Yun Shou had just escaped the pursuit of the old steward Qian in the marketplace and entered the Crown Prince’s Eastern Palace with his chest bulging. The guards at the entrance dared not obstruct him in the slightest. The last fellow who had tried to stop him had been randomly whipped by him with a small riding crop. Previously, the Crown Princess could still give Yun Shou a stern look, but now the Crown Princess had been imprisoned in the forbidden palace by the Empress. With the Crown Prince also absent, Li Xiang—just a small child—really couldn’t manage much. Although he was more than a year older than Yun Shou, he could never beat the chubby Yun Shou in a fight.
Left Gentleman-Attendant Zhang Xuansu now managed the Crown Prince’s Eastern Palace. Seeing Yun Shou enter, he shook his head and turned back to the administrative office. This child was now terribly spoiled by the Empress—he had long since become lawless, entering both the Eastern Palace and the inner palace as if walking into uninhabited territory. However, fortunately, though somewhat domineering, his home education was good. As long as he wasn’t angry, he was always very polite to people.
Just as he lay against the study window trying to peek inside, his ear was painfully grabbed—it was the Crown Prince’s Right Gentleman-Attendant Kong Yingda. He wouldn’t even be courteous to Yun Ye, much less pay any mind to Yun Shou.
“Master Kong! Aiyo, you’re going to twist my ear off!” Yun Shou cried out miserably, standing on tiptoe as he followed Kong Yingda into the study. Li Xiang sat properly upright, eyes not wandering. With his father absent, Kong Yingda naturally shouldered the responsibility for Li Xiang’s education.
Due to his mother being deposed, this child rarely had a smile on his face. If Yun Shou hadn’t taken him bumbling around the palace to find the location of the Cold Palace, he still wouldn’t know where his mother had gone.
Kong Yingda released Yun Shou’s ear and asked huffily, “Now is the time for reading. How did you run from Xinghua Ward to the Eastern Palace? Can you inform Master Lishi?”
“The four-character long text written by Zhou Xingsi of the Southern Dynasty can’t stump me. My father said this kind of rote memorization work most tests a person’s diligence. He’ll examine me when he returns, so naturally I must memorize it. If I haven’t learned it well, my mother will cry again.”
Kong Yingda saw Yun Shou looking at him with his head tilted, answering quite arrogantly, and couldn’t help but develop a mind to test him. “Since you’ve already learned the *Thousand Character Classic*, let me ask you: ‘The phoenix calls in the bamboo, the white steed eats in the pasture, transformation covers the grass and trees, grace reaches all directions’—what does ‘the phoenix calls in the bamboo’ mean?”
“It means the phoenix calls joyfully in the bamboo grove, white horses forage in the grasslands—the nation is peaceful and prosperous, auspicious everywhere. The wise ruler’s civilizing influence covers every blade of grass and tree in nature, and his grace extends to all the common people under heaven. However, this line is wrong. My father and Uncle Prince Wei captured more than ten phoenixes in the South Seas—not one was caught in a bamboo grove. So Zhou Xingsi of the Southern Dynasty was lying. He’d never actually seen a phoenix—only my father and Uncle Prince Wei have seen them.”
Hearing Yun Shou’s words, Kong Yingda nearly tore out his own beard. With a stern face he said, “Don’t speak nonsense! The phoenix is an ancient divine beast that disappeared from the earth long ago. How could it possibly have been captured by your father and Prince Wei? Who have you been listening to spout such nonsense?”
“Hehe, Master, you’ve committed the crime of great disrespect. Little Shou isn’t talking nonsense. My fourth uncle mentioned this matter in his letter to my grandmother. I was there when grandmother spoke of it. They really did find phoenixes and caught them to bring back. In another month or two, when my grandfather returns victorious, they should arrive in the capital.”
Kong Yingda, made somewhat embarrassed by the two children, said irritably to Li Xiang, “Such a small person, yet already catching others’ verbal slips—this is not a good habit. A gentleman should be as pure as the bright moon, not calculating others’ faults.”
“Master is wrong again. The moon doesn’t produce its own light—it’s the sun’s light reflecting off the moon that makes it shine. Without the sun, the moon would just be a pitch-black broken stone ball. Yushan Academy has already verified this theory. Little Shou took me to Eunuch Zhao’s observatory to see—the moon really isn’t pure at all. It’s just a stone ball covered in craters everywhere.”
The great scholar Kong Yingda was left speechless by the two young children. He could only wave his sleeves and say, “Your racket is giving this old man a headache. Go play, you two. Don’t make noise before me—this old man wants to sleep for a while.”
Watching the two children skip and hop toward the garden, Kong Yingda finally sighed. As Yushan Academy’s so-called natural sciences continued making discoveries, many things previously considered absolute truths were being proven wrong. Green caterpillars could transform into butterflies. Bats were neither birds nor beasts—definitely not transformed from mice eating salt, but rather a new species.
Many texts passed down from ancient times now couldn’t withstand careful scrutiny. If one wanted to pursue scholarship, there were restricted areas everywhere now. One careless step and students from Yushan Academy would come knocking with hard evidence seeking instruction. So many famous scholars had been questioned until thoroughly embarrassed. This made writing books extremely difficult now. His own *Correct Meaning of the Five Classics* had already been revised three times and was still under consideration, lest he become a laughingstock.
After Li Xiang and Yun Shou entered the garden, Li Xiang wanted to reach into Yun Ye’s chest to see what was stuffed inside, but Yun Shou turned to avoid him. Then Yun Shou said aggrievedly, “No way! Last time I brought that king of pears, you said you’d only take one bite. But then you climbed into the pavilion and ate until only a pear core was left before giving it back to me. That made Yanrong say I was a liar—there’s never been such a big pear in the world. This time my mother had someone bring me lychees from Lingnan. I can’t give them all to you—I’ll give you two.”
Li Xiang called him stingy, but still took the two lychees and was about to stuff them in his mouth. Yun Shou quickly stopped him, helping him peel off the lychee shells before handing them to Li Xiang. Having played the country bumpkin, Li Xiang ate a bite of lychee with a red face, then took Yun Shou to find Yanrong.
Entering Yanrong’s courtyard, Yun Shou immediately cried out in anger. Yanrong was sitting on the ground crying loudly. After each cry she would get up and try to go out, but was always blocked back by two old palace maids. No matter what Yanrong said, they just wouldn’t let her out.
Li Xiang understood with one glance. He had experienced such treatment himself—this was confinement. When his own mother was locked in the Cold Palace, he had wanted to go out but was always blocked back. Now Yanrong’s mother had also been locked up, so naturally Yanrong couldn’t go out either. Although he didn’t like calling the Crown Princess “mother,” he was extremely good to Yanrong. But confinement was a rule—even if he wanted to help, there was no way. The first text Li Xiang learned as a child wasn’t the *Three Character Classic* but the imperial family rules, and this was exactly how the family rules stipulated.
He didn’t dare, but Yun Shou did. He moved a stone from the side, walked up to an old palace maid, and smashed the stone on her foot. Seeing that old palace maid howl like a slaughtered pig, Yun Shou pointed at the other old palace maid and said, “Get lost quickly! When young master’s temper flares up, I’ll make you regret it!” Seeing it was Yun Shou, the old palace maid quickly bowed and said, “Young Marquis, the county princess cannot go out—this is ancestral rule. Once the county princess goes out, this old woman’s life is forfeit. Please have pity on us.”
Yun Shou tilted his head and thought for a moment, then said, “If she can’t come out, I can always go in, right?” Seeing the two old palace maids make no sound, he walked in and helped Yanrong up, patting the dust off her body. Yanrong, just four years old, cried even louder seeing Yun Shou, sobbing that she wanted Brother Shou to take her to find her mother. Seeing Yanrong’s appearance, Li Xiang couldn’t help but remember his own miserable state at that time, and tears also fell involuntarily.
Yun Shou stuffed the lychees into Yanrong’s small pocket, then peeled another lychee and put it in Yanrong’s mouth, finally stopping her crying. The small pocket could only hold two or three. Yanrong clutched them tightly, wanting to give the lychees to her mother to eat. She couldn’t let Brother Xiang see—he always stole food. Her own family never had as many good things to eat as Brother Shou’s family, from pastries to popsicles—his family never lacked them.
Li Xiang said to Yun Shou, “We can’t take Yanrong out, or she’ll be punished. This is ancestral rule—everyone must obey. Outside the courtyard are people from the Imperial Clan Court. They’re very fierce. Last time we snuck out, if father hadn’t pleaded for us, we both would have been punished. Father said a real man must endure what others cannot endure.”
“My father never taught me that way. He always says no matter how solid a fortress is, there’s always a way to break through. We can’t breach it because our method is wrong. As long as we find the right method, there’s always a solution. Do you still have your old clothes from when you were small? If so, bring them. Once Yanrong puts on your clothes, won’t she become a boy? You take her to see her mother.”
“I have the clothes, but why do you want me to take her? If we’re going to the palace, you’re more familiar with it than me. Why should I take my sister to see that bad woman? Helping my sister is fine, but I don’t want to see that woman.”
“Are you stupid? If I go out, won’t that tell people that one of these three is Yanrong? With no one in Yanrong’s quarters, won’t those old women go crazy?”
“You’re the stupid one! You’re fatter than Yanrong and taller too—even an idiot could recognize you. This is a terrible idea.” Li Xiang never wanted to admit he was stupid and argued with Yun Shou regardless.
“I say you’re stupid and you still won’t admit it. Can’t you just wrap Yanrong in a blanket? Tell everyone I secretly drank wine and passed out drunk. Then you carry Yanrong on your back while I pretend to be Yanrong in her quarters. That’s it! Let me tell you, my father said the Yun family doesn’t produce fools. Only Uncle Han Zhe’s family has fools appearing one after another.”
Li Yanrong looked at Yun Shou with his chest thrust out and belly protruding with admiration. Brother Shou was really too clever! Li Xiang had no choice but to return to his own quarters to find small clothes. Yun Shou’s method seemed like it could work.
After Li Xiang left, Yun Shou took out all the lychees from his chest. Because they were sent by express horse and with losses along the way, there really weren’t many left. After counting them clearly one by one, he divided them into three small piles. He pointed at the largest pile and told Yanrong this was for Grandmother Empress. The other two piles—one was for Grandmother Yang Fei, one was for Grandmother Yin Fei. There were too many grandmothers in the palace—he had no way to give to them all, so he could only give to the three closest ones.
“Sigh, whether it’s much or little, it’s the thought that counts. When you’re no longer confined, I’ll take you to Lingnan and we’ll hug the trees and eat.” Yun Shou spoke to Li Yanrong in the tone of an adult, helplessly.
Speaking of lychees, Yun Shou kept complaining about his parents who were so far away…