Chapter 46

After the ceremony of becoming a disciple, Lu Zheng also gained a courtesy name, Lu Zhiyi. However, both his teacher Li Yi and Mr. Le still called him Lu Zheng. Regarding this courtesy name, Mr. Le had already told him about it last night. Lu Zheng did not think much about it, even though he did not understand why, he did not ask further. Instead, he asked, "What is Xin'er's courtesy name?" Unexpectedly, Mr. Le replied, "Xin'er is a girl and does not have a courtesy name." Xin'er did not have a courtesy name, but Mr. Le did not have a given name; Zhongping was his courtesy name, not his given name. This was something that puzzled Lu Zheng.

Moreover, Lu Zheng did not understand why he had to study. Wasn't he here to be treated for his illness? Why were the two teachers still making him study? These people with such great abilities were teaching him to read just like the private tutors he had seen before. However, he had been accustomed to accepting things as they came since he was young. Since he couldn't figure it out, he decided not to think about it anymore. The two teachers were taking the trouble to teach him, and he felt only gratitude. He was staying and eating for free at the Riyue Pavilion, and he would do whatever they asked him to do, especially when it came to studying.

Therefore, during the first class, when Li Yi mentioned reading and recognizing characters, Lu Zheng responded and honestly admitted, "Teacher, I don't know how to read."

After a round of education with the戒方 (a disciplinary tool), this "teacher" was finally called correctly, without the embarrassing mistake of calling him "great younger brother" again. Now that he had become a disciple, if he still called him "great younger brother," he would probably get a taste of the戒尺 (a ruler used for discipline).

Li Yi said, "I know you can't read, but you can speak, right? Characters are the words we speak. Now, I will have you read a book to help you recognize these characters. After you recognize them, I will teach you how to write them. Open the book on your desk. I will read a sentence, and you will repeat it. Let's start with this book."

Lu Zheng opened the thin book, and Li Yi first told him the title, which was "All Things." Then Li Yi began to read, "The creation of all things by heaven and earth must be heard; the transformation of yin and yang must be observed."

Lu Zheng followed, reading the sentence, and at the same time, he pointed to each character on the page, trying hard to remember what they looked like. His memory was excellent, and he recalled that he had seen the characters "heaven" and "earth" on the pillars at the entrance of the Tianyuan Fang Pavilion, where they were the last characters on the left and right lines, respectively.

Li Yi read ten sentences and then started over from the first sentence. On the first round, Lu Zheng stumbled a bit while trying to recognize the characters, but his memory was excellent, and he quickly remembered how to read each character he pointed to. By the second round, he read much more fluently.

While reading, Lu Zheng vaguely felt that this book recorded the growth, changes, forms, and properties of all things in the world, as well as their interactions. It covered everything from heaven and earth, the sun and moon, to flowers, trees, birds, and beasts. However, many of the strange flowers, rare herbs, and exotic animals mentioned in the book were things Lu Zheng had never heard of or seen before, making them very intriguing.

For example, there were the four great beasts of the world, named Qiongqi, Hundun, Taowu, and Taotie, and the four sacred beasts, named Qinglong, Baihu, Zhuque, and Xuanwu. These four great beasts and four sacred beasts, collectively known as the Eight Beasts of Antiquity, were spiritual beasts born from the primordial energy of chaos. The book also described their appearances and habits. In other sections, the book discussed the changes in heaven and earth, such as the seasonal changes and the movements of the sun and moon, which were beyond Lu Zheng's understanding.

After reading a few sentences, Lu Zheng suddenly asked, "Teacher, you just read, 'The way of heaven is round, the way of earth is square.' Is this the origin of the name Tianyuan Fang Pavilion? But I still don't understand, what does 'the way of heaven is round, the way of earth is square' mean?"

Li Yi raised his head and said expressionlessly, "Follow the reading and don't have distracting thoughts! Continue!"

Lu Zheng shrank back, saying "Oh," and dared not ask again. He finally understood why Xin'er always said the teacher was very strict.

The two of them, one teaching and one learning, read through the book, which was neither too thick nor too thin. After a few rounds, it was already noon. Li Yi said, "That's enough for the morning. We will continue in the afternoon."

Lu Zheng had been reading all morning, recognizing characters and associating them with the changes in the world and the various types of things recorded in the book. He was just getting interested and asked, "Teacher, what will we read in the afternoon?"

Li Yi said, "Of course, it will still be this book."

Lu Zheng asked in confusion, "But we've already finished reading it, haven't we?"

Li Yi's face darkened, and he walked up to Lu Zheng, saying, "You've only read it a few times. You need to read it until you can recite it fluently. Then, I will explain it to you..."

Lu Zheng said softly, "But I can already recite it." Then he started reciting, "The creation of all things by heaven and earth must be heard; the transformation of yin and yang must be observed..." Li Yi was about to scold him, but after hearing ten sentences, Lu Zheng recited without a single mistake, and he recited the entire book fluently without missing a single character, which surprised Li Yi greatly.

Li Yi's face was always as expressionless as a stone statue, and now he was even more solemn. Lu Zheng thought he had done something wrong, but he didn't know that Li Yi was very surprised, thinking, "I didn't expect this silly child to have such talent. Is he really the child of the three teachings?" He didn't know that even the most complex Buddhist mantras, Lu Zheng could recite after hearing them a few times on Liangjie Mountain.

Xin'er clapped her hands and cheered. Li Yi turned and glared at her, then looked at Lu Zheng, wanting to say something. Seeing that Lu Zheng didn't look proud, he was momentarily speechless. He touched his nose, coughed a few times, and waved his sleeve, saying, "Let's go eat!"

He actually dismissed the class directly!

However, Lu Zheng's stomach was already growling from hunger. He had been reading all morning, and Li Yi hadn't taken him to have breakfast. He was puzzled, thinking, "Do the people in the Riyue Pavilion not eat breakfast?" There were only four people in the Riyue Pavilion, and it made sense that Le Zhongping and Li Yi didn't eat, as they were great masters with supernatural abilities. But surely Xin'er wouldn't skip breakfast! When he heard about eating, he immediately stood up and left, but he heard a cold snort from behind.

Lu Zheng froze, slowly turned around, and saw that the teacher's face was dark with displeasure. Xin'er left her seat and stood by the table, urgently waving at him, "Big brother, come back, you haven't bowed to the teacher yet!"

Lu Zheng was a wild child, though he was cautious, he didn't understand etiquette and was used to being straightforward and casual. He wouldn't have called Li Yi "great younger brother" if he had known better. He didn't know that after class, he should bow to the teacher and wait for the teacher to leave first before following. Li Yi had mentioned many rules for disciples, but he hadn't mentioned this one. So, Lu Zheng quickly walked to Xin'er's side, imitated her, and bowed to Li Yi together, saying, "Teacher, you've worked hard."

Li Yi snorted again and said, "Every action must be proper! In the future, you must learn etiquette and not be so unruly. Since this is your first class, I will let it slide this time." Then he walked out first.

After Li Yi left, the two of them straightened up. The class had been tiring, and Xin'er saw that Lu Zheng wasn't speaking, knowing he wasn't very happy, so she said, "Big brother, the teacher is just strict, but he is actually a good person. Don't be upset!"

Lu Zheng nodded lightly and sighed, "Okay, I will pay attention next time. Xin'er, let's go eat!" He turned to leave, but when he looked up, he saw tall bookshelves on all four sides of the room, with no door in sight, and he was momentarily stunned.

Xin'er saw his expression and laughed, pulling his hand and leading him forward. Lu Zheng hadn't recovered yet when his vision blurred, and a door appeared in front of him. Looking around, he saw that they were in the Tianyuan Fang Pavilion, which he had seen before. Xin'er explained, "Big brother, we were on the second floor just now!"

Lu Zheng was surprised, "How did we get down? I didn't see any door or stairs just now."

Xin'er's eyes twinkled, "Hehe, big brother, are you asking Xin'er to tell you?"

Lu Zheng saw her expression and guessed, "Are you going to ask me to catch butterflies again?"

Xin'er's eyes lit up, and she grabbed his hand, saying, "Big brother, you are so smart! How did you know Xin'er wanted you to catch butterflies?"

Lu Zheng thought, "I could tell from your expression." Then he also twirled his eyes and imitated Xin'er's expression, saying, "Yes, Xin'er, are you asking big brother to tell you?"

Xin'er said, "Yes..." but then realized Lu Zheng was imitating her, "Oh, big brother, you are bad! You are imitating Xin'er, so Xin'er won't tell you!"

The two of them laughed and chatted as Xin'er led Lu Zheng to the dining area, which was in the pavilion to the east of the Tianyuan Fang Pavilion. Lu Zheng remembered that this pavilion had a name, Quzhi Pavilion. The name was pointed out to him by the ascetic monk on Liangjie Mountain, and he also remembered that the room he stayed in was called Zhongchun Pavilion in the Sizhiju complex.

This was Lu Zheng's first formal meal at the Riyue Pavilion. Since the ascetic monk had taken him on the journey, he hadn't had a proper meal. He had been unconscious for several days after arriving at the Riyue Pavilion, and when he woke up, he didn't feel hungry. He hadn't eaten anything yesterday, and by the time the class was almost over, his stomach was growling. Fortunately, he was used to irregular meals, so it wasn't a big deal.

At this moment, Le Zhongping and Li Yi were already sitting in the pavilion. Having learned from the previous dismissal, Lu Zheng didn't dare to be rash. He followed Xin'er, washed his hands in a basin on the left side of the pavilion, and then bowed to Le Zhongping and Li Yi outside the pavilion before quietly walking in and standing in a corner.

Le Zhongping smiled and said warmly, "Lu Zheng, Xin'er, come quickly, you must be hungry. I think the rule of not eating breakfast before class should be changed!" Indeed, the people in the Riyue Pavilion didn't eat breakfast.

There were four small tables in the pavilion, each with over a dozen bowls and dishes containing various dishes and soups. Le Zhongping and Li Yi sat on the left and right at the head of the table, Xin'er sat on the left at the foot of the table, next to Le Zhongping. Lu Zheng had no choice but to sit on the right, next to Li Yi.

The tables were very low, only about two feet off the ground, and mats were laid in front of them. The four of them sat on the ground, with Li Yi and Xin'er kneeling and sitting on their heels, backs straight. Le Zhongping sat sideways, one hand supporting the table, looking very relaxed. Lu Zheng didn't know what to do, so he remembered the ascetic monk's cross-legged sitting and sat cross-legged.

Li Yi seemed to have been waiting for him. As soon as Lu Zheng sat cross-legged, he said calmly, "Stand up and learn my sitting posture."

Lu Zheng didn't dare to disobey and imitated Li Yi's posture, sitting on his heels with his legs stretched out, which was an extremely uncomfortable position. Looking at the table in front of him, there were twelve bowls and dishes of various sizes.

On the left, there were two large bowls and one plate of meat. The bowls contained soup, one with braised pork and the other with chicken, both emitting a fragrant aroma. The plate had a braised mandarin fish with scallions.

On the right, there were two plates and a small bowl. The small bowl contained scallions and ginger. The two plates had stir-fried cauliflower and mixed tofu, one green and two white. In the middle, there were three bowls, two plates, and a soup bowl. The three bowls were smaller than those on the left and right. One was empty, another contained a bowl of steaming rice, and the third was a bowl of sweet soup. The soup bowl was covered, and he didn't know what was inside. The plates contained a pair of chopsticks, two spoons, and a soup spoon.

Since he could remember, Lu Zheng had been eating irregularly, and having some leftover food or a steamed bun with a piece of pickled vegetable was already a good meal. He had never seen so many dishes and so many bowls and plates in one meal. Looking at the other three people's tables, which were also filled with various bowls and plates, he was stunned and didn't know where to start.

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