Chapter 754: Teaching Addiction

Li Xu found it somewhat unexpected that Bai Li Jing had built a summer retreat outside Youzhou; he thought Bai Li Jing should be training troops and heading south as soon as possible.

Puzzling.

He had never imagined that the rumored mountain summer villa would be of this scale.

Carved beams and painted pillars follow the hill's slope, flying eaves and upturned corners pierce the drifting clouds, and glazed gold tiles shimmer in the sunlight.

So what business did Bai Li Jing engage in that earned more than the Jin clan's salt trade? How could a royal garden of this scale be built with only several hundred thousand taels? Relying on the meager tax revenue of the northern border?!

Even more puzzling.

The Blue Stone Imperial Way is flat, straight, and broad, with ancient trees towering on both sides, their coiling branches lush and strong, forming a vast expanse of dense shade.

Li Xu isn't naive; speaking of those trees on either side, he doubts they naturally grew so tall and uniform, or are of a single species. …If transplanted, just these trees alone would be a massive undertaking. The labor and material required are immeasurable.

In his childhood, before his father entered official service, he spent his years in Tianshui. At his ancestral home he daily read the Mountains and Rivers Strategy and the Chapter of the World; in his youth he even dreamed of the myriad scenes of the imperial palaces. Only now, setting foot on Yingtai Isle, does he realize that a thousand depictions in brush and ink cannot match the grandeur and solemnity seen with his own eyes.

Liang Ben was summoned by the Great King to accompany the audience; he had even done his homework yesterday, and today he sees himself as a tour guide. The hall at the mountain's base is called the Purple Verdant Mountain Hall, and beside it is the Crane Shoal Terrace…

He droned on with his explanation, not caring whether his companions wanted to listen.

He feared that if he fell silent, Li Xu would take over and say something he didn't want to hear.

The Great King actually values Li Xu highly; not only must Old Four attend, but Old Seven couldn't escape either.

Compared to Baili Hu's passive resistance, this fellow early on brought his Heavenly Brigade and Old Seven in full dress to arrive, the location being that island in the lake's center. The whole lake island is heavily guarded—well… the royal aura leaks out.

According to the Great King's idea, it was to show off the garden's vastness to Guangling as much as possible. When will they see the Great King so easily? They must come by land and water.

Not only did Xiao Jin and Zhetian, who love to tag along, come, but even Bai Ze and Wei Ni couldn't escape. In any case, if something had even a hint of being useful for show, the Great King wouldn't let it pass.

Having arrived early with time to spare, the Great King and Wei Shen first went to Canglang Pavilion to fish. Since he discovered there were fish in the lake, he "spent a fortune"—twenty ingots—buying several fishing rods in the market, and they've been fishing these past two days. It's not about good results; it's just about not admitting defeat.

As usual today, he and Wei Shen each sat by the bank with a rod, eyes fixed on the water; after a quarter of an hour with no movement, the Great King started slacking off.

"Wei Ni, don't lie there! Don't think that just because you bulked up to smash an assassin you can skip losing weight. You just nearly sank our boat!"

Wei Ni shrank his big head, trying to pretend he hadn't heard.

"Sit up! You eat, then sleep, then sleep, then eat—you're fatter than Bai Li Hu was as a kid. Do you still have any ambition?"

Wei Shen glanced toward the small dock and chuckled: "…Could you keep it down? If you start by hearing you badmouth him, will your big show even go on today?"

That's true.

For now, just endure it.

The Great King rose, personally dragged Wei Ni up, and handed him a fishing rod as well. "Come, you can sit and fish too. Isn't that a reasonable request? If you catch a fish, I specially allow you to eat it as an extra meal."

Eat?

Wei Ni's round eyes lit up at once—he knows how to fish! He's seen the Great King fish many times!

His paws can't grip the thin fishing rod, so he simply presses his two paws together to clamp the rod, staring eagerly at the water.

That satisfied the Great King—just not lying down will do. He was about to swap rods when he saw Xiao Jin jump from the neighboring dock into the water, now performing a "Ferocious Beast Swimming Styles Showcase"…

Got it!

Even if there were sharks below, they'd have to be scared off.

The Great King remained expressionless, didn't warn Wei Ni to move, and silently picked up the spectating Old Seven, ready to slip away.

Seeing this, Wei Shen glanced left and right, then audaciously shoved the fishing rod into Bai Ze's paw: "You guys play, you guys play."

Bai Ze: ……

The Great King brought Old Seven ahead to the Viewing Terrace, where he intended to meet Li Xu.

Viewing Terrace—by its name, the view is so stunning it leaves one sighing in awe.

This exquisitely crafted beauty, the Great King has gazed at for days without tiring; lying here in summer simply refreshes the heart and delights the spirit. While enjoying it, he doesn't forget to tease Xie Yuan: "Old Xie still asks me, after seeing this for so many days, aren't you tired of it? When will you go back to studying? With such scenery, how could you get bored?! Old Xie is also puzzled, as if teaching were an addiction."

Wei Shen, weary, dragged Bai Li Zhang, who was lounging on the railing, back: "You brought the person here, yet you're not watching! Do you plan to let him fall and drown, just to give Guangling a taste of defeat?!"

The Great King disagreed: "What family are we from, that we could drown in water?"

Wei Shen was about to ask whether the Bai Li clan had some special trait making them unafraid of water, when the Great King drawled: "Drink a bellyful of water, nearly drown, and next time he'll know to fear it~"

Wei Shen: ……

The Great King didn't give it a second thought; he rose, grabbed Bai Li Zhang's sleeve, pulled him to his front, and mused aloud: "Could it be that teaching is truly addictive? Old Seven, let the Imperial Elder Brother teach you to read!" He too had experienced the addiction of tutoring, anyway, idleness is idleness.

Xiao Jin, noticing the Great King had vanished, his "stumbling-block" trait kicked in; he immediately scrambled ashore and followed. Seeing him arrive, the Great King was pleased and dragged him to squat beside Bai Li Zhang.

"I'll teach you two the Thousand Character Classic!" He now had two students!

The Great King could recite the Thousand Character Classic from memory only because he'd learned it several times as a child; after giving these instructions, he taught a phrase, Bai Li Zhang mumbled and repeated it unclearly, while Xiao Jin foolishly squatted there, not yet grasping what game this was. letting Wei Shen say, their performance wasn't bad, but the Great King still wasn't satisfied.

"That's not right—when you read, you gotta shake your head! Reading the Thousand Character Classic without shaking your head isn't orthodox!"

Wei Shen: ……

"Bai Li Zhang, you shake your head while reading along; Xiao Jin, just shake your head."

Unfortunately, the Great King found that even with just two students, teaching wasn't easy.

Weary.

The two couldn't shake in sync.

Wei Shen, watching the spectacle, was about to burst out laughing from sheer amusement.

Baili Hu came all the way over to inspect the island's arrangements, inwardly cursing a hundred times that Bai Li Jing could really pretend. Upon reaching the Viewing Terrace and seeing Old Seven also there, he could hardly restrain himself from making snide remarks.

"Heh~ Old Seven is here too~ What, today you want to put on a show of brotherly affection for Guangling?"

The Great King, at a loss for words, replied complexly: "Brothers are blood brothers, but affection isn't guaranteed."

Baili Hu: …?

【Good news! It seems another production company has taken a liking to the Great King and wants to make it into a manhua drama! That means there will be two versions of the Great King in the future~

Actually I also don't really understand manhua drama here, I asked other authors, the online time is undecided. If the first version is fast, there will be a show in the latter half of August~