Chapter 18 Enrollment
As Yu Mingshu returned to his study from the hall, he bumped into a figure who should have been back in his study studying under the lamp long ago.
Having been caught eavesdropping, Yu Dan should have awkwardly fled the scene, or stammered a greeting to her, pretending that he had just turned back to look for something, to show that he hadn't been eavesdropping on the conversation in the hall.
But he didn't.
Yu Dan stood up straight silently, looking at Yu Mingshu with a hesitant expression.
The night was deep and the moonlight was hazy. Yu Mingshu could not see the complex emotions in his eyes, nor could he understand the sudden growth of a young man.
She frowned and immediately scolded, "You said you were going to study, but you're hiding here slacking off? Was I too lenient with you today?"
Before she could finish speaking, Yu Dan opened his arms and hugged her, pressing his chin firmly against her shoulder, and said earnestly, "Sister, I think I know why I should study now."
He didn't want to hear others mocking his sister for having no one to rely on, and he didn't want to see her things not going as planned.
He didn't want to one day watch helplessly as his elder sister was forced into the same desperate situation as Miss Zhou, and end up like Madam Zhou.
"Did you take the wrong medicine?"
Yu Mingshu touched his forehead, puzzled. His temperature and complexion were normal. So she tapped her brother's head and asked, "Have you finished memorizing your books? Have you written the essays you were supposed to write? You're still wandering around the corridor at this hour. Aren't you going to sleep tonight?"
Yu Dan quickly let go of her and patted his chest earnestly: "Don't worry, sister, I won't go to bed until I finish studying tonight!"
…
The consequence of being injected with chicken blood at night was that when Yu Dan climbed into the carriage in the morning with his eyes swollen like eggs, he dozed off the whole way and couldn't be woken up even when he was jostled around.
Yu Mingshu took out a mirror from under the car seat, carefully examined her makeup, and only put down the bronze mirror after confirming that there were no flaws. Her gaze fell on her younger brother across from her.
"I told you to go to sleep last night, but you wouldn't. You insisted on doing that 'hanging your head from the rafters and pricking your thigh with an awl' game. Now you're so sleepy you can barely keep your eyes open. How are you going to listen to the lessons during the day?"
She was met with steady breathing.
Yu Mingshu was speechless. She glanced at the scenery outside the window and could already see the gate of the academy. She kicked Yu Dan and said irritably, "Stop sleeping and get out of the car."
A moment later, an unfamiliar figure appeared outside the Wuzi Hall, causing all the boys in the room to look towards the door.
Xie Ansheng, with his sharp eyes, recognized the handsome "young man" at a glance and called out in a strange voice, "Oh, isn't this the second son of the Yu family? Yu Dan, what have you done this time?"
He misunderstood that Yu Dan's parents had been called in.
Yu Mingshu stepped forward, separating the gazes of the man surnamed Xie and Yu Dan, and said neither humbly nor arrogantly, "I am a new student and hope to get along well with all of you, learn from each other, and make progress together."
Upon hearing this, all the students in the room lowered their heads and whispered among themselves, as if they had heard something unbelievable.
"Did I hear that right? What did Yu Erlang say? He wants to be our classmate?"
Xie Ansheng's face darkened, and he exchanged a glance with Zhang Jun beside him, scoffing disdainfully, "These days, Chang'an Academy is really a place where any Tom, Dick, or Harry can get in."
The students sitting around him joined in the mockery, until a loud shout came from the doorway: "Mr. Yang is here! Everyone, please go back and sit down!"
Yu Mingshu turned around at the sound and saw Yang Congen holding a book and walking towards the Wuzi Hall. She patted Yu Dan's shoulder twice, urging him to go back to the classroom and sit down. She then stood still and waited for Yang Gong to approach before giving him a proper bow.
"This student has met Master Yang."
Yang Congen responded, not intending to enter the Wuzi Hall, and said in a lukewarm tone, "Go in and prepare for the lesson. You can sit at the same table as Yu Dan so you can look out for each other."
"Thank you for your kindness, Master Yang." Yu Mingshu sincerely thanked him, turned and stepped into the school, walking towards Yu Dan in full view of everyone.
Yu Dan hesitated, wanting to speak but then stopped. Yang Gong asked his sister to sit with him, but what about He Zheng? He couldn't let his sister be sandwiched between the two of them, could he?
He Zheng arrived at the academy just in time and bumped into the old man Yang Congen. He quickly stepped back to apologize and awkwardly called out, "Master Yang."
The old man in front of him stared at him intently. He vaguely sensed that the atmosphere was somewhat subtle today. Just as he was about to peek into the school to see what had happened, Yang Congen patted his shoulder lightly.
"He Zheng, you've come at the right time. Pack your things and from today onwards, your seat will be moved one row back."
"On what grounds?"
He Zheng's objections were barely out of his mouth when he had half his body inside the hall and saw the new faces in his seat.
Their eyes met, and the usually fearless man found himself in an awkward predicament, stammering, "How...how did she get to my seat?"
Yang Congen didn't rush to explain. He walked straight into the classroom to the front of everyone and slapped the nearest desk, silencing the whispers in the classroom.
"After a joint decision by myself and my colleagues in the academy, we agree to admit Yu Mingshu to Chang'an Academy for further studies and to register him in the Wu Zi Hall of the Jinshi Examination. We hope that you will help each other in your studies and make progress together."
The hall was completely silent.
After announcing the news, Yang Congen left. Once his figure had completely disappeared from sight, whispers began to fill the schoolroom again.
He Zheng's seat was empty, so he sat in the last row with nothing on him. He poked Yu Dan's shoulder with his pen and asked in a low voice, "You're not exactly free now. Can you still come with me to the East Alley to watch the cockfighting this afternoon?"
Yu Dan shrugged but didn't turn around, while Yu Mingshu glanced at the back row. He Zheng vaguely sensed a fierce look in that gaze, swallowed hard, and made a fist-and-palm gesture.
I understand, sorry to bother you.
When class started, Yuan Yi walked in carrying her books.
"Why is it him again?"
"Isn't he a teacher in the Department of Law?"
"I've heard that Mr. Yang is getting old and can't handle the hard work anymore, so I've been wanting him to take over the lecturing work for a long time..."
Whispers came from the front row.
Yuan Yi seemed not to hear, his gaze sweeping over all the students before he stared at Yu Mingshu with surprise. Judging from his reaction alone, Yu Mingshu knew that Yang Congen had not consulted with the teachers at all, and had not even informed Yuan Yi about her enrollment.
Fortunately, Yuan Yi quickly looked away, sat in the front seat, and said to everyone, "Put all your books on the ground."
The students looked at each other, all of them appearing unwilling.
Yu Mingshu suddenly had a sense of familiarity. This opening remark was so similar to a classroom dictation exercise from her previous life.
Sure enough, Yuan Yi’s next sentence was: “Recite the selected passages from the “Li Yun” chapter, from “Therefore, the sage kings used the handle of righteousness and the order of rites to govern human feelings” to “Only then could they guard against danger.”
Such a familiar recipe, such a familiar taste.
Yu Mingshu asked Yu Dan in a low voice, "Did Master Yang also give these kinds of quizzes when he taught?"
Yu Dan nodded and said, "The gentlemen always come here every now and then."
In class, apart from He Zheng, all the students began to write furiously.
He Zheng glanced at Yu Dan from behind and saw that the writing on Yu Dan's paper was getting fuller and fuller. The boy wrote without thinking, as if he had the article memorized. Looking at Yu Mingshu next to him, how could this person look like he was on his first day of school?
He lay on the table, gritting his teeth as he said to Yu Dan, "Yu Sanlang, you secretly memorized your lessons?"
After writing the last character, Yu Dan put down his pen and said to the person behind him with some guilt, "Brother He, I can no longer help you hand in a blank paper. I promise my sister that I will study hard from now on."
He Zheng scratched his hairline in confusion, then turned his questioning gaze to Yu Mingshu: "Yu Erlang, did you cast a spell on him?"
Yu Mingshu chuckled: "He's figured it out himself and turned over a new leaf."
He Zheng was dumbfounded, feeling as if he had been isolated overnight. He muttered to himself a few times, "Okay, okay, you've reformed..." but in the end, he didn't say anything harsh.
Yuan Yi looked down at the group of students from the front. Seeing that most of them had stopped competing, he raised his hand to signal the servants of each family to come forward and hand in their papers.
After the dictation was finished, he gave another question, asking students to explain the meaning of the scriptures, similar to an essay question. Most students instinctively resisted this kind of question, which truly required careful understanding and divergent thinking, and the classroom was filled with sighs and groans.
Yu Dan forced himself to make things up on the paper, glancing at his sister beside him every now and then. Yu Mingshu's writing was much more fluent than his.
When Yu Mingshu handed in her paper, she noticed that Jing Hong, the young pageboy next to He Zheng, had also gone up. She turned around in surprise and saw He Zheng put down his pen and slowly wipe the ink stains off his little finger.
Noticing Yu Mingshu's surprised gaze, He Zheng raised an eyebrow at her and said, "Only Yu Dan is allowed to reform, but I am not allowed to try my hand at literature? I am not without knowledge!"
Yu Mingshu gave a thumbs up, then turned around and sat up straight, saying no more.
I don't quite understand what he's burning.
After the quiz, Yuan Yi opened his book and continued lecturing on the Book of Rites.
…
As the noon bell rang, students of different ages from various schools flocked out of the classrooms. Outside the academy gates stood many servants carrying food boxes to deliver meals, waiting for this moment to rush in.
He Zheng patted Yu Dan, who seemed to have left his body, and said, "Wake up, it's time to eat."
Yu Dan was still half asleep, propping his head up as he looked at him, his mouth open but unable to utter a sound.
Yu Mingshu asked, "What do you usually eat for lunch?"
He Zheng said, "If you go south from the academy, there is a restaurant in Yuzui Alley on the east side. It is run by a woman with a child. The food is delicious and inexpensive, with a wide variety of dishes."
Yu Mingshu said with some surprise, "I thought someone like He Erlang would only dine at high-end restaurants."
"What's the point of those restaurants? They take something that costs fifty coins, polish it a bit, and sell it for fifty strings of cash. They can make even the worst food sound like it's the best in the world by scholars." He Zheng said with a sneer, "Nobody's money grows on trees."
Upon hearing this, Yu Mingshu gained a new understanding of the person in front of him—a thrifty and hardworking rich second-generation.
A note from the author:
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