You Weixuan’s expression changed drastically, and Master Shi said urgently, “Military Commissioner!”
Both their foreheads were instantly covered in sweat.
Tie Ci stood motionless, staring at You Weixuan: “Weixuan, I can only come in this once.”
This was her only chance to choose.
Master Shi: “Your Highness, we must retreat immediately!”
Tie Ci looked at You Weixuan once more, seeing her grit her teeth without moving, then calmly turned around.
Outside the door, You Jun’s laughter grew closer: “I heard Xuan’er is angry? Who upset you? Point them out and let uncle give them a good beating!”
His tone was light and warm, truly like a caring uncle who doted on his niece.
Tie Ci’s lips curved slightly.
Behind her, You Weixuan suddenly turned, rushed to one of the maids, reached into the pouch at her waist, pulled out a thin jade piece, and threw it into the blue porcelain bowl.
Clang—a crisp sound.
Creak—the door was quickly pushed open.
At that moment, the two maids awakened, looking slightly bewildered.
Tie Ci had already retreated behind Master Shi, both bowing to You Weixuan with their backs to the door.
As the door opened, You Weixuan shouted angrily, “Get out! All of you get out of my room! A bunch of ungrateful wolves taking advantage of my misfortune!”
She raised her hand and hurled the blue porcelain bowl viciously at Master Shi and Tie Ci!
Crash—the blue porcelain bowl shattered into pieces on Master Shi’s hanging robe.
Like a loyal servant, Tie Ci immediately rushed forward, not fearing the porcelain shards, gathering all the pieces into her sleeve with both hands, saying in a trembling voice, “Sir, are you alright? Young Lady, please calm your anger!”
Master Shi’s face was scratched by the scattered shards, leaving a bloody mark. He didn’t bother to wipe it, hastily bowing.
You Jun stood in the doorway, nearly hit by the porcelain bowl, also startled and quickly stepping back two paces. Though he clearly heard You Weixuan’s pointed accusations, his face remained smiling as he said, “Dear niece, be careful not to hurt your hands.”
He then scolded Master Shi, “You’ve angered the young lady—hurry up and leave! Send over a set of celestial kiln blue-and-white porcelain later to apologize!”
Master Shi repeatedly agreed, retreating with Tie Ci. You Weinan, standing at the door, stepped aside, sighed, and said sympathetically in a low voice, “Old Shi, go apply some medicine quickly.” He pointed to his face.
Master Shi quietly thanked him. Tie Ci didn’t raise her head, following him out.
After leaving the courtyard and reaching a deserted area, Master Shi whispered, “What should we do? The item was smashed to pieces in the young lady’s fury…”
Tie Ci smiled slightly, took a blue porcelain bowl from her sleeve and handed it to him, saying, “Ming kiln blue porcelain is also quite valuable. Take it back to exchange for some money—if you don’t need it, give it to beggars.”
Master Shi stared at the intact blue porcelain bowl in shock, almost thinking it was magic, then vaguely remembered that after the Imperial Heir’s talent awakened, it flowed like an endless river…
He exhaled and said sincerely, “Your Highness has great power!”
With the blue porcelain bowl restored, naturally the jade piece inside was fine too.
Tie Ci smiled without speaking, thinking you haven’t seen real great power yet.
Master Shi was relieved. In a hidden place, he bid farewell to Tie Ci. Before leaving, Tie Ci asked him, “Are you familiar with You Weinan?”
Master Shi said, “Young Master You didn’t live in the Prince’s Residence in his early years. He traveled the world studying, and even after returning, he lived in a separate residence, busy daily at the Provincial Administration Commission and Military Commission helping the Second Master gather various factions. Only this year has he frequently entered and exited the Prince’s Residence. He’s approachable and quickly became familiar with everyone.”
Tie Ci said, “You’ve served in the Prince’s Residence for many years—you must have watched these royal descendants grow up from childhood.”
“More or less. Young Master You did frequently enter and exit the Prince’s Residence as a child. He had a round face then, not much different from now.”
Tie Ci nodded and said, “Don’t go near the You father and son or the female heir in the coming days. Too much is as bad as too little.”
Master Shi agreed.
“Does You Jun treat You Weinan well?”
“Very strictly.”
Tie Ci was silent for a while, then said, “I have something to tell you. But whether you pass it on and when you pass it on is your decision.”
She whispered something in Master Shi’s ear. Master Shi looked up at her in horror.
Tie Ci smiled and nodded, watching Master Shi disappear into the darkness looking somewhat lost.
She herself began sneaking out according to the route Master Shi had indicated. He had pointed out the relatively safest path out of the residence for Tie Ci. Having been in the Prince’s Residence for many years, he was naturally very familiar with all aspects.
Inside Jinfang Pavilion, You Jun chatted casually with You Weixuan for a few sentences, his gaze sweeping over the two maids. The two maids, having just awakened with some confusion, were instantly alert after You Weixuan’s sudden outburst, and now appeared normal.
You Jun withdrew his gaze. Without looking at You Weixuan’s cold expression, he laughed and said, “Niece, rest well and don’t be angry,” then turned and left. You Weinan never entered, casually leaning against the door picking his nails.
The father and son left together. Once outside the courtyard, You Jun asked, “Where is that village woman seeking her husband?”
The smile lines on his face didn’t fade—perhaps he’d smiled so habitually that they couldn’t disappear—but his eyes were cold and still.
You Weinan said carelessly, “Probably still trapped in the pit at Wanqing Garden.”
Suddenly footsteps sounded as someone rushed over: “Military Commissioner, Left Counselor, something happened at Wanqing Garden!”
The You father and son hurried over to see Ah Qi, his head and face red and swollen from burns, his consciousness still unclear. The guards stationed nearby looked ashamed: “…We heard the woman scream and thought she’d fallen into the trap, so we didn’t go in to check. It wasn’t until Ah Qi woke up screaming…”
You Jun stared at the disheveled Ah Qi, then suddenly turned and slapped You Weinan across the face: “Knowing that woman was suspicious, why didn’t you personally supervise? You really are useless!”
You Weinan was spun around by this vicious slap, covering his face and not daring to speak.
You Jun’s anger hadn’t subsided. He said coldly, “Living a pampered life, you should at least act like a proper person. If you really can’t be helped up…” He paused, then said, “There are plenty of your brothers waiting!”
You Weinan lowered his head and stepped back respectfully. You Jun walked out, then suddenly stopped.
Scenes from Jinfang Pavilion earlier flashed through his mind.
Entering the door, You Weixuan’s anger, the suddenly thrown bowl, shards all over the floor, the master and servant with lowered heads…
He suddenly said, “Go send someone to the young lady at Jinfang Pavilion to see if those blue porcelain shards are still there.”
The attendant following him said in confusion, “Military Commissioner, the shards were all scooped up by Master Shi’s servant at the time.”
“None left at all?”
“None at all.”
You Jun said nothing more, his brow deeply furrowed.
You Weinan behind him whispered, “Father, what are you thinking?”
You Jun said, “Why would that servant scoop up all the shards?”
You Weinan said, “Just helping the ceremonial master clean his clothes. Naturally he’d collect them—could he leave them on the ground for you to step on?”
That made sense, but You Jun still frowned. You Weinan seemed to understand, whispering, “You mean…”
You Jun murmured, “The Imperial Heir is rumored to have restoration abilities…”
You Weinan said in surprise, “How could the Imperial Heir be doing such menial work!”
You Jun said, “You’ve seen the Imperial Heir—what was she like?”
You Weinan’s face immediately brightened: “That day at Siyi Garden during Lord Tan’s birthday banquet, I actually didn’t see the Imperial Heir clearly. She was disguised as a Pacification Commission clerk, really not worth noticing. I only caught a distant glimpse of her excellent bearing and couldn’t help saying a few more words. I didn’t expect what happened later, but from that one glance, she truly deserved to be the Imperial Heir—even disguised as a minor official, her noble bearing was unmistakable.”
He concluded: “So how could that wretched servant just now be the Imperial Heir?”
You Jun remained silent, walking forward on his own toward the ceremonial office. After entering, he saw Master Shi frantically busy. You Jun silently stood behind Master Shi and suddenly said coldly, “Where’s the blue porcelain bowl?”
Master Shi turned around in surprise: “Sir!” After bowing and standing up, he said bewilderedly, “What blue porcelain bowl?”
The servant behind him laughed: “Is the Military Commissioner asking about the shattered blue porcelain from earlier? I already threw it in the latrine.” He pointed to the nearby toilet.
People of this era threw waste into latrines, where special personnel would collect the waste and transport it outside the city.
You Jun and You Weinan both looked at this servant. His clothing and appearance looked about the same as the previous one.
They hadn’t paid attention to that servant before anyway.
Looking at Master Shi’s expression again—bewildered and surprised, without unease—they couldn’t see anything suspicious.
You Jun smiled and waved his hand: “You’re busy, you’re busy.” He took out candied fruits from his sleeve, eating as he walked away.
You Weinan also bowed and left, openly showing the slap mark on his face with a smile.
Master Shi’s gaze swept across his face, momentarily hesitating as if wanting to speak, then deeply bowing to see them off.
You Weinan turned around, his smile fading considerably. His face stung with burning pain. He raised his hand to touch his face, but ultimately put it down.
Behind him, Master Shi watched his retreating figure and silently shook his head.
In the evening, Kunzhou had shed its daytime heat, with a cool breeze. Tie Ci strolled through the streets with He Gu following behind.
Once Ah Qi was discovered, the porridge on his body would implicate He Gu, so Tie Ci had helped her escape as well.
He Gu followed behind her, still savoring the spinning sensation of traveling thousands of miles in an instant. The first time she was scared to death, but the second time she found it very exciting. Now she chattered behind her: “Young Master Eighteen, what kind of martial arts is this? When you use this skill, no one can catch you. So why didn’t you bring the young lady out? If we find the young master, you could use this technique—whoosh!—and the young master would be free too.”
Tie Ci laughed and shook her head.
Rong Pu had repeatedly warned her that among her many abilities, teleportation was most useful but caused her the most harm. Each use could potentially cause reverse impact on her meridians—who knew when it might become a bomb—so she should avoid using it if possible.
As the female heir, You Weixuan had her own responsibilities. She couldn’t just be grabbed and taken away.
Thinking of Rong Pu reminded her of a letter she’d received on the ship. This spring, Yueli Academy had reopened with Rong Pu raising the banner of “studying alongside the Imperial Heir.” He’d turned places in the academy she’d once visited into tourist attractions, such as “Wuyu Pool Ink Sacrifice Righteousness Site,” “Library Tower Flowing Yellow Disappearance Place,” “Liuxiang Lake Lovers’ Path Hammock,” “Lecture Hall Third Place Deification Site,” “Training Ground Archery Competition Place”… He’d even drawn pictures and printed them into exquisite booklets distributed everywhere, including portraits of Floating Yellow and Flowing Ink’s remains, along with elegies specially commissioned from Zhu Yi for the two beloved pets.
She wondered if Zhu Yi had cursed while writing them.
Rong Pu had even created something called the “Five Eccentrics of Wu Hall,” referring to Tie Ci, himself, Dan Ye, Yang Yixiu, and Tian Wu. He claimed these five had all lived in Wu Hall, describing their brotherhood, life-and-death experiences, struggles against corrupt officials, joint efforts in Yongping, and help to Dan Ye in seizing power in the Western Rong territories. These stories included youthful adventures, backbone and passion, bloody killings, loyalty unto death, and even various comedic incidents from a woman disguising as a man and sharing quarters… This caused another sensation at the academy, with everyone admiring them.
Tie Ci laughed at this. Cha Cha was playing petty tricks again. Setting aside that he and Dan Ye had joined Wu Hall later, the original residents of Wu Hall weren’t just these few people—there was another person in Wu Hall whom he’d simply erased.
Reportedly, the court strongly criticized his behavior, with some censors calling it the actions of a sycophantic courtier. That censor came from another famous academy, and Rong Pu’s actions had greatly impacted other academies, with half their students running off to Yueli.
Scholars valued their reputations and emphasized integrity. Such behavior could easily be criticized as flattery and sycophancy, damaging one’s reputation. So Rong Pu’s move was something no one had expected.
No one expected that someone who appeared so nobly refined from a prestigious family could be so skilled at flattery.
But Rong Pu always had the ability to conduct the most base affairs with dignity. He openly raised the Imperial Heir’s banner, had Zhu Yi write elegies for his pets, invited Gu Zi to write academy records for his recruitment handbook, depicting the academy as the most desirable place in the world. His recruitment handbook was innovative, beautifully illustrated with text and images, featuring great scholars’ calligraphy, making it so popular that paper became expensive in Luoyang, with people competing to collect them. Not to mention the scholars who received these handbooks—everyone considered it an honor.
When Tie Ci received the letter, she was quite amazed. She’d only casually mentioned recruitment handbooks to Rong Pu once, not expecting him to remember and create a Da Qian version of a premium recruitment handbook. With just this handbook, Yueli Academy not only attracted countless students this year but also invited many great scholars and talents who had previously lived in seclusion, perfectly filling the teaching and administrative vacancies left after purging the Xiao family’s influence.
The academy dormitories couldn’t accommodate everyone, so they were currently expanding. Rong Pu was also soliciting donations from local wealthy merchants in Haiyou, setting up related preferential policies—such as donating certain amounts allowing academy visits, or allowing outstanding children admission. The academy also opened once monthly for paid visits by wealthy households and free visits for common people. But Rong Pu set limits to prevent any one or two families from dominating, avoiding the old situation of the academy being controlled by powerful clans and noble families.
However, there was one exception. Rong Pu mentioned that an anonymous wealthy merchant had donated a large sum with no demands whatsoever. The academy supervisor suggested investigating before accepting the donation to avoid unnecessary trouble. In his letter to Tie Ci, Rong Pu said he felt no investigation was necessary—what did the Imperial Heir think?
Tie Ci found this “what did the Imperial Heir think?” quite clever—basically passive-aggressive sarcasm.
Wasn’t he just guessing it was Murong Yi’s donation and pretending otherwise?
But passive-aggressive or not, he definitely wouldn’t refuse the money.