Sun Bo smiled and said kindly, “Okay.” He took the things and said he would put them away. “When the master gets up tomorrow, you two can use them together.” He turned his back and sighed. Zizhi was still thinking…

　　It has been so many years, and my husband has recovered, but Zizhi is still the same.

　　Never mind.

　　Liang Zizhi was lying on the bed. This room was Mingyuan’s former room. More than ten years had passed, but the things had not been replaced. He knew in his heart that everyone said that the teacher had recovered a long time ago, but if he was well, why did they have to return to Beijing every year on the anniversary of Mingyuan’s death? Why did the situation in the yard and the house remain the same as before?

　　The teacher didn’t let it go, and neither did he.

　　Mingyuan is Liang Zizhi’s junior fellow student and Sun Mu’s youngest son. He had a brother in his middle age.

　　The Sun family is a famous and prominent family in Chuzhou, and has produced many great writers and scholars. Sun Mu was extremely knowledgeable and started taking the imperial examinations at the age of sixteen or seventeen. He won the top three places in the imperial examinations and even took the top spot when he was only in his early twenties. It is not an exaggeration to call him a young genius.

　　Unlike the Sun family members who strictly abide by the rules and dare not lose the face of the aristocratic family, Sun Mu has a bold personality, is not particular about details, is free and easy, has good talent, can remember everything he reads, and has the temperament of a scholar. The young and powerful Emperor Kang Jing admired him very much. When Sun Mu entered the Hanlin Academy, he often summoned him to the palace to accompany him.

　　Sun Mu even had the courage to criticize a few lines of the emperor’s poems.

　　Emperor Kang Jing was not angry at all, he was even very happy, saying that Sun Mu was loyal to him and would tell the truth.

　　At that time, the Sun family of Chuzhou was very famous, with flowers blooming and crowds of people coming and going. During festivals, all the literati and wealthy people in the capital would victoriously invite Sun Mu to enjoy the flowers, write poetry and drink wine.

　　Later, Sun Mu entered the cabinet and served for several years. He disliked the officialdom struggle and resigned with the emperor. Emperor Kang Jing did not approve of Sun Mu’s talent and transferred him to the Imperial Academy to teach. Two years later, Sun Mu, who was 35 years old, had a son, a boy, named Mingyuan.

　　Sun Mu loved his son very much and taught him personally. Mingyuan inherited Sun Mu’s talent and had a photographic memory. He could compose poems at the age of six and write fu at the age of seven.

　　But he has another talent, he is a brother.

　　Liang Zizhi entered the Imperial Academy at the age of eight. He was favored by his teacher and was accepted as an apprentice. He followed his junior fellow apprentice Mingyuan to write articles and study for ten years. It can be said that they grew up together as childhood sweethearts.

　　He had his junior fellow apprentice in his heart, but he knew that his junior fellow apprentice was more talented than him, and would not be willing to marry into the rear house and become a decoration lady, so he never dared to mention it, as it would be an insult to his junior fellow apprentice.

　　As a result, at the end of the year when he won the third place in the imperial examination, his junior fellow apprentice Mingyuan jumped into the lake and died on a snowy day.

　　I have a lot of skills but I can’t use them.

　　Liang Zizhi knew that the teacher blamed himself and regretted deeply. He should not have taught Mingyuan to read and write, and should not have let Mingyuan see those things. If Mingyuan knew nothing, was ignorant and had not been enlightened, he would not have suffered.

　　Although they grew up together, he is inferior to his junior brother in every way. However, he entered the imperial court, won the favor of the emperor, and was able to realize his ambitions and ideals. His junior brother could only watch him. How could he not be in pain?

　　Liang Zizhi felt regret. He regretted his knowledge and regretted not being able to spend more time with his junior fellow apprentice.

　　If possible, he would rather not have all this knowledge, not be an official, and not take the imperial examination.

　　But it’s too late.

　　Liang Zizhi sighed and fell asleep wrapped in the quilt, but when he closed his eyes, he still saw his junior brother’s smiling face, saying, “Brother, this is delicious. Try it. Are you afraid of it?” What’s there to be afraid of this insect? Try it and it tastes very crispy. The shell is burnt and crispy…

　　My junior brother is bold, curious, and has a love for life. He dares to try everything.

　　Early the next morning.

　　Sun Mu performed a set of Five Animals Exercises in the back yard before returning to the main house. The master and his apprentice happened to meet. Liang Zizhi was different from the cold and aloof Liang Zizhi was when he was in the Hanlin Academy. He smiled like a child and said, “I was just looking for you. I got a meal from my colleague yesterday. You must try it.”

　　”Old Sun^[1]sun bo told me that we should make a pot of wine and have this for lunch.”

　　”Okay.”

　　Sun Mu came to Beijing with an old servant. His wife lived in his hometown Chuzhou. He had not been to Beijing for more than ten years. He was sad and did not want to see her again.

　　The master and his disciple were talking. When Sun Mu mentioned the examination of knowledge, Liang Zizhi tried to change the subject. Sun Mu said, “You have a lot of skills, but if you continue like this, they will go to waste.”

　　”I’m doing fine now. I have a lot of free time doing articles in the Imperial Academy. Teacher, you know that I have a reckless personality. If I really stand out, I will easily offend people. I don’t like the struggles in the officialdom.” Liang Zizhi said with a smile. He is already so old, it would be a waste if he continues to waste his time.

　　Sun Mu knew that Zizhi still remembered Mingyuan. When Zizhi was wasting time in Hanlin, outsiders said: Even if it was for Mingyuan, Mingyuan didn’t do what he wanted to do. Now that you are still here, you should work hard to climb up and realize your ambitions for Mingyuan.

　　It’s easier said than done. When it comes to doing it, I just don’t want Mingyuan to die.

　　Just like Sun Mu resigned from his post and refused to enter the official career again. After a long time, he lived a carefree life, giving lectures everywhere, and outsiders thought that he had wasted his skills until now.

　　Let’s not talk about these things anymore.

　　At noon, Liang Zizhi asked the teacher to taste first. If he had been playing with Mingyuan for a long time and deliberately developed this habit of eating delicious food, then the teacher must have been born with a love of food.

　　After tasting it, Sun Mu nodded and said with a smile: “Good!”

　　“This is the first time I’ve tasted this.”

　　”Me too.” Liang Zizhi was in the mood to talk, so he said to the teacher, “Teacher, try this jelly and guess what it’s made of.”

　　Sun Mu picked up the food with chopsticks, put it in his mouth, and chewed it slowly. His eyes brightened. After he finished swallowing it, he said, “It’s chewy, but different from the food I ate before. It’s springy, and there’s something stuck in it. The taste is–“

　　”It’s pig skin.” Liang Zizhi said.

　　Sun Mu was surprised. “It’s actually pig skin. It doesn’t have any greasy or fishy smell.”

　　”This is made by my colleague Gu Zhao’s family. The duck is said to be braised, and so is the jelly. They are all taught by him to his husband.” Liang Zizhinian said, “I asked him about it during a casual chat before the New Year. I didn’t expect that he would remember it during the New Year and gave me a New Year gift, but it was too little.”

　　Sun Mu heard from his friends, “Gu Zhao? He was the top scholar last year, and was praised by the emperor and rewarded with silver.”

　　”It’s this guy. He’s handsome, but his knowledge is much worse than mine.” Liang Zizhi told the truth. “His handwriting is terrible, but he’s a real person. A few years ago, the Eighth Prince came to edit the book, and he followed the editor Yan Jinxin. They also said they wanted to integrate the books and combine those with a lot of overlaps into one book to make it easier for poor scholars to buy books and study.”

　　Sun Mu nodded when he heard this. He was born in a famous family, and he only studied to write articles for academic competitions. He never worried about making a living. He didn’t know how much money a book cost, or how much money a pen and ink cost. Later, he traveled around and saw many poor peasants who were afraid of wasting money on pen and ink, so they practiced on the soil with branches.

　　Some people who seek fame and reputation publish a book, and then someone else copies it and makes another one. Such examples are becoming more and more common, bullying the poor and narrow-minded scholars and cheating them of their money.

　　”This boy has a bit of a pure heart, and he still cares about scholars of the same background as him.”

　　”Yes, so when he asked me about my knowledge, I answered him.” Liang Zizhi actually had the same problem as a scholar who looked down on others. Even though he had been in his position for more than ten years, he was still somewhat arrogant in his bones. He did not like to deal with colleagues he disliked, such as the sour Lord Zhao.

　　The master and the disciple ate and chatted at the same time, as they were used to being casual.

　　”This little Gu just arrived at the capital. He arrives at noon every day. I didn’t know about it a few days ago. Who would have thought that it’s already the New Year, and he’s still like this. I want to see how long he can hold on.”

　　Sun Mu glanced at his disciple and said, “You are still watching the fun, are you trying to place a bet? I heard from Master Shi that you always arrive later than him—”

　　”Teacher, you misunderstood. It was raining that day and the road was difficult to travel. My carriage got stuck and was delayed for a while. Besides, Master Shi arrived at almost noon that day. I was only a moment later than him.” Liang Zizhi interrupted with a smile and said, “Let’s talk about Xiao Gu. He married into the Li family. He is so diligent during the day, and he has to feed his little brother after work.”

　　Sun Mu knew his apprentice’s trick, but he still changed the subject, “He can also feed the child?”

　　”Yes, one time, he came over with dark eyes and said that he had changed a new bed for the little boy, but the child couldn’t adapt to it and made a fuss for a long time. He started crying as soon as he was put down, but he would be fine as soon as he was held. That’s when I realized that the little boy was still sleeping in his room.”

　　Liang Zizhi was really surprised to hear this.

　　His family was also somewhat famous in Chuzhou. Since he was a child, he had been slept with his wet nurse. He slept on the bed and the wet nurse served him on the couch below. From then on, servants and maids had to report to their parents before they could enter the courtyard, and they could only enter after receiving their reply.

　　Such unruly things are not uncommon. Liang Zizhi didn’t look down on Gu Zhao, and even thought it was good to raise the little brother of the Li family like this, but sometimes he would think of his junior brother.

　　When my junior fellow student was still alive, although the teacher could not take care of him personally like Gu Zhao did, he also put in a lot of effort and loved him very much.