Chapter 18

"Mother, you know so many characters, you must have read books, right?" Liang Xiao cautiously said, "Let me guess, you must come from a noble family, a lady of high birth, and have received teachings from many great scholars since childhood..."

Liang Miao burst out laughing. "I know a few characters, but I can't say I've read many books. I've met a few talented men, but none of them were great scholars. As for my family background, though we weren't destitute, we can't be called a noble family. Xiao'er, if you're relying on your maternal family, you might be disappointed."

Liang Xiao smiled awkwardly. "Mother, what books have you read? Why don't you teach me?"

"I've taught you everything I know. If you don't want to learn, why blame me?" Liang Miao laughed. "You, my child, haven't learned any real skills, but you've already learned to be lazy. That's not the way a man should behave."

"Uh... Mother, I was just asking, it's not that serious. That... Even if it's not a noble family, there must be a name, right? Why have I never met anyone from your family?"

"Do you want to know about my maternal family?" Liang Miao stopped her work, her tone turning unfriendly. Liang Xiao pursed his lips, unsure whether to continue. He could tell that, just like she was unwilling to mention his father, she was also unwilling to talk about her maternal family.

"If Mother doesn't want to say, then I won't ask."

"It's not that I don't want to say, but the time isn't right." Liang Miao sighed. "Xiao'er, work hard. When you become a marquis or a general, Mother will tell you everything. Now is not the time; telling you would only bring shame."

"Bring shame?" Liang Xiao pondered these words, lost in thought. He looked at his mother, whose eyes were filled with melancholy, took a deep breath, and slowly exhaled. "Mother, don't worry. I'll work hard. When I return in glory, we'll see who dares to look down on you."

"Only then will you be my son." Liang Miao resumed her weaving. "Clang! Clang!" Each sound struck Liang Xiao's heart, and a long-forgotten feeling slowly awakened.

...

Liang Xiao had a restless night.

He dreamed of being back in his office from his previous life, flirting with the new receptionist; then he dreamed of being on Jin Kui Mountain, wrestling with Hu Lai in the trees; and then he dreamed of being on the battlefield, where flags flew wildly, arrows whizzed by, and the cries of battle shook the sky, with fierce enemies brandishing their swords, surging forward.

In a daze, the sound of war drums turned into the clanging of the loom, and the whistling of arrows became the friction of the shuttle passing through the fabric.

Liang Xiao sat up, drenched in cold sweat.

The western room was silent. To avoid disturbing his rest, Mother had finished her work half an hour early. However, her words, "bring shame," were deeply etched in his heart. No matter how strong Liang Miao was, she was still just a woman. If she hadn't faced unbearable humiliation, she wouldn't have taken a child and fled to a distant place, living in someone else's home.

Liang Xiao suspected that this had a lot to do with him. The root of Mother's humiliation was likely his birth out of wedlock. In the Han Dynasty, women's status was not low, and remarriage was common, but an out-of-wedlock child was hard to accept, especially in families of a certain status.

Eye for eye, tooth for tooth; the Han people did not like to endure humiliation. Returning in glory became Mother's greatest hope. To return in glory, Liang Xiao had only one path: to become a marquis or a general. He had a pair of strong arms, and military service was the most likely way for him to achieve success.

There was no other way.

The Han Dynasty followed the Qin system, where farming and warfare were the only missions for commoners. Farming could not lead to prominence, but warfare could bring merit, increase rank, and even confer a marquis title—though the chances were slim, it was still more realistic than becoming an official.

Emperor Gaozu had the White Horse Alliance: no merit, no marquis. This merit mainly referred to military achievements. Without military merit, even a prime minister could not be ennobled. The first prime minister to be ennobled was Gong Sun Hong, who might still be herding pigs in the East Sea. Even if Liang Miao had seen the world, she could not have known that in the near future, civil officials could also be ennobled.

However, even if he knew that civil officials could be ennobled, it would still be an unreachable dream for Liang Xiao. In this era, studying was not easy. There were few experts like Huan Jun, and even fewer great scholars. The entire Jiangdu Kingdom might not have a single great scholar, let alone a great Confucian.

Liang Xiao knew that Huan Jun was not a good person, but he could not abandon him. He was eager to learn, and he realized that to rise to prominence, he had to take this risk. He had no choice.

"Shang Yang, I curse your ancestors." For the first time in his two lives, Liang Xiao cursed Shang Yang, the founder of the Legalist school. There was no way around it; the policy of emphasizing agriculture and suppressing commerce, which Shang Yang initiated, meant that even if Liang Xiao's family had a thousand gold, they would still be lowly merchants, and the government could take their wealth whenever it wanted.

Thinking of Emperor Wu's Edict of Enfeoffment, Liang Xiao could only smile bitterly. Was the purpose of his life's struggle to be denounced?

I'm not that foolish. I want to be part of the ruling class, to be the one who eats the meat.

Liang Xiao couldn't sleep, so he got up and, without lighting a lamp, began practicing drawing the bow by the faint moonlight seeping through the door.

Once, twice.

Ten times, a hundred times.

In the darkness, Liang Xiao practiced tirelessly, as if sprinting on the bright road to ennoblement. Perhaps because there was no light, he could focus entirely on his body, or perhaps because he knew he had no other choice, he practiced with great dedication to fulfill his promise to Mother.

At some point, as Liang Xiao bent down and his fingers hooked the imaginary string again, he heard a light "snap" in his waist. A faint warmth spread from his lower back, circled his waist, and gathered below his navel, feeling warm and comfortable.

Liang Xiao was overjoyed but didn't let his excitement get the better of him. He savored this strange sensation.

Slowly, a tingling sensation began to rise along his spine, stopping at his back, gradually accumulating and slightly swelling.

Liang Xiao closed his eyes, slowly spread his arms, straightened his body, and once again assumed the posture of drawing a bow.

The warmth in his back split into two streams, flowing down his arms to his fingertips. Liang Xiao felt his fingers slightly swell and twitch. He took a deep breath, leaned back slightly, and his entire body became like a recurve bow, slowly tightening as if pulled by an invisible string.

A phrase suddenly popped into Liang Xiao's mind: "In walking, sitting, and lying, the body never leaves the bow."

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