Chapter 113: My Virtuous Brother Is Truly a Divine Being!

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Li Su smiled and said, “He’s coming to Wenzhou soon. When he arrives, I’ll take you all to meet him.”

It might be hard to believe, even to himself it was shocking: he had casually cast a line and unexpectedly caught a prime minister of the current dynasty.

Yun Qin suppressed his suspicions. It probably wasn’t Prime Minister Xi; he had heard that Xi had gone into seclusion and no one knew where he had gone.

With Li Su and Yun Qin around, the students at Huang Zhai felt immense pressure. Compared to these two, they seemed utterly useless.

Whenever Li Su and Yun Qin appeared in their sight, they were always studying.

Both were naturally gifted and worked diligently. The Huang Zhai students gritted their teeth and studied hard. If they lacked talent, fine, but at least their effort had to keep pace.

Song Sheng was the one most influenced by the two. Whenever Li Su or Yun Qin found a good book, they would share it with him.

Though Song Sheng was not talkative, he read every book recommended by Li Su and Yun Qin. He could at least understand their discussions and occasionally join in.

Yun Qin noticed Li Su had switched to another book again. He hadn’t seen any duplicates in his brother’s collection, and many of these books were ones he had long sought but never found!

So many books... Could it be that Li Su’s master was really Prime Minister Xi?

To gather all these books with intent and still be entrusted to Director Wei for care, the only person Yun Qin could think of was Prime Minister Xi.

Yun Qin controlled his breath, knowing he would find out once he met Li Su’s master.

If it really was Prime Minister Xi...

Li Su was indeed extraordinary, worthy to be Xi’s disciple, Yun Qin quickly accepted.

If Xi really was Li Su’s master, could he then follow Li Su to seek guidance from Xi?

Yun Qin thought that if it were true, it would be good news — he’d have a chance to meet Prime Minister Xi.

Li Su probably wouldn’t mind if he tagged along with his master occasionally, right?

He wouldn’t go often, just sometimes.

Seeing Yun Qin’s eyes grow increasingly excited, Li Su looked at him curiously. “You’re thinking about something, little brother?”

Yun Qin hurriedly shook his head. “No. Brother, you’ve switched to another book again?”

Li Su glanced at the book in his hand. “Yes, it’s a task from my master.”

Yun Qin’s interest piqued. “What kind of task?” He wanted to know what kind of assignments Prime Minister Xi might give his disciple.

Li Su felt a bit embarrassed telling Yun Qin. He truly thought his task was rather unimpressive.

Both his master and Director Wei had said his study tasks were relatively light.

Even so, this ‘light’ task took up quite a bit of his time.

But actually, he could handle a bit more.

It just showed how intensely competitive the students of the ancient academy were. Every day, besides the tasks assigned by the tutors, they would set many more for themselves.

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Li Su said sheepishly, “My master gives me fewer tasks now — just five strategic essays and five poems daily, plus one book on the imperial exams’ extended topics, one book of strategic essays, and one book of poems. After finishing each book, I write a summary and practice calligraphy for an hour. That’s all.”

Song Sheng: “???”

Yun Qin: “???”

Fewer? Really?

How could those two words pair with such a long list of tasks?

Li Su took their shocked expressions as surprise that his daily workload was so light.

Song Sheng’s eyes went blank. He knew how much time Li Su spent studying, and he noticed that whenever tutors taught, Li Su was listening and simultaneously writing tasks left by one tutor.

How did he know Li Su was listening?

Because no matter when a tutor called on him, Li Su would answer questions correctly. The essays and poems he submitted always earned the tutors’ praise.

Only then did Song Sheng realize someone could truly focus on two things at once to such an extent.

The tasks Li Su mentioned were completed outside of class hours. Could such a small amount of time really be enough?

Their rest time was the same, but Li Su even woke an hour earlier than him.

Song Sheng’s eyes were full of disbelief: inhuman!

Yun Qin swallowed hard. No wonder Prime Minister Xi didn’t take him as a disciple — a strange sense of relief crept over him.

“Brother... that’s already a lot!” If this counts as ‘few,’ then what counts as ‘many’?

Yun Qin couldn’t help but reflect: had he been too lenient with himself, too relaxed?

But after calculating, aside from eating and sleeping, he had almost no free time.

Everyone had the same hours, so why did Li Su seem to have two or three times more time than them?

“Little brother, you don’t need to comfort me. I’m well aware.”

Comfort? He wasn’t comforting! He genuinely thought so!

You’re aware? Aware of what? No, you’re not!

Prime Minister Xi was truly terrifying!

How had Xi conveyed to Li Su that such a daily workload was light?

“Does Director Wei supervise you daily to ensure you complete these tasks?” Yun Qin wondered. Prime Minister Xi probably knew the workload was heavy and had appointed someone to oversee Li Su.

It turned out the relationship between Prime Minister Xi and Director Wei was so good that Xi entrusted his disciple to Wei’s care, though outsiders rumored otherwise.

Li Su shook his head. “No, the director doesn’t supervise me doing my master’s tasks.”

“He actually hopes I don’t do them, wants my master to expel me so I can devote myself fully to studying the principles of nature and martial arts under him.”

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Li Su saw through Director Wei’s little schemes, thankfully he had strong self-discipline.

“Every time I spend a bit more time on my master’s tasks, he blows up and nags incessantly — my ears almost get calloused from it...” Li Su said, feeling a headache coming on.

Yun Qin and Song Sheng exchanged glances, both reading the same shock and a hint of despair in each other’s eyes.

How could one person have so much energy?

They wanted Li Su to master strategy, poetry, principles of nature, and martial arts — every skill had to be perfected. The six arts of the gentleman, each one mastered?

“Brother, you... you also practice martial arts and study the principles of nature?”

Yun Qin recalled the scene when Li Su handed him something that day; he believed Li Su practiced martial arts.

But... how was this even possible? No matter how he calculated, the time never seemed enough.

After a long pause, Song Sheng finally muttered, “My God...”

When Yun Qin heard Li Su’s daily study tasks, he had wanted to grit his teeth and try.

But upon learning about the principles of nature and martial arts, he gave up.

The heavens had their reasons for not letting Prime Minister Xi take him as a disciple.

If Xi really had taken him on and trained him like this, he wouldn’t have been able to endure it.

Li Su was practically a god!

“Brother Li, you’ve seen how the academy students study. Why do you think they work harder than you?”

Song Sheng was puzzled. The most hardworking person he had ever known was Li Su — not only diligent, but gifted and strong.

“My master and Director Wei both say my tasks are quite light. They wouldn’t lie about this.”

“The academy students must be secretly studying behind my back!”

Li Su had his reasons for thinking this way.

He had once known a student from another school, met during training camp. That student slept during the day and no one saw him study.

Classmates thought he was naturally gifted since he never studied but always topped the school.

But that student told Li Su he studied secretly under the covers by lamp light at night, quietly pushing himself — not that he didn’t study.

Li Su didn’t understand this behavior but was deeply impressed.

So he believed the academy students looked relaxed during the day but secretly worked hard at night.