Chapter 1843 Cheating
Manbao took some snacks to find Bai Shan and the others while they were out of class.
Everyone had a quarter-hour break between classes, and several of them sat together on the railing in the corridor to eat snacks.
Bai Shan and Bai Erlang also liked the golden pastry the most. As they ate, they asked, "Where did you get this pastry? It must have cost a lot of money to have it made by the imperial kitchen, right?"
"No need for money, the Empress Dowager gave it to me." Manbao handed another softer dessert to Yin Huo, letting him eat it. By the way, she told her what the emperor had told her, "His Majesty said that we are not allowed to write that memorial. It will cause trouble."
When Liu Huan heard this, he immediately asked, "Do you still need to tell my grandfather?"
He didn't want to go to his grandfather about these things at all, as he always felt that he would be beaten if he told him.
Manbao glanced at him and said, "Stop talking. Just let it be idle chatter when we're bored. Alas, adults are so cruel. They want to crush people to death if their wishes are not met. Why can't we all just peacefully seek common ground while reserving differences?"
Bai Shan nodded in agreement, "So the officialdom is treacherous, we should just listen to His Majesty."
Kong Jijiu stood behind them with his hands behind his back and asked, "What do you mean by treacherous officialdom?"
The five people who were sitting on the railing and swinging their legs were so frightened by the sound that they almost fell off the railing. They immediately turned around and saw Kong Jijiu standing behind them. Without thinking, they jumped off the railing and lowered their heads and hands.
The students who saw this couldn't help but chuckle. Someone even lowered their voice and said, "It's what they deserve. They've been attracting attention all day. They got caught today, right?"
The sound was not loud, but no one was talking at the time, so everyone could still hear it clearly in the quiet environment.
Kong Jijiu's glare flew over immediately. Bai Shan and the others lowered their heads and didn't dare to look up to see who it was, but Kong Jijiu directly called out the other person's name, "Lu Yue, come forward."
Lu Yue: ...
He didn't dare to resist. He lowered his head and took a step forward, then simply put his hands down and admitted his mistake, "Sir, I know I was wrong."
Kong Jijiu asked him, "What's wrong?"
Lu Yue felt a moment of discomfort in front of Bai Shan and the others, and said hesitantly, "I, I shouldn't gossip about my classmates."
Kong Jijiu's expression didn't improve at all. He asked, "Just now they said that we should seek common ground while reserving differences in government affairs. I want to ask you, where did this saying come from?"
Lu Yue lowered his head in silence. How could he know where this came from? How could he know it wasn't just something they said casually?
Kong Jijiu's face darkened even more, and he shouted, "I'm asking you a question. If you know, just say so. If you don't know, just say you don't know. What did I teach you in the past?"
Lu Yue was startled and quickly admitted his mistake, saying honestly, "I didn't know."
Many people in the classroom quietly leaned out of the window to watch, a few even walked out to watch, and many lecturers came out of the office.
Mr. Zhuang was among them, and at this moment they all stood obediently with their hands down, watching Confucius teach his students.
Kong Jijiu then turned to look at Bai Shan and the others, called out Bai Shan's name, and asked, "Tell me, where did this come from?"
While Kong Jijiu was scolding people, Bai Shan lowered his head, chewed the food in his mouth quickly, and swallowed it hard. Now Kong Jijiu asked him, there were still some residual snacks in his mouth.
He swallowed again before lowering his head and whispering, "From the Records of the Grand Historian: The Book of Music..."
Before he could finish, Kong Jijiu called out Bai Erlang's name and asked, "Bai Cheng, which sentence is it?"
Bai Erlang broke out in a cold sweat. He racked his brains and said haltingly, "Music... is the same, etiquette... is different..." He couldn't remember the rest.
He glanced nervously at Bai Shan, but he was standing a little distance away from Bai Shan, so he could only look to the left at Zhou Man.
Manbao caught his gaze, raised his eyes slightly, and quietly extended a finger to his side...
Bai Erlang said uncertainly: "Same—"
Manbao pointed his finger at himself and Bai Shan quietly, winking at him. Bai Erlang said, "If we are the same, then we can go on a blind date?"
Kong Jijiu raised his eyelids and glanced at him. Bai Erlang immediately lowered his head and dared not say a word, and Manbao did not dare to move his fingers.
Kong Jijiu did not notice their private actions. In fact, except for Mr. Zhuang standing on the other side, no one noticed their little movements. After all, Zhou Man just moved his fingers.
Kong Jijiu: "What's next?"
Bai Erlang's forehead was covered with sweat, and he glanced at Manbao secretly again. Mr. Zhuang couldn't help but cough lightly. Manbao, who was about to give him a hint, immediately lowered his head and didn't move.
Bai Erlang also became obedient at once, lowering his head and whispering, "Sir, I don't remember the rest of the students."
Kong Jijiu's expression was much better than before. He nodded slightly and said, "At least you know where it came from and what it means."
Liu Huan, who was standing on the other side of Bai Erlang, was trembling a little, fearing that Kong Jijiu would turn around and ask him.
Kong Jijiu, however, simply passed him by, glanced at Yin Huo, and then his gaze fell on Zhou Man. His expression became more gentle, and he asked, "Zhou Man, you speak."
Man Bao breathed a sigh of relief and said respectfully, "Joy is unity, etiquette is difference. The same will be close to each other, the different will respect each other. When joy prevails, people will flow together, when etiquette prevails, people will separate."
Kong Jijiu nodded slightly, a satisfied nod. Then, turning to the students gathered around him, he said, "When propriety and righteousness are established, the noble and the humble will be equal; when music and literature are unified, harmony will prevail. This principle should not only be learned now, but also kept in mind in the future. If everyone can seek common ground while reserving differences, then everyone will be able to harmonize their feelings, love each other, regulate their behavior, and establish order among the superior and the inferior. Then the world will be united."
He looked at Lu Yue and said seriously: "Lu Yue, do you know what your biggest mistake is?"
Lu Yue lowered his head and dared not speak.
Kong Jijiu sighed and said, "Differents should respect each other. You have differences, but you don't follow the etiquette, so you speak ill of each other."
No matter what Lu Yue thought, he apologized very honestly at this moment and said that he was wrong.
As soon as he admitted his mistake, Kong Jijiu's temper flared up, and he scolded him directly, "So you should still read more. Look at Bai Shan and Bai Cheng, they are several years younger than you, and even they can recite the "Records of the Grand Historian". You are so much older than them, but you don't even know where the idea of seeking common ground while reserving differences comes from..."
Kong Jijiu talked about reading, then etiquette, and then about their historical achievements. It took him a full quarter of an hour, and the class time was long over.
But no one dared to interrupt Kong Jijiu. Even the musician in charge of ringing the bell did not ring the bell. He just stood there quietly with the mallet in his hand.
The prince, who was handling affairs in the Zhanshi Mansion, heard the noise behind and came over to take a look out of curiosity.
He was standing at the gate of the courtyard when he saw Kong Jijiu pointing a finger at a group of students and teaching them a lesson. He immediately turned around and was about to leave, but after taking two steps he realized something was wrong and came back to stand at the gate.
See you at 6pm
(End of this chapter)
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