Late Qing Dynasty Executioner

Chapter 11 Sir
In the afternoon, Liu Er finally woke up, went out for a walk, brought back a cabbage, cooked a meal, and asked Chen Ku to eat with him.

"You will go to the sour scholar later. After having your daily snack, you will go and study with the sour scholar!" Liu Er said after putting down his chopsticks after finishing his meal.

"Study?" Chen Gu was a little surprised. No wonder Liu Er spent two silver coins to treat Suan Xiucai to a drink yesterday. It was actually for him to study. "Are you going to make me take the imperial examination?"

"You?" Liu Er gave Chen Gu a strange look. "Forget about taking the imperial examination. Just learn a few words, know how to behave in society, and learn a little arithmetic, so that you won't be cheated when you buy things in the future."

"Okay!" Chen Gu nodded. Chopping wood all day was too tiring, and it was unnecessary. It would be nice to take a break and read. "What should I do with the remaining wood?"

"I'll help you chop some in the next few days, and then you can speed up on your own!" Liu Er said.

Chopping wood is not only to hone Chen Gu's beheading skills and build up his strength, but also to please the ten major families, so the three hundred kilograms of firewood cannot be stopped every day.

After packing up the pots and pans, Chen Gu went out and came to the house of Suan Xiucai.

The Suan Xiucai's family lives in the south city, but compared to Liu Er's family who lives on the edge of the west city district, the Suan Xiucai's family is much closer to the city center.

The closer to the city center, not only is the transportation more convenient, but it is also safer. After all, cities in this era have walls, and once a war breaks out, the city walls will be the primary target of attack.

The woman hesitated for a moment, and finally said, "Call me Master's Wife!"

The woman's attitude towards Chen Gui was obviously very cold, but Chen Gui came here to study, and in order to avoid being treated with less cold words in the future, he had to build good relationships with the people in this house.

"Studying?" The woman inside asked in surprise, "Wait a minute!"

A wealthy woman appeared in front of Chen Gu. Although she was wearing a coarse cloth, the clothes were not old and there was no pudding on them. After taking a look at Chen Gu, she said, "Come in!"

The catapults of the past and the artillery shells of today, if they cross the city wall, will basically attack the edge of the city. If the war is urgent, the houses on the edge of the city may be demolished by the soldiers defending the city in order to obtain stones, wood and other supplies for defending the city.

Of course, there are exceptions sometimes, such as Dingshan in Jiangjin County, where rich people live.

Chen Gui first straightened his clothes, trying to make himself look more pleasing to the eye, and then knocked on the door.

Therefore, those who live in the city center are rich people, while those on the outskirts of the city are mostly slums.

After entering the door, Chen Gu discovered that there was actually a foyer inside, and further inside was a courtyard house. The building materials were also brick and tile structure, and the wood used for the beams, columns, doors and windows was very solid.

In ancient times, becoming a disciple and studying was very particular. Even if it was just learning a few simple words and arithmetic, it was after all the first time, so one had to leave a good impression.

"May I ask what your name is, Auntie?"

This wait made Chen Gu wait for a long time, but fortunately the door was finally opened.

"Who is it?" a woman's voice sounded.

This is much better than Liu Er's small courtyard and row of small tiled houses.

"I am Chen Gu from Liu Er's family in Xicheng. I am here to study with you, sir!" Chen Gu replied.

"It turned out to be the teacher's wife in person. I am sorry for being rude!" Chen Gu bowed solemnly.

"Let's skip the red tape. This old man is not qualified to accept students." The woman said a little irritably.

"Master's wife, you are worrying too much. Even if you are not qualified to accept students, you are still qualified to accept an apprentice!" Chen Gu said with a smile. To be serious, ordinary scholars are not qualified to accept students. Only the imperial school officials can accept students. The lowest level is the county teacher.

However, if a scholar accepts students, he can also help his students obtain a student status, and only with a student status can the students take part in the imperial examinations.

Leaving the hallway, the woman pointed to a room next door and said, "Go in and wait. The old man will be here soon."

The row of houses in front of the courtyard entrance hall is called the back house. Opposite is the main house where the owner of the house lives. Facing south and north, the east side is the east wing where the son lives, and the west side is the west wing where the daughter lives.

Generally, guest rooms are also on the west side, so there are literary works such as Romance of the West Chamber, which tells the story of the guest and the host's daughter.

The two sides of the entrance hall are called "juku", which means places for studying, like private schools.

Just from looking at this courtyard house, it can be seen that Suan Xiucai's family was indeed wealthy in the past, but now he has become a coroner and no one knows what exactly happened to him.

However, this gave Chen Gu this opportunity, otherwise Chen Gu would not be qualified to enter the home of the sour scholar.

After entering the school room, Chen Gu looked around the furnishings inside. There were some very old furniture, but it was very clean. There were many books on the bookcase next to it, and it was obvious that people often read them.

After a while, the sour scholar came in, and Chen the Assassin saluted and said, "Assassin, hello, sir!"

The sour scholar nodded and asked, "Do you have a courtesy name?"

"No!" Chen the Assassin shook his head and followed the sour scholar's meaning and said, "Please give me a name, sir!"

"The word '彈' means to cut off or to open. How about 'Prajna'?" asked the sour scholar, and then he took a brush, dipped it in ink and wrote the word 'Prajna' on the paper.

The pronunciation of Prajna is "Boja", which is a Sanskrit word meaning wisdom. When combined with Chen Kui's name, it can be extended to mean breaking through wisdom.

Generally, there must be a connection between a courtesy name and a given name. From this point of view, this courtesy name is not wrong.

But are courtesy names so wild nowadays?

Use Sanskrit directly to choose the epithet.

But Chen Gu didn't care. He bowed respectfully and said, "Thank you for the calligraphy, sir?"

"Do you know the meaning of Prajna?" asked the sour scholar with a smile on his face.

"I don't know!" Chen Gu shook his head and then said, "But I have heard of Prajnaparamita."

"Haha, it's this Prajna Paramita. It's the name of a Buddhist scripture. The full name is Prajna Paramita Heart Sutra, a very interesting Buddhist scripture." The sour scholar's smile became even more intense.

Chen Gu couldn't help but narrow his eyes. It was undeniable that there were indeed many people who believed in Buddhism in this era, but in Sichuan during this era, in addition to normal believers, there was also a group of cultists.

That is the White Lotus Sect. Compared with other gangs such as the Tiandihui, the Caobang, and the Gelaohui, which were formed for self-protection, the White Lotus Sect can definitely be regarded as a cult.

The White Lotus Sect already existed during the Yuan Dynasty. Their mission was to drive out the Mongol rulers and restore the Han territory, so they often incited the people to rebel.

It sounds very high-sounding, but they also rebelled during the Ming Dynasty, and continued to rebel during the Qing Dynasty, which is a bit problematic.

(End of this chapter)