Chapter 55 Study Hard and Make Progress Every Day

  He blew out the oil lamp, Liu Xiu took off his clothes and lay quietly on the bed. After calming down, he continued to practice the breathing technique. After a period of trial, he found that it was not necessary to make a big noise, just making the breath longer could minimize the impact of heartache and would not attract others' attention.

  It was unclear how much time had passed when Liu Xiu was pulled out of that wonderful state by the sound from outside. The surroundings seemed quiet, yet noisy at the same time. Apart from his own heartbeat, which was clearly audible, Liu Xiu also heard Lu Min's breathing in the inner room. Liu Bei, who slept opposite him, appeared not to have fallen asleep yet and kept turning over on the bed. Although his movements were not big, Liu Xiu knew he must be awake.

  Liu Xiu smiled silently, and after a moment, he turned his head to look at Liu Bei opposite him. Liu Bei was leaning sideways, with a beam of bright moonlight shining through the window gap onto half of his face, his eyes closed.

  Perhaps feeling Liu Xiu's gaze, Liu Bei turned over and presented his back to Liu Xiu. Liu Xiu quietly looked at him for a while, then suddenly called out softly: "Xuande."

  Liu Bei remained silent for a while before responding vaguely, and if it weren't for Liu Xiu's seemingly improved hearing, he would have almost not heard it.

  "Xuande, we've made it to the upper hall." Liu Xiu said in a low voice: "Work hard."

  Liu Bei's body stiffened for a moment, and after a while, he slowly turned around, his eyes fixed intently on Liu Xiu. The corners of his mouth slowly curled up, revealing a slightly shy smile. Liu Xiu clenched his fist, making an effort to pose, and Liu Bei nodded lightly, also clenching his fist and raising it, then closed his eyes, and soon his breathing slowed down, sinking into a peaceful sleep.

  In this interrogation, Lu Min in the room had not made any noise, but Liu Xiu could hear that he was holding his breath until he said those words, and then Lu Min let out a sigh. Liu Xiu guessed that he must have been concentrating on listening to the movements outside.

  Lu Min allowed him to be called Shixiong, which means that he has now officially become a student of Lu Zhi from a junior apprentice. Liu Bei is not yet, although Lu Min also taught him the first chapter of Shangshu, and did not explicitly ask Liu Bei to continue calling him Shixiong, nor did he explicitly accept him. He still wants to see if Liu Bei has this qualification, or in other words, whether Liu Bei has value.

  Two fellow students who started together, now have a distance between them. Lu Min definitely doesn't want Liu Bei to become estranged because of this. Lu Min can differentiate in his treatment, but Liu Xiu cannot, as they studied Confucianism, which emphasizes benevolence and harmony among people, emphasizing filial piety, fraternal duty, and respect for elders. If he becomes self-righteous just because he took a step ahead and no longer considers Liu Bei's feelings, then in Lu Min's eyes, he will leave a stain on his reputation.

  Liu Xiu didn't want to and didn't need to leave this stain, he had no scruples about Liu Bei this big celebrity now, of course, nor did he have any special feelings. Since he could take Zhang Fei, one of the Five Tiger Generals, as his disciple, he could also treat Liu Bei like a brother from the same clan and show due care. He believed that not only Lu Min but also his old father Liu Yuanqi hoped so.

  As for whether Liu Bei thought so, it was not within his consideration. He did not want to harm Liu Bei, but he would not believe him unconditionally either. After all, the reputation of this Shu emperor in history is not as brilliant as in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. If he were in his shoes, he would also have some thoughts and could not remain unmoved by this change.

  Liu Bei can have such thoughts, that's his freedom, but Liu Xiu won't let those thoughts harm himself. At the same time, on the premise of not harming himself, he also won't be stingy with his kindness.

  Don't have a mind that harms others, but don't lack a mind that guards against others. This has always been another creed that Liu Xiu adheres to.

  The next day, Liu Xiu got up at dawn as usual and went for a run outside before practicing his fist techniques. He then began to practice his knife skills. In the previous battle with Yan Rou, he had broken his own knife due to poor control of his strength, so Liu Xiu added a new task to his training regimen: mastering the knife technique taught by Wu Junhou. The knife technique was not complicated, with simple and direct moves, but it required extremely high standards for strength usage. Liu Xiu had personally seen Wu Junhou split a three-to-four-foot-long, two-foot-thick wooden stake into smooth halves with just one slash of his knife. Although Liu Xiu's physical strength far surpassed that of Wu Junhou, he could currently only chop halfway through the wooden stake with one slash, still falling short of Wu Junhou's standards by a significant margin.

  So he needs to strengthen his practice.

  Liu Xiu believes that putting in more effort than ordinary people may not necessarily make you a top-notch master, because becoming a top-notch master also requires talent. However, at least it gives you the opportunity to become a stronger master than ordinary people. On the other hand, even if you have extraordinary talent, but if you don't work hard, you may be able to become a master, but it's absolutely impossible to become a top-notch master just by relying on your talent. The greater possibility is that you are just a self-proclaimed pseudo-master.

  Hard work is not enough, but without hard work, it's absolutely impossible.

  Liu Xiu didn't practice quickly, he carefully experienced the feeling of each movement until he found that smooth feeling, and finally turned this feeling into a habit, just like the advancing rush punch.

  In the flashing knife light, the morning sun shoots millions of golden rays towards the earth.

  Liu Xiu finished his morning exercise and jogged back to the inn, passing by Mao Jie's door. He habitually nodded in greeting, but didn't pay attention to Mao Jie's reaction and went straight back to his room. Lu Min was already up and having breakfast with Liu Bei. Seeing that Liu Xiu looked a bit embarrassed, he smiled and said: "It's okay, I'm not at the age where I need someone to attend to me yet, you can focus on your practice."

  Liu Xiu thanked him, washed with the water and towel prepared by Liu Bei, and sat down to eat together. After dinner, Lu Min gave a few more instructions and left the post house with Mao Qiang, hurrying to his home.

  Liu Bei hastily sent away the bowl and chopsticks, then spread out the bamboo slips and pen ink, preparing to complete the homework left by Lu Min. Liu Xiu saw him with a good learning attitude, day after day, and couldn't help but laugh.

  "Xuande, you've made progress too."

  "Haha, with big brother ahead of me, how can I fall behind." Liu Bei said with a smile: "I also want to become Master's disciple as soon as possible, and if possible, even his inner disciple." He stopped the pen in his hand, thought for a moment, and raised his head to ask Liu Xiu: "Big brother, do you think... is it possible for us to follow Master to the capital, to study at Taixue?"

  Liu Xiu couldn't help but smile: "You want to be a Ph.D. now?"

  Liu Bei smiled embarrassingly: "Doctor, you don't dare to think, but Mr. is strict, if I want to get his recommendation, I probably only have this one way to think. Even being a Lang official in the capital is better than being a county magistrate in Zhuo County."

  "Why?" Liu Xiuzi was somewhat puzzled: "The county magistrate's salary is about the same as that of a Lang official."

  "It's different." Liu Bei shook his head: "Langguan is a close minister of the emperor, with many opportunities for promotion. Once he is sent out, at least he will be a county magistrate. However, for a county magistrate who has risen from a small official in the provinces and counties, if he has not been recruited by the Three Public Offices, it is very difficult to get promoted. Moreover, we are from humble origins, what opportunities do we have to be noticed by those famous scholars who are responsible for recommendations?"

  Liu Xiu glanced at him, not saying a word. It seemed that he had given up on Li Ding's path and could only turn to hope for advancement through studying under Lu Zhi. Once Lu Zhi re-entered official life, there would be many opportunities for promotion to the rank of 2,000 dan, and becoming an official in the imperial court was also a likely outcome. If he became Lu Zhi's disciple, with such a renowned teacher, he would have someone to rely on.

  But in doing so, he seems to be getting further and further away from the original history.