Chapter 65: Pleasant Goat and Grey Taotao

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  After a while, Qin Mubai estimated that Li Zhi and the others should have woken up, so he returned to the Penglai Palace. Just as he arrived outside the palace, he was amused by the voices coming from inside -

  "Maa maa! I'm Beauty Sheep, Brother Jiu. You're Grey Wolf! Come and catch me, catch me, hehe!" Li Mingda's voice.

  "No! I'm Pleasant Goat! Hui Tarō has a scar on his face and a fierce wife who hits him on the head with a spoon, no way I want to be Hui Tarō!" Li Zhì said indignantly.

  "What's going on? There's no Hui Tarou! - Nanny, you come and pretend to be Hui Tarou!"

  "No way! The wet nurse is a woman, and Hui Tarō is a man - let the wet nurse dress up as Hui Tarō's wife. Call that eunuch to dress up as Hui Tarō, haha!"

  "Great! Great! Ninth brother you're clever, hehe - why haven't you guys come over yet to play with us?"

  ……

  Qin Mubai stood outside the door and listened for a while, and couldn't help but laugh. The room inside was in an uproar, those eunuchs, wet nurses, and palace maids were all called over to play their roles. The sheep were rolling around on the ground, bleating loudly, while the couple, Hui Tarou and his wife, chased after them in circles. Li Zhi and Li Mingda's laughter was simply riotous.

  They were all tired from playing, and Qin Mu Bai pushed open the door and entered.

  Li Zhi and Li Mingda were already panting on the ground, still grinning from ear to ear. Those eunuchs, palace maids, and wet nurses had also been rolling around on the ground for a while, and they too were exhausted.

  "Hey, Pleasant Goat, look! General Qin is here! Hehe!" Li Mingda stretched out his small hand and mischievously pointed at Qin Mubai with a smile.

  "We let him pretend to be the village head and protect us, okay?" Li Zhi said.

  "Good, good!" Li Mingda clapped his hands, "General Qin, you are our village head, you are the one who protects our village!"

  Qin Mubai walked over with a smile, squatting down to pat their backs: "Alright, I'm the village head, and it's my duty to protect you all anyway - look, you've played so hard your clothes are soaked through. Nanny, take the two young masters to bathe quickly, they have class with Mr. later."

  "No, I don't want to go to class!" Li Zhi stubbornly shook his head, "I just want to play Happy Sheep and Grey Taro!"

  "Brother Jiu, let's go!" Li Mingda pulled Li Zhi's hand and shook it, saying "I still haven't finished writing a single character yesterday! Let's go, let's go, we can play again when we get back, okay?"

  Qin Mubai smiled and said, "King of Jin, look at the princess, she's so clever, just like Beautiful Sheep. You're supposed to be playing the role of the smartest and most sensible Happy Sheep, how can you skip school and not attend classes? That would make you the laziest useless sheep."

  "Oh... then I'll go read a book." Li Zhi stared blankly at Qin Mu Bai and nodded.

  "This is more like it." Qin Mu Bai patted their backs, "Now, go take a bath first. Later I'll send you to Mr.'s place."

  "Oh!"

  Two little guys were taken to bathe by the wet nurse, Qin Mubai let out another sigh. Today, he didn't know how many times he had sighed. Dealing with children really wasn't his forte. Ten-year-old Li Zhi sometimes wasn't as sensible and clever as five or six-year-old Li Mingda. The future emperor of the Tang Dynasty now seemed a bit dull, at least compared to Princess Gao Yang and Li Mingda, not very quick-witted. It was also said that if he grew up as cunning as his father and equally wise, how would he have handed over the prosperous Tang Dynasty to Wu Zetian?

  But now it won't happen. Wu Mei Niang has become my Qin Mu Bai's wife without passing the door, and this history has also taken a turn... Since it has turned, can Li Zheng finally become the emperor?

  Thinking of this, Qin Mubai felt a bit dazed and overwhelmed, so he decided to stop thinking about it. Whatever the outcome of history may be, his own life must be magnificent. As for the current Tang Dynasty era, it's not bad, I'm ashamed to do things that harm the country and its people. Creating a lifetime of achievements for future generations to admire is also very fulfilling.

  Soon, Qin Mubai took Li Zhi and Li Mingda to Shufang to read books.

  Li Shimin invited a teacher for these two princes, who was none other than the famous Yu Shinnan!

  Yu Shinan was nearly eighty years old, and had long since retired from official life. However, Emperor Taizong of Tang deeply admired his talent, and after Yu's retirement, he was again summoned to serve as a scholar in the Imperial Academy. There, he was undoubtedly a towering figure. As early as the Sui dynasty era, he was already an attendant officer of Emperor Yang, which means he was both secretary and advisor. Later, he became one of the eighteen scholars of the Qinwangfu, with his vast knowledge renowned throughout the land, earning him widespread praise from people all over the world. Emperor Taizong praised Yu's "virtue, integrity, erudition, literary talent, and calligraphy" as five absolute virtues. In fact, his most outstanding skill was still calligraphy.

  Yu Shinan's calligraphy was taught by Zhiyong Chan Master, the seventh generation of Wang Xizhi and a Sui Dynasty calligrapher. He deeply grasped the essence. Nowadays, he is recognized as "the first pen in the current dynasty". Li Shimin highly praised his calligraphy. In his early years when he was physically strong, most of Li Shimin's imperial decrees were written by him.

  Qin Mubai, although always somewhat arrogant, had always been relatively respectful towards Yu Shinan, a man of outstanding virtue and great talent. When leading the two princes over, he also paid his respects to Yu Shinan with an extremely sincere attitude.

  Yu Shinan's hair and beard were all white, and his body didn't seem to be in good shape either. After sizing up Qin Mu Bai for a while, he finally said: "You are... Hundred Riders Envoy Qin Mu Bai, General Qin?"

  "Does Mr. Yu know you?" Qin Mu Bai smiled and said, "That's right, it's me."

  "Not bad, not bad, indeed a talented young man, formidable!" Yu Shinan stroked his silvery white beard with his withered hand and chuckled.

  "Master, you're overpraising me. I'm actually quite ignorant and have always felt ashamed." Qin Mubai said.

  "General Qin is too modest." Yu Shannan chuckled and said, "Five-flower horse, thousand-golden coat, calling out to exchange fine wine with you, to eliminate the eternal feud - such poetic lines, can be written by a rustic person like him?"

  "Huh……this!" Qin Mubai was momentarily stunned, and suddenly remembered that Li Tai had indeed said before that he wanted to ask Yu Shinnan to write down this poem with a brush, and then engrave it on a stone tablet. Could it be that this matter has already been taken care of?

  "Heh heh, let's stop the idle chatter. Your Highnesses, please take a seat and let us begin our lesson." Yu Shinan said to Li Zhi and his sister.

  Li Zhi and his sister sat down properly, and the lesson began. Today's class had two sessions, one was to learn "The Classic of Filial Piety" and the other was to practice calligraphy. After the class started, Qin Mubai went out and waited outside the door.

  An old man and a young boy were reciting the "Classic of Filial Piety" in the room, which had a nice flavor of elegance and childlike innocence. Later, when learning calligraphy, Qin Mubai walked in and took a glance. It was estimated that Li Mingda's handwriting at the age of five or six was much better than Li Zhi's.

  Li Zhi learned the calligraphy of Yu Shinan, while Li Mingda learned the "Fei Bai Shu" created by Li Shimin. At a young age of only five or six years old, Li Mingda had already grasped the essence of Fei Bai Shu. Yu Shinan often nodded and smiled at Qin Mubai, expressing his admiration and surprise for this little girl.

  "What a genius child!" Qin Mubai also couldn't help but admire in her heart.

  The two little dolls finished their class, cheering and shouting, wanting Qin Mu Bai to start telling them stories. Qin Mu Bai coaxed them for a while, asking them to wait outside the study first, and walked in front of Yu Shi Nan, bowing his hands in greeting.

  "Is General Qin busy?" Yu Shannan asked with a smile on his face.

  "Sir, I have an impolite request to make, I don't know if you can agree to it?" Qin Mu Bai said.

  "General, tell us more."

  "In leisure time, I also like to read books. However, there are many places that I don't quite understand. In the military camp and in the imperial palace, sometimes I don't know who to ask for guidance." Qin Mu Bai smiled and said, "Therefore, I was thinking that if I have any unclear points in the future, may I ask Mr. for instruction?"

  "Alright!" Yu Shinnan was very pleased, without any of the pretentiousness often seen in scholars. He chuckled and said, "Could it be that you are so diligent and humble, a young man like yourself? It would be a blessing for me to guide someone like you! I don't have many good days left, if I can leave something behind in this world, then I will leave as much as I can, haha!"

  "Thank you, Mr. Yu!" Qin Mu Bai thanked gratefully.

  In fact, those poems and articles, ancient books and classics, Qin Mubai was not very interested. The reason why he wanted to "steal" from Yu Shinan like this was just to get a little more guidance on the way of being an official and getting along with the world from him.

  Yu Shinnan has served in the imperial court for two dynasties, and his knowledge and experience in many areas are enough to make him a teacher of Qin Mubai. Since the last conflict with Longsun Ruan, Qin Mubai deeply understood the truth that "there is always someone better than oneself" and recognized that he was still very immature and needed to strengthen his cultivation and learning.

  Isn't Yu Shinnan the best teacher at present? Following him, you can learn everything. Confucian classics, calligraphy, poetry, articles, and even the way of being a human, getting along with others, and being an official... A person like Yu Shinnan is himself a living library!

  "Good, good, good! Young people are diligent and making progress. With such a person by Your Majesty's side, I am truly delighted, haha!" Yu Shinan stroked his beard and laughed loudly, walking away with the aid of his cane.

  In the evening, Li Shimin finally returned, and Qin Mubai could also finish work and go back to rest.

  Two little princes met their father, still happily cheering and jumping for joy. The difference was that they didn't need Li Shimin to rack his brains to think of something to coax them into speaking, to coax them into happiness. On the contrary, Li Zhi and Li Mingda took turns telling Li Shimin the story of "喜羊羊与灰太郎" ( Pleasant Goat and Big Grey Wolf).

  Li Shimin burst out laughing and tightly hugged the two children, getting so excited that he almost lost his composure.

  "Good children, it's been a long time since I've seen you all so happy and lively! Haha!" Li Shimin laughed heartily, and later said to Qin Mubai, "Mubai, you've really worked hard. It seems they get along with you very well and like you too. My heart is at ease."

  "Your Majesty, these are what I, your humble servant, should do." Qin Mu Bai took another deep breath: It seems that on my first day of work, I've done a pretty good job...

  .??，！