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  Li Mingyun found Ming Ze when it was almost time for dinner, and saw Ming Ze sitting in the Yixiangju building, drunk. Li Mingyun couldn't help but furrow his brow. He really can run! Yixiangju is located in the east of the city, he walked from the north to the west, then from the west to the east, almost circling half of the capital.

  "Waiter, bring wine..." Li Ming then poured out another jug of wine, sticking out his tongue and muttering for more wine.

  Xiao Er looked at Li Er Gongzi with difficulty: "Li Er Gongzi, you see..."

  Li Ming said: "Let's have another pot! The lightest wine will do."

  "Right! Young master, please take a seat. I'll get the wine right away..." He didn't care if they were there to drink strong liquor, flower wine or whatever kind of wine, as long as they drank and paid in silver.

  "Dongzi, go back and report to Master, just say that the young master has been found, he didn't go anywhere, he's just by the lake calming his mind. I and the young master won't be back home for dinner, we two brothers will have a drink and chat for a bit before returning. Tell everyone not to worry, and ask the carriage driver to come pick us up later." Li Mingyu instructed.

  Dongzi worriedly said: "Young Master, you're letting the servant go back and say this, later on Madame will blame you for getting Big Young Master drunk!"

  Li Mingyun's face sank: "Just call him over if you need to, what's with all this nonsense?"

  Dongzi pouted and reluctantly walked away.

  Li Mingyu slowly walked over and sat down opposite Mingze.

  Li Ming squinted his drunken eyes and stared at him for a long time, mumbling: "......how did you get here......"

  It seems there's still some clarity. Li Mingyu smiled slightly and took the wine from the waiter, filling Ming Ze's cup as well as his own.

  "Big brother is really carefree, tomorrow is the big exam and he's still so relaxed." Li Mingyu teased.

  Li Ming smiled self-deprecatingly: "Second brother, don't tease me anymore. I'm using wine to drown my sorrows... It's great to get drunk, when you're drunk, you don't have to think about anything." As he spoke, he tilted his head and downed the cup of wine in one gulp.

  "But no matter how drunk you get, you'll still wake up, and what you need to face, you'll still have to face." Li Mingyun poured him another glass.

  Li Ming looked at the wine in his cup and smiled wryly: "Yes! We'll still sober up, and everything will be back to normal when we wake up."

  "What's wrong with the usual?" Li Mingyun took a light sip of wine, although this was already the mildest and most delicate pear blossom white in this place, but for him who wasn't good at drinking, it was still hard to swallow.

  Li Ming's bitterness deepened, and he smiled dazedly: "Second brother, to be honest, I really envy you. Although your mother is no longer here, you have a father who loves you, a considerate good wife, and the Ye family... You topped the imperial examination, became famous throughout the land, entered the Hanlin Academy, and rose through the ranks three times in a row. It's truly glorious beyond compare... Compared to you, I, as the eldest brother, am really too ashamed."

  "There's no need for you to belittle yourself, big brother." Li Mingyun said.

  Ming Ze shook his head: "No, I'm telling the truth. I used to think I wasn't any worse than others... now I know I'm inferior in every way. My father gets angry when he sees me, my mother only knows how to pressure me to study, and Ruo Yan... doesn't even bother to reason with me..." Ming Ze took another big swig of wine, his eyes reddening slightly as he said dejectedly: "I know they're all comparing me to Bi, getting angrier and more disappointed the more they compare. Every cold glance from them, every mocking sentence, pierces my heart. Who can I share my bitterness with? I'm Li Ming Ze, not Li Ming Yun. I want to live my own life, why does everyone force me to follow in his footsteps... yet he walks so fast, so far, I couldn't catch up even if I wanted to. Second brother, am I really especially useless? Am I really especially incompetent?"

  Ming then finished speaking and forcefully blew his nose, but his eyes still welled up with tears. He downed the wine in his cup in one gulp, and with a shaking hand, he poured himself another drink from the jug. Although his mind was still somewhat clear, his hands were no longer obedient to him, and as he poured, more than half of it spilled out.

  Ming Yun didn't stop him either, letting him vent his emotions. In his opinion, Ming was just a spoiled rich kid, all show and no substance, not ambitious, only knowing how to have fun, but he didn't know that deep down, Ming had so much sorrow hidden away.

  "Big brother, there's a saying that goes 'the deeper the love, the sharper the responsibility'. They're all like this because they have certain expectations."

  "No, I don't understand." Ming Ze waved his hand and let out a belch, saying: "This isn't love. At the very least, they're not loving me. Father loves fame and fortune, Mother loves face, and Ruo Yan..." Ming Ze started laughing: "Ruo Yan and I were husband and wife for a year, but I never understood her. However, there's one thing I'm very clear about - she doesn't love me... Second Brother, do you know? Ming Ze leaned in close and whispered: "Ruo Yan once talked in her sleep, she called out someone's name, it was... it was Yi Zhi."

  Li Mingyun's mind was struck by a sudden thought, as if a bolt of lightning had split the clear sky and exploded on his head. His face changed slightly. Years ago, when Zi Yan and others commented on his calligraphy, they said it was elegant and carefree, like floating clouds and swimming dragons, with a bit of the style of Wang Daoren. Wang Daoren's courtesy name was Yishao, so he decided to be called Yi Zhou from then on. After that, he told Ruo Yan about this as a joke, but Ruo Yan liked the name very much and said, "Then I'll call you Yi Zhou from now on... remember, only I can call you that..."

  Ming Yu was stunned for a while before calming down, laughing awkwardly: "Big brother must have misheard!"

  Ming smiled and patted Ming Yun's shoulder, saying with a drunken expression: "This secret, I've never told anyone before... nor do I allow it to be spoken out."

  Ming Yan nodded awkwardly.

  "How's big brother preparing for tomorrow's exam?"

  "I don't know either."

  Li Ming silently nodded and asked: "Big brother is afraid of not passing the exam?"

  Ming's eyes dimmed: "I'm tired of this life, sometimes I think it's better to go back to my hometown, buy a few acres of land, and build a small house. I don't seek wealth or luxury, just a carefree and leisurely life. I don't want to live in someone else's shadow, even if I, Li Ming, am not doing well, at least I'm still myself..."

  Ming Rong's expression changed slightly, and he and Ming Ze had never sat down to have a good talk like this before. Even the sober Li Mingze wouldn't normally speak his mind to him. Everyone was being polite, neither too close nor too distant. But today, after drinking, Mingze spoke his true feelings, giving him a different kind of feeling, and for the first time, he felt a sense of brotherhood.

  "Big brother, actually everyone has their own strengths and advantages."

  Ming then bitterly smiled: "No need to comfort me, I have a few pounds of my own, I'm clear about it myself."

  "My brother isn't aware, he's always comparing himself to me, and has long lost himself. It's true that in terms of learning, my brother can't compare to me, but there are many people under the sky who can't compare to me either. Otherwise, how would I have gotten the title of Zhuangyuan? So it's normal that my brother can't compare to me, not because he's too bad, but because... I'm too excellent." Ming Yun said, his ears getting a bit hot, coughing, probably due to the wine he drank.

  Ming was taken aback, he had never thought of it that way before, but what Ming You said seemed to make a lot of sense.

  Ming Yunqing cleared his throat and continued, "Not only is it not as bad as I am, but even if you can't pass the imperial examination to become a scholar, it's also a common thing. There are countless students in the world, no less than tens of millions, and only a few dozen people pass every three years. Can you imagine how many times Pei University Scholar took the exam before he passed?"

  Ming then shook his head in dismay.

  Ming Yunzhong stuck out four fingers and said: "Four times, Lord Pei came from a family of scholars, and his father was once the Junior Preceptor of the Crown Prince. It can't be said that their family learning is not deep. Lord Pei took the exam many times but didn't pass, and many people laughed at him and ridiculed him. But Lord Pei wasn't discouraged, and after taking the exam four times, he finally became famous overnight. Who dares to laugh at him as a waste now? And there's also Left Prime Minister Ning, who took the exam for over twenty years and didn't enter officialdom until his forties. Didn't he still become a high-ranking official? Jiang Taigong was even older when he got the chance to show off his talents..."

  Ming Ze's eyes gradually brightened up.

  "Big brother's mistake was finding an unsuitable object, constantly comparing, and losing heart. I've read big brother's articles, they're not bad, but not outstanding either. Big brother doesn't need to belittle himself, with his talent, he still has a chance at passing the exam. What people fear is not failure, but not having the courage to try. Failure can be overcome, but giving up will lead to regret. Wanting to be oneself and gain recognition from others requires perseverance, not just being discouraged and escaping. That way, one will always be a deserter, a coward. Big brother, only by becoming stronger can you bring more happiness to those around you. Even if you can't become a towering tree, at least be a straight and upright pine. Big brother, we share the same blood, I can do it, how about you?" Li Mingyan encouraged.

  Ming stared at the wine in his cup for a long time without speaking, his mind becoming clearer and the intoxication wearing off. Suddenly, he lifted his head, his eyes filled with determination. He put down the wine cup, grasped Ming Yun's hand: "Second brother, thank you. From today on, I truly regard you as my second brother. Let's go, I'll follow you back home."

  Li Mingyun looked at Ming Ze, smiled slightly and poured himself a cup.

  Ming was stunned for a moment, unsure of what Ming Yun meant. Suddenly, he seemed to understand and picked up his wine cup, saying: "From now on, my brothers will drink from this cup and become good brothers."

  Li Ming Yun hastily stopped him: "Big brother, you can't drink anymore, if you drink again you'll really get drunk. I'll let Dong Zi go back and tell father, I'll accompany you for two cups, it's not possible to get completely drunk, I'm still very sober, so I'll have another cup."

  Ming then sighed and said: "Good brother, I'm in a difficult situation."

  Lin Lan and others arrived at Ming Yun, who was drunk, and couldn't help but complain: "If you want to find someone, just bring them back. If you want to comfort them, let the old witch comfort them. Why take on this thankless task? Now the old witch has something to grasp and is speaking nonsense."

  Ming Yu smiled lightly: "Big brother is also pitiful."

  Lin Lan disagreed: "What's pitiful about that? Don't forget, he's the old witch's son."

  Ming Yun pulled Lin Lan's hand and said helplessly, "I don't know, today my brother told me a lot of things, I listened to them and felt uncomfortable in my heart. I know he is the old witch's biological son, but he has never plotted against me or harmed me."

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