The first volume of pearl curtains rolls up the western mountain rain at dusk Chapter 68: Young and Ignorant
When it was getting dark, Li Diudiu sat by the woods in a daze . He didn't see Gao Xining coming to learn martial arts today, and he felt a little disappointed. The word "depressed" was how he comforted himself. He was already in a state of disquiet, so how could he still be calm?
He had an urge to go to her house to find her, but Li Diudiu knew that this was not right. Dean Gao always had some distance from him and did not want him to have too much contact with Gao Xining. Li Diudiu thought that if he went there, Gao Xining would probably be the one who got scolded.
Xiahou Zhuo came back leisurely from a distance and couldn't help laughing when he saw Li Diudiu sitting there.
"It's twelve."
Xiahou Zhuo said: "It's a bit early to think about love at this age."
Li Diudiu rolled his eyes at him and said, "I miss you."
Xiahou Zhuo said: "Fuck it, it's a bit early to think about girls at this age, and you're already thinking about men."
Li Diudiu: “…”
He sat down next to Li Diudiu and nudged Li Diudiu with his shoulder: "There is good news and bad news, which one do you want to hear?"
Li Diudiu asked: "Does it have anything to do with me?"
Xiahou Zhuo said: "It has nothing to do with it."
Li Diudiu said, “That’s up to you.”
Xiahou Zhuo smiled and said, "I just got some news from the governor. General Liu Ge said that the governor was worried that the rebels would come to cause trouble before your majesty's birthday, so he asked him to lead the troops out of the city to take a look."
Li Diudiu was stunned. He turned his head to look at Xiahou Zhuo and asked, "We went to suppress the bandits not because they broke into Tang County and killed countless people, but because we were worried that the bandits would disrupt your majesty's birthday celebrations?"
Xiahou Zhuo said: "See, this is what a child thinks... When you reach a certain age, you will understand that no matter what the reason is or what the process is, the final result is what you hope to see. What's the point of asking for so much?"
Li Diudiu shook his head. He didn’t think what Xiahou Zhuo said was right, but no matter how he thought about it, there didn’t seem to be anything wrong with it.
"Only children would wonder whether a cause is just or unjust."
Xiahou Zhuo said, "You feel sorry for the suffering people, but I only care about whether the army has gone out to suppress the bandits. Now that they have, isn't that good enough?"
Li Diudiu let out a long breath: "But I just feel that things shouldn't be like this."
He asked, “What about the bad news?”
Xiahou Zhuo said, "Forget it, I won't say any more."
Li Diudiu pondered for a moment and said, "Is the bad news just for show? General Liu took his troops out for a walk and came back soon. Maybe he killed some refugees outside and said he was suppressing bandits. The bloody heads are all refugees, so he can report his military merits."
Xiahou Zhuo shrugged and did not answer.
After a while, Xiahou Zhuo said, "This is why I always wanted to go to the border. Only the soldiers there are pure... Diu'er, although you have just entered the academy, and a big city like Jizhou should not be in any danger in the short term, you still have to make plans early."
He looked up at the sky and saw the wind had blown away the clouds.
"In storytellers' stories, whenever there is trouble, they always mention four words: the gathering of wind and clouds... In fact, clouds can never be a match for wind. The wind comes and the clouds go. This bullshit gathering of wind and clouds is nothing more than clouds being chased by the wind."
He pointed to the sky and said: "Look at those big white clouds. People only see them and think they are beautiful and occupy the sky. But the invisible wind is the real strong one."
"There are many bandits outside Jizhou City now, scattered here and there, and it's scary to look at them because they dare to kill people. They are like clouds, just there, but when the real wind blows, these clouds will be blown away."
He patted Li Diudiu on the shoulder and said, "If one day you grow up and leave Jizhou City, don't be obsessed with how beautiful the clouds are, chase the wind."
Li Diudiu was silent for a long time, then smiled and said, "Speaking of these things almost drains away your talent, doesn't it?"
Xiahou Zhuo laughed and said, "Get lost..."
Li Diudiu asked: "What is wind?"
Xiahou Zhuo said: "Logically speaking, the soldiers of the Great Chu Palace are the wind , the imperial power is the wind, the national strength is the wind, and these rebel troops are just floating clouds. As long as the wind is right, the clouds are nothing... But now the wind is not right."
He pretended to be relaxed, but there was no relaxation in his expression.
"How long can our Great Chu hold out? Ten years at most?"
Xiahou Zhuo sighed and said, "Maybe seven or eight years, maybe five years, maybe even shorter... I heard that the bandits outside the city are no longer as loose as before, and are gradually becoming more regular. There is a place called Xinzhou five or six hundred miles northwest of Jizhou City. Xinzhou governor Yu Xiaoqing was framed and had his property confiscated by the people of the Judicial Bureau because he provided disaster relief to the people. Yu Xiaoqing's eldest son Yu Chaozong gathered a crowd to resist, killed hundreds of government officials, and then left."
He looked at Li Diudiu and said, "Yu Chaozong now has 3,000 to 4,000 men under his command. Instead of harassing the common people, they went straight to Yanshan. Rumor has it that Yu Chaozong called his troops the Yanshan Camp and they train every day. The government in Xinzhou sent troops to attack them, but they were defeated by Yu Chaozong in Yanshan, and they gave Yu Chaozong more than 10,000 soldiers and weapons for nothing."
Li Diudiu said: "Xinzhou Prefecture is already a high-ranking official, but he still has no power in front of the people from the Investigation Bureau. For the sake of money and profit, they dare to punish even a fourth-rank official at will..."
He sighed and said, "The world has come to the point where a teenager like me has to worry about it."
"So you can't be completely devoid of ideas."
Xiahou Zhuo said, "It would be fine if you didn't leave Jizhou. If you leave Jizhou, you will see clearly how chaotic the world has become. However, Liu Chongxin has his hands full. His Majesty still believes that the Great Chu is prosperous . All the reports about the rebels from various places were thrown away by Liu Chongxin like garbage. The emperor doesn't know anything about it, and probably doesn't want to know."
He looked at Li Diudiu and said, "If you leave Jizhou in the future, you'd better look carefully and go to the northern border to find me."
Li Diudiu hummed, "You don't have to worry about me so much . Before we went to Tang County, I just found out that my master was almost killed, but your father happened to save him. I wanted to get revenge, but then I figured out that most of the people who arranged the attack on my master have been arrested and thrown into jail."
Xiahou Zhuo said: "Their days in prison were not hard at all."
Li Diudiu nodded and said, "They are just pretending to show it to your father."
Xiahou Zhuo hummed, "In the final analysis, if my father didn't have a close relationship with the Jiedushi, he would have pretended to obey the emperor's orders, but secretly didn't take the emperor's words seriously."
He was silent for a moment and then said, "You will have to go to class again the day after tomorrow. It will be a large class. Take some time to go out with me tomorrow. I will introduce some people to you."
Li Diudiu asked: "Girl?"
Xiahou Zhuo: "Do you think I am that kind of person?"
Li Diudiu asked: "Are you quite proud?"
Xiahou Zhuo: "Why do I feel that your personality has changed... Do you have such thoughts about women now?"
Li Diudiu said: "I'm fine, but you have no idea about girls at your age. It's very dangerous. Look at Mr. Yan, and then look at my master. There are so many precedents, but you don't reflect on it?"
Xiahou Zhuo: "Get lost..."
He asked Li Diudiu: "What book have you been reading recently? Every time I come back from going out, I see you reading a book. What is it?"
Li Diudiu looked around and saw no one around. He lowered his voice and said, "Particularly exciting books are either about two people or many people. They are entangled, passionate, and they go back and forth, over and over again..."
Xiahou Zhuo's eyes widened: "You actually read this kind of book!"
Li Diudiu sighed: "Boxing manual, sword manual..."
Xiahou Zhuo: "Hmm..."
Then he raised his hand and knocked on Li Diudiu's head. Li Diudiu shrank his neck and said, "Your mind is full of filth."
"Do you want to read a military book?"
Xiahou Zhuo asked in a very low voice: "If you want to see it, I'll see if there's any way I can get it for you."
Li Diudiu's eyes widened: "Where are you going to do it?"
Xiahou Zhuo said, "My father must have it, but it's not easy to take this kind of book out of the house. I'll try. If I really can't take it out, I'll find a way to hand-copy two copies for you."
Li Diudiu asked: "Any other conditions?"
Xiahou Zhuo shook his head: "Do you think I would ask you for money? You really look down on me. Even if I am poor, can I be poorer than you? The main thing is that school is about to start, and my God of Wealth has to return to his place."
Li Diudiu chuckled and said, "You'd better not copy it by hand. It won't be good if your father finds out about this. It's better to just steal it."
Xiahou Zhuo: "It is a great misfortune to have you as my friend."
Li Diudiu guessed that Gao Xining would not be around again today, so he stood up and said, "Let's go, it's time to eat... When I think about the decreasing variety of food in the small kitchen recently, I feel that this world is cruel."
Xiahou Zhuo suddenly thought that everyone in the world could rebel, and most of those who rebelled did so because they could not get enough food. If someone like Li Diudiu also rebelled, it was most likely because even the variety of food in the academy cafeteria was starting to decrease.
How to explain it more clearly? It’s probably that others don’t want to eat, but Li Diudiu does it simply because of the food.
The two walked towards Yan Qingzhi's courtyard. Yan Qingzhi just came out and was about to go to the cafeteria. When he saw Li Diudiu and Xiahou Zhuo, he stopped. Xiahou Zhuo asked, "Why are you not aware of this at all? Haven't you brought back the food yet?"
Yan Qingzhi sighed and said, "Draw your sword."
Xiahou Zhuo immediately lifted Li Diudiu up and said, "I have the bastard in my hand."
Yan Qing took two steps back, thought for a moment and said, "Your sword is too good. I can't beat you. You hold a rare and precious sword in your hand. If I fight you like this, you will be bullying others with your sword."
Li Diudiu, who was in Xiahou Zhuo's hands, said helplessly: "Leaving people with some dignity is better than building a seven-story pagoda."
As they were talking, they saw Dean Gao coming from a distance with a bad look on his face, as if he had just come out of his yard not long ago. Li Diudiu and the other three hurriedly bowed to greet him. Dean Gao nodded, looked at Li Diudiu, and seemed to be hesitant to speak. In the end, he just sighed and turned away.
Xiahou Zhuo knew it was because of Gao Xining when he saw Dean Gao's expression. He patted Li Diudiu on the shoulder and said, "Your life will not be easy in the future."
Yan Qingzhi nodded: "I second the motion."
Xiahou Zhuo asked, "Does the dean think that you are attracted to his granddaughter? He must be getting old and confused, and he is just imagining things."
Li Diudiu said: "That's right, this is just wishful thinking. How could I like his granddaughter?"
Yan Qingzhi: "It's good to be young and ignorant..."
