Imperial henchmen? My divine skills are all hacked versions.

"elder brother!"

Hearing the familiar voice, Xu Xian turned his head and saw a figure rush into his arms and snuggle up to him.

Xu Xian snapped out of his daze and breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness, that scared me..."

Yang Xu stood up with a sigh of relief, "It's good that you're awake. I almost thought I was going to be feasting at your house..."

Xu Xian rolled his eyes at him speechlessly, "Children's words are innocent, may they bring you good fortune..."

He glanced around the room, looked at the thin-faced middle-aged scholar before him, and then at the white-haired old man standing at the door. Understanding dawned on him. He immediately pulled the head away from his arms, got out of bed, and clasped his hands in greeting to Master Meng.

"Thank you so much for saving my life, sir."

"No need to thank me. It is a harmful and evil art, and we Confucianists will naturally intervene when we encounter it."

Master Meng waved his hand.

"Furthermore, the Inspection Division upholds the righteous path and has done many good deeds. It is only right and proper that they should be rescued. By the way, this is Dean Zhou of our academy."

Xu Xian turned to Dean Zhou and clasped his hands in thanks again. "Thank you for taking me in, Dean Zhou. I am Xu Xian, a junior officer of the Chief Inspector. I have come to Qingzhou to assist in the investigation of the governor's family massacre by order of Lord Mo Feichang."

Dean Zhou chuckled, "Young Master Xu is a promising young man; he can recuperate at the academy for two days."

  

"Thank you for your kindness, Dean, but there's no need for that kind of recuperation..."

A thought flashed through Xu Xian's mind, and he cupped his hands in greeting.

"This poisoning was entirely due to my opponent's sneak attack using Gu poison. If another Gu cultivator were to strike, I fear I would be powerless to resist. Since the Confucian Academy was able to save me, they must have a way to counteract the Gu poison. I earnestly request that the Confucian Academy send a disciple to assist the Investigation Department in handling this case!"

Dean Zhou was taken aback and looked Xu Xian up and down.

"Confucianism transcends worldly affairs, aiming at education and promoting the rites and laws of the sages, rarely participating in mundane matters..."

Xu Xian was startled and was about to speak again when Dean Zhou raised his hand to stop him.

"However, the academy is located on land designated by the imperial court, and many of its alumni serve in the court. It cannot disobey the court's orders. Lord Xu, what kind of helpers would you like to invite?"

Xu was taken aback. "Helpers are divided into different levels?"

Everything has a price...

The dean chuckled and held up his finger.

"If Lord Xu is not suited to Confucianism, then I will give you an ordinary student, instructing him to deal with things as he pleases and to run away at the first sign of danger. He will probably be of limited help..."

Xu Xian's lips twitched. "What a coincidence?"

"If Lord Xu is destined to be a disciple of Confucianism, he will give you a first-rate disciple. Within your duties, you should do your best. So, who you can invite depends on your own ability."

What does it mean to be destined to meet?

"Come with me."

Dean Zhou turned and walked out.

Xu Xian followed behind, and Yang Xu also stood up, wanting to follow, but Xu Xian raised his hand to stop him.

"You stay here and watch over my sister. I'll be right back."

Hua Xi sat on the chair, holding the tortoise, and was pulling on the tortoise's four claws with her little hands. The tortoise was getting annoyed by her pulling. When she heard Xu Xian speak, she immediately giggled and said, "Brother, go ahead. I'll be good."

Xu Xian smiled, turned around and followed.

After passing through several corridors and several lecture halls from which the sound of reading aloud could be heard, we arrived at a quiet backyard.

There is only one stone tablet in the courtyard, about the height of a person, with a large character "善" (goodness) carved on its surface.

The characters are simple and elegant, with a gentle and smooth brushstroke, as if written with an extremely soft brush, yet they penetrate the stone deeply.

Several clumps of bamboo were planted around the stone tablet, their leaves swaying gently in the morning light.

"This is the Stele of Virtue, the foundation upon which the academy was founded..."

Dean Zhou smiled and said,

"The stele bears the spirit left by the third-generation Confucian sage, a thought left behind by the sage when he lectured here... The sages said that human nature is inherently good, hence this stele was left behind..."

"It means that people are born with a heart that is inclined to goodness. After cultivating their hearts, they can have great benevolence and wisdom. The Confucian virtues of benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom and trustworthiness all begin with goodness. The principles of heaven and earth are also learned from goodness. Xu Xiaoqi only needs to look at the words on the stone tablet to know whether there is a connection."

Xu Xian circled the stone tablet twice, only seeing the character "善" (goodness) on the front, and nothing else.

He sat cross-legged in front of the monument, gazing intently at the character "善" (goodness).

Two breaths later, the stone tablet shone brightly, and with a loud bang in my mind, the scene before my eyes suddenly changed.

He was no longer sitting in front of the stone tablet in the backyard, but was in a vast white space with water beneath his feet, as smooth as a mirror.

Above my head was emptiness, and white light shone from all directions.

In front of me was a table with a pot of tea and two teacups on it.

Across from me sat a young man, dressed in a scholar's robe and turban, his face indistinct but his demeanor gentle and refined.

When he spoke, his voice seemed to come from all directions at once.

What is a person?

Xu was stunned for a moment.

He had expected to witness some strange sight, such as a golden saint descending from the sky, or bamboo slips automatically opening and reciting scriptures.

The result is a blurry holographic projection discussing philosophical questions.

This was completely different from the "destined connection" he had envisioned.

"Humans are the heart of heaven and earth, the origin of the five elements, born from food, taste, sound, and color... At birth, human nature is inherently good..."

Xu Xian's lips twitched. Well, so he's starting to recite the Three Character Classic?

The young man began by saying that humans are born with compassion, shame, humility, and a sense of right and wrong, and that if someone saw a child about to fall into a well, everyone would instinctively reach out to pull them out...

Xu Xian was completely confused, so he simply sat down, propping his head up with his hand out of boredom, his mind processing the information from the case...

The consensus is that Chinese language classes are for other things.

After listening for an unknown amount of time, the young man suddenly stopped.

"You are not suited to Confucianism and Taoism."

Xu Xian was taken aback, then jumped up in a panic, "Sir, I'm very intelligent! I've also studied Confucianism and Taoism extensively! Really!"

"What kind of research?"

"Forehead..."

Xu Xian blinked. "Ren means being kind to others, yi means being loyal, li means being polite, zhi means being intelligent, and xin means keeping one's word..."

"You are all just clever talkers and rote recitations. You are imitating the form of Confucianism, but it is not your true self. Not a single word you just said was something you realized for yourself."

Mr. Xu was furious. He hated this vague and uninformed way of choosing a destined person based on intuition. He immediately stood up and kicked over the teapot!

The teapot flew far away and crashed into the white space, not landing, but just floating in the air.

"Fine, you say human nature is inherently good, I'll say it's inherently evil! Anyway, you're so great, whatever you say is the truth! I lack the understanding, I have no affinity with your Confucianism..."

"If you lack comprehension, then you lack comprehension! Let me out of here! I have matters to attend to! There's a family annihilation case waiting for me in Qingzhou!"

He turned around and went to look for the exit, but after searching for a long time, he saw nothing but a vast expanse of white.

The young man behind him suddenly spoke.

What does it mean to say that human nature is inherently evil?

Xu Xian paused, tilted his head to look at the young man for a moment, and the young man was also looking at him.

He turned around and sat cross-legged on the ground, Xunzi's entire set of arguments flashing through his mind.

In my past life, when I was studying criminal psychology at the police academy, my teacher used Xunzi's theory of the inherent evil of human nature as the opening, saying that human aggression, possessiveness, and deceptive tendencies all have a biological basis.

He reviewed the content of that lesson and began to speak.

"Humans are born with a desire for profit. When this desire is allowed to develop, competition arises, and humility disappears..."

"Humans are born with a sense of hatred for evil. If this hatred is allowed to develop, it will lead to cruelty, and loyalty and trust will disappear..."

"Humans are born with desires of the senses. If these desires are indulged, promiscuity will arise, and propriety, morality, and reason will disappear..."

"Therefore, human nature is inherently evil—goodness is the result of acquired education and upbringing!"

"It is precisely because human nature is inherently evil that sages are needed to establish rites and morals to restrain human nature, teachers are needed to impart morality to educate human nature, and laws are needed to punish evil deeds to deter human nature."

"If human nature is inherently good, what's the point of having these things?"

Seeing that the other person didn't speak, he continued.

"You say that human nature is inherently good, then let me ask you—why did the Gu master in the dye house who turned children into Gu soldiers not do good? Why did he commit so many wrongdoings?"

"Because they simply followed their greed, and no one cared or punished them, they ended up like that... So you could say it's human nature's inherent desire; if desires aren't restrained, they turn into evil!"

Your theory of the inherent goodness of human nature describes an ideal person who cultivates themselves and exercises self-discipline... I respect that ideal, but real people need propriety and law.

After listening, the young man remained motionless and silent for a very long time.

After a while, Xu began to suspect that the holographic projection had crashed, when the man suddenly spoke.

"Your heart does not believe in goodness, which is precisely why you are not destined for Confucianism and Taoism. Confucianism is based on goodness, and since you do not believe in goodness, you are naturally not destined for my Tao."

He paused, then continued, "But you have grasped the principle that 'etiquette and law should not be neglected,' which has greatly inspired me. You are worthy of being called my teacher."

The man stood up and bowed slightly, not as a sage giving instructions from a high position, but as a peer bowing with hands clasped.

"Fellow Daoist, please rise. Although you are not a Confucian disciple, you are an honored guest and a friend of the Confucian school."