The Flirtatious Prince and His Savage Concubine

Lu Lingxi walked in front at first, but soon when he reached a fork in the road, he realized that he had no idea how to get to the study. Then he remembered to let Chunhong lead the way and Liulu walk at the end.

It took about ten minutes to walk to the study. Along the way, Lu Lingxi saw that the Zhenguohou Mansion was quite large, especially the garden in the middle, which had an artificial lake, a pavilion by the lake, a rockery, and even a small bridge, as well as many flowers and trees. Lu Lingxi only took a quick look and thought it was beautiful. He also sighed that the original owner's family was really grand and wealthy. In the modern era where every inch of land is worth a lot of money, only the super-rich can have such a garden.

When Lu Lingxi arrived at the study, the teacher was already waiting in the room, Chunhong and Liulu were waiting outside the door. Lu Lingxi went into the study alone.

After meeting the teacher, Lu Lingxi stood up straight, imitated the ancient costume dramas, clasped his hands, with the right hand on top and placed on the left side of his waist, leaned forward slightly, and bent his knees. He said respectfully: "Hello, teacher, I am late, please don't blame me." I don't know if this etiquette is correct.

Seeing this, the master thought that Miss Lu's attitude was quite acceptable and did not make a fuss about it. "It's not too late. I came early. Miss Lu, please take a seat."

After Lu Lingxi sat down, the master said seriously: "Today is the first time that I meet Miss Lu. Let me introduce myself first. My surname is 'Yan' and my name is 'Wencheng'. From now on, Miss Lu can call me Master Yan. I heard that Miss Lu has followed several masters before. I wonder how Miss Lu is doing?"

How is your study going? This puzzled Lu Lingxi. She didn't know how teaching was done in ancient times, how to clearly distinguish the level of learning, and even didn't know where to start. So she said timidly, "Master Yan, I hit my head a few days ago and lost my memory. I don't know how my study is going."

Master Yan had heard rumors about Miss Lu before, saying that she didn't attend class seriously and drove away several teachers. Now she said she had lost her memory, so she probably didn't learn anything. So he stroked his long white beard and said, "In that case, I will teach you from the beginning, listen carefully."

Master Yan did not wait for Lu Lingxi to answer, and began to lecture on his own, "Today I will explain the Three Character Classic to Miss Lu. The first sentence is: When a person is born, his nature is good. Natures are close, but habits make them different. This sentence means: when people are born, they are good and kind, but because of the different acquired learning environments during the growth process, their temperaments have differences in good and bad. For example, if you were born in a family of military generals, you would think that people who practice martial arts are heroic and good. But if you were born in a family of civil officials, you would think that those who are knowledgeable are more elegant, and those who practice martial arts are more rude. In fact, when a child is just born, he cannot distinguish between good and bad. It is the living environment that slowly changes a person's thoughts and personality. Miss Lu, do you understand?"

Lu Lingxi really felt that starting from the "Three Character Classic" was a bit boring. Although she was not a top student in modern times, she had also gone through nine years of compulsory education, and she could understand the "Three Character Classic" and other things. Master Yan saw that she was a little absent-minded, so he specifically called her name.

When Lu Lingxi heard Master Yan specifically call out his name, he immediately sat up straight again and answered enthusiastically: "Master Yan explained it in great detail. I understand it. I can recite the rest of the Three Character Classic and understand it pretty well."

"Oh? Miss Lu, do you mean that you already know how to do it, so you don't want to learn anymore?"

"No, no, Master Yan, it's like this. After I lost my memory, I can understand most of these articles, but I don't recognize many characters. So I want to ask Master Yan to teach me how to read. Otherwise, Mr. Yan can teach me calligraphy directly, so that I can recognize characters and practice writing. Let's start with the Three Character Classic."

After hearing what Lu Lingxi said, Master Yan stroked his beard, thought for a moment and said, "That's good. Someone, bring me some writing brush, ink, paper and inkstone."

Chunhong, who was outside the door, heard Master Yan's voice and immediately replied, "Yes, we will get it right away."

Not long after, just over twenty minutes, Chunhong and Liulu came back, spread out the rice paper for Master Yan and Lu Lingxi, put away the writing brushes, ink and inkstone, and then went out again, waiting for instructions at the door.

Lu Lingxi felt a little worried when she held the brush. Nowadays, people use hard pens, and it would be too difficult for her to write with a soft brush. She didn't know where to start.

Just as she was looking left and right with the brush in her hand, Master Yan also saw her embarrassment and taught her: "First, hold the brush with your index finger and thumb. Make sure the brush is placed on the first knuckle of your index finger. The first knuckle of your index finger and thumb hold the brush together. This is the basis for holding the brush, but you cannot hold it firmly with just these two fingers. Next, wrap your middle finger around it. Pay attention to the way you wrap it so that the brush is between the first and second knuckles of your middle finger. In this way, you can basically hold the brush firmly with three fingers."

Lu Lingxi followed every step Master Yan said and behaved very well and obediently. Master Yan nodded with satisfaction to see how Lu Lingxi was learning and continued to teach her how to hold a pen.

"When writing calligraphy, your fingers need to be very flexible. Just holding it steady is not enough. Now use your index and middle fingers to pull the brush back. The ring finger and little finger will naturally hold the brush. This way, the brush will be more stable. This method can make the brush easier to control, and you can also use more force with your fingers."

Lu Lingxi felt that he could really control this soft brush. He couldn't help but imagine how the masters he had seen wrote calligraphy. He gestured casually in the air and felt that he could also become a master of calligraphy.

Master Yan interrupted her dream of becoming a master at the right time: "It is not enough to feel that you can control the brush. When we write, our hands are very flexible. It is not enough to just be stable. Now try to push your ring finger outwards, together with your middle finger, index finger and thumb, to take the brush away, leaving only your little finger motionless. Do you feel that it is both stable and flexible?"

Lu Lingxi moved his fingers according to Master Yan's instructions and felt pretty good. Hearing Master Yan asking him questions, he nodded vigorously, "Yeah! Master Yan's explanation is very good, every step is very accurate."

Master Yan nodded and replied, "Okay, this is the basic pen-holding posture. The index finger, middle finger, ring finger and thumb are used to control the brush stably and flexibly. The little finger does not move to provide support when writing strokes downwards. In this way, the five fingers have clear division of labor. Of course, it is not possible to write well just by learning to hold a pen. You must pay attention to practice more and don't be impatient."

"Okay, Master Yan."

Master Yan saw that Lu Lingxi's gesture of holding the pen was acceptable, so he used a ruler to spread the rice paper flat and said: "Now I will teach you how to write. I will use the Three Character Classic. First, watch how I write, and then write it yourself."

In this way, Master Yan wrote and read at the same time. While Lu Lingxi was writing, Master Yan explained the meaning of the sentences. The teaching time of this morning passed quite quickly.

But when Master Yan carefully looked at the words written by Lu Lingxi, he couldn't help but frown. Miss Lu looked so serious and her pen-holding posture was completely fine, but the handwriting she wrote was not good enough. But Master Yan thought again, this is just the beginning, maybe with diligent practice, she can make some progress.

Lu Lingxi didn't think his handwriting was ugly. He was still enjoying the novelty of writing calligraphy when he heard Master Yan say, "It's getting late today. Let's go home first and continue tomorrow."

When Lu Lingxi heard this, he immediately stood up and bowed respectfully to Master Yan, "Master Yan, goodbye." He followed Master Yan out of the door and returned to Lingxi Garden with Chunhong and Liulu.