Jiang Kangning also followed suit. “Yunan, if you don’t want to take the examination it’s okay, but if you stay here, it would be a waste of your literary talent. At present, the imperial court is full of waste, so people like you should go to teach students.”

“Yes! Yunan, you should be a teacher! ” Jiang Kangchen also greatly approved. The eyes of the three students also held the same meaning. Shao Yunan touched his nose in embarrassment. “I just have a little theory. I’m the kind of person who can talk, but can’t write much. It’s okay to be a teacher, but my ideas may not be accepted by others. Causing chaos is never good.”

Elder Cen who listened, frowned and sighed. “Yunan’s concerns are also right.” He also thought of those potential dangers. Especially when Shao Yunan spoke casually, it would be easy to be used by people with impure intentions. So even the smallest mistake could cause big trouble.

Kang Rui said, “Then in the White Moon Academy. That academy is your own academy, Elder Cen. I don’t think anyone will come to make trouble in the academy in Yongxiu Province.

Jiang Kangning and Elder Cen thought about it. After all, Kang Rui didn’t know Shao Yunan’s connection with the wine and tea, and his relationship with the Empress. It was Wang Shijing who finally spoke. “If you like to listen to Yunan, why don’t you come here and talk with him freely, just like today? Although Yunan knows a lot, he is still young after all. Even if our family has some money, we are only farmers. So even if we don’t want to, we might cause unnecessary trouble for Elder Cen and Big Brother.”

Shao Yunan immediately said, “Right. If you like to listen to my ‘nonsense’, you can come to my house. We don’t need to have any taboos behind closed doors. To be honest, teaching at the academy is really not something I would dare to do.”

“Then I’ll be interrupting.” It was Kang Rui who spoke first. Shao Yunan didn’t expect him to not insist. Elder Cen nodded. “That’s good. Anyway, this is also this old man’s home, so I will stay here when I have nothing to do.” With the expression of ‘This is my son’s home’ on his face, he looked at Shao Yunan in a good mood.

“Then, I’ll be honored.” Kang Rui and the three students immediately responded, as Shao Yunan spoke with a cheerful expression. “Shijing and I welcome you.”

“Yunan, if you’re not busy, say more about that productivity, science, and technology. Also that phrase ‘worry about the world before the world’s worries and be happy after the world’s happiness.’ Are they also your own thoughts?”

Shao Yunan was too embarrassed to act cheeky again and said, “I only remember this quote came from a man named ‘Fan Zhongyan’, but I forgot who told me about it.”

“The whole quote was as follows, [In the spring of the fourth year of Qingli, Teng Zijing was relegated to guard Baling County. The next year, the government and people were in harmony and all the problems were solved. Then he proceeded to rebuild the Yueyang Tower, adding its old system, carving Tang sages poems on it. Then writing…

… Contempt! Trying to gain the heart of these ancient, benevolent people, what was the difference between the two? Do not rejoice in things, do not grieve for yourself; if you live life in high places, you will not worry about your people; if you are far away, you will not worry about your ruler. If you are worried about advancement, how could you also not be worried about retreat. But when will you be happy? It was then said ‘Worry about the world, before the world worries and be happy after the world’s happiness’. Who will I return to then?]”

When Shao Yunan recited Fan Zhongyan’s ‘Record of Yueyang Tower,’ all the people present stood up except Wang Shijing, who could still keep his cool. Fan Zhongyan was from the Song Dynasty, whose culture, science, and technology were quite brilliant. Fan Zhongyan was also an outstanding writer, thinker, and politician of the Song Dynasty. His ideas and literary talents were also absolutely ahead of the time and people of his era.

Elder Cen was so excited that his hands shook a little. He grabbed Shao Yunan and asked, “Yunan, you really can’t remember who told you this? Then do you know who this ‘Fan Zhongyan’ is?”

Shao Yun’an shook his head innocently. “I don’t remember. I’ve forgotten a lot of things from the past and I’ve forgotten even more after I died once, but there are still many stray things in my head.”

“Hiss…!”

Then Shao Yunan said even more innocently, “Elder Cen, do you know where this Yueyang Tower is? I vaguely remember that it seems to be called something ‘Yueyang Tower’?”

“The Story of Yueyang Tower?” Elder Cen looked at Jiang Kangning blankly, but Jiang Kangning also shook his head. “I’ve never heard of this Yueyang Tower. I’ll ask someone to inquire about it, but I can’t guarantee it’s not some great person from forgotten times.”

“Must find it!” Elder Cen couldn’t wait to see this ‘Fan Zhongyan,’ as Shao Yunan unkindly snickered in his heart. Jiang Kangning was anxious again. “Yunan, is that all there is to it? Do you remember anything else? Do you remember what this person wrote?” Shao Yunan made an effort to recall and after a while, he shook his head. “I just remember this.”

Elder Cen was disappointed, but then his eyes lit up again. “Yunan, what do you remember?” Shao Yunan blinked. “I remember a lot, what do you want to hear?”

“I want to hear it all!” Everyone said except Wang Shijing. Shao Yunan looked around at several people, his eyes stopping on Wang Shijing before he smiled slightly and recited. “In Yanhuang land, there are many heroes who are not afraid to face hundreds of people at once. People are not afraid, hatred must be paid in blood. Just look at the blood of our Chinese men. In blood is bravery and a heart like iron is filled with courage…”

“When a man kills a man, he will kill without mercy. Immortal karma is in the midst of a thousand years of immortal deeds. In the past, there was a heroic man who was loyal and faithful, but his life was still lighter than a feather…”

It was written by modern writer Qiu Sheng. ‘Man’s Walk’ was something Shao Yunan wanted to give to the soldiers and generals like Wang Shijing, who defended their families and the country. After reading ‘Man’s Walk,’ even weak scholars couldn’t wait to take a big sword and rush into the battlefield to kill the enemy.

“Don’t you see that the water of the Yellow River comes from the sky and the waves rush to the sea, never looking back? Don’t you see that in the big hall mirror, there is sadly white hair, like green silk in the morning and snow in the evening. Life is full of joy, don’t empty bottles alone to the moon. The talent that heaven and earth gave me must have its use, even if the money is exhausted, I can start all over again.”

Li Bai’s ‘going to drink’ brings people unrestrained passion and makes people wonder what the Yellow River left from heaven is like. It also made people yearn for heroism and drinking to the moon. Also part of the talent that heaven and earth gave me, must have its use. How could it not be complementary to the three hundred and sixty professions and unique talent he spoke about earlier?

“When will there be a bright moon? Ask the blue sky about the wine. I don’t know what year it is in this palace of heaven… I hope that people will live long and live together for a thousand miles.”

A ‘Song of Water Tunes – How often we will see the bright moon’ made the few people who have not seen it, see ‘lyrics’ that seem to have entered another piece of literature. In this era, poetry has not yet reached the heyday of the Tang Dynasty, so ‘lyrics’ have not yet appeared. The lyrics made the eyes of Jiang Kangning and Jiang Kangchen hot after hearing the sentence ‘I hope that people will live long and live together for a thousand miles.’

On this day, Kang Rui and the three students cheekily borrowed a room to stay for the night. Elder Cen and Jiang Kangning also had no time to play with the Rubik’s Cube. The two ‘forced’ Shao Yunan to spit out all the ink in his stomach and brought a brush and paper to take careful notes. Shao Yunan simply called the three children to also come, so he could include them as well.

However, Shao Yunan did not spit out all the ancient ink in his stomach. If he wanted to spit it he would become a mute. Moreover, even if he decided to act in a more high profile manner, he still had a bottom line. Not to mention that there were several ‘outsiders’ here as well.

Shao Yunan recited more than twenty poems, a dozen lyrics, and seven or eight ancient essays. They were just a small part of the pile of ‘ancient ink’ in his stomach, but for everyone present except Wang Shijing, it was already a treasure. Especially for Elder Cen, who had been a scholar all his life, he could not even eat lunch or dinner. He took these masterpieces that were written down and read them over and over again, studying them time after time. Then he moved to discuss it with Jiang Kangning, Kang Rui, the three students, and finally even Guo Ziyu was pulled by him to discuss them with great enthusiasm. Elder Cen also made up his mind that unless it was the last resort, he would never leave Xiushui Village!

Edited by: Jaisland

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