Jing Xingzhi’s Daily Life in Ancient Times - Chapter 71
Jing Xingzhi took aim at a few people in the crowd who were stirring up trouble and kept their faces in mind.
Then Jing Xingzhi lowered his head and patted the corner of his clothes, saying as if he were extremely bored: “Are you done? I, Jing Xingzhi, am really ashamed to be from the same prefecture as you. Not to mention that I didn’t go to Hannan Prefecture to take lessons from their academy. I just went to Hannan Prefecture to study their government affairs, so what?! What’s wrong with absorbing their strengths to supplement my own shortcomings? When three people walk together, they try to help each other. This is what the sage said, and you also have learned it. If you still can’t see the truth, then all the teaching probably entered a dog’s belly.”
Jing Xingzhi’s words infuriated the people seeking problem, causing their veins to pop and their anger to rise.
“Look! You admitted it yourself. You went to Hannan Prefecture to study! You don’t even remember being a student of Hanbei Prefecture, and you just go to Hannan Prefecture to embarrass us?” Many students were deeply concerned, especially those from Hanbei Prefecture. They clenched their fists, waving angrily in Jing Xingzhi’s direction.
However, there were also many silent observers.
Jing Xingzhi continued to raise his voice: “Today, many people reprimanded me, claiming that studying in Hannan Prefecture brings shame to our Hanbei Prefecture. I want to ask you, where do you think Hanbei Prefecture is inferior to Hannan Prefecture? What are you afraid of?! Why should I be embarrassed? Do you believe that the teachers in our Hanbei Prefecture are not as competent as those in Hannan Prefecture? What has caused us, people of Hanbei Prefecture, to lose our confidence? Are we really unwilling to believe in the abilities of ourselves?”
“You keep saying it as if I went to Hannan Prefecture and never came back. In our Hanbei Prefecture, with its vast and fertile land, why can’t it retain people?! It appears that learning the knowledge of Hannan Prefecture will turn our students extremely evil. Are the minds and consciences of our students from Hanbei Prefecture comparable to immature sesame seeds? Instead of debating whether you can go to Hannan Prefecture to study there or not, why not return to read a few more pages, and practice a few more calligraphy? Tomorrow in the examination room, you can show them the strength of our Hanbei Prefecture people!”
“But I think many of you are too stupid to be saved. You’ve lost your self-confidence, but I, Jing Xingzhi, still have it. So, I’m ashamed to be associated with Hanbei Prefecture alongside you; you embarrass me! It truly mortifies me!”
“I was bullied and misunderstood for going to Hannan Prefecture to study. Everyone criticized me and let me tell you, ‘You are all wrong! Even if I went to Hannan Prefecture to study, it was a good decision!’”
Jing Xingzhi finished his scolding hastily, looking around at the lowered heads. Then, with full pretentiousness, he took Brother Mingrui’s arm and strode out.
His steps were neither hasty nor slow, and as he walked through the crowded hall, a path spontaneously opened up for Jing Xingzhi.
No one dared to stop him, and no one dared to refute him.
They might not have a clear concept of the word “confidence” but they knew they were being scolded by Jing Xingzhi for their narrow visions.
What they believed, it was wrong to study in Hannan Prefecture, but after listening to Jing Xingzhi’s words, they suddenly realized that even if their Hanbei Prefecture’s students went to study there, their identity would still be from Hanbei Prefecture. This way, it would only make their own people stronger!
They didn’t want people to study in Hannan Prefecture. Were they afraid that the people returning from Hannan Prefecture would surpass them? Were the teachers in Hannan Prefecture were more qualified than those in Hanbei Prefecture? No. Neither of them wanted to admit it!
Many people suddenly realized and believed they heard the truth from Jing Xingzhi’s righteous scolding. If he could scold people so openly, he must have never done anything to disgrace Hanbei Prefecture.
The students in Huanshui Academy looked at each other, standing up in twos and threes, until finally, everyone stood up. The leader among them said, “Xingzhi is indeed went to the government office in Hannan Prefecture. We heard from Brother Wu; you’ll know the truth when you send someone to ask. What’s more, Xingzhi’s knowledge is really good. He was selected as a scholar at the age of thirteen and always ranked first in our academy. Now, he has been studying with Chief Fang for half a year. The teachers all say that Xingzhi can go directly to pass the exam.”
After saying this, the students from Huanshui Academy left together. The further they walked, the straighter their backs became. Were these students from Fucheng and other towns not as good as them?
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Immediately afterward, the entire hall of Taibai Tower was gradually emptied. Those students claimed they wanted to go back to “read a book” or “practice calligraphy” and disappeared in an instant. In the end, only the first young man provoking Jing Xingzhi and a few people were left in the empty hall. They all looked ugly and didn’t know what to say.
On the second floor, an old man surrounded by several middle-aged and elderly people sighed in a low voice: “What a good sentence! Instead of arguing like a long-tongued woman, it is better to read a few more pages and practice a few more calligraphy.”
After learning Jing Xingzhi’s words, the old man asked the people around him: “The young man called Jing Xingzhi, right? This name is rare, but it’s a good name!”
A man replied, “The Inspector has a good memory; that’s the name.”
The old man smiled and said, “The good wind sends me up to the blue clouds with its power. Such a good seedling is the future talent of our Hanbei Prefecture!”
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Jing Xingzhi left the academy, leaving three large words with iron paintings and silver hooks on the back of the paper – “Self-confidence” – on the big table in Taibai Tower, and then walked away. The waiter was still in a daze, but Mr. Li, invited by Taibai Tower to appraise the calligraphy and painting, clapped his thighs and exclaimed, “Good calligraphy, good calligraphy!”
After Jing Xingzhi heard this, he praised Mr. Li in his heart for his sharp eyesight. Besides, “Words are like the person” actually had some truth. When he was so angry, the words he wrote had a few traces of them. He was so angry, even Wu Mingrui didn’t dare to speak.
It wasn’t until he reached the alley that Wu Mingrui figured out how to persuade his upright friend not to argue with the villains. Wu Mingrui glanced at his friend and squeezed his fist, pumping his fists to cheer himself up. When his friend was sad and angry, he had to comfort him to prevent it from affecting his mood in preparing for the exam.
As soon as Wu Mingrui opened his mouth, he saw Jing Xingzhi tilting his head. Jing Xingzhi’s tone was serious as he called out Wang Zhuang, “Brother Zhuang, I will point you to a few people later and find out who is behind them trying to harm me.”
Wu Mingrui: “…”
Wu Mingrui’s mouth closed by itself again.