Chapter 62

Not long after Wang Qi left, Li Xiang appeared before Li Chengqian:

"Father, is there anything I can help with?"

Li Chengqian scolded him with a smile: "What help can a little brat give? You studying well counts as helping!"

"I am already fourteen; I can help Father!"

"Don't you want to lose yourself in the mountains and rivers? Why do you want to participate in the court struggle today?"

"The Eastern Palace is in imminent danger; I have no mood to go sightseeing."

Li Chengqian chuckled: "You're overthinking! I can still handle this little matter. Instead of worrying about the Eastern Palace, you should think about your own ambitions.

You'll be fifteen soon; tell me, when will you be able to set your ambitions?

It's the same thing: it doesn't matter what you do, the most important thing is not to regret it yourself."

Li Xiang's eyes were blank: "Father, I really don't know what I want to do, and losing myself in the mountains and rivers doesn't seem like something I want that much either."

"No rush. When you have time, take Erlang and walk around Chang'an City. Once you see more people and things, you will know your own ambitions.

And don't worry about whether the Eastern Palace will have trouble; as long as I am here, this Eastern Palace will not have any trouble."

"Yes!"

What Li Chengqian is worried about now is not the Eastern Palace, nor his own position; at worst, he can fight his way into Chang'an from Jiaozhi.

He is now worried about whether to continue the plan. If the plan truly succeeds, who should be in control of the sharp weapon of discourse?

Far away in Jiaozhi, he cannot remotely control Chang'an; he must be prepared.

'Unless absolutely necessary, I cannot go to Jiaozhi; it is truly difficult to handle.

Forget it, I'll go fishing first, and we'll see after I meet Zhangsun Wuji.'

Everyone was waiting to see what actions the three princes, Li Chengqian, would take. Surprisingly, the three seemed to have agreed, doing nothing at all.

And for Fang Yi'ai and Cheng Chuliang, these trivial matters could not affect their cultivation at all.

The two were already obsessed with their cultivation, especially Fang Yi'ai. I don't know if it was because he was naturally intelligent, but after just a few months of cultivation, he could actually close his eyes and see light.

"What did you just say? You can see a patch of bright light when you close your eyes?"

Gaoyang Princess was full of resentment: "Why? I have been sincerely worshipping Buddha for so long and haven't seen it, yet you sit there every day observing your breath and you've achieved it?"

Cheng Chuliang, who was on the side, was also full of envy: "Damn bald monk, I want to cultivate Buddhism too!"

Fang Yi'ai's eyes were exceptionally clear, revealing a glow of wisdom:

"This is the light of self-nature; it can be seen whether cultivating Daoism or Buddhism, no need to envy.

I haven't fully mastered it yet, and the distracting thoughts in my heart are still intermittent. If I cannot continue to persist, this light of self-nature will still vanish.

Therefore, I have decided not to go to the Literature Pavilion, but to spend an extra hour every day on cultivation, and another hour helping the Princess handle affairs in the mansion."

Cheng Chuliang curled his lips: "How come you've become like my father? My father doesn't want to go out lately either, and he told me not to run around when I have nothing to do, but to stay at home and cultivate Daoism.

It's just that the Crown Prince purged a batch of eunuchs; what's there to be so surprised about?"

Gaoyang looked at Fang Yi'ai with suspicion. He was thinking about helping the Fourth Brother just a few days ago; why did he change today?

"Husband, do you know something?"

"Bodhisattvas fear the cause, ordinary people fear the effect!"

Fang Yi'ai lowered his eyes: "I don't want to get involved in other people's karma, but Chuliang is a practitioner of Daoism and also a brother, so I will give a reminder.

Both you and I have received instruction from His Highness the Crown Prince, so karma is already entangled; acting rashly now will inevitably lead to being drawn into the vortex.

I have said all I can; take care of yourself!"

"Bang!"

Cheng Chuliang slapped the table hard: "Good for you, Fang Jun, you can't even speak properly after cultivating Buddhism? What kind of riddles are you playing?

If the Princess weren't here, I would definitely make you understand what the anger of a Daoist master is!"

"Go, go, go!"

Gaoyang Princess rolled her eyes: "My husband has already spoken so clearly, yet you still say he's playing riddles. Why don't you think about whether you've been working hard at cultivating Daoism or studying seriously?

My husband told you to stay at home and cultivate Daoism, otherwise, when you get used by Big Brother, it will be too late for regrets. Do you understand now?"

"I understand now! He could have said it in one sentence, but he insisted on talking about karma; he's just bored."

Cheng Chumo was full of displeasure: "Bodhisattvas fear the cause, ordinary people fear the effect. I, the Daoist master, do not fear karma; what can thousands of karmic obstacles do to me?"

"I can't be bothered to talk to a blockhead like you!"

"My Daoist heart is about to become unstable; a recognized blockhead actually called me a blockhead. What is wrong with this world?"

"..."

Cheng Chuliang didn't care whether he would be used or not; he was now fearless. Whoever dared to provoke him, he would dare to retaliate.

He was fearless, but Cheng Zhijie was a bit afraid. He couldn't see the situation in the court clearly, so he strictly required his children not to cause trouble recently.

Seeing Cheng Chuliang return from outside, a cold smile appeared on Cheng Zhijie's face:

"Cheng Chuliang, you weren't in the mansion cultivating Daoism, where did you go?"

Seeing Cheng Zhijie's smile, Cheng Chuliang subconsciously shivered, then remembered that cultivating Daoism meant being fearless, so he raised his head and chest to respond:

"I went to see Fang Jun! That kid has become weird lately and even cultivated some 'light of self-nature,' so I went to see him."

Cheng Zhijie breathed a sigh of relief; as long as he didn't go out to drink and cause trouble:

"Son, listen to me: don't cause trouble lately. Your father always feels that something is going to happen."

"What's there to fear! With me, the Daoist master, here, no one dares to bully us. Whoever dares to bully my Lu State Duke mansion, I'll go learn that Taiping Dao and send them to heaven with a talisman."

"Taiping Dao? Zhang Jiao?"

Cheng Zhijie widened his eyes in disbelief, then picked up a low stool nearby and threw it at Cheng Chuliang.

"Ah..."

Doing this wasn't enough; Cheng Zhijie flew over and kicked Cheng Chuliang away, then picked up a wooden stick and brought it down fiercely:

"I'll give you Taiping Dao! I'll give you Daoist master!"

"Ah... you old rascal, what do you want to do?"

"Old rascal?"

Cheng Zhijie was so angry he laughed, his movements not stopping:

"Rebelling against the heavens! Rebelling against the heavens!

Others cultivate Daoism and become great masters, you cultivate Daoism and learn how to rebel?

Learning Zhang Jiao, learning Taiping Dao, right! I'll beat you to death today to avoid future disaster for the Lu State Duke mansion."

"Ah..."

"I won't dare again! I won't cultivate Daoism anymore! I'll go cultivate Buddhism!"

"Ah ah ah... stop hitting me! Mother, help! Princess, help!"

"Big Brother, Third Brother, come and save me!"

The shrill screams rang out in the Lu State Duke mansion, and Qinghe Princess and Lady Cui, the wife of the Duke of Lu, hurried over.

"Stop!"

Seeing Cheng Chuliang curled up on the ground wailing, Lady Cui hurriedly stepped forward to protect him:

"Are you crazy? Is this how you beat your own son?"

"Not beating him to death is already my mercy. Do you know what he said?"

"No matter what he said, you can't beat him like this. If you don't feel sorry for your own son, I do; I raised him."

"He said he wanted to learn Taiping Dao, wanted to learn Zhang Jiao!"

Lady Cui looked stunned and slowly lowered her head to ask:

"Erlang, is what your father said true?"

"I only said I'd learn Taiping Dao, what does that have to do with Zhang Jiao? Who is Zhang Jiao?"

"Beat him! As long as he's not dead!"

Qinghe Princess on the side also chimed in: "As long as you don't make me a widow, do whatever you want!"

After saying this, the two turned and left without waiting for Cheng Chuliang to speak.

Cheng Chuliang was dumbfounded. What's wrong with Taiping Dao? And who the hell is Zhang Jiao? Did he commit a capital crime?

"Cheng Chuliang, prepare to die!"

"Slap!"

"Ah!"

"You can still scream, it seems I wasn't using enough force. Next, I'm going to use decades of skill, enjoy it well!"

"Father, Father, I'm your own son!"