Inside Tingchaoxuan.

Zhu Yourong looked at the direction where Zhao Rong left outside the door and murmured "dragon spirit".

She didn't turn around, but her tone was a little dissatisfied, "Uncle Meng is helping me, why do I have to ask him for a calligraphy?"

The old priest smiled and said, "Of course I asked for it for you. Mr. Xiao Zhu, the new and most popular teacher in our school, really admires the calligraphy of a certain student. I have heard about this a little bit in Tingchaoxuan."

Zhu Yourong did not comment, and turned to ask the old priest: "Uncle Meng, your husband was also suspected of dereliction of duty in the incident of Zhao Ziyu being attacked at the foot of the mountain. It is reasonable... please help me again next time, Uncle Meng."

The old priest nodded, "That's right. Even if you didn't come to me today, I would still help him. Xiao Meng also feels guilty about him. However, there is still one thing I don't understand."

Zhu Yourong didn't wait for him to ask, and said calmly: "I like his calligraphy, and I am excited to see his talent. I want to cultivate it, maybe it will help me to keep my faith. The reason why I didn't give it to him personally is because I was afraid of rumors. So, Uncle Meng, could it be that he has the same misunderstanding as those vulgar people?"

Seeing that she seemed to have finished speaking, the old priest glanced at Zhu Yourong and changed the subject, "What's there to be misunderstood? You are the teacher and he is the student. What other relationship could there be? You just want to accept him as your disciple at the apprenticeship ceremony next year. I heard that he is currently serving as your assistant teacher in calligraphy class."

The old man sighed, "Calligraphy is indeed a difficult art. It's rare to meet a good talent. I'm worried that he will run away. You've been busy running around. Thank you for your hard work. I haven't seen you so dedicated to something for a long time."

Then, the old priest immediately took the initiative to suggest, “How about this? I still have some face, so I can talk to the other gentlemen on your behalf and let you take this good candidate. But I heard that Xiao Yan, who studies classics, has a good relationship with this young man’s family. He was brought in by Xiao Yan using his special student quota, but he didn’t expect that you would take a liking to him. So, we must explain this to Xiao Yan and see if he will let him go. Because if both the teacher and the student are selected, it will be difficult to snatch the candidate…”

Zhu Yourong seemed to be in a trance, and suddenly turned around and asked, "Why can't it be you, Uncle Meng, who accepts me as your disciple?"

"I am accepting disciples?"

The old priest paused, then laughed.

He shook his head. "What a joke..."

Zhu Yourong asked back, "Why not?"

The old priest leaned back and said:

"Not to mention that I have been closed to the public for many years. If I really want to make an exception and accept a disciple, Xiao Meng will probably be the first to jump out and object. She is the head of the academy and the teacher of etiquette. If you let an ordinary student become her junior disciple, she will definitely not accept it and think it is not in accordance with etiquette. Besides, I have already retired and retired..."

Zhu Yourong narrowed her eyes and said, "What's wrong with etiquette? The saint said that there is a sequence in learning the truth. There is no noble or humble teacher, no old or young, and the same is true for accepting disciples. Even saints have taken a street kid as their teacher, not to mention her, Meng Zhengjun, what's wrong with letting a truly outstanding student jump down a generation and become her junior apprentice? Is the 'etiquette' she set for herself greater than the 'etiquette' set by the saints?"

The more she spoke, the more confident she became. She stared at the old priest with burning eyes and said, "Besides, didn't Uncle Meng just say that Meng Zhengjun felt guilty about Zhao Ziyu? Maybe she will acquiesce. So in the end, it all depends on whether you, Uncle Meng, really want to do this. The obstacle is not with other people. Otherwise, Uncle Meng, please help me with this again."

The old chief priest looked at the witty female teacher in front of him in astonishment... You are making me restless even after retirement.

The old man adjusted his Confucian hat and said seriously, "Xiao Zhu."

"What is it?"

"Why didn't you accept the disciple you chose as your disciple?"

Zhu Yourong gave the reason without hesitation:

"This guy doesn't really want to pursue calligraphy, and he listens to Mr. Yan very much. I'm not very familiar with Mr. Yan, who studies classics, so I want you, Uncle Meng, who is more senior, to come forward and accept him as my apprentice first. No one will dare to compete... And in the end, I won't bother Uncle Meng. I will teach him for you, so he can't run away."

A student named Zhao was arranged clearly by a female teacher named Zhu.

The old priest has lived for so long, but this is the first time he has seen such a thing. It can be said that he has never seen such a thing before.

He wondered, "Doesn't that make him a liar?"

Zhu Yourong said confidently: "What a liar, I am the first-class scholar of Confucianism, I am more than qualified to teach him. Even if he really can't let go of the classics, I can teach him and let him practice both calligraphy and classics. So, he can just be happy then." Her eyes flickered and her gaze shifted elsewhere.

The old chief priest had no objection to what Zhu Yourong said. He had always been very optimistic about this niece. If she had not "deviated from the orthodoxy" and that incident, she might have become the youngest female gentleman of Confucianism and Taoism in the history of the Confucian Temple.

Therefore, the old priest's eyes became even more strange, and he couldn't help but say, "Then you have to think it over clearly. If he really becomes my disciple, you will be the one teaching him. The better you teach him, the more you will be doing me a favor, because in the eyes of others, he is the successor of my tradition, and your status is at most a side branch... Senior Sister."

A certain female teacher who actually wanted to become a senior sister heard this and pretended to frown, "Well, it's fine, it's fine, and besides, I'm still a member of the Confucian Temple. If he were to worship under my name again, it would be a hindrance to his future advancement in the Confucian sect."

After a while of deep thought, she sighed, "I... I will just put up with it and be a side-brain senior sister. I only hope that I will not be alone in my path."

“…”

The old chief priest glanced sideways at the niece of this old friend and said nothing for a while.

Zhu Yourong looked up and asked seriously, "So, will Uncle Meng help or not?"

The old priest poured another cup of orchid tea, took a sip calmly, and leaned back. "It's not impossible to open the door and accept disciples again, but..."

He changed the subject: "Then at least you have to get first place in the school once, right?"

This was a bit confusing, but Zhu Yourong knew who the old man was talking about.

Zhu Yourong nodded.

The old priest smiled awkwardly, "Then at least you have to be promoted to Haoran Realm before you are 18 years old, right?"

Zhu Yourong lowered his eyes slightly and nodded.

The old priest smiled again and said in an estimating tone: "Then at least you have to become a seed of learning, right?"

Zhu Yourong fell silent.

According to the convention of the previous apprenticeship ceremony, to become a disciple of the Six Gentlemen of the Academy and inherit the rare and precious cultural heritage behind them, one must be the most outstanding student of the class, that is, the one who obtains the status of a seed student.

Zhu Yourong nodded slightly.

The old priest smiled, and this time, his tone was very sure: "There is still one more hurdle."

Zhu Yourong frowned, "Why do you have more requests? Why is it more troublesome for Uncle Meng to accept a disciple than for other uncles?"

The old priest smiled and nodded, "This is the last stage. Because this is an exception to the rules of the academy, it is not in line with the academy's regulations, so we must get your husband's approval."

Before the old man finished speaking, a busty lady's face turned cold, she turned around and left, confiscating the pot of orchid tea before leaving, without even leaving a cup.

"Oh, oh, oh, my dear niece, my dear niece, don't go...if you go...if you want to leave, please leave the tea for me..."

The old priest called out a few times helplessly, but there was no response. He watched Zhu Yourong's back disappear outside and shook his head:

"These requests are not made by me. These girls, once they grow up, are not as obedient and loving as they were when they were young. Don't you think so, old man?"

A tall and thin old man with a stern face walked in from the door, carrying a small chessboard and flipping through a chess book with one hand. He lowered his head and read along the way, ignoring the teasing of his old friend.

Just like the usual afternoon routine, the tall and thin old man threw the chessboard in front of the old chief priest, put away the chess record, sat down upright, and began to place the chess box in preparation for the game.

The old priest was not surprised. As if he was used to it, he slowly opened the lid of the box and played chess with him.

The two of them held each other's hands for a while. The old chief priest glanced at the tall and thin old man and said, "Letting that kid go up to the sixth floor..."

"Can."

The old priest nodded. With the approval of his old friend, the matter was no longer a problem.

He asked more: "What about that girl Yourong..."

The tall and thin old man suddenly looked up, looked at the old man who also had a daughter like him, and said, "Your girl is very good."

The old priest laughed and shook his head:

"Every time she comes back, she's always busy with official business. She won't have the time to make tea for me."

The tall and thin old man did not comment.

…