Mr. Liu sneered, "Unlike some frogs at the bottom of a well, I have traveled thousands of miles in my life and have seen the heavens in human affairs. I have also read thousands of books in my life and have seen the heavens in human affairs. Heh, in this poor and remote Beiliang, I often see old scholars obsessing over old piles of paper for decades. Once they step out of the door, they lose their sense of direction. How laughable, how laughable. Especially those old piles of paper. If placed in the Central Plains where farming and reading are passed down, even a normal child would be able to recite them backwards. "
Wang Changqing was too lazy to pay attention to Mr. Liu. He sat down on a small stool and took the opened pot of Green Ant Wine from Li Xian. He lowered his head and sniffed hard. With an intoxicated expression, he said, "Just this smell alone is worth seven or eight taels of silver!"
Using the light from the broken window, Wang Changqing and his student, Li Xian, drank the Green Ant Wine while Mr. Liu drank the yellow wine alone. Wang Changqing, with his sparse hair, stepped on the stool. Compared to Mr. Liu who sat upright and still, he did not look like a teacher. On the other hand, Li Xian, who was taught by Wang Changqing, did not lose to Mr. Liu in terms of elegance.
Wang Changqing poured two bowls of wine. Li Xian smiled and shook his head. Wang Changqing pointed at his proud student and said regretfully, "If you don't drink, how can you write a good poem that will be passed down through the ages?"
Mr. Liu said sarcastically, "Wang Changqing, you have drunk at least a few hundred pounds of wine in your life. Have you ever written a good poem? Although Li Xian can be considered half a student of yours, he is a true Juren. In my opinion, it is only because of his status in Beiliang that he could not pass the Jinshi examination. Is he someone you, Wang Changqing, can teach? "
Wang Changqing drank a mouthful of Green Ant Wine and wiped his mouth. He retorted, "I can't teach? You, Liu Shumai, can teach? Just because your family background is better, you can memorize a few more books. What's so great about that? "
Mr. Liu wanted to say something but stopped. In the end, he did not say something. He only said angrily, "Unreasonable!"
Wang Changqing drank another mouthful of wine and then burped. He picked up a piece of meat with two fingers and threw it into his mouth. Instantly, his whole body felt comfortable.
Li Xian could not resist his teacher's persuasion to drink. After drinking half a bowl, his face turned red.
The two old men drank and ate meat in silence, but one used his hands while the other used chopsticks.
It was rare for Mr. Liu to get drunk. He was a little embarrassed, but also a little proud. His absent-minded eyes were filled with nostalgia. He muttered to himself, "I wish I could marry ten women, I wish I could be a Da Chu …"
Old Baldy Wang used his elbow to lightly poke the slightly tipsy student and asked in a low voice, "What's so special about ten girls?"
Li Xian smiled and said, "In the Spring and Autumn Period of the past, there were ten great clans. It's probably from a classic story."
Old Baldy Wang was amused. "Didn't our Great General teach him a lesson?"
Wang Changqing's voice wasn't small. Mr. Liu immediately glared at him.
Wang Changqing drank more than half of the Green Ant Wine and was already seventy to eighty percent drunk. He stretched his neck and said, "What? You're not convinced?! Don't think that you can look down on Beiliang just because you're a remnant of the Spring and Autumn Period. Do you really think that you're better than others? Humph, I've tolerated you for many years! In the past, you always said that His Royal Highness was a hedonistic son of a rich family. At that time, I was also blind to think that His Royal Highness wasn't as good as the Great General and might not be able to shoulder the burden of Beiliang. That's why I followed you and scolded you. Today, if you continue to be sarcastic with me, I'll teach you a lesson! Even if I can't teach you a lesson, there's still Li Xian, my student! "
Mr. Liu's eyes were bloodshot. He said softly, "You think you're amazing just because you can kill people? How can there be such a logic in this world? The history books recorded that a general's success is built on thousands of dead bodies? That's not the logic of a scholar. "
Wang Changqing suddenly slammed his wine bowl heavily. A small portion of the Green Ant Wine spilled out of the large white bowl. Wang Baldy, who usually went to the market to drink a bowl of wine, could drink until there wasn't a drop left. This time, he didn't care about his heartache. He said angrily to Mr. Liu, "The Great General killed people like scything flax. I don't know if it's reasonable for him to let your Central Plains sink or not! I only know that from the Great General to the Prince of New Liang, two generations of the Xu family led the soldiers outside the Northwest Pass and blocked the one million strong cavalry of Beimang for your Central Plains! Taking a step back, even if the Great General owes your remnant of the Spring and Autumn Period, the Prince of New Liang and the Beiliang Frontier Army will repay this debt on behalf of the Xu family this year! Zhao Shunzi from our village, Li Xian's Li Erwa from Li Xian's village, and two young men from your Liu Mao's village. Four people outside the Beiliang Pass, but only one survived. One died in Hutou City, and the other two died at the mouth of the gourd! Zhao Shunzi was in his early twenties. He was the same as me, Wang Changqing. In your eyes, he was someone who wouldn't be able to achieve anything even if he studied for his entire life. But in the end? In the end, I, Wang Changqing, and you, this old bastard, Liu Mao, are leisurely drinking wine here! "
Wang Changqing slammed his fist on the table. "The two of us who deserved to die didn't die. The ones who didn't deserve to die are dead! What are you after? Yes, Zhao Shunzi and the others didn't die for you, Liu Mao, nor did they die for me, Baldy Wang. But can't we remember their kindness? Can't you, Liu Mao, remember the kindness of the 300,000 soldiers of Beiliang?! "
Mister Liu raised his head and drank a mouthful of wine. His expression was calm, but his lips were livid. He slowly said, "What's so difficult about remembering the kindness of those who died at the border? But why should I remember the kindness of the Xu family? The Liu family of Da Chu had more than 300 people. After Hong Jia fled to the north, only I, Liu Mao, was left. You were right about one thing. Those who deserved to die didn't die, but those who didn't deserve to die are all dead! "
Wang Changqing roared, "Get out of here! Liu Mao, I don't care how many of your people died back then! "
Mister Liu suddenly stood up, smashed the jar of yellow wine, and strode away.
Li Xian hesitated and then ran out after him.
Mister Liu's steps staggered. Li Xian wanted to support him but was waved away.
Li Xian's voice was raspy as he said, "Mister Liu, other than the elders of this village, perhaps no one knows that my teacher's two sons died in battle early on outside Liangzhou Pass. Teacher's wife also died because of this."
Liu Mao stopped by the stream.
Li Xian gazed at the little stream. "When I went to Jing for the exam, my teacher gave me all of his savings. He said that Mister Liu liked a set of [Words of the Window Lv Cong] and told me to bring a set back for you from Great Peace City. But at the time, among the people who went to Jing with us, one of them wanted to stay in Jing to participate in the exam. I impulsively gave all of my money to him in hopes that he would not be troubled by life in that capital that was hostile to Beiliang and would be able to focus on his studies. I didn't even dare to confess this matter to my teacher because when I was leaving, my teacher told me that no matter what, Mister Liu was truly knowledgeable. You were a true scholar that he could not compare to, but you were able to teach in Beiliang for twenty years. Therefore, Beiliang owed Mister Liu. Therefore, he, Wang Changqing, should do something. "
Li Xian said softly, "Mister Liu carries the hatred of the country and family. My teacher never dares to have you forget anything."
Li Xian looked around. "But Beiliang, the poor and remote place in Mister Liu's eyes, never forgets kindness! Never betrays justice! "
Li Xian smiled. "I've never met the Great General, nor have I met the new Prince Liang, but I've met my teacher, Wang Changqing. I've met Li Erwa, who went into the river with me in the early years to catch fish. I've met Zhao Shunzi, who scolded me as a bookworm when I was young and beat me up. I've also met my teacher's two sons, and I've met my teacher's wife … Then I think, since we were born in Beiliang, it's only right that we die in Beiliang. For the people of Beiliang who have to face the Beimang Iron Cavalry head-on, as long as the war at the border doesn't stop, it's normal for people to die every day and every year. Perhaps one day, we'll really be the ones to die. We'll still be unwilling, but we'll still be afraid. "
"Death is one thing! Because Beimang can't let us Beiliang live an ignoble existence. And we don't want to live an ignoble existence either! "
"Mister Liu, you said that in the early years of the Central Plains, people hated not being able to marry ten women and hated not being able to be Da Chu. Today, Liyang hates not being able to be born in Jiangnan and hates not being able to live in Taian. "
Li Xian smiled carefreely. "As for me, Li Xian, I'm just a weak scholar. I only hate not being able to die in Liangzhou!"
The old man from West Chu stared blankly at the back of the young Beiliang scholar as he left.
The old man suddenly lay down beside the stream, stuck his head into the water, and drank fiercely.
Then, he sat down cross-legged and laughed. "Good wine!"
The old man turned his head to look at the young man who ran back quickly. He must've thought that Liu Mao had taken things too hard.
The old man couldn't stop laughing.
On the contrary, Liu Mao had finally thought things through today.
Compared to the Central Plains, whether it was the Central Plains of the Spring and Autumn Period or the Central Plains of Liyang, there weren't many scholars in Beiliang, and there were even fewer books.
However, who said that there was no chivalry between the lines here?!
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