Chapter 76: Extra 4
[One Year Old and Six Years Old — Brother]
Ji Ze had started talking relatively early. Not long after he learned to say “Daddy,” he began to babble and say a few simple words.
At first, his words were still a bit unclear, but since Ji Qingzhou and Li Zhan actively taught him, and the young emperor along with his caretakers also made a conscious effort to guide him in speaking, Ji Ze gradually expanded his vocabulary.
However… he had yet to call the young emperor “Brother.”
This left the young emperor a little disheartened.
As the days went by, Ji Ze’s speech improved by leaps and bounds. Not only could he say “Daddy,” he also began learning titles like “Uncle” and “Auntie.” Eventually, he even managed to barely pronounce the more difficult “Royal Father.” And yet, he still hadn’t learned to say “Brother.”
“Don’t worry, he’ll learn it soon,” Ji Qingzhou consoled the young emperor.
The young emperor forced a smile and nodded, but couldn’t shake the feeling of disappointment in his heart.
But Ji Ze was simply too adorable. Even if he wouldn’t say “Brother,” he loved grabbing the young emperor’s hand and dragging him everywhere. He wasn’t even a year old yet and still didn’t dare to walk on his own, so he would rely on others to steady him as he shuffled along.
Unlike the adults, the height difference between him and the young emperor wasn’t so drastic, so Ji Ze’s favorite hand to hold was the young emperor’s. Taking Ji Ze for walks around the Prince Residence had become one of the young emperor’s daily routines.
Because of this, the young emperor felt somewhat comforted.
Later on, as Ji Ze began walking more steadily, the young emperor decided to temporarily let go of the whole “calling me Brother” issue.
What else could he do? He couldn’t bear to scold the little guy.
Besides, everyone else was called properly—but he alone wasn’t. From another perspective, that just meant his place in Ji Ze’s heart was special. That had to be it, the young emperor thought.
As Ji Ze’s first birthday approached, the weather in the capital grew increasingly colder.
The daily strolls in the courtyard were suspended for the time being. Afterward, the young emperor could only lead Ji Ze around the front hall instead.
“When Imperial Uncle gives permission, I’ll take you into the palace to play,” the young emperor said to Ji Ze. “The palace is much bigger than the Prince Residence. You’ve never been to Fu’an Palace before—that’s where I live. The outer hall of Fu’an Palace is way bigger than this place. I bet if you walked a lap around it, it’d take almost half a stick of incense.”
Ji Ze didn’t quite understand what the young emperor was saying, so he looked up with his little face, stared for a moment, then nodded and replied in his soft baby voice, “Okay!”
Hearing that made the young emperor instantly delighted. He leaned in close and whispered, “But don’t tell Imperial Uncle. He still won’t let you into the palace. If he finds out I talked to you about it, he’ll be upset.”
Ji Ze blinked his bright, round eyes and replied again in his babyish voice, “Okay.”
The young emperor thought to himself, My little brother’s so clever! But what he didn’t know was that Ji Ze’s tiny brain only retained two pieces of information: “Fu’an Palace” and “Tell Imperial Uncle.” Ji Ze already understood by now that the “Imperial Uncle” the young emperor talked about was his own Royal Father.
So that night, right before bed, Ji Ze saw Li Zhan and very purposefully repeated what the young emperor had told him.
Though Ji Ze’s pronunciation was unclear, the three words “Fu’an Palace” still came through clearly to Li Zhan.
Li Zhan’s expression immediately darkened, and he took note of the matter.
No one in the Prince Residence would ever mention Fu’an Palace to Ji Ze—only the young emperor would.
Even though the young emperor had never directly told Li Zhan he wanted to bring Ji Ze into the palace, Li Zhan knew him too well. He didn’t need to guess to figure out what was on the boy’s mind.
The next morning after court, Li Zhan kept the young emperor back in the rear hall.
The young emperor didn’t know why his imperial uncle wanted to see him, but judging by Li Zhan’s serious expression, he could already tell it wasn’t going to be good.
“You want to take Ze’er into the palace?” Li Zhan asked bluntly.
“How did Imperial Uncle know?” The young emperor immediately panicked. “Ze’er promised to keep it a secret for me!”
Li Zhan couldn’t help but laugh. “He can understand what you’re saying? And even keep a secret for you?”
“I didn’t mean to take him into the palace right now,” the young emperor said nervously. “Even if I do, I’d wait until Imperial Uncle gives his permission.”
Li Zhan nodded and said, “You’ve spent more time in the Prince Residence this year than in the palace, and you’ve fallen behind in your palace school lessons because of it. Starting tomorrow, I’ll speak to Mr. Lu and have all the previously reduced coursework reinstated.”
The young emperor was shocked and immediately wrapped his arms around Li Zhan’s leg. “Imperial Uncle… I don’t want to go to the palace school every day!”
“You’ll be seven after the new year. You can’t keep slacking off like before. If you do, how will you be able to govern in the future?” Li Zhan said calmly.
“I don’t want to govern,” the young emperor muttered, pouting.
Li Zhan crouched down and looked him in the eye. “Cong’er, do you remember what you promised to the heavens and all the gods after Ze’er fell ill following the Mid-Autumn Festival?”
The young emperor was startled. His expression shifted several times before he finally nodded and said nothing more.
Seeing this, Li Zhan reached out and gently rubbed his head. “From now on, you can go to the Prince Residence once every three days. But only if Mr. Lu is satisfied with your lessons.”
The young emperor nodded again, his small face filled with melancholy.
At that time, he still didn’t fully understand Li Zhan’s intentions.
He was only thinking about being close to his little brother and had no idea that Ji Ze’s very existence was a closely guarded secret within the court.
He was still too young. If Ji Ze’s identity were to be exposed, the pressures that would follow would descend upon him without mercy. Li Zhan didn’t want him to face that burden so early, and thus, certain sacrifices had to be made.
After all, brotherly affection couldn’t be severed just because they saw each other less often.
From that day on, the young emperor could only leave the palace once every three days.
At first, he was very worried, afraid that Ji Ze would forget about him after not seeing him for a few days.
But Ji Ze seemed to sense his concern. Every time they met, he was just as affectionate as always, which greatly comforted the young emperor. As time went on, he gradually calmed down and accepted the arrangement, no longer anxious about it.
Not long after, Ji Ze’s birthday arrived.
That afternoon, the young emperor had just finished his classes at the palace school. He thought he wouldn’t be allowed to leave the palace without Li Zhan’s permission, but as soon as he stepped out of the school, he saw Li Zhan waiting under the covered walkway.
“Imperial Uncle, were you waiting for me?” the young emperor asked, rushing up to grab Li Zhan’s hand.
“Mm,” Li Zhan replied, taking his hand as they walked toward the palace gate. “The birthday gift you sent to Yinghui Pavilion—I saved it. You should give it to Ze’er yourself.”
The young emperor was overjoyed to hear this. He had prepared a birthday present for Ji Ze himself—a handmade kite. Though it was still winter, spring would come soon, and by then Ji Ze would be able to run around. When that time came, he could take Ji Ze out to fly kites.
“I thought you’d already gone back earlier to be with Ze’er,” the young emperor said.
Li Zhan smiled faintly. “There were still things to take care of at Yinghui Pavilion. I couldn’t just leave them unfinished. You’re still young now, but one day you’ll understand—if you truly want to protect someone, it’s not enough to just stay by their side. You must also shield them from the storms that may come in the future.”
The young emperor looked at him, half-understanding, and asked, “The people Imperial Uncle wants to protect… are they Ze’er and Zhouzhou?”
“Those two—and you,” Li Zhan replied.
The young emperor nodded. That sentence quietly planted a seed deep in his still-childlike heart.
He might not have fully understood it then, but one day, he would come to realize the responsibilities he bore and the things he must do.
On the way back, snow began to fall.
The flakes fluttered down one after another, quickly covering the streets in white.
By nightfall, the snow had formed a thick layer on the ground.
After dinner, Li Zhan and Ji Qingzhou bid farewell to the guests who had come to celebrate Ji Ze’s birthday.
Suddenly, the young emperor had a whimsical idea and begged Ji Qingzhou to build a snowman with him.
Ji Qingzhou remembered that on the day of Ji Ze’s full-month celebration last year, it had also snowed in the capital.
At the time, Li Zhan had said to him, “Next time it snows, we’ll build snowmen with the two little ones.”
Last year, Ji Ze had been too little to understand anything. But this year, he could already “help out”—though more often than not, he caused more chaos than assistance.
That night, the young emperor had so much fun that he ended up catching a bit of a chill before bed.
Tang Shu checked his pulse and confirmed it wasn’t serious, then prescribed him some medicine and had him drink it before going to sleep.
Perhaps because of the medicine, the young emperor slept exceptionally deeply that night.
When he woke up in the morning, he felt a warm little body snuggled into his arms. The young emperor looked down and saw Ji Ze’s soft, fuzzy little head nestled against him.
“Baby…” the young emperor reached out to rub Ji Ze’s head and softly called out.
Ji Ze looked up at him upon hearing the voice. A moment later, he broke into a wide grin and said in his babyish voice, “Big brother.”
The young emperor: !!!
It took him a few moments to process what he had just heard.
“Baby, say ‘big brother’ again,” the young emperor said eagerly.
“Big brother…” Ji Ze looked up with his chubby face and repeated, “Big brother…”
The young emperor was so thrilled that he nearly jumped off the bed. He quickly got up, put on his robe, then helped Ji Ze into a cloak. Holding Ji Ze’s hand, he rushed out of the side hall and headed straight for Li Zhan and Ji Qingzhou’s bedchamber.
Inside the inner chamber, Li Zhan and Ji Qingzhou were in the middle of a private moment. They were startled by the young emperor’s sudden voice.
That morning, for some unknown reason, Li Zhan had been in the mood and insisted on dragging Ji Qingzhou into bed. To ensure they weren’t disturbed, he had even sent Ji Ze to the young emperor and dismissed the attendants from the outer hall.
He had barely gotten started when the young emperor’s shout completely killed the mood.
“Imperial Uncle! Zhouzhou!” the young emperor called out excitedly, dragging Ji Ze in with him. “Listen! Baby can say ‘big brother’ now!”
Li Zhan: …
Just for that? You barged in and ruined everything so early in the morning!
“Baby, say ‘big brother’,” the young emperor prompted.
Ji Ze cooperatively said, “big brother.” His voice was still babyish and not very clear, but it was understandable.
“Say it again,” the young emperor urged.
“Big brother, big brother, big brother…” Ji Ze cheerfully repeated it three more times.
Li Zhan gave the young emperor a forced smile, his frustration bubbling with nowhere to go.
A moment later, Ji Qingzhou emerged from the inner chamber after putting on his clothes. The moment he saw the young emperor with only a robe thrown over his shoulders, he was startled and quickly said, “Cong’er, you caught a chill just last night. And now you’re running around first thing in the morning?”
The young emperor just gave him a silly grin, clearly not caring one bit whether he was cold.
Ji Ze had finally called him “big brother.” That was a monumental occasion! Who had time to care about being cold?
Soon after, Guo Zi entered and helped the young emperor get properly dressed.
Li Zhan turned to Guo Zi and instructed, “Take His Majesty and the young prince to the side hall. Make sure they don’t run around.”
Guo Zi immediately complied and began to escort the young emperor and Ji Ze away.
Li Zhan added, “Watch them closely. For one hour—no, two hours—don’t let anyone disturb us.”
Ji Qingzhou gave him a speechless look, then said once the two had left, “Aren’t you afraid you’ll wear yourself out? Didn’t you just do it last night?”
“What does that have to do with today?” Li Zhan replied as he scooped Ji Qingzhou into his arms and quickly carried him behind the screen…
[Five Years old and Ten Years old — Getting Punished]
The year Ji Ze turned five, the young emperor was ten.
At ten years old, the young emperor was no longer the clueless little boy he had been five years ago. But in front of Ji Ze, he hadn’t changed at all—or rather, in Ji Ze’s eyes, his big brother was still that same big brother. Aside from being taller, there didn’t seem to be anything different about him.
Ji Ze’s personality differed quite a bit from the young emperor’s. When the young emperor was five, he had already been sensible and well-behaved. Ji Ze, on the other hand, was lively and energetic, constantly causing chaos in the Prince Residence. It got to the point where everyone seemed eager to file complaints to Li Zhan.
Li Zhan and Ji Qingzhou weren’t the type to spoil their child, but they weren’t harsh either.
As long as Ji Ze didn’t make any serious mistakes, they wouldn’t actually discipline him.
After all, every child had a different temperament. If he was born active and lively, forcing him to be still would only backfire.
Besides, when it came to parenting, Ji Qingzhou had always been pretty relaxed. If Ji Ze ever pushed him too far, there was no need for him to complain—Li Zhan would step in and discipline the boy. Ji Ze might be fearless, but he had a natural sense of caution around Li Zhan. So in the Prince Residence, at least, someone was capable of keeping him in check.
As for the young emperor, he never got upset about Ji Ze’s antics. Because Ji Ze behaved relatively well around him.
Even when he was being mischievous, the young emperor found it adorable rather than frustrating.
He had grown up without playmates, and now Ji Ze, though five years late, had become a kind of belated childhood companion. In a way, Ji Ze made up for the loneliness of his early years. That’s why, whenever he saw Ji Ze causing trouble, he remained tolerant and amused.
That year, another major event occurred in Ji Ze’s life.
It was that Tang Shu officially approached Li Zhan with a request to take Ji Ze as his disciple.
At first, Li Zhan had some hesitation. Although he had never intended for Ji Ze to enter court service in the future, he also hadn’t considered letting him become a physician. Later, he consulted Ji Qingzhou, who felt that such things should depend on fate and proceed naturally.
In other words, just hand the child over to Tang Shu—if he took an interest in medicine, then he could follow Tang Shu and learn; if he wasn’t interested, even if they didn’t stop him, Tang Shu would probably end up crying and sending him back anyway.
After hearing Ji Qingzhou’s opinion, Li Zhan agreed.
However, he still felt uneasy about letting Ji Ze leave the Prince Residence entirely. As it happened, Tang Shu had a fixed residence in the rear courtyard of the Prince Residence, so Li Zhan simply had a small medicine hut set up there for him. Ji Ze would go study with Tang Shu after finishing his daily lessons.
Ji Ze spent about half a month in Tang Shu’s medicine hut.
At first, Ji Qingzhou would hear from Guo Zi every day, reporting how Tang Shu was so exasperated by Ji Ze that his beard practically stood on end. But as time went on, Ji Ze seemed to find some enjoyment in it and stopped causing trouble. Sometimes, he’d even come back excited, pretending to check the pulse of Ji Qingzhou or Li Zhan every few days.
“One of these days he’s already checking pulses?” Ji Qingzhou asked Tang Shu.
“He can even mix medicine,” Tang Shu replied. “If someone dares to try it and isn’t afraid of dying.”
Ji Qingzhou had initially hoped Ji Ze might have a natural talent for medicine. But after hearing Tang Shu’s comment, he couldn’t help but laugh bitterly. As he thought, Ji Ze hadn’t drawn the protagonist’s script. He was born with too good a background, and had excellent interpersonal relationships, so his talents were probably just average.
In truth, Ji Ze’s aptitude wasn’t exactly average either.
After studying with Tang Shu for half a year, he had actually learned the basics…
But he was still young, and Tang Shu hadn’t taught him anything too complex.
Especially since being a physician required more than theory—it also required hands-on practice. Though Ji Ze had gone around pretending to check the pulses of everyone in the Prince Residence, he hadn’t encountered a single real patient.
“Imperial Brother, I see darkness gathering between your brows—did you not sleep well last night?” the young emperor had barely stepped into the Prince Residence when Ji Ze dragged him to the medicine hut.
“Did Doctor Tang teach you medicine or the tricks of a street charlatan?” the young emperor couldn’t help laughing. “Why do you sound like a con man at a fortune-telling stall?”
“I’m not lying,” Ji Ze said quickly. “You really do have darkened brows.”
“I really didn’t sleep well last night.” The young emperor leaned back on a recliner, visibly tired.
Now that he was older, he had more to study. Every day, in addition to early court and imperial school, he also had to go to Yinghui Pavilion to learn state affairs with Li Zhan. It was truly exhausting.
“Let me check your pulse,” Ji Ze said, placing his chubby little hand on the young emperor’s wrist with the confidence of an old master. “You need to get some good rest. I’ll burn some calming incense for you.”
The young emperor nodded, and Ji Ze retrieved the incense burner Tang Shu used and prepared some soothing incense to light.
A faint medicinal aroma wafted through the air, and the young emperor lazily leaned against the recliner. Before long, he really did fall asleep.
Ji Ze, feeling a bit sleepy himself, lay down beside him, and the two of them drifted off together.
The young emperor’s bodyguard had been waiting outside the hut. When he noticed it had gone quiet inside for a long time, he peeked in.
He saw the two boys squeezed together on a single recliner, which looked a bit cramped. Thinking to wake them up and bring them back to rest in their chambers, he called to them—but neither stirred. The bodyguard had served the young emperor for a long time and knew he usually didn’t sleep deeply. For him to sleep through that much calling was unusual.
Not daring to delay, the guard immediately reported to Ji Qingzhou and sent someone to summon a physician.
Half an hour later, Tang Shu examined the ashes in the incense burner and turned pale.
The day before, he had noticed insects in the medicine hut and burned medicinal incense to repel them. That incense had gotten damp and didn’t burn cleanly. Today, when Ji Ze lit the calming incense, he hadn’t cleared out the old incense properly—so it ended up burning both together…
Thankfully, the guard noticed in time, and the windows and doors of the hut had been left open.
Otherwise, these two little ancestors would’ve been thoroughly smoked.
When Li Zhan returned to the Prince Residence and heard what had happened, he flew into a rage.
Without a word, he grabbed a rattan cane and went to punish Ji Ze.
This wasn’t the first time Ji Ze had been punished. Last time, he had nearly set fire to Tang Shu’s medicine hut. Even though it wasn’t intentional, he had scared everyone out of their wits. To teach him a lesson and stop him from playing with fire again, Li Zhan had given him a few strokes.
Ji Ze did learn his lesson from that incident and hadn’t touched fire in a long time—but now he had done it again.
“Bend over!” Li Zhan said, rattan cane in hand, looking at Ji Ze.
Ji Ze, still groggy from inhaling the incense, had just barely recovered when he was about to be punished again. His little face looked terribly pale.
But he dared not disobey Li Zhan. All he could do was obediently lie down over the small chair and stick out his bottom.
“Imperial Uncle, it wasn’t Baby’s fault—it was mine. If you must punish someone, punish me,” the young emperor pleaded as he clung tightly to Li Zhan’s hand.
Li Zhan glanced at him and said, “Originally it was going to be five strokes. For every plea you make, I’ll add one more.”
The young emperor froze in place. Ji Ze immediately cried out, “Imperial Brother, don’t say another word! Royal Father means what he says!”
Seeing Ji Ze’s pale little face, the young emperor felt an overwhelming mix of emotions. But in the end, he stepped aside.
Li Zhan acted swiftly. With a few crisp smacks, the rattan cane landed on Ji Ze’s bottom, leaving several red welts.
Thankfully, Li Zhan had controlled his strength well—it hurt, but it didn’t break the skin.
Still, the pain was real. Ji Ze tried his best to endure it, but in the end, tears still fell from his eyes.
The young emperor helped Ji Ze up and gently wiped his tears, his face full of heartache.
That night, the young emperor tossed and turned in bed. He got up several times to check on Ji Ze, only relaxing once he was sure he was sleeping soundly.
But he himself could not fall asleep, no matter how hard he tried. On one hand, he was heartbroken over Ji Ze. On the other, he felt crushed by his own powerlessness—he hadn’t been able to stop Ji Ze from being punished.
A while later, he wrapped himself in his robe and stepped out of the hall—only to see a familiar figure standing beneath the outer corridor.
As he walked closer, he recognized the person—it was Ji Qingzhou.
“Feeling miserable, aren’t you?” Ji Qingzhou said.
“Yeah,” the young emperor answered softly, walking to his side.
He was now ten years old—almost a young man. He had already grown tall enough to reach Ji Qingzhou’s chest.
Ji Qingzhou reached out and gently pinched his cheek. It was an affectionate gesture, treating him as though he were still a small child.
“You treat Ze’er like your real younger brother. You’re even willing to take a beating for him,” Ji Qingzhou said. “But you’re the emperor—the sovereign of Dayu. No one will actually lay a hand on you.” He continued, “Even if, inside the Prince Residence, no one bothers with titles and status, what about when you’re outside? Sooner or later, the ministers will learn that you have a brother like Ze’er. The moment he makes even the slightest mistake, they’ll come down on him without mercy.”
The young emperor froze, frowning as he looked at Ji Qingzhou, his eyes dim in the night.
“Cong’er, you’ve grown up. Now it’s time you understand something: between you two brothers, only he can be punished in your place. You will never have the chance to take punishment for him,” Ji Qingzhou said.
In fact, even if someday it were the young emperor who made the mistake—if Ji Ze was even remotely implicated—the court officials would only look for fault in Ji Ze. They would never lay blame on the emperor.
At that moment, the young emperor suddenly seemed to understand something.
The love between members of the royal family was never the same as that of ordinary people.
He had always thought that he and Ji Ze could be like any other brothers—no distinction between them. But now, he finally realized that many things were destined from the start, no matter what he wished.
If he truly wanted to protect this family and protect Ji Ze in the future, then there was far more he had to do than simply be close to and dote on him.
Only now did he truly understand the meaning of Li Zhan’s words to him that day.
Only by becoming strong could he truly shield those he wished to protect from the storms ahead.
Otherwise, his closeness would one day become a deadly blade…
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