A live-streamed Chinese language lesson under the sky—the ancients were taken aback.

(1. Text analysis in the novel:)

The author is not a teacher, and this is not a real Chinese language class. Just enjoy it for fun. Also, for the sake of the novel's dramatic effect and reading pace, the classroom content will not be conducted in the same way as a real classroom.

2. Historical interpretation in the novel:

Everyone has their own interpretation of history, so just enjoy it for what it is.

Reading novels is for enjoyment; if you don't like it, you can simply quit.

love&peace

Thank you everyone!

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The vast天地 (heaven and earth) are eternally silent.

From the unification under the Qin Dynasty to the late Qing Dynasty.

Spanning over two thousand years, the skies of all dynasties suddenly blazed with boundless white light at this moment.

The sky stretches for thousands of miles, hanging high in the heavens, illuminating the palaces of Xianyang, the imperial city of Chang'an, the academies of Bianliang, the Forbidden City, the countryside, and the secluded chambers of women's homes.

Regardless of era or region, all ancient people look up at the same time.

A huge rectangular curtain of light appeared in the sky during all dynasties from 221 BC to 1911 AD.

The screen displayed a text in black on a white background: "The Woman Who Was 'Eaten' - A Critique of Feudal Ethics in 'The Blessing'", a six-part open course series jointly produced by the Chinese Academy of History and the Ministry of Education.

Below the main title is a line of smaller print: Speaker: Shen Moyan.

People who have lived on this land throughout history have been filled with astonishment and uncertainty upon witnessing this scene.

A divine intervention? A warning of a natural disaster?

The illiterate old farmer was surprised to find that he could actually understand the words on the sky.

Education, open classes—are they being taught by gods?

Those in the imperial court, however, were even more perceptive; they squinted and stared directly at the sky.

"Chinese history..."

The sky hangs silently in the air, like a giant eye gazing upon this land.

Suddenly, a deep male voice, hoarse with the weathered texture of a phonograph, resounded, piercing through eternity and reaching the ears of everyone.

That was Lu Xun's own voice, extracted and restored from a precious recording in later generations, carrying the unique graininess of an old-fashioned phonograph.

"When I looked up the history, I found that it had no dates, and the words 'benevolence, righteousness, and morality' were written crookedly on every page."

The wind suddenly stopped, and all was silent.

The thirtieth year of the Qianlong Emperor's reign.

In the Hanlin Academy of the Qing Dynasty, Sun Jiagan's wolf-hair brush fell with a "snap," staining the pages of the Analects and defiling a page of the sage's maxims.

Benevolence, righteousness, and morality?

This is the foundation upon which China has stood for thousands of years, the great path passed down by Confucius and Mencius!

Who dares to slander them?

The voice from the heavens continued to resound, each word carrying immense weight, like thunder shattering the ancient ignorance.

"I couldn't sleep no matter what I did, so I read it carefully for half the night and finally saw the words between the lines. The whole book was filled with the two words 'cannibalism'."

The words fell.

The sky suddenly went dark.

The entire process took no more than thirty breaths.

But the whole world heard it.

The ancient land has been utterly shaken.

eat human.

Benevolence and morality are written between the lines of "cannibalism".

The old scholar's beard trembled.

A surge of heat rushed from my chest to my head—it was anger, fear, and the suffocating feeling of being verbally abused and unable to retaliate.

"Absurd," he uttered, his voice hoarse.

"Absurd!" The second shout was even louder, so loud that it startled the son next door.

The son pushed the door open and came in: "Father, the skylight..."

"I see it!" Sun Jiagan grabbed the Analects from the table, opened it to the first page, and poked his finger at the word "learning and practicing at appropriate times".

"Where does it say 'cannibalism'? Where? Confucius wrote the Spring and Autumn Annals, and rebellious ministers and traitors trembled; Mencius advocated benevolence and righteousness, and the world knew shame. How could he say that such a book, such principles, are about cannibalism? How could he say that they are about cannibalism!"

His grandchildren had never seen their grandfather so distraught, and they huddled in the doorway, too afraid to utter a sound.

Sun Jiagan discarded the Analects and picked up the Reflections on Things at Hand, which was the Cheng-Zhu school of thought he revered the most.

He flipped through a few pages, then suddenly stopped.

Cheng Yi said, "Starving to death is a very small matter, but losing one's integrity is a very big matter."

His finger stopped on that sentence.

For some reason, he didn't read it aloud.

At the same time, at the Wuyi Academy of the Great Song Dynasty.

Zhu Xi sat quietly under the eaves, holding a black chess piece in his hand, the game still unfinished.

After hearing the phrase "every word is a cannibalistic tale," his chess piece, suspended in mid-air, remained motionless for a long time.

The disciples were in uproar, questioning the arrogance of later generations.

Only Zhu Xi, with a deep expression, slowly raised his hand to silence all the discussions.

He muttered to himself, revealing the secret of the world:

He wasn't insulting sages.

"He was cursing those people who used the name of sages to commit cannibalistic acts."

"Write it down, word for word, without any annotations or comments. We will observe the will of Heaven again in three days."

The disciples looked at each other in bewilderment, but still bowed and accepted the order.

Only Zhu Xi remained in the corridor.

He looked up at the darkening night sky and muttered to himself, "Benevolence and morality...cannibalism."

He closed his eyes.

He recalled the annotations he had written in his youth, those pronouncements on "heavenly principles" and "human desires".

He never imagined that one day, future generations would point to those words and say, "Look, the words 'cannibalism' are written between the lines."

"Was someone really eaten?" he asked himself in a low voice.

No one answered.

The oppressive darkness ended, and the sky brightened once more.

It was the same deep male voice, but this time, an open book appeared on the screen, with the words "Diary of a Madman" printed on the cover.

The page scrolls and stops at a paragraph:

"I remember that cannibalism has been common since ancient times, but I don't know it very clearly. I looked up the history books, but they had no dates. On each page, written crookedly, were the words 'benevolence, righteousness, and morality.' I couldn't sleep, so I looked at them carefully for half the night. Finally, I saw the words between the lines: the whole book was filled with the two words 'cannibalism.'"

Then, a female voice entered, it was Shen Moyan's voice, clear and calm, a stark contrast to Mr. Lu Xun's deep voice.

"Hello everyone, I am Shen Moyan."

"That was a passage that everyone is very familiar with, from Mr. Lu Xun's 'Diary of a Madman'."

What exactly did Lu Xun mean by "cannibalism"?

We will spend six lessons telling the story of the life of a woman from the lower classes.

"Xianglin's Wife, look at how she was devoured alive, bit by bit, by this system of ethics and morality that has been passed down for thousands of years, because she was kind, hardworking and law-abiding all her life."

"Our open class will officially begin in three days."

As the trailer ended, the sky slowly darkened.

Yet, it planted a seed of restlessness, fear, curiosity, and terror in the hearts of all the ancients.

The Forbidden City, the Qianqing Palace.

Emperor Qianlong suddenly stood up.

"Three days later?" he repeated. "She still has six classes to teach?"

Heshen bowed and said, "Your Majesty, I have ordered people to investigate the 'Xianglin's Wife' and 'feudal ethics' mentioned by Tianmu, but they could not find any explanation. However, based on what I saw in the first two instances, I fear that it is intended to slander the moral order of our dynasty."

Emperor Qianlong sneered: "Slander? They're pointing their fingers at me and cursing me to my face. They think benevolence and morality are cannibalism? So, my rule of the empire based on filial piety and my teaching of the people based on propriety are also cannibalism in their mouths?"

He paced a few steps, then suddenly stopped.

"By imperial decree, all government offices are to immediately investigate everything the heavens have said. Anyone found spreading falsehoods or misleading the public with heretical statements will be punished, but..."

He paused, then said, "The canopy itself will not be dealt with for the time being."

Heshen asked, puzzled, "Your Majesty's meaning is...?"

"I want to see what she has to say."

Emperor Qianlong sat down again, his eyes filled with malice.

In Xianyang Palace, Ying Zheng leaned on the railing, gazing at the sky with deep, cold eyes.

"Cannibalism." He chewed on those two words.

Li Si stood behind him without saying a word.

"I unified the six kingdoms, but killed countless people."

Ying Zheng slowly said, "Whether they are the remnants of the six states or Confucian scholars and alchemists, I kill them because they have violated my laws."

The law is clearly written down.

If you break the law, you die.

As long as it's not illegal, you can live.

"How can propriety lead to murder?"

He turned around and looked at Li Si.

"By imperial decree, tomorrow's court assembly will discuss what was said in the imperial edict. All ministers, both civil and military, must be present."

Li Si bowed and said, "Your subject obeys the decree."