Zhao Qian’er and Lingfei exchanged a glance, both barely holding back their smiles.
"Show-off." The little girl rolled her eyes at Brother Rong’er, but her heart was bursting with joy, her slender arms wrapped around his left arm, happily swinging it back and forth.
She still remembered how Brother Rong’er in his childhood was just as confident and assertive, always leaving them stunned.
Back then, she and the young lady both thought that Brother Rong’er was omnipotent, capable of anything between heaven and earth.
And in their eyes, he truly was.
Brother Rong’er always brought interesting things and did some daring deeds that she and the young lady couldn’t have imagined, always including them in his adventures.
How could he be so amazing!
Would he later on not take the always-crying Qian’er and the boringly quiet young lady with him anymore?
Thinking about this, she was so worried that it made her little head ache, and when Qian’er asked the young lady, she too frowned with worry.
However, Brother Rong’er, who feared neither heaven nor earth, was only ever subdued by Aunt Liu in an instant.
So, she and the young lady suddenly were not afraid anymore, having mastered a secret weapon... but all these beautiful memories could not withstand the word "afterward." Since Rong’er took up Confucianism, everything had changed, and he was no longer confident.
But now, what was their Brother Rong’er like in their eyes?
Zhao Qian’er felt it could be seen from the way the young lady and Brother Rong’er talked...
At that moment, just as Zhao Rong’s words fell, Lingfei slightly tilted her head up, staring intently at Zhao Rong without blinking.
Her eyes shimmered, reflecting his smiling face as she nodded earnestly.
It seemed as if she was silently affirming something that she would never doubt in her lifetime.
"Brother Rong’er, what about me?" Lingfei narrowed her autumnal eyes, her voice carrying a charming laugh. She wanted to follow him.
"Qing Jun, you?" Zhao Rong turned his head, pondered for a moment, and seriously said, "You are also not among the top three soldiers."
As his wife looked on with increasing expectation, he nodded, affirming, "Silly wife, you are definitely the lowest soldier. Hearing the way? You understand nothing yet you don’t just ’laugh it off;’ you stubbornly continue to inquire about the way, truly foolish."
Zhao Qian’er: "Pfft～"
Lingfei glared at little Qian’er, who quickly shut her mouth.
Not stooping to this stinky lady’s level.
The little girl thought to herself.
Stinky lady, aside from being the most talented Sword Cultivator in this generation of Taiching Prefecture, the top-ranked fairy in the hearts of your fellow disciples at Tranquility Mansion, the pride of the entire Taiching Prefecture, plus having an exceptionally unparalleled personal maid and a big fat lout of a husband, what else do you have?
You are nothing, stinky lady, hmph.
Lingfei, with a hint of grievance in her eyes, looked at her husband, who was teasing her again, wanting to throw off his right hand but also reluctant to let go.
Her voice was clear and melodious, full of self-pity, "Yes, I’m dumb, such a foolish lowest soldier as Lingfei, how can I be worthy of you, my highest soldier husband? I’m leaving..."
Lingfei bit her lip preparing to rise, but the next second, Zhao Rong held her close and pressed her back to her seat.
"Hey hey, Qing Jun, it’s just a joke! It is said that everything extreme must revert, and the inquiry about the way is just like that. Wife, being this ’lowest soldier’ is actually a rare and precious existence that is even scarcer than a top soldier."
Zhao Rong seriously bluffed.
"Oh, is that so?" Lingfei studied his eyes, her lips curling into a half-smile.
Zhao Rong nodded vigorously, "Yes, yes, from the first glance, I could see that my wife is extraordinary."
"Then how does Lingfei compare to her husband, the highest soldier? Above him, or below him?"
Without thinking, Zhao Rong said, "Wife is above."
He paused, chewed on his words for a moment, blinked, and repeated, "Yes, wife is above her husband."
Lingfei always felt there was something tricky about Zhao Rong’s words, seeming profound, yet she didn’t grasp the essence of this ’above’ at the moment.
Could he be teasing her ignorance again?
Lingfei looked suspiciously at Zhao Rong with her autumnal eyes.
The latter fervently declared, "Wife is above me! My word is my bond."
Soon, Zhao Rong finally managed to soothe Qing Jun and continued the earlier topic.
"Qing Jun, do you know why I said that mostly Middle Soldiers are found in the Bamboo Forest during the day? For instance."
Zhao Rong slowly said:
"During the day in the Bamboo Forest, Daoist Lin mentioned Dao, virtue, benevolence, righteousness, propriety, saying that our Confucian propriety is also the beginning of disorder. Everyone knows that the Daoists highly esteem the ’Dao,’ but do you really think that the Daoists actually disdain the subsequent virtues, benevolence, righteousness, propriety?"
Lingfei frowned, "Is that not the case?"
"This rivalry between Confucianism and Daoism is not as simple as you see it on the surface," Zhao Rong shook his head.
"The Daoists do not deny the latter aspects but believe that the omission of each preceding element emphasizes the subsequent ones more."
"This is a process in which one’s heart strays further and further from the ’Dao.’ It’s a process where norms become stricter, where internal voluntary demands decrease, and external restraints increase."
"Thus, Daoist Lin said, the day we talk about propriety is the day we lose the Dao."
Zhao Rong sighed softly.
"If the world had Dao, and everyone upheld the Dao, then why bother with the secondary ’virtue, benevolence, righteousness, propriety?’ It’s precisely because our Confucianism has started paying attention to these aspects that it shows we no longer have the ’Dao.’
As he spoke, suddenly as if remembering something, he continued speaking while taking out some grapes and other fruits.
Purchased that morning in West City, cleaned and then put away, he had since forgotten to take them out.