Nine months after the Cold Dew, the temperature dropped noticeably faster. When the heavy rain fell, Jiangning City seemed shrouded in a misty haze. Unlike the boisterous summer rain, the late autumn rain carried a hint of winter's chill, seeping into one's clothes bit by bit.

As Ning Yi walked across the wooden bridge opposite the small alley, he casually brushed off the water stains on his long robe. On such rainy days, long robes were rather cumbersome. Xiaochan, who was trotting from behind, was much better off. She hadn't worn a skirt for the rainy outing, but a blouse with lake-green trim paired with trousers, and her usual adorable bun hairstyle. Her feet were clad in light blue embroidered shoes. Her entire outfit was light and nimble. She had probably lagged behind to buy something and was now hurrying over like a swallow, dodging the puddles along the roadside, holding a paper umbrella.

"Master, Master, wait for me!"

"What is it?"

"Bought something." Reaching Ning Yi, Xiaochan smiled and held out a small booklet. "I passed by that shop and saw that this is a new one. Master may not have seen it, so I bought it."

It was a newly published vernacular novel on the market, titled "Ghost Fox Romance." Such novels were quite common in this era. The wording and sentence structure were relatively simple and easy to understand. Some were historical legends, while others were folk love stories, especially various love legends involving spirits and ghosts. Some popular ones would be taken to teahouses and taverns by storytellers after they were published. Ning Yi had been reading these novels a lot lately, and Xiaochan had taken it to heart. Sometimes, when she saw a new one, she would buy it and bring it home.

These types of novels were not as entertaining as modern stories, but they were the best of a bad lot. Flipping through them when bored, being written in ancient Chinese, also allowed him to better integrate into the atmosphere of this era. Ning Yi smiled and took it, flipping through it casually as Xiaochan followed behind, talking as they walked.

"At noon, what that person said was really awful. I really wanted to go up and scold him."

"Mm."

"He doesn't know anything and just makes wild guesses. He even dared to brag in the restaurant about being a talented scholar. People like that can't even pass the Xiucai exam."

"Mm."

"Master, I'm standing up for you. That person was saying bad things about you, you know?"

"What does it matter?"

"How can it not matter? This person... Hmph, okay, okay, I know that Master doesn't care about the opinions of these vulgar people, but I still feel uncomfortable when I hear it. After all, it sullies Master's reputation. If Master had written a poem on the spot to scold him, I would have taken it and hit him on the head!"

"Heh, he doesn't even know me." Ning Yi turned a page of the novel. "I was sitting next to him."

"That's why I'm angry..."

The poetry gathering on the Mid-Autumn Festival was now almost a month ago. The public opinion surrounding that *Shui Diao Ge Tou* had been constantly changing. In the initial ten days or so, the evaluation of the poem almost reached its peak, and the curiosity and discussion about Ning Yi were also at their highest during that period. Then... the public opinion quickly declined, starting to develop in a deeper and more specific direction.

The heat of such public opinion in the marketplace was limited by time. For many common people, they might still follow the events that happened at the poetry gathering for about ten days after the Mid-Autumn Festival. Afterwards, other things would gradually cover the heat. Life itself was busy and hurried. When these people reduced the frequency of mentioning the matter, the discussions about it that could be heard on weekdays also decreased.

More praise and questions began to focus on batches of scholars and literati. The influence of the *Shui Diao Ge Tou* continued to spread around—through the mouths and letters of these scholars and literati, but the doubts and speculations about Ning Yi remained within the scope of Jiangning. For example, a scholar in Dongjing who heard the *Shui Diao Ge Tou* wouldn't lessen his praise much, but he naturally wouldn't care too much about who Ning Yi was or whether Ning Yi could write this poem. After all, it was too far away.

The Wu Dynasty was similar to the Song Dynasty. Confucianism had reached its peak, and scholars and literati accounted for a considerable proportion of society. This "considerable" was also in relation to the previous millennia. Even if this was the dynasty with the most literati in history, compared to the modern era that Ning Yi lived in, this ratio was still too small. Therefore, in less than a month, the things he felt had calmed down—of course, there were opportunities to accidentally hear some unflattering doubts from a few literati while eating out, just like today at noon.

After telling Old Qin and Old Kang about his thoughts that day, Old Kang probably felt that his hype on the Mid-Autumn Festival was a bit redundant. Afterwards, he helped Ning Yi a bit. It was said that some scholars who wanted to come and ask Ning Yi for advice were reprimanded by their teachers. In this recent month, there were many invitations to various gatherings, but Ning Yi ignored them all. There were only three groups of people who actually came to his door to ask for advice. One group found him gone. When the other two groups came, they saw Ning Yi lecturing the children on the Analects. They first looked for a topic: "I once heard that half an Analect governs the world. Today, listening to Brother Ning explain this, I think you have a deep understanding. I wonder how xxxxx should be interpreted?"

This was a kind of habitual thinking. Seeing what the other person was saying, they would find something to talk about from it. Ning Yi had gone through the Four Books and other such proper books several times and was prepared. Having been educated in the era of knowledge explosion in modern times, even if he casually said a passage, grasped the key points, and made people think deeply, it wouldn't be a problem. Even if he took a different approach, the other person would have difficulty refuting it for a while. Since these people came, they naturally prepared other questions, some obscure ones too, but with Ning Yi's demeanor and aura, even a woman like Nie Yunzhu would be restrained and follow him. What could these scholars do? After answering a passage from the Analects, they had no chance to ask the rest of their questions at all. Ning Yi dealt with them for a while and left. Others only felt that he was erudite or unfathomable. Afterwards, thinking about it, most of the questions hadn't been asked.

Apart from such group provocations, there were also people who came privately. A guy named Li Pin came every day, seemingly very interested in the stories that Ning Yi casually told. So he came to listen in. A few days ago, after finishing the class, he asked Ning Yi some questions, mainly about his views on those stories. He wanted to ask Ning Yi for advice. In fact, these questions were inseparable from the meaning of the Analects. He didn't mean to provoke, so Ning Yi also talked to him for more than half an hour. Afterwards, that person didn't come again.

As far as Ning Yi was concerned, as long as no one could confirm that he was unlearned and incompetent, the external doubts about the *Shui Diao Ge Tou* couldn't really become a stain. When he needed this fame, it would be very simple to confirm. Something that could be done at any time, but there was no need to do it now. He didn't take such things to heart.

Among the external doubts, there were also rumors circulating about a Taoist priest reciting a poem that Ning Yi plagiarized. Not many people believed it. As for where it came from, it was naturally impossible to find out, but Ning Yi had expected this long ago. After hearing it, he just smiled indifferently.

Regarding the chalk, Kang Xian produced a batch of it in less than half a month after he mentioned it that day. The quality was quite good. Thus, the process of evolving from a whiteboard to a blackboard was completed in just over ten days. This made it much more convenient to teach. The specific results naturally couldn't be seen for the time being. His teaching process was still the same: reading, explaining, and telling stories. That was all. However, the increase in the children's enthusiasm for learning was obvious.

However, the lively atmosphere in the classroom was probably rare even in this era. The students liked it, but the teachers mostly shook their heads. Su Chonghua hinted again. This time, Ning Yi discussed with him for a while that this kind of teaching might have its benefits, and he didn't say anything more. Firstly, Ning Yi now had the title of a talented scholar, with the halo of the *Shui Diao Ge Tou*. He couldn't really manage him. Secondly, the academy hadn't been very effective all along. It couldn't get any worse, so he let him go and see what the results were.

He taught in the morning and walked around in the afternoon, or still went to Old Qin's place to play chess—of course, only when it wasn't raining.

Xiaochan still followed him most of the time, and also came to the academy to listen to his lectures—she liked Ning Yi's stories very much, all kinds of strange and weird stories. If she went back, she could boast to her two sisters. Ning Yi felt that she was following him even more closely, possibly at Su Tan'er's instruction. He had written a *Shui Diao Ge Tou*, and such things were conceivable. He was quite understanding of this and didn't mind.

Of course, what puzzled him was that his wife had probably found some reason to explain why he wrote that poem. Because in the first few days, there were quite a few scrutinizing gazes from her during meals. Later, it changed. She refocused on her work, the carriages coming and going every day. Her eating and talking returned to the way they were before. There was no more probing in her words. This made Ning Yi a little interested: what reason did she find and accept and understand it... It was really hard to grasp...

Besides these lives that were no different from before, Ning Yi would occasionally inquire about news about martial arts or internal energy. The Su family had a group of guards. It was said that someone had very good horizontal training, but it was only the level of hard Qigong in the modern army, capable of splitting bricks with their heads. As for the more magical internal energy, according to what he had heard so far, it should exist in this era. Some famous sect masters might have it, but it would be difficult to learn.

Ning Yi was only starting to collect information in this area—this was what he was most interested in. In this era, whether it was being an official, doing business, or rebelling, it was just a system that had already been played in modern times, interactions between people. Only martial arts, this had novelty. If he really had the opportunity, he really wanted to get in touch with internal energy or something—he only hoped it wasn't fake like in modern times. He wasn't greedy, for example, being able to jump about ten feet from the spot would be fine, of course... he wouldn't mind twenty feet either...

If you want to practice martial arts, you also need a good body. It's not very reliable to try to find a grand hero or something to teach him now. A down-to-earth approach is the right way. So, on clear mornings, the morning exercise continued, and the intensity was doubled according to the plan to achieve the maximum effect. Sit-ups, push-ups, long-distance running. A few days ago, when passing by the house where Nie Yunzhu lived, the woman wearing plain clothes stood there and saw him. When he ran closer, she gave a curtsy: "Young Master Ning."

Ning Yi was covered in sweat, panting heavily, barely managing a smile and waving his hand. He couldn't even utter the word "Hi"... and then... just ran past...

Leaving Nie Yunzhu standing there, stunned for a long time.

She had... finally made up her mind to come out and say hello...

**************

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