Chapter 366: Chapter 269: Daily Calligraphy Class Chapter 366: Chapter 269: Daily Calligraphy Class Fan Yushu still wanted to say more.
Zhao Rong sternly said, “Scholar Fan, do not whisper during class!”
Fan Yushu was taken aback, you also knew we were in class, taking us out for a jaunt… But Zhao Rong didn’t give him another chance to speak and turned his head away.
Today, at the foot of Linlu Mountain, it seed especially lively. The autumnal visitors delivering books arrived in succession, with carriages flowing like water outside Zibei Pavilion.
Before long, another fleet of carriages approached from afar, several horse-drawn carriages bearing heavy boxes of books, followed by dozens of bearers, mostly elderly, their dark and lean faces marked with deep furrows, but at this ti, those furrows were crisscrossed together, apparently etched with smiles.
Zhao Rong stood in front of the pavilion’s gate, glancing sideways a few tis.
The leader of this group of carriages was a middle-aged Confucian scholar riding atop the foremost horse, wearing a broad square headscarf and wide robes, looking tired but, like the others who traveled great distances to deliver books, energetically surveying his surroundings.
Soon, the carriages stopped at the entrance of the ascending corridor. The square-scarfed Confucian scholar instructed his team, the bearers then started unloading the books in an orderly fashion, and carried them up the mountain. The scholar patted his robe, looked around, and headed towards Zibei Pavilion to find a place to rest, sitting not far from Zhao Rong.
Zhao Rong thought for a mont, glanced at students from Shuaixing Hall who were mostly chatting and relaxing behind him, then turned around. He took a few steps forward, smiled, and started to talk to the square-scarfed scholar.
Zhao Rong inquired and was sowhat surprised to find out that the other also had the surna Zhao, indeed a clansman, only from a remote small state under Wangque Continent called Nankang, which was quite distant from the Zhao family of Great Chu, and neither had heard of the other.
However, all the Zhao under heaven are one family. They share the ancestral teaching of unity and aid, and so the two were, in fact, distant relatives. After chatting for a mont, they naturally grew friendlier.
The square-scarfed scholar sighed.
“When my father was alive, he often talked about wanting to return to the Academy to see if his old teachers were still in Wangque, if the cold windows of Nanxuan still saw students study by lamp late into the night, if the frosted maple leaves by the river beside Lanzhou Crossing were still as brilliant as flowers in February, if the rules of washing one’s face with cold water in Mochi still persisted… but finally,
My father took on a significant court position highly valued by His Majesty, later basked in the emperor’s grace, assisting the new emperor as a trusted imperial official. When he managed to retire to return to his holand after being relieved of nurous duties, his health deteriorated day by day, leaving him completely lacking in spirit.”
Zhao Rong listened attentively, and then sighed in response, “Condolences, Elder Brother Zhao. Though the revered senior has passed, aren’t you here in his place?”
The lancholy in the brows of the square-scarfed scholar montarily swept away as he nodded heartily, “It took half a year, but I finally made it to the Academy. I was originally on one of those boats traveling through the sea of clouds on the mountain, but halfway through, I heard that sothing big had happened on the mountain. I had to disembark and continue on foot. Then I heard that the Dragon Ships of Li River were still…”
Seemingly relieved to have reached his destination, he was quite talkative at this mont.
Zhao Rong listened attentively to the side, occasionally, the square-scarfed scholar also asked about so of his matters, and Zhao Rong just smiled and spoke casually without elaborating much. At one point, he glanced at the jade thumb ring the scholar was fiddling with on his left thumb and gazed towards the far-off entrance where bearers were carrying books, then suddenly said,
“Elder Brother Zhao, I see you must also be a cultivator, having co alone all this way. Why not use a Suru Object to transport the books up the mountain, and instead hire these bearers?”
The square-scarved scholar paused, thought for a mont, and spoke softly.
“It was sothing my father instructed to do; he even calculated how much silver it should cost to hire a bearer for a load of books. So that’s what I did outside the market of the Academy. Though using a Suru Object to bring books directly to the mountain would certainly save ti and effort, everyday affairs can be expedited using techniques from the mountain…
I did ask father before about these strange techniques from on high. I even excitedly suggested he introduce these to Nankang to replace manpower, which would certainly improve court efficiency. But all my father did, without even looking up from his docunts, was to ask three questions in a row.”
“There’s a magic that lets you comprehend an entire volu just by touching it. If that becos widespread, would our scholars eventually not need to flip through books anymore, and would teachers not need to teach?”
“Should we, as scholars, be n of the mountain or stay as n below the mountain?”
“If all earthly matters start being addressed by mountain techniques, then what would be the need for the people below the mountain?”
The square-scarfed scholar showed a reminiscent expression, “At the ti, I said I did not know and asked my father for the answer, but he said he didn’t know either and wished to know as well.”
Zhao Rong heard these words and nodded softly, not saying anything further. He squinted and once more surveyed the bearers picking books and the long ascending corridor.
The corridor was built wide, but now with books piled on both sides, it seed slightly cramped. There was no place to sit from the mountain’s foot to the top book tower, yet many stood among the stacks of books on both sides of the corridor, seemingly reviewing books to be admitted into the tower, while the middle passage of the corridor allowed the bearers carrying books to pass through freely, and despite the heavy foot traffic, it was orderly.
Zhao Rong smiled, turned his head, and made a parting bow to the square-scarfed scholar who was looking at him but the latter suddenly said, “Little Brother Zhao, please wait a mont. I’ve always been curious about so interesting places inside the Academy that my father ntioned but never got the hang of this vast Academy. May I ask… do you know the way to Scripture Teaching Pavilion?”
Zhao Rong thought for a mont, “Elder Brother Zhao, please wait a mont, I need to arrange so things first.”
With those words, he walked towards the group of Shuaixing Hall students. The students turned their gazes toward him.
Zhao Rong, with his hands clasped, asked loudly, “How many of you have completed the qualification to enter the book tower?”
The students of Shuaixing Hall looked at each other. After a while, Yu Huaijin, Li Xueyou, and a few others raised their hands.
Zhao Rong nodded, “Not many, then that’s perfect.”
He pointed to the entrance where the bearers were climbing, “Students of Shuaixing Hall, each of you pick a book from the corridor, bring it back, and after reading, write a detailed reflection using your best calligraphy. I suggest drafting it several tis… as a howork for calligraphy class. Submit it to next class. I will review it and then help with cataloging them in the tower, granting you access at the sa ti.”
Yu Huaijin nodded and bowed, “As Teacher commands.”
There was a mont of silence among the students, and even though so had sour expressions, they gradually followed suit, saying, “As the teacher instructs.”
Afterward, Zhao Rong led the Shuaixing Hall students in line at the mountain corridor entrance. After a while, everyone went up the mountain, picked a book from a certain section of the corridor, and took it down the mountain.
Shortly thereafter, Zhao Rong announced the end of the class, and the Shuaixing Hall students dispersed one after another.
Zhao Rong, with his head down, flipped through a book in his hand that seed to be a chronicle from a past dynasty of the valley below, and walked back to Zibei Pavilion.
The Confucian Scholar in the scholar’s cap ca forward with a smile and exclaid in amazent, “I didn’t expect you to be an Academy teacher.”
Zhao Rong looked up and waved his hand, “Just a teaching assistant. Brother Zhao, let’s go.”
With that said, he led the Confucian Scholar towards the scripture Pavilion on the side of the river.
In the valley between the two closely neighboring Qingshan Mountains, Zhao Rong escorted the Confucian Scholar into the pavilion, stopped outside, bowed, and took his leave, for he still had a class on Calligraphy at the Justice Hall in the afternoon and could not linger longer.
In the octagonal ancient pavilion, by the deep old well, the Confucian Scholar played with a jade thumb ring in his hand and smiled as he watched the student surnad Zhao depart.
…
The Calligraphy class at the Justice Hall felt considerably more relaxed than those at Shuaixing Hall.
At least, that’s how Zhao Rong felt.
As in the class just before, he led Gu Yiwu and the Justice Hall students to Cheng Cong Valley next to Linlu Mountain, with everyone respectfully following him without straying.
Zhao Rong, leading the way, pinched the rolled chronicle he had brought down from the corridor and turned to glance at the quiet students of the Justice Hall with a slight raise of his eyebrow.
Gu Yiwu grinned at him.
Zhao Rong returned the smile.
The Justice Hall was not without its defiant and unruly types; with Zhao Rong’s discerning eye, one could tell from just their gazes and slight movents, after all, Justice Hall had the worst student intake when the six educational halls of Mochi were established, harboring many with ‘special talents’ like him and Fan Yushu, but still, nobody challenged Zhao Rong’s authority.
His word was law, dictating directions without challenge.
Although Zhao Rong knew it wasn’t because he was particularly authoritative, since he hadn’t established much authority since the first class, he understood that most of it owed to Gu Yiwu, whom he found rather agreeable.
As for Gu Yiwu’s thod of managing Justice Hall, Zhao Rong took the chance to observe during class and found it entirely different from Yu Huaijin’s approach, summing it up broadly as a big brother style… a style where one mixes with the students as brothers.]}
Quite interesting, but whether one thod was better than the other remained to be seen; what suited them best was just right.
In Cheng Cong Valley, Zhao Rong smiled, stopped, turned around, and instructed, “Everyone, feel free to relax.”
Without even needing to command silence or prohibit noise, as regulation was understood, he then flipped through his book while walking aside.
The Justice Hall students watched ‘Teacher Zhao’s’ retreating form and scattered quietly for a rest, all keeping within a certain range. anwhile, Gu Yiwu glanced at Zhao Rong, who was enjoying the scenery on a green stone, thought for a mont, took out so teaware, poured several cups of hot tea, picked up one, and handed out the rest to his quietly sitting classmates.
However, Gu Yiwu didn’t approach imdiately. He surveyed the area, intently watching the Justice Hall students. After a short while, he suddenly noticed a restless student sneaking off towards a secluded spot, swiftly moved to him, wrapped his arm around the student’s neck in a choking hold, and said, “You little monkey, always trying to harass other female teachers.” Gu Yiwu looked towards a nearby female scholar quietly reading on a wooden stump, and spoke under his breath.
The ‘choked’ student with the surna Hou forced a smile, “Big brother, I was just checking out the scenery, not harassing anyone. Don’t tarnish my innocence.”
With his imposing fra, Gu Yiwu easily subdued the slender Hou, like a hungry tiger pouncing on a monkey. He glared at him and hissed, “Don’t ss around in Teacher Zhao’s class, behave yourself. And you speak of innocence? If another female scholar from the Academy ever complains about our Justice Hall again, and I have to go appease her, if I co back and find you, I’ll pull down your trousers and then…”
Hou’s legs went cold, and he imdiately clamped his mouth shut.
A light laughter spread among the surrounding Justice Hall students.
After a while, seeing that everyone had settled down with no further trouble, Gu Yiwu picked up the cup of tea again and headed to where Zhao Rong was, offering it, “Teacher Zhao, please quench your thirst.”
Zhao Rong turned around, “Gu brother, just call Zhao brother informally, no need to be so formal in private.”
Gu Yiwu chuckled and shook his head.
Zhao Rong took the tea cup, took a sip, suddenly put down the cup, “Brother Gu, I’ve actually been curious, that ti at Yilan Pavilion, when everyone else was avoiding , why did you choose ?”
Gu Yiwu looked at Zhao Rong, his smile fading slowly, and after a mont of silence,
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