Li Jue, who was writing in the courtyard, was completely unaware that a certain old man had already set his sights on him. He not only planned to assign him more difficult homework, but also to find him a group of teachers.
He has now entered a state that is hard to describe. The traditional Chinese characters that used to be very complicated to write are now written with great ease, and he even feels like he can write them in one go.
As for fonts, character structure, and the rules of horizontal and vertical strokes, he had completely forgotten them. All he was thinking about now was how to write faster, faster, and even faster!
Seeing that it was getting dark, Xu Hui quickly lit an oil lamp and placed it aside. If one lamp wasn't enough, she lit two, then three, until the entire courtyard was filled with light, illuminating it as if it were daytime.
Li Shimin didn't sleep either, and stood by the window watching his grandson. But after a while, he couldn't resist and immediately ran out to help his grandson adjust the lamp wick, hold the paper down, or grind ink for him.
This left Zhang Anan, who was standing to the side, completely dumbfounded. In all these years, when had he ever seen His Majesty serve anyone like this?
This shows that His Majesty really cares about this eldest grandson!
But he really beat them ruthlessly. His Majesty has fathered more than a dozen princes, but he has never been seen to beat any of them.
Even when Prince Li You of Qi was executed for rebellion, His Majesty personally comforted him gently before he drank the poisoned wine, telling him not to be afraid...
Is this what they mean by "the deeper the love, the harsher the criticism"?
Zhang Anan thought for a long time, and this was the only plausible reason he could come up with.
However, His Majesty's affection for his eldest grandson is indeed extraordinary. Even when he was teaching the Crown Prince, he was never seen to be so attentive!
Unbeknownst to Li Jue, he had been writing until late into the night, and finally finished copying the entire book.
At the moment he finished copying, he felt an unprecedented sense of comfort, especially when the night breeze blew and dried the fine beads of sweat on his body. The comfort and coolness made him hum out loud.
"That feels so good, hahaha!"
"You old codger, you never expected this, did you? I actually finished writing it, la la la!"
After venting his frustrations, Li Jue suddenly realized that everything around him was silent. When he turned around, the old man was staring at him with a wicked grin.
"You brat, what did you just call me?"
"My dear Mr. Li!"
"Hmph!"
"Don't let this happen again! If you dare to secretly curse me again, I'll spank your bottom until it's bruised!"
Upon hearing this, Li Jue stuck out his tongue guiltily, then respectfully handed over a thick stack of homework.
"Please have Mr. Li inspect it!"
Li Shimin took the homework and carefully flipped through it. He saw that the handwriting was very restrained at first, with straight lines and a rigid style. But as he wrote, the number of connected strokes increased, and by the end it was like cursive script, with the strokes connected and flowing continuously.
Although it looks a bit messy at first glance, it has a unique beauty when you look closely.
This is precisely the mystery of calligraphy!
However, this child's foundation is too weak. Even if he has extraordinary talent, he still needs to practice diligently.
"good!"
"You've made great progress!"
"It's getting late, let's wash up and go to bed!"
"Uh-huh!"
Li Juegang agreed, but then suddenly realized that there were several more people today, and he didn't know how to arrange things for them.
"Uncle Li, where will my little aunt sleep? She can't possibly squeeze into the same room as us, can she?"
As soon as Li Jue finished speaking, Xu Hui chuckled softly.
"Don't worry about it, young master. The aunt next door has already given us her house to stay in temporarily. They'll have to squeeze into another house for now!"
Upon hearing this, Li Shimin couldn't help but complain.
"Hurry up and build the mansion in Xianyang City, or we won't have anywhere to stay when we come here!"
Upon hearing this, Li Jue secretly rolled his eyes; he had made up his mind not to build a mansion.
Firstly, I didn't want to waste the money, and secondly... this old geezer wanted to stay permanently?
If he stays here long-term, he'll beat me to death sooner or later!
"I have no money!"
"I'll give it to you!"
"Forget it, I'll have someone build it for you another day. If I give you the money directly, you'll definitely go do something else!"
"I won't live here even after you finish building it!"
"If you won't stay, I will!"
The two bickered for a while longer before going back to their room to sleep.
As soon as he lay down on the bed, Li Jue immediately realized something was wrong. His whole body ached, but it wasn't a severe pain; it was an indescribable soreness.
When Li Shimin noticed that something was wrong with his eldest grandson, he immediately asked in a low voice.
Are you tired?
Li Jue nodded upon hearing this.
"Um……"
"I must have overexerted myself. Right now, I feel uncomfortable all over, and my arms and legs just don't feel right no matter how I position them..."
Li Shimin sighed upon hearing this.
"I'm really exhausted..."
"When I was leading troops in battle in my early years, I could fight for several hours on the battlefield without feeling tired, but once I left the battlefield, my body felt completely drained, and sometimes I would even have cramps and shivering."
"You've even fought in wars?"
"certainly!"
"It can be said that I have participated in almost every battle, big or small, since the founding of the Tang Dynasty!"
Is war fun?
Upon hearing this, Li Shimin shook his head, a hint of melancholy on his face.
"When I was young, I thought war was fun, and I was even excited about war. I wished I could go to the battlefield every day to kill the enemy and make meritorious contributions."
"But as I get older, I don't find fighting fun anymore."
"War is nothing more than killing, and it's organized and disciplined killing. It's cruel, ruthless, and bloody..."
"For example, when you face the elderly, the weak, women, and children, do you kill them or not?"
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