Seeing his sincerity, the steward half-jokingly said, "Young Master, you won't come back tomorrow, will you?"
The steward thought Ye Zelin would not come again, but he said, "Please tell Mr. Kong that I will come to bother you every day."
The steward's face froze slightly. He didn't expect that Ye Zelin, a refined and elegant young man, could say such shameless words. Hadn't his master rejected him once or twice?
However, if you put yourself in his shoes, you will see that his master has chased him away so many times, but he still insists on coming, which shows that he really wants to be his master's disciple.
He looked at Ye Zelin and said, "I heard that Master Ye is good friends with the young master of Minister Ling's family."
Ye Zelin said: "He and I have always been book friends, and we have also been good friends for many years."
The steward hesitated a little, "If Mr. Ye really wants to become my master's disciple, you can ask Minister Ling, and perhaps you will have the answer."
Ye Zelin was overjoyed, "Thank you for your guidance, sir."
The steward turned around and went back home.
Seeing Ye Zelin's smiling face, Side said, "Sir, shall we go to Minister Ling's residence?"
Ye Zelin said yes.
The two went to the residence of Ling Weiliang, the Minister of Rites. After meeting the Minister, Ye Zelin told him that he wanted to become a disciple and that he wanted to take the imperial examination.
The Minister of Rites had always admired Ye Zelin, so he told Ye Zelin a little-known story.
It turns out that Confucius did not have only five disciples, but six.
Many years ago, a student from a poor family visited Confucius several times, wanting to become his disciple. Seeing that the student was talented and hardworking, Confucius accepted him as his disciple and taught him carefully. The student ranked second in the imperial examination and, with the help of Confucius, married the daughter of a high-ranking official. With the support of both the Yue family and Confucius, the student rose to prominence and had a smooth career.
However, this student did not become the person Confucius expected. Instead, he took advantage of Confucius' connections with the Yue family to commit all kinds of crimes.
Later, the student was imprisoned and sentenced to death, and Confucius' reputation was damaged and he was criticized. From then on, Confucius never accepted another disciple.
Now, Ye Zelin came to become a disciple, just like the student back then.
The Minister of Rites swept the dust with a feather duster. "Zelin, you've come to me to become my disciple. Seeing this scene, I'll naturally be reminded of the time when I accepted Senior Brother Ruan as my disciple. Your uncle thinks I didn't accept you because I was afraid of a repeat of what happened back then. I'm a scholar, and I value my reputation more than myself. Reputation is my life, and I demand perfection in everything I do. When Senior Brother Ruan's incident happened, I immediately resigned from my position as the Imperial College's Chief Academic Officer and severed all ties with him."
Ye Zelin said, "Uncle Ling, Lord Ruan's matter has nothing to do with Elder Kong, and he didn't do it."
The Minister of Rites sighed, "That's true, but people are complicated and there's more than one side to a story. Senior Brother Ruan's case has nothing to do with the teacher, but some people always say that Senior Brother Ruan was taught by the teacher, and that he produced an official who committed crimes. It's like a blank piece of paper, which becomes useless once ink is added. I think your chances of becoming his disciple are over."
Ye Zelin stopped wiping the Ru kiln powder green glaze vase beside him and said, "Uncle Ling, are you trying to persuade me to give up?"
The Minister of Rites asked, "If I persuade you, will you give up?"
Ye Zelin shook his head: "No."
The Minister of Rites rolled his eyes at him and said, "Why should I advise you? Your uncle knows your personality well. Once you've made up your mind, you won't give up easily."
Minister Ling paused for a moment before saying slowly, "Your family has always produced military commanders. When you took the imperial examination, your parents tried to dissuade you. Now that you want to take the imperial examination again, I'm afraid your parents won't agree either. You've got to think about how to deal with this."
Ye Zelin smiled and said, "What can I do? I can just cry, make a scene, or even hang myself. If my parents don't allow me, there's nothing they can do about it."
The Minister of Rites remained silent. Regardless of his parents, he couldn't do anything to Ye Zelin.
The two chatted casually and returned to the topic of becoming a disciple. The Minister of Rites said, "Teacher, I can't speak for you. Even if I asked, I might not agree. It all depends on you. If you and I have a sense of master-disciple affinity, I will accept you. If not, then you are not destined to be together. There are only six months left before the imperial examination. If you really can't get me to accept you, don't waste any more time. If you are willing, I will write a letter of recommendation to recommend you to study in my school. For my sake, I will not refuse."
Ye Zelin said, "Thank you, uncle. I want to give it another try. If it doesn't work out, I'll come back to your house to ask for your letter of recommendation."
The Minister of Rites patted Ye Zelin on the shoulder and said, "Don't force it, just do your best."
After listening to the words of the Minister of Rites, Ye Zelin suddenly understood. He thought about trying again. If Master Kong really didn't change his mind, then he wouldn't have to force it. It was a great blessing for him to be able to study in Master Kong's school.
After returning to the General's Mansion, Ye Zelin remembered that he had not chatted with his elder brother Ye Yunlu for a long time. At night, after dinner, he took two jars of Huadiao tea to Fengquexuan to find his elder brother.
The crescent moon is sparse with stars, and the breeze is cool.
The brothers sat on the roof, each holding a wine jug, drinking happily.
Ye Yunlu was no longer as serious and formal as usual. He and his brother drank a few sips of Huadiao wine and laughed out loud, "I haven't felt so happy in a long time."
Ye Zelin also smiled, "Yeah, the last time we drank like this was a few years ago."
The two chatted about their childhoods, the funny and embarrassing moments, and the childhoods of their younger brothers and sisters, especially Ruhuan, the youngest and most favored child in their family.
Ye Yunlu is nine years older than Ruhuan. The innocent and lovely appearance of his sister when she was young is still clearly imprinted in his mind. When talking about Ruhuan's appearance when she was young, his eyes slowly turned red and he let out a long sigh, filled with endless helplessness and guilt.
He said, "Your sister-in-law went to the Bei Niangniang Temple again today to pray for a child. She went secretly, hiding it from me, but I still found out. Having a child is a knot in her heart, a hurdle she can't get over. I told her I no longer care about having children, but she... still can't let it go. It's also my fault for taking her to Xichui back then. If I hadn't taken her there, she wouldn't have gotten hurt trying to protect me. Maybe by now, we would have had several children."
"Brother." Ye Zelin knew very well that the knot between his brother and sister-in-law was that they didn't have children, but he didn't know how to persuade them.
Ye Yunlu said: "Just listen to what your brother says."
Ye Zelin responded: "Brother, please speak. I am listening."
Ye Yunlu took a big sip of Huadiao and wiped the wine stains from his lips with his big hand. "Brother, Lan Xi treats me with great affection and loyalty. I promised father that I would not let Lan Xi down. I also don't want to take a concubine and have children. Therefore, there is no hope for me to have children in this life. I don't want your sister-in-law to feel guilty and blame herself for the rest of her life because of the child. So, I have an unwelcome request."
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