Chapter 17: I wouldn't go so far as to say I look down on it; I'm just not interested

Early morning.

Crown Prince Eastern Palace.

The clear sound of reading aloud drifted out from the Study.

In the middle of the spacious Study, four desks and chairs were arranged, and a middle-aged man was holding a copy of the Analects, speaking eloquently.

"To govern is to rectify. If you lead with rectitude, who would dare not be upright?"

"As members of the imperial family, you must always remember to lead by example, so that the people of our Great Ming may follow the righteous path..."

The four people sitting in the Study were precisely Zhu Xiongying, Zhu Yunwen, and the brothers Zhu Gaochi and Zhu Gaoxu.

And the middle-aged man giving the lecture was none other than Lv Ben.

Among them, Zhu Xiongying and the other two sat upright in trepidation, clearly listening very attentively.

In contrast, Zhu Gaoxu was lying on the desk in a very lazy manner, yawning from time to time.

As Lv Ben lectured, his gaze silently swept toward the four of them.

Seeing Zhu Xiongying and the others was fine, but when he saw Zhu Gaoxu's slouching appearance, his brows visibly furrowed.

Getting up and walking in front of Zhu Gaoxu, Lv Ben said to him: "Nanyang Commandery Prince, looking at your demeanor, could it be that you do not agree with what this old official is saying?"

Hearing Lv Ben's words, the other three also looked toward Zhu Gaoxu.

There was clearly some worry in Zhu Gaochi's eyes as he looked at his younger brother; for his second brother to anger the teacher on the very first day was clearly not a good omen.

As for Zhu Xiongying and the other, they were mostly curious.

After all, Zhu Gaoxu was currently deeply favored by Zhu Yuanzhang, and this title of Nanyang Commandery Prince was bestowed by him personally.

Conversely, Zhu Gaoxu seemed to have only just reacted, looking at Lv Ben before him and asking blankly: "What did you say?"

Lv Ben's face darkened, his hands clenching into fists involuntarily; he was clearly suppressing the anger in his heart.

Fortunately, Lv Ben managed to control himself in the end, merely repeating word by word with a dark face: "Nanyang Commandery Prince, looking at your demeanor, could it be that you do not agree with what this old official is saying?"

Seeing the murderous expression on Lv Ben's face, Zhu Gaoxu also realized he had been a bit excessive just now.

Thinking about it, it made sense; Lv Ben was, after all, a great Confucian of the age, and if not for the indications from Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao.

Even if Zhu Gaoxu was now a Nanyang Commandery Prince, he would not be able to enter this Study in the Crown Prince Eastern Palace.

But this really couldn't be blamed on him.

The main thing was that in his previous life, Zhu Gaoxu would get sleepy as soon as class started, and with Lv Ben's mouth full of archaic jargon, it made him drowsy.

Furthermore, Zhu Gaoxu knew in his heart that he had been in the limelight too much lately, which was clearly contrary to his original plan.

First, Zhu Yuanzhang enfeoffed him as a Prince, then he was made a study companion with Zhu Xiongying and Zhu Yunwen, and finally, he was given three hundred Embroidered Uniform Guard members as bodyguards.

Added to the fact that he had confronted the current Chancellor Hu Weiyong yesterday, there was no telling how many eyes were watching him in the dark.

And don't forget where this was; this was the Crown Prince Eastern Palace.

Even if Zhu Biao was benevolent and wouldn't hold it against him, don't forget that Zhu Biao also had many advisors and strategists under his command.

With him being so favored by Zhu Yuanzhang, it was inevitable that those under Zhu Biao would have their own little thoughts.

Most importantly, one knows a person's face but not their heart; Zhu Biao's persona was entirely derived from history books, and whether he was narrow-minded or magnanimous remained to be seen.

After all... in the eyes of those with ulterior motives... this concerned the imperial throne.

Even if the probability seemed to be no more than one in ten thousand at the moment.

So, combining various reasons, Zhu Gaoxu actually hoped to continue hiding his light and be a little good-for-nothing in the short term.

This was also why, even though he knew Lv Ben wasn't a good person, he still obediently came to listen to the lecture.

Looking at Lv Ben, who was about to explode with anger, Zhu Gaoxu's eyes rolled.

Perhaps this was a turning point!

Lv Ben, standing in front of Zhu Gaoxu, was thinking about how to properly teach Zhu Gaoxu a lesson this time.

This yellow-mouthed child Zhu Gaoxu shouldn't think he could be so unscrupulous just because he had the Emperor's favor.

After all, his status in the academic world was not low, and there were countless people who wanted to become his students.

Just as he was thinking that he would make things difficult for Zhu Gaoxu if he said one wrong word, Lv Ben suddenly felt a chill.

He saw Zhu Gaoxu's two large eyes looking at him, and that chill seemed to come from Zhu Gaoxu.

Before Lv Ben could think much, he heard Zhu Gaoxu say: "I wouldn't go so far as to say I don't agree; I'm just not interested."

Lv Ben was visibly stunned after hearing Zhu Gaoxu's answer.

He had originally thought that Zhu Gaoxu would deny it, after which he would ask questions to make things difficult, and finally, it would be logical to embarrass him.

Who could have guessed that this kid wouldn't play by the rules and would directly admit he wasn't interested.

To put it bluntly, the person simply didn't want to learn.

"You..." Lv Ben subconsciously pointed his finger at Zhu Gaoxu, but then felt it was somewhat inappropriate, so he withdrew his finger and said: "Nanyang Commandery Prince, could it be that you look down upon this old official's scholarship?"

"I wouldn't go so far as to say I look down on it; I'm just not interested."

Watching the increasingly furious Lv Ben, Zhu Gaoxu was not flustered at all; instead, he lifted his small feet and crossed his legs.

Zhu Gaoxu's goal was very simple: to make Lv Ben unhappy.

Later, Lv Ben would definitely go to find Lao Zhu, and by then, the persona of him being idle and unteachable would surely spread.

Clearly, Zhu Gaoxu was already close to success.

The way he looked, no matter how one saw it, did not look like someone who held Lv Ben in any regard.

Lv Ben was so angry that he opened his mouth several times, then closed it again, and finally flicked his sleeves and turned to leave.

Leaving only the dumbfounded Zhu Gaochi and the contented Zhu Gaoxu in the Study.