Chapter 51: Fierce

  Shu Yao was woken up by her big brother Shu Xuan, and she rolled over on the bed with her quilt, revealing her lotus root-like legs. She looked like a white silkworm wriggling around under the covers. Shu Xuan averted his gaze and continued to recite dry ancient texts in a low voice. Gua Erjia entered the room and saw this scene: her daughter was lounging on the bed, while her son Shu Xuan's face was slightly red. Suddenly, she felt that her son had grown up and would soon be marrying a wife.

  "Book Pavilion."

  "Mother."

  Shu Xuan coughed a few times, and Guajia walked to the bedside, gave Shuyao's buttocks a light slap, and Shuyao looked up with tears in her eyes, calling out softly: "Mother."

  Shu Xuan's ears turned red, "You call me sister, my son has already left." Shu Xuan didn't wait for Gua Erjia to speak and hastily departed. No wonder his younger brother said that little sister was too sweet, indeed she was very sweet, just listening to her voice made one reluctant for her to suffer even a bit of grievance. However, in terms of appearance, Shu Yao couldn't compare to her cousin Li Zhiqing, but little sister's facial features were harmonious and seeing her gave people a kind of warm and intimate feeling, being by Shu Yao's side was very comfortable, not having to worry about schemes or traps, even watching Shu Yao tumble around was satisfying and happy, casting away complicated thoughts and seeking a peaceful and calm mind.

  "Big brother, big brother."

  Shu Xuan returned to his senses and found himself sitting beside Shu Yi. Shu Yi smiled knowingly, "Big brother is thinking of little sister?"

  "My second brother is pretending not to know, this is not good, as the ancients said..."

  "Get, get, get, big brother don't be like that to me, you should be like that to little sister instead..."

  Shu Yi rubbed his ears and Shu Xuan shook his head, saying: "Second brother, who will our little sister marry in the future?"

  "Mother will arrange it, no matter who I marry, I..." Book Yi looked at his older brother, whoever marries Little Sister would have to be lectured by Book Xuan. If they planned to take a concubine or mistreat Little Sister Shu Yao, not to mention what Mother would do, Book Yi dared to throw bricks at the sister's husband or set up a trap to teach him a lesson in the future. But as for older brother Book Xuan? Book Yi wasn't sure if his sister's husband could withstand Book Xuan's quoting of classics and citing of precedents. Book Xuan followed the teachings of the saints, held himself to high moral standards, and deeply believed that beauty was a curse on the country, and that indulging in it would hinder one's studies. "Older brother didn't ask Master today?"

  "Master said that Master's wife and child are not feeling well, so they went back first." Shu Xuan replied seriously, "I don't know if Master's wife is seriously ill? Otherwise, I'll take a trip to visit them?"

  Shu Yi returned from outside the city gate, and clearly saw Shu Xuan's master and his wife together. His wife looked radiant and healthy, not at all like someone who was ill. Shu Yi thought that his older brother had a kind and honest heart, and it would be difficult for anyone to tell lies in front of him. He must have been asked by his older brother and couldn't say that his wife was uncomfortable. Shu Xuan wouldn't suspect anything, although he had many questions, but towards his master and mistress, Shu Xuan was very filial.

  Shu Yi held back his elder brother who was about to go out and visit their master's mother, tidied up his hair and said frankly that it would hurt his elder brother, Master's family wasn't easy either. Since teaching Shu Xuan, he often went out early and returned late, as long as Shu Xuan entangled him, he couldn't get rid of him. It was hard to get some free time, spend a few days with his wife, and his elder brother shouldn't go disturb them. Shu Yi advised: "Elder brother, let's go visit in two days."

  Shu Xuan hesitated for a moment, about to shake his head in denial. But Shu Yi suddenly remembered something. If Master didn't take this opportunity to teach Big Brother, Shu Yi would have to help Guwalgiya find out about the scholars in Beijing and find a teacher for Big Brother, which was not an easy task. Shu Yi's face turned serious as he said: "Big Brother, recently things haven't been quite right in Beijing. I vaguely heard that Guo Sanben is planning to impeach Ama."

  "Guo San Ben?"

  Shu Yiyu explained: "Du Yuanshi Guo Xuan, Mr. Guo, heard that Ah Ma is currently competing with Yu Chenglong, and Mr. Guo, as a clean Han minister, naturally stands on the side of Yu Chenglong."

  Shu Xuan sat down again, furrowing his brow and asked: "When did this happen? What was the reason for impeaching Ama?"

  "For the past two days, I have received news that Ah Ma thinks Yu Chenglong doesn't know how to control the river, and instead praises the methods of Mingzhu Party's Yu Feng and others. Yu Chenglong is dissatisfied with Ah Ma, and it's said that they had a big argument on the banks of the Yellow River."

  Shu Yiyu mentioned the rumors in the capital, Shu Xuan shook his head honestly, "I don't believe that Cheng Long can win an argument with Ama. Whatever Ama is determined to do, she will definitely find many pieces of evidence, one by one, and list them out. Although Cheng Long's learning is not bad, he is far from being a match for Ama."

  Shu Yile smiled, "Big brother understands Ama, I also guessed that it was Ama who made Yu Chenglong ill. Unable to refute Ama and unable to find Ama's weakness, he would seek help from the capital."

  Shu Yao was led into the house by Gual Jia, who saw her two sons chatting enthusiastically and sat down beside Shu Yao. Gual Jia brushed away Shu Yao's hand as she reached for the dried fruit, pointing to the warm flower tea on the side. Shu Yao pouted, picked up the teacup, and took a couple of sips to warm her stomach before eating the dried fruit.

  "What's the method for controlling the river? I discussed it with my master, and after searching through ancient books from Da Yu's water control to now, we found that upon careful consideration, Mr. Yu Chenglong's method of river control is reasonable. Blocking is not as good as dredging. Actually, my master wasn't too in favor of Mr. Yu Chenglong's method of river repair, but I persuaded him and he agreed. I need to send a letter to Ama, saying that Mr. Yu Chenglong's method is correct."

  Shu Yao heard that Gual Jia's brother's teacher had asked for leave to go home early today, and it was because of the river embankment repair work that he was driven away by his brother. Shu Yao pinched a pine nut and asked: "Does big brother know about Yu Chenglong's method?"

  Shu Xuan nodded and said, "As the book says, river management is about dredging, building dams is not a good solution, it will harm the people and waste money, block the river channel, Ji Fu, Fo Lun and others two people planting trees, damaging good fields..."

  Shu Yao interrupted Shu Xuan's words: "Is it a dam? Is it on the Yellow River?"

  "Yes."

  "Does big brother know where it is?"

  Shu Xuan saw his sister showing interest, so he called Shu Tong to bring out the map, which was clearly marked. It was the data from previous years that Zhiyuan had taken back from the Ministry of Works. Shu Xuan had flipped through it before and argued with his master. Shu Yao looked at the map seriously, while the rain outside grew heavier, almost pouring down. Shu Yao first looked outside and said that if it continued to rain today, the water level of the Yellow River would rise, and there was a high possibility of a dike breach.

  If you ask Shu Yao about poetry, songs and ballads, Shu Yao is completely ignorant. However, when it comes to formula derivation, Shu Yao is not inferior to anyone. When the Republic was building the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River, Shu Yao had once made a judgment with her mentor. Shu Yao's fingers slid along the Yellow River on the map, according to the formula, terrain, vegetation and so on. Shu Yao said: "Jiang Fu, Fo Lun is right, Ama is also right."

  "Little sister, you can't say that, according to... " Shu Xuan refuted, but Shu Yao's one sentence immediately blocked the words that Shu Xuan was about to say. "How high is the Yellow River embankment? What is the flow rate of the Yellow River water? How big is the impact force of the river water hitting the embankment? How high is the terrain?"

  Shu Yao's question about the pure science subject completely stumped Shu Xuan. The master didn't ask such questions back then, thought Shu Yi with a dark smile, never had he seen his big brother being asked to the point of having no answer, who says little sister is lazy and ignorant? The smartest one in the family is actually little sister.