No Dodging the Ruler

Xie Zhao, the young marquis and the capital’s number-one wastrel, galloped through the streets with no one daring to stop him. That was until an imperial decree sent him to live at the residence of Shen Yan, the Grand Tutor.

Shen Yan was cool-headed, proper, and impartial. He was a role model for scholars across the land, and the person Xie Zhao hated most. He produced a blackwood ruler and laid down a rule: “No dodging when the ruler comes down.” Kneeling, getting his palms struck, copying scriptures a hundred times, Xie Zhao gritted his teeth in hatred, but had no choice but to submit.

But gradually, Xie Zhao began to notice things. When he was made to kneel, Shen Yan sat beneath the corridor reviewing memorials for two hours at a time. When Xie Zhao’s palms were beaten until they bled, Shen Yan secretly treated them in the dead of night, his hands trembling. When Xie Zhao refused to eat out of spite, Shen Yan stood outside his door all night, holding a bowl of porridge.

Later, when the court was thrown into turmoil, Shen Yan took the blame for him and was thrown into prison, where he was beaten until he was covered in wounds. Xie Zhao stormed the execution ground and fought to get him out, his body drenched in blood. In a hoarse voice, he said, “Master, you broke every bone in my body, and I grew into your shape.”

From rebellious defiance to willing surrender, from discipline with a ruler to pledging himself body and soul. This is a tale of taming in the name of discipline, and of two people saving each other. In the end, the blackwood ruler went from an instrument of punishment to the most outrageous yet heartfelt token of their love.