Chapter 50: Famous Scholar? Or Plunderer?

  Liu Bei's face sank as he shouted: "Xuande!"

  Liu Bei was startled and hastily shrunk his neck, muttering in a low voice: "After all, she's just a maid." Seeing Liu Xiu's unpleasant expression, he had to swallow the rest of his words, feeling extremely regretful and somewhat stifled. In the past, only he would scold Liu Xiu like this, but now it was Liu Xiu who was scolding him, which felt very bad.

  It's strange, why didn't Yuan Shu react at all even though he was so angry with Da Ge? Liu Bei thought to himself as he lowered his head and ate his meat.

  Zhang Fei saw Liu Xu scolding Liu Bei, couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed, and didn't dare to mention the matter of sending someone again. He glanced at the wronged Liu Bei, suddenly had an idea.

  At this moment, Li Ting held up his wine cup and laughed at Liu Xiu in the hall below: "De Ran, why are you sitting idly in the hall?"

  Liu Xiu suddenly remembered that he should go up to toast, and hastily rushed towards Liu Bei to signal him. Liu Bei was somewhat embarrassed, Li Ding only spoke to Liu Xiu, he felt it wasn't quite suitable for him to join in, although he thought Li Ding should have called him first, but the fact was right before his eyes, he couldn't help feeling unhappy about it either.

  "It doesn't matter, my brother and I have always been together through thick and thin." Liu said: "Get up quickly, don't keep the teachers waiting for too long."

  Liu Bei was overwhelmed with gratitude, hastily raised his wine cup and stood up, closely following Liu Xiu to the hall. He first toasted Lu Min, then Li Ding, and finally Zhang Tu Fu. Zhang Tu Fu carefully examined Liu Xiu's eyes, let out a hearty laugh, drained his wine cup in one gulp, wiped his large beard, and said with some surprise: "Li Jun, is this young master from Yuan Qi's family?"

  "Didn't expect that?" Li Ding said with a hint of pride: "Such a heroic young man, yet he can write such elegant and refined calligraphy. He's not just a rough and tumble warrior, is he? It's no wonder that you've always had a soft spot for him. From now on, don't say that he's not cut out for scholarship again. With beauty in front of him, how could he not follow in its footsteps?"

  "Haha, how dare my humble dog be mentioned in the same breath as this young gentleman? I'm already grateful for Mr. Li's kindness in giving me his autograph, it's an honor for my ancestors. If I can also learn from the young gentleman, I'll be eternally grateful."

  Li Ding smiled slightly: "What's difficult about this? De Ran grew up under my watch, and I'm also very close to his father. Today, I'll be thick-skinned and ask him to write something for me. I think De Ran won't refuse me a little favor."

  In the end, he smiled brightly at Liu Xiu, his eyes full of confidence, leaving no room for refusal.

  Liu Xiu had long guessed that today's banquet was not so simple, this play would come sooner or later, Li Ding's face must be given, but it couldn't be so easily satisfied by Zhang Fei. He bowed to Li Ding and Zhang Tu Fu, saying: "Thanks to Li Jun's wrong praise, I'm ashamed to accept. The elder has an order, dare not disobey, offering humble opinions, please ask the teachers to point out."

  Li Ding listened and looked at Zhang Tufu with a pleased expression, implying "see, I told you it's no problem".

  Zhang Tutu was overjoyed and asked for Lu Min's opinion again. Although Lu Min was not pleased with this, he also knew that it was a time to ask for help and couldn't refuse to make some concessions. Moreover, this wasn't about letting him perform, so he somewhat apologetically gave Liu Xiu a glance.

  Liu Xiu nodded in understanding.

  The Zhang family was well-prepared, and with a slight nod from Lu Min, Zhang Fei, who had been stretching his neck to look at the hall, rushed over, waving his hand for the musicians and dancers below to retreat. He repeatedly called out for someone to quickly bring up the desk. Two strong servants brought in a desk, while two maids separately presented writing utensils such as brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones. Zhang Fei knelt down beside it, personally grinding the ink. Perhaps he was somewhat excited, as he ground it extremely fast, making a hissing sound.

  "Yi De, younger brother, grinding ink should be like a sick man." Liu Xiu reminded in a low voice.

  "Huh?" Zhang Fei didn't understand for a moment, looked up at Liu Xiu with his face full of acne slightly reddening.

  Liu Xi took the inkstone from his hand and slowly began to grind it, saying as he ground: "When grinding ink, one should be gentle and circular in motion, with no violent splashing of water, like a sick man. Only then will the resulting ink be rich and thick. Otherwise, if there is too much fire energy, the writing will not be calm enough."

  This principle sounds mysterious, but it's not that complicated. When grinding ink, you need to slow down a bit. Firstly, you're afraid of damaging the inkstone, as the ink contains ink particles. Secondly, the process of grinding ink is also a process of calming your mind and drafting in your abdomen. The person writing should use this opportunity to ferment their thoughts, which has nothing to do with being angry or not.

  However, this sentence is not the case for others. Zhang Tufu heard it inexplicably, with a confused expression, while Zhang Fei understood about half of it and showed admiration on his face. Even Li Ding and Lu Min nodded frequently after hearing it, feeling that there was indeed some truth to it, as if it had some hidden meaning similar to the words of a sage.

  The so-called art is this advantage, you can say it's as vague as a cloudy mountain, not certain at all, how much you can understand depends on your own imagination, of course, if you don't get anything, it's also possible that he didn't say anything, the problem is that the listener dares not think so, he will only feel that his level is not enough.

  Zhang Fei took the inkstone again, and ground the ink in the same way as Liu Xiu. As he did so, his movements became calm and steady, and the originally lively young man gained a few points of stability. Zhang Tufu had never seen his son like this before, and after a moment of astonishment, his thick black eyebrows jumped up, silently thanking their ancestors. It seemed that the Zhang family was going to produce a scholar, no longer just being a merchant with some stinky money.

  Liu Xiu sat with his hands clasped, facing the two pretty maids who had unfolded a sheet of silk paper, his eyes cast down as if in sleep, like an old monk in meditation. He seemed not to notice the several glances, each with a different meaning, that were directed at him from those around him. It was only when Zhang Fei had ground the ink and respectfully handed the brush to him that he opened his eyes and took it.

  With a brush in hand, Liu Xiu suddenly became like a fierce general on the battlefield, his entire spirit changed. He pressed one hand against the edge of the paper and held the brush with the other, pausing for a moment before starting to write with a flourish, his strokes bold and free-flowing. A series of elegant and beautiful calligraphic lines flowed from his brush, and in just an instant, a magnificent piece of running script was revealed before everyone's eyes.

  Zhang Fei was overjoyed and carefully took the paper, softly reading:

  "In the Peach Blossom Mountain, there is a Peach Blossom Valley. In the valley, there lives a Peach Fairy. The fairy plants peach trees and picks peaches to exchange for wine money. After drinking, he sits under the flowers when sober, and sleeps under the flowers when drunk. Half-drunk and half-awake, day after day, the flowers fall and bloom year after year."

  This is the first four couplets of Tang Bohu's Peach Blossom Poem, which are half-baked and written in a language close to vernacular speech, without the elegance that scholars like. Liu Xiu's composition is quite consistent with his current level of learning, and he doesn't worry about anyone finding it strange. He put down his brush, bowed slightly and smiled at Lu Min and others, saying: "I spent more than half a month in Taogu, occasionally speaking a few vernacular words, which are extremely careless, please don't blame me, esteemed teachers."

  Lu Min savored the words for a moment, then turned to Li Ding and said: "Although these few sentences are simple and plain, they do have a somewhat leisurely and detached flavor. However, you're still young and at an age when you should be devoting yourself to your studies and serving the country. This business of getting drunk and sleeping under the peach blossoms can wait until you've achieved success and fame, and then retired from office."

  Liu Xiu hastily nodded: "Yes, sir."

  Li Ding glanced at Lu Min, smiled and thought to himself that someone had said that although Lu Zhi's learning was meticulous, he wasn't good at writing poetry. It seemed that this wasn't an empty rumor, as it could also be seen from his son. However, what he said wasn't wrong either - Liu Xiu's few lines of poetry were too shallow and simple, the atmosphere was leisurely but not suitable for someone of his age, and it was a bit too decadent. If it were himself who had said it, that would be okay - after all, Li Ding and Lu Min weren't the same kind of person. He wasn't a scholar, he was a famous gentleman, and naturally had to have some of the carefree air of a famous gentleman. These few lines of poetry actually suited Li Ding's taste quite well.

  Just then, Lu Min spoke up before him and didn't dare to directly oppose it, only smiling and nodding in agreement, saying: "Indeed, sir has high expectations of you, you can't disappoint sir's kindness. This kind of poem should not be written again, let me keep it for appreciation."

  After finishing, he straightforwardly waved his hand at Zhang Fei: "Yide, you hurry up and observe, later when I take him away, if you want to see him again, you'll have to go to my place, and it's necessary to bring a few jars of good wine."

  "What?!" Zhang Fei dared to be angry but didn't dare speak out, secretly grumbling in his heart. What kind of scholar is this, actually openly robbing?!