Rebirth: I'm a Daddy's Darling in the Qing Dynasty

Chapter 54: The donkey is pulling the millstone; it can't get out of that circle.

It really proves the saying: it's not that there are many eye-catching people, it's that there are too many eye-catching people in one group. After those two eye-catching brothers finished their mutual flattery, they finally remembered that there was someone else waiting for them in the yard.

"Fourth Brother, why did you come with Fourteenth Brother today? Did you go to Mother's?"

If Yinzhuo didn't mention the Fourteenth Prince, things would be fine, but once Yinzhen did, he really had a lot to say.

"It's all your fault. You taught him something like 'If you can't sweep a room, how can you sweep the world?' Now he's always sweeping around Chunfeng Hall with a broom, ruining all the flowers and plants in the yard. Your mother is really annoyed by him. Knowing that you're annoyed by him too, I sent him to me. Before I even complained about him, he complained that I was boring. I thought that you're the one with the most clever ideas and the most fun, so I sent him to you."

When Yinzhu heard that the Fourteenth Prince had been kicked out by his mother because she disliked him, he was overjoyed and reached out to tug at his little braid.

"Fourteenth, it seems you don't have a very high standing with your mother. It's alright, your mother doesn't care much for you, Sixth Brother will. Today, Sixth Brother will teach you another saying: 'Reading ten thousand books is not as good as traveling ten thousand miles.' What does this mean? It means that if the knowledge you learn from books is not combined with practice, then you will only have a superficial understanding, just like reading in vain. So how do you combine the knowledge you learn from textbooks with practice? The ancients gave us the answer in the following sentence: 'Travel ten thousand miles.'"

The Fourteenth Prince now completely trusts his Sixth Brother's words. Hearing Yinzhuo's words, he couldn't help but frown, because he realized that whether it was his Mother's Spring Breeze Hall, his Sixth or Fourth Brother's Shufeng Pavilion, or the Lakeside Pavilion, the places were all too small and not nearly as far as ten thousand miles.

“But Sixth Brother, ten thousand li is such a long distance. Your courtyard or Fourth Brother and Mother’s courtyard are too small. It’s not enough for ten thousand li at all.”

You have to admit, Fourteenth Brother is a quick learner. He didn't even need his Sixth Brother to guide him; he just knew to deliver it to the door on his own. Yinzhuo thought Fourteenth Brother's question was brilliant, so he reached out and touched his little face, continuing to coax him.

"Yes, let alone our three courtyards, even the entire Changchun Garden's roads combined don't amount to ten thousand li. But we can't let that delay our fourteenth brother's studies, can we? So, your sixth brother has come up with a solution for you. See that round millstone over there? Go push it around in a bit. Each circle is five or six meters. In an hour, you can travel several dozen li. If you recite the articles you've learned while walking, it will definitely be twice as effective. By combining theory with practice and integrating them into your understanding, your studies will improve rapidly. Your thirteenth brother doesn't know this method. He can't travel ten thousand li, so naturally, he won't progress as fast as you. After you've studied for a while, you'll be better than him. Do you think that makes sense?"

Yinzhen sat to the side watching Yinzuo earnestly spout nonsense to fool the Fourteenth Prince. Only the pain from pinching his thigh kept him from laughing out loud in front of the Fourteenth Prince. When he saw the Fourteenth Prince happily running to push the millstone and recite his lessons, Yinzhen finally didn't have to hold back anymore!

Hahahaha~~

It was rare for Yinzhuo to see his fourth brother so unrestrained and flamboyant. He knew that his brother must have been holding back a lot before. Not only did he not say anything to disturb him, but he even made up for him when the fourteenth brother looked over after hearing the laughter.

"Fourteenth, Fourth Brother is happy for you because he sees that you have found the right path to learning. You don't need to pay attention to him. Just continue memorizing your articles and follow your own path."

That afternoon, everything happening in Shufeng Pavilion was strangely inexplicable. The usually serious and composed Fourth Master suddenly burst into uncontrollable laughter, as if he were going mad. The Fourteenth Master, who had been obsessed with sweeping the floor not long ago, had also changed his hobby, now reciting texts while pushing a millstone. Meanwhile, the owner of Shufeng Pavilion, Sixth Master, not only showed no concern for his own brother's bizarre and abnormal behavior, but even hummed a little tune in a good mood. Listen, isn't that what he's singing?

"The donkey pulls the millstone, it can't get out of that circle. The frog in the well can see just a tiny patch of sky, no bigger than the palm of its hand. The road to heaven is originally a straight line, why bother climbing mountains and crossing ridges, coughing and forcing those bends..."

Yinzhen finally stopped, but when he heard Yinzuo humming this tune and looked at the Fourteenth Prince who was huffing and puffing and spinning around, he couldn't help but chime in again. You know what, this tune really suits the occasion.

Fourteenth Prince, who had been pulling the millstone all afternoon, fell asleep from exhaustion without even having dinner. Looking at Yinzhi, who was beaming with pride as he recounted how he had tricked his younger brother into pulling the millstone all afternoon, and then at Yinzhen beside him who was still laughing as Yinzhi described the scene, Consort De had only one thought in her mind: Destruction, her future was far too bleak…

"Yinzuo, you're quite pleased with yourself, aren't you? Go all over the capital and ask around, see which family has an elder brother like you, always thinking of ways to torment his younger brother. Yinzhen, don't laugh at me. I already have enough to worry about with those two troublesome kids, the Fourteenth and the Sixth, but now even you've followed them and become bad. Not only do you not stop Yinzuo, but you're also fooling around with him. I get annoyed just looking at you guys..."

Seeing that his mother was about to start her old nagging again, Yinzhuo quickly raised his hand to cover his mouth and pretended to cough a few times. Then, he frowned, his body went limp, and he leaned against Yinzhen next to him.

"Mother, I've been looking after the children for you all afternoon, and I'm exhausted and feeling terrible. Fourth Brother, please help me up. Let's go back to Shufeng Pavilion now. Dexi should have prepared the meal for us by now. Mother, we'll be going now, otherwise the food will be too cold to eat when we get back..."

Yinzhuo was helped by Yinzhen all the way out of Consort De's Chunfeng Hall before he straightened up. Although he knew his mother wouldn't chase after him, he still looked back to make sure no one was there before he felt relieved. He patted his chest and breathed a long sigh of relief.

"Fourth brother, I really owe you a lot today. If it weren't for your help in fooling Mother, I would have been in real trouble. Fourth brother, you have no idea what kind of life I'm living these days..."

Seeing that this drama queen was about to start acting again, Yinzhen could no longer bear it and raised his hand to slap him on the back.

"Shut up! It's one thing to trick Fourteen into doing chores for you, but now you've gone so far as to lie to your own mother! Don't you know what kind of life you're living? Not to mention others, among us brothers, who lives as comfortably and carefree as you..."

Alright, it seems the plot has gone off track today. Yinzhuo felt that his series of brilliant moves just now, which seemed to have freed him from suffering, had actually led him into the abyss.