Motion and Stillness Without Cause, Yin and Yang Without Beginning

On the Official Path not far from Yuan Ning, a carriage was moving slowly.

There were three people in the carriage, all dressed as Confucian scholars, each with a different demeanor.

The man in the middle, with his shoulders level and silently reading a book, exuded a sense of seriousness; this was Zhen Zhizuo.

Two slightly younger men sat on either side of Zhen Zhizuo.

The man on the left was dressed casually, his body swaying with the bumps of the car. The man on the right was dressed in slightly loose clothing, with a sense of the lingering charm of a previous dynasty. He had his eyes closed, looking deep in thought, as if he were contemplating a problem, oblivious to his surroundings.

The atmosphere in the entire carriage was somewhat somber.

Suddenly, the man who had been swaying gently seemed unable to contain himself any longer and spoke up, "Senior brother, is Qiu Sheng really that outstanding? Didn't you only meet him once?"

Before Zhen Zhizuo could answer, the man with his eyes closed slowly said, "Chen Jing, when will you be able to settle down? Studying cultivates character; one must calm the mind. Only when the mind is settled can one achieve tranquility. Only with a focused mind can one truly learn."

Chen Jing frowned and laughed, "Lin Jue, that's not right. The sage said there are three things to guard against: youth's Blood Qi is not yet settled, so guard against lust; middle age's Blood Qi is vigorous, so guard against fighting; old age's Blood Qi is declining, so guard against greed. But he never said to guard against thoughts or intentions. If you have no temperament, no thoughts, what kind of learning can you do? Wouldn't you all become old relics? What's the difference between you and a stone?"

Lin Jue opened his eyes, revealing a pair of indifferent gazes, seemingly devoid of any Human Desires. He glanced at Chen Jing and shook his head. "Uncertainty and unease—how can one ponder, and how can one gain anything?"

Chen Jing suddenly became interested and wanted to stand up, but stopped when he saw the roof of the car. He then said, "This is your understanding, not the words of a sage. What a sage means is that after learning something, one can get rid of restlessness and understand the true meaning of life, not to forcibly extinguish restlessness. This is putting the cart before the horse. You have always been like this, distorting the meaning of the scriptures. If you were to inherit the legacy, wouldn't you distort the world?"

"Chen Jing, don't say anything unnecessary."

At this moment, Zhen Zhizuo suddenly interjected, glanced at Lin Jue, and said calmly, "Junior brother, don't fall for Chen Jing's trick. He's restless and bored, which is why he's trying to get you to discuss the Dao with him."

"Senior brother, don't worry, I know what I'm doing." Lin Jue closed his eyes again after hearing this.

"Interesting, interesting, Senior Brother, why did you have to spell it out? Sigh." Seeing this, Chen Jing sighed, showing a regretful expression, then asked casually, "By the way, you haven't told me how Qiu Yan caught your eye yet."

Zhen Zhizuo glanced at him and said, "When you get there, you can talk to him and find out for yourself. Why should I go into details? If you can't stand the journey, you might as well settle down and read a book. Your restlessness, no matter how intelligent you are, will inevitably be criticized."

Chen Jing laughed and said, "Even the teacher said, 'From movement and Yin-Yang, yin and yang begin.' The movement of the sun and moon, the changing of cold and heat, and the transformation of hardness and softness are all examples of movement and stillness. This is the Heavenly Principle. There is also a principle in Human Desires. Why force it?"

Zhen Zhizuo shook his head, ignoring Chen Jing, and lowered his head to read.

His purpose in going to Yuan Ning this time was to welcome Qiu Yan into the academy with a small gift. Although the gift was small, it was not something to be ashamed of. It still required a grand ceremony and was to be held at the academy. The task of welcoming the new student was to be left to the students of the academy, specifically the disciples of the Junior Chen.

However, because of He Shuchang, the few students who remained in the academy were all conscripted. After some selection, Zhen Zhizuo brought out two people from his side.

Lin Jue was a disciple of Senior Chen, but he was too rigid and never smiled, so he was disliked by people. Naturally, he was not chosen to welcome He Shuchang, and was eventually captured by Zhen Zhizuo.

As for Chen Jing, like Zhen Zhizuo, he was a disciple of Junior Chen, but his unconventional behavior and personality were not favored by his teacher, and he was subtly isolated by others, which is why he was able to be brought in by Zhen Zhizuo.

Zhen Zhizuo had his reasons for choosing these two people. Welcoming new students was not just a ceremony; there would also be conversations along the way. At this time, it was necessary for some quick-witted and knowledgeable disciples to step forward and demonstrate the academy's advantages.

Although Lin Jue is old-fashioned, he is knowledgeable; although Chen Jing is unconventional, he is quick-witted and exceptionally intelligent, both of whom are quite capable.

On the way thereafter, Chen Jing was still unable to calm down and made movements from time to time, but the other two seemed not to see or feel it.

About half an hour later, the carriage suddenly jolted and then stopped. The driver's voice came through the carriage floor. "Gentlemen, something happened up ahead, we may be a little late."

"What happened?" Chen Jing immediately jumped up and ran out before the other person could answer. What he saw was a city wall, with several carriages parked in front of the city gate and a crowd of people. In the very center, a man with an official air was talking to an old man.

The crowd was scattered in twos and threes on the road in front of the door, blocking the way and making it difficult to move forward.

Chen Jing looked up and saw the words "Yuan Ning" above the city gate.

"We've arrived, haven't we? Why are there so many people in front of the city gate? They're blocking the way." Chen Jing complained slightly, but his face showed excitement rather than dissatisfaction.

Just then, a voice came from the carriage behind them—

"Hmm? That old man is Zhao Bingcheng from the Quanyou Academy!" There was a hint of surprise and urgency in his voice.

"I didn't expect the Shu Learning to be so attentive, with Zhao Bingcheng personally taking charge." As he spoke, Zhen Zhizuo stepped out of the car.

"Is that Zhao Bingcheng from Shu Learning?" Chen Jing looked at the old man in the crowd with curiosity, sensing a Literary Thought Aura from afar. He felt somewhat relieved, then thought of something, "Could this person be here to invite Qiu Yan to join Quanyou Academy?"

After saying this, he chuckled and said, "Excellent! Zhang Huazhang didn't take Qiu Yan seriously because he was a poor scholar, so he kept quiet and didn't send anyone. But Quanyou Academy even sent its senior scholars to personally greet him. The difference in their status is obvious. Qiu Yan is so good that he can get Elder Zhao to greet him, so he must really be talented, just not as famous as that He Shuchang."

Suddenly, another voice came from inside the car—

"Zhao Bingcheng hasn't gotten what he wanted yet."

"How do you know?" Chen Jing turned his head and looked back, frowning. Lin Jue hadn't even stepped out of the carriage, so how did he make that judgment?

Ke Lin Jue did not answer.

Zhen Zhizuo didn't ask any further questions, but simply said, "Regardless, we still need to go into the city to see for ourselves. Besides, although Zhao Bingcheng's lineage is different from ours, and there are disputes between schools of thought, the accomplished should come first, so we should go and pay our respects." After saying this, he led Chen Jing and Lin Jue over.

Upon seeing the three men, Zhao Bingcheng's expression changed several times. After exchanging a few words with them, they took their leave.

"As expected, Zhao Bingcheng's expression changed just now, and he looked worried. He really didn't get what he wanted..." Chen Jing said, giving Lin Jue a slightly strange look.

Then, he shook his head and guessed, "I understand. Since Qiu Yan has already received the invitation from the Principle Sect Academy, he certainly won't go to the declining Quanyou Academy. So even though Zhao Bingcheng came to his door in person, he still didn't agree. After all, the Principle Sect is now famous throughout the world and holds the reins of Confucianism..."

Chen Jing spoke with great confidence, but that confidence vanished the moment he arrived at the Liu Residence and saw the letter Liu Yue handed him.

"Study abroad?"

Zhen Zhizuo stared in astonishment at the letter in his hand, frowning.

Upon hearing this, Lin Jue, who had been following silently behind, had a flicker of light in his eyes, but it quickly disappeared. Not long after, Zhang Yu and Liu Kuang arrived in a hurry after receiving the news.

Upon their arrival, the two first praised Principle Sect, mentioning that they had been studying the works of the Junior Chen for the past few days and had made some progress. Only after Zhen Zhizuo stopped them did they say somewhat uneasily, "Young Master Zhen, this is not our fault. These past few days, we have been by Qiu Yan's side, but he went home to sweep his ancestors' graves and it was inconvenient for us to go with him. Who would have thought that upon his return, another disciple of the Apricot Altar would appear and admonish us, making things even more..."

Zhen Zhizuo suddenly interrupted the two, his face showing surprise. "Wait, what did you say? A disciple of the Apricot Altar?"

Not only did he look surprised, but Chen Jing and Lin Jue also showed strange expressions.

"Indeed, a disciple of the Apricot Altar named Ji Zheng came, saying he wanted to invite Qiu Yan to participate in some kind of Apricot Altar Dao Discourse, and also advised us to go back to our studies..."

Before they could finish speaking, Chen Jing interrupted them, exclaiming in a low voice, "Apricot Altar Dao Discourse? Good heavens! Who is this Qiu Yan? What's his background? Someone actually invited him to Apricot Altar Dao Discourse? If he can freely mingle among Scholar Forest during such a discussion, he really won't need to join our Principle Sect."

"Did you hear me wrong?" Zhen Zhizuo frowned and asked in a deep voice.

Zhang Yu and Liu Kuang's expressions changed drastically. They waved their hands repeatedly and said in rapid succession, "No, no, we made a note of it to confirm and report to you, young master."

"Could it be true?" Zhen Zhizuo's brows furrowed even more deeply. "Apricot Altar Dao Discourse, without the Sage Worthies Hall and the Sage Paper, how can they be held? In the end, one must enter an academy. I just wonder which school Qiu Yan went to. Could he have headed east all the way to Qi-Lu? Impossible, he still Metropolitan Examination next year..."

Taking advantage of the situation, Zhang Yu said, "We don't know which academy Qiu Yan is going to, but we roughly know where he's going. To help you, young master, I specifically bribed a steward in the Zhang Residence to find out that Qiu Yan is going to the Eastern Capital."

"Eastern Capital?" Zhen Zhizuo was taken aback upon hearing this.

At this moment, Lin Jue suddenly spoke up, "If you want to recruit Qiu Yan, you might as well send these two to the Zhang Residence to inquire again. However, the Apricot Altar Dao Discourse is no small matter. Qiu Yan may have talent, but if he were to engage in literary pursuits, it would only make him a laughing stock. I have read his articles and read his biography. His Literary Heart is not evident, his experience is not extensive, and he seems to know too much about the affairs of the common people. I'm afraid he will be unable to persuade Sage."

"Alright, let's go and investigate further." Zhen Zhizuo nodded.

Chen Jing laughed, "This Qiu Yan really made a big fuss, leaving Quanyou Academy and us empty-handed. I wonder what reason he has in mind behind his actions."

Meanwhile, Qiu Yan, who was heading north, arrived at a small town where there was a disturbance. A large crowd had gathered at the town entrance, and among them was an old woman who was sitting on the ground and weeping bitterly.

"Young master, the town is not peaceful. You should take a detour." Hu Qi and Dai Guo, who had been traveling the world for many years, advised him upon seeing this. Unexpectedly, Qiu Yan shook his head, dismounted, and stepped forward.

"The purpose of this trip is to broaden our horizons; how can we detour?"

As Qiu Yan spoke, his mind was elsewhere—

"The Fire Elemental Force within this town is incredibly strong!" (To be continued...)

P. S.: Thanks to "Jia Ada" for the monthly vote!