The autumn wind blows.

Amid the rustling of bamboos, in the empty space of a solitary pavilion, a woman who looked like a fairy stood among the fallen leaves with her skirt and sleeves fluttering.

Her three thousand strands of black hair were tied up, and a purple ribbon was tied through her black hair, with one end hanging down.

The autumn-eyed girl had a flawless face, but there was a faint teardrop mole under her left eye.

Not only does it not destroy this peerless lotus-like face, but it also adds the finishing touch to it, making it more impressive and unforgettable.

At this moment, her pair of bright autumn eyes were staring at the old man in the pavilion without blinking.

Beside the autumn-eyed woman, there stood a pretty young girl with fairy-like hair, who was slightly raising her chin, and shared the same hatred with her.

In fact, the little girl was just distracted, counting the days until the next time she would go find some big pig's hoof. She was secretly annoyed at how time passed so slowly. She didn't realize it before.

As a result, the girl with fairy-like hair was distracted when she suddenly realized that the lady next to her seemed to stand up and say something.

She didn't hear it clearly, but she didn't care. She stood up and stood in formation. She couldn't lose the momentum. She agreed with everything the young lady said and did, except... eating alone. Zhao... Zhao Lingfei, don't even think about it! Humph.

All around them, the students sitting on the ground focused their eyes on them.

Including a certain fairy from Taiyi Mansion who had put away the auspicious dragon carp. After all, at this moment in the open space, a certain woman even used the purple air from the east to tie her hair casually. How could she show off to others...

Not far away, a young Confucian scholar in a scholar's robe stopped rubbing his feet and looked back.

But most people didn't notice him, because the protagonists on the scene at this time were the Taoist gentleman in the pavilion and the beautiful woman outside the pavilion.

Shortly after the latter's cold voice fell.

"Do something."

Tao Yuanran repeated it softly, looking at Concubine Zhao Lingfei without any sadness or joy.

The string of wooden beads in his hand was still rolling, but one of the beads seemed to have been painted a bright purple color.

Tao Yuanran glanced at the purple ribbon hanging from Concubine Zhao Ling's hair, smiled, looked around, and said loudly:

"Are there any other girls who think the same as these two girls?"

Before he could finish his words, more than half of the students in the prefecture raised their hands to indicate.

"Hmm?" Zhao Rong raised his eyebrows. Is his wife so popular?

As a result, he took a quick look and found that almost all those who raised their hands seemed to be men.

The corner of Zhao Rong's mouth couldn't help but twitch.

Do you think the same as Qingjun Qian'er? You are so despicable!

Zhao Qian'er glanced back, her pretty face expression unchanged.

But her gaze was fixed on Liu Kongyi, who was inconspicuous among the crowd who did not raise their hands, and paused slightly.

The little girl, who had found out almost everything about Brother Rong'er's time in Taiqing Mansion, narrowed her eyes slightly.

Concubine Zhao Ling still looked directly at Tao Yuanran, her gaze unmoved by the silent support from her fellow disciples.

Tao Yuanran nodded slightly and said softly:

"Do you really need to do something? What if no matter what you do, no matter how hard you try, it's all wrong? And the more you do, the more mistakes you make?"

Concubine Zhao Ling frowned slightly, "Please teach me, sir."

Tao Yuanran looked calm and shook his head, "I don't deserve your advice."

"Since you have chosen to stand up and ask me this question, whether it is right or wrong, you have your own thoughts, which is good. And... I believe there must be knowledgeable relatives or teachers around you, so you can learn from them."

Concubine Zhao Ling shook her head and did not answer the question. "I don't deserve it. It's just that I am stupid and can't understand your reasoning. Why do you disparage Confucian scholars, Taizong, Emperor Xuan and the ancient emperors?"

Tao Yuanran stroked his beard and nodded, "I have heard that wise men are good at helping others solve their doubts. I have stolen the title of wise man. Girl, let me tell you something."

Concubine Zhao Ling said in a clear voice, "I'm all ears."

The old man in the pavilion asked in a deep voice, "Do we really need to do something?"

There was silence for a while, as everyone waited for this Taoist gentleman to speak.

But Tao Yuanran suddenly laughed, and it was unknown what he was thinking of.

He looked at Concubine Zhao Ling and said with a smile:

"I thought of a young Taoist friend I met before. His words may make Miss Zhao understand better than mine, and may also be more convincing to her."

Concubine Zhao Ling had a cold expression and remained silent.

Tao Yuanran smiled.

"Do not promote the virtuous, so that the people will not quarrel; do not value hard-to-get goods, so that the people will not steal; do not show what is desirable, so that the people's hearts will not be disturbed. Therefore, the way a sage governs is to keep the people ignorant and desireless, so that the wise will not dare to act. If you do nothing, everything will be governed."

Tao Yuanran paused for a moment and asked kindly:

"Miss Zhao, is 'doing something', trying your best, really better than 'doing nothing', or doing nothing but standing by and watching?"

"Confucian scholars value virtue, promote morality and justice, and formulate rituals and laws. The more they 'do something', the more mistakes they make!"

Concubine Zhao Ling frowned, thought seriously, and did not answer for a moment.

At this moment, you could hear a pin drop in the open space outside the pavilion, and most of the students in the prefecture looked thoughtful.

But at this time, Tao Yuanran spoke again.

The old man looked a little nostalgic, "That little Taoist friend also said..."

"When there are too many taboos in the world, the people will become poorer; when there are too many sharp weapons, the country will become chaotic; when there are too many tricks, strange things will appear; when laws and regulations are too strict, there will be more thieves."

“So I do nothing, and the people will be transformed by themselves; I love peace, and the people will be upright by themselves; I do nothing, and the people will be rich by themselves; I have no desires, and the people will be simple by themselves.”

"Everyone in the world knows that beauty is beauty, and this is evil; everyone knows that goodness is goodness, and this is not good. Therefore, existence and non-existence give rise to each other, and difficulty and ease complement each other..."

Not far away, Zhao Rong, who had kept a calm look ever since Tao Yuanran spoke, put his hands into his sleeves and nodded slightly.

At present, we only need to understand the most important sentence of Tao Yuanran’s words.

Most of the other words are elaborations of this principle.

That is, "Everyone in the world knows that beauty is beauty, and this is evil; everyone knows that goodness is goodness, and this is not good."

This is the words of the General Leader, which means:

Everyone in the world knows what the standard of beauty is, and the opposite standard of ugliness is also determined at the same time;

Everyone in the world knows what the definition of good is, so the opposite definition of evil has also been determined.

On the surface, nothing seems to be wrong.

Beauty and ugliness, right and wrong have been defined, which is good. Isn't this progress?

But is it really like that?

Zhao Rong likes to read miscellaneous books, especially official history and unofficial history.

During this period of time, I attended classes and taught in the academy's school and library, and read history to my heart's content.

But when he was reading history late at night, he would often close the book and stare at the orange light in silence.

The windows of the north room were closed. There was no autumn wind, but it was still chilly.

Categorizations like 'good guys' and 'bad guys' are extremely dangerous.

Confucian sages advocated goodness and beauty, and Confucian scholars formulated etiquette to promote goodness and beauty.

But when everyone in the world knows what is goodness and beauty, goodness and beauty become a kind of capital that can be exploited.

At this point, the superficial goodness and beauty is often a disguise or a performance, and the pretender gains the power to do whatever he wants.

Thus, the Confucian moral standard, which was supposed to promote goodness and beauty, became... a cannibalistic ethics.

It has become a stepping stone for countless people to advance, and a tool for killing.

This is also what Tao Yuanran wanted to express.

Therefore, "do not honor the virtuous," "do not value rare goods," "do not see what is desirable," "do not issue laws," and so on. They do not promote benevolence, righteousness, morality, and propriety.

Only in this way can we "prevent the people from quarreling", "prevent the people from stealing", "prevent the people from causing chaos"... and make the people transform themselves, be upright, become rich and simple by themselves.

Don't do anything "active", govern the country with "passiveness".

So.

'Do nothing', but 'do everything'...

Not long.

After Tao Yuanran’s thought-provoking words which he repeated for someone else.

The whole place was in dead silence, and everyone had wonderful expressions.

Concubine Zhao Ling frowned, not quite understanding.

You Fusheng took a deep breath and nodded vaguely.

You Fusheng still frowned in confusion.

There were also students who had been listening to the class with their eyes closed, but suddenly opened their eyes with a look of surprise.

The question-and-answer conversation between Tao Yuanran and Fairy Zhao just now was truly wonderful.

Tao Yuanran's retelling of "other people's words" made people applaud.

In the last row of the open space, Liu Kongyi, who would come to listen to Tao Yuanran's class in a low-key manner, also opened her beautiful eyes wide and couldn't help but stand up and said:

"Sir, you said..."

She paused slightly, her chest rising and falling violently, and her tone softened a little, but she still spoke with amazement: "Who is the senior who said these words?!"

Tao Yuanran seemed not to hear Liu Kongyi's question.

He nodded and sighed to himself.

"What the young Taoist friend said was indeed very good. It was not just a verbal dispute at the time, but he really understood and comprehended the principles of our Taoist sages and knew how to govern the country without doing anything."

Tao Yuanran shook his head again. "And he said that he just flipped through some Taoist scriptures in his spare time... It's a great pity that he didn't become a Taoist practitioner with such a high level of understanding."

Everyone looked at each other.

The old man smiled.

At this moment, Zhao Lingfei thought for a while, her brows relaxed slightly, and then suddenly frowned again.

She shook her head slightly.

Zhao Lingfei did not chase after the sages like Liu Kongyi did. At most, she admired and affirmed the sage's teachings in her heart.

But she was not interested in who this person was.

Zhao Lingfei just wanted to resolve the issues that were bothering her.

Why is the "action" of Confucian scholars and Mohists wrong?

This is why she stood up today and asked this Taoist gentleman.

Just because you have a high level of cultivation or a great title doesn’t mean that what you say is necessarily right.

If you want me to sit down, you have to come up with a convincing argument.

Zhao Lingfei didn't care who this 'little Taoist friend' Tao Yuanran was talking about. If she couldn't be convinced by reason, then even if this master was the Taoist ancestor, it wouldn't work!

He is not Brother Rong'er, who can bully her unreasonably and force Concubine Zhao Lingfei to obey him and listen to him.

And there is only one such person in the world, my husband.

Zhao Lingfei's pretty face was tense and cold, but in the eyes of some men, she looked even more beautiful.

On the field, Zhao Qian'er didn't listen much to the argument between her young lady and Tao Yuanran, but looked around with a little vigilance, acting as the young lady's protector.

The little girl was quite upset by the fixed gazes of some men, especially... some of them were actually looking at her!

Xiao Qian'er nodded, thinking that it was probably because she had just entered the mansion. Haha, those toads thought she was easy to bully and her sword was not sharp.

It seems like we have to let them see how powerful 'Stinky Brother Rong' is.

Well, her natal flying sword was privately nicknamed "Stinky Rong'er Brother", but now it seems that she has to change the name because she can't let someone hear it...

Then let's call it something more secluded, "Stinky Pig's Hoof", so no one can take it personally, hehe.

The little girl smiled suddenly, her eyes full of joy.