one called "Yue," symbolizing the official positions and achievements of their ancestors.

Of course, the King of Qi, Tian Rong, and Tian Guang from the Chu-Han Contention period did not count. Starting from the westward migration, the First Clan had produced a county magistrate, two county vice-magistrates, and a court official—though the latter was bought during Emperor Wu of Han's reign, it was still an official position.

In contrast, the highest-ranking official in the Fifth Clan's lineage was a village chief, and they did not even have the confidence to erect the Fang and Yue pillars at their entrance.

Scholarly tradition was the knowledge passed down through generations within a family. The Eighth Clan, through their efforts, had become known for their expertise in Confucian classics, following the path of the Imperial Academy students, though their studies were not outstanding and their teachers were not recognized by the leading Confucian scholars. This was the choice of most prominent families in Guanzhong.

The First Clan, however, was unique. They specialized in the "Great Du Law" from the Han dynasty, compiled by the Imperial Censor Du Zhou during Emperor Wu's reign, which allowed them to produce county magistrates and vice-magistrates.

In short, a family needed both hard and soft power to thrive; otherwise, it was easy to fall into decline after three generations.

Unfortunately, after the establishment of the Xin dynasty, the laws and regulations were changed, which dealt a significant blow to the First Clan. The First Liu only managed to become a village chief.

Although the family had declined, its foundation remained. They considered the village's key positions as their exclusive domain, and only they had the power to "dominate the village." They looked down on relatives like the Fifth Clan, who lacked lineage and scholarly tradition.

Due to this disdain, the First Liu did not heed the seventh son, Biao's provocations and did not overly fear the Fifth Clan. However, he felt that...

"Since last month, the Fifth Clan's young man has been overly active, which is not good for our family's lineage. It's time to give him a lesson and teach him the harshness of the world, restoring his humility as a junior branch."

Yesterday, the county sent a messenger to inform them that the Fifth Lun had been appointed as the new filial and obedient official in the village, and according to tradition, he would come to pay respects to the village chief and the elders today.

When the village assistant reported that the elders were discussing a banquet to welcome him, the First Liu said coolly, "The Fifth Lun is my junior, so there's no need to be so formal."

"Moreover, the village officials are not yet settled. If we set up a banquet for every arrival and departure, it would be too extravagant, which goes against the county magistrate's advocacy of simplicity. Let's skip this unnecessary reception today."

The village assistant was taken aback, but the chief spoke again.

"Also, when the filial and obedient official arrives, he should only pay respects to me and the elders. The rest should continue their duties and not come to greet him. The village's harvest this year is poor, and we should reflect on our shortcomings, so everything should be kept simple, without unnecessary formalities."

The village assistant understood that the chief intended to make things difficult for the Fifth Lun, to remind him of his place!

...

After preparing the welcome for the Fifth Lun, the First Liu returned to his desk, pretending to read the bamboo scrolls, but his mind was no longer on the laws and regulations. He was thinking about how to embarrass the Fifth Lun.

"The chief and the elders are senior officials, and the Fifth Lun, upon taking office, will certainly come to pay respects."

Although everyone used half-seals, there were still differences in rank, and the First Liu intended to exploit this.

The First Liu began to imagine the scene: when the Fifth Lun, wearing his half-seal, arrived at the village temple with the arrogance of having suppressed the Seventh Clan the previous day, he would expect a queue of people holding incense at the entrance, but the temple would be empty.

Once inside the temple, the village assistants, following the chief's instructions, would ignore him, passing by with their heads down, not even acknowledging his presence. The young Fifth Lun, only seventeen, would be bewildered, looking around and calling out, but no one would respond. In the end, he would have no choice but to come to the chief's courtyard and bow...

After that, the First Liu had more tricks up his sleeve to make the young man suffer. He would collude with the elders to assign the most troublesome and accumulated disputes to the new filial and obedient official, keeping him busy and unappreciated.

"You like to meddle, don't you? Let you meddle to your heart's content!"

If there were any issues that damaged the village's moral fabric, he would directly blame the Fifth Lun, making him come and go in disgrace.

"Chief? Chief?"

As someone knocked on the door, the First Liu's imagination was interrupted. He had fallen asleep on his desk and quickly sat up, wiping his mouth with his sleeve and clearing his throat to regain his composure. "Come in."

But his stern expression was in vain, as the person who entered was not the Fifth Lun but an assistant. He glanced at the marks on the First Liu's face from the bamboo scroll and suppressed a laugh, reporting that the meal was ready.

"What time is it?"

The First Liu was surprised to learn it was already the afternoon (15:00-17:00), and even more surprised to find out that the Fifth Lun had not yet reported for duty!

"Could he have guessed that I would deliberately make things difficult for him and decided to arrive during the afternoon to avoid awkwardness?"

How naive!

The First Liu immediately ordered the assistant to serve the meal quickly, planning to tell the cook that there was no more rice left and make the Fifth Lun handle the pile of documents on an empty stomach!

But even after the afternoon passed, the Fifth Lun still had not arrived.

The First Liu was increasingly displeased and, with soup still on his beard, said to the village elders, "To be so lazy on his second day in office, this Fifth Lun has quite a bit of authority!"

"Yes, yes," the elders and the village assistants agreed, showing their support for the chief.

The First Liu was secretly pleased. The Fifth Lun's rudeness would offend the officials and isolate him!

The Fifth Clan, indeed, lacked the foundation and was not a threat, not a threat at all.

Finally, as the sun was about to set, the Fifth Lun still had not appeared. Instead, the village patrol officer, who had returned from escorting criminals to the county, brought a piece of news.

"There's no need to wait for the new filial and obedient official. The county vice-magistrate has asked me to inform the chief that the Fifth Lun returned his half-seal yesterday and resigned, returning home!"

"What? You mean the Fifth Lun resigned before even taking office?"

The First Liu was completely taken aback. The county magistrate had only informed them that morning, so the village was unaware.

"That's right. Now, in the county, they call him the 'half-day filial and obedient official.'"

The village patrol officer, a rough man, did not understand the looks from the others and laughed, "The people of the county praise the Fifth Lun for his 'two yields and one resignation': yielding the pear, yielding the studies, and resigning from office. He truly regards fame and profit as worthless."

The others exchanged glances, and the First Liu was extremely embarrassed.

Since the Fifth Lun had resigned, all the preparations to make things difficult for him were for nothing!

But on the surface, the First Liu remained calm, saying, "If the new filial and obedient official finds our village temple too small and unwilling to humble himself, there's nothing we can do. Gentlemen, it's getting late. Except for the night duty assistants, everyone can go home."

Once everyone left, the First Liu returned to his room and immediately tore off his calm facade, trembling with anger. All the plans he had made to humiliate the Fifth Lun had been for nothing, and now he felt both ashamed and angry.

"Fifth young man, you have insulted me too much!"

Only someone who had been deeply disappointed could understand his feelings.

Unlike his earlier disdain, the First Liu was now serious, determined to teach the Fifth Lun a lesson for his arrogance and to suppress the arrogance of the Fifth Clan, making them realize who the true master of Linqu Village was!

The First Liu stroked his beard, thinking, "The county magistrate made an exception to appoint the Fifth Lun as the village filial and obedient official, but he did not appreciate it and resigned directly, which is very embarrassing for the county magistrate. I imagine Xian Yu Bao is also very angry. If someone with no connection to the Fifth Clan reports their illegal activities to the commandery with solid evidence, the county magistrate may not protect them."

The commandery's chief clerk was a relative of the First Clan.

Being well-versed in the law, the First Liu quickly devised a plan. He called his confidant, "Go, invite the head of the Fourth Clan!"

...

The Fifth Lun had no idea that he had missed a carefully planned workplace hazing.

He also did not know that he had stood up a person who had waited for him all day.

After a tiring day of travel the previous day, the Fifth Lun was extremely sleepy. Since the穿越 (穿越 means "穿越" in Chinese, which can be translated as "穿越" in English, but it is not a common English word. In this context, it refers to a穿越 (穿越) event, which is a common trope in Chinese literature where a character is transported to a different time or world. For the sake of clarity, I will translate it as "time travel" here.) time travel event, his body had become extremely sleepy, and he had a good rest at home today.

The Fifth Ba, concerned for his grandson, did not scold him for sleeping during the day, as their family did not follow the Confucian tradition of regarding daytime naps as a sign of laziness. No one woke him up.

He slept until the afternoon, then rubbed his eyes and joined the internal meeting of the Fifth Clan, which was discussing the renovation of the village shrine after the harvest.

Although still sleepy, the Fifth Lun did not neglect his duties. He had ideas in his mind and, using a stick, drew some sketches in the courtyard for the Fifth Ba, his cousins, uncles, and the craftsmen, looking every bit the capitalist.

"Since we have several days of leisure after the harvest and plenty of food, we should not be content with just renovating the village shrine!"

...

Meanwhile, Xian Yu Bao, who was somewhat displeased with the Fifth Lun's sudden resignation, received an order from the commandery.

The messenger was the commandery's literary clerk, Shi Wei, from the county of Yiyang.

Shi Wei, whose courtesy name was Sunqing, was in his thirties and had studied at the Imperial Academy in Chang'an. He had an ordinary appearance but a memorable voice, speaking in perfect classical Chinese with a loud and magnetic tone.

"County Magistrate Xian Yu, the commandery governor has summoned you!"

...

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