Yun Ye didn’t expect Yun Shou to understand everything. A nine-year-old child still lacked the ability to distinguish right from wrong. Therefore, as a father, he had to instill these principles in his child, so that one day when the boy needed to make choices, he would have a reference point.

As someone from a later era, Yun Ye could fight for his people—this was the duty of being Han Chinese. Dying for Xinyue and the others was the obligation of being a husband. Dying for his six children at home was the sacred duty of being a father. But to sacrifice his life to demonstrate loyalty? That was something he absolutely wouldn’t do. Not even for Li Er, this emperor for the ages. Not even if the Jade Emperor descended from heaven. He was living for himself—why should he throw away the life he had worked so hard to secure for someone else?

Yun Ye’s attitude toward his own children was also extremely clear. Whether they became successful or not, he had to make proper arrangements for them. In this cutthroat world, those who succeeded didn’t necessarily have good fates, while those who didn’t might actually live peaceful lives.

Yun Ye was extremely satisfied with Yun Shou’s performance. Setting fire to the Crown Prince’s horse’s tail and causing the hall full of guests to scatter in chaos like pigs and wolves—at such a young age, he had already earned the title of troublemaker. Quite impressive.

The story of impersonating Yan Rong had also been widely circulated, though in this version, Li Xiang and Li Yan Rong were portrayed as two children who thought day and night about their mother suffering in the Cold Palace. They were depicted as extremely clever for devising this brilliant scheme of substitution. For the sake of filial piety, they risked themselves, enduring countless hardships just to see their mother and bring her two lychees. This story brought tears to many great scholars’ eyes. There were already whispers in the court of petitions asking His Majesty to pardon those two women.

As for chubby Yun Shou, he became the only villain and fool among the three children. Some bastard had even added adult embellishments to the story—something about how Yan Rong used a honey trap to make the blockheaded Yun Shou willingly walk into the trap, happily impersonating Yan Rong to distract those supervising matrons. All the blame fell on the stupid Yun Shou. The chubby boy only knew how to eat and sleep, sleep and eat. If it weren’t for his greed for sleep, Li Xiang and Li Yan Rong’s plan would have been flawless and definitely wouldn’t have been discovered by the shrewd Empress.

Yun Shou told his father about his grievances, tears and snot running down his face. The sight made Yun Ye’s heart ache. He placed his chubby son on his knee and carefully wiped his face clean. With a smacking sound, he kissed him and said with a smile:

“Only a father will teach his son to be clever. Right now, I can tell the great river that my son is the smartest child in Chang’an. If necessary, I can also tell the heavens, tell the mountains, tell your mother, tell your grandmother, tell Wang Cai—just not other people. Do you know why?”

Yun Shou stared and shook his head, indicating he didn’t understand. In his view, his father should lavishly praise him and help clear his name. Why could he only tell the river, the sky, the mountains, grandmother, mother, and Wang Cai? The person who most needed to be told was Miss Cheng from Uncle Cheng’s family—that annoying girl had already started calling him a stupid fatty.

“Ha! Son, let me tell you a story. Listen carefully. In Chang’an, there were two clever people. Everyone knew one of them was clever, so everyone was on guard against this person. Whenever this clever person wanted to do something, the difficulty was always much greater. Everyone stared at him with wide eyes, afraid he might do something bad. Even when he did good things, no one praised him—because you’re the clever one, right? For something that should cost one gold coin to accomplish, people would only offer one silver coin, or even one copper coin. Success was expected, but failure was embarrassing. A lifetime’s reputation could be ruined in an instant. Not only would people not help or sympathize with him, but they would mock and insult him as much as possible. Life was very exhausting. Whenever he heard someone call him clever, he would immediately get angry. He didn’t want to be the clever person—not at all.

“The other clever person was different. No one ever praised him as clever, but his father knew he was clever, his mother knew, his younger siblings knew. So this clever person disguised himself as a fool. Thus, whenever he accomplished even a small task successfully, everyone praised him. His enemies despised him, his friends helped him, his elders protected him. For something that one gold coin could accomplish, people couldn’t help but give him an extra silver coin. When something went wrong, everyone forgave him. He only received encouragement—no one excessively criticized him.

“So, this clever person pretending to be foolish secretly accomplished many unknown great deeds and lived happily his entire life. Many years later, people were surprised to discover that this clever person who pretended to be foolish was the truly clever one.

“Son, tell me—which of these two types of people do you want to be?”

Xinyue had driven everyone far away. She saw her husband talking and communicating with their son. Father and son both seemed very serious. Although she didn’t know what they were discussing, she thought it best not to disturb them at this time.

“Father, being clever is hard work. My master used to only assign me one essay a day, but I memorized it quickly. After my master discovered this, he assigned two essays a day. When I still memorized them, he brought a whole cart of books and told me I had to memorize all those books in three years.”

“I don’t want to memorize those books. Father, how can I appear more stupid?”

Yun Ye realized he had led his son astray. Pretending to be foolish didn’t mean not studying. He quickly said: “You must memorize the books. In the future, you’ll also need to study mathematics, physics, chemistry, astronomy, and geography. Only by thoroughly learning and mastering all these subjects can you become a clever person—this is the prerequisite. You must complete the assignments your master gives you.”

“You said to learn to be a fool, but now you want me to become clever. Should I be a fool or a clever person?” The little brat got angry, jumped down from his father’s knee, and said disdainfully: “If you want me to be a fool, you must drive Great-Uncle away. Otherwise, everyone in Chang’an will know I’m very clever!” After threatening his father, he puffed out his chest and headed to the dining hall to continue looking for good food. The chef’s steamed shrimp dumplings today should still allow for two more.

Xinyue came to the dazed Yun Ye and quietly asked what had happened between father and son. After a long while, Yun Ye turned to look at Xinyue and said: “Starting tomorrow, your son is going to become a fool, as long as I can drive away Master Lishi.”

Hearing her husband’s words, Xinyue’s eyebrows immediately shot up: “Who’s going to be a fool? My Shou’er memorizes his books so well and practices martial arts quite decently. Why should he be a fool? Master Wu She said that Great-Uncle Lishi is refining the boy’s bones and cleansing his marrow. The suffering now will benefit him endlessly in the future. Who said this? I’ll break his dog legs!”

“I said it. I hope Shou’er will be a bit duller—that would be a blessing. I, such a clever person, have suffered so much. Haven’t I learned to be cautious? Who told you being clever is always good? This marquis of mine is now wandering everywhere, living worse than a beggar. This is a warning from the past. Just watch—Di Renjie’s path won’t be smooth sailing either. A fate full of trials and tribulations!”

If it were anything else, Xinyue would have yielded long ago. But regarding Yun Shou, she wouldn’t budge an inch. Aggrieved tears welled up in her eyes. She bit her lip and wouldn’t leave, waiting for her husband to give her an explanation.

Yun Ye smiled bitterly and said: “Others raise sons hoping for cleverness, but I wish my son to be dull and clumsy, living a hundred years without worry or disaster!”

Seeing her husband’s sadness, Xinyue said through tears: “I gave birth to him, doing right by the Yun family ancestors. As for how to raise him, that’s for you as the father to decide. I won’t interfere anymore. Even if he becomes a real fool, he’s still of the Yun family blood.”

When Xinyue cried, everyone on the deck vanished like they’d seen a ghost. Yun Ye held her with an apologetic smile, placing her on his lap and saying: “The Yun family produces all kinds of people, but never fools. Look at what Shou’er said before leaving—he said if you want me to be a fool, you must drive Great-Uncle away. Otherwise, everyone in Chang’an will know I’m very clever!”

“Tsk tsk, he knows how to use his advantages, knows how to convert these advantages into benefits. For such a child to pretend to be foolish is very difficult—much harder than pretending to be clever.”

Xinyue wiped her tears and said: “This child is different from you. You started from nothing and had to display exceptional wisdom to help the family rise. Shou’er is climbing up standing on your shoulders—his starting point is much higher, and achieving distinction is much easier. I understand your reasoning. You’re already the tall tree that stands out. If Shou’er also excels beyond the forest, it would indeed be harmful without benefit. But I just can’t wrap my head around it. Making a perfectly intelligent child pretend to be mediocre seems so unfair to him.”

“The Emperor once said that someone like me must have exhausted all the family’s ancestral blessings. The Yun family won’t produce talent for three generations. You know what? The Emperor gave rewards to take care of the Yun family. My title of Hereditary Marquis came about this way. Once Shou’er becomes exceptionally clever, heh heh, life definitely won’t be easy. The Emperor’s greatest hope is to turn all the sons of meritorious officials into wastrels. Only this way is most beneficial for the Great Tang’s empire and his rule. Do you think the Emperor hasn’t specifically sent people to corrupt those sons of meritorious officials?”

“The appearance of Yushan Academy only gave the Emperor a way to change course. All students receive orthodox Confucian education, plus miscellaneous studies like mathematics, physics, astronomy, and geography. During their best years, when they’re most attentive, they’re occupied by these subjects. They have neither time nor energy to receive family teachings.”

“Do you know? Academy education is the most characterless. All students are molded into the same form. There are no mediocrities, but it’s extremely difficult for a genius to emerge. Just like the porcelain bottles on the rotating rack at our porcelain workshop—all the same. I generally call them assembly line products. You know, assembly line products are often a sign of cheapness.”

Hearing her husband speak of these secrets for the first time, Xinyue’s mouth hung wide open. Her beloved Yushan Academy actually had such a purpose. No wonder her husband brought Di Renjie and Xiao Wu out of the academy to teach them personally. The reason lay here.