"If Yang Ziqian didn't go to Qingzhou, we could give him this job," Zhang Shen said.
"Among us, he's the best at this."
The mountain breeze blew into the room, causing Chen Tai's long beard to flutter. He smiled and said, "Brother Jinyan is more suitable to be an official in the court than me."
"Old man, are you mocking me?" Zhang Shen was not angry. He said with a straight face, "If you can do it, you can do it. I'm all ears."
Seeing that they were about to quarrel again, Zhang Shen's page boy walked in quickly with his head lowered. He bowed and said, "Sir, your student Xu Cijiu is here."
Xu Cijiu? Why is he here? Did he finish copying the Sage's sayings 300 times? Zhang Shen nodded, "Invite him in."
After the page boy left, Zhang Shen looked at Chen Tai on the other side of the chessboard and said with a smile, "Speaking of which, I recently took in a new student. He's Xu Cijiu's cousin. His poetry is amazing."
Li Mubai immediately added, "He's also my student."
Chen Tai glanced at the one surnamed Zhang and then at the one surnamed Li. His heart stirred. "That poet who wrote 'Don't worry about not having a friend in the road ahead, who in the world doesn't know you?'
Li Mubai and Zhang Shen smiled proudly.
"Hahaha …" Chen Tai laughed out loud and pointed at his two friends.
"What are you laughing at?"
"I'm laughing at you for being blinded by fame and fortune. Oh, and jealousy." Chen Tai stopped smiling and said in a warning and mocking tone,
"Yang Ziqian's name will definitely be passed down in the future because of this poem. It's indeed enviable. But don't you think about it? Good lines are hard to come by. Many scholars only have a few good poems in their lives, and none of them can be recorded in history.
"Saying, 'Don't worry about the road ahead without a confidant, who in the world doesn't know you?' is already a stroke of genius. Hearing it, I was hoping for another one, no, two, so that the two of you can be immortalized in history.
"If you care too much about fame and fortune, how will the righteousness in your hearts continue to exist?"
After being ridiculed, Li Mubai and Zhang Shen felt a little awkward.
Deep down, he knew that Chen Tai's words made sense. How could a beautiful poem that had been passed down through the ages be written so casually? Moreover, the other party was not a scholar. To be able to obtain one by chance was already a great deal of fate.
To expect a petty official to compose good poems and leave their names in the annals of history was indeed wishful thinking.
"Youping is right." The two of them bowed and said in a deep voice, "The three immortality of a scholar. Even if you want to leave your name in the annals of history, you should walk the path of righteousness and not take shortcuts. It was us who went astray."
"It's a great virtue to know your mistakes and correct them." Chen Tai nodded slightly.
A moment later, the errand boy led Xu Qi'an and Xu Xinnian into the elegant room.
The two of them bowed at the same time. "Greetings, teacher."
Li Mubai and Zhang Shen looked at each other. They were both surprised and delighted by Xu Qi 'an's arrival.
"Sit!" Zhang Shen said.
"Ning Yan, you have come to the academy because you have a beautiful poem for your teacher to appreciate?" Li Mubai probed.
Xu Qi 'an shook his head and said, "This student has come to ask for a favor."
"Feel free to speak your mind."
Xu Qi 'an told his two teachers his intentions in coming. He concealed the fact that he wanted to take revenge on the Assistant Minister of Revenue and only said that the mastermind behind the tax case was likely Assistant Minister Zhou. If the other survived the capital investigation, he would definitely take revenge on the Xu Fu.
"This …" Li Mubai looked at Zhang Shen who also had a troubled expression and said helplessly, "The academy does not allow outsiders to stay overnight. This is the rule."
Scholars were the most concerned with rules.
Just as Xu Qi 'an made the request, he heard Xu Xinnian say, "Princess Royal also stays at the academy."
Zhang Shen shook his head. "What kind of status does Princess Royal have?"
Xu Xinnian nodded. "The academy does not allow outsiders to stay overnight unless they are members of the imperial family."
Ha! This rash youth still didn't know how to speak as usual.
The three scholars present laughed in anger.
Xu Qi 'an almost laughed out loud. Erlang's poisonous tongue was still as sharp as ever.
Li Mubai shook his head. "Brother Jinyan, I have some anticipation for your student to step into Fate Establishment."
That would be too terrifying … the corner of Zhang Shen's mouth twitched.
Only Chen Tai examined Xu Qi 'an with a smile. At this time, he interrupted and said, "You are Xu Ningyan?"
"Yes, this student." Xu Qi 'an, who was wearing scholarly robes and pretending to be a scholar, bowed.
"I heard that you are very talented in poetry. How about this, if you can compose a poem that all three of us are satisfied with, this old man will make the decision to allow the womenfolk of the Xu Fu to temporarily stay at the academy and guarantee their safety."
Allowing the womenfolk of the Xu Family to stay at the academy was not the important point. The important point was his last sentence, guarantee their safety.
This was the real purpose of the two brothers, Xu Qi 'an, coming here.
Xu Xinnian's expression was slightly happy. He turned to look at his cousin, "Big Brother …"
He was both happy and nervous. Composing a poem was not difficult. Every scholar could compose a neat poem. What was difficult was to satisfy the three scholars.
Was it difficult?
It was too difficult.
Compose a poem? Are you forcing me to freeload you? Xu Qi 'an did not agree immediately. Instead, he said after some deliberation,
"Compose a poem spontaneously, and with a fixed theme."
The three scholars exchanged glances. Zhang Shen said, "Encouraging learning!"
As expected, it was impossible to compose a poem spontaneously. Otherwise, I could come up with another masterpiece at any time … Xu Qi 'an sighed in his heart.
At the same time, he was relieved because this question was not beyond the syllabus. His literary foundation could still handle it.
The first thing that came to Xu Qi 'an's mind was the "Encouraging Learning" that he had read in high school. But since it was a poem, this ancient prose was not suitable.
There is a house of gold in the book, and there is a beauty in the book!
In Xu Qi 'an's mind, this poem that had been passed down for generations immediately appeared.
In the field of encouraging learning, in terms of popularity, there were not many that could be compared to it.
Just as he was about to use this poem to freeload the three scholars, he suddenly thought of the situation of Yunlu Academy in the past 200 years.
"If I remember correctly, this poem was written by the Emperor of the Song Dynasty? It was mixed with the temptation of fame and fortune. Graduates of Yunlu Academy had always had a difficult career.
"When I passed the provincial examination, I lamented that I would be sent to a remote village in the future …
"If I copy this poem, wouldn't it be poking at Yunlu Academy's heart? It would have the opposite effect …"
Seeing that he was silent for a long time, Xu Xinnian frowned even more. Among the three scholars, Zhang Shen and Li Mubai had been looking forward to it. Chen Tai was smiling and drinking tea.
Xu Qi 'an withdrew his thoughts, cupped his hands and said, "I've made a fool of myself. Excuse me, help me grind the ink."
Xu Xinnian found a brush, ink, paper, and inkstone and placed them on the table. He personally ground the ink for his cousin. He held the brush in one hand and rolled up the sleeve with the other. He dipped the tip of the brush in the ink and turned his head to signal his cousin to take the brush.
My poor calligraphy is not shameful … No, I don't know calligraphy at all … Xu Qi 'an complained in his heart. On the surface, he put on the posture of a scholar pointing out the world and said,
"Excuse me, write for me."
Xu Xinnian nodded and sat upright in front of the table.
"The light of the third watch, the chicken at the fifth watch."
"It is the time for a man to study."
"The black hair doesn't learn early."
"The white-haired man regrets studying late!"
After Xu Xinnian finished writing, he put down the brush and stared at the handsome handwriting on the rice paper. His eyes were bright and his face was slightly excited.
There was a short silence in the room. Xu Xinnian felt the lingering charm of this poem. The three scholars walked quickly to the shore and stared at the rice paper in silence.
They stared at it silently.
Chen Tai, whose long beard reached his chest and was dressed in a black robe, had a twinkle in his eyes …
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