After the Cold Dew of September, the temperature of the weather became more and more obvious. When the heavy rain fell, Jiangning City seemed to be covered in fog. The late autumn rain was not as noisy as summer. It seemed to carry the chill of the approaching winter, and every bit of it seeped into people's clothes.
When crossing the wooden bridge across the small alley, Ning Yi patted the water stains on his robe. In such a rainy day, wearing a robe was actually a bit of a hindrance. Comparatively speaking, Xiaochan, who trotted from behind, was much better. She didn't wear a skirt in the rain. She wore a lake-green lace blouse and trousers, a cute bun on her head, and light blue embroidered shoes on her feet. Her outfit was extremely light. She probably fell behind to buy something. At this time, she was holding an oil-paper umbrella, bypassing the puddles on the side of the road, and flew over like a swallow.
"Young master, young master, wait for me."
"What's wrong?"
"I bought something." Running to Ning Yi, Xiaochan took out a booklet with a smile, "I just passed by the shop over there and saw that this is a new book. Young master might not have read it, so I bought it."
It was a new novel in the vernacular on the market. Looking at the name, it was called "The Legend of the Ghost Fox". This kind of novel was quite common in this era. The choice of words and sentences was also relatively easy to understand. Some were historical legends, and some were folkloric love stories, especially the love legends of various spirits and ghosts. After some of the more popular ones were published, storytellers would take them to teahouses and taverns to narrate them. Ning Yi had read a lot of these novels during this period, and Xiaochan naturally remembered them. Sometimes when she saw a new one, she would buy it and bring it home.
This kind of novel was not as entertaining as the various modern stories, but it was still the best among the best. She would read it when she was bored. After all, it was an ancient language, and it could also integrate her body into the atmosphere of this era. At this time, Ning Yi took the booklet with a smile and flipped through it. Xiaochan followed behind and talked.
"At noon, that person said really hateful things. Xiaochan really wanted to go up and scold him."
"Yes."
"He doesn't know anything and only knows how to guess. He even dares to brag in the restaurant that he is a gifted scholar. Such a person can't even pass the county examination."
"Yes."
"Son-in-law, Little Chan is fighting for justice for you. That person is speaking ill of you, okay?"
"What does it matter?"
"How can it be unrelated, this person … Hmph, alright, alright, I know that son-in-law doesn't care about the words of these vulgar people, but Little Chan doesn't feel comfortable hearing it. After all, it's a disgrace to son-in-law's reputation. If the son-in-law had written a poem to scold him on the spot, Xiao Chan would have taken it and directly hit his head! "
"Oh, he doesn't even know me." Ning Yi flipped a page of the novel. "I'm sitting next to him."
"That's why I'm angry …"
It had been almost a month since the Mid-Autumn Festival Poetry Meet. The public opinion about Shuidiao Getou had been changing. In the first ten days, the evaluation of the poem had reached its peak. Curiosity and discussion about Ning Yi were the most common during that period. Then … the public opinion quickly dropped and started to develop in a deeper and more specific direction.
After all, there was a time limit to the spread of this kind of public opinion in the marketplace. For many commoners, they might still pay attention to what happened in the poetry meet in the ten days after the Mid-Autumn Festival. After that, other things would gradually overshadow the heat. Life itself was busy and hurried. When the frequency of these people mentioning that matter decreased, there would be less discussions about it on a daily basis.
More praises and questions began to focus on groups of scholars. The influence of Shuidiao Getou continued to spread — through the letters of these scholars. However, the doubts and speculations about Ning Yi remained in the area of Jiangning. For example, if a scholar in Tokyo heard Shuidiao Getou, his praise wouldn't decrease. However, as to who Ning Yi was and whether Ning Yi could write this poem, he naturally wouldn't care too much. After all, it was too far away.
The Wu dynasty was similar to the Song dynasty. Confucianism reached its peak, and scholars occupied a large proportion of society. This proportion was also relative to the previous thousand years. Even though this was the dynasty with the most scholars in history, compared to the modern times that Ning Yi lived in, this proportion was really too small. Therefore, in less than a month, the things that were felt had already quieted down. Of course, there were naturally opportunities like this afternoon when he inadvertently heard some scholars questioning him when he was eating outside.
After he told Elder Qin and Elder Kang about his ideas that day, Elder Kang might have felt that adding fuel to the fire on the day of the Mid-Autumn Festival was a bit unnecessary. After that, after the event, he helped Ning Yi organize some activities. After that, it was said that some scholars who wanted to ask for advice from Ning Yi were reprimanded by the teacher. In the past month, there were many invitations to various gatherings, all of which were ignored by Ning Yi. There were only three groups of people who actually came to ask for advice. One group came empty handed. When the other two groups came, they saw that Ning Yi was teaching the Analects of Confucius to the children. First, they found a topic to talk about, "It is said that half a book of the Analects of Confucius governs the world. Today, after listening to Brother Ning's explanation, you must have a deep understanding of it. What should XXXXX say?"
This was a kind of habitual thinking. When it saw what the other party was talking about, it would find something to talk about. As for the Four Classics, Ning Yi had read it a few times, so he was prepared. In the modern era, where knowledge was exploding, even if he said a paragraph casually, it was not difficult for him to grasp the key points and make people think deeply. Even if he said something unconventional, it would be difficult for the other party to refute him for a while. Since these people came, they were naturally prepared to ask other questions. There were also some unfamiliar ones. However, with Ning Yi's demeanor and aura, even a woman like Nie Yunzhu had to be restrained and follow him. What could this group of scholars do? After answering a paragraph of the Analects of Confucius, there was no chance for them to ask other questions. Ning Yi answered for a while and then left. The others only felt that he was knowledgeable or unfathomable. After thinking about it, they realized that most of the questions could not be asked.
In addition to this kind of group provocation, there were also private people who came. There was a guy named Li Pin who came every day. He seemed to be very interested in the stories that Ning Yi casually told, so he came to listen. A few days ago, after the lecture, he asked some questions to Ning Yi, mainly about his views on the stories. He wanted to consult with Ning Yi. In fact, these questions were all related to the meaning of the Analects of Confucius. He did not have any intention of provoking Ning Yi, so Ning Yi talked to him for more than an hour. After that, he did not come again.
For Ning Yi, as long as no one could prove that he was ignorant and incompetent, the doubts of the outside world about the incompetent songhead would not really become a stain. When the day came that he needed this reputation, it would be very easy to prove it. It was something that could be done at any time, but it was not necessary now. He did not care about such things.
Among the doubts of the outside world, there were also rumors that Ning Yi had plagiarized the poems of the Daoist priest. Not many people believed it. As for where the rumors came from, it was naturally impossible to find out. However, for Ning Yi, he had long expected this to happen. After hearing about it, he just smiled indifferently.
As for the matter of the chalk, in less than half a month after that day, Kang Xian had produced a batch. The quality was quite good. Therefore, the process of evolving from a whiteboard to a blackboard was completed in just over ten days. As a result, it was much more convenient for him to attend classes. The specific effect was naturally not visible in a short period of time. The process of his class was still the same: reading, explaining, telling stories. That was all. However, the growth of the students' enthusiasm for learning was obvious.
It was just that the lively atmosphere in the class was probably rare in this era. The students liked it, but the teachers mostly shook their heads. Su Chonghua tried to beat around the bush again. This time, Ning Yi discussed for a while with him that this kind of teaching might be beneficial, so he did not say anything more. First, Ning Yi now had the reputation of being a gifted scholar. With the halo of the incompetent songhead, it was not easy for him to control him. Second, the Academy had not been effective anyway. No matter how bad it was, it was fine for him to go and see the results.
After teaching in the morning, he would stroll around in the afternoon or go to Elder Qin's place to play chess. Of course, it had to be when it was not raining.
Xiaochan still followed him most of the time. She also came to the Academy to attend classes. She quite liked Ning Yi's stories. There were all kinds of strange stories. If she went back, she could tell them to her two sisters to show off. Ning Yi felt that she was following him a little too closely. Perhaps it was Su Tan'er's suggestion. He had written a song with a substandard tune. It was not hard to imagine such a thing. He could understand it and did not mind.
Of course, what made him more confused was that his wife might have indeed found some reason to explain why he wrote the poem. Because in the first few days, when they were eating, she still had a lot of scrutinizing looks. Later, she changed and focused on her work again. Every day, the carriage would come and go, and she would eat and talk with the same attitude as before. There was no more probing in her words. This made Ning Yi a little interested. What kind of reason did she find to make her accept and understand it? He really couldn't figure it out …
In addition to the same life as before, Ning Yi would occasionally inquire about the news about martial arts or internal strength. The Su family had a group of guards. It was said that some of them were good at Thwart Kung Fu. But it was only at the level of the Hard Qigong in the modern army, which could crack bricks with their heads. As for the more magical internal strength, according to what he had heard so far, there should be some in this era. Some famous masters from big sects might have it, but it was difficult to learn it.
For the time being, Ning Yi only began to collect information about this. This was what he was most interested in. In this era, whether it was being an official, doing business, or rebelling, it was just a system that had already been played in the modern era. It was just the interaction between people. Only martial arts were new. If there was a chance, he really wanted to learn something about internal strength. He just hoped that it was not fake like the modern era. He was not greedy. For example, it would be good if he could jump about ten feet in the same place. Of course … he did not mind jumping two feet …
If he wanted to practice martial arts, he had to have a good body. It was not very reliable to find a hero to teach him now. Being down-to-earth was the right way. Therefore, in the morning when it was not raining, he continued to exercise every morning. In order to achieve the greatest effect, he doubled the intensity of his exercise. Sit-ups, push-ups, long-distance running. A few days ago, when he passed by the house where Nie Yunzhu lived, a woman in a plain dress stood there and saw him. When he came near, she bowed and said, "Young Master Ning."
Ning Yi was sweating profusely and panting. He struggled to put on a smile and waved his hand. He did not even manage to say "Hi". Then … he ran past her …
Leaving Nie Yunzhu standing in the same place, stunned for a long time.
She … finally decided to come out and say hello …
*****
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