"But now I have to trouble my elder brother to clean up the mess for me again... He’s over eight decades old, and he should be enjoying his old age peacefully, yet I’m still dragging him into such troubles." Master Ouyang’s voice choked with emotion when he said this. As he established the new bank to aid farmers, his deepest guilt was towards his elder brother.

Master Ouyang, while speaking, glanced at Gu Jin’an and said, "Do you know, I should actually be the sixth child, not the second. But back then, during the confrontation between the two dynasties, years of military disasters ensued. Even though my family was wealthy and we had many servants to attend to us, several siblings younger than my elder brother still died prematurely."

He became the second child because, before passing, his mother instructed his elder brother to change his birth order, fearing that if he followed the sequence of the deceased siblings, he might also die young.

"My mother gave birth to me at the age of forty-two. Before I was born, my father died while escorting her to the capital to seek refuge with my elder brother. A few months after my birth, my mother also passed away, her body exhausted from wear."

His mother married his father at the age of fourteen, gave birth to his elder brother at sixteen, and by the time Master Ouyang was born, his elder brother was already twenty-six, having achieved success in Great Chu, married, and had a son.

"My father didn’t get along well with my elder brother, because my brother left the family to seek out Emperor Jingwu. Father was furious, and Brother was upset that Father didn’t recognize a wise leader. The two of them, father and son, didn’t communicate for years... It was about six years later, after Brother achieved some success in Great Chu, that he communicated with the family mostly through letters, which were mostly replied to by Mother. Father still refused to forgive Brother."

Though, in reality, he couldn’t let go of the clansmen in the old capital, fearing that too much contact with Brother would bring disaster upon the Ouyang family.

"It was the birth of me that changed everything. My parents had lost several children and didn’t want their youngest to die in the old capital. They quietly arranged to seek refuge with my brother...But things didn’t go as planned. The former Emperor Ai discovered the plan and sent soldiers to chase them. Despite my father fighting back with household soldiers, he still died along the way."

In the former dynasty, keeping private soldiers was allowed. However, after the establishment of Great Chu, Emperor Jingwu was wary of private soldiers and issued a strict decree prohibiting noble families and high-ranking officials from keeping private soldiers or building fortresses.

"It was my brother who led people to rescue my mother and the unborn me."

Yet my brother never got to see my father’s last moments or even recover his body... Emperor Ai’s soldiers took my father’s body and hung it at the gate of the old capital for a month, then burned it and scattered the ashes into the moat, leaving no remains!

Emperor Ai used this method to deter those in the former dynasty who wished to defect to Emperor Jingwu.

When Brother heard about it, he was devastated, fainting several times but never begged Emperor Jingwu to send troops to recover Father’s body. Brother knew well that Emperor Jingwu wouldn’t send troops to attack the old capital for a single minister.

Back then, there were many capable ministers around Emperor Jingwu, and his brother was just considered a rising star.

Brother had no choice, so he strived to be good to him, especially after their mother passed. Brother took him, just a hundred days old, into his own care, personally looking after him.

Family elders said that when he was young and cried often, his brother held him and soothed him until dawn.

Until his marriage, his living needs were all personally tended to by his brother, who cared for him meticulously. His nephew had cried several times over it, claiming he was stealing his father.

Speaking of Father, when he was young and ignorant, he even called Brother "Father." Brother corrected him, saying, "I am your elder brother, not your father, but we share the same parents."

Back then, being too young, he didn’t listen and just wanted a father, clinging to Brother coyly, "Father, Father! Father is lying to me; everyone else has a father. How could I not have one? You are my father."

He said this with a smile, but Brother cried, cried so mournfully. Eventually, Brother allowed him to call him Father for a while, before correcting him again after the New Year.

Master Ouyang shared quite a bit about himself and his brother with Gu Jin’an and finally said, "Elder Brother has taken care of me all my life. I really shouldn’t trouble him anymore... At his age, I should be the one taking care of him."

Gu Jin’an never expected Master Ouyang to share such details with him. After the shock, he said, "Master, as a brother myself, I can say, for Elder Ouyang, taking care of you isn’t seeking repayment or wanting you to see it as a debt of gratitude."

He continued, "Only when younger siblings live well can the elder brother be at ease. For a brother, caring for younger siblings is merely for peace of mind, never for reward."

"I know," said Master Ouyang, though he was aware of this, he still felt guilty.

After a moment of silence, Master Ouyang looked at Gu Jin’an again and said, "Do you know, when I initially agreed to teach Brother Cheng, it was for three reasons, and none of them was because of Brother Cheng, but rather, you were one of those reasons."

Brother Cheng was indeed smart, but he had encountered many smart children. Great Chu was full of Qilin Zi; he wouldn’t just become a teacher to such a smart child.

Brother Wang, however, was more intriguing. If he were to accept a disciple, it might be someone like Brother Wang, who has a quirky mind.

"You’re very clever. For Brother Cheng’s future, you brought him to see me and seized every opportunity, making me his teacher. At that moment, I was reminded of my own elder brother. Brother had also sought out the late Mr. Feng and Mr. Guan Hai, exerting considerable effort to have them take me under tutelage for several years."

Mr. Feng was the father of Old Master Feng, who devised the Great Chu Criminal Law, the grandfather of the former Minister of Justice, and Mr. Guan Hai’s status was even more illustrious, virtually the guide to Emperor Jingwu.

His elder brother found him such a mentor as Mr. Guan Hai, effectively putting him in the inner circle of Emperor Jingwu’s confidants, allowing him to enjoy the royal family’s esteem throughout his life, even without holding office.

Gu Jin’an had never met Ouyang Hong, only read some of his writings, considering him an extraordinary Great Scholar, tutor to two generations of Emperors, a pillar of Great Chu. Yet after hearing Master Ouyang’s words, he realized Elder Ouyang Hong wasn’t some ethereal Immortal but a flesh-and-blood person, someone who tirelessly worked for his youngest brother.

"Master, perhaps take this chance while handling tax matters to visit the Capital and see Elder Ouyang," Gu Jin’an suggested, seeing Master Ouyang’s longing and consternation toward Ouyang Hong.

Master Ouyang remained silent for a while before finally shaking his head and saying, "I cannot return."

"Cannot return?" Gu Jin’an frowned, pondered, and said, "With Elder Ouyang’s status, the Emperor wouldn’t trouble you; you can safely return to visit Elder Ouyang."

Master Ouyang shook his head again: "I only told you one reason for agreeing to teach Brother Cheng, and there are two reasons you’re unaware of."

In fact, he’d stayed in the south for so long under his elder brother’s orders.