Chapter 35: Paying Respects to the Great Scholar

  "Who would have thought that a great Confucian scholar would actually live in such a shabby inn?" Chen Jiuxin muttered to himself, his hands moving continuously as he carried the gift box and headed towards the second floor.

  The little servant downstairs looked at Chen Jiu and didn't say much. This inn was a place with a large flow of people, and it wasn't forbidden for people to come and go. Unless there were guests who were dissatisfied or harassed, the inn wouldn't care what kind of person you were or what business you had here. With such a large flow of customers every day, how could the little servant remember who was a guest and who was just loafing around?

  "Bang" "bang" "bang", a knock on the door came from upstairs.

  The door creaked open with a "creak", and an old man with a thin face and simple attire looked at Chen Jiu in confusion: "Who are you?"

  "Student Chen Jiu, last night I saw a magnificent and upright energy rising like a pillar within the city walls. It must be that a great scholar is present here. I didn't want to miss this opportunity, so I came especially to pay my respects to you, sir."

  The great Confucian scholar glanced at Chen Jiuyi and nodded, opening the door: "Come in."

  Chen Jiuxin was overjoyed and walked in with the gift box: "The student specially made a inkstone last night, please teacher to evaluate".

  The great Confucian nodded: "Not bad, it's also a good thing. Do you understand the external methods of Fang?"

  Chen Jiubao didn't dare to conceal it and nodded: "I slightly understand a bit for self-defense".

  Chen looked at Jiuyi and shook his head: "We scholars cultivate the vast and righteous energy of the universe, naturally having a protective aura around us. These evil spirits and external demons are just wasting our time. Looking at your physical body, you seem to be intelligent and wise, how come you don't understand this principle?"

  Chen Jiu refrained from speaking, especially when seeking help from someone else. Moreover, the other party was a renowned Confucian scholar of the time, with white whiskers and likely over sixty years old. Being scolded by someone of his grandfather's generation was nothing to worry about. If the other party deemed him worthy, they would offer guidance; otherwise, they wouldn't waste another word on him if they thought he was beyond salvation.

  Looking at Chen Jiu's enlightened expression, the great Confucian scholar revealed a "child can be taught" expression: "Ah, that's right. The smarter a person is, the easier it is for them to go astray. Sometimes those foolish people are able to walk further on the same road than ordinary people, because they know their own foolishness and don't dare waste time on other roads. In this way, they focus on walking and ultimately achieve greatness."

  "The students thanked Mr. Chen for his teachings." Chen bowed and stood up.

  "I am Li Hui, a great Confucian scholar of Qingyang Academy in Qingzhou. I see that your external sect cultivation has some foundation. Were you the one who was fighting outside the city last night?"

  "I dare not hide from you, sir. The one who fought with the student last night was a powerful and evil entity that had been sealed away for thousands of years. Recently, a thread of its spiritual consciousness broke through the seal and it tried to bring disaster to the world again by releasing its true form. The student unintentionally ruined its plan, but it pursued the student relentlessly. If not for your help last night, sir, I fear that the student would not be standing here today."

  "Ah, I see," Li Hui nodded and stroked his white beard: "This external evil demon is the most hateful, causing trouble for the people and doing evil in all directions. Is that wicked demon dead?"

  "Sir's heroic spirit is indeed formidable, and with just one loud shout, he severely injured that demon king. However, I don't know what kind of magical powers that evil demon possesses, but surprisingly, it didn't die. My own abilities are insufficient, and I couldn't trap him; instead, he escaped."

  Li Hui nodded slightly, unbothered. Another evil demon's consciousness was recreated by himself, what great use could it be?

  "The student is eager to study at Qingyang Academy, but I don't know where Mr. is headed this time."

  Li Hui glanced at Chen Jiu: "I went to take care of some things a few days ago, and I was about to return recently. Since you want to go study, let's travel together."

  "The student is indeed talented, thank you for your guidance." Chen Jiu's face revealed a joyful expression.

  Li Hui put away the inkstone: "Although I'm traveling with you, whether or not you can pass the exam and become a student of Qingyang Academy still depends on your own abilities. I won't give you any special treatment."

  Chen Jiu looked at Da Ru: "I don't know when you will start your journey, sir?"

  Li Hui's face showed a tired look: "I'm old, I can't take this kind of running around, today I still need to rest for a few days, and it won't be late to start again tomorrow."

  Chen Jiu looked at Li Hui's exhausted face, then stood up: "The student will take his leave first and not disturb the master. The student will wait for the master at the city gate tomorrow."

  After finishing speaking, Chen Jiu retreated. The great scholar Guan closed the door of his house and looked at the inkstone in his hand again, nodding: "It's also a good treasure that can relieve fatigue and prolong life, it's a good thing."

  Chen Jiu walked out of the inn and looked at the passing crowd. His eyes shifted, and he happened to see a fabric store. The store had few customers, and occasionally one or two passersby would walk in but then leave with an unpleasant expression.

  "It's just that recently my clothes have been worn out, in the future when I go to Qingzhou to study, I must not be like this. As the saying goes, 'people rely on clothes and horses rely on saddles', wearing too shabby clothes is easy to be looked down upon. Qingzhou is a big city, dressing more luxuriously can avoid a lot of trouble."

  Thinking of this, Chen Jiu took a step towards Bu Zhuang.

  The shopkeeper looked at Chen Jiu's shabby clothes and remained silent, still sitting there, minding his own business.

  "Boss, is the boss in?" Chen's face was expressionless.

  The shop assistant looked at Chen Jiu, who was shouting loudly somewhere, and showed an impatient expression: "Young man, the clothes in our fabric store are a bit special and expensive. Looking at your outfit, you can't even afford it. Just leave quickly."

  "I didn't expect there would be such a way of doing business," Chen Jiuyi said expressionlessly, "Oh, how much more expensive can your clothes get? Tell me."

  The young shopkeeper's face showed a bitter expression: "I don't know what the boss is thinking, actually one piece of clothing costs ten gold coins, with ten gold coins you can buy a whole house full of clothes, who would come here to do business".

  It's no wonder Xiao Er has a bad temper, it's been three months since the opening and not a single customer has come in, all scared away by that 10 gold price. Who knows how good the boss's skills are, daring to charge such a high price.

  "Isn't there something special about your master's craftsmanship?" Chen Jiu asked doubtfully.

  It's rare for someone to be willing to listen to his own nagging, Xiao Er pouted: "My boss said that this is a traditional craftsmanship passed down from our ancestors, during the previous dynasty, they specialized in making dragon robes for the emperor, so of course, the price can't be low. Moreover, our boss doesn't know what's wrong with him, he actually wants to raise the price of one piece of clothing to 100 gold in a year."

  Chen's eyes lit up slightly, isn't this exactly the brand effect of later generations?

  "Get your master out here, I'll make the clothes. Isn't it just ten taels of gold? As long as he does a good job, it's worth the price, and these fifty taels of gold will all be yours." With that, Chen Jiu pulled out a handful of gold from his bosom and tossed it onto the table.

  The little second saw Jinzi and his eyes lit up: "Boss, boss, business has come, it's a big deal".

  "What's all the noise about? Don't you know someone is sleeping?" A slightly chubby figure walked out.

  Chen Jiuzi sized up this boss, his clothes were all finely made, indeed extraordinary, absolutely no worse than the dragon robe in the imperial palace.

  The boss's fingers were white and tender, his sleeves were long, clean and well-maintained, clearly a man who made a living with his hands.

  "What's this, you want me to make clothes?" The boss drawled.

  Chen nodded: "Five pieces, crimson purple color, you choose the pattern yourself".

  The boss looked at Chen Jiu seriously, then nodded and stared at the little second: "This is a big customer, don't hurry up to collect the gold, so lazy, it seems that in the future you should be fired."

  As he spoke, he said to Chen Jiu, "You stay here for a while. The other day I made a few clothes, and after some alterations, they will fit your figure."

  After finishing speaking, he hurriedly walked towards the house, apparently this boss still has a conscience, knowing that taking people's things requires doing their best for them, his lazy and careless demeanor disappeared, replaced by being sharp and efficient.

  Chen Jiu didn't have to wait long, after finishing three cups of tea, he saw the boss hastily carrying a tray and walking in, with a stack of clothes on top.

  Chen Jiu took the clothes over and touched them: "Not bad, they're all high-quality satin, the workmanship is absolutely fine, worth the price".

  The clothes were full of mountains, rivers, grass, trees, fish, insects, flying birds and running beasts, all different from each other. I don't know how the boss did it, but he managed to finish five pieces of purple clothes in such a short time.