Chapter 29 Close Chapter
Chapter 29 Joints
After eating and drinking their fill and digesting their food, Xu Qing and others went to Feng's house alone and bought some wine and meat for Old Feng.
On the road, perhaps because of his practice of "Crane's Cry", Xu Qing felt from the bottom of his heart that he was out of tune with the crowd.
The cry of cranes comes from the soul, and has the artistic conception of "reaching straight to the sky, far away from the mundane world".
When Xu Qing practices it, he will be infected unconsciously.
Fame, wealth and honor are all like dust and smoke. It is better to cultivate oneself, ride the wind and roam freely between heaven and earth.
In short, I just feel it’s really boring to hang out with ordinary people.
Xu Qing suppressed the strange emotions growing in his heart.
Without material foundation, how can one be a free and easy hermit?
The great hermit hides in the court.
He knew in his heart that these were delusions brought on by the practice and were not his true thoughts.
Xu Qing put aside these emotions that were interfering with his progress and came to the Feng family.
I didn’t meet Yan Shan this time.
Xu Qing also breathed a sigh of relief, otherwise he would have had to make excuses.
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...
"The speed is so much faster today." The female teacher exclaimed in surprise.
Xu Qing stretched himself and said, "Thanks to the careful teaching of my young master, I have achieved what I have today."
In fact, the reason why I am so fast today is not because of the effect of learning Crane Li.
After all, you have just started learning, so the effect will not be immediate.
The previous two days' study had already enabled Xu Qing to gain an understanding of the Dongzhou School's eight-part essay writing techniques. After he entered the state of "absolute concentration" today, it was actually an outburst of his previous accumulation, which enabled him to grasp the general meaning of the current collection of questions.
If you go deeper, you will reach the core level of the Dongzhou School, which involves the core principles of the Dongzhou School and cannot be summarized in just a collection of questions.
Anyway, Xu Qing only needs to use it to pass the provincial examination and strive to win the first place. He doesn't care about the core principles and academic essence of the Dongzhou School.
Therefore, what you learn now is enough.
You just need to review the old and learn the new.
Of course the female teacher was a little melancholy. It is not a good thing for students to be too smart.
"Dad, he has already learned the content of the Tongsheng exam. I really have nothing to teach him."
Feng Xifeng's face twitched, and he thought, "What a freak thing."
His expression was calm as he said, "You are indeed a talented kid. Now that you have learned all this, go back and concentrate on preparing for the prefectural examination."
The girl giggled and said, "It doesn't matter if I spend half a day here. I plan to go to Jinguang Temple to fulfill my vow. I'll let Xu Qing accompany me."
Feng Xifeng was startled, then remembered that this was indeed the case. What's more, his daughter really wanted to go out, but he was now busy with the provincial examination, so it would not be a good idea for her to go out and play and disturb her mind.
As for Xu Qing preparing for the provincial examination?
Isn’t it enough to have hands?
It’s not possible that someone could not pass the provincial examination.
"Go ahead." Feng Xifeng didn't say anything specifically. The boy's uncle was a registrar in charge of public security, and Jinguang Temple was a large temple with a lot of people coming and going. What could possibly go wrong?
Xu Qing couldn't object.
The girl was overjoyed and went back to the house to change into men's clothes.
This is not surprising.
Nowadays, many ladies in Nanzhili like to dress up as men when they go out.
...
...
Xu Qing has an elegant appearance and has practiced the Crane-shaped Posture, with an upright posture, like a jade tree; the girl's appearance in men's clothing is very delicate, like an orchid.
The two of them traveled together and attracted a lot of attention.
"Outing in spring, with apricot blossoms blowing all over my head.
Who on the street is so young and romantic..."
On the way, the girl hummed poems from the previous dynasty that were out of season.
Xu Qing coughed lightly: "Now I feel the summer is deep."
"Ah Qing, haven't you heard that 'the flowers on earth fade away in April, and the peach blossoms in the mountain temple begin to bloom'? We are going to the mountain temple now. It is still spring."
The first lyric and the second poem were both written by Xu Qing in his past life and this life.
The two worlds overlapped in many areas in terms of culture before the Ming Dynasty.
If not for this, Xu Qing would not have been able to copy so many articles and poems.
Pity.
A hero without a place to use his talents!
In fact, strictly speaking, this world is very similar to the worldview of Xu Qing's previous life, such as Dream of the Red Chamber and Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio. It is not a dynasty that Xu Qing is already aware of, but the cultural background is not much different.
He traveled here, and there might be some mysterious connection between the two worlds.
Well, no matter what the connection is, if you can't climb up, you are just a beast of burden. When they arrived outside the Jinguang Temple, the girl's pace was not much slower than Xu Qing's.
Xu Qing was quite surprised and suspicious.
In his opinion, the girl's physique was not that good, yet she walked as if she was carrying the wind, light and effortless. Considering that the girl was actually quite strong, he found it very strange.
However, when he was with the girl, no black energy appeared in his aura, which proved that it was harmless to him.
So Xu Qing didn't get to the bottom of it, but just kept observing.
"Ah Qing, what do you think is the most effective thing in Jinguang Temple?"
"There are many female pilgrims coming and going here, so I guess praying for children is the most effective."
The girl clapped her hands and laughed, "Not bad."
"Do you know why I brought you here to fulfill a vow with me?" the girl changed the subject.
Xu Qing: "Anyway, I'm not seeking a child."
The girl blushed and said, "Pah." Then she continued, "I won't beat around the bush with you. Of course, it's not me who is praying for a child, it's others who are praying for a child."
She then whispered, "Uncle He's aunt has been coming to Jinguang Temple to burn incense every afternoon recently."
At the end, he looked at Xu Qing with a smile.
How could Xu Qing not understand what the girl meant? He was quite touched, "Thank you very much."
The girl said, "This is just a favor to you. No need to be polite. My father was too proud to fight Zhao Xiong in court, but he ended up seeing them get away with it. He's been sulking in his heart."
"Now Zhao Xiong and his men haven't received any punishment and have even become the chief constables in the government office." Xu Qing said indifferently.
Girl: "Zhao Xiong has been operating in Qingshui County for many years and has many followers. Now that he has left his old nest, it is much easier to cause trouble for him than before. I don't believe you don't understand this kind of thing."
Xu Qing: “…”
The girl was fully aware of the ins and outs of officialdom, and she was also very cunning.
The girl sighed: "It would be better if I were a man."
Xu Qing: "Let's go into the temple."
"Yes." The girl took out a waist badge, walked through the hall, and took Xu Qing to the back hall of Jinguang Temple.
Outsiders are not allowed to enter here.
There was a small Buddhist temple inside, where a bright-looking woman was worshiping Buddha. When she heard the noise, she turned around and was startled at first, then she smiled.
"Awu, why are you here?"
"I miss Sanniang."
"If you don't believe me, you must be short of money. I have some private money here, you can use it, but don't let your father know."
The woman named Sanniang was cheerful and generous, without the disciplined air of an average decent girl.
Xu Qing made a mental profile: "She looks more like a prostitute like Zhao Pan'er."
The two girls exchanged pleasantries for a while, and Sanniang asked again, "Who is this?"
"His name is Xu Qing, and he was the top scorer in the Qingshui County examination not long ago." The girl introduced.
"He is indeed a handsome young husband." Sanniang asked about Xu Qing from beginning to end and nodded with satisfaction.
But he didn't say anything else to Xu Qing and continued chatting with the girl.
They spoke the dialect of Songzhou Prefecture, which was similar to the soft Wu dialect of Xu Qing's previous life. Xu Qing could not understand much and did not interrupt them rashly. He just listened quietly at the side, like a pillar.
About half an hour later, Sanniang stopped talking and said goodbye to the girl.
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...
On the way back, the girl smiled and said, "You don't want to ask what Sanniang and I talked about?"
Xu Qing: "If you want to talk, I will listen."
"It's boring."
Xu Qing smiled and asked, "What about the government exam?"
The girl said, "I just told Sanniang that I taught you eight-part essays. With this sentence, at least in the prefectural examination, your essay will not be prejudiced by Uncle He because of my father."
Xu Qing bowed deeply and replied softly: "Thank you very much. Just this sentence is enough."
He knew very well that without this sentence, because of the suspected love rivalry between Feng Xifeng and Prefect He, as well as Zhao Xiong's potential obstruction, he would have no hope of getting the top spot in the prefectural examination.
The first place in the county examination is insurance, and the first place in the prefectural examination is double insurance.
If this doesn't make him pass the imperial examination,
He can only learn from his predecessors such as Huang Chao and Hong Tianwang.
(End of this chapter)