prominent scholars

cup and can(a bosom friend)

supercilious(hold one's nose in the air)

muddle headed

Grinding bricks into glass

One's complexion is clear as jade.

argue/debate before the emperor in court

crack lice and chat

barely enough(after a manner)

All over the sky

The people are the root of a country.

Overspread

the whole audience is silent

grind the ink and dip a writing brush in it

one's circumstances in old age(the evening of one's life)

look clean and pretty

lit. the rice has already been cooked (idiom)​, fig. what is done cannot be undone

an expression on the face

boundless sea of hardship

look clean and pretty