The younger brother of the First Emperor

Chapter 206 The Secret of Yin-Yang Theory

In the sixteenth year of King Jian of Qi, on the first day of the tenth month.

This day is the New Year of the Qin State.

It was also the third day since Ying Chengjiao returned to the Jixia Academy.

The residence of the chief academic officer of Jixia Academy.

Zou Yan looked at his only true disciple with a look of satisfaction and asked:
"Did you hear anything different today? Is the sky still crying?"

Zhao Xuanlang sat cross-legged with his five hearts facing the sky and his eyes closed.

The tear marks around his eyes were very obvious, like deep ruts.

That fat face was full of solemnity, without any childishness at all.

Like the gods of the nine heavens or the ghosts of the underworld, they act on behalf of heaven and reward the good and punish the evil.

The ten-year-old boy's nose and lips moved, making a sound like a rumbling bell:

"Still crying, but...seems to be laughing..."

Zou Yan stroked his white beard, nodded repeatedly, and gave instructions:

"To the west, all the way to the west, is the laughter getting louder and louder?"

Zhao Xuanlang remained silent and listened to his teacher.

After a moment, the expression on his fat face relaxed and a faint smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

He opened his eyes, his eyes were filled with joy, and he jumped for joy:
"Master! Heaven is smiling! Heaven is happy!
"Why is that? Why does the sky get happier the further west you go?"

Zou Yan raised his hand and touched his disciple's big round head:
"Because Qin is in the west, Qin is celebrating the New Year..."

The old man looked at his obedient disciple, with a struggle in his eyes, as if he couldn't make up his mind about something extremely difficult.

Zhao Xuanlang opened his eyes wide.

He propped himself up with his hands, knelt on the ground, and put his face in front of the teacher at close range.

A chubby finger poked the teacher's heart gently, and asked curiously and naively:
"The commander is here...here..."

Zhao Xuanlang lowered his head, his face full of confusion.

He tried to express what was on his mind in words, but at the age of ten he could not find the right words.

He frowned for a long time, and suddenly his brows relaxed.

He pointed his chubby finger at his chubby face and said excitedly:

"The commander looked at me just now!"

Zou Yan was moved by his disciple's innocence and was in a good mood, laughing out loud.

Others could not understand what his disciples said, but Zou Yan could:

“As a teacher, I won’t be entangled anymore.

"As a teacher, I have listened to God's will all my life. Before I die, I want to listen to your will as well as God's will."

Zou Yan supported his disciple and said sternly:

"Gongming.

"Do you want to be yourself, or do you want to act like a teacher and do things for God?"

Zhao Xuanlang blinked his eyes, shook his big head, and the flesh on his face twitched back and forth.

He couldn't understand.

Zou Yan smiled bitterly.

After staying with a child prodigy for a long time, he would always think that all the children in the world were like this child prodigy and could communicate normally with him, Zou Zi Zou Yan.

Tan Tianyan pondered for a moment and said:

"Do you still want to listen to the voice of heaven?"

"The voice of heaven..." Zhao Xuanlang's ignorant face suddenly showed emotions of joy, anger, sorrow and happiness.

The expression changed so quickly that Zou Yan was dazzled.

Zou Yan's expression changed slightly, and he shouted:
"Concentrate!"

[Gongming is still young! He has great talent! He has been exposed to too much of God's will and has lost himself!]
He thought in his heart and pointed out the brilliant stroke of last night.

This finger seemed to break the boundaries of time and space and arrived in an instant.

Zou Yan's fingers stayed an inch between Zhao Xuanlang's eyebrows.

Zhao Xuanlang grabbed the commander's fingers.

Zou Yan's face changed drastically.

"The commander has been captured." Zhao Xuanlang's eyes were confused, as if he was talking in his sleep: "I want to hear..."

"Gongming! Gongming! Gongming!" Zou Yan seemed not to hear his disciple's answer and called out loudly three times in succession.

During these three sounds, he mobilized the energy in his body and used Yin-Yang techniques to intensify the sound, creating an effect like a tiger's roar.

In the empty room, there is an echo.

Zhao Xuanlang's eyes quickly regained clarity.

I blinked and tears rolled down.

"Gongming." Zou Yan felt pain in his heart and asked softly, "Do you still remember who you are?"

"I remember." Zhao Xuanlang said loudly: "My name is Zhao Xuanlang, and my courtesy name is Gongming. I am the son of Zhao Dashu and a disciple of Zou Yan!"

It is impolite for a son to call his father by his first name or for a disciple to call his teacher by his first name.

In Qi State, especially in the Jixia Academy, other people would frown and scold when seeing this.

Zou Yan, who was the chief academic officer of the Jixia Academy, did not frown or scold.

The old man nodded repeatedly, laughed until tears came out, and choked up as he said:
"Yes, yes, Gongming is right. Gongming is not wrong."

The old man remembered his good friend Zhao Dashu's simple advice before he left:

"I'll leave the child in the hands of Zou Zi.

"Zou Zi has a request, and the Zhao Chamber of Commerce will grant it!"

I thought about how I had worked hard for God all my life.

The will of heaven that one perceives before death is still desolate and sad.

I remembered what a child prodigy said during a lecture:
“Everyone has their own path.

"I think it is immoral to impose your own path on others and force them to follow it."

The old man thought about a lot of things.

What I think about most is the desolate and sad will of heaven.

This had been the theme of Providence from the day he first perceived it.

"Gongming." The old man's lips trembled, his eyes full of self-blame: "Do you remember what you just said?"

Zhao Xuanlang shook his head, his fat head had no impression.

"You said... we have to leave it to God." The old man's fingers trembled.

In Zhao Xuanlang's hand, it touched the center of Zhao Xuanlang's eyebrows.

Zhao Xuanlang's eyes suddenly opened as wide as they could, bloodshot instantly appeared, and his black pupils turned red!

He screamed, his body tilted and he fell to the ground.

Zou Yan struggled to pick up his disciple, who weighed 250 kilograms, and placed him on his bed.

He wet the plain brocade towel, wiped away the long tear marks at the corners of Zhao Xuanlang's eyes, and used his fingers to smooth out the frown on his disciple's brows.

"I will help you keep your original intention for three years. You will listen to God's will for the future on my behalf." Zou Yan muttered to himself, blood oozing from the corner of his mouth: "I'm sorry, I chose the path for you..."

Zou Yan held onto the edge of the bed, struggled to get up, and staggered out of the house:
“New Year, new life.

“It rises in the east and sets in the west.

"The torch is passed on, it is God's will..."

In the evening, the moonlight shone faintly on the Jixia Academy and on Ying Chengjiao's house.

A man was dressed in white, with disheveled hair, like a ghost at night.

His movements were ghostly, erratic and unsteady, as if he had merged into the moonlight and was moving with the light.

"Knock knock knock~" He stood in front of the door of Ying Chengjiao's house and knocked heavily.

Although the sound was not loud, it could be heard from far away.

The black tiger lying in the yard opened its eyes, raised its head slightly on its two front paws, and faced the door.

There was a hint of intimacy in those genuine tiger eyes.

It slowly got up, bent its back, and walked towards the gate step by step.

Hu, who had been taking care of Ying Chengjiao's daily life and acting as the housekeeper of Ying Chengjiao's house, got up from the bed, frowned, and was very dissatisfied.

"Why are you coming at this time? How rude!" He complained while quickly putting on his clothes.

The "knock knock knock" sound rang out again, as if urging him to hurry up.

Hu, who was getting dressed as quickly as possible, was unhappy, but he still walked out of the room quickly, shouted "I'm coming", and trotted over.

After running just two steps, he was stunned.

[How did Black Tiger get there?]
He saw that the black tiger raised by his master had its lower limbs on the ground, its upper limbs lying on the door, and its head arching against the door.

He was afraid that the black tiger would really break the door and hurt the visitor, so he quickened his pace.

Before he had run three steps, a white shadow suddenly appeared in the courtyard, looking extremely cold under the shining silver moon.

"Sword Saint?" Hu called out in surprise and slowly stopped.

Although he always said that he was stupid, he had been a disciple of Gongsun Long for more than ten years, so he still had some common sense.

Both Black Tiger and Sword Saint are moving unusually, so the one coming must be different.

Gai Nie had no expression on his face and nodded at Hu:

“Go call the Master.

"I said run, and you ran!"

Hu was horrified.

Who is this person who can make Sword Saint Gai Nie prepared for defeat?
He nodded twice vigorously and ran into the house in a hurry.

As he ran, his logical thinking, which he had trained as a disciple of Gongsun Long for more than ten years, started to function automatically.

[If the person coming is an enemy, why would he knock on the door? This doesn’t make sense…]
The Sword Master's hand tightly grasped the hilt of the Chengying Sword, and there was an extremely rare seriousness in his eyes, as well as a hint of fear.

Huh, I don’t know who the person coming is, and the Sword Saint doesn’t know if it is a human.

In Gai Nie's perception, there was no one outside.

"Knock knock knock" the knock on the door sounded again...

Gai Nie dodged to the wall next to the gate.

Turning his head to look at the black tiger beside him, he felt more confident. This beast is now worth two Bai Wuxia.

The Sword Master shouted in a low voice:
"Who is outside?"

"Zou Yan." A voice came from outside the door: "Please see Master Cheng Jiao."

Gai Nie felt relieved, and all the fear he had left was gone.

Zou Yan's ability to conceal his breath was something he had witnessed when he was in the State of Yan. It was indeed superb.

As long as he is sure that it is a human coming, he will not be afraid.

The Sword Master loosened his grip on the hilt and gently patted Black Tiger on the back, signaling Black Tiger to leave first.

There was no way to open the door with such a huge black tiger lying on it.

The black tiger jumped down, took two steps back and stood aside, showing great human nature.

Gai Nie opened the door and saw Zou Yan, who was wearing white clothes like himself.

Zou Yan was now standing in front of him, but he still could not perceive Zou Yan.

"You came here late at night, this is the work of an evil guest." The Sword Master said in a bad tone.

"It is God's will." Zou Yan pointed to the sky and said softly.

Not long after, inside the house.

Ying Chengjiao climbed out of bed, rubbed his sleepy eyes, yawned, and sat on a mat made of animal skin.

In front of Ying Chengjiao was a table, and opposite the table was Zou Yan, who was also sitting on a animal skin mat.

The two sat opposite each other.

"Zou Zi." Ying Chengjiao was somewhat speechless: "You woke me up in the middle of the night to discuss the Dao. This is not a sign of etiquette in any way, right?"

"Don't you want to know how I know God's will?" Zou Yan's eyes were burning.

Ying Chengjiao's phoenix eyes lit up, and he was no longer sleepy. Even if he was not proficient in most of the knowledge of the various schools of thought, he could still give a general idea and understand the principles behind them.

But there were some subjects that he simply could not understand, such as Zou Yan's Yin-Yang theory.

The young man had always had a question that he couldn't figure out - how did Zou Yan guess that he would come to the Jixia Academy.

In the past, young people always believed that heaven, earth, gods and ghosts were superstitions and were tools used to rule and mislead the people.

Time travel made the boy believe in the existence of the soul.

The dream about his grandfather made the boy change his attitude towards ghosts and hope that people can really become ghosts after death.

Lu Zhonglian's awe-inspiring explanation of heaven, earth, gods and ghosts gave the young man a deeper level of reflection on the characteristics of the current era.

This seemingly absurd and backward information may have its inevitability.

"Zou Zi, are you ready to tell me?" The young man laughed, and his spirits instantly improved a lot: "I can't wait any longer."

The sky in Lu Zhonglian's eyes is to supervise and limit power.

So how would Zou Yan, who was known as Tan Tianyan and always said that he acted in accordance with the will of heaven, explain heaven?

What is the relationship between Zou Yan’s itinerary and heaven?

The boy was very excited, with a glittering look in his eyes.

"I'm not going to tell you." Zou Yan said.

Anger appeared on the young man's face. Just as he was about to speak, he heard Zou Yan's voice again:
"I'm going to let you see for yourself."

The boy suddenly felt a touch between his eyebrows, and then he saw a finger in front of him.

The fingers were warm, and the boy smiled and was about to say "What is this for?"

His eyebrows swelled and his vision suddenly became blurred, as if covered by a layer of mosaic.

The young man, who didn't know where he was or what situation he was in, heard two more shouts:
"Concentrate! Close your eyes!"

The boy closed his eyes and opened up a new world.

He felt a smell of corruption in front of him.

Like falling flowers, withering grass, and dying people.

Then, a feeling of worry and anxiety suddenly came without any warning, causing him to frown slightly.

Then, the smell of lust and indulgence rushed over like a river. The previous worries and anxieties were like a drop of water compared to a pond.

After that... desolation, sadness, and madness surged in, like the huge waves in the East China Sea!
One wave was higher than the other, one was faster than the other, hitting the young man on the ground, and he was sinking in the desolate and sad sea.

Unable to go ashore and unable to show up.

The boy's throat choked with sobs and tears welled up in the corners of his eyes.

It was unknown how long it took before the boy opened his eyes.

Zou Yan sat quietly opposite him, his arms at both sides of his body, sitting upright, as if he had never moved.

The young man was in a trance, not knowing whether what he just felt was a dream or reality.

He wiped his eyes and there were tears.

"Is this God's will?" the boy murmured.

Everything he felt was too unbelievable. He couldn't find any theoretical support for it based on what he had learned in his past and present lives. It was unscientific.

"This is God's will, cough cough." Zou Yan affirmed, clenched his fist and put it to his mouth and coughed twice: "What do you feel?"

The old man clenched his fist, caught the blood and placed it on his knees.

Ying Chengjiao rubbed the area between his brows where Zou Zi seemed to have pressed just now, and recalled:
“I felt the sense of desolation at first.”

"What happens next?" Zou Yan asked immediately.

This was the first time Ying Chengjiao felt Zou Yan's intention and there was nothing to say.

"After that? Worry and confusion."

"What happens next?" Zou Yan continued to ask.

This is the opinion of everyone in Ying Chengjiao's house, and there is nothing to say.

"Extravagant, obscene... No, Zou Zi, you're just going to keep asking, aren't you going to explain?" The boy was a little confused. Why don't you explain it?

Zou Yan looked out the window.

Outside the window of the house is a courtyard, outside the courtyard is the Jixia Academy, and outside the Jixia Academy is Linzi.

Linzi at night does not belong to ordinary people.

Belong to high-ranking officials, kings, princes and generals.

The old man spoke slowly:
“At night, ordinary people go to bed after a day’s work.

“Only the nobles and wealthy merchants go out at night to indulge themselves.

“The luxury you feel comes from them.

"The will of the nobles and wealthy merchants is the will of heaven in Linzi tonight."

Ying Chengjiao frowned:
“What Zou Zi meant…is it empathy?
“The extravagance and obscenity I felt, is that what the nobles still active in Linzi City feel?”

Zou Yan smiled heartily.

Sure enough, although the boy in front of him and his disciple were both ten years old, it was still much easier to talk to the boy.

"That's right." Zou Yan nodded: "That's it."

"The sadness I felt later..." Ying Chengjiao said slowly.

"It is the will of the Central Plains." Zou Yan said calmly, "It is the will of the common people in the Central Plains. The will of heaven in my Yin-Yang school is the will of man."

"God's will... is man's will..." Ying Chengjiao murmured to himself.

"Is it difficult to understand?" Zou Yan knew that Ying Chengjiao had always been distrustful of the Yin-Yang School.

What's more, the Yin-Yang theory is indeed quite mysterious. It is normal for ordinary people to find it difficult to understand when they first encounter it. I am just explaining it.

Then Ying Chengjiao waved his hands and said with a wry smile:
“It’s not bad.

“Just like when I was walking in a mass grave, even though I didn’t know it was a mass grave, I still felt the surroundings were gloomy and my heart was chilled.

"I think I can understand what Zou Zi meant by God's will."

Zou Zi, whose time was approaching, was silent for a moment, then shook his head and sighed:

“Young Master’s ability to learn and understand is something I have never seen before in my life.

"My theory of yin and yang is even more profound than Zibing's theory of form and name, yet you have understood its essence just by listening to my superficial explanation.

"My confidence in you has grown even more."

Ying Chengjiao lowered his head, feeling unhappy:
"Has the will of God in the Central Plains always been like this?"

"Almost the same." Zou Yan also lowered his head, speaking in a low voice: "From the moment I could sense the will of heaven, heaven has not been happy for long. My lord, you are familiar with history books and are fully aware of the situation of various countries. You should know that the wars in the Central Plains have never stopped. How can the people be happy if the wars do not stop? Oh... no, there are always some nobles who are happy, but their will..."

"Too small." Ying Chengjiao continued Zou Yan's words: "In this world, 99% of the people are common people. Compared with the opinions of common people, the opinions of these nobles are insignificant."

Zou Yan nodded silently:

"yes.

“The will of these nobles is insignificant compared to the will of the common people.

“But despite their small number, they bring endless disasters to the common people.

“God’s will is peace, God’s will is food, God’s will is warmth.

“But it can’t be done by God’s will alone.

"The nobles go against the will of heaven and have been suppressing it."

Ying Chengjiao remained silent, recalling the alarm he heard in Nanjing in his previous life.

National Memorial Day.

The air raid sirens sounded, cars stopped and honked their horns, and passers-by stopped to observe a moment of silence.

He was in the bustling Xinjiekou.

The moment he stopped and lowered his head, everyone around him also stood still and lowered their heads silently.

His eyes were moist and the sadness in his heart was beyond words.

His last feeling just now was exactly the same as that in his previous life.

He didn't know how Zou Yan did it, and he didn't want to find out now.

He finally understood the secret of the Yin-Yang theory, but he was not as happy as he had imagined.

Zou Yan waited silently, but received no words from Ying Chengjiao.

The old man, who had long been accustomed to the will of heaven, curled his lips and said:

"Haven't you always been curious about why I knew you could come to the Jixia Academy?
"Because I can feel what you mean.

“Your desire for change is as strong as that of the other disciples.

"The Zhou Dynasty declined, and the world has been in turmoil for hundreds of years.

"Since ancient times, there has never been such a chaotic world, and God's will has never been so sad. This is the worst era.

"Laozi, Confucius, Mozi... these ancient sages, including the contemporary scholars of the Jixia Academy, each of them is seeking a way out.

“Confucius believed that reviving Zhou rituals, restoring the Zhou Dynasty order, and picking up the broken rituals and music would end the chaotic times.

"Mozi believed that the cause of unrest in the world was war, and that if there were no wars in the world, the unrest would end, so Mozi was against war all his life.

"In this era, if you want change and want to end the chaos, you will definitely come to the Jixia Academy.

“No one will be an exception.

“Because they don’t know how to go about this road, or whether it can be done.

“So they’ll want to come and see other people’s ways.

“If they can see a clear path, they follow it.

“If you can’t see it, you can imitate the paths of others and rebuild your own path.”

Zou Yan pointed out.

Trembling, he slowly pointed at Ying Chengjiao's heart, completely lacking the grace that had just appeared in an instant:
“They were always trying to find a way.

"I am not very knowledgeable and have been looking for someone. I want to find someone who can help me.

“I have traveled all over the world and met almost all the learned people.

“You are the one among these people who has the most confidence in your path.

“It’s as if you can be sure from the beginning that your path is right.

"You are not confused, nor do you doubt. You are galloping on your way with big strides..."

Ying Chengjiao looked at the old finger and his heart trembled.

Zou Yan coughed twice again:
“First time meeting you.

“You have faith in your path, but I don’t see a heart that cares about the world.

“That was the first time I doubted myself.

"I can accurately sense the will of heaven, but misunderstand the will of a child?

“Why wouldn’t someone who wants to end war have the goal of ending war and establishing order?
“You don’t have many good intentions towards the world, and you don’t want to do anything for the world.

“You only think about yourself, but you are doing things for the world.

"I can't figure it out.

“I can know the will of heaven, but I don’t know the heart of man.

“The human heart is the best.

"later……"

Zou Yan smiled:

“Your current intention is the intention of all disciples.

"Your knowledge is worthy of the word 'son'.

"But it was not until I met you this time that Yan was sure that your thoughts were worthy of the word 'zi'.

"Since you are called 'Zi', you should act like a Zi, understand?"

“With great power comes great responsibility.” Ying Chengjiao’s voice is no longer so sharp, and has left behind the boyish tone.

The young man who had spent a year and a half on the battlefield and who had hurriedly walked through Liaocheng had a deep understanding of the cruelty of the battlefield and the disastrous consequences of war.

His voice grew, and so did his thoughts.

"That's right." Zou Yan said appreciatively, "You are concise and well said. My time is coming to an end, and I will hand over the position of Jijiu to you."

The old man paused, looking pious:
"I hope Yingzi can really find the path in his heart and put an end to this worst era."

(End of this chapter)