Chapter 118 Master Course
Chapter 118 Master Course
That night, Xiao Xia moved into his new house. Mr. and Mrs. Tian had already bought daily necessities for him and even made him a pot of hot tea.
Xiao Xia drank some hot tea and sat cross-legged on the wooden platform in front of the sliding door of the study. There was a roof above his head and a light snow was falling from the sky. In front of him was a small courtyard paved with stone slabs and a clump of bamboo in the corner. The gate of the courtyard had been locked. The light from the study shone into the courtyard, which was half bright and half dark. Only the fine snow flakes could be seen dancing in the air.
Xiao Xia was sitting in his own house. At this moment, he felt extremely peaceful and comfortable. He entered into deep practice, practicing the formula taught by Yuan Shoucheng over and over again. He was completely in a state of oblivion of both himself and the world, but not in a deep sleep. At this time, any disturbance would disrupt his practice. So since leaving Jiangdu, he had not been able to find a suitable opportunity to practice deeply.
The doors to the atrium and the backyard were locked from the inside. Even if Mr. and Mrs. Tian wanted to add some hot water to his room, they couldn't get in. Only then, in this world that belonged entirely to him, did he let go of all distracting thoughts and vigilance, and his whole body and mind were completely relaxed.
It was not until the next morning that Xiao Xia slowly opened her eyes. The sky had cleared up, but the air was still humid. It was chilly in spring, but there was already a hint of spring warmth. It had snowed lightly all night, but the snow did not accumulate and melted into water.
He heard the birds singing happily on the roof, and a smile appeared on Xiao Xia's lips. The feeling of early spring was really good.
Xiao Xia stood up and stretched his body. His legs felt a little numb. He drew his sword and performed thirteen sword techniques in a series in the courtyard. His whole body felt relaxed.
If he wants to upgrade again, he must undergo long-term in-depth training, accumulating little by little, from quantitative change to qualitative change.
Xiao Xia packed up a bit and put all his important belongings into the safe on the wall, locking it three times.
With only a dozen taels of silver on him, Xiao Xia rode out on horseback.
Today is the twelfth day of the first lunar month. The Lantern Festival is coming soon. Every household has hung up lanterns, and Mr. and Mrs. Tian also hung up last year's lanterns.
The streets were filled with lanterns, especially East-West Street and Suzaku Street. Yesterday there were only sparse lanterns, but overnight they filled every corner of the two streets. The square in front of the city meeting place became a sea of lanterns.
Of course, this is also related to the emperor's schedule. It was originally thought that the emperor would not be able to return for the Lantern Festival, and the officials who stayed behind did not have too many thoughts and just wanted to get the matter over with.
Unexpectedly, news suddenly came yesterday that the emperor would arrive in Chang'an tomorrow afternoon. The officials who stayed behind were anxious. They pulled out all the lanterns overnight and covered the streets with them.
Xiao Xia returned to the Imperial College and just as he arrived at the dormitory door, he ran into Cui Lian. Wei Chengfeng was a grade older than them and their courses were different. Except for the archery class, they basically never met.
"Brother, you've arrived just in time. Come with me to class!"
"What class?"
"It's Xue Daoheng's calligraphy class! It was originally scheduled for yesterday afternoon, but he had something urgent to do and postponed it to this morning. Come with me now!"
Xiao Xia hesitated for a moment, "How about another day?"
Cui Lian sighed, "You didn't attend class yesterday, and you didn't come back last night. This won't work. If it gets out, it will be bad for your reputation. Stop being lazy."
"Okay! I'll go with you."
Xiao Xia had no choice but to follow Cui Lian towards the school instead of going back to the dormitory.
Shuxue was an institution affiliated to the Secretariat, which had two major institutions: the Bureau of Works and the Bureau of Historiography. The Bureau of Works was the library and archives bureau, which managed a vast number of books, scrolls and documents.
Moreover, the Taishi Bureau was an observatory responsible for monitoring celestial phenomena, formulating calendars, and managing time.
The calligraphy courses include not only book management and restoration, but also calligraphy classes, as well as calendar learning, timekeeping instrument making, etc., which include courses in astronomy, geography, timekeeping, measurement, etc.
So calligraphy is actually a relatively professional course, just like mathematics and law.
The Imperial Academy also had calligraphy classes, which were relatively orthodox and standardized, and there were often some famous masters who came to give lectures. Xue Daoheng was the Junior Supervisor of the Secretariat, so when he came to give lectures, he must have been attending the calligraphy school.
The main hall of the calligraphy school can accommodate more than 300 people for classes at the same time. It was already full of students. There was a small desk in front of each person, with paper and pen. Xiao Xia didn't bring any paper and pen, so Cui Lian lent him a pen and some paper. Xiao Xia ran to the front and brought back two trays of ink. As soon as the two sat down, the thin professor Xue Daoheng walked up to the podium.
Xue Daoheng was a famous poet and calligrapher in the Sui Dynasty. He was born into the Xue family of Hedong. Hedong has always been a gathering place for famous families, headed by the Wang family and the Pei family, as well as the Wen family, the Xue family, the Liu family and so on.
Xue Daoheng's class lasted only half an hour, or one hour. He first spent two quarters of an hour briefly explaining the evolution of calligraphy, and then said with a smile: "Everyone write a piece of calligraphy. I will take it back and give it to everyone in the next class."
This is the main point of coming to the class. It is not about listening to the class, but about getting guidance on calligraphy. If you can get targeted guidance on calligraphy from Xue Daoheng, you will definitely benefit a lot.
Everyone spread out rice paper and started writing. Xiao Xia asked Cui Lian in a low voice, "What are you writing?"
"Write anything you want, but it would be best if you could write a poem. Envoy Xue can not only teach calligraphy, but also poetry!"
Every student was obviously prepared and started writing his or her own poem, but Xiao Xia didn't know what to write?
Oh! If I had known, I would not have come. Can I show my mediocre calligraphy to the public?
Well, just write a few lines and don’t hand it in.
Xiao Xia thought carefully. Tomorrow is the Lantern Festival, so he decided to write a poem about the Lantern Festival. He thought of this poem on the way.
Xiao Xia picked up the pen and began to write, "Qingyu'an. Lantern Festival, the east wind blows thousands of flowers into bloom at night, and blows down stars like rain. The road is filled with fragrance from the BMW and carved carriages, the sound of phoenix flutes moves, the light of jade pots turns, and fish and dragons dance all night long."
A figure suddenly appeared behind him, tilting his head to watch him write. It was Xue Daoheng. Xiao Xia's handwriting really made him frown, as he had never seen such poorly written handwriting. However, the content of the words made his eyes light up.
Xue Daoheng did not disturb Xiao Xia from writing, and continued to walk forward with his hands behind his back. Xiao Xia's face was full of shame, his handwriting was really not good enough, fortunately Xue Daoheng did not point out his mistakes on the spot.
Looking at Cui Lian's calligraphy next to it, it is very elegant and lively, much better than my own. If I must find a good comment on my own calligraphy, it would only be the word "neat".
Xiao Xia had completely lost confidence, but reluctantly picked up the pen and finished the next verse, "The moth is covered with golden threads of snow willow, and the smile and fragrance are gone. I searched for him among the crowd for a thousand times, but when I turned around, he was there, in the dim light."
Xiao Xia put down his pen. Everyone had almost finished writing. When the ink was dry, everyone handed in their writing.
Xiao Xia took advantage of the situation and folded the letter and stuffed it into his bag. Cui Lian's eyes widened, "Why didn't you hand it in?"
"Your handwriting is so bad that I can't show it off. I'll practice it better next time before submitting it."
Xiao Xia swore in his heart that he would never take calligraphy lessons from these celebrities again.
Cui Lian sighed. Such a good opportunity was wasted.
At this time, the bell for the end of get out of class rang, and everyone stood up and walked out. Xiao Xia also stood up and was about to leave.
Xue Daoheng suddenly shouted, "The student with the sword in the last row, please wait a moment!"
Xiao Xia was the only one who came to class with a sword. He didn't have time to put the sword back to the dormitory, and everyone's eyes turned to Xiao Xia.
(End of this chapter)