Grandmaster Zhang, nearing seventy, had traveled all the way from the bustling Capital City to Ningzhou. The Yanyang Family disciples were mostly respectful of their teachers. Xie Jue arranged for Grandmaster Zhang to stay at the inn, assigning special attendants to care for him. Xie Xun glanced at the accompanying roster; several tutors from the Imperial College had come to Ningzhou with him, among whom he was most familiar with Grandmaster Zhang and Mr. Zhou.
Xie Xun truly found scholars troublesome—eloquent and sharp-tongued, capable of turning black into white and vice versa. He couldn't bear to let Second Brother face Grandmaster Zhang and the crowd of tutors alone.
Second Brother was already taciturn by nature; interacting with them would surely drive him to the brink of frustration.
Xie Jue said, "Go handle military affairs. Don't concern yourself."
