Even if you know that the main condition is that your state of mind matches the poem and that you are expressing your feelings, it's still useless if you try to make your mood match the poem.
Heaven cannot be deceived! This is the only reason I can think of.
"Why didn't your eldest brother come?" Qin Qiong asked Qin Huaiyu as she looked at her children who had taken their seats.
"My brother is preparing the wine. He said we don't need to worry about him, just let us eat," Qin Huaiyu hurriedly replied.
"Get some wine? What kind of wine? Does he want to drink?" Qin Qiong asked, frowning. In his memory, he had never seen Qin Mu drink.
"It's not about drinking. Today, Yuchi Huan's second brother and Cheng Huaibi's second brother brought a lot of wine, and my eldest brother is brewing it in the courtyard," Qin Huaidao said, shaking his head.
"Why are we brewing wine? And why are the Cheng and Yuchi families sending it over?" Qin Qiong became more and more confused as he asked.
"I don't know." Qin Huaiyu shook his head blankly. He was busy playing yesterday and didn't pay attention to what Qin Mu and the others were talking about. So when Qin Qiong asked, he naturally couldn't answer.
“Father, this is what happened. Yesterday, the Yuchi and Cheng brothers came to see my eldest brother. He said he could make very good wine, so he asked them to help him collect some. They delivered it over early this morning.”
"My older brother has been busy all day and is still guarding the yard," Qin Yuxin said.
“Oh. Since Mu’er wants to do it, let him do it.” Qin Qiong nodded.
"Mu'er, have you been busy all day? Then quickly have someone send the food over," Aunt Zheng said hurriedly.
“My brother said he knows and told us not to worry about him,” Qin Huaiyu said, raising his head.
"Let's eat!" Qin Qiong waved his hand and said. He trusted Qin Mu quite a bit, so he let him do as he pleased.
"Huaiyu, your elder brother is busy today, why are you all there too? Don't disturb him." After finishing his meal, Qin Qiong drank the last mouthful of soup, put down his bowl and chopsticks, and asked.
"Big brother is telling us to read and practice calligraphy," Qin Huaiyu said.
"Does your older brother have time to teach you?" Qin Qiong was also confused. He had just said he was busy all day, and now he was saying he would teach them to read.
"Yes, yes, my older brother even taught me nursery rhymes," Qin Yuling nodded repeatedly.
"Since your elder brother is teaching you, study hard," Qin Qiong instructed before getting up and leaving.
"Oh!" Qin Huaiyu responded weakly. She had originally wanted to slack off a bit, but now she dared not do so anymore.
"What's that?" Aunt Zheng asked curiously, looking at the Xuan paper in her son's hand.
"Mother, can you teach me how to do this?" Qin Huaiyu's eyes lit up, and he almost jumped into his mother's arms.
"Let me see," said Aunt Zheng, taking the Xuan paper.
She glanced at it and was dumbfounded. She could understand the abbreviations of one, two, three, and four, but one, two plus five, six equals… that was a bit confusing.
Qin Mu hasn't used addition and subtraction symbols yet; he just wants them to get used to it. However, he simply writes "one and two" for things like "one and twelve".
"What does this mean?" Aunt Zheng asked, pointing at the top.
Children don't understand much about the world. They don't think about why what they're learning is different from what they've learned before; they simply believe it's knowledge taught by their older brother, hence the difference. And it's not complicated; it's within their comprehension.
“Twelve plus fifty-six! Mother, don’t you recognize it?” Qin Huaiyu asked, raising her head.
"And what about these?" Aunt Zheng frowned and continued to ask.
Qin Huaidao then read the rest to his mother.
"What did your eldest brother teach you today? Tell your mother slowly." Aunt Zheng paused for a moment, then patted Qin Huaiyu's head and asked with a gentle smile.
Qin Huaiyu proudly recited the introductory text on phonetics taught by Qin Mu, and also talked about arithmetic.
"Hmm, very good. Your elder brother taught very well. Since these are practice questions for you, take them back to your room and do them slowly." Aunt Zheng listened quietly, and after listening, she said this, then patted Qin Huaiyu's head and left.
Qin Huaiyu held the Xuan paper, staring blankly at his mother's departing figure. "Didn't she promise to teach me? Why did she leave?"
Aunt Zheng wasn't unable to answer, but she vaguely felt that Qin Mu was teaching better; however, she hadn't figured out why. Therefore, she didn't consider disrupting Qin Mu's teaching and let Qin Huaiyu practice on her own.
"Was something that delayed you?" Qin Qiong asked curiously, as the couple usually returned to their room around the same time.
“It’s alright, sir. Mu’er is not young anymore. Do you think we should arrange a marriage for him?” Aunt Zheng shook her head and then sat down next to Qin Qiong to ask.
Qin Qiong put away the secret manual, looked at Aunt Zheng, considered it seriously for a moment, and asked, "Madam, which family's daughter do you think is suitable?"
“I haven’t paid attention to this before. Let me inquire about it first. We need to find a suitable match for Mu’er,” Aunt Zheng said, her brows furrowing slightly.
Because of Qin Qiong's relationship with the Zheng family, she has rarely gone out in recent years, and naturally is not very familiar with other people's homes.
"I'll have to trouble you with this, Madam. But Mu'er is a very opinionated child. Once you find him, we'll discuss it with him," Qin Qiong nodded.
"I understand, sir."
…………………
While Qin Qiong and his wife slept, the Lu State Duke's Mansion and the E State Duke's Mansion, both located on Zhuque Street, were bustling with activity.
"Haha! Come, come, fight me for another three hundred rounds!" Cheng Zhijie laughed loudly in the courtyard, holding a broadsword.
Cheng Huaimo was also carrying a sword, but his face was full of sorrow. If it came to fighting, how could he possibly beat his father? And judging from his appearance, he was clearly drunk again.
He had been busy all day and had been out late with his friends, so as soon as he got home, he caught Cheng Zhijie.
Faced with Cheng Zhijie's slashing broadsword, he could only parry with his own. Fortunately, the father and son were used to sparring and neither used their bloodthirsty aura. Knowing he was bound to suffer again today, he only hoped to take as few blows as possible.
Lady Cui, the wife of the Duke of Lu, who came upon hearing the news, shook her head slightly upon seeing the familiar scene.
"Master, why are you drunk again? Did we have any guests at the manor today?" Madam Cui asked.
"Reporting to Madam, no guests have arrived. The second young master brought back a jar of fine wine, and he and the master got drunk," a maid replied.
Looking at Cheng Huailiang, who was standing to the side with dazed eyes and a silly grin, Cui shook her head and said to another maid, "Help the second young master back to his room to rest."
"How could you get drunk after just one jar of wine, sir? Do you know where you got this wine from?" Madam Cui asked.
"This servant doesn't know, but the wine that the second young master brought back is very fragrant," the maid replied, bowing her head.
"Go get it and let me see it," Cui said, raising an eyebrow.
"It's Madam!"
The maid quickly returned carrying a wine jar and handed it to Cui Shi. Cui Shi looked down and saw that the wine jar was empty, but the rich aroma of wine could still be smelled.
"This smells like sorghum liquor. Which brand makes it? It's so fragrant!" Cui Shi sniffed with her small nose, looked up, and said with slight surprise.
Knowing the maid couldn't answer, she waved her hand and said, "Don't worry about them, go and tidy up the room."
Knowing her husband well, Madam Cui didn't bother to look at him. She simply ordered the guards to come and keep an eye on him before leaving.
The Duke of E's mansion, which was not far away, was much more lively than the Duke of Lu's mansion.
"Haha, today I will restore my husbandly authority!" Yuchi Gong slammed his spear into the ground and laughed loudly.
"Hmph! I'd like to see how you'll regain your husbandly authority." A middle-aged woman, holding a long spear, stared at Yuchi Gong with murderous intent in her eyes.
“Yes, sister, my husband wants to restore his authority as husband, and I think he wants to kick us out.” Another middle-aged beauty with a similar figure, like a lotus blooming by a dark pool, with a charming beauty amidst her dark skin, walked to the other side carrying a delicate velvet knife, forming a pincer attack on Yuchi Gong.
Although Yuchi Gong was somewhat drunk, he still shuddered at the sight of the two men. However, glancing at his son beside him, he was determined not to be outdone. His eyes were bloodshot from drinking too much, and he gritted his teeth, saying, "I must win today."
"Hmph! Come on!" The beautiful woman in white twirled her spear, speaking with displeasure.
Feeling somewhat embarrassed, and with the effects of the alcohol, Yuchi Gong didn't care about anything else. He pointed his spear and, with a whoosh of wind, launched his attack.
“This one can’t be taken care of!” Looking at the three people fighting in the courtyard, Yuchi Baolin shook his head and said.
"Brother, what should we do? Father lost the fight, and he'll take his anger out on us again tomorrow," Yuchi Baoqing asked, his face grim and still shaken.
“How should I know? It’s not the first time. They’ve never gotten away before,” said Yu Chi Baolin, his face equally grim.
This incident has left a shadow in the hearts of the brothers. Whenever Yuchi Gong is in a bad mood, he will find an excuse to teach them a lesson. Although it is not terrible, they will suffer a lot.
"Ahem, elder brother, didn't the eldest brother of the Qin family ask us to make some large brewing equipment?" Yuchi Baoqing said.
“That’s right, the manor can’t forge one that big, I’ll go to the shop to make it.” Yuchi Baolin’s eyes lit up as he turned and left without looking back, saying, “Second brother, tell your mother that I’m going to the shop to get busy. I’ll be staying there for the next two days.”
"Brother, wait a minute, I'll go help you." Yu Chi Baoqing called out and chased after him.
"What about me? What am I supposed to do?" Yu Chi Huan looked blankly at his two departing brothers. He had no excuse to go to the blacksmith's shop. After all, he hadn't learned forging yet.
As the three men in the courtyard fought more and more fiercely, Yu Chi Huan's expression grew increasingly grim, especially when his father was suddenly knocked to the ground. He seemed to feel the pain as well, and his body trembled violently.
"I can't see, I can't see." Yu Chi Huan shook his head and turned to run towards the backyard. In the past, the worse his father's situation was, the worse his older brothers' situation was. Now that his two older brothers had run away, he couldn't even imagine what his own treatment would be like tomorrow.
Fortunately, the next day was the grand court assembly. Yuchi Gong went to court early in the morning. When Yuchi Huan woke up and heard that his father had gone to court and had not returned yet, he rushed out without even eating.
No sooner had Yuchi Huan left than Yuchi Gong entered the house with a dark expression.
"Where are those three little brats?" Yuchi Gong gulped down a mouthful of water, put down the bowl, and asked.
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