43 Chapter 43

◎The Six Arts of a Gentleman◎

This day happened to be the academy’s first horseback archery class.

After everyone changed into riding and archery outfits suitable for action, they arrived at the training ground, where the teacher was already waiting.

The teacher who taught horse riding and archery was dressed in a tight suit, with eyes as bright as a tiger and a voice as loud as a bell: "A gentleman has six arts: etiquette, music, archery, charioteering, calligraphy, and mathematics. Today we are going to practice 'archery'."

As he spoke, he lowered his shoulders and turned his arms, took aim at the bow, and let go, and the arrow hit the center of the bull's eye.

"That's about it. Next, choose the appropriate bow and arrow according to your own arm strength and practice separately." After saying that, the gentleman turned around and walked to the shade of a tree to rest.

Um? That's it? Jiang Jingyun's face was full of disbelief.

Su Yuheng saw that he was still standing there, so he walked up to him and asked, "Why are you standing there? Come on, pick up a bow and arrow."

Jiang Jingyun was puzzled: "Teacher, why don't you give the students some guidance and help them adjust their movements and postures?"

"Most children from aristocratic families have someone to teach them since they were young. This lesson is just a process." Su Yuheng picked the lightest bow and arrow for him, and picked a medium-weight bow for himself, then asked Jiang Jingyun to go to the shooting range, "I'll teach you."

"Stretch your upper arms as wide as your body, flat on both sides, hold the bow steady with both hands, aim at the bull's eye, and release the arrow!"

"Swoosh!" An arrow flew towards the target, but before it reached the target, it fell limply.

"Pfft..." There were faint sounds of laughter coming from all around.

"..., please try harder." Su Yuheng looked at his first student with disappointment. After trying several times, not a single arrow could successfully reach the target.

"I've been trying very hard!" Jiang Jingyun rubbed his arms, which were already a little sore from being tense for a long time, and retorted unconvincedly, "Are you sure you didn't teach me wrong?"

"Hey, you're too stupid to learn, why are you blaming the teacher?"

Zhang Zhengbai was watching the two bickering and was about to quarrel, so he quickly stepped forward to testify, "That's right, the posture is correct. Jingyun probably hasn't gotten used to it yet and doesn't know where to apply force. Just practice more."

Jiang Jingyun couldn't hold the bow and arrow anymore, so he waved his hand and refused, "You guys practice, I'll just watch from the side."

As a result, Jiang Jingyun failed to shoot the arrow to the target until the end of the horse riding and archery class, and returned home with sore muscles all over his body.

Soon after arriving home, Xiao Muyan noticed something was wrong, "What's wrong with you? Are you feeling unwell?"

Jiang Jingyun looked tired and replied weakly, "Don't mention it. I had a horseback archery class at the academy today. I spent the whole afternoon pulling the bow. Not only did I get laughed at for not shooting accurately, but my whole body was also in pain."

Xiao Muyan frowned. If the force is not applied correctly, it is easy to cause muscle strain. He touched Jiang Jingyun's arms worriedly, and was relieved after confirming that it was just caused by fatigue. "Take a hot bath to relax in the evening, and I will massage you again, otherwise it will hurt more tomorrow."

"good."

On the second day, Jiang Jingyun did not feel any pain all over his body. Only his arms were slightly sore and weak, but it did not hinder his movements.

When he went out, he saw a wooden stake as tall as a person in the yard. He thought one of his younger brothers was careless and threw the firewood everywhere. He was thinking that he must talk to them about it in the evening. Unexpectedly, when he came back from school, there was a scarecrow on the wooden stake.

Jiang Jingyun was a little surprised, "Who did this?"

"Brother Xiao made it for us to practice archery." The second brother Jiang Jinglin laughed and rubbed his hands eager to try, "Brother, can you buy me a new bow and arrow? This time I must become a master archer!"

"No," Jiang Jingyun refused bluntly. Jiang Jinglin always worked for three days and rested for two days. He said before that he would learn martial arts from Brother Xiao, but he gave up after one or two months because it was too hard. Later, he said that he wanted to learn cooking from his second cousin, but the food he cooked was even worse than Xiao Muyan's. Now he said that he wanted to be an archer. He was so inconsistent and had no fixed plan. "You have already been given your birthday gift this year, and you haven't done anything worth rewarding recently, so you can either use the old one or save up your pocket money to buy it."

"Oh." Jiang Jinglin lowered his head in disappointment. The last time he brought gifts home, he had almost spent all his pocket money, and he probably wouldn't be able to buy anything in the short term.

Seeing this, Jiang Jingyun stroked Jiang Jinglin's frizzy hair and discussed with him, "How about this? In a few days, I will invite a teacher to come back and give me lessons. You can study with me then. As long as you work hard and pass my monthly homework tests, I will give you a reward. Emmm... a bonus of 500 Wen!"

The matter that Jiang Jingyun had asked Su Yuheng to inquire about before had come to fruition. Although there were several female teachers with good reputations in the city, they all taught in the homes of the powerful and wealthy, and their fees were extremely high, which was not something Jiang Jingyun could afford. So he directly found an old teacher who would be here in a few days.

Hearing that he would have to go back to school, Jiang Jinglin hesitated, but he couldn't resist the temptation of money: "Really?"

"Well, a gentleman's word is as good as gold." Jiang Jingyun nodded. Anyway, his younger brother was still young. If he didn't find what he wanted to do, he would continue to study for a few more years. It didn't matter if he became more talented in writing, but it would be good for him to temper his temper.

"Wuhu!" Jiang Jinglin jumped three times with joy.

Seeing how excited he was, Jiang Jingyun emphasized, "You have to pass the test. Cheating or using tricks to get by is not allowed. It is also not allowed if the teacher reports that someone is not paying attention in class."

"No problem!" Jiang Jinglin patted his chest and guaranteed. At worst, he would wait until he saved enough money to buy a bow and arrow before starting to show off.

The third brother Jiang Jingfeng, who was sitting next to him pretending to read but actually eavesdropping with his ears perked up, was also somewhat moved when he heard this. He looked at Jiang Jingyun expectantly, and the meaning in his eyes was clear. Jiang Jingyun smiled and said, "All three of you have it, but Jinglin's test is more difficult than theirs. I will set questions based on your respective teaching progress. Whether you can get the reward depends on your own ability."

The third brother nodded happily without hesitation.

Jiang Jingyun burst out laughing. It seemed that everyone's piggy bank had been emptied when buying gifts last time, and everyone was short of money.

After deciding this, he turned around and wanted to go to the kitchen to prepare dinner for today, and saw Xiao Muyan standing behind him, looking thoughtful, "Brother Xiao, what are you thinking about?"

"I was thinking...if I teach you archery, should I also prepare some rewards..."

"Huh, I didn't say I wanted to learn."

"Really not going to learn? I am somewhat confident in my archery skills..."

"I don't want to learn." Jiang Jingyun turned and left. He didn't know how to take the exam, so he just muddled through the class.

"Why?" Xiao Muyan followed him and blocked his way. "Don't you like me teaching you?"

Jiang Jingyun looked up at the tall man who was blocking his way and asked, "Then why do you want me to learn?" If he simply wanted to satisfy his desire to teach, then teaching Jinglin and the others would be the same.

"Because I can," Xiao Muyan said seriously, his words as straightforward and sincere as ever, "If I teach you, I will definitely not let you get hurt... and..." And he always felt that he didn't know much, and there was too little he could do for Jiang Jingyun. He always felt uneasy when he was with him, afraid that one day he would not be able to keep up and be left behind.

Looking at the man who hesitated and showed frustration, Jiang Jingyun sighed softly. Ever since he fell seriously ill during the college entrance examination, he could feel anxiety and uneasiness in Xiao Muyan from time to time. He compromised and said, "Let's make a deal first. I will only practice for half an hour every day. If I can't learn well, you can't be mean to me..."

"Well, not fierce."

——

"Stand straight, feet shoulder-width apart, look straight ahead, hold the bow in your left hand, and put the arrow on your right hand," Xiao Muyan gently held Jiang Jingyun in his arms, holding his hand and guiding him to do the movements, his warm breath hitting his ears, making people itchy, "Hold your breath, aim at the center of the target, pull the bowstring to full, and release!"

As the word "release" was spoken, the arrow emitted cold stars and pierced the scarecrow, hitting the bull's eye.

"What does it feel like?"

"I feel so handsome!" Although Xiao Muyan helped, the arrows shot by him could be considered as my own contribution.

Jiang Jingyun's eyes sparkled, "Brother Xiao, you are so awesome, can you do it again?"

"Okay." Xiao Muyan pursed his lips and chuckled, then took Jiang Jingyun's hand and demonstrated it again.

"Swoosh", another arrow hit the bull's eye.

“Again!”

"Come again!"

…

With Xiao Muyan's unlimited indulgence, Jiang Jingyun experienced the addiction of "hitting the target every time" in a down-to-earth manner. When it was over, he still felt a little unsatisfied, "Brother Xiao, besides archery, what else can you do?"

"I also know a little bit of martial arts."

"Puchi," Jiang Jingyun suddenly had an idea and couldn't help laughing out loud.

Xiao Muyan looked at him puzzledly, "What's wrong?"

Jiang Jingyun waved his hand and explained with a smile: "It's okay, I just suddenly thought of a sentence, 'If you don't listen to reason, I also know a little bit of boxing'..." Then imagine if Xiao Muyan said this with a cold face, and put an emoticon next to it...hahahaha...

Xiao Muyan looked at the person in front of him who was laughing so hard that he was out of breath, with a confused look on his face.

"Ahem..." The time traveler with a low sense of humor covered his lips and coughed softly, rubbing his belly that was so tight from laughing, "Did you practice all your kung fu while hunting?"

"Some of them were taught by my father. He knows some military tricks, and some of them I figured out on my own in the mountains and forests."

"Hmm? I've never heard you mention anything about your family before. Can you tell me about it?" he asked tentatively, afraid of accidentally touching on Xiao Muyan's sad story.

Xiao Muyan nodded. Actually, there was nothing much to say. The world was in chaos in the early years. When Xiao was young, he was so poor that he had no food to eat, so he joined the army. A few years later, a new dynasty was established and there were no wars to fight, so he took a little subsidy and returned to the village to become a hunter. He got married, had children, and lived the rest of his life in peace.

"Oh..., when you were a child, did your uncle teach you archery and martial arts like he did today?"

"No, he is a strict father. Sometimes I don't listen and I won't practice well, so I will be beaten with a stick." Recalling the little things in his childhood, Xiao Muyan's eyes were full of tenderness, "But after each beating, he would take me to the mountains to catch rabbits..."

"Is it fun? I've never caught a rabbit before." Jiang Jingyun's eyes lit up.

"I'll take you there next time?"

"It's a deal!"

"good."