Chapter 11: Lu Zhi

  Liu Bei had something on his mind, and he couldn't swallow his food. He hastily finished his meal and rushed back to the dormitory. Seeing Liu Xiu's desk with pen and ink laid out, but not seeing him, he knew that things must have happened. As soon as he thought of this, he couldn't help but feel some regret. Although he was somewhat dissatisfied with Liu Xiu unintentionally stealing his thunder for the past two days, it was just a small emotional matter, and they hadn't reached the point of being irreconcilable enemies. If he had impulsively set a trap for Liu Xiu and provoked Mr. to anger, directly expelling Liu Xiu would make things escalate.

  Just thinking that Liu Xu might be driven out of the temple, Liu Bei's heart became even more tense. He couldn't sit or stand still, like an ant on a hot pot turning around in circles. After a while, Gongsun Zan also returned and saw Liu Bei like this, he smiled: "Xuande, what are you worried about?"

  Liu Bei awkwardly forced a smile: "I was momentarily reckless and may have implicated my elder brother."

  Gongsun Zan blinked his eyes and looked at Liu Bei with a hint of a smile, saying: "What's wrong, are you afraid he'll be driven out?"

  Liu Bei nodded and looked at Gongsun Zan for help: "Brother Boren, what do you say?"

  Gongsun Zan shook his head: "It shouldn't be, Lu Jun is a gentleman, not the kind of person who would make things difficult for your elder brother over such a small matter. Besides, although what your elder brother writes are popular books, they are elegant and refined, enough to make many book lovers ashamed. By the way, Xuande, isn't he not fond of reading? Where did he learn his calligraphy?"

  Liu Bei was stunned for a moment, and shook his head dazedly: "I don't know either, I rarely saw him writing books before."

  Gongsun Zan tilted his head and thought for a moment, becoming even more curious.

  Time didn't pass long, Liu Xiu came back with a bitter face. As soon as he entered the door, he glared at Liu Bei with some annoyance and sat down in front of his bed, silently clenching his fists on his knees. Seeing this, Liu Bei felt even more anxious and went over to ask with a forced smile: "Big brother, what did the young master want you for?"

  "Don't you know?" Liu Xiu asked back.

  Liu Bei's face turned red and he said awkwardly: "I... how did I know."

  "Xuande, you should know that I originally didn't want to read any books. It was all because you were coming to read books that I asked my mother and followed you here to suffer together." Liu Xiu let out a sigh, clasped his hands behind his head, and fell back onto the bed, saying with a sense of relief: "Now it's fine, I got in trouble for writing an informal letter, which made the teacher unhappy. He called me over and scolded me severely. Although I rewrote one, I don't know if it will pass. It's also good this way - if the teacher doesn't accept me, I can just pack my bags and go home. Anyway, this jingshe is full of bookworms, it's suffocating. It's better to play at home."

  Liu Bei's face immediately turned pale as he rushed to Liu Xuan's side and sat down, saying in a urgent tone: "Big brother, it can't be that serious, can it? You're not even an educated person, what do you know about official documents and common books?"

  "This isn't something I can decide on my own." Liu Xiu flipped over impatiently, lying down on the bed with his clothes still on, and kicked off the grass shoes on his feet. These grass shoes were made by Lady Liu's mother before they set out, to thank Liu Xiu for persuading his mother Tangshi to spend money to let them come and study, and were even lined with two layers of cloth, making them a fine product.

  After a day's journey, Liu Xiu's feet were sweating profusely. As soon as he took off his grass shoes, a strong foot odor wafted up. Gong Sun Zan wrinkled his brow, and Liu Bei saw it, so he pushed Liu Xiu and said: "Big brother, wash your feet and sleep, after walking all day, soak your feet in comfort."

  "What's the point of washing? Maybe we'll have to march again tomorrow." Liu Xiu said irritably.

  Liu Bei got up himself, carrying a large jug to the kitchen to fetch hot water, and brought back a wooden basin for washing feet. He coaxed Liu Xiu to get up and wash his feet. Liu Xiu lay on the bed with no energy, looking listless, although he put his feet in the basin, he didn't move at all. Liu Bei felt guilty, so he squatted down to wash Liu Xiu's feet, then washed himself. Only after that did he go to bed to rest, but thinking about Liu Xiu being driven out tomorrow and his dream of studying ending, he couldn't sleep, tossing and turning on the bed for half the night before finally falling asleep.

  Listening to Liu Bei tossing and turning on the bed, Liu Xiu almost burst out laughing. He handed over the rewritten notice to Lu Min, who didn't say anything but looked a bit better. It seemed he wouldn't make things difficult for him. However, he was annoyed that Liu Bei would play such tricks, so he wanted to give him a hard time. But unexpectedly, this future Emperor of Shu turned out to be quite flexible and even offered to wash his feet as an apology.

  Alas, this is also considered a life worth living, to be able to have Liu Bei wash his feet. Apart from his own father and mother, I'm probably the first person to do so.

  Want to play a game of wits with me? I'll play you to death!

  ……

  In the backyard, Lu Zhi and his son sat face to face, with a large pile of bamboo slips and silk books spread out on the table, and in the middle was the piece of wood that Lu Min had just brought. Lu Zhi carefully examined it for a moment, and said somewhat doubtfully: "Is this really written by Liu Xiu?"

  "Yes, he handed it over to me personally."

  Lu Zhi shook his head and smiled: "This is indeed a strange thing, a young man who only understands a few sentences of the Analects, can't even tell official books from common books, yet writes such good calligraphy. Could it be that he's really talented, but just hasn't had the chance to read books? Such good calligraphy, I think only Cai Bojie can compare with him, and the likes of Liang Hu will probably have to yield to him by a third."

  "Is it really that good?" Lu Min was astonished. When he saw Liu Xi's calligraphy, he was also impressed, but he didn't think it was this excellent. He knew that Cai Yong was a great scholar and calligrapher respected by Lu Zhi, famous for his profound learning and outstanding calligraphy in the capital city. Whenever Lu Zhi mentioned him, he would always praise him, saying that even if he practiced calligraphy for another thirty years, he still couldn't catch up with Cai Yong, and that Cai Yong was a born scholar and calligrapher, whose talent no one could match. Now, to say that a young man could be compared to Cai Yong, this made him unbelievable.

  "This is genius, not something that can be achieved by human effort." Lu Zhi put down the letter and looked at his son's surprised face, saying calmly: "However, no matter how good one's calligraphy is, it's only an auxiliary skill, not a major achievement. Cai Bojie became famous because he was well-versed in classics, his calligraphy was just an added beauty, superficial, but not the foundation of his career."

  "I humbly obey my father's teachings." Lu Min bowed and then said, "Father, although this son is not worth mentioning in terms of learning, his calligraphy is indeed worthy of attention. Why not arrange for him to be by your side as a book assistant, helping you copy documents and giving you more time to rest? With the many matters in the imperial court these days, it's unknown when you'll be summoned to the capital again, so please take care of your health."

  Lu Zhi hesitated and did not speak for a long time before saying: "His academic foundation is too poor, can he be competent?"

  "Father said he's a genius, let's try it out and see, if it doesn't work out, we can make other arrangements."

  Lu Zhi nodded, seeming to agree, and after a moment of thought, he continued: "The capital is too far away, even if something happens, it would take several months for the news to reach Gaoyang County. What I'm worried about now is the north." He looked up at Lu Min and said: "When I was in Luoyang, I heard that the Xianbei people have been invading our borders every year, and several counties in the northern frontier have been repeatedly ravaged. The governor of Youzhou, Liu Yu, has written to the imperial court many times, but those high-ranking officials don't care at all." He sighed heavily, his emotions somewhat agitated: "I'm not in a position of power now, so it's none of my business. But since I've returned to Gaoyang County, even if I'm just an ordinary citizen, I want to do my part. Zixing (Lu Min's courtesy name), when you have time, ask those scholars from the border counties about the situation with the Xianbei people, and pay attention to their words, so that we can make some preparations in advance for the officials of the prefecture and county to consider."

  Lu Min nodded repeatedly: "Father, I've already taken note of that. The newly arrived Gongsun Zan is from Liaoxi and was recommended by the Governor of Liaoxi, so he must have some understanding of the Xianbei people's affairs. I plan to find a chance to ask him."