Mang Shusheng's Ink Painting Practice

Chapter 22: Break Out of This Circle
Zhao Yifu was holding the cat in a daze.

He was savoring the feeling of the small Zhoutian.

To achieve the Small Zhoutian, you only need some willpower to maintain the continuous circulation of true Qi within the Small Zhoutian, and you can continuously refine the essence and Qi into true Qi from the internal organs and muscles.

Therefore, the small Zhoutian is the real beginning of spiritual practice.

For Zhao Yifu, his path of cultivation has finally begun.

He was silently savoring the memory, but was startled by a knock on the door.

I felt an inexplicable movement in my heart, knowing that there must be a follow-up to what happened yesterday.

Wu Zhong was also doing morning exercises. He turned his head and looked at him with a questioning look in his eyes.

Zhao Yifu said, "Go open the door. At least the other party won't be so blind."

Wu Zhong nodded and opened the gate.

At the door stood a group of yamen runners, led by a middle-aged scholar with a long beard and a solemn expression.

Seeing this, Zhao Yifu quickly stepped forward, clasped his fists, and bowed, saying, "My student Zhao Yifu, nice to meet this gentleman."

"I wonder why you have come to my humble abode?"

He bowed all the way to the bottom, extremely polite.

The scholar still had a stern face when he saw this, but his tone relaxed a little. "But is it the tribute student Zhao Yifu?"

Zhao Yifu remained bent over and said, "It's the student."

The scholar stroked his beard gently and said, "I am Lu Ce, the chief clerk of Mozhou. I have been ordered by Prefect Xu to invite Mr. Zhao to the prefectural office for a meeting."

Zhao Yifu replied, "I obey your command."

Seeing him so obedient and well-behaved, Master Lu Ce couldn't help but stroke his beard again, but then he heard Zhao Yifu ask, "Excuse me, Mr. Lu, do you want to put shackles on me?"

Hearing this, Lu Ce paused while stroking his beard, then said coldly: "You are a tribute student of the country. You have made great achievements and you don't have to kneel before the officials. Even if you are guilty, you cannot be tortured."

Zhao Yifu said, "That's good. Then I can rest assured."

Lu Ce suddenly felt that there was something more to this statement.

Then he asked, "Why did Captain Zhang want to put shackles on you yesterday?"

Zhao Yifu simply shook his head and said, "I have no evidence for what happened yesterday, so there's no point in saying more today."

"It all depends on what Master Xu thinks today."

Having said that, he said no more.

His words pointed out that he knew why Master Lu came here, and also secretly expressed his "grievance".

Lu Ce quickly realized Zhao Yifu's hidden meaning and asked, "Did that Zhang guy really intend to put you in shackles yesterday?"

Zhao Yifu said, "First, we don't have Master Xu's documents, and second, he wants to arrest people in shackles. I have no choice but to expel that captain."

Lu Ce nodded after hearing this, and he felt great empathy for this.

How could the privileges of scholars be destroyed by a mere constable?

But then he looked at Zhao Yifu again and felt something was amiss. Here they simply said 'expulsion', but the captain had mentioned 'beating'...

Then Lu Ce shook his head and stopped thinking about it. This matter was not worth his thought at all.

So the group walked on the road in silence. Zhao Yifu originally wanted to leave Yiyi at home, but he didn't expect that the cat was so clingy. It climbed onto Zhao Yifu's body again without him noticing.

Helplessly, he could only put it in his sleeve and carry it secretly.

At this point, he no longer had any awe for the government office... Well, it wasn't because of his practice, but because he realized that killing the county magistrate was as easy as slaughtering pigs and dogs.

There were no yamen runners standing on either side of the Mozhou prefectural government office. There was only a white-haired old man with a bun reviewing official documents behind the desk.

This attitude, at least, is not one of calling for war and killing.

Zhao Yifu bowed again with full courtesy: "Student Zhao Yifu greets Master Xu of Mozhou."

Xu Zhizhou raised his head and said, "Mr. Zhao, you should know why I called you here this time, right?"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Yifu revealed a bitter expression and said, "The students know...but is it such a rubbish that even the parents of the entire state have to intervene?"

Xu Zhizhou looked at him and said, "So, you admit to assaulting the constable?"

Zhao Yifu hesitated to speak, and then fell silent. Xu Zhizhou said in a slightly stern tone, "Speak!"

Zhao Yifu bowed deeply once more, performing impeccable etiquette, and then said, "Master Xu, if you say so, then so be it. Please report this to the court and have my honors revoked."

Xu Zhizhou was stunned and instantly swallowed back all the words he was about to say.

Originally, Xu Zhizhou just wanted to scare Zhao Yifu and let him know how powerful he was. After all, the constables also represented the dignity of the prefectural office.

But my goodness, how can someone ask to be stripped of his title right away?

At this moment, Lu Ce, who had brought Zhao Yifu with him, quickly stepped forward and clasped his fists, saying, "Sir, even if this tribute student made a mistake, it should be Professor Zhou who should handle it. A few words of admonition from you would be enough, but why bother with such a serious matter?"

Xu Zhizhou was just confronted by Zhao Yifu. Although Lu Ce seemed to be making excuses for Zhao Yifu, wasn't he actually trying to help Xu Zhizhou get out of trouble?
Xu Zhizhou climbed down the pole and said hurriedly, "Quickly go and invite Professor Zhou, the academician, to come over."

Immediately, the yamen runners hurried over.

At this time, Zhao Yifu stood up straight, looking at his nose and his mind, as if he was completely out of the game.

This is also his truest state at the moment: he is in the game, but his heart is detached.

When he truly developed a desire to seek the Tao, his perspective on worldly affairs quietly changed, and he felt that he was strong because he had no desires.

At this time, Xu Zhizhou was also a little annoyed with Zhao Yifu, because this scholar did not play by the rules at all!

But now that Zhou Xuezheng has been called over, things seem to be getting out of control.

He immediately winked at his aide Lu Ce.

Master Lu approached Zhao Yifu with a gentle expression and said, "Mr. Zhao, I know you have grievances in your heart, but if you have grievances, just speak them out. Why do you always talk about giving up fame and fortune?"

Zhao Yifu looked at Lu Ce and said in a calm yet powerful voice, "Mr. Lu, you are also a scholar. You should know that scholars like me cannot stand this kind of humiliation."

"If I have to endure such indignation even though I have achieved fame and honor, it would be better to give it up."

Well, he can give up fame and fortune to avenge his enemies, which is satisfying.

Xu Zhizhou was still worried and angry, not realizing that he had already circled the gates of hell.

After hearing this, Master Lu felt quite sympathetic. In his opinion, there was no need to care about someone like Captain Zhang. No one was killed and the detectives didn't seem to have any external injuries. Why should he mobilize so many troops for this?
Wouldn't this simply bring disgrace upon the scholars and make them a laughing stock to the illiterate people?

In today's incident, Master Lu's position can be said to be entirely on Zhao Yifu's side. What he values ​​is that the privileges of scholars cannot be shaken.

A moment later, there was a sound of unhurried footsteps coming from the side door.

Then I saw a middle-aged scholar with a handsome face and a long beard. What a handsome middle-aged man with an elegant appearance.

The Confucian scholar was not wearing an official robe and was even holding a book in his hand. He looked unhappy at being disturbed.

"Professor Zhou, you're here?" Xu Zhizhou was very polite.

But Zhou Su didn't appreciate it. He snorted coldly and said, "What on earth is going on that would disturb my studies?"

Xu Zhizhou swallowed his words for a moment, because he suddenly realized that this education official usually did not give people face.

Xu Zhizhou was now a little annoyed with Lu Ce. Why did he invite this gentleman over?

So he looked directly at Lu Ce and said, "Master Lu, tell Professor Zhou about this."

Lu Ce paused for a moment after hearing this, but didn't seem surprised.

He stood up and bowed to Zhou Su, saying, "I am Lu Ce, your disciple, greetings to Master Zhou."

Zhou Su said, "I remember you, the Juren of the Jiazi year, but I wasn't serving as the academician in Mozhou at that time."

Lu Ce said respectfully, "Yes, Master Zhou was in Moyin County at that time and he once taught me the boy's exam."

Zhou Su nodded and said, "You have great potential. Why didn't you continue to participate in the imperial examinations and instead became such a bullying chief clerk?"

The disappointment is palpable.

If you passed the imperial examination, you could become an official, but you could only become a minor official. You had to be very lucky to have the opportunity to start as a county magistrate. Once you chose to become an official, you would lose the opportunity to continue taking the imperial examination.

Lu Ce immediately lowered his head in shame and said, "I am ashamed to disappoint you, sir."

For a moment, I even forgot to explain what happened today.

This Zhou Su is truly extraordinary. He dominated the entire venue as soon as he appeared on the stage. He is worthy of being a famous academic professor in Daxu.

And now, Zhou Xuezheng's gaze has shifted to Zhao Yifu...

(End of this chapter)