Chapter 9: Don’t You Understand That Brothers Must Stand Together?

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Li Shimin furrowed his brows and glanced at Wen He. He recalled that Wen He had mentioned earlier that the person he placed beside the Crown Prince would come to warn him. Could it be today? After pondering for a moment, he instructed Changsun Wugou to arrange everything for Wen He, then hurried away with his servants.

“Your Highness said you have a younger sister?”

“Yes, her name is Wen Rou, and she’s only five this year.” Wen He nodded, his mind still preoccupied, wondering if the person Li Shimin sent had already arrived to fetch her.

Before coming to see Changsun Wuji, he had instructed Wen Rou that if someone came to take her away, she should leave with them. He knew that if he met Li Shimin, he would never be allowed to leave the Prince of Qin’s mansion. But he had considered this carefully. Yesterday, Li Yuangui’s steward went to threaten them, so it was unlikely anyone would trouble their family again so soon. There was no need to worry that Li Shimin’s envoy would arrive later than the previous one.

Still, until he saw Wen Rou, he couldn’t fully ease his mind.

Changsun Wugou seemed to sense his worry and offered some comforting words. She then arranged for two maidservants and a nanny to care for the little girl in their courtyard. In her eyes, Wen He was only about ten years old—perhaps even she couldn’t take good care of herself.

After personally organizing everything, a maidservant reminded her it was time to prepare the early meal. She told the three children to wait by Wen He and went to the kitchen herself.

Once the adults had left, Li Chengqian openly sized up Wen He. Li Ke no longer stared at the sky at a forty-five-degree angle; he found a spot to sit without restraint and was served a bowl of tea soup by a servant. Li Tai, picking his nose, walked up to Wen He.

“Get up. This seat’s mine.”

He raised his head, assuming an air of superiority and arrogance.

Wen He looked at him, chuckled softly, and slapped the back of his head.

“How dare you talk to me like that!”

“Pfft!”

Li Ke, who had just taken a sip of tea, immediately spat it out.

Li Chengqian was shocked, leapt to his feet, and glared at Wen He. “You dare hit the Prince of Wei? How insolent!”

“You—you hit me!” Li Tai pouted, glaring at the eldest and questioning Wen He.

“So what if I hit you? Go and tell on me. Let’s see if your father would blame me for hitting you.”

If it weren’t for Changsun Wugou being nearby just now, he would have dealt with Li Tai already. Such a young age, and still daring to act tough before him—he deserved a good beating.

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“I am the Prince of Wei!”

“So what if you’re the Prince of Wei? I’m the one hitting you. Wait a minute... aren’t you the Prince of Wei now?” Wen He had not reacted to Li Chengqian’s words earlier but suddenly remembered. That didn’t seem right—he recalled Li Tai was only titled Prince of Wei in the tenth year of Zhenguan.

“How dare you! Even though you are a teacher, you must not act insolently upwards. This is an unforgivable offense!” Li Chengqian suddenly stepped forward, shielding Li Tai behind him.

Was Li Chengqian actually protecting his own younger brother now? But he was still too immature.

“Heaven, earth, sovereign, father, teacher—ever heard of it? Heh, do you understand the moral code? I am the teacher, so hitting you is justified, no matter if you’re a prince or emperor.”

Wen He spoke boldly again.

If Li Shimin were here, he’d surely blow his beard and glare at him.

Unfortunately, the three little rascals before him only half-understood what was going on.

He raised his hand and slapped Li Chengqian’s head. The latter was stunned, then his eyes grew red.

“I—I am the Prince of Zhongshan.”

At this moment, he still thought of using his status to threaten me?

“Tch, so what if you’re Prince of Zhongshan? You’re no Xu Da,” Wen He scoffed. Li Chengqian’s title carried no real weight.

He was just putting these two brothers in their place when he noticed the third boy acting completely indifferent.

This was intolerable.

If brothers weren’t united now, what hope was there for the future?

“Why aren’t you standing up yet!” Wen He suddenly turned, glaring at Li Ke.

Li Ke, who was wiping his mouth with a handkerchief, paused and looked back at him in confusion.

“I didn’t talk back to you, nor did I question you. You can’t hit me,” he said seriously, like a little adult.

“Oh, you understand that, huh? Then do you know about brotherly unity? If one gets punished, the others can’t escape either. All of you stand properly.”

Wen He raised his hand threateningly.

Reluctantly, Li Ke snorted and stood up to join him.

Inside, he had a whole mouthful of retorts but his mother had told him not to say those things, so he endured silently.

“What brother? He and I don’t share the same mother,” Li Tai suddenly scoffed.

“Smack!”

Before he finished, another slap landed on his head.

“You’re really bold, daring to talk back to me. Didn’t you see these two standing here quietly?”

Li Tai had been holding his head with one hand, now both hands were pressed against it.

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Tears streamed from his eyes, overwhelmed with hurt and grievance.

“Since I have become your teacher, I must shoulder the responsibility of educating you. Although I said earlier we’d play first, I’ve changed my mind. I’ve decided to teach you the principles of being a person first.”

If the brothers weren’t harmonious now, what would become of them later?

It used to be none of his concern, but now that he was their teacher, if these three brothers turned against each other in the future, who knew how Sima Guang, who wrote the Comprehensive Mirror to Aid in Government, would slander him.

“What will you teach?” Li Ke asked earnestly.

“Yeah, you look about our age. What can you teach? We’ve already been enlightened by great scholars. Are you better than those great Confucian scholars?” Li Chengqian was a bit defiant; he had been looking forward to playing with Wen He but now they had to study again.

“Ever heard of the Three Character Classic? Probably not. What you’ve been taught so far isn’t anything. This is the real classic primer.”

In his past life, many protagonists in time-travel novels would display this book before others, and it never failed.

He had once tried to get rich with perfume and soap but failed.

Fooling around with literature to scare little brats was no problem.

“Is it really that great?” Li Tai was unconvinced, and Li Chengqian also doubted it.

Li Ke pursed his lips, unimpressed.

“Follow me and read. If you read well, I’ll take you to play dodgeball later.”

The three little rascals exchanged glances. Though unwilling, they couldn’t help but comply since the one in front of them was only slightly older and their father stood behind him.

“Fine, we’ll read.” Li Tai snorted.

Suddenly, he had an idea.

He would memorize everything Wen He read and then tell their tutor.

Surely the tutor would be angry and come to find trouble with Wen He.

Hehe.

“Listen carefully: At the beginning of man’s nature is good…”

At the first quarter of the Snake hour, Changsun Wugou, bringing breakfast and the two little girls, encountered a somber Li Shimin on the road.

The couple arrived together outside the small courtyard and heard three voices, tinged with sobbing, inside.

“Four-year-old Rong can share pears. The elder brother should know first…”

The couple exchanged glances, both seeing confusion mirrored in each other’s eyes.

What classic are they reading? They had never heard of it before.