"Because... you and your son, are not the Emperor."
Zhu Su stared straight at Gao Qing, who was gazing at the constellations above.
"The one who has sentenced my brother to death, is the Emperor. The one who has treated our family unfairly is the Emperor. Not you, not your son, and not his other sons or other daughters. Just because a man does me wrong, then how can I have the right to hate his entire family who has nothing to do with our business? And. Moreover, you are different from your father.
"I... am different?"
"Yes." Gao Qing nodded. "I also find it hard to believe since I think that a son will follow the mindset and behavior of his father for sure. If it was the Emperor who argued with me just now, I am sure he would have killed me after knowing that I am unwilling to cooperate with him. But, you didn't. Not only did you not force me, you even admitted that your father has done my brother wrong. When you went away from the forest at that time, I felt... so ashamed."
Gao Qing lowered his eyes again.
"Yes. I am ashamed of myself. I am twenty years older than you, but lost to a kid which is much younger than me. How can I label myself kind and wise when I am unable to forgive, and how can I call myself a physician if I refuse to help the person who is in danger, even have the heart to watch that person die before me? Moreover when I find that he turns out to be a person with noble character. Am I not very sinful?"
A chilly wind blew, turning Gao Qing's hair into a mess.
"Thank you very much... Mr. Gao Qing. For helping my son... and also, for forgiving us," Zhu Su said with sincerity.
Gao Qing gave a satirical smile. "Have I told you, that the man I hate is the emperor and not you guys? You don't do anything wrong with my brother."
"It's rare to find the people who can think so wisely. There is a saying "The sin of a parent goes down to a child", if the parents did wrong then their children must take the consequences. But you don't agree with it. That's why I have to thank you."
Gao Qing gave a satirical smile again. "I claim myself to be an intellectual who have studied thousands of books. But if I can't put it into real life, then what's the use of those theories? More precisely to say... it's me who should thank you, Boy. You give me the real experience of the practice, which is more useful than just reading books. If I had not dared to call myself wise because I was only good at theorizing, but right now, after passing through actual practice with you, I dare to call myself as the Wise. Ha ha ha!"
When Gao Qing laughed out loud, he looked much different than before. At first, he appeared like a nasty old man who hated the entire world, now he appeared like a happy old man who enjoy the beauty of togetherness. The warmth emitted by him, made Zhu Su's heart immediately fill with a sense of marvelous comfort.
That's right! This was also the aura I got when I was with Sir Gao Qi before! Actually, Gao Qing is no different from Sir Gao Qi, his heart is actually full of warmth and friendliness. It's just that the harshness of life forces him to be stone-hearted and cruel.
"Besides... speak honestly, my brother is also guilty."
Zhu Su was perplexed. "Eh?!"
"That's true. The Emperor appreciated him so much he even awarded him a high position in government which are yearned by thousands of people, but he refused it instead. What an arrogant man, who did he think he was? He even did wrong to those thousands of pitiful people who wanted the position so much yet failed to gain it. Plus, the poems he wrote. He claimed to be a Confucian scholar, yet insisted to be vocal in writing and even satirized the aristocrats, didn't he violate the Confucian principle that "the people should respect their leaders"? Who did he think he was; he was higher than the Emperor? Ooohhh... if only I had the chance to speak up this opinion when he was still alive... Ooohhh... it's too late... too late..."
Zhu Su was about to express his thoughts, that he somewhat assumed in such a way. But something held him back and the sentence he nearly spoke up was then swallowed into his stomach.
"And, one more, the important reason why I should help you." Gao Qing looked at him seriously. "Because, my brother likes you."
"Huh?!" Obviously, this was a kind of sentence Zhu Su never thought it would be spoken by Gao Qing.
"He was indeed the kind of person who wasn't fond of talking. But from his those few words, he once said, that he had a strange and unusual feeling with the Fifth Prince."
"A strange and unusual feeling?" Zhu Su blinked, confused.
"You know, the way my brother interpreted things was different from others. He said, you are much cleverer than your other brothers. Yes, some of you are very clever, all princes have their own uniqueness... but he somehow thought that you have surpassed them all."
"Huh?! How come? All of my brothers are very clever and talented. Brother Di, Bo, Bai, and Quan are highly skilled in the military, Hui is skilled in administration and management, Brother Gang and Zhan are excellent in literature and calligraphy. And above all is my eldest brother, his wisdom makes my father love him the most."
"Not that kind of cleverness I am talking about. Cleverness is not only evaluated by how deftly you obey someone's commands, how exactly you imitate what you are taught, extraordinary ability in memorization, or talents in playing music or other arts. That's the mainstream concept of people nowadays - in this part, you aren't better than other princes. The cleverness he is concerned with is, the reasoning ability and creativity you possess. Your mindset is different from the ordinary noblemen usually have, and more importantly, you have the courage to realize it."