Confucianism under Heaven

Chapter 53 A Divine Book of Heart, A Zen Mind Amidst Clouds and Water

Chapter Fifty-Three: A Divine Book, A Zen Mind Amidst Clouds and Water

But even after he had been resonating with the book for a long time, he hadn't received any response.

"I've been observing you for a long time. Do you know why Shuxin and you don't resonate with each other?"

The white rabbit, with a human-like smile, spoke to Ye Ru.

"What the hell are you doing?"

Ye Ru raised an eyebrow and pinched the white rabbit's ear.

"Ouch~ I hid the book cover, let go now."

The white rabbit, in pain, swung its chubby little paws, and a slightly dim book floated out.

"Is this the work of that inferior calligrapher, completed in a single stroke?"

Ye Ru looked at the book's core, which emitted a dim silver light, and a burning desire flashed in his eyes.

Although this is a low-grade book, having this book will increase my speed in writing poetry by at least one-third.

As Ye Ru was muttering to himself, a single sentence from the white rabbit made Ye Ru's eyes widen instantly.

"This stuff tastes awful and isn't very effective. Kid, do you have any ideas about getting that divine-grade book heart?"

The white rabbit showed off its white teeth and gently rubbed its chubby paws together, looking exceptionally cute.

"Do you know the whereabouts of the Divine Book Heart?"

Ye Ru's mind exploded; this little rabbit actually knew about the Divine Book Heart.

"Yes, since the beginning of creation in Confucianism and Taoism, Pangu separated heaven and earth, Nuwa molded clay to create humans, and finally used seven-colored divine stones to mend the sky. The remaining seven-colored divine stones were left in this world and transformed into the nine great books."

"These nine book hearts were created by seizing the creation of heaven and earth. One of them is the Cloud and Water Zen Heart. The Cloud and Water Zen Heart is located in this book tower, and it is in this low-grade book heart."

The white rabbit pondered for a moment and then spoke.

"why?"

Ye Ru asked in confusion, never expecting that he would actually come across this divine-grade book.

"Because this heart of a book is not the heart of a book, but a relic."

The white rabbit plopped down and scratched its white fur.

"Relic?"

Ye Ru was shocked. In that world, relics were usually left behind by eminent monks after their death, possessing immense merit. Now, he actually encountered one here.

"Okay, take me with you first, and take this book heart with you too. I can feel some very comfortable energy from you."

The white rabbit waved its paw and said.

"Sure, but you have to tell me how to use that one-stroke writing technique."

"no problem."

After taking the book core, Ye Ru left with the white rabbit.

……

After Ye Ru obtained the book core, the light and shadow of the book tower suddenly disappeared.

"What happened? Did it succeed or fail?"

A scholar, seeing the light and shadow disappear, asked in bewilderment.

"I don't know, did it fail?"

Magistrate Zhang looked at the Book Tower, feeling a little nervous. The Book Tower test was extremely dangerous.

"Let's see. If there's still no news by then, we'll have no choice but to force our way in."

Fang Zifeng also looked at the book tower and said in a deep voice.

call out!

As the group was talking, a beam of light suddenly appeared from the book tower, which then transformed into thousands of beams of light, pouring their knowledge into the scholars.

"Is this the Book Tower Initiation? Like a gentle breeze? Ye Ru has succeeded!"

As their physical fatigue disappeared and their thoughts became sharper, everyone was stunned at first, and then a surge of joy instantly welled up within them.

With this baptism, the number of students admitted to the imperial examinations and those admitted to the county-level examinations in Qingyun County will increase by at least 10%.

"Ye Ru is a benefactor to all of us."

"Yes, we should thank him."

Countless people rejoiced.

"Judging from its appearance, it must have succeeded."

"But why haven't they come out yet?"

Zhang Wenying frowned as she spoke, which caused everyone to discuss among themselves.

Just as everyone was looking at each other in bewilderment, the space above the Book Tower suddenly fluctuated, and then a figure stepped into the void and slowly descended from the Book Tower.

After everyone clearly saw who this person was, except for Fang Zifeng and other successful candidates in the imperial examinations, all the other students and scholars bowed slightly to him, their unified voices echoing throughout the land:

"Thank you for your instruction, Master Ye!"

The clear, resounding shouts echoed throughout the land, startling Ye Ru.

"What is the reason for this?"

“Master Ye, your acquisition of the Book Heart will greatly benefit us, and may even increase our chances of passing the imperial examination. You are our mentor.”

"Therefore, all those who have received your favor will never be your enemies, otherwise they will fall into injustice."

Xu Qingyuan clasped his hands in a fist salute to Ye Ru.

"So that's how it is. We are all descendants of Yan and Huang, and should be loyal to each other. There's no need for such formalities. If we meet again, we can just call each other classmates."

Ye Ru quickly gave a wry smile, bowed in return, and said that this gift was far too generous.

Then something occurred to him, and he asked:

"Where is Chen Sijun, the Jinshi (successful candidate in the highest imperial examination)?"

"They said they went to the National Holy Academy and came back today. What happened?"

Fang Zifeng spoke up.

"In that case, I'll just wait for him."

At this moment, the scholar Chen Sijun suddenly rode a cloud across the sky and then landed on the ground.

"I have met Scholar Chen."

Many people bowed in greeting.

"I just came back from the National Academy of Saints, Ye Ru, come with me."

Chen Sijun nodded to everyone, not bothering to exchange pleasantries with Magistrate Zhang and the others, and spoke first to Ye Ru before heading towards the main hall.

"The National Holy Academy did not agree to grant the qualification to write books."

Inside the hall, Chen Sijun frowned and spoke apologetically to Ye Ru.

"why?"

"It seems that the Legalists were obstructing things, focusing on criticizing the shortcomings of novels and considering them to be a second-rate school of thought. Of course, this was also strongly opposed by Yu Tiannan, the head of the novelist family. But do you know what? He gave a relatively unknown junior member of the Legalists a book publishing quota."

Chen Sijun curled her lip, her tone sarcastic, seemingly unimpressed by the Legalists' actions.

He knew that Han Feng and his group must have told the Legalists of the National Academy about the Book Tower dispute, which was why the Legalists secretly took action.

"There's another thing. Since you're writing popular novels, which are mainly for people in the countryside, the number of copies printed is naturally large. But this also consumes a lot of manpower and financial resources. Therefore, the people at Yanhuang Bookstore are not very willing to publish popular novels."

"Ultimately, it's because your literary reputation is somewhat low; you're not well-known."

Chen Sijun picked up her teacup, swirled it a couple of times, and said in a deep voice.

Ye Ru narrowed his eyes, a chill running through him. He thought to himself that those with power and influence were indeed domineering; this was simply a case of abusing power for personal gain.

"Scholar Chen, may I borrow one hundred taels from you? I will repay you in a few days."

After a pause, Ye Ru suddenly spoke.

'What do you need a hundred taels for?'

Now it was Chen Sijun's turn to be puzzled. One hundred taels was not a large sum of money; his monthly stipend was only ten taels of silver.

While Chen Sijun was puzzled, Ye Ru's casual remark made the former's eyes widen in surprise.

"I want to improve the printing technology, and use that as a condition to exchange with the people of that country's Holy Academy."