Tang Dynasty: Starting at Xuanwu Gate, this prince is better off not being one.

After discussing the matter, the group arrived at the Prince Zhao's residence the following morning as agreed.

After giving the instructions, Li Yu let the group go about their own business.

Before they even left the mansion, a servant came to report that two old men were shouting and cursing at the gate, saying they were determined to teach Li Yu, that frivolous brat who disrespected culture, a lesson.

"Who is it?! I haven't done anything heinous, so how dare you accuse me of blasphemy?"

Arriving at the mansion gate with a few spoiled brats, Li Yu was determined to see who was trying to cause him trouble.

When Minglai Fu pushed open the gate of the mansion, he saw two elderly men, around sixty years old and looking like scholars. They pointed at the mansion and said something about the collapse of rites and music, and that he was a disciple of Sun Simiao, etc., which made him so angry that he blew his beard and glared.

Just as he was about to ask who the visitor was, Li Chengqian pulled him back in time.

"Little Fish, you'd better hide. These two are no ordinary people."

"How is he unusual?" Li Yu asked curiously. There were probably only a handful of people in the entire Chang'an who could be described as unusual by Li Chengqian.

Before Li Chengqian could explain, Changsun Chong leaned over and whispered, "Chengqian is right, you'd better hide!"

"No! Who are these two old men? Can you stop keeping me in suspense?" Li Yu was getting anxious. Who had he offended to be beaten up at the gate and verbally abused?

Seeing Li Yu's anxiety, Li Chengqian moved closer and lowered his voice again, saying, "These two are both famous Confucian scholars of our time, whom even His Majesty is unwilling to offend easily. The one on the left is Yan Shigu of the Yan family, and the one on the right is Kong Yingda, the teacher of Confucius."

Upon hearing those two names, Li Yu's mind reeled as if struck by lightning.

He knew these two men very well; one was Yan Hui, and the other was Confucius. Both old men were very upright, and Li Yu couldn't understand what he had done to deserve being approached by them at the same time.

Could it be that these two found out about how he used classical allusions to shift the blame to Confucius in the Taiji Hall last time?

Seeing the two old men hurling insults at each other, Li Yu knew he couldn't back down any longer. He could only step forward and greet them, saying, "Junior Li Yu greets both gentlemen. I wonder where I have gone wrong in my words or actions. I would be grateful if you could come to my residence and offer your guidance!"

As soon as the words left his mouth, Li Yu regretted them. He had only meant to be polite, but inviting the two into his residence made it clear that he was insecure and afraid of losing face.

Sure enough, upon hearing Li Yu's words, the two old men immediately wore mocking expressions: "You brat, you still know how to have any shame? Now the whole of Chang'an is imitating your father and son's vulgar behavior. Your father is fighting for the country and cannot be disturbed, so naturally we must come to you, the youngest, to demand justice!"

"Vulgar behavior?" Li Yu was somewhat bewildered upon hearing this.

Learn from us? When did we, along with our fathers, gain such influence?

There was no time to think about it, and it wasn't a big deal anyway, so Li Yu persuaded the two scholars to come into the mansion for tea.

"Tea! You dare offer me tea, brat?" Looking at the steaming teapot before him, Kong Yingda sneered, "Do you know that we two old men summoned you here precisely for this matter?"

"Because of tea?" Li Yu was bewildered again. Did someone get a stomachache from drinking his tea?

"You disrespect tea ceremony and desecrate tea etiquette, completely ruining the tea tradition that has been passed down for hundreds of years! That's why I'm here. Otherwise, what else do you think could make us so indignant towards you?"

After being harshly scolded by the two gentlemen, Li Yu was extremely frustrated, and even his voice sounded a bit aggrieved: "I just came up with this new way of drinking tea, how could it be said that I'm corrupting the tea culture..."

"You're still trying to argue?" Kong Yingda, one of them, said indignantly. "Do you think I haven't seen your way of drinking tea? Just brew it with boiling water and you can drink it. As for all that elegant atmosphere, you've completely ruined it!"

Is this even reasonable?!

Li Yu, even more frustrated, argued, "I just felt that the way our ancestors drank tea was too complicated. Adding all sorts of spices to the brewed tea made it lose its flavor, so I came up with this new tea. I think its taste is no worse than what our ancestors brewed!"

Upon hearing Li Yu's explanation, the two old men pointed at him in fury: "Bah! You little brat, how dare you criticize the tea-drinking etiquette left by our ancestors? We'll see how Sun Simiao raised you!"

Hearing that Old Sun was mentioned, Li Yu felt a bit annoyed. He was young, so it was one thing for the two old men to say such things, but Old Sun was quite old, so what did it have to do with him?

Thinking of this, the respect in his tone lessened somewhat: "Both of you gentlemen are virtuous and learned men, and you must have heard of the saying, 'How can we know that those who come after us will not surpass those who come after us?' Although my tea is crudely brewed, it is flavorful."

"Besides, the world is bustling, and everyone has their own preferences. I just wanted to have a cup of tea, but they insisted on following suit. What could I do?"

Li Yu's self-righteousness left the two gentlemen speechless. After a long silence, they sighed and said, "Young man, we don't really mean to make things difficult for you. In the end, it's just that we two old folks have gotten old and become petty, and we feel sorry for our inability to react quickly."

The atmosphere suddenly turned bleak, which surprised Li Yu.

After taking another careful look at the two gentlemen, he realized that they were disheveled and hadn't taken care of themselves before coming, and were dressed in coarse linen clothes.

Then he instantly realized that both old men were good people!

So, they weren't just there to lecture him at all. Their actions today were not only driven by resentment, but also by a desire to remind Li Yu.

There are probably many people in Chang'an who resent this matter now. If two sensible Confucian scholars come and teach them a lesson first, it will greatly reduce their resentment. Otherwise, Li Yu really couldn't imagine what it would be like if a group of fearless pedantic scholars, under the pretext of violating etiquette, came to cause trouble for him and banged their heads against pillars in front of the Prince Zhao's mansion.

Thinking about it now, he felt a little scared, so in order to reassure the two gentlemen, Li Yu could only ask them in a comforting tone: "Gentlemen, I once heard a saying that 'every new thing has a significance worth studying.' I have pondered this for a long time but still cannot understand its meaning. I would like to ask the two gentlemen to enlighten me."

Upon hearing Li Yu's question, the two old men were stunned for a moment, then looked at each other and sighed at the same time.

"Young man, you're absolutely right. It's likely that our ancestors' original intention in drinking tea was no different from your current thoughts. It's just that we, their descendants, have added a lot of our own ideas in the process of promoting it."

After they finished speaking, the two old gentlemen each poured themselves a cup of tea, then picked up their cups and drank it all in one gulp.

The tea was swallowed as soon as it entered the mouth, but after the two old men smacked their lips twice, their eyes widened almost simultaneously.

"Kid, is this the new tea you've developed?"

Li Yu nodded, puzzled: "That's right, this is the new tea that I've researched."

Upon hearing this, the two old men, who had previously been glaring angrily, praised the tea, saying, "This tea is indeed as rumored; it is sweet and refreshing, leaving a lingering fragrance on the lips and teeth."

.........