Chapter 5: Visiting the Master and Encountering a Scholar

  Chui Hong left and nobody knew where he went.

  I hope I can see you again in the future, thought Ma Chao.

  At this moment, Ma Chao saw Ma Teng walking in, "Has Mr. Cui left?"

  "The teacher just left."

  I was just looking for you to talk about something.

  "Father, please speak."

  "Come with me." Ma Teng walked ahead, while Ma Chao followed closely behind.

  Ma Teng led Ma Chao to his study, and after they sat down, Ma Teng said: "Chao, what do you plan to do?"

  "What's the plan?" "Of course, it's practicing martial arts and reading books every day." Ma Chao was perplexed.

  "No, I'm asking you about your studies. Mr. Cui has already left, and it wouldn't be good if your studies fall behind." Ma Teng said to Ma Chao.

  At this time, Ma Chao remembered what Cui Hong said before he left, which was, "Your father has his own plans." Could it be...

  "What does Father plan to do?" Ma Chao asked back.

  "Huh? I was the one who asked you, how did it become your turn to ask me now? Alright, since you've asked so much, I'll just tell you directly. Your father wants to move the family to Liangzhou and have you find a master there."

  Cool, Liangzhou, so early to go to Liangzhou? This, Ma Chao still can't accept it, but can only say: "Everything depends on father's arrangement."

  "Alright, depart in five days."

  Five days later, Ma Teng and his family set off. To be honest, the Ma family didn't have much: two maidservants, two attendants, Ma Teng, Lady Liu, Ma Chao and his younger brother, the more than two-year-old Ma Xiu, plus some luggage, that's all they had.

  They soon arrived in Longxi, and the place they went to was where Ma Teng and his father used to live. One look and it was all broken down, couldn't be more broken down. Also, back then when Bai Song gave it away for free, no one wanted it, you can imagine how broken down it is now.

  No choice but to find someone to rebuild and build a bigger house. Before the house is built, can only live elsewhere first.

  It's good that Ma Teng still has an uncle here, his mother passed away early, but his uncle has always been kind to him. When his father was poor and down on his luck, this uncle often helped support the two of them, as his mother only had this one brother and no other relatives were left. After Ma Teng returned to Fufeng, during holidays and festivals, he would also send things to his uncle through others.

  This time he came back without telling his uncle, wanting to give him a surprise. As a result, this time his uncle can get double happiness. One is the surprise of Ma Teng's return, and the other is the surprise brought by Ma Teng's whole family. Ma Teng's family went to his uncle's house, and as a result, his uncle was overjoyed. His uncle was alone, so when his relatives came, he seemed especially happy.

  More than half a month has passed and the house is finally completed. Ma Teng and his family have moved into their new home.

  Ma Teng took Ma Chao to Hanyang Lintong County, saying he wanted to take him to pay respects to his master. Ma Chao heard that the teacher's surname was Yan and his name was Yan Zhong.

  Who is this Yan Zhong, I've never heard of him before. I only know four people with the surname Yan: one is Yan Xiang, a subordinate of Yuan Shu; another is Yan Cuan, an advisor to Zhang Lu; there's also Yan Xing, the son-in-law of Han Sui; and finally, there's Yan Rou from Wei State.

  That Yan Xing seems to be from Liangzhou too, they might have some kind of kinship, who knows if Yan Zhong is Yan Xing's old man. If Yan Xing were here and found out that Ma Chao had pointed him out as a cheap father, he would probably chop Ma Chao up.

  Arrived at Yan Zhong's mansion, the gifts were taken away by the servants, while Ma Teng led Ma Chao into the reception hall of Yan's mansion.

  As soon as they entered, they saw a man standing inside, with a dignified appearance and an air of wisdom. This man was smiling at Ma Teng and his son.

  Ma Teng hastily pulled Ma Chao forward and they walked up to the man. They bowed and said, "Junior nephew Ma Teng pays his respects to uncle."

  When they were young, Yan Zhong and Ma Ping (Ma Teng's father) were good friends. Yan Zhong was also younger than Ma Ping, so Ma Teng's address to him is not incorrect.

  Ma Ping is a man who, although not particularly talented or knowledgeable, is straightforward and broad-minded, sincere in his interactions with others, and deeply loyal to his friends. He conducts himself with integrity and transparency, earning the respect of those around him. This is why he was able to befriend someone as esteemed as Yan Zhong.

  "You're welcome."

  "This is Quan's son, Ma Chao. Chao, you haven't seen him yet..."

  Before Ma Teng could finish speaking, Yan Zhong spoke up, "Shoucheng, you're here to let Ma Chao pay his respects as a disciple, aren't you? Since that's the case, Ma Chao, I'll ask you, are you willing to acknowledge me as your master?"

  Although it was an inquiry, Yan Zhong's tone left no room for doubt, as if you could only worship me as a teacher.

  Ma Chao felt unhappy in his heart, thinking that Yan Zhong hadn't even heard of him, and yet he was also a famous scholar of today? Was this true or false? The gap between this and what he had thought was really too big. Alas, Ma Chao thought to himself secretly, while on the other side, Ma Teng was overjoyed. Today wasn't it all for this? As a result, Ma Chao beside him didn't react at all, and Ma Teng wondered if this kid hadn't been delighted silly.

  Ma Teng slapped Ma Chao's back with his hand and said, "You little devil, why don't you pay your respects to your master, what are you standing there stupidly for?"

  Ma Chao finally came back to his senses, and with a reluctant heart, he knelt down to pay respects to Yan Zhongxing, "Disciple Ma Chao, greets the master."

  "Rise, all of you. I, Yan Zhong, am no longer perplexed. In my life, for the first time, I have accepted a disciple, and it is because of a promise made with an old friend in the past. Now that Ma Chao has become my disciple, he is my student. I do not ask him to bring blessings to the world, but only to avoid wrongdoing. From now on, if your behavior is not upright, and you do evil without remorse, as your master, I will surely expel you from our school, and we will have no further connection. You must remember this."

  "Yes, your disciple obeys the master's order."

  "Alright, Chao'er you stay here, Shoucheng you can go back if nothing's wrong, Chao'er will be fine with me."

  Ma Teng felt particularly awkward, as Yan Zhong was openly driving away customers, but what could he say?

  "Ah, young nephew, retreat. Uncle will take care." After finishing speaking, Ma Teng left, and before leaving, he gave Ma Chao a meaningful glance, implying that you should learn well, if not, you will suffer the consequences.

  Ma Chao looked at Ma Teng and felt a chill all over his body. He thought to himself: "Let's hurry up and leave, if we don't go, it will affect me."

  Ma Teng left and returned to Longxi. Only Ma Chao and Yan Zhong remained.

  "Super boy, what have you learned?" Yan Zhong asked Ma Chao.

  "The Analects of Confucius" and "Mencius".

  "So which one of those do you like best?"

  "My dear disciples, I love this phrase from Mencius: 'When poor, cultivate virtue in solitude; when prosperous, share the blessings with all under heaven.'"

  "Good, I like this sentence too."

  "The disciple mustered up the courage to ask the teacher a question, 'Why are you asking me all these things?'"

  "Since you asked, I'll tell you. Whether it's the Analects or Mencius, studying them is good. But when encountering a chaotic world, they're not very useful. What your teacher excels at is the art of war and military strategy, which is what he teaches you. The reason I'm asking you this is to make you understand that in times of peace and prosperity, you can study anything. But in chaotic times, there should be a focus. You should learn what you think will be most useful to you."

  "Yes, I understand."

  Ma Chao suddenly realized, why Ma Teng didn't mind turning against his family and leaving his hometown to come to Liangzhou, and also didn't mind doing everything to make himself a disciple of Yan Zhong. It turned out that Yan Zhong was a contemporary celebrity, and also a famous military strategist, this person is formidable! Ma Chao had previously thought he was just a pedantic scholar who only knew how to talk big.

  Ma Chao's heart has calmed down now, and his impression of Yan Zhong is no longer the same as before. He thinks he is so lovely, simply the most lovable person.

  "Alright..." Yan Zhonggang said two words and then heard someone knocking on the door.

  Outside the door was a servant of the Yan family, who came in and handed Yan Zhong a visiting card. Yan Zhong opened it and raised an eyebrow, "Please let him come in."

  The person who went out to greet him was probably a junior, but if the visitor was older than Yan Zhong or a famous scholar, Yan Zhong would definitely go out to welcome him. He estimated that it might be a young master from a noble family, as Yan Zhong had set up a welcoming sign, Ma Chao thought.

  Before long, there was another knock at the door. "Come in," said Yan Zhong.

  A man entered the house, closed the door, walked up to Yan Zhong and bowed, "I am Wu Wei Jia Xiang, Jia Wen He has seen you, sir."

  "Wen doesn't need to be so polite," Yan Zhong said with a slight bow.

  Jia Xu finished his courtesy and nodded at Ma Chao, who was now too excited to speak.

  Why, is this still a question? The one in front of him is Ma Chao's first encounter with the Three Kingdoms' top-notch person. What, what, Nanhua and Ma Teng? Then don't mention it, Ma Teng is indeed a character from the Three Kingdoms, but his abilities are far from reaching the level of a top-notch person, in Ma Chao's eyes, he can't compare with Jia Xu, a heavyweight. As for Nanhua, remember that old monster is not human.

  People you can usually only see in books, today I finally saw a living one, can Ma Chao not be excited?

  Jia Xian is twenty-six years old, one year older than Ma Teng. Ma Chao thought he looked like over thirty years old. Jia Xian's appearance was not remarkable, and if you put him in a crowd of people, it would be hard to find him. But his eyes were very distinctive, they were not big, but very bright, giving people an unignorable feeling. He wore a green shirt with a sword hanging from his waist, overall Jia Xian looked like an ordinary uncle next door.

  Ma Chao secretly sighed, indeed people can't be judged by their appearance, the ancients were not deceiving me. It turns out that someone who looks harmless is actually the legendary national poisoner, Jia Yu and Jia Wen, who are best at self-preservation.

  If he didn't know that the person in front of him was Jia Xu, Ma Chao would never have associated the person with the name Jia Xu. Similarly, if Ma Chao hadn't known about Jia Xu's future "glorious deeds", he wouldn't have thought that the person in front of him could do so many great things even if he were beaten to death.

  Yan Zhong pointed at Ma Chao and said: "Wenhe, this is the disciple I just accepted today, Fufeng Ma Chao."

  Jia Yu was slightly surprised to hear this, as Yan Zhong was someone who never accepted disciples. Why had he made an exception today? It seemed that there were some unknown circumstances at play here.

  "Ma Chao has met the gentleman before." Ma Chao was about to bow and pay his respects, but Jia Xu reacted quickly and held him back. "No need for that. I am Jia Xu of Wuwei, also known as Jia Wenhe." Jia Xu said with a clasped fist greeting to Ma Chao.

  "All right, you two sit down and talk." Yan Zhong said, and of course the other two humbly obeyed.

  Actually, Yan Zhong had met Jia Xuan once before, when Jia Xuan was still studying. The two had met, but hadn't had much contact. Now that Jia Xuan had achieved some success in his studies and started traveling to broaden his horizons, he naturally came to visit Yan Zhong first, as Yan Zhong was the most prominent scholar in Liangzhou, and also asked him a few questions for guidance.

  After sitting down, Jia Xu and Yan Zhong started talking, with Ma Chao listening on the side. The two of them chatted for about half a time, and then Jia Xu bid farewell to Yan Zhong and Ma Chao and left. Jia Xu's impression of Ma Chao was not bad, at least he wouldn't look down on him because of his age.

  It's a fact that although Ma Chao is only five years old, Jia Yu will never look down on anyone and treats everyone with courtesy. Don't just look at Ma Chao being only five years old now, what about ten years later, twenty years later? It's precisely because of Jia Yu's character that he can protect himself in a chaotic world, of course there are other factors, but this is one of the indispensable factors for self-protection.

  Yan Zhong asked after Jia Xun left: "Chao Er, what do you think of Wen He and this man?"

  Ma Chao thought for a moment and said: "Wu Wei Jia Yu Jia Wen He, is the greatest talent in the world."

  Ma Chao originally wanted to say that the country was in chaos and poisonous, but he suddenly realized that he was still in the Han Dynasty, so how could he explain this.

  Yan Zhong listened and didn't say anything, only slightly nodding his head. After a while, Yan Zhong said: "Chao Er, Wen He has great talent and is indeed extraordinary. But Wen He values himself too much and is good at self-protection, it's hard to say whether this is auspicious or ominous."

  Yan Zhong then told Ma Chao a story that very few people knew about, and it was also the first time Ma Chao had heard it.

  Many years ago, Jia Yu had gone out and met a friend. The two chatted very harmoniously and traveled together.

  When the two of them were passing by a river, they heard someone shouting for help. It turned out that someone was drowning. At that time, there were only two people, Jia Yu and his friend, within several miles around. As soon as Jia Yu heard the shout, he immediately pulled his friend to walk away in another direction.

  Friend didn't understand and asked Jia Yu, "Wen and brother, what are you doing? Someone is shouting for help over there, why aren't you going to rescue them but instead pulling me to leave?"

  Save his life? Jia Xian originally wanted to pretend to be stupid and get through it, but it seems that's not possible. Can only very seriously tell friends, the drowning person is neither a relative nor an acquaintance of mine, why should I save him. Not to mention I don't know how to swim, even if I did, I wouldn't go to save him.

  Friend listened, and then shook off Jia Yu's hand, saying, "Alright, Jia Wenhe, you don't want to help, I'll go, don't hold me back!"

  Jia Yu held onto him, refusing to let go, until he finally relaxed his grip. The friend quickly jumped into the water to rescue the person and managed to pull them out. When they were pulled ashore, they still had a breath of air left in them. The friend hastily administered first aid and eventually succeeded in reviving the person. Exhausted, he sat on the ground panting heavily. As he caught his breath, he said to Jia Yu, "Now I see you clearly, it turns out you're this kind of person."

  Jia Xian smiled slightly and said, "If it weren't for me, you might all be dead by now."

  My friend said, so you're saying I should thank you?

  Jia Yu said it was unnecessary, why not let you go to rescue people. That's because if you went down at that time, the drowning person would use all his strength to pull you this life-saving straw, and in the end, neither of you might come up. Only after the drowning person has used up all his strength can you go down and both of you can come up.

  A friend asked, if I drowned too, what would you do?

  Jia Xiang said, "Fine, I'll just leave then. If you won't listen to me and end up drowning, there's nothing I can do about it."

  Friends looked up at the sky and burst out laughing.

  In the end, his friend left a letter and took the drowning man away. The content of the letter read: Brother Wenhe, this is the last time I will address you in this way. I admire your talent, but I dare not follow your style of doing things. As the ancients said, "Different paths, no cooperation", now I can only bid farewell.

  Looking at his friend's letter, Jia Yu couldn't help but shake his head and sigh.

  Listening to the story, Ma Chao was also thinking at the same time.