Chapter Eleven: Truly Ignorant

How long does it take to read a thin book like *Annotations on the Analects*? Even including the Analects themselves and Mr. Du’s commentary, the total word count is well under 100,000. If it were a novel, Zhang Yue could finish it in just two hours at most. But this is classical Chinese, in vertical format with traditional characters, and he not only needs to read it but also memorize it thoroughly. Thus, he spent an entire month struggling with this book.

At school, Zhang Yue lost his title as a “student under treatment” but gained a reputation as ignorant. Mr. Du wasn’t the only teacher in the Zhang family’s academy—he was only in charge of teaching the Analects and ignored everything else. The other scholars responsible for the other courses, whether dissatisfied with the students’ lack of attention or their own treatment, all targeted Zhang Yue, the lone student sitting in the front row. After all, the other two Zhangs were “sick” at home, leaving him as the only legitimate student. How could they fulfill their duties without keeping a close eye on him?

Poor Zhang Yue had only just started to study the Analects, let alone the classics of poetry, literature, rites, and philosophy. He was battered day after day, and eventually he realized something—there are indeed things in this world more terrifying than math, physics, chemistry, and English.

It was the day before the monthly exam. The teacher was an old scholar who spent the whole day lecturing in complex classical language. As usual, he closed his book, scanned the faces of all the students in the classroom, and finally fixed his gaze on Zhang Yue, as expected.

“Zhang Yue, recite *The Book of Rites, Volume 2: Proper Conduct* for me.”
“Sir, I haven’t memorized it yet.”

After days of schooling, Zhang Yue had learned to act appropriately. At that moment, his face showed an expression of innocence and shame, yet it still made the old scholar turn pale with anger. The scholar slammed his ruler on the podium several times before saying sorrowfully, “The Zhang family of Xiangfu has always been renowned for its excellence in both literature and martial arts. Remember, your uncle became the top scholar at a young age. And now you can’t even memorize the Book of Rites! Those from noble families should work harder…”

Behind him, there were sneers of satisfaction, while in front of him was the teacher’s disappointed reprimand. Caught in between, Zhang Yue simply lowered his head in submission, but inwardly he was thinking about how to return the book to Mr. Du and how to cope with the monthly exam the next day. He could manage the latter with Gu Bin’s help, but the former posed a real challenge.

Apart from borrowing a book from him, he couldn’t see any special treatment Mr. Du gave him. With half a month left before the deadline, he really didn’t want to disappoint his father, but what could he use to impress someone who seemed indifferent to everything?
“Study hard and don’t let down the Zhang family’s reputation!”
Hearing this all-too-familiar closing remark suddenly, Zhang Yue hurriedly agreed and then bowed to see off the talkative old man. Only after glancing and confirming the old man was gone did he sigh in relief and sit down, thinking that Zhang Chao and the others must have really angered these old men, otherwise they wouldn’t have taken out all their anger on him.
God only knew how few days he had actually attended school—what good was staring at him?
The monthly exam was the next day, and the students were busy preparing. Besides, it wasn’t very interesting to keep mocking Zhang Yue with the same excuse, so a group of students, including Qian Jia, a relative of the Prince of Xin’an, quickly dispersed. Zhang Yue wanted to wait until everyone left before returning the book to Mr. Du, but unexpectedly, Gu Bin, still in his white clothes, came over.
“Why didn’t you tell Mr. Zhao that you rarely came to school due to illness, which is why you couldn’t recite that passage from The Book of Rites?”
Zhang Yue had spoken no more than ten sentences to Gu Bin in a month. Seeing him approach voluntarily now felt like the sun coming up in the west. After studying Gu Bin’s face for a while, he shrugged and said, “If I can’t recite it, I can’t. There’s no need to make excuses. Can I also use illness as an excuse in the future imperial exams?”
Gu Bin was left speechless by Zhang Yue’s words. After a moment of silence, he walked out without saying another word. Before leaving, he suddenly stopped, glanced back at Zhang Yue, and then said absentmindedly, “You’re really different from them.”
Without time to ponder what Gu Bin meant, seeing the guy disappear, Zhang Yue took out the thin book, “Annotations to The Analects,” from his backpack and rushed out of the classroom toward the room in the corner. Finding the door tightly closed, he gently knocked and then composed a solemn expression.
The door opened soon after. Seeing Mr. Du in his green robe holding a wooden mask, Zhang Yue simply couldn’t associate such a wooden figure with any kind of sage. However, after seeing the annotations in “Annotations to The Analects,” he no longer doubted Mr. Du’s wisdom.

You should know that in order to truly understand the material, he even went through Zhu Xi’s Annotations on The Analects, only to find that the annotations seemingly by Song Lian were in line with Zhu Xi’s views, while many of Mr. Du’s opinions were quite different from those of Zhu Xi, who was regarded as a sage in the Ming Dynasty. Mr. Du casually took the book from Zhang Yue’s hands and asked indifferently, “Have you finished reading it?” “Yes, I’ve finished it all,” replied Zhang Yue. He had thought Mr. Du would at least let him enter to talk, but instead, Mr. Du stood at the entrance, showing no intention of letting him in, which further diminished his already slim hopes. Sure enough, moments later, he heard a merciless remark. “I heard from those people that even the opening parts of The Book of Songs, The Book of History, The Book of Rites, The Book of Changes, and The Spring and Autumn Annals—when asked to recite them, you say you can’t?” “I really can’t,” admitted Zhang Yue. At this point, he decided to be straightforward and honest. “I’ve been weak and sickly since childhood. I have the desire to study but lack the strength. I’ve never read the Four Books and Five Classics. So now that I have this opportunity, I know I can’t take in too much at once. I want to progress step by step. For example, I’ve only skimmed through this book, The Correct Interpretations of The Analects, that you gave me. I plan to understand it gradually when I have time. I truly don’t have the time or energy to read anything else.” After saying this, he felt that Mr. Du’s expression seemed to change slightly, but no matter how he looked, that expression remained unchanged. Disappointed, he could only bow deeply, turn around, and leave quickly, silently apologizing to his father in his heart. Even after leaving the school, he heard no sound behind him. If one added the scolding from that old scholar, this was already the second time he had faced rejection that day. Yet, as it turned out, the hardships of the day were far from over. When Zhang Yue entered the back door of the Zhang family’s mansion, he coincidentally ran into his uncles, Zhang Xin and Zhang Chaozhang Qi. Zhang Chaozhang Qi greeted him warmly, smiling as he showed off his catch of the day with his bow and arrows. However, when Zhang Xin arrived, he gave him a blunt reminder. “Brother Yue, since you’re studying, you need to put in more effort. Otherwise, if you go to school every day only to be mocked as ignorant, it’s better not to go at all!”