Wenyao, my son, I trust you have been well of late. In years past, I sent you and many disciples of our Inkbo…
Wenyao, my son, I trust you have been well of late.
In years past, I sent you and many disciples of our Inkbound Order into Sealed Dragon Academy, bearing the Confucian classics and the histories, there to assist Headmaster Crane. I did so out of respect for his great undertaking with Chancellor Feng, to bring Confucian and Mohist learning together, and for his resolve to open the academy far and wide. Yet I did not expect that you and the others would grow so attached to that place that, after all these years, not one of you has returned.
Now that the academy has firmly taken root, the help you have given there is more than enough. I ask only that you make haste and come home.
There is another matter. It is time you gave serious thought to marriage. Is there some young woman at the academy who has won your regard? If so, I shall gladly speak on your behalf and seek her hand for you. If not, your mother already has several families in mind. In such matters, it is better to act early than late.
I know you do not like to hear me speak in this way, yet the sages have said, "He who would order his state must first order his household." This is no empty saying. I ask that you give it proper thought.
Send your reply at once.
Tang Wenyao's reply: Father speaks wisely. I shall not be returning just yet.