Mi Zhu truly lived up to his reputation as a wealthy merchant of Xuzhou; when he made his move, he was extraordinarily generous.
Ten thousand guan were quickly transferred and delivered straight into the hands of the servant Tao Shang had sent.
In fact, this was normal.
For a wealthy family like the Mi clan, lending a thousand or eight hundred gold to the eldest son of the Inspector’s family for his spending was a trivial matter.
If one wanted the family to gain prominence, one had to pay a price, there was no such thing as a free lunch in this world.
It was just that Tao Shang’s sudden borrowing of money was so abrupt that the Mi brothers found it difficult to accept this reality for a moment.
Tao Shang was not that shameless a person, at least not particularly shameless… It was only because he had just arrived in this era and was a nominal Inspector’s son.
With the chaotic autumn of the age of turmoil approaching, it would be very difficult to accomplish anything without money in hand.
Did he really have to go around shaking his tiger body and scattering his kingly aura everywhere?
Or rely on passionate speeches to buy people’s hearts?
Or pretend to be righteous and awe-inspiring to demonstrate his personal charm?
Or use a sincere heart and lofty aspirations to move like-minded scholars?
Come on, when one can’t even afford to eat, who has time for that nonsense!
The next morning, just as dawn broke, Tao Shang was still lying on his bed dreaming of flush toilets and facial tissues when he was awakened by a rapid knocking at the door.
“Big Brother!
Big Brother!
Get up quickly!” Tao Shang reluctantly opened his bloodshot eyes and struggled to get up, his face twisted.
His sweet dream had been interrupted.
Tao Shang’s head buzzed, and he felt like crying, throwing a tantrum… and hitting someone.
The door slammed open with a bang, and a boy who looked about fourteen or fifteen rushed in.
“Big Brother!
Get up!
Something big happened!
Father just said he wants you and me to go to the front hall to attend the court discussion!” The visitor was none other than Tao Qian’s second son, Tao Shang’s cheap younger brother, Tao Ying.
Tao Shang’s two eyes were bloodshot.
He stared woodenly at Tao Ying for a long time, then extended his index finger and crooked it at him.
Tao Ying was bewildered and didn’t understand what his big brother meant.
Following Tao Shang’s gesture, he walked to the side of the bed: “Big Brother, what do you mean?” Tao Shang, still dazed, fell backward onto the bed, raised one leg, contracted it with full force, and then kicked forward fiercely.
“Bang!!” “Ouch!——” Tao Ying, caught off guard, was kicked flying by Tao Shang, who was still lying on the bed.
He slammed heavily against the wall and slid down like mud.
“Huff… huff…” Tao Shang turned over and went back to sleep, pulling the covers over his head.
Tao Ying lay on the ground, groaning and whimpering for a long time without getting up.
As the second young master of the Tao family, Tao Ying not only resembled his big brother in appearance but also had an almost identical personality.
The two brothers were usually timid and unambitious, spending their days indulging in romance, poetry, and literature.
They didn’t handle any proper affairs, but they also didn’t commit any evil deeds.
The brothers often sighed to themselves: “Not giving away even a hair if it benefits the world; not taking anything even if the whole world is offered to us.” This meant they wouldn’t do anything that cost a penny for the benefit of the state, nor would they accept the state giving them all its money.
To reach such a high spiritual level while doing nothing proper, Tao Qian’s two sons were truly rare oddities… Moreover, the two brothers had taken the words out of context and completely distorted Yang Zhu’s philosophical ideas.
If their ancestors were watching from heaven, they would surely leap out of their graves to beat them.
This morning, when the second young master Tao Ying got up, he met the old steward Tao Hong, who said that the Inspector had just issued an order: the two young masters of the Tao family must attend and observe this morning’s court discussion.
Since arriving in Pengcheng, the two young masters had never participated in Xuzhou’s government affairs.
Today, Lord Tao suddenly gave this order, which truly startled Tao Ying… Attending the court discussion, did this mean the old man intended to assign them actual official duties?
If so, wouldn’t their carefree days be over?
Wouldn’t their beautiful life disappear in an instant!
This was a serious matter.
Tao Ying dared not delay and hurried to find Tao Shang to discuss it… Who would have thought that Tao Shang’s morning temper was so bad?
Before he could even finish speaking, he was kicked straight into the wall… What had he done to deserve this?
Thinking of this, Tao Ying lay on the ground and sobbed pitifully.
The pitter-patter of crying pulled Tao Shang out of his sleep.
That extra bit of sleep had been really comfortable… Hmm?
What was going on?
Why did it sound like a cat with its tail caught in the room?
Tao Shang sat up and looked toward the source of the crying.
He saw Tao Ying lying on the ground, sniffling with snot and tears, looking delicate and pitiful like pear blossoms in the rain.
“Second Brother?” Tao Shang called out uncertainly.
His mind vaguely remembered that this was his blood brother.
Tao Ying felt even more aggrieved, and his crying grew louder.
“Second Brother, why aren’t you sleeping early in the morning and instead came to my room to practice your voice?” Tao Ying wiped his tears while struggling to stand up.
Choking back sobs, he said, “Big Brother, have you forgotten what you just did?” Tao Shang frowned and thought seriously for a moment, then firmly shook his head.
Tao Ying’s face looked terrible: “Big Brother, is your morning temper this bad?
And your memory is also poor!” “Second Brother, I really don’t remember… What exactly happened?” Tao Ying pouted aggrievedly and pointed at the faint footprint still visible on his chest.
Tao Shang stared at Tao Ying’s chest for a long time: “I kicked that?” “Big Brother, stop pretending to be confused on purpose!
Unless I kicked myself!” Tao Shang was stunned for a moment, then suddenly slapped his thigh: “Oh right, I remember now.
In my dreams I love to kill people.
Whenever I’m asleep, you all must not approach!” Tao Ying: “…” Although Tao Ying was usually a bit lazy, a bit pedantic, and a bit idle, thankfully he was not stupid… Tao Shang’s words were clearly pure perfunctory nonsense, treating him like a fool.
He knew his own big brother well.
Let alone killing people, the guy couldn’t even hold a knife to kill a chicken.
After the commotion, Tao Shang’s sleepiness had also faded.
He got up to wash and comb his hair, only to see Tao Ying standing to the side with a worried, furrowed brow.
Tao Shang glanced at him strangely: “Early in the morning, why the long face?
Did your dad die?” “What?!!” Tao Ying was shocked.
“Pah!” Tao Shang turned his head and spat.
His role and identity had shifted incorrectly, he forgot they shared the same father… Since it was the first offense, he wouldn’t slap himself.
No next time.
“Early in the morning, why the long face?
Got beaten?” Tao Shang quickly corrected himself.
Tao Ying was stunned for a moment and dug at his ear.
How scary, had his hearing gone bad?
Could it be that Big Brother’s kick had deafened him… “I definitely got beaten.
Getting kicked by you doesn’t count, but now I also have to attend the court discussion… Brother, Father… Father wants you and me to attend today’s court discussion.
What should we do?” Tao Shang looked at Tao Ying strangely, as if looking at a monster.
“Just attend if we have to attend.
What’s there to make a fuss about?” Tao Ying looked very anxious: “But we have never attended a court discussion before.” “Everything has a first time.
What’s so strange about that?” Tao Ying hurriedly said: “But Big Brother, Father suddenly asking us to attend the court discussion this time probably means he intends to grant us official positions.
After this, I’m afraid we won’t have any idle days left…” Black lines couldn’t help but appear behind Tao Shang’s head.
What kind of habits and style did these Tao family brothers usually have?
The way they spoke was simply asking for a beating!
“Father is the Inspector of Xuzhou.
We are his sons.
Sharing our father’s burdens is our duty.
Suffering a little hardship is only natural.
We just need to have a sense of proportion and not work ourselves to death.” Tao Shang sighed helplessly.
“…” Tao Ying fell silent, only looking at Tao Shang with a resentful gaze.
It was obvious that he was very dissatisfied with Tao Shang’s words, which differed from his usual style.
Tao Shang looked at Tao Ying with a complicated expression.
Although he had only returned to this era for a few days, no matter what, this Tao Ying was his only brother in this world.
Besides Tao Qian, he was the only person who could truly open his heart to him.
And this second brother Tao Ying was just like Tao Shang.
After Tao Qian’s death, he left no trace in the long river of history, whether alive or dead, blessed or cursed, no one knew… Because of this, Tao Shang’s feelings toward Tao Ying unconsciously grew a little deeper.
Perhaps this was the so-called mutual appreciation, or sympathy born from putting oneself in the other’s shoes… Tao Qian was getting older.
After the old man passed away a hundred years ago, Tao Ying’s only support might be him.
And although he now had the identity of Tao Shang, in this era that once did not belong to him, Tao Ying was likewise his support.
Patting Tao Ying on the shoulder, Tao Shang showed a comforting smile: “Second Brother, idle days are indeed good, but they don’t match reality.
There are no truly lazy people in this world.
If one could slack off, who would want to worry about so many things?
It’s just that sometimes we have no choice.
We must grow up and cannot always remain like giant babies.” Tao Ying sniffled and asked, “Big Brother, what is a giant baby?” “An adult whose psychology remains stuck at the infant level, abbreviated as giant baby.” Tao Shang explained with a smile.
“Big Brother, are you mocking me for being like a giant baby?” Tao Shang shook his head: “Of course not.
I was just giving you an example, little brother.” Tao Ying was silent for a long time, then said softly, “Big Brother, I feel like you seem a bit different.” “What’s different?” Tao Ying thought for a moment and shook his head: “I can’t really say.
Anyway, the old big brother definitely wouldn’t have said something like that.
At the very least, he wouldn’t have known what a giant baby is…” Tao Shang smiled and said, “People always have to grow up.
In this world, if you want to protect the things you want to protect, the first thing is to harden your heart and make changes.” “Brother, then what do you want to protect?” Tao Shang smiled gently: “Right now, what I want to protect is the only family and relatives I still have in this world, that is, myself, Father, and you.” Tao Ying let out an enlightened “Oh,” as if he had gained some understanding.
Unconsciously, a trace of emotion stirred in his heart.
“So that’s how it is.
Big Brother, you’re really good to me…” Tao Shang smiled kindly and punched Tao Ying lightly: “Silly kid, you’re my little brother.
If I’m not good to you, who will be?” Tao Ying’s eyes reddened a little: “Then Big Brother, if one day I split the family property with you, will you still protect me?” Patting Tao Ying on the shoulder, Tao Shang smiled as warmly as a spring breeze: “Don’t worry, Second Brother.
If that day really comes, I guarantee I’ll take care of you immediately, without waiting overnight.” “…”