I

Although it is early winter, the warm sunshine today does not seem cold.

The breeze blows into the bamboo forest, making a rustling sound, which seems to be playing the beautiful notes of nature.

With such weather and scenery, it should have been a fresh idyll. But Zhao Han seemed to see a ghostly picture, with flesh and blood and mutilated limbs everywhere, evil ghosts baring their teeth and claws, and Yakshas hovering in the sky and laughing viciously.

It seemed that he was back outside Tianjin again. Zhao Han held his sister's hand and walked past countless frightening eyes.

Perhaps, because he had no worries about food and clothing these days, Zhao Han almost forgot about the hardships of that day. He had forgotten that in the south of Tianjin, he saw someone exchanging the bodies of children and saw someone using the bones as firewood to make soup.

Coming to Qianshan, Zhao Han could vaguely guess that the people at the bottom here were not having a good time either.

But the prosperous small town, the fields with abundant grain harvests, and the paradise academies all cast a veil over reality. No one wants to uncover and look directly at the hidden ugliness, and Zhao Han is no exception, because it is really hard to accept.

If this continues, Zhao Han will probably be domesticated, a domestication that he himself cannot even notice.

Life seems pretty good until one day disaster strikes.

Take it for granted?

No!

It shouldn't be like this!

"Master, brother, this is it."

Zhao Han was suddenly awakened.

At some point, they had left the bamboo forest, and Fei Chun raised his finger to point to a few earthen huts.

The walls are made of rammed earth, with bamboo strips sandwiched inside the walls, which act like steel bars. At the same time, it is also mixed with straw, which can limit the temperature insulation, thereby achieving the effect of keeping warm in winter and cool in summer.

The roof is thatched, and it will have to be repaired after a while, otherwise it will definitely leak.

A woman was drying bamboo leaves, which are excellent materials for making fires. Bamboo leaves fall automatically every day, so you have to collect them quickly. You may get into fights if you catch other people's leaves.

"Excuse me, is Xu Ying at home?" Zhao Han raised his hands and asked.

The woman obviously thought wrongly, and her face instantly turned pale. She held a bamboo rake in her hand and said, "He...he got into trouble in the academy?"

Fei Ruhe said: "Xu Ying this afternoon..."

"We didn't cause any trouble," Zhao Han immediately interrupted Fei Ruhe and said with a smile, "We are Xu Ying's classmates. We skipped class and went out to play around."

The woman suddenly felt much more relaxed and became enthusiastic: "Young masters, come and sit at home quickly, and I'll get you some water!"

"Auntie, I'm here." Zhao Han said.

This woman seemed to be in her thirties or forties, but also in her forties or fifties. It was impossible to accurately observe her age.

A little baby of two or three years old, with a runny nose, lay at the door and peeked at them. The snot flows to the upper lip, sucks it back, and then comes out of the nostrils, finding its own path to flow again.

Zhao Han kicked away a bunch of bamboo leaves, and there were many words written on the dirt ground, which should have been written by Xu Ying——

Confucius said: Three armies can seize the commander, but one man cannot seize the will.

Confucius said: The clothes worn in the robe are similar to those wearing fox and raccoon dogs, but they are shameless. What is the reason for this? If you don’t worry and don’t seek, what’s the point of not being embarrassed...

"Let's go." Zhao Han turned and left.

They all disappeared without a trace, and the woman finally came out with water.

She was carrying a kettle in her left hand and three clay bowls in her right hand, which were the bowls with the fewest holes in the house. And I just cleaned it several times, making sure it was clean so as not to attract the disgust of my son’s classmates.

…

Fei Yuanjian was getting more and more panicked as he thought about it, and his mind was full of images of himself being hung up and beaten.

It's nothing to bully classmates, he's just a poor peasant boy.

The biggest mistake he made was throwing the book into the water. Such behavior, placed in the Qianshan Fei family, is no different from bullying the teacher and destroying the ancestors!

He led his followers to the stream and found that Xu Ying was still where he was.

The peasant boy was sitting on his back, his pants and shoes were wet from the stream. He held the pebble inkstone in both hands and looked blankly at the destroyed book. His eyes were dull and he muttered something to himself.

Fei Yuanjian got closer and finally heard the content clearly. It turned out that Xu Ying was reciting "The Analects of Confucius", and she was reciting it together with Zhu Xi's annotations.

I have been carrying it for more than half an hour.

When the schoolchildren came to Xu Ying's side, he continued to recite it without looking at anyone else, as if he was isolated from the world.

"Isn't this guy stupid?" said a schoolboy.

"It looks like it to me."

"Hey, Xu Ying, sir, we are looking for you to go back to school!"

"You're so stupid. He doesn't even pay attention to anything you say."

"Why don't you slap him? I heard that if you suffer from amnesia, you can wake up with a slap."

"I want to beat you."

"Why should I fight?"

"..."

The students who were usually bullied arbitrarily, no one dared to touch him at this moment, they just kept wandering around him to check.

Fei Yuanjian finally couldn't help it, kicked the soaked book away, and shouted: "Stop pretending to be crazy and act stupid, say a few words!"

This move had an effect.

Xu Ying, who was staring at the book, slowly raised her head to look at Fei Yuanjian because the book was kicked away, and her reciting voice became louder: "The Master said: 'If a state has the Way, words and deeds are dangerous; if a state has no Way, Wei Xingyan Sun. 'Xing, Sun, and Qusheng. Wei means high and high. Sun means humble..."

Fei Yuanjian threatened: "I don't care if you are stupid or not. Anyway, if your book fell into the water, it has nothing to do with me. Don't talk nonsense in front of me. Otherwise, I will beat you every time I see you!"

Xu Ying's face was still stained with tears. She stood up holding a pebble inkstone, her eyes were red, and she looked at Fei Yuanjian: "The Master said: 'Those who are virtuous must have words, and those who have words do not need to be virtuous; those who are benevolent must be brave, and those who are brave must be brave." There is no need to be benevolent. 'A virtuous person will be harmonious and gentle, and his talents will shine through..."

Fei Yuanjian suddenly felt his heart pounding. He subconsciously took two steps back and yelled, "Did you hear that?"

"Nangong Shi asked Confucius: 'Yi is good at shooting, even if he is rowing, he will not die; Yu Ji will do crops, and the world will be established...'" Xu Ying continued to move forward while reciting the "Analects of Confucius".

Fei Yuanjian was so frightened that he backed away again. He took a few steps back and felt embarrassed. He courageously stood still and said, "Don't act stupid, I...ah!"

"The Master said: There are gentlemen who are not benevolent, but there are no villains who are benevolent..."

Reciting sentence after sentence, Xu Ying had already walked up to Fei Yuanjian, and suddenly raised the pebble inkstone in her hand and smashed it out.

Fei Yuanjian screamed, blood flowed from his forehead, and he fell into the stream while lying on his back.

"Save the young master!" Fei Yuanjian's book boy shouted.

The other schoolchildren were frightened by Xu Ying's madness and did not dare to approach.

At this moment, seeing Fei Yuanjian injured and falling into the creek, he immediately sent a few people to rescue him, and the rest worked together to subdue Xu Ying.

Xu Ying did not resist at all. After smashing the inkstone, her face was expressionless, like a dead person, and she continued to recite the Analects of Confucius: "The Master said: If you love someone, you don't have to work hard? If you are loyal, you don't have to teach. Su said: Love it. Don't work too hard, it's just the love of a calf..."

Fei Yuanjian's head was dizzy at the moment. He was pulled up with all his strength, and he heard horrified shouts in his ears: "Blood, there's a lot of blood!"

Fei Yuanjian reached out and touched his forehead. Sure enough, there was so much blood that he fainted from fright.

This guy faints with blood, not other people's, only his own.

The schoolchildren were extremely panicked and carried Fei Yuanjian back to the academy, while escorting Xu Ying back as well.

Xu Ying was still wandering, reciting the "Analects of Confucius" word by word, even exceeding the progress of the teacher's teaching. Because the teacher didn't explain it, some of the content had unclear meaning, so Xu Ying began to think about its rationale silently.

"Doctor, doctor, the young master is bleeding and fainting!"

Hanzhu Academy is equipped with a doctor. If you usually have a headache or a fever, or you are injured in a fight, you can call for treatment immediately.

Fei Yuanjian's book boy said: "You guys watch here, I will go back and report to the master and madam!"

Pang Chunlai rushed over after hearing the news. He didn't ask how Fei Yuanjian was injured. Instead, he looked at Xu Ying who was frustrated and asked angrily: "What happened to Xu Ying?"

A schoolboy replied: "He beat Fei Yuanjian until he bled and passed out."

Pang Chunlai hit the ground with his crutch: "I'm asking you what happened to Xu Ying!"

"I don't know, maybe his book fell into the water and he was frightened." Another schoolboy said.

"Nonsense!"

Pang Chunlai grabbed a schoolboy and said, "He reads the book more seriously than his life. How could he fall into the water? Speak quickly, or we will call your parents!"

The student was so frightened that he trembled: "Really...he really dropped the book into the water by himself."

Pang Chunlai grabbed a timid one again and said, "If you don't tell the truth, you will be expelled from the academy!"

This man came from a rich peasant family and did not dare to look directly at the teacher. He lowered his head and replied: "I didn't throw the book away."

"Who lost it?" Pang Chunlai asked.

The children of rich peasants remained silent, not daring to lie in front of the teacher, and did not dare to confess Fei Yuanjian.

"Okay, okay, you dare to destroy even the books of sages. Fei's family is really good," Pang Chunlai said to the rich peasant boy, "Where is the book? Bring it back to me!"

As if he had received an amnesty, the children of rich peasants hurriedly ran to the stream to look for books and picked up their schoolbags, including the pebble inkstone on which Fei Yuanjian was injured.

One after another, schoolchildren returned and gathered around to watch the fun.

Not long after, the "Collected Commentary on Four Books" was also brought back.

Pang Chunlai looked at the ruined books, then without saying a word, he took the stupid Xu Ying to find the mountain chief on crutches.

The mountain leader is not in a private school, but in Hanzhu Academy, halfway up the mountain.

Not long after they left, Fei Yuanjian's parents came over on a sliding pole.

His father just looked gloomy, but his mother started roaring without even sliding down the pole.

This is an old woman in her fifties. She gave birth to Fei Yuanjian at the age of forty-two. She has a son at an old age and is usually loved by heaven. She shouted at the top of her lungs: "Whoever hurts my son, get out of here!"