Chapter 231: Did I… accidentally stumble into a battlefield? (2 / 2)
Within Ji Sui’s residence, only a select few scholars from the ancient and modern script schools knew that the two leaders had begun a fierce war of words.
Ji Sui had forgotten his recent days of worry and his concerns over his granddaughter. He was entirely absorbed, dissecting the classics line by line, debating fiercely with the ancient script scholars. One moment he was quoting the Book of Songs, the next he had moved on to Rites of Zhou. From the nuanced meanings of the Spring and Autumn Annals to cosmic principles and human affairs, from the teachings of Confucius and Mencius to the criticism of ancient texts being too detached from governance, he spared no topic.
On the other hand, Quan Yingzhang was equally relentless, lambasting the modern script school for using textual studies as a tool of governance, accusing them of betraying the true spirit of Confucius and Mencius, thereby leading thought into a dead end.
Round after round of heated debate unfolded, with one side overwhelming the other, only to be overturned in the next.
By the time the moon had risen high, and they had no choice but to end the debate, Ji Sui’s home was left in utter disarray—signs of overturned tables and smashed bowls everywhere.
Ji Sui picked up a bowl of hot tea from a desk newly marked by sword strokes and sipped it leisurely. “I won’t see you out.”
Quan Yingzhang, leading his faction of ancient script scholars, kicked aside a fruit platter on the floor, stepped over shredded paper, and cracked a pen shaft that was already broken further with a resounding “snap.”
Just as he was about to leave, he paused at the doorway. Without turning around, he said in his aged but steady voice:
“Ji Sui, you are the most talented man I have ever met.”