A Refined Lady, a Gentleman's Perfect Match

"A gentleman takes righteousness as his essence, practices it with propriety, expresses it with humility, and perfects it with trustworthiness. What a gentleman he is!"

Jiang Lin spoke slowly, his voice echoing Immortal Mist-Shrouded Mountains and Rivers, and also reaching everyone's ears through a Sound Transmission Array.

"A gentleman takes righteousness as his essence, practices it with propriety, expresses it with humility, and perfects it with trustworthiness. Such is a gentleman..."

The dean read it slowly, his weathered eyes revealing disbelief.

After a long while, the dean stroked his beard and laughed heartily, "Good! Good! Kong Erzi, your Flower-Picking Thief friend is indeed quite good. Although he is a Sword Cultivator, he is also a scholar. No wonder he could write ' A Night of Fish and Dragon Dance '!"

Being personally selected as a scholar by the headmaster of one of the Nine Great Academies is indeed a tremendous honor for a Confucian scholar.

"Of course, my friend's knowledge is no less than mine."

Kong Ba Ba, feeling a sense of pride that this was his brother, no matter how powerful he was.

Although Niannian didn't know what was happening, she sucked on her little finger and looked left and right.

But they all respected Daddy, and Daddy wouldn't be in danger, which made Niannian very happy.

Niannian's little hands made "heave-ho" sounds as she placed her dad's big, rough hands on her head, her bright, watery eyes happily narrowing into two crescent moons.

"No, no, no, although I have read some books, I really can't call myself a scholar."

Jiang Lin felt somewhat ashamed...

Although I have read quite a few books, I have only memorized some of the Confucian Classics that are required for the college entrance examination. In this world, how can I be considered a scholar?

Does physical chemistry count?

I guess you could say... well, you could say that...

"As the sage said: Excessive humility is arrogance. Young man, one must not be too proud."

Stroking his long beard, the headmaster of the Wutong Academy smiled and said.

"Come in, and sit in my courtyard sometime. But you don't need to come, Kong Erzi!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the black Dharma image of the headmaster of the Wutong Academy disappeared, and the two pageboys who were symbolically guarding the Mountain Gate also made way for him.

"Please, both of you."

Entering Wutong Academy, the path through the mountains and forests is paved with ancient and interesting cobblestones, and the scenery on both sides of the path is well-arranged.

A short pavilion every hundred meters, a long pavilion every half mile.

Whether it's a short pavilion or a long pavilion, there are books on the table, but these books are all packed in mugwort boxes to prevent them from getting damaged.

These pavilions are called "Stay-A-While Pavilion," meaning... well, the original text is too literary.

Basically, the gist is: no matter how busy life gets, you should always take a break to relax and read a book.

Jiang Lin nodded. "Sure, this reminds me of the reading corner we had in the classroom when I was in school."

A reading corner?

Kong Ba Ba, but quickly understood Jiang Lin's strange meaning.

"That's probably similar to what Brother Jiang thought. However, the books here are mostly Confucian Classics; there are no books from other schools of thought."

Jiang Lin couldn't help but smile, "Why would Confucian scholars read books from other schools of thought if they don't read Confucian Classics?"

Kong Ba Ba shook his head as well. "Brother Jiang, please don't tease me. What kind of scholar is it if he only reads his own books and ignores the works of other schools of thought?"

So you read all sorts of books like that?

"These miscellaneous books are really good!"

"Haha, alright, stop fooling around. Hurry up, you asked me to come with you to the Wutong Academy, you didn't come here just to accompany you on a trip, did you?"

"Of course not, Brother Jiang, please come this way."

Jiang Lin, holding Niannian's hand, Niannian, carrying Jiu Yi, walked deeper into Jiang Lin Wutong Academy under Kong Ba Ba's guidance.

The further Jiang Lin went, the more scholars he saw.

Among them were students who were reading books, as well as young ladies from well-to-do families who were out having fun during their free time.

Among them are men who appear to be reading books, but are actually secretly watching the women beside them.

A graceful lady, a gentleman's love of ball...

Who isn't a football fan?

So upon closer reflection, it does seem to make sense.

However, when these young ladies from wealthy families looked at Kong Ba Ba, they all seemed to be in a daze.

They were completely captivated when they saw Jiang Lin.

Not to mention that Jiang Lin was also holding the hand of an adorable little girl, who was also holding a white fox in her arms—a fox that, just by looking at it, even made her own heart race.

In an instant, all the women were captivated by the adorable child and pet, their maternal instincts overflowing and even spilling over onto Jiang Lin.

This made the scholars somewhat uncomfortable.

But being a scholar, he naturally had to be mindful of his image, so he wanted to use a literary contest to save face.

However, they didn't even have a chance to challenge Jiang Lin to a literary contest, because Jiang Lin was surrounded by these young ladies from prominent families, and the others simply couldn't squeeze in.

"I wonder if the young master is married?"

"Young master, this white fox is truly beautiful."

"Little sister, do you want to come play with me? I have yummy treats in my yard."

"Young master, my courtyard is quite large; I wonder if you would be interested?"

The female students in their dark skirts chatted amongst themselves.

If they were alone, they probably wouldn't be able to say a word, but now that all their female companions have gathered around, they have nothing to be shy about.

Surrounded by so many beautiful young ladies, Jiang Lin was actually in a pretty good mood.

But when Jiu Yi saw Jiang Lin's smug look, she jumped straight from Niannian's arms onto Jiang Lin's shoulder, wagging her fluffy little tail at this scumbag.

It was the first time Niannian had been surrounded by so many unfamiliar young ladies. She timidly hugged her dad's leg and peeked out with her Xiao Xiao head, which only made her look even cuter.

To avoid upsetting Jiu Yi and Niannian, and with Kong Ba Ba telling him via Heart-Lake Transmission that he had important business to attend to, Jiang Lin had no choice but to quickly take his leave.

As for these young ladies, we'll have to talk about it another day.

Passing through the outer mountain of the Wutong Academy, we arrived at the inner mountain. Here, the fragrance of books mingled with the earth, and the Spiritual Power was even more abundant. Spirit Deer leaped in the mountain stream, and a sip of the tinkling spring water "A Little Sweet".

"Brother Jiang, we've arrived."

Finally, Kong Ba Ba led Jiang Lin to a courtyard about a hundred meters away.

Kong Ba Ba did not approach any further, but instead led Jiang Lin up a large tree.

Looking around, there was a courtyard about a hundred meters away.

In the courtyard, a man dressed in a scholar's blue robe opened the door and walked out. Surprisingly, he picked up a broom and started sweeping the courtyard by himself. After sweeping, the scholar then picked up rice and fed it to the chickens in the courtyard.

After finishing all the chores, he went into the kitchen and started cooking rice.

As he carried his millet porridge into the courtyard and ate his breakfast with pickled vegetables, a woman in red stood behind him with her hands behind her back, looking at him tenderly.

However, this woman had no shadow...