Chapter 6: The Palace Examination Ruined (6)
Zhu Qingchen ran in front and two students chased him from behind.
The three of them came to Zhu Qingchen's room together.
Zhu Qingchen sat down at the desk, took a sip of tea, rolled up his sleeves and fanned himself.
"What are you two doing? Chasing me for what?"
Liu An remained calm: "I never chased after you, Master. I just wanted to be closer to you. After all, I am your direct disciple, so there is a difference between insiders and outsiders."
Pei Xuan nodded honestly: "Brother Liu is right."
Liu An frowned and turned to look at him: "Then what are you chasing?"
Pei Xuan said seriously: "I am afraid of being left behind by the Master."
Liu An said, "You frightened the Master."
"I didn't mean that..." Pei Xuan bowed and saluted, "I am sorry for being rude, Master."
Zhu Qingchen raised his hands and said, "Alright, alright, stop arguing, we are all my good students. Pei Xuan, bring me your revised article; Liu An, I have some articles here, take a look."
"yes."
Pei Xuan put the fruits he brought by the door and walked forward with the article.
Liu An was full of expectation. He took the article and glanced at it. Then he raised his head and asked aggrievedly, "Aren't these articles written by you, Master?"
He thought the Master had written a new article and wanted to show it to him first, but it turned out not to be the case.
Zhu Qingchen said helplessly: "No, I collected it yesterday, take a look first."
Liu An responded and sat down next to Zhu Qingchen.
Pei Xuan also sat down beside him and listened attentively.
Zhu Qingchen was surrounded by students before he knew it.
The little ball of light floated in the air, unable to join in: "There is no place for a system in a movie involving three people."
Zhu Qingchen sighed and waved his sleeves: "Don't crowd together, it's boring."
Liu An raised his head and looked at Pei Xuan: "You are boring the teacher."
"Yes." Pei Xuan moved out.
Zhu Qingchen looked at Liu An and asked, "Shouldn't you move too?"
Liu An said confidently: "I am the master's direct disciple, so I should be closer to the master."
Okay.
Zhu Qingchen pursed his lips and began to look at what Pei Xuan had revised.
Not long after, Liu An put the article in his hand on the desk with a calm expression.
It's just like that. Ordinary people will write vulgar articles, which are extremely vulgar.
Liu An turned his head away boredly. Zhu Qingchen was supporting his head and explaining an article to Pei Xuan. He hesitated for a while, but finally leaned over and listened with Pei Xuan.
Liu An lowered his eyes. This guy named Pei Xuan is quite okay.
Compared to those ordinary people, it's pretty impressive. Of course, compared to him, it's still a little bit worse.
If the master wanted to take him as his apprentice, it would not be completely unacceptable.
The two students stayed with Zhu Qingchen until evening.
After dinner, the two left the house together.
Before leaving, Liu An asked calmly, "Will you come again tomorrow?"
Pei Xuan replied: "I have to help out at the wine shop tomorrow, so I won't be free."
Liu An paused, and said in a more gentle tone: "After the New Year, it will be the Spring Examination. Do you want to come to the Imperial Academy to study? The tuition fee is not a problem. I can lend it to you. Don't think too much. I have no intention of winning you over. I am just cherishing talents for the court."
Pei Xuan smiled and said, "Thank you for your kindness, Master Liu. It's just that the wine shop is busy, and I'm afraid I don't have the time to stay in the academy all day. Now it's good like this."
Liu An glanced at him and raised his eyes slightly: "Yeah."
The two separated and went back to their own homes.
At the same time, Zhu Qingchen was lying on the couch with his feet up, warming himself by the fire while watching the live broadcast provided by the system.
There were snacks baking by the stove. Zhu Qingchen ate one at a time and nodded repeatedly: "I really didn't misjudge him. Look how much Liu An cares about his classmates. He just looks cold but is warm-hearted."
The system cut off the live broadcast and expressed its approval: "The vicious cannon fodder is not vicious at all."
Zhu Qingchen suddenly sighed again: "I miss my good friends. I used to have classmates with them. I studied with them, rode out with them, and later served as an official together."
The system understood: "Are you starting to miss home again?"
"Yes." Zhu Qingchen covered his chest, lay listlessly on the couch, and began his daily activities.
——Homesickness, kicking, rolling.
The system quietly moves away.
*
The next morning, Zhu Qingchen went to the academy as usual.
The students still arrived early and talked in the hall.
"Brother Liu followed the Master back home yesterday. Did you see the three baskets of articles?"
"Master, have you really forgotten about us?"
"Okay, stop bothering Senior Brother Liu. He'll accuse us of being 'jealous of the little guys and losing our sense of propriety' later."
Liu An cleared his throat and said calmly, "I said the wrong thing yesterday."
Everyone was shocked and said quickly: "Senior Brother Liu, you also think that the group of students outside are too much, right? He is obviously our teacher, but they insist on pestering him. It's really annoying."
Liu An paused and said, "I mean, not all students out there are random people. There are also some people with real talents and knowledge."
Students:?
"Brother Liu, what happened to you today?"
Liu An said, "I went to the Master's house yesterday and met Pei Xuan."
Everyone came forward and asked him, "Senior Brother Liu, did Pei Xuan have three heads and six arms to seduce the Master away?"
Zhu Qingchen outside the door stood with his hands on his hips angrily:?
What does "hook away" mean? Is this the level of his students' choice of words and sentences?
"Not really." Liu An said, "He's just an ordinary student."
Everyone was puzzled: "Then Master..."
Liu An paused and said, "My writing is better than yours, and my talent is also higher than yours."
Everyone was choked: "Senior Brother Liu, whose senior brother are you?"
"To be fair, a gentleman does not lie." Liu An said, "The teacher is right. The group of students outside are no different from us. You don't have to think too much. The teacher is our teacher. Ask whatever you want to ask. The teacher will definitely put us first."
This time Zhu Qingchen did not retreat to the corridor and pretended not to hear them talking.
Zhu Qingchen clenched his right hand, chuckled, and pushed open the door of the palace: "Yes, Senior Brother Liu is right, the Master puts you first."
Liu An raised his head, met the Master's gaze, and quickly stood up and saluted: "Master, you are joking."
Zhu Qingchen smiled, sat down on the teaching chair, and repeated: "Senior Brother Liu is right."
Liu An lowered his head, and most of his face turned red. He wished he could find a crack in the ground and crawl into it.
*
In the past few days, Zhu Qingchen worked overtime, yawning, and finished reviewing three baskets of articles.
Early that morning, the servant placed three baskets of articles at the gate of the school and distributed them one by one without delay.
He also held a list in his hand. The students on the list were the students that Master Zhu favored, and they could enter the mansion to meet Master Zhu and receive his guidance.
Zhu Qingchen sat under the eaves, holding a hand warmer, and looked at the students in front of the door from afar, feeling very satisfied.
Although the prince of this place is not very good, the scholar students are still very good.
Next year's spring examination and palace examination will definitely be a fierce battle.
The system reminded him: "Host, your mission is only to be Pei Xuan's teacher. Others are not within the scope of the mission. There are no side quests or extra rewards in the novice world."
Zhu Qingchen propped up his head and said with a smile: "I know. Anyway, teaching Pei Xuan alone is the same as teaching others. I like lively occasions the most."
He paused and said, "If I only want to teach Pei Xuan, I will bring him into the palace, provide him with good food and drink, and raise him like a pig until the palace examination. After he takes the palace examination, I will leave immediately. Doesn't this count as completing the mission?"
The system paused and said, "Yes."
"But I can't be so selfish. After I leave, will Prince Jing bully him again? I will help him find a few classmates, and we can serve as officials together in the future and support each other. In this way, when he is bullied by Prince Jing again, he will have the confidence to resist and someone will help him."
"Too."
"Besides, the people here are all real. Although I can't change the future, I can help them find a few good officials before I leave, which is considered my best effort."
The system seemed to be thinking: "I now understand why you are the 'Prince's Tutor'."
Zhu Qingchen puffed up his cheeks and tried to clarify again: "It was really just an empty title! After the minister died, the emperor appointed him as 'Prince's Tutor' to show his appreciation for him. This is the highest reward a monarch can give to his subjects."
"I have never taught a crown prince, and Li Yue has no crown prince either. The empire was not settled yet, and he was often away fighting. He had no children at all, and he didn't even have a wife."
"I won't listen! I won't listen! You are the prince's tutor!"
"..."Zhu Qingchen hit it directly.
What a ridiculous system.
Not long after, the servant came over with a few students.
They were all the people Zhu Qingchen specifically requested to see.
Several poor students stood in a row in front of Zhu Qingchen.
Zhu Qingchen's eyes were curved, and he looked at them "kindly" and "compassionately".
"Student Xu Rong greets the Master."
"Student Chen Zheng greets the Master."
…
After everyone had saluted, Zhu Qingchen frowned and turned to look at the servant: "Didn't I pick five people? Why is one missing?"
He took the roster and took a look at it: "Where's Song Feng? Isn't he here?"
The servant bowed to him and said, "Master, my student is Song Feng."
"You are not pine..."
Zhu Qingchen was stunned for a moment, then reacted.
Pine wind, Song style.
Song Feng whispered, "When I was collecting articles a few days ago, I secretly inserted my own article in there. I didn't expect that I would win the Master's favor because of it. Please forgive me, Master."
Are all the servants around him so powerful?
I was frightened by some students who had hidden abilities.
*
Zhu Qingchen accepted several students, all of whom came from poor families.
There were several other talented, hardworking and studious students in the academy, and he brought them along to teach them.
There is no favoritism.
On this day, Qingchen was given a day off, and the students gathered in the master's house to read books, write essays, and chat.
Pei Xuan was reciting an article aloud in the backyard. Ever since Zhu Qingchen asked him to read out loud what he wrote last time, he fell in love with reading aloud, but he couldn't read in the wine shop because it would disturb the guests, so he came here to read.
Liu An was in the room. The pen in his hand trembled because of Pei Xuan's voice, leaving a long ink line on the paper.
He covered his ears, not behaving like a young master from an aristocratic family. “Can you get rid of him? He’s been chanting all day, like he’s summoning a ghost.”
Song Feng comforted him: "Senior Brother Liu, if the teacher hadn't forbidden it, Pei Xuan would really climb up to the roof to summon the spirits... No, I was studying."
Liu An's hair stood on end: "Isn't he tired?"
Song Feng said, "The teacher asked him, and he said he wasn't tired. He started to learn at the age of six, but his classmate disliked his loud voice and beat him up on the ground. Since then, he has never read loudly again. He wants to make up for all the missed reading in those years."
"Oh!" Liu An clenched the pen tightly, "I want to pin him to the ground and beat him up right now!"
At this time, Zhu Qingchen came in from outside with his snacks.
"Hmm?" Zhu Qingchen threw a small snack into his mouth, walked forward, and touched Liu An's head, "My Zigong, what's wrong with you?"
Zhu Qingchen gave them nicknames, which were very appropriate according to the names of Confucius' disciples.
Song Feng asked, "Master, your beloved Yan Hui is disturbing Zigong, can you drive him away?"
Zhu Qingchen kept smiling: "No, Zilu."
Zhu Qingchen shared the snacks with them and said, "Don't be angry. He has no other place to study. I have already let him study in the corner of the backyard and reinforced the doors and windows. Is it still noisy? I think it's okay."
"It's even louder when the sound is lowered! It's like a bird chirping."
Pei Xuan seemed to have heard their complaints and the voice suddenly stopped.
Everyone looked back in confusion.
"Has he finished it?"
"I don't know, maybe it's for ventilation."
The next second, Pei Xuan opened the window from outside, stuck his head out, and said with sparkling eyes: "Master, come out and see! It's snowing!"
"Really?" Zhu Qingchen put down the snacks and ran to the window.
He stretched out his hand, and a crystal clear snowflake fell into his palm.
Zhu Qingchen lowered his head, fiddled with the snowflakes in his palm, and said softly: "On the day of my funeral, Fengxiang City also had its first snow. The snowflakes fell on Li Yue's shoulders, and I couldn't touch them."
system:?
"Don't talk like that, it's scary."
Zhu Qingchen smiled, clasped his hands together, and the snowflakes quickly melted in his palms.
*
At the same time, in the imperial palace, in Yangju Palace.
A life of decadence and luxury, with fine clothes and beautiful women.
Musicians played on both sides, and dancers in thin clothes danced in the hall with their sleeves fluttering.
King Jing's elder brother, the current emperor, sat in the middle, leaning on a soft pillow, holding a wine glass, enjoying the singing and dancing.
Two concubines were by his side, holding a wine jug to refill his wine and holding a fruit plate to serve him fresh fruits.
But because of fear, I didn't dare to get too close.
One of the concubines accidentally looked out the window and suddenly exclaimed: "Your Majesty, look, it's snowing, the first snow of the year."
The emperor narrowed his eyes and looked out the window in the direction she pointed: "It's snowing, a sign of good fortune..."
Before the emperor could finish his words, he suddenly shook all over. When he opened his eyes again, he seemed like a different person.
He stood up suddenly, took a few steps back, and distanced himself from the concubines: "Go away!"
The musicians stopped playing, the dancers stopped dancing, and the two concubines were stunned: "Your Majesty..."
The emperor pulled at his clothes, wrapped himself up tightly, and shouted, "Get out! Get out!"
His Majesty is moody. He may be fine one moment and turn hostile the next.
The attendants were used to it, so they quickly packed up their things, stood up, and left quickly, not forgetting to close the hall door before leaving.
The emperor tore open his clothes, rolled up his sleeves, and rubbed his arms vigorously. What kind of broken body is this? What was this person doing just now?
Zhu Qingqing, I am not clean anymore!
The emperor shouted: "Someone come!"
The maid cautiously opened the door and said, "Your Majesty, what do you want?"
The emperor put down his sleeves and said, "Get out! Someone, come!"
The palace maid was stunned outside the door. Was it "someone is coming" or "get out"?
The emperor calmed down and said, "Send the eunuch here. Prepare water. I want to take a bath!"
A small red ball of light floated to his side: "Host..."
When the emperor heard the noise, he turned his head suddenly and looked at me fiercely: "Didn't you say you would bring me to see Zhu Qingqing? Where is he? What was the emperor doing just now?"!
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