My older brother said I'm invincible.

Chapter 205 Awkward
Zhang Du stood at the doorway, looking at the large group of people in the distance.

He frowned; he could sense that these people didn't have much goodwill.

They walked along, making a lot of noise, with a clear purpose: they had obviously asked the clerk for directions earlier.

Zhang Du placed his hand on the hilt of his sword and stood at the doorway.

A moment later, the group of people arrived at the door.

There were more than ten of them, all much older than Li Xuanba. They were all dressed extravagantly and had arrogant expressions. Many warriors followed them in the distance, but none of them dared to approach.

The group of people arrived in a disorderly manner. None of them even glanced at Zhang Du, the gatekeeper. One of them immediately shouted, "Hey, Li Xuanba! Come out here!!"

Zhang Du was furious.

"How dare you be so rude?!"

Hearing his reprimand, the person who had spoken looked at him, a hint of surprise in their eyes. "Are you saying I was rude?"

Do you know who I am?

Zhang Du kept a straight face and did not answer.

Just then, the courtyard gate was pushed open, and Li Xuanba still heard the noise outside. He walked out of the gate and looked at the crowd outside.

The person who had spoken earlier ignored Zhang Du and stared at Li Xuanba for a long time before asking helplessly, "You are Li Xuanba?"

"I am Li Xuanba. May I ask what brings you all here?"

The man sighed deeply, looking dejected.

He looked at the person beside him and asked in a low voice, "Why is it a baby?"

The people in front of him, though not very old, were much older than Li Xuanba. They huddled together and whispered something. Zhang Du's face was extremely ugly, while Li Xuanba stood calmly in place.

The group muttered something under their breath for a long time before the man waved his hand at Li Xuanba, "Forget it, forget it. It would be really embarrassing if people found out we were bullying a little kid here. Go back!"

After the man finished speaking, he turned and left. The young noblemen who had been there earlier followed him, and the group disappeared into the distance, chatting and laughing.

Zhang Du understood that these people were there to cause trouble, but seeing that the Marquis was still young, he didn't make a move.

"My lord, how dare these people be so disrespectful?"

"No problem."

Li Xuanba said with a smile, "We have important things to do, so there's no need to take them seriously."

Zhang Du then suppressed his anger and bowed his head in agreement.

Li Xuanba was so exhausted that he turned around and went inside to rest again.

This time, finally no one bothered us anymore.

In the following days, Li Xuanba spent several days wandering around the Imperial Academy. The people he brought with him had now been settled in the manor outside the city, which had once again become Li Xuanba's new residence. They continued to carry out their duties. It was indeed convenient to do business in Luoyang!

This place is very close to Buffalo Mountain, and in the capital city, you can find almost anything you need.

The only problem is that there are too many checkpoints in various places, making it difficult to get in and out.

In the past few days, Li Xuanba has come to understand that the Imperial Academy has no rules at all. People can go out whenever they want, and the doctoral examinations have become practically meaningless. These noble students don't care about them at all.

Most of them lived outside, and there were only a few people when the chief priest came to inspect. Apart from the chief priest, the rest of the people could not control the students at all.

However, Li Xuanba was not in a hurry to move out. His family had not yet arrived, so he would stay here for the time being and wait for his mother and elder brother to return.
After waiting for several days, the day finally arrived for the doctoral lecture.

Li Xuanba was still somewhat curious, so he changed his clothes and prepared to go and listen.

The professor who was giving the lecture was a man from the south. He looked unremarkable and was talking about the Spring and Autumn Period. When Li Xuanba arrived, the professor was already sitting in the seat of honor, with many students sitting on both sides. However, they were all talking in hushed tones and did not show much respect to the professor.

Faced with Li Xuanba's sudden arrival, some people still looked at him with curiosity.

However, Li Xuanba was too young, so the people just smiled and continued talking about their own affairs.

As for the PhD sitting in the high seat, he was like a clay Buddha statue, with his eyes closed and not uttering a word.

Li Xuanba found a spot and sat down. After a while, quite a few people arrived.

From their conversation, Li Xuanba learned that the Chancellor had come to inspect the place today, which explained why so many students had gathered.

Seeing that it was almost time, the doctor began his lecture for the day.

To be fair, Li Xuanba thought he made a good point. Although his teacher looked down on these PhDs, they had at least top-notch talent to have reached their current positions. Li Xuanba had never heard many of his arguments from his teacher, so he listened very carefully.

As for his classmates, they all seemed to be similar to Li Yuanji, sitting there pale-faced, lost in their own thoughts, just hoping it would end soon.

Li Xuanba was one of the few among them who was still studying, taking notes with a pen in hand.

The professor didn't seem to care about the students below; he spoke very quickly, as if he wanted to finish as soon as possible.

After a long time, the doctor finally finished his task. He stood up, ignored the others, and left.

The students around them also came to life in an instant, bursting into chatter and beaming with joy.

Li Xuanba pursed his lips. When he set off, his teacher was worried that these people would attack him if they knew he was Liu Xuan's disciple. But judging from their current performance, they probably didn't even know the name Liu Xuan. Li Xuanba even suspected that they were like his younger brother, getting seven or eight out of ten characters wrong.

He stood up, gathered his things, and turned to leave.

"Hey!"

"You, um, Xuanba, wait!"

Suddenly someone spoke up.

Li Xuanba stopped and turned around. The person who called out to him was a strange scholar, tall and thin. He walked over to Li Xuanba's side in a few steps, smiled and took his hand, "Xuanba, do you recognize me?"

Li Xuanba shook his head in confusion. The man said, "My name is Yang Gongdao! I'm a good friend of your elder brother! Has your elder brother never mentioned me to you?"

Li Xuanba hesitated for a moment, then smiled and said, "So it's my elder brother. My eldest brother is always very busy, and I don't dare to bother him."

"What are your instructions, brother?"

Yang Gongdao smiled and took his hand. "Nothing much. Your older brother and I have been friends for many years. We grew up playing together. Since your older brother isn't with you this time, I naturally have to look after him on his behalf."

Yang Gongdao acted as if they were old friends, and pulled Li Xuanba outside.

The two had only taken a few steps when someone suddenly blocked Li Xuanba's path.

"You are Li Xuanba?"

The man looked rather fierce, and he was staring menacingly at Li Xuanba. Yang Gongdao quickly stepped in front of Li Xuanba, "Lai Yuan! What do you want to do?"

"Heh, I heard even a little kid got military merit. I've come to see how he did it."

"Don't even think about doing anything reckless! He's like a brother to me, you can't hurt him!"

Yang Gongdao spoke with an air of righteous indignation.

Li Xuanba simply looked at them calmly.

These two actors' acting skills are really too bad, far inferior to my second brother. When my second brother was deceiving me before, his expression was much more realistic than these two.

Li Xuanba didn't recognize these two people and had no idea what they wanted to do. But judging from their performance just now, Yang Gongdao was trying to win me over.
Watching their clumsy performance, Li Xuanba couldn't help but exchange a glance with Zhang Du, who was not far away.

Zhang Du also looked completely bewildered and confused.

When Lai Yuan tried to stop Li Xuanba, he even forgot to stop him.

What are those two doing?
Li Xuanba thought for a moment and decided to cooperate with the two of them. He was so frightened that he quickly hid behind Yang Gongdao. A smile appeared on Yang Gongdao's face. He glared at Lai Yuan and scolded, "Don't embarrass your grandfather! Get out of the way!"

Lai Yuan was very cooperative this time, quickly giving up his position and watching Yang Gongdao take Li Xuanba away.

As Yang Gongdao walked, he reassured Li Xuanba, "Don't be afraid, I'm here! No one can hurt you!"

"Thank you, brother."

(End of this chapter)