Chapter 552 Cold Moon (Part 2)

It was probably the first time Pei Ye saw such an expression on the face of this philosopher. Even if it was very subtle, it faded quickly. But when his eyes fell on the note he received, he was indeed quiet for three full breaths.

"...Thank you." Zhu Wen nodded.

There was no turbulence in his voice and tone, but Pei Ye inexplicably felt that the shadow under the lamp was a little lower. The nearly fifty-year-old philosopher lowered his head, carefully straightened and folded the note, and put it into the pottery jar containing dried flowers.

He wrapped himself in a cotton cloak, bent down to wipe off the ink that dripped onto the wooden board. Pei Ye was about to move the desk back, so he turned around and said, "No need. We made up for two hours today. Tomorrow, after practicing sword in the afternoon, you can come here to make up for half an hour in the evening. The same can be done for the next two days."

"Oh, OK."

Pei Ye glanced at the desk: "... I'll wash your pen for you."

"No need, I still need it." Zhu Wen sat down in front of the old desk with the dried flower pot again, and turned his serious eyes to him, which was now somewhat familiar, "Thank you, it's okay, don't worry, you can go back and rest."

"...OK."

"Pei Ye."

"Hmm?" Pei Ye stopped.

"Now that you have entered the school, is there anything you want to learn?" Zhu Wen looked at him, "I see you don't like reading "Yili" very much, I can teach you in the next two days."

"Who would like to read "Yili"--" Pei Ye blurted out for a moment, and then shut up in the next moment.

But Zhu Wen just looked at him solemnly and quietly, without any anger.

"What do you like to read? I'm afraid I can't teach you sword books, I can only teach you some things from books and literature."

"Things from books and literature... that might be poetry." Pei Ye was a little embarrassed, "I think poetry is beautiful."

"Poetry..." Zhu Wen was slightly stunned, "This is something that needs to be accumulated slowly, and I can't teach it."

"Oh, I think so." Pei Ye touched his head and smiled, "The teacher asked me and I answered... In fact, reading "Yili" with Mr. Zhu is also very rewarding, so there is no need to teach me anything extra."

Zhu Wen nodded, and the two said goodbye.

Pei Ye took the sword and went downstairs. When he walked to the gate of the courtyard, he looked back again and saw that the figure was still sitting in front of the table, but he was not sitting upright, but leaning back against the window, looking up at the sky quietly.

And in the east where he was looking, the cold and silent moon was rising in the sky, as beautiful as a white jade.

…

…

The next morning seemed even colder, with insects and ants hiding and birds flying across the cold sky. When Pei Ye got up to take a bath, a thin layer of ice had already covered the water he had drawn last night.

Pei Ye crushed them in the water, washed his hands and face, and when he put his sword on his back, he was still the first person to wake up in this old house.

Today, the practice of sword form touched some loose bottlenecks. It was not that his hard work and the girl's wonderful ideas finally paid off, but that he inexplicably remembered the cold and lonely white moon in the cold sky last night while he was distracted. Suddenly, a distant sadness seized him, and at that moment he seemed to feel his heart beating.

Pei Ye didn't quite know where this feeling came from. He told Cui Zhaoye about it. Cui Zhaoye asked him to think more about the moon, but he no longer had that feeling. The two frowned and looked at each other in silence.

"Why do you think of the moon?" Cui Zhaoye held his chin and looked at him seriously, "Young Master Pei, close your eyes and think carefully. In your heart... what does the moon remind you of?"

"..."

"Hmm?"

"Miss Ming?"

"... I think it's a state of mind, and it has nothing to do with people." The girl tilted her head and thought slowly, "It's not enough to just imagine it. You can only touch it again in that state of physical and mental empathy."

"Hmm."

"It's okay, very good, we finally have progress!" Cui Zhaoye's bright eyes were not discouraged, "We have only known each other for a month, and we have already been motivated. We will definitely create more sword results in the future!"

Pei Ye didn't really want to create more sword results with her. In fact, he already felt that one or two silver coins a day were a bit too little. He lowered his head and silently packed up his sword, and left the sword field with the girl's wave of "See you tomorrow".

In the matter of spiritual enlightenment, Pei Ye still believed in himself more.

When he arrived at Tianliyuan, the moon was already hanging in the east of the sky. The atmosphere was as quiet as last night. The only difference was that there were no lights on the second floor of the library. The whole courtyard was immersed in the darkness of the night. Pei Ye walked towards the library. After passing through the main hall, he saw a figure leaning against a pillar. He was sitting alone under the eaves in the backyard looking at the pond. It was Fang Jidao. Pei Ye came to him in surprise. Fang Jidao looked up at him and showed a sleepy smile: "Brother Pei is here - I missed a day of class and have to make up for it for four nights."

"Why are you here?" Pei Ye patted his thin military uniform, his shoulders were already a little cold, "Are you not afraid of the cold?"

"I wanted to put on a robe first, but I just wanted to come and see for some reason." The scholar's smile is always quite warm, "Brother Pei, I just slept here, guess what I dreamed about?"

Pei Ye opened his eyes wide: "Sleeping here? You are still dreaming, I didn't freeze to death."

"I fell asleep while leaning on the pillar, anyway, I was dazed... guess."

"I dreamed that Qi Zhaohua kissed you."

"..." Fang Jidao wrapped his clothes, "I dreamed that an old me was talking to me next to me."

"How old?"

"Forty or fifty." Fang Jidao looked at the pond in front of him, "He said that the pond is going to freeze, and asked me what I think the result will be."

"Um."

"I said of course I didn't know. Master Zhu relied on it to determine the answer." Fang Jidao began to feel cold and shrank his legs. "He then asked me what outcome I hoped for."

"What's your answer?"

"I... naturally seek truth first, and hope for two days second." Fang Jidao raised his head, "But he smiled and said nothing. I was about to ask him, but I was woken up by a gust of wind."

Fang Jidao turned around and looked at the young man: "Yes, he was standing right here just now."

Pei Ye looked down at him: "What a boring dream."

"..." Fang Jidao sighed softly, "It's true that I've been a little worried and sleepy these past few nights, so I actually fell asleep sitting here. But I feel that this dream is the same as reality - people can still dream about themselves. What will it look like ten years from now? It’s amazing.”

Pei Ye knew why he was worried. This was something Qi Zhaohua had worked hard on for a long time. This was Zhu Zhezi's ten years of hard work. This was the place where the five surnames of scholars paid attention... The scholar was determined to carry this flag, but he was not The kind of person who isn’t afraid of living up to other people’s expectations.

Pei Ye gave him some warm energy: "Okay, go back and have a good sleep - let me ask you first, where did Mr. Zhu go?"

"After class today, my husband said he would go to the Imperial City and come back in the evening." Fang Jidao looked at him, "But I didn't ask much about what he was doing. I'll wait with you."

"No, you go back to sleep."

Pei Ye sent the scholar away, and he was the only one left in the courtyard. At this time, the young man naturally did not want to read two more pages of the book. He pressed his sword and looked at the backyard at the bottom of the stairs... Suddenly he felt the urge to walk down.

The "realm" Cui Zhaoye mentioned seemed to be at his fingertips. The cold moon was reflected in the pond. Pei Ye stared at it for a while, and finally withdrew his gaze.

Zhu Wen did not strictly forbid them from entering this courtyard, nor did he put up a fence, but Pei Ye still didn't want to cause any trouble. He walked quietly in the small courtyard in front of the library alone. Inexplicably, he held his sword while walking. When he was here, he did feel as if he was...closer to heaven and earth.

Pines, cypresses, moon shadows, many things seem to become clearer, the boundaries between things seem to disappear, and people seem to melt into them.

Pei Ye wandered around in this realm in a daze, and at some point he couldn't help but draw his sword out. He closed his eyes and started dancing casually in the small courtyard without any particular sword moves.

The sword was like a silk thread, holding the boy's body. Pei Ye didn't know if he was in a dream, but at this moment he did feel very clearly what people call "the control of heaven and earth over people."

How can we escape from being trapped inside the body? The sword and the person should be transformed into it, follow the moonlight, follow the shadow of the cypress, and get out of shape to find the origin, so that they can touch the eternal "Tao" deep in the world.

For countless ascetics, this should be an enviable enlightenment. Ninety-percent of ascetics in the world seek the Tao all their lives, but they don’t know where the “Tao” is until they die. When a young man meets by chance at such an age, how many years will it follow? The path of spiritual cultivation has become a little clearer.

However, for Pei Ye, who gradually came to his senses and stood still with his sword in hand, this was an encounter that made him somewhat depressed and silent.

He had been thinking hard in the Sword Xiuyuan for two decades, working hard with Cui Zhaoye and the pavilion guards, not just to tell himself here that your sword should follow the sky.

He could learn such a sword, and he would definitely be able to use it to the point where he would not lose to anyone. But at this moment, in the Shenjing City in the twelfth lunar month of the Xinsi year, what he wanted was another path.

And it must be broken out of the vast sky in front of us!

Pei Ye calmed down for a while, and now he felt a little bit of Fang Jidao's heavy worries.

Then he suddenly turned around and saw Zhu Wen standing at the edge of the courtyard at some point. He was holding a book in his hand and standing very close to the corner. His face was solemn, as if he didn't want to disturb him.

"...Mr. Zhu." Pei Ye quickly and subconsciously hid the sword behind his back, feeling quite embarrassed as if he had been caught cheating. "I...seeing that there is no one in the courtyard, I just practiced swordplay casually...I have reviewed the book I read in the morning. ”

Zhu Wen nodded and said in a normal tone: "I just remembered, you want to learn the "Four Qi Jade Candle Sword", right?"

"Ah... yes, I asked the master of the museum to ask Lu Ding Zhezi, and he said that he had to pass some tests and then see if he would pass it on."

"The nature of your sword is indeed rare, but once you strive for the sword, your true energy doesn't seem to drop too much. Is there something wrong with the meridian tree?"

Pei Ye was surprised, stunned for a while, and then said truthfully: "My Dantian Vein Tree is called "Zhenlu", also known as "Dantian Planting Immortal". It can absorb Lingxuan and grow on its own - Lingxuan is..."

Zhu Wen nodded, but his tone was instructive: "Immortal power is a divine thing, but its origin is unknown. You need to be careful when relying on it."

"……oh."

Zhu Wen raised his hand and coughed twice, signaling to the people upstairs: "Let's go, it's a bit late today, but we can still make up half an hour."

It is still the wind terrace of a two-story building, and all the furnishings have indeed remained unchanged. Only last night, the philosopher seemed to have taken the jar of dried flowers back into the house, preventing it from being damaged by the frost. At this time, he took it out again and placed it safely. At the corner of the table, I wiped the jar with a handkerchief and swept the ashes from the stalks with a whisk.

This action was very common. Zhu Wen came to the case and sat opposite the young man. Zhu Wen still unfolded the medical book that was just halfway through, while Pei Ye still read the etiquette. The night passed like this.

…

Outside Tenriyuan, the storm brewing in Shenjing City was like dark clouds on the sea.

There is still no news about the two-day theory. Many people have been saying that the Tianliyuan can't actually complete the argument. The reason is naturally very simple - it has been wasted for ten years. Can it be accomplished today?

Even those who firmly believe in it can't help but feel uneasy, because there has never been any words that can calm people's hearts. The walls of the Tianliyuan are as silent as those pines and cypresses.

Now public opinion is surging and people are panicking. If it can be confirmed, can't it be a little bit of wind?

However, there is nothing. The anticipation of millions of scholars seems to be unable to touch the silence of Zhu Zhezi. In fact, the scholars have long lacked trust in this name, and many people denounced him as a treacherous villain.

While the two-day theory was silent, the "Haotian Chuanyi" that ruled the Tang Dynasty for hundreds of years has been showing its fangs.

In the national newspaper, in the court, in the Imperial Academy, articles after articles were hammered down like iron. This time, the noble families did not need to whitewash anything. History, astronomy, fortune... everywhere was evidence within reach. It was the supporters of the two heavens theory who needed to prove that the illusory "heaven of life and death" did exist. They needed to challenge a system that had stood for hundreds of years.

What really hit the hearts of the scholars was that Zhu Wen was not the only one who was advancing his own search in the Tianli Academy, which claimed to uphold the orthodoxy of the Tang Dynasty.

The "Heavenly Changes" that Nan Xiu and Lu Chunshui had devoted themselves to for twenty years was announced to be completed today.

This is what the Tang Dynasty really tried to stand on the earth, like a sword to Yunlang.

The legendary Fourth Prince was born under the gaze of the unicorn, raised under the personal teaching of two philosophers, with unicorn blood in his body, and a heart of heaven knowing his destiny. From the day he was born, he was called the child given by heaven to the Tang Dynasty.

The Tianliyuan was devoted to him, and he gave him the Yi in a wild and unconstrained way. As the fourth prince really became the first person in a thousand years to cultivate the Yi, it may represent the completion of the construction of the "Tian-Lin-Yi" world-viewing path.

It is certainly enough to prove that the "Haotian Chuanyi" is as solid as a rock, and it also represents that the spear of the Tang Dynasty is sharper.

It also represents... when the Ertian Theory is still hatching with difficulty, its opponent has already put on the divine armor.

This is exactly what countless people are more worried about at this time-even if the Tianliyuan has completed the argument of the Ertian Theory with difficulty, how much reluctance and loopholes does it have?

Can it really stand firm in front of the Tianyi?

But this uneasy worry will not last long. The news first came from the Ministry of Rites, and then the Ministry of Personnel notified every Beijing official who was qualified to enter the court. It was Zhu Wenzhe who met the saint and said that it would be extremely cold in three days, and the ponds in the capital would be frozen. The result of the Ertian could be seen, and the grand court meeting was held on that day.