Chapter 47

Once the elders had all cleared out and left her alone with the powerful fire cultivation expert, the man underwent a sudden change. He simply relaxed, but she could feel some sort of difference in him. He was friendlier, and less uptight.

“It’s annoying, having so many stuck-up elders staring at you, trying to figure out all of the angles when the only angles you really care about are the ones you’ve already explicitly stated,” Renton Shen said to her, his voice congenial and cheerful. “Tell me, have you begun reading the treatise that the emperor recommended for you?”

“I have,” she said. “I read the first two sections in one sitting, and stopped where the book told me to. Since then I have been going back and forth as the wisdom of the ancients calls to me, reviewing what insights the author imparted and,” she blushed as the comparison came to her, “chewing at them like a piece of jerky that’s particularly hard to digest.”

He laughed. “That’s a good one. Yeah, it’s frustrating when the wisdom is all tied up in fancy words and hidden behind layers of meaning. Do you know why we elders don’t simply explain our wisdom in terms that our juniors can understand?”

“You want us to think it through and come to the realizations on our own,” she said immediately.

“And who told you that?”

“My mother.”

“Who told her that?”

“I’m not certain, one of her teachers,” Kora answered.

“Ever wondered why that tradition is okay to explicitly state, but ‘oh yeah fire needs air to burn earth into water’ is some hidden secret?” Renton asked.

Kora opened her mouth, but stopped as she pondered the question. “No, I never wondered that before, but I’m certain that I will be from now on,” she said.

The man laughed. “There’s a certain pleasure that you get from watching the young contemplate the great mysteries. It’s refreshing, compared to the stuffy confines of the palace, to take my turn as an educator.”

“It’s not just to make us think,” she said, “Is it?”

“That is a part of it,” Renton admitted. “Thinking about known problems and coming to the same solution that your elders have come to validates the original solution. But honestly, I think half of the elder masters who ask questions like ‘what is the sound of one hand clapping’ really just like to rub in how clever they are. Few of them actually came up with the riddles that they impart unto the young, so what makes them feel so clever about asking them?”

“Huh,” Kora said. She thought about his words, about the mysteries of the book she’d been given, and how they circled around hidden truths. “The book isn’t like that though, is it?”

“To a certain degree, the Treatise of the Rising Sun is the worst example of that,” Renton admitted. “However, it also serves a vital purpose. By refusing to state the knowledge outright, it leads to a deeper understanding than the superficial knowledge that can be passed down in technical terms.”

“I will meditate on this,” she vowed.

“What? Have I started teaching without realizing it?” Renton asked, looking surprised. “I was just complaining about my former teachers!”

They laughed, and Renton brought her to the ruined flowerbed which had a juvenile berry bush growing out of it.

“What did you think of my little display?” he asked, pointing at the plant.

“It was magical,” she answered.

Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

“Obviously, I was literally doing magic,” he said, grinning. “But no, I mean did you derive any meaning from it?”

“I was surprised at how much Qi you gave to the seed. I thought for certain that it would burst into flames, but instead it grew so rapidly that I thought for a moment that you were secretly an earth or water cultivator, except that the nature of your Qi is obvious when you’re revealing it. I didn’t know that fire could be used for growth,” she admitted.

“What did that sort of Qi remind you of?” Renton challenged.

“The sun,” she said immediately.

“Do you know what happens when you place a potted plant in the dark?” he asked.

“It withers and dies,” she answered immediately. “Plants need the sun in order to – oh. The sun gives off fire Qi. That is why the plant grew when you fed it yours.”

“Exactly,” he said, grinning at her. “People often consider the ‘wood’ element to be a subsection of earth, or to be a combination of earth and water, because those are the most obvious elements that are within a plant. However, the plants require air and sun to grow as well, and when you burn them the air that was stored inside them is released, as is the fire and the water that was used to grow them.”

“So you are arguing that wood is not its own element, as some have argued, but a combination of the four,” Kora said.

“I am arguing that life is a combination of the four elements, and that wood is the easiest example of that to observe,” he said.

“But a person can live in darkness,” she objected. “We don’t --”

“Can a person live without plants? Without eating the meat of animals that eat plants? If plants require the sun to live and people require plants to live, then how can it be said that people do not require the sun?” he challenged.

She grinned. “The transitive property. A little boy once gave me an insult to demonstrate that.”

“Oh?”

“Yes. I was trying to talk to him about opera, and he said that opera was stupid because I was stupid and I liked it. His name is Tan Shen. I have been meaning to ask … are you related?”

“He is my nephew,” Renton said. “And if I am being honest, he is the reason I am here. His father might be content to let anyone marry into the family, but the fact remains that the Shen family line has certain obligations. If we let one of our scions marry for love, that is fine as long as the woman that he loves is strong enough to not cause questions. If the scion marries a weakling, however, it will lead certain others to believe that he or she was weak themselves and could find no better match.”

Kora nodded, a few pieces of the puzzle clicking into place for her. “That is why the Emperor tested me. To see if I was weak. He would not allow his servants to bind themselves to a weakling.”

Renton waved it off. “I apologize for that. A blast of intent reveals a great deal about both sides of the blast. The Emperor revealed something to you, although I am not certain you have the experience to understand exactly what it was. In return, you revealed your determination and pride. He was most impressed that there was not more fear, and so he judged you worthy.”

“Has he tested you like that? When you were young?” she asked.

“When the emperor was young, I was young, and his intent matched mine exactly,” Renton said. “I was tested with the intent of my father and others like him, however, and learned to stand up to it. You will have to endure the same, if you are to marry into the Shen family. If that is something that you want. I will not see it forced upon you, whatever your family might think.”

“I want to marry Tan Shen,” she said immediately.

“Do you? Do you even know him?” Renton asked. “I was under the impression that you’ve only met the one time, and that he is five years younger than you. I would think that a normal girl your age would see him as childish and immature.”

She blushed. “He was only nine years old, but already very powerful in his cultivation. I want to have that sort of strength . You said that if I am to marry into the Shen family then I must be worthy? Very well, make me worthy!”

Renton smiled at her, but it was a sad sort of smile. “I understand the lust for power much better than you realize, little girl,” he said. She blushed at the diminutive term, but didn’t challenge it. He continued, “Very well. The emperor promised you a week. I will remain here a week as your tutor while I tend this plant. I will give you my sincere and best efforts at educating you, but your success will be determined by your own capabilities, not mine.”

She got down on her knees and bowed to him. “Thank you, Master Shen, for your wisdom.”

He sighed. “Get up. I hate it when people kowtow to me.”

‎