Imperial Tutor Ru Zhigang

"Is that true?"

Lu Dayou's eyes lit up. He felt his chance had come, and even Linghu Chong beside him looked delighted.

"Once a word is spoken!"

"Even four horses cannot catch it!"

Smiling, Ru Zhigang sealed the agreement with Lu Dayou, a little anticipation rising within him.

Although Lu Dayou and the others were not cut out for studying books and acquiring great wisdom, they were quick-witted and had plenty of little tricks up their sleeves. Perhaps they could give him a pleasant surprise!

Seated in the places of honor, Yue Buqun and his wife opened their mouths to speak, but seeing that Ru Zhigang was interested, they could only watch in silence, inwardly praying that this would not turn into a tremendous mess.

As for Lu Dayou winning, that was utterly impossible.

Others might not know Ru Zhigang's background and learning, but how could Yue Buqun be unaware?

"You once said that only women and petty men are difficult to deal with. My master's wife is a woman, and she's earned the honored title of Mount Hua Jade Maiden throughout the martial world. She's a heroine who yields nothing to men! Your words make no sense whatsoever. They're utter bullshit!"

After a moment's thought, Lu Dayou brought up something Ru Zhigang had once said to them.

Back then, they had been angry but had not dared speak. Now things were different.

"Anything else?"

Somewhat disappointed, Ru Zhigang nonetheless asked, hoping for a small surprise.

"Of course! You also said that a woman's lack of talent is a virtue. You're discriminating against women and looking down on them. A woman gave birth to you, too. Aren't you ashamed to say something like that?"

Linghu Chong followed up on Lu Dayou's words, also believing that saying to be utterly wrong. He was about to continue when Ru Zhigang waved a hand in disappointment.

"Enough, enough. Two pieces of rotten wood indeed."

Deeply disappointed, Ru Zhigang could not be bothered to explain things to these two pieces of rotten wood. He gestured to Tian Hao, who stood beside him.

"Hao, show them where they went wrong."

"Yes, teacher!"

Nodding, Tian Hao organized his thoughts before saying, "First of all, neither of those sayings originated with our teacher. Both came from our predecessors.

"'Only women and petty men are difficult to deal with' comes from Analects, Yang Huo. The complete passage is, 'Only women and petty men are difficult to nurture. Draw close to them, and they become insolent; keep them at a distance, and they become resentful.'

"Back then, Confucius was deceived by the ruler of Wei State and mocked by the petty men around that ruler, who abused their influence. After leaving Wei State, he lamented, 'Only women and petty men are difficult to nurture. Draw close to them, and they become insolent; keep them at a distance, and they become resentful.'

"What he meant was that if you, the ruler of Wei State, grew too close to those incompetent, bootlicking petty people in your rear palace, they would become carried away with themselves, forget their station, and start abusing your power to do whatever they pleased. But if you distanced yourself from those women, they would complain. It was an exceedingly troublesome matter.

"In present-day terms, it can be understood to mean that women and petty men find it difficult to cultivate their own vast, upright spirit, and to nurture their bodies, minds, natures, and lives. Thus, you must maintain a proper distance when dealing with them. Too much closeness invites discourtesy and breaks the rules; too much distance easily breeds resentment.

"The 'women' here does not refer to women. In the division of men and women into yang and yin, the female represents yin. The word 'female' in this sentence is an adjective referring to people who are sinister and cunning within, with base and filthy characters.

"This does not duplicate the 'petty men' that follows. In ancient usage, 'petty men' referred to people whose virtue was insufficient and who had not attained the standards of a gentleman.

"As for the saying Eldest Senior Brother mentioned, 'A woman's lack of talent is a virtue,' that is incomplete. The full saying is, 'A man's virtue is his talent; a woman's lack of talent is her virtue.'

"In today's language, it certainly sounds unpleasant. But you must understand that ancient language differed greatly from our everyday speech.

"The word 'lack' here is a verb, meaning to set aside something one already possesses. The true meaning of the whole sentence is that to become an accomplished man, one must place virtue first and talent second. The following clause means the same thing: it still advises women to put virtue first, rather than insulting them by saying they cannot possess learning or ability.

"This involves the two central matters of talent and virtue. Some advocate promoting talent alone, while others hold virtue above all else. Of course, possessing both virtue and talent is naturally best."

As a humanities student in his previous life, he had been familiar with these ancient texts. Ru Zhigang had also taught him a great deal over the past three years, so explaining them was naturally no difficulty.

Linghu Chong and Lu Dayou were dumbfounded. They had thought they could use those sayings to drive Ru Zhigang away, only to discover that they were the ones who had misunderstood. Although they had prepared plenty of other quotations, those now seemed utterly fucking useless.

"Buqun, there is no need for a severe punishment. After all, I am not a member of your Mount Hua Sect. As a martial sect, Mount Hua must ultimately honor strength. Both of them have good potential and are worth cultivating."

Ru Zhigang's enthusiasm had faded. He could not be bothered to take issue with those two juniors, but he also excluded them from that plan.

Yue Buqun opened his mouth, unsure what to say. In the end, he could only glare fiercely at his two wayward disciples.

"Get yourselves to Reflection Cliff and face the wall to reflect on your faults!"

These two wretches never gave him a moment's peace!

"Yes, Master!"

Sensing that something was wrong with the atmosphere, Linghu Chong and his junior brother hurried out of the Righteousness Piercing Sky Hall with their tails between their legs, inwardly cursing their own lack of preparation.

Now that the teacher and disciple had been put on guard, exposing their true colors in the future would be difficult.

"The rest of you may leave as well!"

Ning Zhongze signaled for her daughter and the others to leave. They had important matters to discuss next, and it was unsuitable for those disciples to remain.

"Yes, Mother!"

"We take our leave!"

Everyone withdrew from the Righteousness Piercing Sky Hall one by one and closed the doors. As the last to leave, Yue Lingshan cast a complicated glance at Tian Hao, then departed with her pink lips tightly pressed together.

Over the past few days, she had vaguely gleaned a few things from her mother's words. They seemed to be discussing some major undertaking, and that fellow was its key.

But her mother had not said exactly what it was or when it would happen, leaving her intensely curious.

Just what were Mother and the others hiding from us?

"Teacher Ru, I'm sorry you had to witness that. I have failed to discipline my disciples properly."

Yue Buqun gave a bitter laugh. He had never expected something like this to happen today.

He knew Ru Zhigang's depth of literary learning very well. Indeed, it was precisely because he had continued his studies under Ru Zhigang over the past two years that he had cultivated the Yangwu Sword Technique to great mastery. This was a true Confucian scholar!

What was more, Ru Zhigang had taught the reigning emperor himself. He was an imperial tutor in the truest sense, with a status and standing of inestimable distinction.

Yue Buqun had hoped to let those disciples share in the benefits. The ones he had favored most were the quick-witted Linghu Chong and Lu Dayou. What a pity!

"Buqun, I should not really be saying this, but your judgment of people is seriously flawed. Though Linghu Chong and Lu Dayou are clever, they possess only petty cleverness, not great wisdom. Their temperaments are even more lacking. They are not suited to taking the helm."

After hesitating, Ru Zhigang finally could not resist offering some guidance.

Naturally, he could see why Yue Buqun had asked Linghu Chong to escort him. But although the lad had cleverness to spare, he did not apply it to proper pursuits, especially where his temperament was concerned.

He was not cut out for scholarly study!

"Mr. Ru, surely Chong isn't that bad?"

Ning Zhongze was shocked. She thought highly of her eldest disciple, Linghu Chong. His aptitude and comprehension were outstanding, far superior to her own and her husband's. His future accomplishments were certain to surpass theirs.

"Hao, tell us what you think of your eldest senior brother."

Rather than answering Ning Zhongze directly, Ru Zhigang turned toward Tian Hao, who stood beside him.

He had always been deeply satisfied with this disciple. Although Tian Hao was not as clever as Linghu Chong, he possessed great wisdom and perseverance. He was someone capable of accomplishing great things.

For someone who would accomplish great things, a lack of sufficient cleverness was no major problem. Sufficient decisiveness and an understanding of the larger picture were enough. As for cleverness and strategy, others could supply those.

That was also the purpose of the advisers who had served rulers of the past, such as Zhuge Liang under Liu Bei and Liu Bowen under Zhu Yuanzhang.

In his view, although Tian Hao lacked the talent and quick wit of Zhuge Liang and Liu Bowen, he possessed the great wisdom and decisiveness of Liu Bei and Zhu Yuanzhang.

"My eldest senior brother, hmm!"

Hearing that Ru Zhigang intended to test him, Tian Hao recalled everything he knew about Linghu Chong-not only the impressions he had formed through three years of contact with him, but also the original work from his previous life.