Hello Chang’an

Chapter 372 "To spoil a brother is like killing a brother" (6,000 words)

 There are some reasons why Wu Zhaobai had this idea.

His maternal grandfather's family also came from a scholarly family. This time his mother went back to visit relatives. Depressed and frustrated, he asked his mother to take an article he had written with great pains to her and gave it to his grandfather to review and give advice -

After reading his article, his grandfather was impressed by his talent, so he donated books from his family collection to help him take the imperial examination...

Those books that filled a whole box were not a small amount. As far as he knew, his grandfather's collection of books was not rich. Could it be that he was trying his best to support him this time?

So, has he finally waited for someone who is truly discerning and willing to recognize him?

Wu Zhaobai was a little excited in his heart, but his face became more and more calm. He was not in a hurry to see the books, and he practiced the true virtue of "a gentleman's true nature is to be unfazed by favors and humiliations".

Mrs. Wu held the tea cup and looked at her whimsical son: "How many books in your grandfather's family are worth giving away and are not willing to take out? Not many of your own children can support them."

If it wasn't a book given by my grandfather's family, where did it come from? Bought it from a bookstore on the way? It can be easily bought in bookstores outside, and I bought so many books. How can it be a good book?

After Wu Zhaobai was briefly stunned, his attitude quickly changed to disdain.

Immediately afterwards, I heard my mother say: "Although there is no book, after your grandfather read your article, there was something he wanted me to bring to you -"

When his elders spoke, Wu Zhaobai acted like he was listening.

"...First of all, we must guard against arrogance and impetuosity, and learn to be down-to-earth in order to make progress."

Wu Zhaobai's face turned slightly stiff. Did his grandfather's words mean that he was impetuous and arrogant?

Mrs. Wu looked at her son's expression and sighed in her heart, feeling embarrassed, right? When she was at her parents' home, she heard her father commenting on her son's articles with a sad expression on her face in front of several brothers. Wasn't she embarrassed?

She was willing to bring her son's article, which had been "rejected" by her husband and father-in-law many times, to her parents' home for her father to review. She was truly the most loving mother in the world who was best at enduring humiliation and burden.

Fortunately, Chunbai was here, and when faced with her father's questioning, she was not inferior to her nephews at all, and she regained face as a mother.

Chunbai does not lose to those cousins. The word "does not lose" is her father's comment. If asked to tell her, it is not just that she does not lose, but she is far better than her. However, her father is old-fashioned and has always paid more attention to men. In order to His own disciple's face, only said that Chunbai just "doesn't lose".

Before leaving, her father sighed with her in private, and said with great regret: "If Chunbai and Zhaobai exchange places, this generation of the Wu family will definitely be able to reach a higher level." 】

In short, it's a pity that Chunbai is not a man.

Mrs. Wu felt sorry for this at first, but after hearing such words too many times, she gradually developed a somewhat rebellious attitude - What happened to her daughter's family? Are people born just to honor their ancestors? Her daughter deserves all the good qualities. Why should these wise and valuable qualities be regarded as a waste when they appear in her daughter's family, and be lamented by both relevant and irrelevant people as "a waste of natural resources"?

There are more possibilities that Mrs. Wu cannot think of for the time being, but now she no longer blames God for being unfair because of the gap in qualifications between her children.

Of course, her change in mentality was also due to her son's sour and rotten aura, which made it difficult for her to feel too much affection for him.

At this moment, Wu Zhaobai felt a little resentful in his heart - knowing clearly that what his grandfather said was not good, why did his mother still say it in public? Doesn't he want to lose face?

In embarrassment, Wu Zhaobai subconsciously wanted to find something to pick on. As soon as he turned his eyes, he chose his sister who was just looking at books: "...Chunbai, why did you buy so many books without authorization? Why, at home? Aren’t the books enough for you to read?”

His grandfather's collection of books did not impose any restrictions on his sister, which also made him quite dissatisfied.

"Chunbai didn't buy these books." Without waiting for her daughter to answer, Mrs. Wu said: "The concierge just now said that someone sent them to Chunbai -"

As he spoke, he also asked his daughter curiously: "Who sent it to me, does Chunbai already know?"

Wu Chunbai had dug out a letter from the box. She quickly opened it, and immediately showed a rare expression of joy: "It's Mrs. Chang... Mrs. Chang specially asked someone to send it from Jiangdu."

Wu Zhaobai was stunned - who? That Chang Sui Ning?

This woman shamelessly plotted to seize the position of governor of Jiangdu, and intercepted the collection of books confiscated from the homes of Jiangnan nobles. No one knew that she ordered hundreds of people to copy books in Jiangdu. Could these books be...

Wu Zhaobai couldn't help but look over.

Wu Chunbai read the letter and said: "Ms. Chang said that these are all the altered copies that were screened out when copying the book. Because Jiangdu's manpower is really tight, there is no manpower available to copy again..."

"I wonder why she is so kind. It turns out it's just the wrong copy!" Wu Zhaobai put his hands behind his hands and sneered: "Giving the wrong copy to someone, if you don't know, you think it's just a beggar."

"It's an erased version, not a wrong version." Mrs. Wu said angrily, "Then Wang Xizhi's "Lanting Preface" was still altered."

"What my mother said is wrong. The reason why Wang Xizhi's Lanting Preface has traces of alteration is because it was improvised, and the altered version is the authentic copy!" Wu Zhaobai pointed to the box of books with disdain and said, "But these copies are just manuscripts. , and how can those who copied the book be compared with Wang Xizhi?"

Wu Chunbai said unhurriedly: "Those who copied the books worked tirelessly, spending dozens of days without taking off their clothes and pens, copying and revising, just to leave these rare books from the south of the Yangtze River to be taught to scholars all over the world. How could the credit for this go to my brother? How can they be so unworthy of mentioning that they are being used by my elder brother to belittle them in the Holy Family?"

As she spoke, she raised her eyebrows slightly and looked at Wu Zhaobai with a half-smile: "I'm afraid my brother is jealous that they can be selected to copy books, but he doesn't even have a chance to see those classics, right?"

Wu Zhaobai's face froze: "...Don't be so self-righteous!"

Wu Chunbai didn't bother to look at his face and continued to read the letter while saying: "There are fifty or sixty volumes of these. They are not just for me, but Mrs. Chang said that I can keep a copy of them myself..."

These books were to be distributed to Yao Xia, Wei Miaoqing and others, and in addition to them, Mrs. Chang also asked her to deliver them to another person in her letter.

Looking at the name written on the letter, Wu Chunbai thought for a moment and roughly understood the purpose of Chang Suining choosing to entrust her to hand it over.

"Tomorrow I will ask them to come to my house to copy the books." Wu Chunbai said with a smile: "I will make a few more copies myself later, one for my grandfather, one for my father, and one..."

Wu Zhaobai didn't squint his eyes and snorted - he may not want it!

The next moment, I heard my sister say: "Give one share to Ah Xian."

Wu Zhaobai: "..."

Ah Xian is his son's nickname.

The young lady of the Wu family on the side quickly smiled and said: "No, no, A Xian is only a few years old, and he is just enlightened now. He won't be able to understand it, so don't rush to give it to him."

"?" Wu Zhaobai's eyes twitched slightly, and his heart throbbed inexplicably.

The young lady of the Wu family smiled in a reasonable manner.

After returning to the hospital, Wu Zhaobai thought about it, but still felt uncomfortable in his heart. Looking for an opportunity, he finally asked his wife: "...just now in the front hall, Chunbai said that he wanted to give Ah Xian a copy of those books. , why do you refuse?”

After asking, he added quietly: "I'm just asking."

"...Husband, haven't you always looked down on Mrs. Chang? If the books sent by Mrs. Chang are placed in our yard, will your husband feel better?" Mrs. Wu's young lady asked thoughtfully.

The words in Wu Zhaobai's throat were choked for a moment. After a moment, he said: "Books are innocent... You must always think about Ah Xian."

The young lady of the Wu family smiled and consoled her: "Husband, you are too worried now. As long as A Xian can use the books at home, no one will be wary of him in the future."

Are you kidding me, is it Ah Xian that I am guarding against? He is obviously her husband.

Books are rare and good books, but if they are given to someone with a bad mouth and a sad heart, wouldn't that be a waste of the good intentions of the governor? If she were a regular governor and knew that the books she sent were cheap and people who looked down upon her secretly would be sick, she would die of vomiting.

As for her husband's future... Anyone with a discerning eye can see that her husband is unsuccessful. The problem lies in his character, followed by his qualifications, which have nothing to do with opportunities and conditions. After all, the Wu family has given him enough since he was a child. Everything he needs.

If the husband's character cannot be changed, everything else is just talk.

Therefore, it is impossible to give him steps. She will only make the steps higher for him. When one day he can no longer get down, and he will be scared to death just looking down, maybe there will be a cure.

Speaking of this, even though Wu Zhaobai felt depressed, he couldn't say any more.

But in the next few days, whenever he heard that Wu Chunbai invited a group of girls to come and copy books, Wu Zhaobai felt anxious and restless, often pacing back and forth in the room.

In the study outside Wu's house, twenty or thirty girls gathered. Except for the two gangsters Yao Xia and Wei Miaoqing, everyone else was actively copying books seriously, and the atmosphere was harmonious and pleasant.

Wu Zhaobai could no longer bear the depression in his heart, so he could only drink to drown his sorrows.

When the wine got to his head, those dissatisfied words could no longer be suppressed and they all poured out.

"What use are those books for them...can they govern the country or benefit the people?"

"The secret knowledge of the Holy Spirit should have been put to good use by our scholars...but now it has become a thing for a group of girls to play in the boudoir! How ridiculous!"

"I know that we must not allow those narrow-minded women to be in high positions, otherwise they will only take the opportunity to satisfy their own selfishness and ignore the overall situation!"

"If things continue like this, there will never be a day when the man like me will come forward!"

"...Where is there only selfishness and no regard for the overall situation?" The young lady of the Wu family sighed: "The governor often borrowed these books to build a unique courtyard in Jiangdu, and recruited qualified scholars from all over the world to study, regardless of gender. Just look at qualifications and treat everyone equally.”

Wu Zhaobai immediately pinched his red neck and said: "Treating everyone equally is for the benefit of women!"

"Which academy has historically allowed women to study with men? How come she has to set a precedent for women everywhere? Isn't this narrow selfishness?"

The young lady of the Wu family sighed again: "What should we do? Otherwise, my husband should report to the official position."

"Applying for office? I'm afraid that those who become officials in the future will all be like Chang Sui Ning!"

Young Madam of the Wu family: "..." In which direction can kowtowing in the right direction bring about such good things?

The heartbroken Wu Zhaobai quickly became drunk.

On the other side, when it was getting dark, Wu Chunbai personally handed two boxes of books into the hands of a trusted servant, gave him an address, and asked him to deliver them.

As soon as Song Xian returned home from duty, he heard from the concierge that someone had brought two boxes. Song Xian looked displeased: "Didn't I tell you a long time ago that you cannot accept gifts from others? Who sent it? Have someone return it as soon as possible."

The concierge was an old servant of his. Hearing this, he stepped forward and lowered his voice: "Don't worry, sir, it's not a bribe... The person who delivered the things said that his girl asked him to deliver it."

Song Xian was startled: "Girl? Which girl?"

"The surname is Wu, and he also said that the Lord will understand after reading this letter." The concierge said, handing over the letter.

The elder of his family had previously been devoted to studying and had not yet been engaged. As soon as he heard this, he couldn't help but think too much. In such a moment of confusion, the person who gave the gift walked away.

Song Xian was magnanimous in his heart and did not shy away from it. He immediately opened the letter and saw only two lines of words on the paper - "Entrusted by Madam Chang to hand it over." No one knows about this, I hope you can be relieved. 】

The signature is in elegant handwriting, with only three characters [Wu Chunbai].

Song Xian then asked the concierge to open the two boxes and check them out, only to see that they were full of brand new books.

"Sir... do you want to send it back?" the concierge asked tentatively.

After a moment, Song Xiancai said: "Stay."

The concierge was overjoyed and held up the two boxes with bright eyes: "Okay!"

Song Xian glanced at the concierge inexplicably.

Song Xian was thinking about this all the way back to Juyuan.

Chang Sui Ning had people copy and collect books in Jiangdu, so he naturally heard about the construction of the Second Academy, but he did not expect that she would actually give him books.

He had just entered the official career, and she probably didn't want to cause unnecessary trouble to him, so she took the trouble to ask the Wu family girl to secretly pass it on... She sent him the book, but she had no intention of using it to tie his position, it was just for the gift of the book.

That's why the Wu family girl's letter contained the sentence "No one knows about this, so please be patient."

After changing out of his official robe, Song Xian took out the books one by one. It could be seen that Chang Sui Ning carefully selected them. Most of them were very suitable for him when he first entered the officialdom and were very helpful to him.

Looking at the two piles of books in front of her, Song Xian suddenly felt that she was like a teacher who carefully selected books for her students, and did not care where the students would use what they had learned or who they would serve.

Song Xian raised his hand to touch those precious books. Thinking of the battle report of the Japanese raid, he couldn't help but feel worried in his eyes.

According to her temperament, she will definitely not hide behind the soldiers. How confident is she in fighting the Japanese army this time?

…

As the night fell, the drunk Wu Zhaobai woke up hazily, and took advantage of the remaining drunkenness to go to the outer study.

The lights were turned off in the huge outer study room where the girls copied books during the day. Seeing no one around, Wu Zhaobai stretched out his hand to push the door, but did not push it open.

He pushed it again, and then took a closer look, and couldn't help but feel annoyed - it didn't make sense, it was even locked!

At this moment, there was a light approaching from behind, followed by footsteps and a voice asking: "Brother? Why are you here?"

Wu Zhaobai's heart trembled, and when he looked back, he saw his sister coming with a lantern.

"I...I'm looking for something!" Wu Zhaobai put his hands behind his back and tried his best to look calm.

"Brother is alone late at night. What are you looking for here?" Wu Chunbai asked quietly: "Brother is here to steal books, right?"

"Who are you talking about stealing!" Wu Zhaobai was stung by the word "steal": "This is the Wu family, my surname is Wu, and I am my father's only son. How come I don't know that there is something that needs me to steal! Wu Chunbai , don’t spit out blood..."

Wu Chunbai interrupted him: "Brother, if you want to borrow a book, it's not impossible."

Wu Zhaobai's expression froze and he swallowed: "You...what did you say?"

Wu Chunbai smiled solemnly on his face: "Okay, from tomorrow onwards, every time my brother goes to Dengtai Tower to compose a poem praising Mrs. Chang's achievements, I will lend him a book - what do you think, brother?"

Wu Zhaobai's face turned red and white: "A scholar cannot be killed but cannot be humiliated...Don't bully others too much!"

Wu Chunbai raised his eyebrows: "It seems that brother is not willing to appreciate it."

Wu Zhaobai was embarrassed and annoyed when he saw someone coming over again. He took a closer look and saw that his grandfather and father were both here, probably coming to the study to discuss something -

He immediately pointed at his sister with anger and grievance: "Grandfather, father! Chunbai humiliated me for no reason and actually asked me to compose a poem in exchange for a book... She has treated her brother with such care at a young age. How can she return it in the future? Come on!"

If you dare to ask him to exchange poems for books today, you might dare to ask him to play music and dance in the future!

The old man of the Wu family looked at his granddaughter: "Chun Bai's move is indeed inappropriate."

Wu Zhaobai, who rarely received support from his grandfather, became even more stern. Just as he was about to answer, he heard his grandfather say again: "Your brother can't exchange a poem for a big coin, how can he exchange for those rare books? Chunbai, you must know how to behave like a brother." Kill brother."

Wu Zhaobai's lips trembled: "Grandpa..."

After a moment of confusion, he completely broke his guard, suddenly raised his voice, and asked aggrievedly and angrily what he had suppressed in his heart for too long: "Why is my grandfather always so partial? Why does my grandfather only have spring white eyes, but never grandsons?" No matter what! The grandson is obviously the pillar of the Wu family in the future! Or is he really so miserable in the eyes of his grandfather? "

"Do you want to hear the truth?"

Facing the old man's serious gaze, Wu Zhaobai pursed his lips and looked away: "..." Suddenly he was not sure whether to listen or not.

But whether he wanted to listen or not, the old man's voice had already reached his ears: "Then I tell you, yes. You are indeed unworthy of being the pillar of the Wu family, and unworthy of being compared with Chunbai."

Facing the old man's extremely disappointed gaze, Wu Zhaobai looked stunned and his eyes gradually turned red.

"You always think that I only prefer Chunbai, but despise you, but you don't know that everything depends on man-made things. You can't blame anyone for what you are today."

"You are the sole heir of the third generation of my Wu family. Since you were born, our family has given you the best of everything. At first, Chunbai just picked up your remaining books to read, and got good things for the study. They all let you choose first and give you the greatest preference in everything, but how do you give back to your family? "

"You are arrogant and arrogant, and you can't stand any setbacks. You failed the exam for the first time, so you started to complain about everything!"

"Chun Bai has better qualifications than you, but what you are most inferior to is Chun Bai's character—"

"It should be noted that Chunbai's excellence was not stolen from you, but something inherent in her. This is true of Chunbai, and even more so of Chang Jishi. They have never robbed you at all, they only relied on their own abilities. You just got something you couldn't get."

"You have never allowed others to praise Chunbai. You think that as a man, you are inferior to your sister, which is a great shame and humiliation. Therefore, you treat other outstanding women and belittle them everywhere. You deceive yourself and others, and you are completely deceived!"

"Today, as your grandfather, I will say this. If you don't know how to reflect on your mistakes, you will rot in wine and your narrow-mindedness for the rest of your life, and you will become a useless person!"

After the old man of the Wu family finished speaking, he didn't look at his grandson again, and left with his son and granddaughter.

Wu Zhaobai stayed where he was with tears in his eyes. After a while, he couldn't hold on any longer and leaned against the door panel, slumping down little by little.

When the young lady of the Wu family came to look for him, she saw her husband leaning against the door and hiding his face, crying. She advised her husband to go back and rest. After all, his mind was already very sick. At least he should keep his body.

"...Chunbai, and Chang Sui Ning, everyone is praising them, are they really that good?" Wu Zhaobai grabbed his wife's hand and asked with tears in his eyes: "Wan Niang, I want to listen to the truth!"

The young lady of the Wu family asked seriously: "If they were not good, how could they make their husband cry like this?"

Only those who are capable make the villain jealous.

After understanding the meaning of these harsh words, Wu Zhaobai was stunned for a moment and cried even louder.

That night, Wu Zhaobai stayed up all night.

The next day, a friend came to his door and invited him to a poetry gathering. He huddled on the bed and did not get up, so his servants refused.

The servants brought food to him, but he did not use it. He just lay on the bed in despair, his grandfather's heart-wrenching words echoing in his ears. Every time he thought about it, he would cry with trembling lips.

After lying like this for three days, no one from the family came to see her. It was impossible for her grandfather to come, and her parents were nowhere to be seen. Not to mention the heartless Chunbai, but even his wife moved to the study to sleep... and even let him People communicated with him and said nothing, but he had no use for the study anyway.

On this day, Wu Zhaobai saw a familiar little head peeking through the half-open window. He was overjoyed and was about to wave his son in when he saw the little figure leave quickly and shouted loudly as he walked -

"Arqiong, let me just say that my father is not dead! You still don't believe it! You lost the bet, give me three pine nuts! Don't run away!"

Ar Qiong is the companion reader sent to Ah Xian from the Wu family.

The sound of the children chasing faded away, and Wu Zhaobai's chapped lips trembled in the room, and two more lines of tears were shed.

Wu Chunbai had no time to pay attention to her depressed brother. She had been asking people to pay attention to Jiangdu's battle reports recently, and asked people to inquire about the news every day, but she had yet to get anything.

On this day, a piece of news came back to the capital, but it did not come from Jiangdu, but from Dongting.

Li Xian won the battle in Dongting, forced back Bian Chunliang's army, and was able to secure the important territory of Dongting.

When Emperor Shengce heard the news, Long Yan was overjoyed. In the morning, he ordered the soldiers who reported the news to read out the victory report, and praised Li Xian in front of all the civil and military officials.

Master Chu heard this and snorted in his heart. It was just a temporary retreat. When his student defeated Xu Zhengye before, he never boasted like this.

Thank you all for your monthly votes, and thank you book friends for silently supporting you to persevere and for the 10,000-dollar reward! Thank you book friend 160930215402026 for your reward. Thank you all for your understanding and love. Thank you~

(Today is much better. I have written six thousand and sent them all. I will check for typos later. Good night everyone!

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(End of chapter)