My older brother said I'm invincible.

Chapter 9 Farewell!

Xunzi once praised nine virtues of water, saying that the wise find joy in water because they can pursue good virtues.

Li Shimin spoke eloquently.

This guy was indeed well prepared. He began to quote classic texts and explain the virtues of mountains and rivers from multiple perspectives. He also used the annotations from the Zheng family's tradition to point out the pursuits of the wise and the benevolent. Finally, he summarized that the wise are benevolent, and the benevolent are wise.

"The wise and the benevolent are not contradictory. A virtuous person should possess the virtues of mountains and rivers. With wisdom comes benevolence, and with benevolence comes wisdom. One must first know benevolence before one can be called wise."

The classroom was silent. Many of the Zheng family students listened to this stinky outsider talking incessantly. They wanted to refute him, but they didn't know how.

Compared to his previous answers, Li Shimin decisively skipped over the subject of mountains and rivers and went straight to talking about wise men and benevolent men.

Zheng Faxian listened attentively, nodding occasionally, without interrupting Li Shimin.

After Li Shimin finished speaking, Zheng Faxian finally smiled and stroked his beard.

"Well said."

"You're much better than those who only saw the mountains and rivers; you must have found quite a few books, right?"

Li Shimin hurriedly replied, "How could I dare to be perfunctory in the matters entrusted to me by my teacher? I have consulted many books, pondered for many days, and even written a prose poem."

He took out the article he had written from the side, walked respectfully to Zheng Faxian's side, and handed it to him.

Zheng Faxian glanced down at the screen a few times, and became even happier.

"Good, not bad, very good. You should have done this a long time ago. You should study even harder in the future."

Zheng Faxian was happy not because Li Shimin's answer was particularly profound, but simply because he felt that this guy could correct his mistakes and focus on his studies.

People rarely saw the old man so happy, and their gazes towards Li Shimin changed somewhat. This guy, he really has something going for him.
Li Yuanji stared blankly at his second brother, who suddenly seemed like a stranger.

No, you really know how??
Zheng Faxian quickly looked at Li Xuanba. Li Xuanba had been somewhat absent-minded since earlier, even when Li Shimin was answering questions. This made Zheng Faxian somewhat dissatisfied, and he frowned.

"Xuanba, get up."

Li Xuanba quickly got up.

“Your brother has finished speaking, now it’s your turn to speak.”

Li Xuanba recalled what Liu Shizeng had told him the day before, and answered almost without hesitation.

"Mountains and rivers are nature itself; nature possesses virtue and the Way. The Way follows nature, emulates nature, and learns from mountains and rivers."

Zheng Faxian sat up straight in an instant, and the look in his eyes as he looked at Li Xuanba changed.

Li Xuanba continued, "Therefore, the wise understand the Great Way and learn from Nature; thus, the benevolent follow Nature and understand the Great Way. The Way exists between Heaven and Earth, and then all things are born."

The classmates were startled. "Damn, there's an expert here?"
Zheng Faxian sat in the high seat, his eyes wide with astonishment and disbelief. What this guy was saying was extremely similar to the metaphysical theories of the Zheng family from years ago. It was simply applying his family’s old theories to the topic. There are many people in the world who can say such things, but for Li Xuanba’s age, this was clearly beyond his level.

Can a child this age understand these things?
"Good! Good! Good!"

Zheng Faxian said "good" three times in a row, and for a moment he didn't know how to praise the child.

But then Zheng Faxian felt it was a pity; how wonderful it would be if the child were family!
He hesitated for a long time before finally saying:

"You'll stay here later!"

He then looked at the others, but this time he had no intention of testing them. Looking at these good-for-nothing disciples, he became angrier and more disgusted.

“You lot are all older than everyone else, yet not one of you is sensible! You spend your days either playing or feasting! You yourselves know less than others! Go back today and copy these annotations three times! Copy them three times!!”

Everyone was inwardly groaning, but no one dared to complain. They bowed their heads in agreement, their eyes filled with resentment as they looked at Li Xuanba.

Li Shimin sat there in astonishment. He had just gained some traction when his younger brother immediately overshadowed him, completely crushing him.

He thought it was enough that he could think of exploring the relationship between the wise and the benevolent, but how could Xuanba possibly think of anything related to the Great Dao of Nature?
Am I really not as good as my younger brother?

impossible! Absolutely impossible!
I must not have been serious enough!

Li Shimin frowned, his expression becoming even more serious as he looked at his teacher. He picked up his pen and began to take notes more diligently.

Li Yuanji was completely stunned, standing there motionless with a blank stare.

You two, stop playing like that!
Zheng Faxian finished today's lesson and told everyone else to get lost, leaving only Xuanba behind. He told Xuanba to come and sit down next to him.

"Xuanba, what you just said, was it your own thought or something you heard from others?"

Li Xuanba was taken aback. He remembered Liu Shi's instructions, but dared not deceive Zheng Shi. He could only say, "These are things I heard from people in the manor, not my own thoughts."

Zheng Faxian was taken aback. People from within the manor? It wasn't that Li Yuan's manor lacked capable people, but they were all busy. Who would have time to tell a little kid these things?
His older brother? I've met that young master a few times myself. He's still quite immature, like a child who hasn't grown up yet, and he can't possibly say anything like that.

He nodded, didn't ask any further questions, and said with a smile, "You've already learned the most important part of this classic. From now on, whatever you learn won't seem difficult."

Just as he was about to say something more, Li Xuanba suddenly asked, "Teacher, is studying the classics really useful?"

Zheng Faxian was taken aback. "Why do you ask that?"

"On my way here, I saw many laborers, including women and children. Some were beaten and killed in the street, in front of their parents. My brother said that the court is conscripting nearly a million laborers, and people are being arrested and transported everywhere. Many books say that taxes should be light and levies should be reduced, and that sages should be virtuous, spread virtue throughout the world, love the people, and govern with benevolence so that prosperity may be achieved."

"There are so many people in the world who understand the classics, why doesn't anyone try to persuade them?" "Why doesn't anyone care?"

Upon hearing this, Zheng Faxian's face instantly turned red. He seemed to have recalled something, and his whole demeanor became extremely irritable.

"You've gone astray! How could you think like that? How could you do such a thing?!"

"You sage's profound teachings? Get out!"

Zheng Faxian tried to explain, but after saying a few words, he directly asked Li Xuanba to leave.

Li Xuanba bowed and then left.

As soon as they stepped out of the inner courtyard, Li Shimin and Li Yuanji rushed up to them. Li Yuanji asked curiously, "What did he say to you?"

"I just asked how you came up with these ideas."

Li Shimin pretended not to hear, trying to appear indifferent. "It's all in the past, no need to mention it again! Third brother, don't become arrogant and complacent just because the teacher praised you once. You must continue to work hard and be just as excellent next time!"

"Do you understand?"

"only!"

Li Xuanba quickly lowered his head.

Li Yuanji ignored all of that. "Enough of that, enough of that. Xuanba, come with us to the south of the city today. We made an appointment a few days ago to catch toads there!"

Li Shimin hesitated for a moment, "There are still many things to do in my studies, why don't we wait until next time?"

Li Yuanji was taken aback. "Didn't you say you were going to take us to catch toads? Why are you saying this now? Are you unhappy because Xuan Ba ​​stole your thunder?"

"What nonsense! Go! All of you, come with me!"

Li Shimin was somewhat annoyed.

Li Shimin took his two younger brothers and headed out. Li Xuanba was quite happy. Li Shimin and Li Yuanji used to play outside a lot, but Li Xuanba rarely had the chance to go out with them. On the few occasions he did go out, his older brother or mother would accompany him.

They had just reached the door when they saw several young men from the Zheng family standing there.

Li Yuanji immediately entered battle mode. Although he was very young, he was quite capable in combat. He dared to use anything and was not afraid of trouble at all. If provoked, he would even throw stones at other children's heads, including his own.

Li Shimin stood protectively in front of the two men, his face cold.

"Gentlemen, is there anything I can help you with?"

The leader of the Zheng family was taken aback, then smiled and bowed to Li Shimin, saying, "We wish to exchange a few words with Li Sanlang and hope to get to know him."

Li Shimin was taken aback and turned to look at his third son.

Li Xuanba stepped forward and bowed to them in greeting. Li Xuanba had never fought with them or had any conflicts with them.

The young man leading the group was about the same height as Li Shimin, but probably a bit older. He was handsome and had an extraordinary appearance.

"My name is Zheng Yuanrui, the former Prefect of Longqi and Qizhou, and the son of Lord Xinda."

"This is Zheng Xuanfan, son of the Duke of Wude."

"Who is this"

Several people in a row came from distinguished backgrounds. After everyone had finished exchanging greetings,

Zheng Yuanrui quickly said, "Since we are classmates, we should visit each other more often. It is truly impolite that we have not been able to get to know each other in the past. To be honest, after we finish our studies each day, we will hold a banquet in the side courtyard to discuss the classics, comment on famous scholars, and talk about current events. If you are interested, Sanlang, you are welcome to join us."

Li Shimin stood not far away, tilting his head to look at them. Li Yuanji just snorted a few times, his eyes still fierce.

Li Xuanba was somewhat surprised, and he said very seriously, "Thank you for the invitation, sir."

"However, I had made an appointment with my brother to go to the south of the city, so I'm afraid I won't be able to attend the banquet this time. I hope you can understand."

"Oh? South of the city? Is there a banquet? We often hold banquets in the south of the city. If it's inconvenient for Sanlang to attend, then we can go to Sanlang's banquet!"

Li Xuanba smiled and said happily:

We're going to catch toads!

Zheng Yuanrui's eyes widened, his whole body trembled, and his lips quivered slightly. He remained silent for a moment before quickly bowing.
"Farewell!"

Watching those people flee in a flash, Li Shimin couldn't help but burst into laughter.

He happily walked over to his younger brother and patted him on the shoulder.

"You're a good kid who knows what's good for you! You didn't abandon your brothers!"

"Come on, I'll take you two rascals to catch toads!"

"Grab the biggest one and throw him into the eldest brother's east courtyard!"

(End of this chapter)