The Great Wei Music Bureau

Chapter 118 Accepting a Disciple

Last time we talked about how Old Silver Coin actually arranged for a young man named Lin Fan to become Li Yi's apprentice. Li Yi felt that he was being dominated by Old Silver Coin again. So was it because of Li Yi's reputation or because of Tao Zhongwen's persuasion that Lin Fan was willing to become Li Yi's apprentice? Let us read on with this question in mind.

On the way to the Ministry of Rites, Li Yi asked Lin Fan to ride with him, but he refused and just jogged behind the car. He was a weak scholar and soon became out of breath.

Seeing this, Shiyu asked the driver to drive slower, and Lin Fan finally caught up. She pulled aside the door curtain and said with a smile, "Since Master Lin can't walk, why don't you ride with me?"

Lin Fan panted and said, "This is etiquette, you must follow it."

Shi Yu said to Li Yi, "This Mr. Lin is very polite. He must be a great man to be chosen by the teacher. Why does my husband have to test him?"

Li Yi replied: "He has reached the Qi-nourishing stage at the age of 22. He is definitely not an ordinary person. But don't you find it strange?"

Shiyu asked, "What's so strange about it?"

Li Yi looked at Lin Fan and smiled, "He is good at observing Qi, and his ability to perceive talent and righteousness is far better than that of ordinary people. He also has a unique way of controlling talent. No matter how you look at it, he is a rare talent. But why did Old Silver Coin persuade him to become my disciple? Besides, do you think a Confucian scholar who can cultivate to the Qi-nourishing realm would have no ambitions?"

Shi Yu nodded and said, "That's a little strange indeed. What's your plan for testing him, sir?"

Li Yi smiled and said, "It's nothing special. I just don't want to be dominated by Old Silver Coin. I haven't figured out why Old Silver Coin arranged such an apprentice for me. Besides, I really want to test his weight."

Shiyu smiled and said, "My husband wants to establish a new school. I guess the teacher wants to lend you a hand."

Li Yi looked at Shi Yu and asked, "What did Old Silver Coin say to you? Are you an undercover agent he arranged to be by my side?"

Shiyu was puzzled: "What is an undercover agent? The teacher just asked me to take good care of you, there is no special explanation."

Li Yi shook Shiyu's hand and said, "You took good care of me. Thank you for your hard work."

Shiyu said shyly, "Why are you saying this for no reason?"

Li Yi smiled, pulled open the car curtain and asked Lin Fan: "Do you know why that old man said you have no ambition?"

Lin Fan walked a few quick steps to the back of the car and bowed, saying, "I have thought about this for a long time, but I still don't have an answer."

Shiyu asked: "What did the old man say? It's not like he said you have no ambitions, so you think you have no ambitions, right?"

Lin Fan replied, "The old gentleman first asked me why I wanted to be an official. I answered that I wanted to realize my ambitions. He then asked me what my ambitions were. I said that as a descendant of Confucianism and Taoism, I want to promote the Confucian spirit, spread the ideas of the saints, educate the people, save the people in troubled times, and benefit the people in peaceful times. This is my ambition. May I ask if what I said is wrong, Master Yuefu?"

Li Yi shook his head and said, "Talking big but empty words, having lofty and far-reaching ambitions, and being unrealistic, this is wrong. Heaven and earth are unkind and treat all things as straw dogs, and sages are unkind and treat the people as straw dogs. How do you understand this sentence? Come to me when you have figured it out." After Li Yi finished speaking, he pulled the curtain of the car.

Lin Fan was thinking about the meaning of Li Yi's words all the way. Before he knew it, he had arrived at the Ministry of Rites. When he came to the inner hall, there were already clerks working. When they saw Li Yi, they bowed and greeted him. Li Yi returned the greetings one by one, and Lin Fan followed behind.

Li Yi took out a newly bound textbook and handed it to Lin Fan, saying, "Open it and read it. Finish it within one day. If you don't understand something, you can ask anyone in this room, but you can only ask one question to each person. If that person can't answer it, you can come to me. If you are not satisfied with that person's answer or have objections, you can come to me. If you have asked everyone in the room and still don't understand something, you can come to me. Do you understand?"

Lin Fan nodded and said, "Then where should I sit?"

Li Yi smiled and pointed to a corner and said, "Just sit there, but you have finished asking me questions now. If you have any more questions, you can ask someone else!"

Lin Fan was stunned for a moment, thinking, is this the way to play? But he couldn't say anything, so he just sat in the corner and opened the book to read.

Shi Yu laughed and said, "You are so mean. Are you trying to embarrass him? Although it is an enlightenment book, not many of the allusions in it are well known. If he asks about them one by one, I am afraid he will bore everyone in the room."

Li Yi smiled and said, "The thing that scholars are not good at is dealing with human relationships. If everyone is like you, then things in this world will be much easier to handle. Besides, I have to make him familiar with the place first."

Shi Yu looked at Lin Fan and said, "I hope he can understand your intentions, but you have so many tricks up your sleeve."

Lin Fan had just started reading when he came across something he didn't understand, so he looked around for a pen and ink to mark it, but ended up in trouble. He didn't know how many parts of the book he didn't understand, and he didn't know if borrowing a pen from someone would count as asking.

Shi Yu found it funny to see Lin Fan with a worried look on his face. She walked up to him with a brush, ink, paper and inkstone and handed them to Lin Fan, saying, "Don't think so complicated. Your husband is not an unfathomable person. You don't understand him now, but you will know when you get to know him better."

Lin Fan was full of gratitude. He looked at Li Yi who was discussing with others and nodded, saying, "Many great talents in the world have their own unique qualities. Li Yuefu is the first genius in a hundred years. I really dare not speculate on him with ordinary people."

Shiyu shook her head and said, "Well, just take your time to savor it. Don't be surprised if you see him swearing later."

Lin Fan was shocked and said, "Swearing? No way?"

Shiyu smiled and said, "Swearing is the lightest thing. If I really get angry, I will hit you. Just wait and see." After saying that, she turned and left.

Lin Fan was flipping through the textbook in a corner. This version was revised after three days of arguments among the people in the room. In addition to the "Three Character Classic", "Standards for Being a Good Pupil", and "Excerpts from the Sacred Teachings", there were also a few simple poems. Lin Fan could certainly understand "Sacred Teachings", but he could not fully understand the allusions in the other two chapters.

He first wrote down all the things he didn't understand, and when he counted them, he found there were more than thirty. Then he counted the people in the room, twenty-four, or twenty-three if Li Yi was not counted. This gave him a headache, and he couldn't figure it out, so he sat in the corner and worried.

Shi Yu saw that he was in a dilemma, and said to Li Yi: "Mr. Lin has finished reading it, but there are still many things he doesn't understand. He knows that he can't ask all the questions by himself, so he is worried about it."

Li Yi smiled and said, "This is the first test. If you can't adapt to the situation, you are just a bookworm. How can you achieve anything? I'm telling you, you are not allowed to help him."

Shi Yu smiled and said, "Yes, yes, my husband has his own plans. If I don't help him, he can't even solve such a small matter, then he is really not worthy of being my husband's student." Li Yi and Shi Yu were busy with their own things and no longer cared about Lin Fan.

In the afternoon, Li Yi sat behind the desk to rest. Shi Yu rubbed his temples behind him. The two chatted. Lin Fan came over excitedly. Shi Yu smiled and asked, "Mr. Lin, have you finished reading?"

Lin Fan bowed and said, "Master Yuefu is truly a man of great talent. He actually..."

Li Yi interrupted, "Save the flattery. I know my own worth best. I just want to ask you how to understand the allusions in the book under the rules I set for you."

Lin Fan smiled and said, "Before lunch, I chatted with a clerk named Yu Hang. We got along very well, so I invited him to lunch and asked for his advice."

Li Yi asked: "Does this count as bribery?"

Shi Yu smiled and said, "A meal is not a bribe. Stop making things difficult for them!"

Li Yi asked, "Did you make all the bracelets at the folk song festival finals?"

Lin Fan nodded, and Li Yi continued to ask: "It's true that you are good at controlling talents, but making two hundred bracelets consumes a lot of energy. How much did you use?"

Lin Fan replied, "Those bracelets only need to light up for three hours, so they won't wear out much, and less than 30% of their energy will be used."

Li Yi asked again: "How much silver did you earn?"

Lin Fan smiled and said, "Fifty taels of silver."

Li Yi shook his head and said, "With such a small amount of money, how did they find you? Why did you agree to make this for them? Not many people are willing to waste their talents like this."

Lin Fan replied, "Firstly, I was really short of money. Secondly, when those people found me, they said they wanted to sell it to Master Yuefu during his match. I was tempted, so I asked them to let me watch your match. They agreed to let me watch from a corner backstage, and that's how the deal was made. As for how they found me, I'm not sure."

Li Yi nodded and said, "Then tell me what you think of this book now. Don't say empty words, tell the truth."

Lin Fan thought for a moment and said, "This book is the best for enlightenment."

Li Yi said: "The next test is to teach five children. In ten days, you have to teach the five children the first twenty sentences of the Three Character Classic. If you do this, I will accept you as my apprentice."

Lin Fan asked: "When does it start?"

Li Yi replied, "When Xing'er sent her brother to my house, there was a small courtyard at the back that had been transformed into a primary school. You and the five children lived there for the next ten days."

Lin Fan smiled and said, "Only teaching twenty sentences in ten days? Isn't that a bit too simple?"

Li Yi smiled and said, "You think teaching is too simple, and you think children are too kind. Teaching is not just about letting them know the meaning and the principles, but also about being able to recite them. Do you understand?"

Lin Fan smiled and said, "That's natural."

Shi Yu reminded Lin Fan, "Mr. Lin, this is not that simple. You are not the only one who will teach the children these ten days. They also have to take math, art, and physical education classes!"

Lin Fan was a little overwhelmed and asked, "So many classes are needed? Aren't these kids having a hard time?"

Li Yi smiled and patted Lin Fan on the shoulder and said, "The book in your hand is for children to study for a year. You only have ten days, not even a full ten days, but the difficulty has been reduced for you. Normally, children should be able to write it down from memory, but now they just need to memorize it, so you should seize the opportunity."

The next morning, Xing'er brought her brother to Li's residence. Li Yi hadn't gotten up yet. Shiyu arranged a room for Xing'er. Looking at the little boy looking around beside her, Shiyu asked with a smile, "What's your name?"

The little boy answered loudly: "My name is Winter Melon!"

Shiyu was surprised and asked, "Ah? Winter melon?"

Xing Er quickly explained, "Madam, my brother was born in winter and his name is Hu Dong. A humble name is easier to raise, so his nickname is Winter Melon."

Shiyu smiled and said, "So that's how it is. Okay then! Donggua, come with me." After that, she stretched out her hand and wanted to hold Donggua's hand. Donggua immediately stepped forward with a smile, but was pulled back by Xing'er.

Shiyu asked, "What's wrong? Are you worried about leaving your brother to me?"

Xing Er pulled her brother and said, "No, Madam, my brother is too naughty. There must be something wrong with him for wanting to go with you so readily." Then she said to Dong Gua sternly, "Put your hand out!"

Donggua refused, so Xing'er punched him on the arm. Judging from her expression, the punch must have been quite heavy. Xing'er glared at Donggua and said, "Stretch out your hand! Will you? If you don't, I will really hit you!"

Shiyu muttered in her heart: Wasn't that a real beating just now? How naughty is this child? Oh my God, my husband must have invited a disaster into the mansion. Fortunately, he will only stay in the mansion for a while and will be sent to the Ministry of Rites Primary School later.

Shiyu was thinking this when she saw Donggua reaching out to hold her hand. Xing'er said in a very stern tone, "Stretch out your hand! Stretch out! Stretch out for me!"