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Giving others the room to manoeuvre, means always giving oneself the room to manoeuvre.
Zhao Shenhai’s face turned dark: Zhao Jin, don’t spout off nonsense!”
Zhao Jin suppressed his anger and forced out a smile: “Zongbo, I didn’t make that up, according to our clan rules, a concubine-born son is not allowed to participate in the ancestral worship ceremony.”
He had already waited for a long time and was already feeling a little fed up, then hearing the Clan Leader say that, his heart was filled with fury, almost boiling over. It was just that Zhao Jin also understood very well, that this person was the Clan Leader —— Not only was he still only a juren, even if he had earned Zhuangyuan, in front of the Clan Leader, he would still have to show some form of respect.
Zhao Shenhai was so angered by his comment that his nose almost became crooked1. Of course, this was clearly stated in clan rules, however the person involved was a fifth-rank official, and the teacher to the princely heir – he had boundless future prospects. There was no way that Zhao Shenhai would not invite this kind of important person to take part in the ancestral worship ceremony. Customs and rules were determined by people, so naturally they could also be changed to fit with the circumstances, but Zhao Jin was not amenable to reason to unexpectedly bring this up.
Zhao Shenyu coughed: “Zi-Ke2, you can’t say things like that, and anyway he’s your brother and an official of the imperial court, you cannot be so disrespectful.”
Zhao Jin sneered quietly: “Zu-bo3, I remember back then that older brother wasn’t even able to enter the clan school, and was forced to listen sneakily from outside the school walls, and was even berated by you at that time. How come you’ve changed your tune now?”
Zhao Shenyu’s face showed a hint of embarrassment, he groaned, he flapped the sleeves of his robes and didn’t make another sound.
Everyone had been quiet listening to their conversation, Zhao Shenhai was a bit annoyed, and was about to say something but then he heard someone dashing in from outside and shouting loudly: “Laoye, Zhao da-ren has arrived at the city gates!”
“Good, good!” Zhao Shenhai was delighted, “Send people to welcome him and bring him here, tell him that the ancestral worship ceremony is waiting for him to start….. Nevermind, I will go personally!”
The last comment surprised everyone immensely, this was one of the few times that they had seen Zhao Shenhai take a matter so seriously.
At the same moment, at the city gates.
“Take part in the ancestral worship ceremony?” Zhao Su’s eyebrows twitched ever so slightly, he was a little surprised at this.
He had seen the Emperor, was working at the Hanlin Academy, and had frequent exchanges with the Prince of Yu, Gao Gong, Xu Jie and all these other kinds of important figures of the Great Ming. He often interacted with those high-ranking officials of the first and second rank, so he didn’t think that his own little official position could be considered as much, and he never thought of coming back home to brag, so he couldn’t believe that the Clan Leader had sent someone to come and get him.
“I remember that concubine-born sons are not allowed to enter the ancestral temple nor participate in the ancestral worship ceremony.”
That servant was brimming with smiles, and approached to lead his horse: “This is what my laoye specifically ordered that this servant must wait for da-ren here! And he ordered this servant to tell you that, this servant has really never seen a concubine-born son of the Zhao family that has had such an honour!”
Honour?
Zhao Su seemed to smile but not smile, then he pulled on the reins to move the horse’s away from the reach of that servant.
“Tell your master that he doesn’t need to wait for me, the clan rules still exist, Zhao Su doesn’t not dare to make him break the rules for me, I’m unable to accept such an honour.”
And then he turned to He Zizhong and Zhao Ji and said: “Let’s go, we’ll head home.”
“Hey, da-ren, da-ren please wait!” That servant was incredibly nervous, “Please don’t leave, the others are waiting for you!”
It was just at this moment that a small palanquin appeared, the servants carrying the palanquin quickened their pace and in a blink of an eye, they had arrived in front of Zhao Su and the others.
The curtain covering the front of the palanquin was lifted and Zhao Shenhai came out, full of smiles, he cupped his hands together: “This commoner pays his respects to Zhao da-ren.”
The Clan Leader who had personally come to welcome him which was indeed given him several degrees of face4.
Zhao Su got down from his horse, to help him up, and feigned surprise: “Shaoyong is of lowly status, how could I trouble Zongbo to come over personally?”
Zhao Shenhai forced a smile: “Shaoyong, you flatter me, the rest of the clan are waiting for you at the ancestral temple, this time could you look kindly upon me and give me some face5!”
Giving others the room to manoeuvre, meant always giving oneself the room to manoeuvre. Zhao Su knew that at first, the Zhao clan had always spoken to himself and his mother in a strict and severe way, but they had never kicked them whilst they were down, this was already a favour in itself. In this era, the clan was a foundation that each member relied on to survive. In some more remote areas, the word of the clansmen could be even more significant than the orders of the government. Even if one was not happy with their clan, one still had to maintain a superficial relationship with the clan, otherwise, if one was to have a falling out with the clan, even if one was a first-rank official, the clan could still gain a handle6 on them and provoke castigation.
Since, the Clan Leader was extending him this olive branch, he would not continue to put on any airs, Zhao Su smiled and held Zhao Shenhai’s hand: “If Zongbo demands it, how could I not obey. Although I am an official of the imperial court, in the end, my surname is still Zhao, this is just a formality for Zongbo!”
Zhao Shenhai laughed: “Ok, let’s head off then.”
Zhao Su nodded, and turned around to look at He Zizhong and Zhao Ji: “You don’t know how to get home, you can follow us to the ancestral temple.”
The two of them naturally agreed.
Clan Leader fu-ren raised her head and looked longingly for a while, and finally saw Zhao Shenhai and Zhao Su arriving walking in sync, talking and laughing together, they seemed to be very friendly.
Zhao Shenyu perked up and went over there to welcome them with a smile, behind him were quite a few of the other clansmen. The old retired official, Zhao Xiyi did not get up, and some others also stayed in their place. Zhao Jin’s face instantly turned ugly, he stared at Zhao Su with contempt in his eyes, as well as hate and jealousy, unwillingness to accept and all other types of complicated emotions. There were quite a few others who shared his sentiments, and the majority of those being the Zhao family’s younger generation.
They were all from different bloodlines within the Zhao Clan, and on a day to day basis, they were used to competing and comparing themselves with one another, but in front of Zhao Su, their reaction was almost identical.
A concubine-born son and an unofficial one at that, who was able to overturn his luck overnight, to become a court official that even the Clan Leader had to fawn over.
It wasn’t just the fact that he was a fifth-rank official, it was also the fact that there had not been any other officials in the clan over the last few years, and Zhao Xiyi had just retired from his post. So now it was Zhao Su’s turn to be arrogant, befitting of the phrase: Without a tiger, the monkey will proclaim himself the king7 —— This is what most of the youths who were present thought about Zhao Su. They had already heard from their family elders about Zhao Su’s official position and his background, and had been nagged incessantly to follow in his steed, so they were no less pleased than Zhao Jin to see him there.
It was just that Zhao Jin showed his displeasure much more evidently.
Zhao Su went up to the elders of the Zhao clan 一一 to pay his respect.
Although Zhao Shenhai was standing on the sidelines, he had a clear view of everything, and was able to see everyone’s facial expressions with a glance, as well as watching Zhao Su chatting cheerfully, with a gentle and cultivated manner. He couldn’t help but sigh inwardly, thinking to himself that the future of this clan relied entirely on this young Tanhua.
The ritual offerings and goods had long been prepared, after Zhao Shenhai finished reading from the ancestral book, he lit a stick of incense, and then the rest of the clan, according to their order of seniority, kowtowed and went up to pay their respects. Although Zhao Su had an official position, he did not hold himself in higher regard and went to line up with his own generation which included Zhao Jin, which made the elders see him in an even more pleasant light.
He was not domineering, did not want to be the centre of attention, and did not boast about his talents, who else had this kind of resolution amongst the youths of this clan? If one was to compare him with his younger brother, the relative superiority was immediately evident.
The ceremony ended, originally everyone should have left to go home and prepare for the evening Lunar New Year banquet, however, they heard Zhao Shenhai say: “Don’t rush to leave, this time, I have something I’d like to announce.”
He paused and then continued: “A few hundred years ago, the Zhao Clan migrated and settled here, gradually increasing in our numbers since then. Thanks to a blessing from our ancestors, our adult heirs are prosperous and numerous. However, there is something else I’d like to say, let’s just use the example of the Chen family of Changle8, compared to them we are still weaker, it is said that in the Chen clan, they treat their first wives and their concubines equally, so even if one of them is concubine-born, they will still have great success. To this end, I believe that our clan rules need to be changed: From now on, even if one is concubine-born, if one is able to prove oneself as exceptional then one is allowed to enter the ancestral temple.”
He had barely finished when before him there was an uproar.
“We can’t just change the clan rules just because we want to! Plus, since ancient times, there has always been a clear divide between legitimate-born and concubine-born sons. This is a custom passed down through thousands of years. Could it be that Zongbo wants to throw out the family customs made by the ancestors?” Someone immediately called into question what he had said, this person was Zhao Yun, one of the sons born from the direct line of succession, his paternal grandfather had been the Clan Leader, and had also been Zhao Shenhai’s cousin9, so he was entitled to speaking out.
Zhao Jin coldly added: “Zongbo, cousin is right, you uphold and represent our clan’s reputation, so you cannot be taken in by others. To enter into the ancestral temple is a very important matter, what does being exceptional have to do with it?”
The others also added their opinions.
Zhao Shenhai had a headache from all the quarreling, and couldn’t resist glancing over at Zhao Su, but saw him standing there, staring up at the sky, not a care in the world as if this didn’t affect him at all.
To all concubine-born sons under the heavens, to be able to enter the ancestral temple and to have acknowledgement, was the greatest honour, but Zhao Su didn’t seem to care at all about this rule.
“Worthy nephew10, what do you think?” Zhao Shenhai smiled and asked him, not allowing him to stay out of it so easily.
The noise seemed to suddenly die down, and everyone stared at him, all the burning gazes upon his body.
“Huh?” Zhao Su seemed like he’d just come back to his senses, he looked utterly puzzled. “Think about what?”
Zhao Shenhai’s mouth twitched, he then repeated what he said before.
Zhao Su said “oh” and then helplessly added: “Su is only a concubine-born son and does not dare to state my opinion, I’ll listen to the view of everyone else.”
What a slippery little fox! Zhao Shenhai secretly cursed, he was forced to take out his trump card, he sighed loudly: “I have already discussed this matter with all the venerable elders of the clan, they have no objections, if you have any issues with this, then you can all go home and ask your elders.”
He was truly thinking of the future of the clan; he had once made a mistake, passing up on Zhao Su in the past. Now he regretted it so much his intestines were blue11. His only option was to find a way to remedy this. Changing the clan rules was not only for the sake of Zhao Su, but it was also for the development of the Zhao family. If they were hidebound by convention then sooner or later the clan would deteriorate, and if ever, there was an appearance of another youth like Zhao Su, this one would be devoted to the Zhao family.
At this moment, Zhao Xiyi who had been left in the corner couldn’t help expressing his opinion: “The Chen clan were able to flourish, not only lies in their strict family rules, teaching by words and examples, but also it lies in the fact that they educate their legitimate-born and concubine-born sons equally. Apparently, even the girls are also educated from a young age. If the Zhao clan wishes to grow stronger, then we must abandon old misgivings. Looking at the Great Ming, there are many jinshi who were concubine-born, if the news of our Zhao family still blindly ousting concubine-born sons got out, wouldn’t that make us the biggest laughing stocks. Moreover, if we really do have some concubine-born youths who are outstanding, it is also a glory for our clan, and we shouldn’t lose out to others just for this, don’t you all think?”
After expressing his reasoning, everyone carefully pondered over it and thought that it did make sense, and didn’t seem to be so against it anymore.
Zhao Shenyu and the others also added their opinions, seemingly supporting the Clan Leader’s decision.
So the clan rule was changed just like that, Zhao Jin was livid but was helpless to do anything.
Originally, if things ended here, it would have been fine. Zhao Su hadn’t intended on becoming the centre of attention. He was getting ready to go home for the Lunar New Year’s Eve dinner, and that was also the place where he could really get some rest.
However, Zhao Jin didn’t want things to end so quickly.
He ran up to Zhao Su, put on a fake smile and cupped his hands together: “Hello xiong-zhang!”
And then continued: “I heard that your mother is sorting out your engagement, I wonder which family’s daughter would accept the proposal after discovering your mother is a lowly concubine?”
Zhao Su looked at him, neither happy nor angry: “Although you have passed the provincial exam, you don’t have an official position. Standing before me, shouldn’t you pay your respects first?”
Zhao Jin seemed like he knew Zhao Su would say this and arrogantly replied: “According to the law, juren don’t need to bow before officials.”
You’re the one looking for trouble, so don’t blame me for this.
Zhao Su slowly took out an object from his sleeve, and put it in front of him: “And if you see this?”
Author Note:
I got too excited writing this chapter but I originally wanted the steamed bun to make an appearance but it’s been pushed back to the next chapter.