Chapter 148 If Anything Happens to Him, All of You Will Die

"What is wrong with Grandfather?"

Kong Ne temporarily set aside the thought of settling scores with Zhang Yi, dropped him, and hurried over to Kong Fu's side.

"The master was frightened today and has fallen ill..."

Before Kong Fu could finish, Kong Ne was already sprinting toward the inner courtyard of the Kong residence at top speed. Seeing this, Zhang Yi followed closely behind.

The Mansion of the Duke Yansheng in Nanjing was massive, likely the former estate of some previous dynasty's official or wealthy landowner.

Judging solely by the scale of the estate, it seemed the current emperor held Kong Kejian in high favor.

Yet, perhaps because the mansion was so vast, the breeze blowing through felt somewhat chilly.

Kong Ne rushed straight to Kong Kejian's bedchamber and, as expected, saw a familiar imperial physician walking out from inside.

"Imperial Physician Li!"

At least on the surface, Zhu Yuanzhang extended the utmost courtesy to Kong Kejian, and this Physician Li was one of the doctors who frequently attended to him.

Kong Ne stepped forward and bowed respectfully.

"How is my grandfather?"

"He has merely caught a chill and will be fine for now... I have already prescribed some medicine. Have the servants brew it for him to drink later."

"But my grandfather was completely fine this morning..."

Kong Ne could not understand. He had only gone out on an errand with Zhang Yi; how had things come to this?

Physician Li did not answer his question, only shook his head and departed.

Shortly after, Kong Fu trotted back from behind, panting heavily.

"When the old master returned to the Daoist temple to fetch the master, Daoist Priest Deng said a thief had broken in. That must have been when the master received a fright..."

"What?"

Kong Ne and Zhang Yi cried out in unison.

"A thief broke into my Daoist temple?"

Zhang Yi's expression changed drastically.

Kong Fu nodded and recounted everything Daoist Priest Deng Zhongxiu had told him.

Hearing this, Zhang Yi wore a grave expression.

Living in seclusion within the Daoist temple for so long, he had overlooked the fact that the era he lived in was far from peaceful.

Incidents of murder and robbery were commonplace in this time.

As for home invasions and burglaries, they were equally routine.

The temple had never been targeted by thieves before simply because the dilapidated place offered nothing worth stealing.

Having lived there with Deng Zhongxiu for so long, Zhang Yi had forgotten about this hazard.

"Do not worry, Daoist Priest. Young Brother Deng told me that nothing much was stolen; the thief likely just broke in, realized someone was there, and fled immediately!"

Only then did Zhang Yi feel a slight sense of relief.

He possessed quite a few valuables inside. Having experienced this attempted burglary, it seemed he needed to reconsider his security.

"Although Senior Brother Deng is considered an adult in this era, he is essentially still just a half-grown youth! I am only a seven-year-old child; if a burglar really broke in, I would likely be in grave danger! It seems I cannot flash wealth so casually anymore. I must be mindful of this, and later I'll hire someone to raise the courtyard walls and prepare some weapons... It's just a pity I'm not a real Daoist priest and don't know any thunder magic. Should I make a crossbow?"

As soon as this thought crossed his mind, Zhang Yi shook his head.

Crossbows were illegal in feudal times, and he did not want to be slapped with charges of treason by the Longhu Mountain authorities one day.

"Or perhaps, make something terrifying!"

To change his vulnerable security status, the best option would be to move—to move into the city...

However, the Hongwu Emperor had banned Buddhist and Daoist practices, leaving Daoist priests with very little surviving space.

Zhang Yi's Daoist registry was held at the Qingxin Temple, so he could not leave even if he wanted to move.

That idea was merely a fantasy and impossible to realize.

As for other choices, they boiled down to enhancing defenses, hiring guards, and preparing some self-defense tools himself.

Hiring guards was ruled out immediately; bringing unfamiliar people into Qingxin Temple might just be inviting wolves into the house.

That left him with few options: raising the courtyard walls and equipping himself with self-defense measures.

"People in this world are quite skilled in martial arts. The servants Uncle Huang assigned to me last time had great combat abilities. Why did I forget? The Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties were the peak periods for the development of martial arts. If I could learn a thing or two for self-defense, that would be wonderful... It's just a pity I am still too young to practice martial arts. Should I have Senior Brother Deng trained instead? I'll ask Big Brother Huang later if his family's servants teach martial arts... Hmm, and I should devise some protective measures unique to Daoist priests. I'll get right on it..."

For his own safety, Zhang Yi was already pondering deeply.

"Zhang Yi?"

Lost in thought, he temporarily forgot his surroundings until Kong Ne finished visiting his grandfather and came over, waving a hand in front of his eyes.

"It's getting late today. It's no longer safe for you to leave the city and return to the temple! If you don't mind, why not spend the night here at the estate?"

Zhang Yi looked up and saw that day was fading.

Though it wasn't pitch black yet, it was too late to make the trip back.

"Living outside the city is inconvenient after all!"

He nodded and decided to stay.

"Just now, Uncle Fu also told me that Mr. Xu came to the temple. He said the palace has found out about us playing hooky. If we don't want to get caned, we have to go to school tomorrow!"

School?

Getting caned?

Hearing Kong Ne's words, Zhang Yi was not surprised at all.

Given Zhu Yuanzhang's penchant for meddling in everything, this matter was bound to come to light sooner or later.

He nodded helplessly. Fortunately, he had already produced allicin and did not need to spend massive amounts of time refining elixirs anytime soon.

Going to school while running a lucrative side hustle happened to align nicely.

"By the way, what was that matter you were telling me about earlier?"

After confirming that his grandfather was temporarily out of danger, Kong Ne finally had the mood to question Zhang Yi about it.

Zhang Yi chuckled, pulled Kong Ne aside, and said,

"This matter is actually related to mathematics being included in the imperial examinations..."

"Oh!"

Kong Ne sat down, ready to listen attentively.

"The current emperor has already issued an imperial decree; mathematics entering the imperial examinations is inevitable. Although the special examination hasn't been announced yet, now that the path is set, scholars across the realm should prepare for it! They are already intimately familiar with the Four Books and Five Classics through ten years of painstaking study. But mathematics—I reckon there won't be many people in the entire world who can claim mastery over it! Although the mathematics textbook I compiled is relatively accessible, in the absence of qualified instructors, mathematics will surely become a harrowing hurdle for scholars across the realm in the coming years. But their difficulty is our market, our pathway to wealth!"

"You want to use mathematics entering the imperial examinations to make money?"

"That's right! Where there is demand, people naturally emerge to solve that demand, but the people in the world who can solve this kind of demand can be counted on one hand! Therefore, this problem ought to be solved by the two of us! It doesn't matter if the textbook is hard to understand; we can publish supplementary study guides—explanations far more thorough and detailed than the textbooks. How considerate is that? Furthermore, to improve at mathematics, one needs to practice countless problems... I estimate that within a year, the imperial court won't even find a handful of teachers capable of drafting math problems, let alone creating exam questions! Just by selling these materials, we can make a fortune in broad daylight! And this is definitely not a small sum; it's big money!"

Hearing this, Kong Ne's face flushed red. As expected, not a single idea this fellow came up with was decent.

Having been tricked by Zhang Yi many times, he had grown a bit wiser. Whenever this guy used the word "we," he had better watch out.

"How can my Kong family engage in merchant-like behavior? I refuse to agree to this..."

"How can you call this merchant behavior? Can a scholar's affairs be called engaging in commerce? Isn't this just writing books and establishing theories? We simply compile some problems, put together a book, and have someone publish it. What's wrong with that? Once published, can those royalties be considered running a business? Do book publishers refuse to pay great Confucian scholars when they write books? Besides, aren't we doing this to relieve the suffering of the vast masses of scholars? We are saving people..."

His fallacies came one after another; how could Kong Ne possibly match him in debate?

Yet Kong Ne still felt something was amiss. Wasn't this clearly a business venture?

Scholars remained deeply resistant to turning knowledge into a commodity for sale, even though Kong Ne was destined never to achieve academic rank in his lifetime.

He asked, "Then why don't you do it yourself? Why drag me into it?"

Zhang Yi smiled without answering. If he could do it alone, of course he would have!

But he was a Daoist priest; who would read a book published by him?

Beginning in the late Yuan and early Ming dynasties, vernacular fiction became popular, forging the formidable combat strength of Ming dynasty booksellers.

The flourishing publishing industry also enabled bestsellers like *Journey to the West* and *Romance of the Three Kingdoms*, followed by imitative works like *Investiture of the Gods*.

Did the booksellers write these books themselves? Of course not!

They commissioned scholars to adapt and create them, which was somewhat akin to custom-written literature of later generations.

Writing was a means of livelihood for many scholars who failed to secure official posts, and it was also a way for them to use their pens to influence history.

Ever since the inclusion of mathematics in the imperial examinations was confirmed, Zhang Yi had set his sights on this industry.

The test-prep market would be a massive hundred-billion-scale market in later generations.

Though Ming dynasty scholars were fewer in number, the imperial examinations meant vastly more to a scholar than in later years.

Mathematics entering the exams served to slightly shake up the imperial examination landscape, giving many candidates who might otherwise have narrowly missed the cut a chance at landing on the merit roll.

The resulting demand was immense.

Yet Zhang Yi was virtually the only person in the Ming dynasty who could quickly satisfy their needs.

Once the math textbooks were distributed, lacking qualified instructors, scholars would have to rely on self-study—and expecting people to master mathematics through self-study alone was a pipe dream.

The imperial court would soon realize that students weren't the only ones lacking; they were short on teachers as well.

It was precisely during this period of confusion that the impact of supplementary study guides would be tremendous.

However, Zhang Yi could not enter the fray directly. Firstly, his identity made it difficult to gain scholars' trust immediately; secondly, even if he wanted to publish books, finding a cooperating publisher posed a major problem.

Initially, Zhang Yi thought of partnering with the Huang family father and son, but publishing books was not part of the Huang family's business.

The publishing trade had a high barrier to entry; distribution channels and connections could not be established overnight.

At least the Huang family, newly arrived in Yingtian Prefecture, lacked the foundation to set up such an operation.

Therefore, in the end, he still had to find a local snake to cooperate with, but Zhang Yi had not found a suitable candidate.

It wasn't until he met Chen Ke today that Zhang Yi solidified his preliminary plan.

Would Chen Ke give him the time of day? Cooperating with such a ruthless merchant meant Zhang Yi fell far short in stature, but Kong Ne was a different story.

Using the reputation of the Kong family and Kong Ne's identity could at least ensure Chen Ke would not cheat him on distribution channels and profit splits.

Once he grew familiar with the ropes, shedding other partners would not be difficult.

"Hehe, if I, a mere 'bookboy,' went to chat with Shopkeeper Chen, do you think he'd pay attention to me? Your identity as a young master of the Kong family is useful, and it's time you put it to use! Don't feel like I'm tricking you; if you play this right, it will only benefit the Kong family's reputation, doing no harm at all. It's not asking you to write *The Carnal Prayer*; it's just asking you to lend your name to some exam papers. Mathematics is one of the Six Arts of a gentleman established by your own ancestors, what are you afraid of?"

"But—"

"There are no buts. You always feel like I'm tricking you, but think carefully: when have I ever harmed you?"

Zhang Yi's single sentence left Kong Ne speechless. What he said sounded somewhat reasonable, too.

Stinking Daoist priest that he was, he had indeed tricked Kong Ne quite a bit, but had he ever actually harmed him?

Despite Kong Ne's outward disdain toward Zhang Yi, in reality, within this cold city, Zhang Yi was probably his only friend.

"Anyway, you just take responsibility for lending me your name, and I'll split the silver with you later... The two of us brothers will cooperate and strive to create a new Oriental of the Ming Dynasty!"

"What is the New Oriental?"

" Uh... it's just a really awesome school, that's all..."

"And *The Carnal Prayer*? What kind of book is that? I want to read it..."

"What is a little punk like you reading it for? Unsuitable for minors..."

"You're the punk! I'm older than you!"

"Benefactor, that's hardly certain..."

Zhang Yi cast a look of disdain, his gaze drifting downward.

Flustered and angry, Kong Ne moved to throw a punch. Though he didn't understand Zhang Yi's slang, he could feel the malice behind it.

Before they could exchange two sentences, the conversation devolved into a squabble once again.

Late into the night, their voices sounded distinct and clear in the silent darkness.

In the shadows, someone quietly took notes.

***

The next morning, early dawn.

The Emperor sat in the imperial study, his face cold as he stared at the person kneeling below.

"Gao Jianxian, how are you handling your duties?"

The "grand steward" of the Huang estate and new head of the imperial spy agency, Gao Jianxian, knelt prostrate on the ground, trembling with fear.

No one knew the cruelty of this sovereign better than he, who handled the emperor's dark affairs. A single misstep today would cost him his life.

The emperor's wrath was triggered by Qingxin Temple.

"I ordered you to monitor Qingxin Temple. While called surveillance, it was also meant for protection... Tell me, how did the thief get inside?"

Breaking out in a cold sweat, Gao Jianxian said loudly,

"Your Minister deserves death! I failed to fully grasp Your Majesty's intentions, so I only assigned men to watch the front gate. The thief must have scaled the wall from the back. Before reporting to Your Majesty, I already made adjustments! As of now, the entire Qingxin Temple is under heavy guard by my men. Whether front gate or back gate, I guarantee not even a fly will get in from now on... Spare my life, Your Majesty!"

Terrified that he spoke too slowly and Old Zhu would execute him, Gao Jianxian kowtowed frantically.

"There will not be a next time. If anything happens to him, you die! Get out!"

Old Zhu's command to get out sounded like divine music to Gao Jianxian's ears. He scrambled and crawled out of the imperial study, as if fearing that moving a second too slow would make the emperor change his mind.

Zhu Biao watched Gao Jianxian leave, then turned to look at the emperor's lingering fury, smiling faintly.

Hearing that Zhang Yi's place had been burglarized, he had been quite worried himself, though not nearly as furious as Old Zhu.

After all, the report had already stated that Zhang Yi was absent and suffered no losses.

His Imperial Father seemed... overly concerned.

"Father, it was merely a petty thief, please don't take it to heart. The man didn't take anything anyway. Actually, we should even be glad; at least his appearance reminded us to step up security for Young Brother Zhang! At least this won't happen again in the future!"

Zhu Yuanzhang stated,

"Zhang Yi cannot afford any mishaps; he is tied to the foundation of the state! If I weren't afraid of arousing that brat's suspicion, I would have summoned him back from that godforsaken place long ago!"

Zhu Biao smiled.

"If Young Brother Zhang really returned to the city, it probably wouldn't be convenient for Father to visit him. Even now, I notice he is gradually rubbing shoulders with the nobles in the city, and I'm afraid there will only be more interactions in the future! Our current disguise may not hold up much longer!"

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it!"

"Yes!"

Zhu Biao picked up the secret memorial Old Zhu had just tossed aside, glanced at it, and said,

"Young Brother Zhang seems ready to stir up trouble again..."

Zhu Yuanzhang took it back, read it, and laughed out of anger:

"When this fellow sent me the mathematics textbook, was he already plotting his grand scheme to get rich?"

Wicked anger flared in Old Zhu's chest. Damn it, he had nearly executed his trusted aide over here just because a petty thief broke into the kid's house.

And what about the kid? He actually wanted to capitalize on imperial policy to make money!

Making money was one thing, but dragging the Kong family scion into it as well?

Did this guy genuinely believe he wouldn't rest until he ruined the reputations of both major aristocratic families?

"If Father feels it's inappropriate, you can put a stop to it..."

Zhu Biao knew the emperor's pet peeve very well; Zhu Yuanzhang detested nothing more than abusing power for personal gain.

Although Zhang Yi was not a Ming dynasty official and could hardly be said to hold power, using the imperial examination reform to make money—under Zhu Yuanzhang—could be treated as either a major or minor infraction.

Old Zhu flatly rejected Zhu Biao's suggestion:

"No need. I am not petty enough to tolerate even this much from him. Since he likes to tinker, I'll watch him do it! If what he does benefits the imperial examinations themselves, let him make his money! But if he undermines fairness, I will never spare him lightly! Besides, every time this brat stirs up a small matter, it ends up turning into a big one! I also want to see if he can pull off a pleasant surprise for me!"

"Or a fright!"

Zhu Biao's comment earned him a glare from Zhu Yuanzhang, prompting a sheepish chuckle.

Having interacted with Zhang Yi for so long and frequently listening to his cynical rants, his own tongue had grown rather sharp.

He quickly changed the subject:

"Speaking of which, Young Brother Zhang and Kong Ne should be heading to school today! With his return, the Imperial Academy is bound to get very lively. Once Father forces all those nobles' scions to attend school, conflicts between Young Brother Zhang and them are practically guaranteed! Especially since that brat Chang Mao is currently there..."

Hearing this, Old Zhu wore a playful expression:

"Never mind him, let them kick up a fuss. As long as no one dies, it's fine. If Zhang Yi gets the worst of it, consider it a lesson so he stops acting like he fears nothing in heaven or earth! If those nobles' scions get beaten, consider it him helping me temper the descendants of our founding officials! I won't lose out either way!"

...

Zhang Yi had no idea that Old Zhu's calculations had already fallen upon him.

When he woke up in the morning, the Kong family servants had already brought washing water and towels.

Changed into the new clothes prepared by the Kong family under the servants' attentive care, Zhang Yi silently cursed the evils of the landlord class while secretly drooling over the luxury!

After taking care of all this, before leaving, he asked old Master Kong to arrange for someone to report safety back to the Daoist temple, then set off with Kong Ne toward the Imperial Academy.

Along the way, passing by the Huang family's drapery shop, Zhang Yi saw Gao Jianxian busy inside, and his lingering doubts dissipated somewhat.

"The Imperial Academy will probably be moving soon. At least I got to catch another glimpse of him before leaving!"

As Zhang Yi was talking with Kong Ne, the two arrived at the Imperial Academy and stepped down from the carriage.

And ran straight into an old acquaintance!

Chang Mao...