Chapter 37: Chengyuan Retreated to the Ruxi Village

　　Liu Chengyuan mused to himself, “The nation is riddled with treachery, a den of scheming knaves preying upon one another. The world of wandering swordsmen fares no better—bloodshed and vendettas stain the land. Would it not be wiser to settle here, to carve out a life of quiet contentment, far from the storms of ambition? What need do I to journey to Hengzhou now? In the end, Qian Yu is to be married regardless.”　　From that day forth, Liu Chengyuan made his home in Ruxi Village. By day, he joined the villagers in casting their nets upon the broad waters of Hong Lake; by evening, after supper, he would sit and listen as the village schoolmaster expounded upon the ancient Confucian texts—the Four Books and Five Classics, the wisdom of bygone sages echoing through the humble hall.　　The schoolmaster of Ruxi Village was a man of about forty years, his demeanour measured and refined. He wore a square scholar’s cap atop his head and a plain robe of coarse, undyed cloth. A neatly trimmed moustache framed his lips, lending him the air of a gentleman of letters. He introduced himself as a scholar who had failed the imperial examinations, though not for lack of learning. His surname was Duanmu, his given name simply Xiao. By blood, he was the thirty-fifth-generation descendant of Duanmu Ci—better known as Zigong, one of Confucius’s disciples. A native of Liuhe in Jiangnan, he bore his lineage with quiet dignity, content to impart the wisdom of the ancients to those who would listen.　　Duanmu Xiao possessed an unrivaled mastery of the Confucian classics, his knowledge so vast and profound that there seemed no passage beyond his understanding, no doctrine beyond his grasp. More than a mere scholar, he was a man of refined cultivation, versed in the arts of qin and chess, calligraphy and painting, as well as the six noble disciplines—ritual, music, archery, charioteering, literacy, and numeracy.　　In his youth, Liu Chengyuan studied the Four Books and Five Classics under his father’s guidance. Now, as he listened to Duanmu Xiao’s teachings each evening, those distant lessons stirred within him once more, awakening a sense of warmth and familiarity. He could not help but be reminded of his father, and the memories lent a quiet comfort to his heart. Seei