There Are Too Many Thieves in the World (2)
Winter was fast approaching. Once again, Sukyung Academy began preparations for the cold season, and all the students headed back to their hometowns. Why? "We have to economize in winter."
After years of experience, we'd realized it was best not to open the academy during the cold months. Teaching students in a freezing building meant massive heating costs, and those expenses were no joke. So, Sima Hui and I had crunched the numbers. Come harvest's end, when the sun dipped low and animals hunkered down for hibernation, we'd close the doors. Sometimes, keeping the place open cost more than it brought in—and after teaching nonstop from spring right up to now, we all needed a break. It had nothing to do with skimping on heating bills and chasing away our students.
But...
"Liang, you're not going home?"
"No."
Zhuge Liang had decided to spend the winter at Sukyung Academy.
"Why not?"
"Even if I went home, Uncle isn't there. He's off in Dongwu right now."
"Dongwu?"
"Yes. He said my brother has settled there."
Zhuge Liang had an older brother named Zhuge Jin. Quite a bit older than her, he'd headed east to Dongwu after the chaos in Xuzhou and never returned to Jingzhou. Uncle Jeokgal Hyeon was probably off to meet him this winter.
"What about your little brother?"
"Uncle took him along."
"So, he's basically left you in our care for the time being."
Wise? Or bewildering? It wasn't a bad arrangement, but one more mouth to feed in winter...
"Didn't Sukyung Teacher tell you? Uncle made a generous donation specifically for your lodging."
"Hold on. Let me go talk to Sukyung Teacher."
A moment later.
"All right. Since Jeokgal Hyeon entrusted you to us, I'll look after you with all my heart."
"What happened?"
"I caught him before his winter trip."
"...Embezzlement?"
"Hey now, don't call it embezzlement."
It was pretty close.
"Sigh."
Sukyung Teacher's influence at the academy was shrinking by the day. She saw me as reliable enough to dump everything on, assuming I could handle her role anytime. Fine, but she could at least pretend to keep up appearances.
'It's not like I don't want a vacation either.'
Even land needs rest. Word had it that after three years of farming, letting it lie fallow for one restored the soil's fertility for the next three years of bountiful harvests. Maybe I was the same.
'Yeah, right. Fat chance.'
Too many irons in the fire. I had to grind through each day just to keep up. Managing the academy was full-time work in itself, and the land? That was no small task either.
"I want to go on a trip too."
"If you were to travel, Teacher, where would you like to go?"
"Hmm. Well, anywhere but the mountains."
I hated mountains.
"Why mountains?"
"Someday you'll learn the terror of mountains yourself. They're a nightmare in so many ways. For starters—"
"Isn't it because once you're up there, there's no escape?"
Oof.
"Liang, you sure don't hold back with your teacher!"
"But that's the truth."
"Exactly! Mountains are a death trap if you're surrounded. I'm not on the run from anyone, but if I ever were, mountains would be the last place I'd go."
"Then where would you flee?"
"Jumping off a cliff into the Yangtze sounds like better odds."
"Wouldn't you drown?"
"Heh, I know how to swim a bit."
Zhuge Liang's eyes went wide.
"You can swim?"
"Yeah. If you want to survive, everyone should learn to splash around in water. Imagine walking on a frozen river in winter, the ice cracks, and you plunge in—what then?"
"Unless someone tosses a rope, you'd drown."
"Right. Humans need to be ready for death's threats anytime. That's why I hate mountains. Worried about ambushes, slipping off cliffs... Water's different. Unless your ankle's chained to a rock, you can always swim for it."
"But."
Zhuge Liang pointed to the Yangtze on the wall map.
"What if river pirates show up? No amount of swimming helps if they grab you."
"Mountains have bandits too."
"Hm, this debate's going nowhere. I get why you hate mountains, Teacher."
"Do you like them?"
"Not particularly. Never given nature much thought. What I think about is..."
She trailed off. Sima Yi might let things slip, and I could guess from her face, but Zhuge Liang? Impenetrable. What was on her mind?
Sima Yi had gossiped about her once.
—That girl stares at you like she's having weird fantasies about her teacher.
Outraged by her vicious slander, I'd smacked her head with a fan.
—Ow! It's true! You have no idea what's in that head of hers!
—If you understood a woman's heart, you'd be a sage, not a man.
—Then do you know mine?
—Of course. We've been together years.
—...
Sima Yi claimed dark mists swirled in Zhuge Liang's gut. I wasn't that cynical, but I had a rough sense of how she saw me. And right now? I knew.
"You're pitying me right now, aren't you?"
"...Pardon?"
Nailed it. Picked the top suspect out of five, and bingo.
"You think I slave away at the academy daily, Sukyung Teacher dumps work on me and vanishes, I'm suffering alone while students head home for rest—and here I am, rambling about mountains and rivers instead of escaping this grind. That about right?"
"...Honestly, yes."
Finally. She was opening up.
"At first, I didn't notice. But the more I study here, the more it feels like Sun Academy, not Sukyung."
"Yeah. I feel that too."
It was Sukyung Academy, but Sukyung Teacher's involvement was fading.
"Besides her morning lectures—about an hour—she's always off meeting people. While she lives off tuition fees, you're prepping lessons for both of you. Even in the kitchen—"
"Stop. Don't talk about the kitchen."
Seo Seo had lightened my load a lot, but a man in the kitchen? Still scandalous. If parents heard?
—You learn from some meat-chopping kitchen scum? Burn the books—now!
The academy would erupt.
"I handle the kitchen because mine's the tastiest."
"Hire help."
"I did—Seo Seo. Tch, shame. If her mother came down from the north, she'd have been a huge help."
I'd once tried inviting Seo Seo's mother to Jingzhou. It was her wish, but it fell through.
'Can't just abandon the land where my husband lies.'
Sentimental soil. Can't up and leave.
"Keep kitchen talk quiet. Got it?"
"Yes. ...But Teacher, beyond that, you oversee everything—even hiring. How's this still Sukyung Academy?"
"Fair point. But Liang, Sukyung Teacher does her part."
"How?"
"Lending her name is enough!"
That had always been her role.
"Her fame, connections—call it name value. As long as she doesn't tarnish it, she's our academy's greatest asset. Your uncle trusted us with you because it's her academy, right?"
"Well..."
She pondered again. Her stare screamed not even close, mocking me. Unreadable as ever.
"Probably. Heh, someday I want her life."
"Build fame, open an academy, stick a capable underling with all the work?"
"So blunt!"
Exactly what I craved. She was my blueprint for retirement.
"So... you want to run an academy someday?"
"Academy, tutoring hall with my name on it—whatever. I just want rice rolling in while I do nothing."
"Then let me help you."
"You?"
She smiled faintly.
"No telling who'll slave under you, but one helper's better than none."
"Haha, thanks for the thought."
"......"
I patted her head. She pouted a bit but swallowed it down.
"Sima Yi said the same. She wants to inherit Sukyung Academy. Heh."
"........."
Whoa, she backed away. Stroked too long? Her hair was a mess.
"Forgot—I need to sort books. I'll go."
"Y-yeah."
Suddenly, the room felt colder.
"And Teacher."
"Hm?"
"Someday, I think you'd be better off with your own Sun Academy, not Sukyung."
"...Y-yeah."
I winked at her.
"With your help, it'd be worth a million troops."
"........."
She bowed slightly and left.
"...Must be winter. Feels cold."
Winter. Chilly.
And then.
On this frigid winter day, news that rocked Jingzhou arrived from Chang'an.
"The Emperor escaped from Chang'an?"