Xue Yao was seated on Wen Mingye's seat in Tianming Hall. He had cracked a handful of walnuts open and placed them in a bowl. Wen Mingye walked in and was delighted to see the walnuts. As old as he was,Wen Mingye still had trouble cracking walnut shells open therefore Xue Yao being the caring and loyal attendant as he always was,he took the initiative to crack them open beforehand inorder to be at par with Wen Mingye's speed of eating walnuts. Wen Mingye munched the walnuts faster than chicken pecking grains.
"Your Highness slow down,you'll get choked."
"These walnuts taste better than the ones you bought last time,"Wen Mingye spoke slowing down his chewing process.
"By the way Your Highness,I saw others arrive late today for the lecture.Did that Mizi gongzi give them an earful?"
Wen Mingye snorted,"Him? With his level of clemency what can he do? He and Master Zhuang are like those officers at the Ministers of Justice who play good cop and bad cop during interrogations. They play good teacher and bad teacher."
"Good teacher and bad teacher? What do you mean?"
"Sir Mizi plays the good teacher who gently reminds us to adhere to the rules while Master Zhuang plays the bad teacher who administers rules strictly,"Wen Mingye explained.
"Your Highness,so you mean they are using the good teacher and bad teacher strategy to make sure you comply with the rules?"
"Exactly,"Wen Mingye replied confidently.
"You Highness you're so smart . You can even see through them,"Xue Yao smiled proudly.
Five year old Wen Mingye stood a few meters from Yuhua Hall biting the walnut shells arduously with his delicate tiny teeth but he could only crack them in small pieces which got stuck between his teeth. The more he tried to crack them open the more the pieces got stuck. In a moment of anger,he dropped a number of walnuts and stepped on them and crashed them hoping to get the desired results. The cracked walnuts had already been mixed with dirt and they were no longer edible. A boy of the similar age approached him. The boy had been watching him struggle with the walnuts all along.
"Hey ,let me help you,"the approaching kid extended his hand to reach for the walnuts kept in a small bag Wen Mingye was carrying.
Wen Mingye yanked the bag away and responded in hostility,"Who are you?"
"My name is Jinxiu Shan. I came here to the Imperial Palace with my father to see his Royal Majesty and so I decided to take a walk."
"Ooh,"Wen Mingye replied bluntly,his facial expression slowly becoming a bit friendly.
"You're Crown Prince Wen Mingye,right?" young Jinxiu Shan asked with a friendly smile.
"Presumptuous! How dare you address me by my full name?"Wen Mingye switched back to hostility mode.
"If you feel offended I can address you by your Royal title. I saw you struggle with the walnuts so if your Highness you don't mind I can help you with it."
Wen Mingye slowly moved the bag to a position where Jinxiu Shan could reach them. Jinxiu Shan dipped his hand in the bag and picked a few walnuts. With his fingers,he swiftly cracked the shells open and gave the walnuts to Wen Mingye who stuffed them into his mouth greedily.
"You're amazing,"Wen Mingye complimented him.
"Do you want to become my friend? A lot of things come along with being my friend,"Jinxiu Shan proposed proudly.
"Fine. I will be your friend so you can always crack the walnuts open for me,"Wen Mingye agreed.
Wen Mingye was enjoying his dream when he woke up due to Xue Yao constantly calling him out and shaking him vigorously to wake up. The room was bright due to the sun rays that penetrated inside. Wen Mingye sprung up from bed,it was eight in the morning. He was definitely late for the lecture. He quickly prepared himself,picked up his Qin and left.
When he arrived,the class was in session. He simply knocked and got in.
"Yesterday I insisted that you shouldn't be late. Xingchen help your desk mate carry his seat and desk to the front,"Mizi Yue spoke jokingly but he was serious about it. The students were confused by Mizi Yue's words at first but when he signalled Wen Mingye to occupy the space at the front of the hallway in between Wen Hai and Wen Xiang, they knew he meant what he had said.
"Your Highness please,"Mizi Yue insisted with courtesy.
Wen Mingye had no choice but to obey him. The position he occupied made him the center of attention and he could feel everyone watching at him.
That day Mizi Yue talked about and demonstrated the fundamental techniques of the Qin which included plucking, strumming and vibrato.
He then introduced three sounds they were supposed to master,the San or open sound where strings were plucked without being stopped,Fan or harmonics where strings were lightly touched at certain points to create bell-like sounds and An or stopped strings where the strings were pressed firmly to change the pitch.
"We're going to start the actual playing of the sounds. I will demonstrate it so you can try playing on your own,"Mizi Yue explained as he started with the demonstration of the San sound by playing a simple piece.
"Your Highness, please play us your piece,"Mizi Yue addressed Wen Mingye with a playful look on his face.
Every time Mizi Yue demonstrated the sounds he asked Wen Mingye to play it first before the others. It was some sort of punishment, pressure and torture technique to punish Wen Mingye for being late.
"Tomorrow we'll have our art class ,a quick reminder again;do not neglect the rules." Having said that,he bid them goodbye and left.
Due to the constant torture,Wen Mingye was in a bad mood so he left the hall first without returning his seat and desk to their usual position. He stormed into Tianming Hall and almost pushed Xue Yao who was standing at the door to the ground. Xue Yao followed him in immediately.
"Your Highness what is wrong?"
"Nothing."
"Your Highness,did something happen at the lecture hall?"
"That Sir Mizi tortured and humiliated me like hell,"Wen Mingye ranted,"Your Highness please play us your piece,"he continued ranting while mimicking Mizi Yue.
"Your Highness,it seems like you were wrong about the good teacher and bad teacher strategy after all," Xue Yao spoke in a low fearful and sarcastic tone hitting the nail on the head.
"Yes I was wrong. They are using the worse teacher and bad teacher strategy instead,"Wen Mingye admitted angrily.