No movement.

Shu Shenhui glanced at the path leading out from the Scripture Pavilion. Soon, as if suddenly understanding something, the sharp look that had just appeared in his eyes disappeared, and his gaze swept toward the direction of the south window.

“Still hiding? Come out!”

He spoke again.

This time, after his words fell, accompanied by a rustling sound, a head actually emerged from beneath the south window in response. It was a tall and slender youth wearing a small cap and dressed as a palace attendant. His features were extremely handsome, though his face had not yet fully matured, with a circle of light fuzz around his lips, revealing a childish air that had not completely faded.

“Third Imperial Uncle!”

He made a face at Shu Shenhui. “I just snuck in and hadn’t even crouched down yet, but you already knew! How boring!”

“How did you guess it was me?” His expression showed some unwillingness to accept defeat.

Shu Shenhui didn’t respond, but immediately stood up to greet him, addressing him as “Your Majesty” and bowing to the youth.

The youth quickly rushed inside with swift steps, extending his hand to stop him while complaining, “Third Imperial Uncle, I’ve told you so many times—when we’re in private, don’t perform these empty ceremonies with me!”

After completing his bow, Shu Shenhui smiled slightly. “Simple etiquette cannot be omitted; this is the way of ruler and minister.”

Several personal guards responsible for the young emperor’s outing today also appeared from around the corner at the far end of the corridor outside the door, kneeling with terrified expressions.

This youth was none other than the current thirteen-year-old Emperor Shu Jian. In a few more months, by next year, he would only be fourteen, but because he was growing quickly, his height now appeared to be that of a fifteen or sixteen-year-old. However, he was dressed in such attire—the jeweled crown he had originally worn and the ceremonial robes on his body were nowhere to be seen.

Shu Shenhui observed the young emperor’s attire but showed no surprise.

As soon as the young emperor saw his gaze fall upon himself, he immediately confessed first without waiting to be asked.

“I didn’t see you following just now, and I didn’t want to go back like that. I had someone nearby take off their clothes and change in the carriage. I seized an opportunity, got off the carriage, and came back to find you. Third Imperial Uncle, what are you staying here for?”

Shu Shenhui looked at him with a half-smile.

“Even if the Empress Dowager’s carriage in front didn’t notice, there were so many ministers following behind. Could they all have been blinded by the wind, allowing you to openly leave the procession halfway?”

The young emperor knew he couldn’t hide it from him. Anyway, in front of this Third Imperial Uncle whom he had been close to since childhood, there was nothing he couldn’t say. He had done even more outrageous things before.

He simply confessed honestly, saying that when passing through a curved road with a small grove, after the Empress Dowager’s carriage had turned the corner, he claimed urgent bodily needs and stopped the carriage. Getting out, he dove into the woods, forced the accompanying attendant to exchange clothes with him, then ordered several others who had come with him to escort the attendant back to the imperial carriage to continue forward. The hundred officials who had stopped to wait for him were completely unaware. Seeing the carriage move, they all continued to follow, and thus he secretly slipped back.

Speaking of his escape, he was quite proud and laughed heartily.

“Oh my, this is too funny! So many people, all completely oblivious! They thought I had gotten back in the carriage!”

Shu Shenhui frowned slightly. “Your Majesty, you are different now from before—”

His words had just begun when the young emperor interrupted him.

“Third Imperial Uncle, I know what you’re going to say! You don’t need to say it—Grand Tutor Ding chatters in my ear every day until I’m about to grow boils in my ears! Yes, I know what imperial dignity means and how I should conduct myself, but I haven’t been out for more than half a year! I’m about to suffocate to death, and if I don’t suffocate, I’ll die of exhaustion! Today I finally have this opportunity, Third Imperial Uncle, please take pity on me and don’t lecture me anymore!”

He sighed again. “If only my Crown Prince elder brother were still alive, how wonderful that would be. Then I wouldn’t have to be so tired and could live carefree and happy as before…”

His Crown Prince elder brother had died in a hunting accident several years ago when his horse bolted. Later investigation revealed it was a plot by people from the Second Prince’s maternal family, who had secretly mixed a drug that could drive horses mad into the fodder, sealed with specially made thick wax. After the wax layer completely melted, the drug took effect, causing the horse to go mad and bolt, leaving all the guards behind. The Crown Prince couldn’t stop the horse and ultimately fell to his death.

After the matter was investigated and cleared up, the implicated prince was severely punished. Even so, the throne eventually fell to Shu Jian.

Although Shu Jian was a prince, because he was young and his mother’s Lan family had not been prominent before, he would have been nothing more than a carefree, idle prince in the future. Thus, he had never attracted much attention. He liked to seek out his Third Imperial Uncle, Lord Qi, to play, and combined with his naturally bold and mischievous nature, he had often found various opportunities to sneak out of the palace to Lord Qi’s mansion. Because he was an ordinary prince, and Emperor Ming had an extremely close relationship with his third brother, although he had heard about this son’s behavior, knowing that he was close to Lord Qi, he let it be without special restrictions. This had fostered his unrestrained character. When fate later made him the heir to the throne, his life changed dramatically, and the strictness of his studies and discipline could be imagined.

It had been several years now, but Shu Jian still hadn’t completely adapted. Usually, he was well-behaved in public, and it wasn’t obvious, but today, taking advantage of this opportunity, his old habits had resurfaced.

Hearing his nephew’s lament, Shu Shenhui thought that since his enthronement last year, he had indeed worked hard, learning various things with proper form and style. Grand Tutor Ding also acknowledged his studies, saying several times when asked that His Majesty was intelligent and made progress every day. The only shortcoming was insufficient focus, occasionally taking shortcuts, and being lazy. If he could correct this one point, it would be greatly beneficial.

This person was pure and cautious, even pedantically upright, and never spoke flattering words against his conscience. Such an evaluation showed that his nephew truly was making progress.

People are like growing grain—pulling seedlings to help them grow, excessive suppression, would probably also be inappropriate.

Thinking of this, his tone softened. “I know you work hard, with heavy coursework, and you must also learn to handle memorials and deal with state affairs. Don’t you most admire your Imperial Grandfather? When he was on the throne, heroes divided the realm, various states stood in rivalry, and warfare was constant. At that time, I was even younger than you, only seven or eight years old, but I still remember your Imperial Grandfather mounting his horse for battle during the day and handling urgent memorials sent by fast horse to his war camp at night, diligent and untiring. His degree of hardship far exceeded what you and I can achieve today. If you also want to become a sage ruler like your Imperial Grandfather in the future, all these hardships today are necessary processes you must experience.”

He spoke a sentence, and the young emperor nodded once, like a chick pecking at rice. When he finished, the youth waved his hand. “I’ll remember!” Then he moved closer, leaning against his side, turned his head to look in the direction he had just come from, and lowered his voice. “Third Imperial Uncle, when I came in just now, I saw the Wen family daughter coming out. I didn’t want to be seen by her, so I hid, but I saw her walking hurriedly with her head down, her eyes red, as if she had been crying—”

Shu Jian’s face showed an ambiguous expression as he winked at his Imperial Uncle.

“Third Imperial Uncle, is she…?”

“The Grand Marshal has been executed.” Shu Shenhui interrupted and said.

The young emperor was stunned, his mouth agape. The words he had wanted to say were immediately thrown to the back of his mind as he stared wide-eyed. “Third Imperial Uncle, what did you say? The Grand Marshal is dead?”

Shu Shenhui nodded.

Without needing further explanation, Shu Jian quickly reacted, having his moment of enlightenment, and slapped his forehead hard.

“I understand! This morning, when you suddenly went out, I saw him follow as well. Later, you returned, but he didn’t. When leaving, his person was nowhere to be seen! Could it be that during that time, Third Imperial Uncle, you—”

Shu Shenhui nodded again. “Indeed clever.” He praised.

The young emperor’s mouth hung open in a circle as he stood still for a moment. Suddenly, he jumped high in the air, his entire body doing a complete somersault in mid-air like a dragonfly, even his cap flying off. After his feet touched the ground, he burst into wild laughter, his laughter startling the birds roosting in nearby branches to fly away in panic.

“I understand, I understand!” He danced with joy, circling his Imperial Uncle nonstop, as happy as a mouse that had accidentally fallen into a rice jar.

“Before Father Emperor’s death, he appointed him as regent only because he was forced by the situation to appease him. Now he finally couldn’t contain himself! He was planning to make his move! But he never expected that Third Imperial Uncle, you were waiting for him to act—otherwise you really couldn’t have moved against him! Old bastard! He should have died long ago!”

“Hahahahaha—”

The youth burst into another round of stamping laughter. “Excellent! The old bastard is dead! He can never ride over my head again! Third Imperial Uncle, do you still remember the southern tribute fruits I had sent to your mansion last month? An attendant secretly told me that before those fruits entered the palace, they were actually intercepted by the old bastard’s grandson first, saying the old bastard’s taste had been bland recently, so they picked out the best layer, and only then sent the rest into the palace! Anyway, it was a small matter, nothing unusual, and Third Imperial Uncle, you were busy, so I didn’t mention it to you. Bah, what kind of thing was he! I don’t care about eating them, but if we’re talking about the first portion, it should have been respectfully offered to Third Imperial Uncle first—when was it ever his turn!”

The young emperor grabbed Shu Shenhui’s arm and shook it vigorously, looking up at him with bright, shining eyes full of pride and admiration.

“Third Imperial Uncle, my dear Imperial Uncle! You’re so amazing! To eliminate someone so quietly and imperceptibly! I never dreamed that today’s trip had another hidden scheme! You really couldn’t tell at all. When we left, I kept wondering where that old man had gone since he was nowhere to be seen!”

After the youth’s emotions calmed down somewhat, Shu Shenhui invited him to sit and solemnly explained, “Your Majesty, such a momentous matter today should have been made known to you in advance. But the Grand Marshal was exceptionally shrewd, and I feared that Your Majesty might not be able to remain composed and might reveal something in your expression. If he had detected our intentions, never mind trying to move against him again—I’m afraid great chaos would have erupted immediately. Your late father entrusted matters to me on his deathbed, but I didn’t expect it would take until today to succeed. These past two years, making Your Majesty suffer such grievances—it is my incompetence. For the sin of not informing you beforehand, please forgive me, Your Majesty.”

The young emperor beamed with joy, waving his hand. “Third Imperial Uncle, what are you saying? How could I blame you? Third Imperial Uncle, your consideration was extremely thorough! As long as we could eliminate him, I would accept anything!”

When he said the words “eliminate,” he gritted his teeth with a malicious look in his eyes.

Shu Shenhui smiled, then said seriously, “Although this person has been eliminated today, and his party members in the capital have also been captured, a centipede dies but does not stiffen. If my prediction is correct, certain individuals with ulterior motives will surely react, and the disturbance won’t be small. However, this is also an inevitable result. Since he has been executed, the rest cannot amount to much and are not to be feared.”

The young emperor nodded. “I know—it’s the King of Qingzhou, right? He was in cahoots with that old bastard! When soldiers come, we’ll block them with generals; when water comes, we’ll block it with earth! As long as Third Imperial Uncle is here, the sky won’t fall, and I’m not afraid of anything!”

After speaking, his eyes rolled, and he slapped his forehead hard again. “I understand again!”

“What do you understand now?” Shu Shenhui asked.

“Third Imperial Uncle, you deliberately spread the news about seeking to marry Jiang Zuzhang’s daughter before to provoke that old man, right? Now that the deed is done, Third Imperial Uncle, you don’t have to marry her! Excellent! While there’s still time, quickly, hurry up and send someone to call Imperial Great-Uncle back! Otherwise, if the matter gets settled and becomes set in stone, wouldn’t Third Imperial Uncle be in trouble?”

He rushed anxiously from his seat, running out to call for people.

“Your Majesty!” came a voice from behind.

The young emperor stopped and turned around, seeing him smile and say, “You’re half right—there was indeed an intention to pressure the High King. However, the marriage proposal is also genuine.”

The young emperor had no choice but to return reluctantly.

“Third Imperial Uncle, I know you want to show favor and trust to Jiang Zuzhang, but you’re being too hard on yourself! I heard that Jiang Zuzhang’s daughter was raised by wolves from childhood and must drink blood on full moon nights, or else she’ll transform into a wolf with fangs and sharp teeth!”

He gestured with both hands, widening his eyes. “Even if those are false rumors, Jiang Zuzhang’s daughter grew up in northern military camps and has killed people in battle! This shows that even if she doesn’t have fangs and sharp teeth, she must be ugly and crude in behavior—”

Shu Shenhui interrupted, “Your Majesty! If it were a man who grew up in military camps and fought in battle like her, would Your Majesty still judge him as ugly and crude? Isn’t Your Majesty afraid of chilling the passionate blood of those generals and soldiers who fight bravely for the court?”

Shu Jian’s face flushed. “I was wrong, I shouldn’t have said that, but… but I just feel…”

He hung his head without saying another word.

Shu Shenhui’s tone had originally carried some severity, but seeing him like this, his expression softened. “Jian’er, Third Imperial Uncle wants Jiang Zuzhang to know that the court truly values him and hopes he will serve the court wholeheartedly.”