Chapter Fifteen: The Gentle and Virtuous Maiden

  A Fei - from now on, let's just call him Xun Ba - after making a hypocritical bow to the memorial tablet of his "parents", suddenly burst into loud sobs. At that moment, he was no longer himself, he was possessed by the spirit of Beiying Factory's Biao Zi!

  He mixed all his nostalgia for the previous life and the various pains he had experienced since coming to this world into a pot, adding a bit of seasoning called "hypocrisy", adding a bit of fear about his uncertain future, adding a bit of sorrow about the already determined course of history - Five Barbarians overrunning China, An Shi Rebellion, Jingkang Incident, Yaoshan storm, Queue troops entering Beijing, Opium War, Japanese invasion of China... Alas, what a pity, how hateful, how annoying! Woe is me! Oh oh oh oh...

  It's true that "people are hard to comfort", who hasn't been a little melancholy, it's just that they don't usually want to think about it. So whether it's real or fake, emotions like sadness are difficult to start with. Once started, if not restrained, it will be like the Yangtze River flowing endlessly, and like the Yellow River overflowing uncontrollably. Now is the time when one has cried to the point of being dizzy and disoriented, and no matter how they try to comfort themselves, there is no relief in sight.

  Of course, no matter how much you cry and wail, there must be an end to it. For a good performance, this ending should reach the peak of emotions. So, with a flourish of familiar technique, I let out another "Waaaaaaaah!" and fainted away again.

  If it were just a second faint, without seeing the means of high strength and shocking acting skills, ultimately, the Oscar award would not be taken. So, apart from fainting, he had another trick up his sleeve: after "waking up", as if suddenly losing language ability, "ah" sound was dumbfired, and from then on, no more words could be spoken!

  The family brothers were shocked and hastily invited doctors to diagnose and treat him. However, this time Xun was not afraid, just like the unanimous words of the three famous doctors: "Your younger brother's pulse is stable, this is not a physical illness, but a heart disease. Can heart disease be cured by medicine? Please forgive me for being powerless."

  He was anxious: "Is it that my brother will be mute for the rest of his life?" The doctors could only deceive themselves and comfort him: "Wait until your brother's mood recovers, who knows when he might suddenly recover... otherwise, go invite a master to take a look?"

  It's all in the heart, let alone what a master says, even if you invite Zhang Tian Shi over, he can't cure my dumb illness. Heh heh, don't worry about it, when the time comes, I'll naturally get better.

  Although he was familiar with the Shi family, from top to bottom, and even knew all sorts of trivial matters, previously it was just based on gossip and speculation from the perspective of a house slave. He had never actually played the role of young master before. The opening scene was on the boat in Nanpu, and afterwards, the people he mainly came into contact with, including the boat owner Qian, Taishi Ci, and Donglai Governor Cai Yan, were either from different social classes or unfamiliar with the Shi family, so it wasn't easy to reveal any flaws. But this time, he had entered the Shi family's old nest, and in every gesture, movement, and word, no one could guarantee that he would be able to pull it off flawlessly.

  He couldn't pretend to be paralyzed, so he had to pretend to be mute and stopped talking to his family members. His mouth was at rest, but his ears and eyes were not idle, and soon he got a clear understanding of the situation in his family - gossiping doesn't require a mouth. Moreover, taking this opportunity, he carefully observed and learned from the speech and behavior of his brothers, striving to avoid raising any suspicion even if he spoke up when the time was ripe.

  He stayed in bed for three days, during which time he saw three doctors and two Buddhist monks, all of whom were at a loss as to what his illness was. After three days, he really couldn't stay in bed any longer, feeling that if he did, his limbs would atrophy, so he got up, and under the guidance of the old servant assigned to him by Shi, first paid his respects to the Shi brothers, then walked around the inside and outside of the Shi house, the only place he didn't enter being the bedroom of Second Miss Shi.

  It's indeed not small, estimated to be over 3,000 square meters. The estate is divided into two areas: the east area is mainly for the servants' living quarters, including a well, kitchen, garage, warehouse, workshop and so on; the west area is for the master's living quarters, with a front yard having a living room and guest rooms, a backyard with multiple semi-independent bedrooms, two small buildings, and finally a small courtyard.

  This courtyard was sometimes used to store miscellaneous items, and was usually empty, allowing family members to take a stroll or practice martial arts. At that time, as a scholar, one was supposed to be proficient in both literature and martial arts, which was fundamentally different from those bookworms who were unable to truss a chicken later on. Of course, this so-called "martial" did not require you to jump seven feet high or punch eight horses, but rather required you to know how to drive a chariot and shoot arrows - all of which were part of the Six Arts of a gentleman.

  So when he arrived at the courtyard, he found that there was almost nothing there - the Le Lang family's courtyard was much larger and was filled with all sorts of knives, swords, and stone balls. There were only two straw targets standing on one side. He decided to exercise his body a bit, so he went back to the house to fetch the bow and arrow given by Ta Shi Ci - during his three-day stay at Ta Shi's house, he had learned a little about all eighteen martial arts, but Ta Shi Zi Yi was proficient in all eighteen martial arts, especially skilled in archery, and had taught him many tricks. This time, he wanted to try out whether his shooting skills had improved or not.

  Arriving at the archery field, thirty-five paces from the target, he raises his bow, nocks an arrow, and with a burst of energy, his left hand is like holding up a mountain peak, his right arm is like embracing a baby, the bow opens like a full moon, the arrow shoots out like a meteor, all that can be heard is a "thwack" sound - the arrow flies out and lands on the ground, still more than a foot away from the grass target...

  Just as he was about to relax, his peripheral vision suddenly caught a glimpse of someone flashing outside the courtyard. His hands instinctively trembled slightly. Sure enough, he soon heard someone ask: "Has Hongfu also learned archery?" The newcomer was Zai Yu.

  Xun let out a sigh of relief in secret, this big brother was much easier to deal with compared to Old Fourth. He then bowed and continued practicing his shooting, intentionally lowering his standards, hitting seven arrows in twenty shots, but the best ones only managed to hit the edge of the red heart on the target.

  While practicing shooting, he also went to find a book to read. If you want to stay in the scholar's family for a long time, it is impossible not to read a few good books. He can't speak now, and when something happens, he can only take up his pen to write. Fortunately, he had learned calligraphy in his previous life, although he hadn't practiced cursive script much, but the basic structure of the characters, including the beginning, development, turning point, and conclusion were all clear. Now that he tried writing, it wasn't very impressive, but at least the lines were straight and even, looking neat and tidy - actually, most scholars in that era were only at this level. In the past, when he was at the Lewang family, he claimed to recognize a few characters and had asked Mr. Xun to teach him how to write with a proud face. Although Mr. Xun taught him less than twenty characters in three years, and most of them had only five strokes, at least there were horizontal, vertical, left-falling, and right-falling strokes, and his hands hadn't been completely idle.

  That day, he wrote a bamboo slip to ask Shi Zhengzhi for a book and asked him: "Who did Hong Fu worship as his teacher in Le Lang, and which classics did he specialize in?" If he opened his mouth to answer, he should say: "In a remote and distant county, how can there be a teacher? What I read is very little, how dare I claim to be proficient?" However, writing words can be frugal, so he simply continued with just four words: "No teacher, no specialization."

  There weren't many books at all - in those days, the total number of books in the whole world was probably less than what a single street library in the 21st century has. There were only about five or six books: "Analects", "Book of History", "Book of Rites", "Book of Songs" and "Spring and Autumn Annals". Not to mention "Records of the Grand Historian", "Book of Han" and "The Art of War". They didn't even have "Gongyang Commentary", "Zuo Commentary" and "I Ching". The three books in the back, however, were available at the home of the Lew family. It was said that they were provided by a veteran from the county who presided over the capping ceremony for Shi Xun. That old man claimed to be a disciple of Zheng Kangcheng and had been taught the correct interpretation of these three books. Who knows whether it's true or not?

  There aren't many books, but it's not just a matter of reading them once. You have to memorize and recite them first, otherwise you won't be able to go out and talk to scholars in the future. Fortunately, this soul is a product of examination education, and its body seems to have a good memory too, especially since there aren't many entertainment activities to distract it during this time of year. Usually, there's plenty of time to waste on reading books.

  It was the fifth day of the week, and I had a day off. When I got home, I heard that Xun was ill, and couldn't help but sigh. Then I heard that Xun was looking for books to read, and couldn't help but feel great joy. I called him over and encouraged him earnestly, also telling him that if he had any questions or didn't understand something, he mustn't keep it to himself, but rather ask me and I would teach him wholeheartedly.

  After these few days, Xun also realized that this was the case. He was a half-bookworm, not diligent in his work, unable to distinguish between different grains, and not quick-witted enough. Although he was in charge when his father was away, he had pushed most of the affairs onto Si Yu. Si Yu was a young man with some social experience and practical skills, and it was estimated that without him, the family would have been in chaos. However, Kong Beihai only praised Xun and the third brother who was studying abroad, but did not think highly of Si Yu.

  Yi Zai's second son, Huan, also returned home with his young son, Jun. According to Yi Xun's observation, this child was a typical spoiled brat, lazy and indulgent. He estimated that it was probably because of this that his father had to keep him by his side and strictly discipline him.

  One day years ago, Xun went to find Zuo again, wanting to ask him some questions about the book. The first time he borrowed was the most basic "Analects", but the more he read towards the back, the more puzzled he became. Many chapters here looked unfamiliar, and they were not entirely different from what he had read in his previous life. He didn't know if it was distorted later or if this version had a problem. At that time, printing had not been invented yet, and all books relied on copying. Because the level of the copyists was uneven, mistakes, misprints, and even missing paragraphs were common, let alone some Confucian scholars who arbitrarily added and altered them. So as he read on, he found that certain passages simply couldn't be understood.

  The edges of the bamboo slips also have some small characters, presumably they are someone's notes or the author's own insights, but most of them are obscure and hard to understand. It's like beating a drum in an empty mountain - not understandable at all. There was no way out, so I had to go find the author and ask for instruction in person.

  Among brothers, at home every day, there are not so many polite phrases. Moreover, Xun knew that his brother's wife had a bedroom and usually didn't come to his study. Coincidentally, the door was open, so he casually knocked three times on the door frame and stepped in.

  As soon as he entered the door, he suddenly saw a slender figure hastily retreating behind the screen. He was taken aback and didn't know whether to hurry out or not, when he heard his mother say: "There's no need to hide, this is your seventh brother, come and pay your respects."

  Hearing this, it must be Shi's second daughter. Shi hurriedly bowed deeply towards the screen, and when he lifted his head again, he saw that the woman had already stepped out from behind the screen, slightly lowering her head, also bowing at the knee. Shi took a quick glance - Ah, what a beauty!