Chapter 9 Did she copy it with her feet?"Master, do you have any evidence to prove that I asked someone else to write this punishment copy?" Although she did have the idea of asking Liu Ziming to write for her. But this copy was clearly what she had copied with great effort last night! Yun Shu confidently used the words that the Grand Tutor had said to pressure her yesterday to fight back: "If the Grand Tutor does not want to teach Yunshu, he can just report it to the Emperor directly. Why accuse him for no reason?" "When will this old minister ..." "What do you want to report to me?" Just as the atmosphere in the study became increasingly tense, a bright yellow figure suddenly appeared outside the door. It was after Emperor Xuanwu left court today that he suddenly remembered the news reported by the Dragon Shadow Guard yesterday, and he decided to come and see in person what was so special about his uneducated daughter. He stopped the eunuch on duty outside from passing on the message, intending to observe secretly and then leave.
I didn't expect to hear the conversation as soon as I got closer. Waving his hand, signaling everyone in the room to excuse themselves, Emperor Xuanwu first glanced at Yun Shu, who had suddenly become obedient, and then looked at Cui Taifu while feeling amused. "I seem to have heard something just now...unjust?" "Your Majesty, when I was assessing the Fifth Princess's progress yesterday, I unexpectedly discovered that although Her Highness Princess is already thirteen years old, she has never even read the "Great Learning" or "The Doctrine of the Mean". I was heartbroken and punished Her Highness Princess to copy the "The Doctrine of the Mean" ten times." Cui Taifu is a serious, old-fashioned and stubborn person. He looks down on those ignorant and uneducated dandies. Unfortunately, this is how Yun Shu appears in his eyes now. He wanted to teach Yun Shu a lesson, so when he explained the situation to Emperor Xuanwu, some of his words were very deliberate: "Just now the princess fell asleep in my class, and she even said it was because she was forced to copy too late last night. It turned out that the copybook she handed in was written by someone else, but the princess refused to admit it! " "Oh?" Emperor Xuanwu took the punishment copy handed over by Cui Taifu and took a look at it. His eyebrows also frowned slightly. Although the handwriting on this copy is still some distance away from that of a famous master, such a flamboyant and vigorous brushstroke cannot be written without a certain level of skill! After dinner last night, he went to the harem and did not ask about Yun Shu's situation. But Dragon Shadow Guard had clearly said before that Yun Shu had a hard time writing just thirty words... After handing the penalty copy back to Yunshu, Emperor Xuanwu was also puzzled, but he did not make a direct conclusion like Imperial Tutor Cui. He just said in a deep voice: "Do you have any explanation?" “My Lord, it is not difficult to prove that I wrote these words. All I need to do is write a few more words in front of you. but……" It was a rare opportunity for the Emperor to come and it seemed that he treated her well. It would be a pity if she didn't seize this opportunity to gain some benefits for herself. Yun Shu paused deliberately, revealing an expression of grievance, forbearance and stubbornness: “But I cannot be wrongly accused in vain! If I can prove that these words were indeed written by me, Master Cui will be exempted from the remaining nine times of copying!"
"can." Seeing Yun Shu's frank look without any guilt, Emperor Xuanwu was pleased and agreed without thinking. Cui Taifu was half a step slower. Of course, it was impossible for him to say anything to refuse at this time. I could only put on a stern face and take a brush from Cen Yiyi's desk: "Princess please!" "I don't need this." Yun Shu stood still and looked at Emperor Xuanwu eagerly: "Father, as long as this copy of The Doctrine of the Mean is copied by me, that's all that's fine, right? What you copied it with... shouldn't matter?" Emperor Xuanwu: “?” From what she said, could it be possible that...she copied it with her feet? Emperor Xuanwu was silent for a moment. No wonder he has such a wild imagination. After all, according to normal people's thinking, what else can you use to write if not a pen? The pen cannot be replaced, so the only thing that can change is the place where you hold the pen. How could a princess of a country take off her shoes and socks in front of so many people? Just the thought of that scene flashing through my mind was enough to make me feel suffocated. "you……" Emperor Xuanwu secretly took a deep breath, and was ready to double the punishment to twenty times if this brat really dared to say she would copy with her feet: "What do you want to copy?" "use……" Yun Shu took out a chicken feather from the bookcase: "Another brush." Emperor Xuanwu: “?” "absurd!" After holding back for a long time, Master Cui finally couldn't help but speak out when he saw the chicken tail feather: "Reading is a noble thing. How can you write with such... such vulgar things?" "Why is a chicken's tail hair vulgar?" Yun Shu was unhappy: "Aren't the brushes you use made of wolf, rabbit or wool? Do you have to rank the hairs according to their quality?" "you!" It had been many years since he had seen a student as "deviant" as Yun Shu. Master Cui, who was very particular about the character and etiquette of scholars, was very angry: "How can this be compared?" "Why can't they be compared? Aren't they both animal hairs, and can both be used to write?" When Yun Shu said this, the feather in his hand was already stained with ink. To be precise, it is the harder, hollow feather shaft in the middle of the feather that is stained with ink.
"Nature is the mandate of Heaven, following nature is the Way, and cultivating the Way is teaching." In front of Emperor Xuanwu and Imperial Tutor Cui, Yun Shu wrote the first sentence of The Doctrine of the Mean in two strokes. Upon closer inspection, it is actually slightly different from the characters written with ordinary brushes. But the strokes were continuous and the rhythm was smooth, exactly the same as the handwriting on the previous copy of the punishment. "Master Cui, how is it?" "Humph!" Master Cui shook his sleeves with a stern face: "Unorthodox ways! Not for a gentleman to do!" "According to what Grand Master said, a gentleman can't do this or that. Is it that a gentleman should act noble every day?" Seeing that Emperor Xuanwu did not express his opinion immediately and stood on the side of Imperial Tutor Cui to scold her, Yun Shu also felt a little more confident: "But who can be born a gentleman? If you want to be a scholar, you must study first, right? How many people can afford to read these days? A brush is enough to buy many meals for ordinary people! But the chicken tail feathers are different..." Emperor Xuanwu: "Well said!" Yun Shu: “……?” Although she did speak in a righteous manner in order to make Emperor Xuanwu realize that she, a little princess without money from her in-laws, was living a very poor life and didn't even have a few copper coins, she did speak in a very righteous manner. But she felt embarrassed when her cheap father showed so much support to her! (End of this chapter)
