This time, Chao Shuang'er's death is not just a social one. He will likely face cruel punishment from the academy as well.
Ye Tian had asked Chen Zhang if the investigation revealed serious problems, and Chao Shuang'er, including Xu Changlin, would face beheading.
At the very least, they'll likely be imprisoned in the academy's solitary cells for life, never to emerge. Both Xu Changlin and Chao Shuang'er are now crippled.
Ye Tianzhen chuckled. It was like a scholar encountering soldiers. These two thought he could reason with them, but that was something scholars did.
If you encounter Ye Tian, you'll definitely use whatever method is simple and straightforward.
Not to mention, there's that freak Su Muchen around. That lousy "cautious speech" gourd he made is a deadly weapon.
Now, Ye Tian has placed his junior brother Su Muchen's threat level in the Ruthless Sect above that of Abbess Hua Yun. This is practically a major weapon for the Ruthless Sect.
When the junior brother gets annoying, even a Great Luo Golden Immortal would find it hard to resist.
"Senior brother, what did you think Chao Shuang'er and Xu Changlin eat inside?" Su Muchen asked Ye Tian the next morning.
Ye Tian checked the menu for the academy's solitary confinement cell and guessed it was boiled cabbage in water, along with a few side dishes without oil.
"Wow, that's enough for two people. Looks like we didn't go overboard enough," Su Muchen remarked, stroking his chin.
Ye Tian thought to himself that this junior brother was truly a freak. An ordinary person would definitely reflect on their actions. But his junior brother took a different approach, not only refusing to acknowledge any wrongdoing, but also feeling that he had gone too far.
"Knock...knock knock." A knocking sound came from outside the door.
Ye Tian approached and unlatched the door, only to find Chen Zhang standing there. He was neatly dressed in a scholar's long robe. He said with utmost politeness, "Fellow Daoist, I've come today to escort you on your tour of the academy."
This is what it means to be a scholar and an elder, to be respectable and proper. There's none of the burning, menacing aura that Xu Changlin and Chao Shuang'er possessed.
Since Chen Zhanglai was already there, Ye Tian took the opportunity to ask, "Dean Chen, how are Chao Shuang'er and Xu Changlin doing inside?"
Mentioning Xu Changlin and Chao Shuang'er, Chen Zhang's face was full of anger. He said angrily, "These two scoundrels have tarnished the reputation of our academy. They're completely ruined now."
No wonder Old Chen was so angry; it's understandable. Yesterday, Ye Tian went back and inquired about the prices of Ruyang thin paper and Hanlin calligraphy copybooks; they were almost worth a mansion in the desolate city. Chen Zhang's desire to kill Xu Changlin and Chao Shuang'er was truly justified.
"How did they become useless?" Ye Tian thought to himself, but he still didn't forget to ask about the two people's recent situation.
"They got into an argument in the solitary confinement cell, and during the argument, they confessed to all the remaining crimes they had committed. They were originally going to be sentenced to life imprisonment. But the crimes they confessed to yesterday are enough to warrant beheading."
They don't deserve sympathy.
Xu Changlin and Chao Shuang'er, those two bastards deserve to die.
If it weren't for their grave sins and the many wrongdoings they committed, even if they were careful in their words and actions and their faces were reflected in the gourd, they wouldn't be locked in solitary confinement and beheaded; at most, they would only suffer social death.
"Alright, let's not mention those two traitors anymore." Chen Zhang looked somewhat annoyed when he spoke of the two men.
"Let me first show you around the academy. This area is the Bamboo Grove of the Half-Saint. On the eve of the Confucian sage's enlightenment, he called bamboo a gentleman's possession. Many people followed suit and valued bamboo highly."
"Not only that, but the quality of bamboo was used to judge the character of a gentleman. In the past, in order to be called a gentleman, one had to hang bamboo around one's waist."
"Until later generations, Confucian and Taoist philosophers emerged. They attained enlightenment before these bamboo trees, becoming semi-saints."
"This ancient philosopher, having grasped the great principles of Yangming, laughed and said, 'It's all just a poor imitation. Bamboo is just an inanimate object; how can one judge its quality, let alone use it to represent the level of a gentleman's character?'"
"What is this wise man's name?"
"Wang Yangming, this semi-sage who investigated things and extended knowledge, not only broke the cycle of excessive imitation of the ancient sages, but also improved the Confucian scholar's path of self-cultivation, and re-established a broad and smooth road."
This puzzled Ye Tian.
"Do Confucian scholars have unique cultivation methods?" Ye Tian asked.
"Of course," Chen Zhang blurted out.
“The Confucian sage once said that we should cultivate a righteous spirit in the world. This righteous spirit is of the same origin as spiritual energy, but it is limited to words and sentences. Only by using words to evoke the righteous spirit in the world can we elevate our spiritual realm.”
"Is the realm of Confucian scholars the same as that of ordinary people?" It was only upon arriving at the bookstore that Ye Tian heard about such matters. Ye Tian had assumed that all scholars in this world were like the scholars of his previous life, people who were all powerless and unable to even kill a chicken.
Judging from Chen Zhang's words, one could become a hermit master through reading.
"There are definitely differences. Scholars cultivate a noble spirit, also for the purpose of breaking through. However, it is not for the sake of a higher realm, but for the sake of self-cultivation, governing the country, and bringing peace to the world."
"Therefore, we scholars are completely different from cultivators. In our view, your Cloud Realm is just enough to be able to govern a country. Taking the word 'govern,' we leave only the single character 'country,' and collectively refer to it as the borders of a country."
"What you cultivators consider the realm of immortals is, in the eyes of us scholars, the realm of bringing peace to the world. So we remove the word 'peace' and call it the realm of bringing peace to the world."
"And because we are Confucian scholars, we call it the Confucian Scholars' Country, the Confucian Scholars' World."
The realm of Confucian scholars sounds quite complex.
However, immortals are further divided into three levels: half-immortal, twelfth level, celestial immortal, golden immortal, and great golden immortal.
Does a Confucian scholar really think he can handle this with just the "World Realm" skill? That seems rather perfunctory.
It seemed that she had noticed the curiosity in Ye Tian's eyes.
Chen Zhang then explained, "Confucian scholars cultivate themselves and govern the country, and there are two kinds of states. This country is a dream country in a dream of Nanke. It is also a fantasy land in one's heart."
"But he is not a true national hero. When it comes to the level of pacifying the world, there is the saying of 'the world is big' and 'the world is small'."
"Therefore, Confucian scholars have three great aspirations for bringing peace to the world. These are the small aspiration, the determination of mind, and the great aspiration."
“Small aspirations correspond to the realm of a celestial immortal, a steadfast mind corresponds to a golden immortal, and a great aspiration corresponds to the realm of a great Luo golden immortal.”
"The three barriers of the semi-immortal correspond to the three barriers of the great nation for us Confucian scholars."
Honestly.
Ye Tian wasn't curious about the various realms of Confucian cultivation. He was simply pleasantly surprised. Confucianism actually allowed cultivation? And in such diverse ways?
If that's the case, wouldn't it be beneficial to recruit a few Confucian advisors to boost one's moral character and sense of righteousness?
But if one's righteous energy increases, will it be integrated into the cultivation system of cultivators? Ye Tian became more and more curious as he thought about it.
I originally wanted to hide my talents and didn't want to be a plagiarist.
It seems that Ye Tian needs to produce a few poems to impress the Confucian scholars of this world, or at least win over a few retainers.
He swallowed hard. Ye Tian seemed to have already glimpsed a bright future.
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