My older brother said I'm invincible.

Chapter 22 No Future
Zheng Mansion.

Zheng Faxian started reading early in the morning, a habit he had maintained for a long time.

He was not a bright child from a young age. Although he was born into the Zheng family, he was born out of wedlock and was not from a prominent family. He suffered a lot in his youth. In order to gain the attention of the adults, he studied hard from a young age and has been studying until now, and has finally achieved some success.

Although he failed to become a Doctor of Classical Studies and did not make a name for himself in the academic world, he was highly respected by everyone in the family. Moreover, most of the disciples of the Zheng family in recent generations were enlightened by him, which were his intangible resources. Therefore, no one in the family dared to underestimate him.

He was reading a book when a servant rushed in.

"My lord, the Grand Master of the Palace has arrived."

Zheng Faxian was stunned for a moment, then quickly put away the book in his hand, tidied himself up, and asked the servant to invite the person in.

This Grand Master of the Palace was named Zheng Jibo.

This man comes from a distinguished family; his father and grandfather were both extremely noble and illustrious. He himself held the title of Duke in the past. Although Zheng Faxian was older than him, in terms of status, he was still far inferior to this Zheng Jibo.

A moment later, a middle-aged man holding Buddhist prayer beads entered the study.

Zheng Faxian stood up and bowed, and the man returned the bow.

This man was Zheng Jibo. He was a little younger than Zheng Faxian. He was tall and handsome with an extraordinary temperament. Although he was holding Buddhist prayer beads in his hand, his face looked rather cold and not very kind.

The older Zheng Faxian bowed his head and addressed him as "Uncle Zhong".

Zheng Jibo's grandfather had a son late in life, which made his family's generation relatively senior. Zheng Faxian was considered to be in a better position, but many other relatives had to call Zheng Jibo "grandfather" or even "great-grandfather".
A rare smile appeared on Zheng Jibo's usually cold face, but he still seemed rather unapproachable.

"No need for such formalities."

The two sat facing each other. Zheng Faxian was a little confused. This man rarely interacted with him. Why did he come to his door so early in the morning?

The two exchanged pleasantries and chatted about everyday things for a while.

Zheng Jibo then explained his purpose for coming.

"Zhongke, I've heard that you value one of your disciples highly, even allowing him to enter and leave the North Building."

Zheng Faxian immediately understood.

He smiled and said, "There is such a thing. The prefect's son is the third son. This child is extremely talented, a rare talent in the world. He will surely achieve great things in the future. I took it upon myself to allow him to come and go in the North Tower. I wonder if there is anything wrong with that?"

Zheng Jibo chuckled a few times. "There's nothing wrong with it. Zhongke, don't think I'm here to interrogate you."

"As you know, the Duke of Tang and I have a very good personal relationship; we've been friends for many years."

Just as Zheng Faxian was about to agree, Zheng Jibo changed the subject, "However, this is a private relationship, but we cannot let personal matters interfere with public duties."

"The reason my family has prospered is because our ancestors left behind these books."

"We can't just let Li Sanlang get it because he studied at the Zheng family's house for a few days, can we? I've heard that the law should not be easily passed on."

Zheng Faxian frowned. Wasn't this still a case of questioning and accusing someone?
He explained, "This child has an exceptional talent for classical studies and may become a literary master in the future. Such a person is someone my family should naturally try to win over. Besides, the North Tower has a vast collection of books. Even if he goes there to read every day, how many can he actually read?"

Seeing Zheng Faxian rushing to explain, Zheng Jibo interrupted him again, saying, "I am not here to interrogate you."

Zheng Faxian's face began to turn red.

Zheng Jibo shook his head. "I don't object to you letting Li Sanlang in and out of the North Tower, but as I said before, the law should not be easily passed on. What I mean is, wait until the prefect returns, and then explain the pros and cons to him in person."

Zheng Faxian gradually understood: this meant that the Duke of Tang was to offer something in exchange?
“Uncle, this child is extremely talented. Showing him kindness now will surely bring him gratitude in the future. Moreover, this is also a way to curry favor with the Duke. The Duke has always been magnanimous and righteous. When he returns and learns of this, he will not remain indifferent.”

Zheng Jibo shook his head. "Don't worry so much about what will happen in the future."

“I know the Li family’s situation better than you do.”

"To become a literary master in the world in the future, one must first live to see that day. As for showing goodwill, all sentiment is superficial; only what is in hand is real."

Zheng Faxian had no desire to argue anymore. He waved his hand and said, "Alright, I'll go and tell Li Sanlang tomorrow to stop coming to the North Tower."

Zheng Jibo chuckled again, "It's just a family matter, why get angry?" "Since you've made your decision, you can't go back on your word. But I privately believe that when it comes to important matters, it's still necessary to discuss them with the clansmen."

Zheng Faxian remained silent.

Zheng Jibo added, “You don’t need to worry. I know those annotations. It’s not easy for a child like him, let alone us. Let him read them. But if he doesn’t understand, you don’t need to rush to teach him. I will take care of it.”

Zheng Faxian nodded silently.

Zheng Jibo knew, of course, that Zheng Faxian was unhappy, but he didn't care.

The Zheng family hasn't been doing too well in recent years. Li Yuan may seem rough and unrestrained, but he's actually quite meticulous. The Zheng family originally had a good business chain, but Li Yuan's arrival disrupted it.

Zheng Jibo knew that Li Yuan was no saint either. He talked about the law and rules, but in reality, he was just waiting for the Zheng family to make an offer, hoping to seek a deeper level of cooperation, or simply to get a share.

People like Zheng Faxian, who only know how to read books, will not understand the underlying principles.

However, he was not worried. As he had just said, he knew very well how difficult the annotations that had been passed down were. The people who made the annotations were not writing them for children. They wrote them to debate and exchange ideas with their opponents and to lead the world's thoughts.

Even Zheng Jibo himself struggled to read many of the sentences; how could the child possibly understand them, no matter how talented he was?

These people on the frontier are skilled in horsemanship and archery, but when it comes to classical studies... well, the Li family has always doted on this Third Prince, and perhaps that could be part of the deal. Although the impact is unlikely to be significant, something is better than nothing.

After seeing Zheng Jibo off, Zheng Faxian was in a very bad mood. He had the door closed and buried himself in his books again.

North Building.

Li Xuanba was already in the north building of the Zheng family's residence, reading their collection of books.

The Li family itself doesn't have a large collection of books.

Li Xuanba had read it many times over the years. He was a book lover. As soon as he got up today, he asked Liu Chounu to take him to the Zheng family.

With that wooden sign, I had no trouble getting through the road and arrived at the North Building. I couldn't wait to find a book to read.

The entire North Building was filled with books in every room. The placement of these rooms seemed to have a purpose, and the contents of the books in each room were different.

Li Xuanba was very curious about everything here.

There were also a few scholars inside looking for books to read, but these people were all much older than Li Xuanba, the youngest of whom was probably the same age as the elder brother. They were quite curious about this young man, but no one went up to disturb him.

Li Xuanba remembered Liu Xuan's instructions. He picked out some annotations that were hard to find on ordinary days, chose a quiet place, and began to read them.

Take this book, "Zuo Zhuan," for example. It looks quite old and is different from the ones Li Xuanba had read before. This book is a commentary on the Spring and Autumn Annals, but the Zheng family has a commentary on the commentary. It seems that the famous scholars of each generation of the Zheng family have left their own traces in it.

Li Xuanba felt the pressure for the first time. Perhaps it was because of the difference in the times, or perhaps it was because the author's level was too high. These things were really difficult to understand.

He forced himself to continue reading, but as he flipped through the annotations, he was surprised to find that among the content he could still understand, there were almost completely contradictory parts.

Although they are both Zuo Qiuming's works, their accounts of the same event are completely different, and their interpretations are completely unrelated, contradictory, and contradictory. They do not seem to be written by the same person.

Li Xuanba decisively chose to pause reading and tried other types of books.

He even went to find the Analects Commentary, the same book that Zheng Faxian is currently lecturing to them on. As a result, he found seven or eight different commentaries, each with vastly different content, and of course, they were all obscure and difficult to understand.

Li Xuanba left the North Building with a bewildered expression.

Several members of the Zheng family watched this scene from a distance and chuckled softly.

"Which family's child is this? At such a young age, they dare to come to the North Building to look for books."

"You have great courage."

"I won't dare come again next time~~"

(End of this chapter)