Chapter 80: Foolproof

The bright moon is cold, the night is not yet over.

Inside the magnificent house, Liu Cheng fiddled with a scroll of ancient books on the desk, looking at the brazier on the ground, his expression gloomy.

He gripped the book into a vertical scroll without any care, clenching it in his hand, tighter and tighter.

Suddenly, his hand loosened, and he raised the book, intending to throw it into the brazier.

"A-Shen."

Liu Cheng's courtesy name is Wenshen, and his childhood name is A-Shen. In this mansion, only one person could call him that. That is the owner of this mansion, who holds the official position of "Friend of the Prince of Badong" and "Libationer of the Prince's Academy," Director Liu Tan Tan.

The *Book of Southern Qi: Records of Officials* records: "The Prince's Teacher, Friend, and Literature each have one person."

Teacher, Friend, and Literature are the three official positions of the princely rank, which are auxiliary officials selected by the imperial court for the princes of the royal family, all of the sixth rank. They are mainly responsible for cultivating the princes' learning and correcting their strategies.

From the names "Teacher" and "Friend," one can see that although this official position is nominally a subordinate of the princes, it has a relatively transcendent status. Coupled with the clean and noble nature of the position, only talented children from high-ranking families can be selected, which is the so-called "position of assisting the prince."

And after Director Liu Tan Tan became the "Friend of the Prince of Badong," it was called "Magnificent Selection" at the time. From this, one can imagine Director Liu Tan Tan's high reputation.

The elder brother's voice came, making Liu Cheng's movements pause instantly.

A young man wearing emerald-colored embroidered cloud-pattern brocade clothes and a face like a crown jade walked in, took the ancient book from Liu Cheng's hand, flipped through it a few times, and said lightly:

"I don't know if there is a copy of this scroll of *Variations of Pitch-Pot* in the Northern Kingdom, but this is the only copy in the South. I'm afraid even the Royal Secret Pavilion doesn't have a duplicate. Xie Xie Niangzi Si will definitely like it."

Liu Cheng's voice was stiff: "Whether she likes it or not, what does it have to do with me?"

Director Liu Tan Tan smiled:

"You spent so much effort to get this scroll for Xie Xie Niangzi, and now you are preparing to burn it without a word. Just because she talked to someone else a few more times? Besides, your anger is unreasonable. You have never told Xie Xie Niangzi your feelings, and Xie Xie Niangzi is not anyone to you; what's the harm in talking to others a few more times? There is an origin between Wang and Xie, and it's not certain that they are just acquaintances or old friends, so why do you—"

"Brother, at the White Tiger Dojo discussion five days later, if the commandery school sends Wang Yang to fight, you must defeat him! Let him lose completely!!" Liu Cheng said hatefully.

Director Liu Tan Tan asked curiously: "The commandery school will let a student fight? Is his learning better than Liu Zhao's?"

"I don't know how his classics are, but this person has great eloquence, and his foundation in metaphysics is very deep..."

"Oh—I see—" Director Liu Tan Tan dragged his voice deliberately, pointing his finger at his younger brother with a knowing expression: "You were originally prepared to show off your talent in front of the Fourth Xie Xie Niangzi and win her favor, but you were upstaged, so you—"

"Brother! Are you going to help me vent this anger or not!" Seeing his brother still joking with him, Liu Cheng was a bit annoyed.

Director Liu Tan Tan stopped teasing and said seriously:

"A-Shen, you are a person who will do great things in the future, your capacity must not be narrow. You are not someone who cannot afford to lose, so why are you stuck in a dead end today? A scholar cannot be without great ambition; without elegance, how can one reach far?"

Liu Cheng held back his breath and perfunctorily said: "I understand, brother's lesson is correct."

Director Liu Tan Tan knew that his younger brother had always been arrogant. Losing two games in front of his sweetheart, and losing to an unknown person, it was inevitable that he couldn't figure it out, so he patted his younger brother on the shoulder and comforted him:

"Your path is still long, victory and defeat are common matters for military strategists, don't take it to heart anymore."

Liu Cheng's eyes flashed, and he took the opportunity to say: "Ordinary victory and defeat are naturally nothing, but some victories and defeats are very critical, for example, the discussion five days later..."

Director Liu Tan Tan laughed: "You don't trust your brother?"

"Brother's talent, I naturally have confidence, but that Wang Yang..."

"Confucian discussion is different from your pure conversation. Eloquence is not the key; solid learning is the first priority. The more Wang Yang excels in pure conversation, the less effort he puts into classics. Even if he practices both Confucianism and metaphysics, it is impossible for him to surpass me in classics."

Liu Cheng knew his brother was right. With his brother's attainments in Confucianism, there was originally nothing to worry about, but recalling the previous scenes, he still had lingering fears and reminded him again:

"This Wang Yang looks indifferent, but he is actually unfathomable and very scheming. He can hide his light, brother must not underestimate the enemy!"

Director Liu Tan Tan thought, it seems that his younger brother was really scared by Wang Yang, and he was so wary of him. He couldn't help but be curious about what kind of person this was. Seeing his younger brother still looking worried, he said:

"Don't worry, I won't underestimate the enemy. *Ancient Text Book of Documents* is superior to *Modern Text Book of Documents*; this is a theorem. I specialize in *Ancient Text Book of Documents*, I have this confidence. Moreover, I have made special arrangements to ensure it is foolproof."

"Foolproof? What arrangements?" Liu Cheng's spirit lifted.

Director Liu Tan Tan whispered a few words, and Liu Cheng was overjoyed: "Good! Brother did well! Why didn't brother say so earlier, making me worry for nothing."

Director Liu Tan Tan smiled bitterly: "This is not a glorious thing, and it is indeed unfair. In my heart, I really don't want to do this. It's just that this discussion involves a lot, and what it concerns is not just my own honor and disgrace, so I have to use some means."

"Great actions do not care about small details, great etiquette does not refuse small concessions! Brother is doing things thoroughly, what is there to worry about? Besides, even without this step, they are not brother's opponents!"

Seeing his younger brother's excited appearance, Director Liu Tan Tan said unhappily: "This is not a righteous way, I use it because I have no choice, but you must not be complacent."

"Yes." Liu Cheng bowed, but in his heart, he secretly hoped that the commandery school would send Wang Yang to fight and then be defeated by his brother in public.

For the past few days, apart from exercising his body, insisting on doing burpees, push-ups, and other exercises every day, Wang Yang had been soaking in Liu Zhao's library, staying there for most of the day.

Liu Zhao knew that in a few days it would be the decisive battle of the discussion with the Prince's Academy, which had already become the talk of the town. In order not to let Wang Yang be distracted, he could only suppress his desire to discuss learning with Wang Yang and focus on organizing the manuscript of *Pointing Out Flaws*, only chatting with Wang Yang for a while during meals or rest intervals.

At first, he was afraid that Wang Yang was under too much pressure, so he had prepared a long speech in advance, ready to guide Wang Yang well.

But later he found that this kid looked relaxed, telling jokes, teasing the female guard, and chatting with Yu Yuling and several students, from street anecdotes to court news, completely unlike someone under pressure!

Of course, if Liu Zhao observed carefully for a while, he would find that Wang Yang usually just started a topic and then became a listener. As long as the topic showed signs of stopping, he would take it over, using clever words to help the conversation, allowing the topic to continue to extend. In short, whenever Wang Yang arrived, the chat could always become heated.

What made Liu Zhao even more certain that Wang Yang was not nervous at all was that he found that this guy was not specifically reading Confucian works in the library, but was actually picking up some gazetteers, travelogues, old history, and miscellaneous biographies, reading them with great pleasure!

Sigh, at this time, asking Zhiyan to turn the tide was already a bit difficult for him. Besides, this was not Zhiyan's obligation, and learning was not something that could be done at the last minute. With Zhiyan's learning power, he should be relatively confident... but there are only two days left until the discussion, can you stop reading *Miscellaneous Techniques of Marriage and Bedroom*? You make me a little unsure (*＞﹏＜*)......

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Note: The four volumes of *Miscellaneous Techniques of Marriage and Bedroom* are seen in the *Book of Sui: Bibliography*. This book still existed in the early Tang Dynasty, but it is now lost. After Wang Yang traveled through time, seeing the lost book reappear, he was naturally happy to read it; it was not because of the book title, it really wasn't... ===== CHAPTER 81 =====