Buddha's light

The three Confucian scholars tacitly refrained from accepting the offer, instead exchanging glances with each other.

Upon seeing this, Dean Zhao Shou reached out and took the folded Xuan paper, slowly unfolded it, and then fell into a long silence.

Noticing Zhao Shou's unusual behavior, Zhang Shen asked, "Dean?"

But the dean ignored him, muttering to himself, lost in some kind of emotion, unable to shake it off for the time being.

After a long while, Zhao Shou stroked his beard and smiled, "What a fine poem! I will personally engrave this poem in the Temple of the Second Sage, so that it will become a part of the Cloud Deer Academy. In the future, when our descendants look back on this history, this poem will be enough."

"The three of you come to my humble abode for drinks tonight, and we'll drink until dawn."

The three Confucian scholars found it unbelievable that Dean Zhao Shou, the leading figure in Confucian School today, would lose his composure so much because of a poem.

Even for masterpieces like "A faint fragrance drifts in the twilight" and "A boat full of sweet dreams presses down on the Milky Way," the dean simply smiled and praised them.

"See for yourselves!" Zhao Shou handed over the paper.

Zhang Shen took it and looked at it with the two great scholars. The expressions of the three of them suddenly froze, just like Zhao Shou before, immersed in a certain emotion, unable to shake it off for a long time.

"The road is hard, the road is hard, many are the forks in the road, where am I now? There will be a time when the wind will break the waves, and I will set sail to cross the vast ocean." Li Mubai suddenly burst into tears, and said sadly:

"This poem is about our Cloud Deer Academy."

The two great scholars, Zhang Shen and Chen Tai, clenched their fists. They understood why the dean had lost his composure. Li Mubai was right; the poem was indeed written for the Cloud Deer Academy.

Looking back over the past two centuries since the establishment of the Imperial Academy, Cloud Deer Academy entered its darkest period. Students studied diligently by lamplight, striving for excellence, only to be sidelined and left with nowhere to express their passion and talents.

I stopped drinking and eating, and when I drew my sword, I looked around in bewilderment!

These last two lines were a stroke of genius, instantly inspiring the great scholars with a surge of pride and excitement.

The greatest charm of poetry lies in its ability to evoke empathy, which perfectly resonated with Dean Zhao Shou and the three great Confucian scholars.

"Dean."

Zhang Shen coughed, pulling himself out of his turmoil, and said in a low voice, "Xu Cijiu is my disciple, someone I painstakingly taught."

"Jinyan, you've worked hard, you've worked hard," Zhao Shou said with satisfaction.

"It is my duty, Zhang Jinyan, to cultivate talent for the academy; how could I possibly complain about the hardship?" Zhang Shen said righteously.

"However, I have a small request, and I hope the dean can grant it."

Chen Tai and Li Mubai immediately became alert.

Zhao Shou Shouwen asked, "What are your requirements?"

"When you personally engrave the poem, remember to write a few small characters after your signature when Cijiu: 'Master Zhang Shen, Jinyan, a native of Jingzhou.'"

Before Zhao Shou could answer, Chen Tai and Li Mubai interjected, "I object!"

Zhang Shen was furious. "What business is it of yours what my student wrote? Who gives you the right to object?"

"Bullshit!"

The two learned scholars, their beards bristling and eyes wide, bluntly exposed him. "Don't you know your own student's level? And dare you say you don't know who wrote this poem?"

Zhang Shen certainly knew that Xu Cijiu was his student, and as a teacher, he knew his student's capabilities better than anyone else.

As for how Xu Cijiu guessed the question, Zhang Shen's idea was that Xu Qi'an asked Wei Yuan for help.

"?"

A question mark flashed through Zhao Shou's mind. He waved his hand to block out the students who had come to report the news, and said in a deep voice, "What did you just say? This poem wasn't written by Xu Cijiu?"

Chen Tai snorted, "Xu Cijiu excels at policy essays, but his poetry is mediocre. How could he have produced such an inspiring masterpiece?"

Li Mubai chimed in, "Wasn't it my student Xu Qi'an who wrote it?"

"When did I become your student?" Zhang Shen scoffed. "He's still my student, so it doesn't matter how you write my name."

The three Confucian scholars started arguing loudly.

After listening for a while, Dean Zhao Shou roughly understood that the poem was not written by Xu Cijiu, but by his cousin, who was hailed as the leading poet in Confucian circles.

So, Xu Cijiu also cheated.

"By the way, what does our Master of Ceremonies specialize in?" Zhao Shou asked.

Confucian School emphasizes moral character, and the higher the rank of a great Confucian scholar, the more emphasis is placed on the steadfastness of one's character. To put it bluntly, every great Confucian scholar possesses extremely high moral integrity.

However, this does not mean that all Confucian School are saintly hypocrites. Unless they are committed to a saintly "life" when Establishing Destiny Realm, minor mistakes are acceptable and not a big problem.

But cheating is no small matter.

"Governing the country and military strategy!" Zhang Shen said, as he was originally a great Confucian scholar renowned for his expertise in military strategy.

Governing a country is a "skill" that every Confucian School student must learn. On this basis, Confucian School students can choose one or two additional "courses" to major in.

Some students specialized in the Book of Rites, some in the Doctrine of the Mean, and Xu Cijiu specialized in the Art of War.

Upon hearing this, Zhao Shou nodded in relief. If he were to specialize in military strategy, there would be no problem; it wouldn't affect his future promotion.

"You don't need to argue over a poem. I think Xu Qi'an used his cousin to present this poem to the academy. For us, that's the greatest return we can give," Zhao Shou said.

"The Dean is right," the three Confucian scholars said in unison.

The three great scholars all thought to themselves, "We'll ask Xu Ningyan for his masterpieces later."

In addition, they silently added in their minds: Yang Gong, a despicable villain!

The next day, the Xu Residence held a grand banquet to entertain relatives and friends. In accordance with Xu Xinnian's wishes, the mansion was divided into three areas for the three groups of guests: the front yard, the back yard, and the central courtyard.

His classmates and close friends sat in the central courtyard, while outsiders were not allowed to enter the back courtyard, so his relatives sat there. The front courtyard was occupied by Second Uncle Xu and Xu Qi'an's colleagues.

The three groups of guests were perfectly separated, each preoccupied with drinking and boasting. The scholar ignored the rude warrior, and the warrior paid no attention to the scholar's pretentious manner.

"Erlang truly lives up to his reputation as a scholar; he's arranged everything so meticulously," Xu Qi'an remarked as he accompanied his younger brother to toast everyone.

"Why didn't our teacher come?" Xu Qi'an asked.

Xu Erlang, his face slightly flushed from drinking a few cups of wine, sighed helplessly, "The servant who delivered the invitations this morning brought back news that Master got into a fight with two great scholars and was injured."

"Another fight?" Xu Qi'an thought to himself, "Are all the scholars at the Cloud Deer Academy this short-tempered?"

The two brothers went to the inner courtyard, where all the clansmen were gathered. Their aunt and second uncle stayed at the table with the Xu clan members. Several children, having eaten their fill, played in the courtyard, envying the Xu Residence's grand residence.

Xu Lingyin was ashamed to be with her friends, so she ate from beginning to end and refused to move her seat no matter what.

The Xu family was overjoyed. Xu Dalang had just been granted a title not long ago, and Second Uncle Xu immediately followed up by passing the imperial examination with top honors. This was a sign that the Xu Household was about to rise to prominence.

While the younger generation is happy, they are thinking more about relying on this powerful family, hoping that they might achieve great success in the future.

The older generation's joy was purer; with tears streaming down their faces, they said their ancestors had shown them divine intervention, and the Xu family was destined to become a great clan.

"Donkey Erdan," an elder stood up, patted Xu Pingzhi's hand, and said with satisfaction:

"You deserve all the credit for making Dalang and Erlang successful. You've nurtured one a scholar and the other a warrior. You're even better than those teachers. I happen to have a pair of grandsons at home. Erdan, could you help me take care of them for a few years?"

Donkey Second Egg was the nickname of Second Uncle; Xu Qi'an's biological father's nickname was Donkey Big Egg.

This title is only used by the elders in the clan.

"Haha, good, no problem, Uncle, just send those two little brats over." Xu Pingzhi was beaming with pride, a little too cocky. He even felt that Xu Cijiu and Xu Ningyan's success was all thanks to him.

"You have no merit whatsoever, you're clearly a scoundrel! "Xu Pingzhi and Xu Qi'an smiled, inwardly complaining.

"Father, you have absolutely no self-awareness. You're just a crude and vulgar brute," Xu Xinnian thought to himself.

The aunt felt resentful that no one praised her for raising her children, but thinking of her past conflicts with her nephew, she felt that if she stood up to take credit, she would definitely be rebuked by him.

The capital city, west gate.

The soldiers guarding the city suddenly heard faint, ethereal chanting, as if it came from the heavens.

A soldier picked at his ear and found the chanting still echoing in his ears. "Hey, have you heard any strange noises?"

He had barely finished asking when he noticed his colleagues opposite and beside him also picking their ears.

At that moment, someone on the city wall shouted, "Buddha's light! There's Buddha's light in the west..."

The soldiers below the city wall instinctively gripped their spears, gazing warily into the distance. A few seconds later, they saw a golden light of Buddha rising slowly from the west.

Like the rising sun... no, purer and more approachable than sunlight.

Unconsciously, they loosened their grip on the spears, looked up at the pure light of Buddha, their eyes devout and gentle, as if their souls had been cleansed.

The commander guarding the city bit his tongue hard, the pain stimulating his brain and giving him a brief moment of clarity, as he used this to fight against his inner "piety."

He staggered past the soldiers who were staring blankly westward, grabbed the drumsticks, and struck them forcefully, again and again.

Knock knock knock.

The dull drumbeats echoed across the fields, resonating in the hearts of the soldiers defending the city and the people of the eastern city.

"They're here!"

As Xu Qi'an raised his glass in a toast, the murmurs of the monk Shenshu echoed in his mind.

It's here! What's here?

He was taken aback at first, then immediately realized that the Buddhist School delegation had arrived.

Finally, the Buddhist School from the Western Regions arrived in the capital.

They came because of the Sangbo case, and because of the monk Shenshu.

The visitor is ill-intentioned.

He has been in this world for more than half a year and is about to have his first encounter with a high-ranking monk from the Western Regions Buddhist School.

The supervisor has already shielded me from the secrets of heaven; Buddhist School monks shouldn't be able to see through the existence of Monk Shenshu. As the official in charge of Sangbo, I certainly can't avoid dealing with monks. I've heard that Buddhist School possesses various strange Divine Ability, such as "telepathy." If that's the case, could they hear my thoughts?

Xu Qi'an was on high alert.

PS: Seriously? I just checked the character cards, and the little mare already has 6000+ hearts? Hey, don't do that! If it surpasses the male and female leads, how am I supposed to face people on Qidian?

This chapter is a bit shorter; let's move on to the next plot point. I need to work on the ideas carefully, even though I have a detailed outline.

Update first, then revise.