Mizi Yue glanced across the room and spotted Wen Mingye. He took a few more glances at him and shifted his gaze.
"Esteemed young men and young ladies I'm honored to be your teacher. I'm Mizi Yue but you can simply call me Mizi gongzi or Sir Mizi,"Mizi Yue spoke eloquently.
Mizi Yue had a face that everyone wouldn't get bored of looking at it be it men or women.
" Before we start how about we expand our social circles by introducing ourselves briefly?Just your surname and given name is enough no need for honorary or family titles because since we're seated in the same lecture hall, learning the same thing and being by taught the same person we're all equal."
The introduction began with Wen Xiang who was busy fanning herself. Wen Xiang's study buddies included Jinxiu Zhi who sat beside her in the first row,Jiang Li and Lianhua Feng who sat behind them, Yingtao Hua and Xuehua Ling who occupied the third row and finally Yunhe Xing and Yu Qianyue who occupied the last row.
Wen Hai's study buddies included Jiang Bihai Chen who sat beside him,Tushan Yu and Tushan Lu who occupied the second row, Qingyun Ge and Xiao Rui who occupied the third row and finally Wen Mingye and Ye Xingchen who occupied the last row.
On the girls' column Wen Xiang, Jiang Li, Yingtao Hua and Yunhe Xing sat adjacent to the hallway while on the boys' column Wen Hai,Tushan Yu,Xiao Rui and Ye Xingchen were the ones who sat adjacent to the hallway.
"Interesting names. Today we will just do a brief introduction on what we will be learning. "
Before he introduced the course outline he elaborated the what the timetable entailed verbally and what they were supposed to. On Mondays they would learn literature ,music and instrumentals on Tuesdays,Art and Painting on Wednesdays, Political Science on Thursdays and lastly needlework on Fridays for the girls.
" Before we begin I would like to pose a simple conundrum."
The students looked at each other in confusion especially Wen Hai as if he had spoken jargon. Mizi Yue smiled at how flustered the students looked simply after hearing one complex word from him. He took the chance to elaborate the meaning of conundrum in simpler terms.
"A conundrum is simply a question or a riddle or a puzzle that is asked for amusement. In our case our conundrum is a question. What are the Four Treasures of Study?" Mizi Yue posed a question after explaining the meaning of conundrum.
"Four Treasures of Study?" The students began brainstorming.
"Does that mean the valuable things we need to used when studying?" Jiang Bihai Chen asked.
"Correct."
"Does books count?"
"That sounds a little vague but it would be better you mention something more specific."
"Something more specific? Do we need to mention a specific book?"Jiang Bihai Chen asked further as his curiosity became aroused even more.
Mizi Yue was enjoying playing with Jiang Bihai Chen's mind. Jiang Bihai Chen didn't seem to give up. He looked interested and ready to find the right answer.
"As our friend here keeps brainstorming,does someone else have another answer?"
"Paper ,"Wen Mingye decided to spoil the fun by suddenly providing the correct answer which was related to Jiang Bihai Chen's answer.
"That was so simple how come I didn't think of it?"Jiang Bihai Chen spoke in disappointment.
"Well there are others you can think of,"Mizi Yue smiled warmly boosting Jiang Bihai Chen's morale.
"We need a writing brush when studying,"Jiang Bihai Chen beamed a smile in confidence.
"Right. Our esteemed ladies,one of you can give us one."
The girls stared at each other completely lost.
"Inkstone,"Jinxiu Zhi spoke after a while.
"Ink stick ,"Yu Qianyue provided the final answer.
"As citizens under the Southern Blossom Dynasty,the writing brush or the pen is our sword. So you may all take out your Four Treasures of Study so we can introduce the lecture."
The students swiftly opened their Scholar's Chests and took out the necessary stationery.
"Today we are going to have a look at the Introduction to Southern Blossom Dynasty literature and under that we'll start by taking a look at the overview of the Southern Blossom Dynasty's literary history and the importance of literature in reflecting and shaping societal values,"Mizi Yue began.
One or two times during the lesson he took a few glances at Wen Mingye and each time their eyes met. Mizi Yue loved keeping his lectures short and precise because literature was complex and needed the students to stay active all the time to digest the content. After one and half hours he concluded the lesson and asked them to pass by the table to register their names. Everyone hesitated like they were waiting for someone to make the first move. The atmosphere in the room suddenly became tense with Mizi Yue staring at them in a daze and them staring back at him and looking down with nervousness. When he first entered the lecture hall they all thought Mizi Yue was gentle and approachable but suddenly now they felt this wasn't the case. The girls were backward in coming forward because they thought it was too tense to breathe in the same space as him.
"Seems like you're all trying to decide who will come up first. I'm sure if I appoint one of you randomly to take a record of your names then it will be easy ."
The students' face suddenly brightened up in anticipation of who Mizi Yue would choose to register the names. Wen Xiang suddenly made a silent move by simply fanning herself exaggeratively and when Mizi Yue's gaze landed on her,she smiled.
Mizi Yue's choice of the appointee was totally unpredictable and unexpected. He appointed Wen Mingye to everyone's surprise. They all expected him to choose Wen Xiang or at least someone of the fairer sex. No matter how fair Mizi Yue wanted to be all the time he still had to give Wen Hai his priority as the Crown Prince at times like this. After all the rest were merely study buddies not classmates and they were learning at the palace not in an imperial school.
"Since I have chosen a male student to take record of the names,I will give our ladies the priority to write their names after His Highness the Crown Prince."
"Brother,don't tell me you don't know how to write my name?"Wen Hai spoke loudly across the room and walked out arrogantly.