Among the twenty students taught personally by Yang Fugui, Chen Zhishu had the most humble origins. Yang and his wife had picked up a child on their trip to Hangzhou, some forty years ago. Since they had yet to have a child of their own, they decided to take care of this orphan. They fed him, clothed him, taught him personally as if he were their son.
Chen Zhizhu left of his own accord when the Yang couple had their daughter, Yang Suyin, returning to Hangzhou in hopes of passing along his knowledge to the next generation. He often wrote letters, sending updates on how he was doing, though he never personally visited. He didn't want to disturb his master, in fear of accidentally taking a share of attention that should have been directed to their young daughter.
That's precisely the reason why Mu Zhonghuai had never met his Grandmaster and the cause of this awkward situation. At the side, Yang Suyin tried to hold in her laughter.
"Pffftt! Hahahahaha," she was unsuccessful.
"Guess you aren't so famous after all, dear father. Your own grand disciple doesn't even recognize you. Hahahahaha!" Despite the goading words, Yang Fugui was smiling as well, lightly tapping the back of her head as admonishment.
"Monkey child."
"If I'm a monkey, what does that make you?" She retorted, resting the cleaver on her shoulder.
It was through this banter that Mu Zhonghuai finally realized who's courtyard he was standing in. He was instantly doused with cold water, and swallowed his anger towards the unreasonable old man. Quickly he dropped into a low bow, greeting,
"Grand disciple Mu Zhonghuai pays respects to Grandmaster and little master-aunt. Please forgive me for my impudence earlier." At those words, he visibly shrunk in embarrassment.
"Little? You fu-"
"I think you're missing one person." Yang Fugui teased, cutting off his daughter's words and pointed to Lu Yu. Mu Zhonghuai bowed again without hesitation,
"Greetings to master-uncle as well. I've been rude." Lu Yu cringed at the formality, catching Mu Zhonghuai's arms to stop him from bowing fully. Secretly, he was pretty happy about his high generational status. How else would he get to hear a twenty-year-old call him uncle? However, he kept this thought to himself, holding his face perfectly neutral.
"It's awkward to hear you address me this way. Just Senior Lu is fine, I'd still be taking advantage of you," he assured. Although it would have been fun to receive an older man's respect, Lu Yu understood the bottom line. Mu Zhonghuai was about to protest, insisting on the title out of formality, but Lu Yu quickly changed the topic.
"Ah yes, I had a question I've been meaning to ask. Master, why did you send me that bottle of medicine?" Within the time it took to travel to the Southern Gates, Lu Yu's bruised eye had healed without a shadow of injury thanks to the salve. Even Uncle Shen had been unable to identify the contents of the bottle. That made Lu Yu even more curious.
"The bottle? I don't know. She never said." Master Yang shrugged, pointing to his daughter. Meanwhile, Yang Suyin looked away, unwilling to answer. Lu Yu had no intention of forcing her hand, (especially while it still held that cleaver) so he shut his mouth, pretending as if he never asked.
As the master and student pair conversed, Mu Zhonghuai retreated to where Xiaowan and Old Shen were standing. He rubbed his face as if waking himself from a bad dream. Still trying to recover from the embarrassment from before, Mu Zhonghuai whispered,
"I thought Master Yang was supposed to be in Pingzhou, what is he doing all the way in Chang'an?" Xiaowan snickered, then replied in the same volume,
"To collect his debts of course. Didn't you hear?" The scholar opened his mouth for a retort, but nothing came out. To come to the capital city in order to chase down tuition from the young master of the Lu family, Master Yang was probably the only teacher in the nation capable of doing so.
"I have one last request, Master."
"Speak, I'm listening."
"Can I leave your grand-student with you for these few days? I've got some things I need to finish before the exams. The Lu manor isn't really convenient..."
"You plan on going back?"
"My sister's there."
"It'll cost you. Room and board aren't cheap."
"It won't hurt to owe a little more."
"I'll pay!" Mu Zhonghuai piped up from the side. Yang Suyin gave him a look, Xiaowan tugged his sleeve, and Old Shen swung an arm around the scholar, putting pressure on his shoulders. Mu Zhonghuai got the memo and lowered his head once again.
Master Yang knew of Lu Yu's sisters, despite never meeting them himself. In the capital, there weren't many who didn't know of the Lu family sisters. Due to their mother's infamous beauty, Lu Ming and Lu Chuxiang had received a lot of public attention since a young age. Because of this, the sisters were cherished greatly by the Lu family, especially by Lu Yu, their brother.
However, three years ago, the Lu's had suddenly married off fifteen-year-old Lu Ming to the sickly eldest son of Duke He, the little Marquis. Catching news of the wedding through a letter from his second Uncle three days after the ceremony, Lu Yu was left with a bitter taste in his mouth. He wasn't even able to send a reply, let alone travel back to the city. Even his wedding gift had been too late to reach them, arriving only after the He family moved down to Lanling. Everything had happened in accordance with law and propriety but the lack of preparation felt unnatural, calculated like someone was scheming in the shadows.
This year, his little sister Lu Chuxiang turns fourteen, dangerously close to the age that her elder sister had been wed. Lu Yu had received several letters from Lu Ming, pleading to him to save their sister. He wasn't about to let Lu Chuxiang suffer the same fate, but taking custodianship wasn't simple. He'll need to split from the Lu family.
He had three days before the imperial exam. That meant three days for Lu Yu to talk things through with the Lu family, or the examinee position will be registered under the clan's name, and not his own. That would make things even harder.
But despite the time crunch, Lu Yu was confident that his Uncle would agree in three days. After all, if he didn't, his wife wouldn't let him live peacefully.