Chapter 39: That Xu Pingzhi is not a good son.

“Great poem, Ning Banquet really does have unrivaled poetic talent.” Li Mubai let out a “pop” and gave a hard high five.

He looked exceptionally excited, both with the surprise of a reader when he saw a good poem, and with the anticipation of how the academy students would react when they saw this poem.

Zhang Shen did not comment, and looked at Xu Qi’an with increasing appreciation and self-satisfaction, as if the other party was really a student he had brought up.

“The text is simple, but meaningful. Three more lights and five more chickens, it is the time for men to study …. Brother Jingyan, do you still remember the days when we were young and studying at the academy?”

Chen Tai savored this poem of exhortation, only to feel into the wood, a long aftertaste.

Zhang Shen froze, recalling the sights of the first six months of schooling, and said ruefully:

“It’s not about us at that time, when I was young, my family was so poor that I could only eat two steamed buns a day. Often in the middle of the night hungry and hungry, strong support to pick the lamp hard reading.”

Li Mubai said quietly, “Is this your reason for stealing my chicken eggs for three days?”

Zhang Shen said unhappily, “How can you call it stealing when it’s the business of a scholar. That was borrowing, didn’t I return it to you later.”

Li Mubai blew his beard and glared, “A chicken egg in poverty is no less than a thousand gold and ten thousand taels today.”

Chen Tai coughed, interrupting the quarrel between his two friends, and looked at Xu Xinxin: “Caixu, after the spring exams, no matter what the ranking is, you have the qualification to go out to the civil service, have you ever thought about the future?”

Suddenly cutting to the chase made the crowd a little uncomfortable, Zhang Shen and Li Mubai shut up and subconsciously schemed for Xu Rui old.

Chen Tai looked at the two great Confucian scholars who wanted to speak and did not give them a chance to speak, “Normally, staying in the capital first and then going out is the right way to advance in the official world. Although I am not an official, I have a few faces in the Da Feng officialdom, so I can plan for you to stay in the capital.”

Zhang Shen, who was a teacher, immediately smiled with a wide-eyed smile, “That’s great, resignation, don’t be quick to thank Brother Chen.”

“No need no need, if you really want to repay, the old man does have an idea ….” Chen Tai laughed.

Listening to their old friend’s words, Zhang Shen and Li Mubai felt that something was wrong.

No one said anything about repaying you.

Only to hear Chen Tai smilingly say, “Ning Banquet ah, you are a piece of diamond, want to become a material, still need to be carved. These two old pikers are very rough, so you’ll switch to the old man’s door.”

“Scram, shameless old thief.” Li Mubai and Zhang Shen were furious.

Xu Qi’an seized the opportunity and immediately said, “Gentlemen, Ning Yan does have a question for advice.”

I came to Cloud Deer Academy today to whore myself out.

“Latecomer has been stuck in the Refined Essence Realm for a long period of time, because of his lack of merit and his family’s poverty, he has never had the resources or opportunity to step into the Qi Practicing Realm.” Xu Qi’an bent ninety degrees and bowed:

“Please, sir, open the gates of heaven for me.”

This was the second purpose of his visit to the academy, although he could sell the magic artifacts that Song Qing had given him in exchange for the silver for opening the Heaven’s Gate.

But that’s not happy at all, and Xu Qi’an is a pleasure-seeker.

Zhang Shen shook his head and lost his smile, “You are sick and desperate, we cultivate Confucianism and Taoism, how can we help you open the Heavenly Gate? How martial qi circulates within the body and how to travel through the meridians, this is something only you martial artists know.”

The differences between the systems are even greater than I thought …. Xu Qi’an was a bit disappointed and asked unwillingly, “My junior doesn’t understand, since opening the Heavenly Gate requires the help of an expert above the God Refining Realm, how did the people at the very beginning open the Heavenly Gate?”

“You think the path of martial arts was started by someone? It was achieved overnight?” Li Mubai held his teacup and asked him a rhetorical question before drinking.

Xu Qi’an shook his head, indicating that he didn’t know.

“It was opened up by generation after generation,” Li Mubai said slowly, “Perhaps in the very beginning, the Essence Refining Realm was already the pinnacle, and someone coincidentally opened the Heavenly Gate, so the Qi Practicing Realm became the pinnacle of the martial way. It was only after years and years that a perfect system of martial arts was formed.”

“Chance coincidence?” Xu Qi’an caught the keyword.

“A God Refining Realm expert helping to open the Heavenly Gate is the safest and most convenient method, but it’s not the only one.” This time it was Chen Tai who took over the topic and smiled:

“When a baby is born, it contains an innate true qi, and as it grows older, the heavenly gate closes and the innate true qi is hidden in the body, and in order to regain control of this qi, the closed heavenly gate has to be opened again.”

Xu Qi’an nodded, people eat grains and cereals, producing impurities that clogged the Heavenly Gate and the operation of qi.

These theoretical knowledge Uncle Two had taught him before.

“There are many methods, besides the familiar opening of the Heavenly Gate, there are two other methods: one, the method of vomiting.”

“The spitting method needs to be practiced from a young age, soaking in medicinal baths day after day to wash the meridians and penetrate the Heavenly Gate, and it has cost countless amounts of money in the past ten years or so. This method has been eliminated.”

“The second method, borrowing external power to open the Heaven’s Gate, is also the stupid method adopted by the original predecessors. For example, swallowing demon pills.

“The Demon Dan is the cohesion of the essence of the demon race’s Dao, containing majestic energy, swallowing the Demon Dan, the majestic power will forcefully open up the eight meridians and veins, but because it can’t be controlled, it’s a nine deaths and one life method.”

I see …. Although he didn’t whore himself out for nothing, he still felt it for nothing, so it’s not a loss …. Xu Qi’an gratefully said, “Thank you gentlemen for the lesson.”

Look at that, humble and polite, and well-spoken. The three great scholars smiled and stroked their whiskers, extremely satisfied with Xu Qi’an.

……

Located in the center of the academy is the Palace of Sage Studies, also known as the Temple of the Sage, which is dedicated to the first person of the millennium who pioneered the way of Confucianism.

Outside the Sage’s Academy Palace, the large green stone paved apron was large enough to accommodate all the students of the Cloud Deer Academy.

The Dean of the academy every year at the time of the spring exams and autumn exams, will be here to convene the students, impassioned mobilization of students to study hard, the examination of merit, for the gods and god of the earth and grain to the end of his life.

There was a short wall on the large apron with red paint splatters and a peeling layer of paper stuck to the wall.

This wall was the bulletin board of the Yunlu Academy, used to post articles, poems, calligraphy and paintings of the academy’s gentlemen, as well as the occasional outstanding work of the scholars.

Then there are some notices in the bookstore.

Two schoolboys came to the notice, one holding a roll of paper in his hand, the other smearing rice paste on the wall of the notice, and then combining their efforts to unroll a huge sheet of paper one person high and paste it on the wall of the notice.

Such a move immediately drew the attention of the neighboring scholars, especially the huge one-person-high piece of paper that was too noticeable.

“What’s posted? Go, go over and take a look.”

“Hey, it’s not an article, it looks like a poem …. What’s there to see there.”

“After Ziyang Jushi left the academy, it made no difference whether the gentlemen and great scholars in our academy read or didn’t read the poems they wrote.”

As he spoke, the schoolchildren gathered in twos and threes under the low wall, gazing at the huge sheets of newly posted paper.

The handwriting on the paper flew in a dragon’s flight, the force penetrated the back of the paper, and between the turn of the brush and the skimming of the pen, there was an overriding sense of severity.

“This is Mr. Zhang’s writing.” A scholar recognized it.

More schoolchildren gazed at the poem on the paper.

“Three nights of light and five nights of chicken, it is the time for men to read …. Shame, shame. After the fall exam, I have never picked a lamp to read at night again.”

“This poem seems plain and ordinary at first glance, but it reveals profound truths and is thought-provoking.”

“Where is the plain and ordinary, black hair does not know how to study hard early, white head regret reading late! The great way is simple, and the most sensible words are in it.”

“White heads regret reading late …. I used to be too lax, indulging in hand-talking and swimming in the mountains, putting less and less effort into reading, and seeing this poem made me realize that I would definitely regret it in the future.”

“From which great scholar did this poem come?”

More and more people huddled under the low wall, looking up at the poem on the wall, and as the emotions sunk in, a great deal of empathy for the persuasive poem developed.

The scene depicted in the first couplet makes the scholars sweat. Despite the best efforts in studying, who can do it in three shifts of the night?

But this is not a falsehood, for such examples do exist, and the great scholars and gentlemen of the academy have, from time to time, admonished their pupils by their own example.

And the individual very hard-working ones among the scholars stayed up all night reading in this way.

What really made the young scholars palpitate was the second couplet: black hair does not know how to study hard in the morning, and white heads regret studying late.

As if announcing what will happen to them in the future, some young people who have been neglecting their studies lately, after looking into their hearts, have a feeling of palpitations, fearing that it will be too late for them to repent after they have turned gray in the future.

In the bottom of my heart, I feel the emotion of living up to the springtime and studying hard.

Not far away, at the edge of the large ping, three great scholars watched the scene, Chen Tai stroked his beard and laughed, “They say that poetry is useless, but they don’t know that poetry is the most moving. Xu Ning Banquet, is truly an exceptional poetic talent.”

Seeing the persuasive poem positively mobilized the mood of the students, Zhang Shen face also could not help but smile spread: “This is true, he only used a tea effort, this level, not to mention nowadays, even through the history, can be ranked among the top.”

Li Mubai suddenly asked, “He said that he has long abandoned his studies, do you believe him?”

The two great scholars nodded their heads at the same time, and Li Mubai couldn’t help but smile a little, “How can you see that?”

“When composing the poem, he let the resigned old man write it for him.” Zhang Shen said.

“As a scholar, wouldn’t he let someone else write his poems for him.” Chen Tai added, “Unless he is not skilled in calligraphy.”

But all readers, all of them are proficient in calligraphy, which is the basic skill.

Li Mubai lamented, “Unfortunately, he is already at the age of the crown, and it is too late to turn to Confucianism.”

Chen Tai was pained: “Such talent, but learned martial arts, it’s a waste.”

Rough and tumble martial artists are not worthy of Xu Ningyan’s amazing talent.

Zhang Shen seemed to remember something, indignantly said, “Listening to Ru Lao said that when the two were young, their father set, Ru Lao reading, Ning Banquet practicing martial arts.”

“That Xu Pingzhi is not a proper son, wasted a reading seed for nothing, it’s really hateful and abominable.” Li Mubai said in a hateful voice.

The two great scholars agreed deeply.

PS: I so want to hit the shelves early and start popping my liver (funny).