Encountering Rain at West Lake

The dream was filled with dark skies, rain, and thunder. More deafening than the thunder was the rumble of approaching hooves. In the rain, the girl was running desperately. *Search: (\Full\ Book\ Site)* to read high-quality literature for free.

The girl tripped and fell, covered in mud, but she scrambled to her feet and continued running. In the hazy light, a crescent of iron cavalry and soldiers emerged from the depths of darkness, encircling her.

Suddenly, he sat up in his small hut. He shouldn't have been able to see the scene outside, but his perspective was from above. The mud-covered girl was still running towards the hut, with the lines of soldiers advancing behind her. He heard the hooves and fumbled for his weapons. The hut's back window was open, and through it, he saw his wife in the distance, her face etched with terror. She tried to run towards him but was struck unconscious by the guard beside her.

He sat by the window and waved his hand.

Then came a series of fragmented memories: the crying girl standing before the hut, her arms outstretched; the iron cavalry rushing forward, like a mountain looming before him; the door he pushed open; the light and sound erupting in the storm, the "boom" of the flash, the swinging swords, spears, and fists; the giant blade slashing from the side; the masked girl wielding the blade, cleaving through the warhorse and its rider, blood spraying in the air; the fierce arguments...

When he opened his eyes, it was still dark outside.

He lay there, wrenching himself from the clamor of the dream, quietly savoring the brief moment of peace. On the other side of the screen, Xiaochuan, who was lying on the narrow bed, stirred. Outside, insects chirped before dawn, and the city's pulse was a faint, fragmented murmur. This was... Hangzhou.

For the first time in days, he had dreamt of the events of a few days prior.

In the chaos of the night of July 13th, he and his many guards had been scattered by the raiding army. Afterwards, he fled, his mind in a daze. A few days later, he regained some clarity and managed to save his life, but the wound infection was severely damaging his body. In fact, if he hadn't been in decent shape beforehand, he probably wouldn't have survived.

During this time, the few soldiers who had originally been with him had also dispersed. The only ones who truly remained with him after breaking away from the main group were his wife, Su Tan'er; his maid, Xiaochuan; Juan'er; and Geng, the loyal bodyguard who had always protected his young mistress. Xing'er had failed to keep up that night and should have returned to Fuzhou with the main force, which was a stroke of luck in a disaster.

And then there were the events he had just dreamt about again. When they failed to return to Huzhou and were hiding in the surrounding area, they were finally discovered. Xiaochuan and he could not escape, and were forced to face the enemy head-on. At that time, because his wife and Juan'er were behind the house, Geng knocked Su Tan'er unconscious after discovering the enemy, and fled with Juan'er as quickly as possible.

In hindsight, if the Fang La army had been persistent and continued to search, Geng and the others would probably not have had a chance to escape. But those people stopped after seeing him. There was a lot of arguing. Some wanted to kill him, while others seemed to want to protect him. After a long period of chaos, the two sides almost started fighting. Then, the girl named Liu Xigua appeared, coldly stopping everyone with her huge blade. He was also physically weak at the time and only fired one shot. After witnessing all of this, he and Xiaochuan were finally captured, and when he woke up, he was in Hangzhou.

*****************

After a gray-white sky, there was a downpour, plunging the entire morning in Hangzhou into a green gloom. Pedestrians, soldiers, and merchants entering and leaving near the city gates wore bamboo hats and straw raincoats, bringing back a little of the leisurely atmosphere to the city that had become slightly lively after the war.

A few ships docked at the Qiantang River pier near the south gate of the city. Dockworkers loaded and unloaded cargo, and laborers, accompanied by soldiers, left the city to prepare for the rice harvest this year. In the areas that had been severely affected by the disaster, houses and wooden sheds were being rebuilt. On the slightly busier streets, female soldiers and workers were building stands and various decorations for the enthronement parade.

The current city of Hangzhou, with the new order established by the mutinying soldiers and numerous generals as the privileged class, had a very different way of life than before. A few bustling places were bustling beyond belief, while most other places were in a state of chaos and depression. So-called quiet existed, of course, but everyone was still on edge. No one could truly settle down.

In a small courtyard on one side of the city, the sound of chaotic reading could be heard, mixed with the heavy rain, faint and hazy.

This was an academy. The academy was surrounded by lush trees, and next door was a clinic. Next to that was a dilapidated courtyard that had been occupied by soldiers from who knows where. The clinic was very busy, and the loud, cursing voices of the soldiers who came over could often be heard.

Fang La's uprising was, in essence, a peasant revolt. At the beginning of the uprising, their most straightforward action was to kill all members of the privileged class: officials, landlords, wealthy merchants, and those scholars who looked down on them. But on the other hand, they also hoped to become the privileged class, such as becoming officials, becoming landlords, becoming wealthy merchants. These things were not easy to say out loud, but the most glorious of them was naturally to be able to become scholars.

They attacked every place they entered. If they encountered scholars who disliked them and did not stand with them, they would curse these guys for being too weak to truss a chicken, and kill them without a second thought. But if they were farsighted and had ideas, when they had the conditions to do so, they would ultimately hope that scholars and successful people would emerge from their own families. This was the value system brought about by Confucian rule for thousands of years. People would always believe that only those who had read books could truly accomplish great things.

For this reason, even after the war and widespread grief, there were always some who held power and protected some Confucian scholars, either as advisors or as teachers for their family disciples, giving them shelter. The academy in front of them was the only one in the city of Hangzhou in recent days, and it was said to have several military generals as backers. After the city was breached, the supply of food was extremely scarce. Some Confucian scholars who originally had no power or influence and were not as "notorious" as the four major families, but had some knowledge, were lucky enough to survive after the city was breached and were arranged to work here as teachers.

At this time, there were not many disciples in the academy. The students' families had some background, but not high. If they really reached the level of Shi Bao and Wang Yin, they would naturally just grab a certain great Confucian scholar to be a teacher for their family disciples.

Although there were not many students, there were quite a few teachers. Some of them were originally in Fang La's army. This type of person had adapted to the situation and was arranged here after entering the city, mostly arrogant and overbearing. They had some relationship with the generals in the army before, and they could get more benefits and would no longer be persecuted. The other part was naturally Confucian scholars who originally belonged to the city of Hangzhou. This group of people was considered "defeated," and no matter how much knowledge they had, they had to bow their heads at this time and watch the situation pass. They did not receive much salary, only enough to make a living every day. Of course, in Hangzhou at this time, it was already a good job. Occasionally, they were provoked, and considering their wives, children, and people who needed to be taken care of, they had to grit their teeth and endure it with a little scholarly integrity.

"Ahem... Class starts. My surname is Ning, and I will be teaching you *Records of the Grand Historian*..."

Rain wove a curtain under the eaves, shielding the outside world. When the students were still patting their wet clothes and talking to each other between the tables and chairs in the morning, a slightly young man sat down on the podium and tapped the table with a pointer, opening his mouth with a slightly morbid tone. His words were concise and bland.

The people below were noisy, talking and laughing, and the young teacher above spoke about his course as if he was talking to himself. The young teacher was weak and even seemed to be ill. Most of the students below were unlikely to have any respect for him. Several of the larger children even interrupted the teacher's speech during an argument and asked directly, "Hey, where is the best place to have fun here in Hangzhou?" The teacher smiled and said a few places they could visit. This was the situation on the first day that Mr. Ning arrived at the academy.

This was one corner of the chaotic Hangzhou today. As usual, it was a simple morning. After most of the morning, the students scattered happily. The young man who had given a lesson returned to the teachers' room and greeted several of them. At this time, the teachers here were a mixed bunch. Most of those who were originally in Fang La's army had their own things to do, and most of those who originally belonged to Hangzhou were worried and taught conscientiously, not asking or saying much.

However, one person recognized him and said, "Ning Liheng..." He cupped his fist in greeting but didn't say much else, probably implying a tacit understanding: it was difficult in the current situation, and everyone was having a hard time, so there was no mood for small talk and miscellaneous matters.

The rain was still pouring down, and after half a day of classes, the academy was a little quieter. Bypassing the leaky eaves, Ning Yi took a small bag of coarse rice and a handful of wilted green vegetables from the academy's administrator at this time, which was considered today's reward. As a group of scholars scattered in the blue-grey rain, Ning Yi went to the back of the academy.

A large part of the courtyard wall at the back of the academy had collapsed, and it was connected to the clinic next door, as well as a simple small courtyard in the back. Only two or three single rooms were available in the small courtyard now. At the door of one of the rooms, Xiaochuan was leaning there timidly, looking forward to his return. When she saw his figure, she held up a broken umbrella and ran into the rain...

******************

As far as Ning Yi was concerned, he wasn't sure what the situation was like right now.

When he was taken back to Hangzhou, his body was weak to a certain extent, and then he was arranged in the clinic in front. But next, apart from the two saber-wielding guards who had been watching him nearby, making him look like a prisoner, no one else came to deal with him, as if the person who had protected him had brought him back to Hangzhou and then... had forgotten about him.

Xiaochuan had been taking care of him. The little maid had not left his side since she was captured and brought to Hangzhou with him, making herself look ugly. She only became slightly settled after Ning Yi truly woke up. According to her, Su Tan'er and Juan'er should not have been captured, but Huzhou was chaotic at the time. With Geng's protection, it was difficult to determine at this time whether these people could return to Huzhou. Su Tan'er was also a stubborn person, so what would happen to them next became the thing that Ning Yi was most concerned about during these days. But while he was concerned, he was here and couldn't run away, so he could only accept his fate. At least he still had Xiaochuan to take care of.

Over these days, he gradually recovered from his injuries, and he and Xiaochuan were arranged to live in the small courtyard behind the clinic. The master and servant were not explicitly restricted from acting, but at this time, people with no background were going out for a walk, and what they could see was probably not a pleasant sight. Hangzhou had a shortage of supplies recently. As prisoners, the two of them were given two meals a day, which they took and cooked themselves.

He didn't know who the small courtyard belonged to before. Most of the furniture was gone, and what was left was probably old and dilapidated. Since the earthquake, some of the houses had collapsed and were not easy to live in. Xiaochuan was very happy to tidy up several times. A few days ago, the old doctor came over and asked what Ning Yi used to do. Ning Yi thought about it and replied that he taught books. So, on this day, he was called to the academy, which could be regarded as making the best use of his talents and returning to his old profession... (To be continued. Vote for recommendations and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)

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