NOVPUBSima Yi and Sima Lang took the book to one side to read, and after opening it, they frowned. In the past, they had only read letters; indeed, letters conveyed profound meanings with few words. After all, writing a letter is very troublesome. If it was possible to save two words, they would never write an extra one, and if a sentence could be abbreviated, they would not add even half a word more.
As for whether this would cause ambiguity, the writers of the books didn’t care—it was up to the readers to understand. In later generations, eight out of ten schools of thought arose because different interpretations sprang from a single book, and they criticized each other, branching off independently.
Chen Xi naturally would not allow such a thing to happen. Moreover, it was not like carving on bamboo slips now; there was no need to be so concise. Hence, so much nonsense was added!
Naturally, such a book that didn’t adhere to the principle of profound meanings conveyed concisely caused Sima Yi and Sima Lang to frown profusely upon their first glance. Of course, Zhuge Liang and Zhuge Jin, who were also reading now, were doing about the same—all frowning. They didn’t know the concept of "padding," or they would have roared in anger about how the book is so padded with fluff, wondering if the writer was also full of fluff! Heaven knows if the author had poured his own "spirit" into the water, making himself all dried out!
However, the four Zhuges, being book lovers, naturally bore with their discomfort and finished reading the original book, ultimately concluding that the book was quite excellent. But the writer deliberately mixed in so much rubbish that it made one furious, and if you were not careful, you would miss out on the content.
"Opposition yet unity," Sima Yi murmured to himself. The books he had read before were summarized by this book with just this phrase.
"The rules of all things are logic," Zhuge Liang exclaimed as he closed the book, "Grasp the rules, and everything becomes simpler. So that’s how it is."
"Thick and thin, black and white, opposition and unity," Sima Lang felt a heartfelt connection with the book, feeling somewhat unsatisfied as if something was still missing.
"Internal and external, direct and indirect, essential and non-essential, certain and accidental, a variety of connections," Zhuge Jin closed the book and sighed, "Indeed, it is worthy of being called the treasure of the Library Pavilion."
Sima Lang and the others didn’t look at other books. They all needed some time to digest the shock to their hearts. They understood that the content of these books was genuine and more profound than the books they had read before. Except for the writer who liked to insert pointless talk, there was nothing else. But to these four, if it wasn’t for the author’s fondness for adding superfluous talk, these books wouldn’t have been dismissed as unimportant. Indeed, there’s always great talent that stands out from the crowd.
"Kongming, what are your thoughts?" Sima Yi asked as he looked at Zhuge Liang, who sat deep in thought by the table.
"Eliminate the fluff in it, and the book I read is enough to encompass all the books I’ve read," Zhuge Liang said with a sigh, "What about yours?"
"Mine is the same. I greatly admire the predecessor who wrote such a book, except for occasionally adding some irrelevant talk, everything else is good," Sima Yi said with a bitter smile, "I wonder whose secret collection this is."
"You four have done well. Now that you’ve finished reading the books, I’ll take them back. These books can’t be taken away. Do you want to make copies?" Second Miss Cai came over with a smiling face to ask as she saw that the four men had finished reading the books. She knew that she had also read many books like these, starting from initial shock to later becoming numbed by the bombardment, with only one thought: the writer of these books is truly broad in knowledge and learning.
"We have already memorized them, thank you, Miss Cai," Sima Lang said, bowing in thanks. He also understood that if it weren’t for meeting Second Miss Cai today, they would not have had the chance to be taught by such extraordinary books.
"..." Second Miss Cai was taken aback; she had always envied her sister’s photographic memory, and now here were four individuals with the same ability.
"By the way, may I ask Miss Cai, you mentioned earlier that these books are only better choices. Could you let us have a look at the superior volumes?" Sima Lang asked, instantly drawing the attention of the other three. The books they had been reading were only considered of medium quality; what could the superior ones contain?
"Oh, the superior volumes—haven’t you noticed that there are lots of pointless words in these books? Eliminate those words and redefine them, and that’s what makes the superior volumes. It’s all because of Chen Zichuan, the guy insisted on paying writers by the character, so the books we received later on all turned out like this," Second Miss Cai said, her face full of frustration.
In truth, Chen Xi had merely mentioned it casually, when he said that those willing to write books and print them here would be paid for their work according to its quality, by the character.
Recently, the books recorded by Fan Jian, who was also rather busy, didn’t undergo any special embellishing, naturally resulting in an excessive amount of nonsense within, and without being transformed into the profound and subtle orthodoxy, the end result in the eyes of Second Miss Cai very obviously seemed like the writer had a moment of lunacy and tried to swindle money.
Of course, Second Miss Cai admitted that even though the writer intentionally padded the content with a lot of nonsense, the material was still quite commendable and undoubtedly capable of enlightening the masses. But compared to the pure substance of previous works and the now superficially enriched content, it was a different matter altogether. Was this an attempt to swindle money?
All of a sudden, Miss Cai’s admiration for the other party plummeted dramatically. The talent was there, no question about that, but the integrity was profoundly lacking.
"Is this written by a contemporary?" Sima Lang asked in shock.
"Yes, it’s from someone who has lost all scruples for the sake of money. The person could’ve gained widespread respect by writing and making arguments in a proper manner, but instead chose to fill the work with nonsense, and now I have to remove that nonsense and recompile it," Second Miss Cai said, her face full of indignation.
After hearing this, Sima Lang was left speechless. How could such a person be lacking money? Just from reading that book, one could tell it was the work of a sage!
"Who knows, maybe the person simply loves money," Second Miss Cai said offhandedly. Her former admiration for this individual had been completely replaced by contempt for the watered-down content.
"Could Second Miss Cai inform us where this person resides?" Sima Lang asked earnestly, bowing formally. It would be a lifelong regret not to meet such an extraordinary individual.
"I don’t know where he lives. No one in Fenggao is aware of his whereabouts, and of course, nobody knows how he collects the money either," Second Miss Cai said with a deep hatred for the mysterious, as any admirer would be helpless before such an enigma.
Sima Lang, observing Miss Cai’s expression, knew she wasn’t lying, which meant this person was a hermit, and furthermore, one who did not wish to be known by anyone.
"Alas, to miss the chance of meeting such a remarkable person," Sima Lang lamented, while Zhuge Jin and the others nodded in agreement with deep feelings.
"Stop the regret; they’re about to close. If you continue to hang around here, the city management officers will chase you out. My sister can call upon five squads of city management at any time," Second Miss Cai warned them.
"Thank you, Miss Cai," the four men bowed to Second Miss Cai, "We’ll take our leave now."
Once they had left the main entrance, Sima Lang started to converse with Zhuge Liang, and soon the two reached an agreement - to write down the books they and their brothers had read from memory and exchange them with each other, in hopes of gaining some additional wisdom.
"Zhongda, what do you make of Mount Tai?" Sima Lang inquired.
"A treasure location, but sadly not suited for me. I must travel the world in search of my lord. Liu Xuande is not the one for me," Sima Yi said with a sigh of regret, "It’s a pity for these books, though. My brother must feel the same way."
"Indeed, Liu Xuande is truly blessed by the heavens," Sima Lang sighed ruefully as he looked back at the Library Pavilion, "With this treasure at hand, the flourishing of letters is imminent!" (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, please visit qidian.com to cast your recommendation and monthly votes. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please go to m.qidian.com to read.)
