Seeing a person so clear and transparent, the old turtle couldn't help but want to take a closer look at the scholar's fate even though he knew he couldn't see through him.
But the result was somewhat beyond the old turtle's expectations. The fate of this scholar was not vague, at least it was not unpredictable at a glance. Instead, one could glimpse his profound aura of blessings and fortune, but it was impossible to closely observe the ups and downs of his life.
If it happened to someone else, the old turtle would not have taken it seriously, after all, some people live an ordinary life, but this scholar is definitely not the case. However, the old turtle did not dare to look at it any more, because he came here to listen to others reading, and he could not put the cart before the horse.
Yin Qing read Wei Zhi Yi bit by bit, savoring the essence of what his father had written, and inserting some of his own feelings while reading.
It's not that Yin Qing could understand more of the meaning of the book because it was written by his father. In fact, this is how he reads all the time. He seems to be able to grasp some of the thinking threads of the author of the book and feel their mood when they wrote the book through reading.
In fact, many scholars have similar feelings, and use them to distinguish the content of books. Some books are just narratives without much emotion, while some books express ideas and are often passionate.
But Yin Qing's state is different from simply seeing through the meaning of the book. It is something like spiritual perception, as if he can empathize with the author of the book, and thus feel what kind of person the other person is, whether he is aloof or passionate, or just pretending.
So for Yin Qing, some books, even the so-called must-learn classics, are very uncomfortable to read after a while. He will still force himself to memorize them in order to cope with the exams. He definitely can't say that he likes them.
Yin Qing's favorite articles are those written by people like his father Yin Zhaoxian. He can clearly feel the ideas that the book wants to promote, and can even more clearly feel the author's momentum of sitting upright and wanting to write to cleanse the filth. This feeling of unity of knowledge and action makes him most comfortable.
So now when Yin Qing reads, he naturally releases this feeling along with the sound of his reading. Sometimes he even explains a few sentences in his own words, striving to allow the listeners to get to the point as well as he does, making the big black fish and the old turtle fascinated by what he is saying without realizing it.
Even the few people who had been standing aside watching Ji Yuan fishing were unconsciously fascinated by his words. They felt that this scholar must be very knowledgeable. When they saw that he might be wearing clothes from Huiyuan Academy, they thought it was just as they expected.
Reading like Yin Qing, he wanted to finish and understand a book quickly, but when he wanted to convey it to others, he would want to say much more than what was expressed in the article, so much so that he spent a whole day talking about a book "Wei Zhi Yi" and still couldn't finish it.
During this period, Ji Yuan also went out to buy some food as lunch for the two people and the fox, trying not to interrupt Yin Qing's first performance.
By the evening, the pedestrians around had already gone home or boarded the boats.
Ji Yuan saw that it was getting late, so he put away the fishing rod that had not caught a single fish all day, and said to Yin Qing.
"Okay, that's it for today!"
As Ji Yuan started speaking, Yin Qing's reading also stopped abruptly.
"Mr. Ji, how do you think I performed today?"
Yin Qing asked Ji Yuan with a little trepidation, and seeing that there was no one around, he continued asking while also looking towards the river.
"Can the big bluefish understand?"
Seeing him like this, Ji Yuan, who had just walked to the shore and put down the bamboo pole, walked two steps towards him and patted his right arm.
"Well said. Even your father may not be as good as you when he came here, let alone me."
Yin Qing felt quite embarrassed to hear Mr. Ji's praise.
"Mr. Ji, your praise is too fake. I don't know who you and my father are. Hu Yun, don't you think so?"
Yin Qing asked the red fox beside him. The latter moved his eyes but did not agree immediately. He spoke after a while.
"If you just read the book to others, maybe what Mr. Ji said is true."
Seeing Hu Yun's rare and ideologically conscious words, Yin Qing was obviously stunned for a moment, but he was still very happy to receive the praise.
The accountant Yuan wound up the fishing line on the newly made emerald green bamboo pole and looked at the city gate in the distance.
"In half an hour, the city gate will be closed. It's almost time to go back. Well, let's greet them before we go back."
Yin Qing followed the direction of Ji Yuan's finger and saw a big black carp on the river floating up and down, spitting bubbles and looking at him. Its fins could not be closed and it could only nod up and down. Next to the big black carp, the thing that was originally thought to be a black stone in the water was actually floating up, and finally a huge turtle was revealed.
"This... is such a big turtle?"
Yin Qing was startled, and the turtle actually stood half of its body out of the water, with its two paws together in a bow.
"Old Turtle Wu Chong, thank you Mr. Yin for your teachings!"
"I don't deserve it, I'm Yin Qing, a student of Huiyuan Academy."
Yin Qing hurriedly returned the greeting, but it was the first time he was addressed as "sir", and he still felt it was quite novel.
"By the way, this big black fish will be called Luo Biqing from now on."
As soon as Ji Yuan finished speaking, the big black carp by the river blew a bunch of bubbles in the water, making a "bo bo bo bo..." sound, as if in response.
Yin Qing also smiled and bowed to the big blue fish. Then he packed up the books and said to Ji Yuan with a little reluctance.
"Then Mr. Ji, I will go back?"
He knew that after this departure, Mr. Ji and Hu Yun would probably leave Chunhui Mansion.
"go Go."
Ji Yuan deliberately didn't say much. After seeing Yin Qing turn around and walk a few steps, he silently counted to three. Sure enough, he saw him turn back again.
"Mr. Ji, why don't you ask me how I am doing in Huiyuan Academy and how I get along with my classmates and the teacher?"
Ji Yuan smiled mischievously.
"Oh, I almost forgot, how do you get along with others over there?"
"Mr. Ji, you are too perfunctory..."
"Hahahaha... Chunhui Prefecture has well-developed water transportation. It only takes ten days to write a letter to Ning'an County. Plus, it's the prefecture's capital, so even if it goes to Wanzhou, it saves a lot of time in the post station for storage and sorting. I can write a letter when I have time!"
Yin Qing then smiled again, nodded, and finally turned around and left. After walking for a while, he stopped looking back every few steps and trotted into the city.
After Yin Qing left, Ji Yuan retracted his gaze and sat cross-legged on the shore, saying to the old turtle.
"Wu Chong, last time I told you that among the people you met in your life, if there is anything that has deeply touched you, you can tell me about it. I think today is a good day, so tell me about it."
Ji Yuan had finished reading a book called "The Biography of Heretics" a long time ago. It has been a long time since he read a "novel", so it would definitely be more interesting to listen to the stories of the eyewitnesses.
"As you command, sir!"
The old turtle saluted in the water. From the conversation between Mr. Ji and Yin Qing, he could tell that Mr. Ji might be leaving. After careful consideration, he thought of something that happened a long, long time ago.
The body gradually sank into the water, with only the head of the turtle exposed above the water. There was emotion in the old turtle's voice.
"That should have been about 170 or 80 years ago. Dazhen was founded only 20 or 30 years ago. I can't remember the exact year, and many things seem vague..."
Seeing that Mr. Ji did not interrupt him because he said “many things seem vague”, the old turtle continued speaking with confidence.
"That year, it was more than 50 years after I, the old turtle, refined the horizontal bone. Near Chunhui Mansion, there was a scholar named Xiao who came to play. He was a man of good fortune... Once, a drunk man tried to molest a singing girl on a boat, and the scholar Xiao was so angry that he lent a hand to her..."
The old turtle smiled before continuing.
"Then he was kicked into the river by the drunkard. Although he was quickly rescued by the boat manager and his crew, he was still in disgrace. But that incident also made me think that he was an upright person."
The old turtle slowly told the story, describing how he had "encountered" Xiao Shusheng by chance in a way that would not frighten him too much, how he gradually became familiar with him, how he helped him calculate his fortune, and how he advised him on the timing of dealing with certain key matters.
"Originally, I just wanted to make a good connection with him, and point out where he could find some unexpected fortune, where he was in urgent need of some goods and the timing was right, and if he wanted to do business, he could make a small fortune. However, after the scholar's family became a little richer, he still wanted to be an official, and a high-ranking official..."
"Haha, the fate of a dynasty and official career are very important. How can one's career be determined by fortune telling? One must rely on real talent and knowledge. Although he has some talent and knowledge, it is not enough. I told him frankly that if he is not willing to study hard, there will be no way for him to become an official. Especially if he relies on evil powers, it is a taboo. After that, Xiao Jing never came to see me for a long time..."
Ji Yuan listened quietly and naturally did not think that the story ended there.
"When I heard about Xiao Jing again, I didn't know why he had become the Chief Censor in just six or seven years..."
Ji Yuan frowned and looked at the old turtle. The latter squinted his eyes and looked towards the river. This action represented that the old turtle was feeling emotional.
As the narration goes on, some details that had been almost forgotten are recalled, and the old turtle's thoughts become much clearer.
"It was the 32nd year of the Yuan Dynasty. The founding emperor of the Dazhen Dynasty was already old, and the chronic illnesses he suffered from during the founding of the country were becoming difficult to control. It was time to pass the throne to the crown prince. However, although the crown prince had already reached adulthood, his prestige was still low, and most of the founding ministers in the court had served as his successors and had unparalleled military exploits..."
As the old turtle spoke, his eyes narrowed smaller and smaller, and in Ji Yuan's heart, at this moment he seemed to feel a bloody smell about to spread.
"Alas... I, the old turtle, am really unlucky. The little help I gave to Xiao Jing in the early years did not bring me any reward. Instead, when the blood stained the Censorate, bad karma followed!"
Before saying anything specific, this sentence basically made Ji Yuan understand the tone of what was to happen next.
Killing meritorious officials is something that the founding emperors of every feudal dynasty might do.
And Xiao Jing was appointed Chief Censor, in charge of criminal law in the court. The role he played must have been ignominious. Following the dragon was a great contribution to the establishment of the dynasty. The evil karma that came with killing such old and good ministers was definitely enough for the old turtle to bear.
Ji Yuan placed his right hand on his knee and tapped it slowly. While he felt sympathy for the old turtle and some of the innocent old ministers, he was also thinking about something.
"Surname Xiao?"