Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator

"I am truly ashamed to have kept you waiting for so long."

Li Ji said this modestly, and then invited Zhuge Xuan and Zhuge Liang to sit down again.

After the two sides had a brief conversation and introduced themselves to each other and became a little familiar with each other, Zhuge Xuan quickly gave Zhuge Liang a look, asking Zhuge Liang to quickly express his intention to become his disciple.

Zhuge Liang understood what he meant and did not hesitate. He immediately stood up again and bowed to Li Ji and said.

"I have heard of the virtuous name of the Marquis Guoshi for a long time. Although I am a child from the countryside, I have the heart to save the world and the people. I only regret that I have the will but not the strength. I dare to become the Marquis Guoshi's disciple. Please allow me, sir."

Upon seeing this, Li Ji quickly stood up and helped Zhuge Liang up himself.

Looking at the young man in front of him who seemed to have begun to show his charm, Li Ji could not help but smile and said.

"Since you have the heart to save the world and the people, then you and I are on the same path. We can just be friends and teach each other. There is no need to go through the ritual of becoming a disciple."

It would be fine if Li Ji took advantage of his age to bully the weak and tease Guo Jia occasionally, but Li Ji really did not want to be arrogant in front of Zhuge Liang.

It was not just because of Zhuge Liang's ability, but also because of his loyalty and virtue that went down in history, which really made Li Ji admire him.

So Li Ji was willing to be friends with him, but did not want to take advantage of Zhuge Liang.

Furthermore, Li Ji was only a little over ten years older than Zhuge Liang.

There seems to be a big difference between those in their twenties and those in their teens, but what about those in their thirties and those in their twenties, those in their forties and those in their thirties, or even longer?
With this age difference, we can’t even be considered friends regardless of age difference.

Among the talented people of the time, the one Li Ji valued most was undoubtedly Zhuge Liang.

I also know that Zhuge Liang and Liu Bei have the best compatibility with me. We will be colleagues for a long time in the future, and I am afraid that we will teach each other more.

However, Li Ji's appreciation of Zhuge Xuan shocked him. These words were truly a model of a gentleman who was humble and modest.

Even Zhuge Liang's clear and deep eyes widened slightly.

Zhuge Liang witnessed the tragic conditions of troubled times since he was a child and set great ambitions for himself. He was even more grateful to Liu Bei because he met him by chance in the mud and water and did not hesitate to dirty his clothes to help him carry a coffin.

It is precisely for this reason that Zhuge Liang has been silently paying attention to Liu Bei for many years, and inevitably learned a lot about Li Ji's deeds.

But even though Zhuge Liang thought highly of himself, he was not sure that he could do such extraordinary things at such an old age.

After arriving in Wujun, Zhuge Liang wandered around for a while because he wanted to get to know Li Ji's governance philosophy in person to see if it was consistent with his own before becoming his apprentice.

As a result, Zhuge Liang felt that Guo Shihou was both benevolent and a true all-rounder.

Zhuge Liang even felt a bit of respect for Guo Shihou, thinking that his life would be worthwhile if he could have such abilities and achievements as Guo Shihou in the future.

It was for this reason that Zhuge Liang made up his mind to become Liu Bei's disciple, and determined that when he had completed his studies, he would contribute his meager strength to Liu Bei, so as to support the Han Dynasty and quell the troubled times as soon as possible.

Zhuge Liang suddenly felt that the respected national hero valued him so much and was willing to treat him as a friend. This made him feel like he had met a close friend among his humble predecessors.

Especially with Chen Qun's contempt before, Li Ji's humbleness seemed precious and Zhuge Liang was deeply moved.

Zhuge Xuan reacted and spoke quickly.

"I am grateful that Marquis Guoshi thinks highly of me. It is a blessing for me to be his disciple. How dare such a young boy call himself his friend?" Li Ji waved his hand and said disapprovingly.

"I am not much older than Zhuge Liang, so it's fine for us to be friends as equals, and..."

Li Ji paused for a moment, recalling the records about Zhuge Liang in history books. He often compared himself to Guan Zhong and Yue Yi, and commented that his friend's talent was no more than that of a provincial governor or county magistrate. He called himself "Wolong", which shows that he was also a proud person when he was young.

"I have heard that Zhuge Liang was very talented even though he was just self-taught at home, which shows how smart he was. Such a precocious person would not easily accept others as his teacher."

As soon as Li Ji finished speaking, Zhuge Liang bowed and said.

"Teacher, Zhuge Liang is polite."

This made Li Ji almost unable to breathe. Looking at Zhuge Liang's serious expression, he didn't know what to say for a moment.

Especially Zhuge Liang, who was only a teenager, but his calm and steady temperament was even better than Xiahou Lan.

For a moment, Li Ji even felt that Zhuge Liang's overly calm temperament seemed somewhat familiar...

Lee Sang?!
Suddenly, Li Ji thought of his son who always cared about him.

That calm temperament that doesn't match his age is exactly the same.

Seeing Zhuge Xuan's smiling face after Zhuge Liang took the initiative to call him "teacher", Li Ji simply didn't force it and waved his hand.

"It doesn't matter."

"So, teacher is willing to accept me as a disciple?" Zhuge Liang confirmed.

"To the outside, the Zhuge family of Langya can declare Zhuge Liang as our disciple; internally, you and I can be more casual and discuss and advise each other." Li Ji said.

These words made Zhuge Xuan's old face turn slightly red.

However, the current Zhuge clan of Langya is indeed in decline. Zhuge Gui, the only pillar of the Zhuge clan, only served as a county magistrate before dying young. None of the remaining Zhuge clan members are officials, and their influence is declining.

Therefore, in recent years, Zhuge Xuan not only raised Zhuge Liang's brothers and sisters on behalf of his brother, but also actively ran around seeking ways to become an official to revitalize the Zhuge family of Langya.

When the news spread that Guo Shihou accepted Zhuge Liang as his disciple, it was undoubtedly of great benefit to the Zhuge family of Langya, which was why Zhuge Xuan was particularly active.

It can be said that with Li Ji's current status and prestige, even if a few benefits slip through his fingers, it would be enough to revitalize a small family.

Immediately, in order to show his closeness, Li Ji specially invited Zhuge Xuan and Zhuge Liang to have dinner in his mansion, and also prepared to let Zhuge Xuan and Zhuge Liang stay overnight in his mansion.

However, Zhuge Xuan was also well versed in the ways of the world. Now that Zhuge Liang had also become Li Ji's disciple, the two sides had formed a close relationship second only to that of father and son. It was not a bad idea for him to keep Zhuge Liang in his mansion for a while to give him advice.

But as a foreign guest, it would be inconvenient for him to stay in the mansion, and he is not very sensible.

Therefore, Zhuge Xuan declined the offer and left that night on the grounds that Zhuge Jun, who stayed in Langya County, was too young.

In this regard, Li Ji did not try to keep Zhuge Liang and arranged accommodation for him in his mansion.

Coincidentally, after Xiahou Lan and Guo Jia were arranged to leave the mansion, there were rooms left vacant, and those two rooms were also close to Li Ji's study. (End of this chapter)