Zhao Rong didn't expect Zhu Yourong to be so enthusiastic.

Even though he knew before that she was probably a word maniac, when they actually came into contact, he couldn't help but be burned by the flame of passion emanating from the woman next to him.

Because if he asks himself, even if it seems that he can be Zhu Yourong's teacher in calligraphy, he is still inferior to her in some aspects.

At this moment, in Lanxuan's study, in front of the desk, facing Zhu Yourong's eyes that were as bright and crystal as stars, Zhao Rong fell silent.

He suddenly put down his pen and did not try to answer her question.

Seeing this, Zhu Yourong's eyes dimmed slightly, but soon her expression became excited again. She pursed her red lips and looked at Zhao Rong carefully.

The next moment, the woman in Confucian robes reached out and silently took the inkstone beside her, and poured some clean water into it. She lowered her eyes, and with her white hands and slender wrists, she began to gently grind the ink as black as night for Zhao Rong.

Be quiet.

Neither of them spoke again.

After a while.

Zhao Rong suddenly asked: "Zhu Yourong, do you really think calligraphy can lead to enlightenment?"

Finally, the man next to her asked this question, but Zhu Yourong continued to move, as if she was concentrating on grinding ink, her jade lips slightly parted.

"Does Tzuyu want to hear the truth or a lie?"

"The truth." Zhao Rong said without hesitation.

Zhu Yourong looked up at him and smiled, like a solitary orchid blooming in an empty valley. She smiled for a while and said softly, "I... don't know."

Zhao Rong frowned.

Zhu Yourong suddenly stretched out a round and slender finger and lightly touched Zhao Rong's furrowed brows.

Zhao Rong was stunned for a moment, then his brows furrowed even further, and he leaned back, trying to dodge.

"Don't move."

Zhu Yourong frowned and said in a tone that left no room for doubt.

Zhao Rong's expression froze and his movements stopped.

Her index finger lightly touched his brow.

Zhu Yourong rubbed the man's brow with her fingertips, slowly smoothing out the wrinkles.

The woman in Confucian clothes was talking and laughing happily.

Continued:

"Maybe, maybe I can enter the Tao, there is a glimmer of light, maybe I can't enter the Tao, it is a road without end."

She looked at Zhao Rong carefully, and said in a leisurely tone, neither hurried nor slow, "But, none of it matters... Ziyu, what about you? Do you think you can enter Taoism?"

Zhao Rong felt the slight coolness coming from the tip of his index finger at the center of his eyebrows. The soft tip of his index finger had a delicate texture and an indescribable touch.

Under Zhu Yourong's gentle rubbing and kneading, his brows gradually relaxed.

But at this moment, Zhao Rong didn't care about these. Instead, he looked a little hesitant and told the truth: "I... I am very pessimistic about this."

Zhu Yourong looked normal.

She retracted her green fingers and thought for a moment, "It's okay, it's normal."

Zhao Rong stared into the eyes of the woman in front of him.

"Then why did you give up Confucianism and choose this path? I heard from them that... you are the first-class scholar of Confucianism. I don't know how powerful this title is, but I heard from them that you are almost a candidate for a gentleman. But after you chose this path..."

He paused and said no more.

Zhu Yourong listened carefully and nodded gently, "They are right. I am indeed a candidate for the position of gentleman. Before I left, someone told me that the masters in the Confucian Temple have already made a jade ring for me. I heard that it is a new jade mined from Kunlun."

"Well, it's a pity indeed."

She smiled.

Zhao Rong pursed his lips.

The Taoist gentleman carries purple air, while the Confucian gentleman wears jade ring.

Jue, means "decision".

Those who are granted jade pendants by Confucian scholars are gentlemen who can make decisions when the matter arises.

Zhao Rong opened his mouth and wanted to ask where the jade ring was, but in the end he swallowed the words back and did not speak.

Because the answer is obvious.

The next second, his eyes fell on Zhu Yourong's waist, where she still wore a pure white jade disk. Although it looked quite good, it was still... not a jade ring, as it lacked that small, narrow gap.

All Confucian disciples are equipped with jade, and they will never take off the jade without a reason.

In addition to being used as a token of status to distinguish between people of different social status within the strict hierarchy of Confucianism, it also carries more of a moral character implication, leaving aside the lengthy eleven virtues of jade.

Just the fact that Confucian scholars wore jade pendants would make sounds when they moved forward and backward, and only with appropriate steps could the jade pendants make pleasant and harmonious sounds. This also constrained the behavior of Confucian scholars, requiring them to behave properly and act uprightly.

Therefore, unless he was going to do anything shameful or inappropriate, he would never leave the jade.

Zhao Rong is currently just a student at Mo Chi, and he has no particular regard for the style of the jade he wears. But when he becomes a Confucian scholar, there will be many more rules, and he will have to wear a jade pendant in front of people at all times.

As for gentlemen, they carry with them more noble and exquisite jade rings, which are a symbol of status. And like the Taoist purple qi of the gentleman, each gentleman's jade ring has a noble origin. Although it is a small piece, it is a precious Confucian artifact carefully crafted by the Zhongzhou Confucian Temple.

Each of them is engraved with a unique Confucian motto.

However, Confucianism in the Xuanhuang Realm has a long history, and most gentlemen today are granted ancient jades that have been passed down in an orderly manner. They have been carried by ancient gentlemen and passed down from generation to generation.

Brand new jade rings are extremely rare.

However, a rare Confucian female gentleman is worthy of a new piece of jade and a new motto, which is of great significance.

However, compared with ancient jade, this new jade also has advantages and disadvantages.

The ancient jade has been passed down for thousands of years, and has been nurtured as a natal object by many ancient gentlemen, including some seventh-level Confucian scholars.

There are numerous rune prohibitions added to it, and the ancient jade color nurtured by it is even more mysterious and unpredictable, with extraordinary changes. It is a truly important inherited artifact, and those who are granted it are the mainstays of the Xuanhuang Confucian school.

Although the new jade lacks the long-standing inheritance and the incense of its predecessors, the fact that it is newly cast without any traces means brand new possibilities and greater potential, and it will also reduce the causal entanglements left by generations of jade ring owners.

Because beautiful jade is spiritual, people nurture jade and jade also nurtures people. The influence of ancient jade is even greater. Who knows what its former owners have experienced, the blessings and disasters, and the cause and effect of it, which is more contaminated.

Zhao Rong had heard most of the details about the jade rings of Confucian gentlemen from Gui. At the Nuanxi Gathering that day, he learned that the two purple auras of "purity" and "inaction" were the symbols of Taoist gentlemen.

According to Gui, there are rumors that there are several jade rings with strange blood stains on them. They are tainted with evil karma, or are extremely involved, or the reasons are still unknown. The former owners either died suddenly or swallowed the jade and committed suicide... They were sealed up in the Confucian Temple by Confucianism and are no longer used.

Originally, after hearing all this, Zhao Rong just treated it as a way to relieve his boredom, as he felt that it was very far away from him at the moment and he was always concerned about it.

If it weren't for how long it would take to break through to the Fuyao realm, if it weren't for Qingjun's Haoran realm physique, if he was afraid of the cold at night, or if it was closer, what would be for dinner tonight, if Brother Tengying's field was empty, Yushu came to borrow my homework again and copy it, please don't copy every word this time...

As a result, in the dull life, suddenly, a Confucian-dressed woman who once had easy access to those gentlemen's jade rings, now stood quietly in front of Zhao Rong.

And when she heard him mention those things, she seemed to think about it and replied softly, "Oh, you are talking about this thing, it was indeed a pity at that time." But despite saying that, her expression was still normal and her reaction was flat. You could not see any regret on her face.

The woman in front of him, whose name was Zhu Yourong and whose courtesy name was Weirui, did not seem to think that giving up on making a crack in the perfect jade was something worth boasting about.

This kind of people and this kind of things, according to Zhao Rong's memories of two lives and his experience along the way.

If it is not because the hidden desires are greater and more greedy, or to put it more nicely, it is because of his far-sightedness, not caring about the immediate petty gains, and seeking bigger and more, so he temporarily gives up the title of gentleman.

Or maybe...

"Great aspiration, or the belief in seeking the truth?"

Zhao Rong suddenly asked.

There were some things he wanted to figure out, just like when he was in Zhongnan Country.

Zhu Yourong, who was quietly grinding ink at the desk, raised his head when he heard the words, glanced at Zhao Rong, and then lowered his head to grind ink again.

The early morning sun that came in through the west window brought with it floating dust, dyeing half of her body yellow, as well as her bare hands that were rubbing circles on the inkstone.

The woman in Confucian robes stood in front of the table, tiptoed on her right toe, leaning forward slightly, and pressing against the edge of the desk. She pressed down on the inkstone with her left hand to fix it, while also supporting her forward leaning body. She grabbed the black ink block with her right hand, circling it in the thick ink, grinding it carefully.

Zhu Yourong stayed quiet for a while in the morning light, her hands moving non-stop, busy with her work seriously. Just when Zhao Rong thought she was about to forget his question.

The lady in Confucian clothes with her eyes downcast raised her eyelashes slightly and said softly, "No."

Zhao Rong looked slightly surprised.

But this time, before he could ask again, Zhu Yourong's skillful movements of grinding ink suddenly sped up for some reason. It was unknown whether she thought of something or was just in an inexplicable mood. In an instant, the corners of her lips curled up and a bright smile broke out on her face, like the first ray of daylight that broke through the window and appeared when Zhao Rong looked up when he woke up from his dream in the early morning.

In the morning light, her picturesque eyes and eyebrows are bright and beautiful.

"No. I have also thought about these noble, selfless, and grand ideas, such as paving a path for future generations, making contributions, establishing virtues, and making statements, and women are no less than men and have the power to establish their own schools of thought... These ideas are really good, really good, and they are also the answers that many people want to hear when they ask me..."

Zhu Yourong narrowed her eyes and spoke in a gentle voice.

"At first, when my friends and... relatives tried to persuade me, I answered them the same way. These good and noble thoughts not only became my excuse to block their persuasion, but also my excuse to let go of everything. During that time, I felt the same way myself, but..."

At this point, she paused in grinding the ink, then smiled and shook her head, and continued to grind the ink that Zhu Yourong had gotten on her clothes, hands, and even between her lips and teeth.

"It's just that after I left them, I walked all the way to Wangque Island, a place that people outside say is the end of the world. The days here pass really slowly, but I feel that even slower is fine. For many, many days and nights that I didn't even count, I ground ink and wrote, ground ink, and wrote. I kept writing and writing. My heart became calmer and calmer. It was only when I was writing that I realized that the thoughts I had before were just excuses to comfort them, or even to comfort myself."

The woman bit her lip, her expression slightly dull, as if she was recalling something. The pearly teeth on her lips were like a few pieces of broken jade, dazzlingly white in the sunlight.

Zhao Rong watched this scene in silence.

Zhu Yourong stared at the inkstone for a moment, then nodded, her eyes more serious than anything Zhao Rong had ever seen.

"It's an excuse I use to move myself and others. I'm not actually selfless and I don't have any lofty ideas."

Zhu Yourong suddenly raised her head and met Zhao Rong's gaze. She smiled brightly, her eyes full of joy.

"I just really like writing, that's all. I like it, so I do it. There's no need for so many reasons."

Zhu Yourong's tone was cheerful and his expression was excited.

Just like a hurried traveler, hurrying along the road late at night, not knowing where to go or what to look for, but just in a hurry, coming and going in a hurry, as if all the answers are in the distant place she is hurrying to go. But suddenly a gust of wind blows, and the sky and earth become a little brighter. She, who was hurrying along with her head down, suddenly raises her head.

See the starlight like a rainstorm.

Tired eyes stung.

The hurried steps stopped.

The heavy bag fell down.

She raised her head and opened her mouth, then stood on tiptoe and raised her hands, wanting to pinch the stars that were so close to her.

…