Zhao Shu was somewhat uneasy about becoming an apprentice. She kept thinking about what would happen if her master interfered with her opening a shop and doing business. After all, becoming an apprentice was like being reborn. Once you became an apprentice and entered the master's school, you would be completely under the master's control. In many cases, your parents would not have the right to interfere.
Despite her worries, Zhao Shu still had to become the disciple. When the Empress Dowager learned that Zhao Shu had found a teacher, Luo Hu, she exclaimed that Zhao Shu was incredibly lucky.
Perhaps because Luo Hu's reputation was so great, even though Zhao Shu had no idea, the Empress Dowager did not mind that Luo Hu was born into an ordinary family. She held her hand and said earnestly, "Respect your teacher's teachings, do not play around, and do not act arrogantly. Have you remembered them? If you act like before, I will not forgive you."
Zhao Shu nodded hurriedly. How could those so-called teachers who knew a few words and thought about making a name for themselves and becoming teachers, abandoning her after being swayed by a few words from others, compare to the great poet Luo Hu?
The Empress Dowager saw that she nodded very quickly, and she didn't know if she had taken her words to heart. She personally asked Zhang Chu to prepare the apprenticeship gift. Now that Dayong was becoming an apprentice, he still followed the custom of Confucius' disciples paying ten pieces of cured meat as a fee when they became apprentices, which was very proper.
Naturally, the gifts Zhang Chu prepared for Luo Hu's apprenticeship included ten pieces of cured meat, robes and brocade shoes, a mansion, maids and servants, etc., since Luo Hu was currently in dire straits.
After returning from the camp, Zhao Shu led her men out of the city. The Huo family servants built a thatched hut for Luo Hu to stay in and kept watch over him for the night. It was freezing cold, and if they had kept watch for two more days, they would not have been able to hold on.
Upon seeing Zhao Shulai, he felt as if he had seen a savior and quickly bowed, saying, "Greetings, Princess."
"Thank you for your hard work, early spring." He gestured.
Chu Chun hurriedly stepped forward, took out a money pouch from her sleeve, and stuffed it into the hands of the Huo family servant. "It's cold, you've worked hard. Princess, please have some tea to warm your stomach."
"Thank you, Princess. Thank you, Princess." She thanked him repeatedly without being pretentious or refusing to accept the money. After taking the money, she ran away. She had only run a few steps when she saw her master, the Seventh Master, leading his men and coming over in a hurry. "This servant greets the Seventh Master."
"Where is Mr. Luo?" Huo Cheng asked.
“Ahead.” He pointed to where Zhao Shu was.
At this moment, Zhao Shu knelt down properly in front of the thatched shed. Chu Chun and the others felt sorry for her. In the freezing cold, without any padding, the princess was kneeling on the ice. What would happen if she fell ill?
But Zhao Shu refused the pad that Sheng Xia was holding and insisted on kneeling in the snow. "Student Zhao Shu requests an audience." Her name was Zhao Shu, her title was Jun, and her childhood name was A Jun. In front of her teacher, she should refer to herself by her name to show respect. If she had a courtesy name, it would naturally come first. However, since she was a woman and had not yet reached the age of marriage, she naturally did not have a courtesy name.
After she finished speaking, there was no response from inside the thatched hut. She then said, "Student Zhao Shu requests an audience."
There was still no response. As the saying goes, things don't happen more than three times, so Zhao Shu said again, "Student Zhao Shu requests an audience."
After the third sound, the thatched hut finally made a noise, and Luo Hu said, "Can you endure the suffering of Su Qin?"
Zhao Shu was overjoyed and quickly bowed, saying, "I accept."
Then I heard, "Can it be made with sun and moon carving and polishing?"
"It's done."
"The vulgar and the luminous, do you understand what you desire?"
Zhao Shu paused for a moment. "Hunsu Heguang" means not showing off one's talents and not competing with the world, but it can also mean being incompetent and useless. These four words depend on how one interprets them. Zhao Shu thought for a moment and decided that whether it was not showing off one's talents, not competing with the world, or being mediocre and incompetent, she didn't care. As long as she lived, lived better than her enemies, and lived longer than her enemies, that was enough.
Moreover, how could Luo Hu want his student to be useless? How could he allow his student to be indifferent to worldly affairs? Since he chose her as his female disciple, she is no longer indifferent to worldly affairs.
She kowtowed deeply, saying, "I understand. To be both worldly and virtuous is what I desire."
When she looked up, Luo Hu had already come out of the thatched hut. He was dressed in tattered clothes that only a beggar would wear, fluttering in the cold wind. His face had been washed, revealing a handsome but weathered face. Although he was middle-aged, he had not gained weight; on the contrary, he was extremely thin.
"Teacher!" Zhao Shu exclaimed in surprise. Luo Hu simply nodded without speaking. Zhao Shu quickly stood up and asked Zhang Chu and the others to set up an altar and burn incense.
Two wooden strips supported the portrait of Confucius, which was placed on the table. Next to the table was a chair for Luo Hu to sit on.
Huo Chengchu stood aside and watched. Seeing that Luo Hu really intended to take Zhao Shu as his disciple, he sighed, walked to Luo Hu's side, and said in a voice that was neither too loud nor too soft, "Brother Luo, from now on, you and I can finally fight side by side."
Luo Hu looked at him, and the two smiled knowingly. Luo Hu was not ashamed of being Zhao Shu's teacher and having the Yongwang Mansion as his backing. He didn't care at all how others viewed him. Fortunately, Huo Chengchuo did not see him that way.
"Bring the wine," Huo Cheng said with great magnanimity.
The servant busily filled the cups, and the two men each took one, smiled at each other, and clinked their cups in the air. "The people are the most important, the state is next, and the ruler is the least important. When the people are happy, the state is happy, and the country is stable. We respect Mencius." Mencius was a sage.
After saying this, the two poured the sake from their cups onto the ground. The sake spread quickly on the snow, filling the air with its aroma. Zhao Shu had heard everything they said and her respect for them deepened even further.
In this world, there are ordinary people like her, and there are also great figures like Huo Chengchuo and Luo Hu, who "worry about the world's troubles before enjoying its pleasures," holding lofty ambitions and taking the nation's fate as their own responsibility.
With everything prepared, Zhao Shugong invited Luo Hu to sit high above her. She first bowed to Heaven and Earth, then to her ancestors, and finally to her teacher. After performing the three kowtows and nine prostrations, she offered him tea with both hands. Luo Hu accepted it, took a sip, and said, "To take benevolence as etiquette, to take benevolence as joy, to cultivate oneself with tranquility, and to nurture virtue with frugality—this is my wish as a teacher."
Zhao Shu kowtowed, "This disciple will humbly follow your teachings, teacher, and will certainly live up to your expectations."
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