Chapter 10
<Previous Chapter<Table of Contents>Next Chapter>
Ling Rui’s footsteps startled the people inside the room. Just then, Cuixi, who had put away the wooden horse, came looking for him and saw the little prince running outside.
“Seventh Prince, slow down.”
Cuixi urgently cautioned: “Be careful not to fall!”
As soon as she said this, Ling Rui’s small body tilted sharply, and just as he was about to fall, a sharp-eyed little eunuch in the courtyard caught him.
Cuixi was so shocked that cold sweat broke out.
Noble Consort Yi also came out of the room, her face taut, and squatted down in front of Ling Rui to check if he was hurt: “Didn’t I tell you? You can’t run around in the courtyard.”
Ling Rui was in a hurry.
He blocked Noble Consort Yi’s hand with his own little hand, still wanting to go out: “Find Daddy! Niang Niang, find Daddy!”
Noble Consort Yi saw that he was running out because he had overheard the conversation. He didn’t understand much, but he had caught the key point—
Consort Ru’s soup must not be drunk by his daddy.
“Little Seven, be good.”
Noble Consort Yi wanted to stop the soup but it was too late. She could only coax her little one: “You stay in the palace, I’ll go find your daddy.”
“No.”
Ling Rui didn’t want to stay in the palace. He pointed at the door and insisted: “Go out.”
Seeing the stalemate, Ji Yan bent down and whispered to Noble Consort Yi: “Niang Niang, since we don’t know the situation at Chengming Palace, it might be good for the Seventh Prince to take a look.”
“If the Emperor hasn’t drunk the soup yet, we can find an excuse for the Seventh Prince to take the soup away.
If he has already drunk it, the Emperor probably won’t allow the Seventh Prince to enter again, so we wouldn’t lose much. When it comes to how to handle Consort Ru’s situation, we’ll figure it out then.
After Ji Yan’s suggestion, Noble Consort Yi looked at Ling Rui’s little face and stared at him for a long while.
Recently, the Emperor’s attitude towards Little Seven had improved somewhat.
But that didn’t mean he still liked Little Seven or was willing to see him now…
“Ji Yan, take the windmill that Little Seven made yesterday and say that he wants to give it to the Emperor. If the Emperor doesn’t want to see Little Seven, bring him back.”
“Yes.”
Ji Yan responded, picked up the little prince still standing in front of Noble Consort Yi, and walked out.
After Ji Yan and Ling Rui left, Noble Consort Yi also stood up, her phoenix eyes squinting towards Zaochun Palace: “Every day there’s no peace.”
Did they think she didn’t know how to use underhanded methods?
She had secured her position as Noble Consort and maintained it stably, not just through beauty and the Emperor’s favor. Over the years, it wasn’t just one or two Consorts who had dared to provoke her and met their demise.
“Lian Wang.”
Noble Consort Yi dismissed the accompanying palace maids and called Lian Wang: “Go to Zaochun Palace and find something for me. Bring it back immediately once you have it.”
Lian Wang knelt on the ground, bowed his head, and agreed.
In Fenghua Palace, Noble Consort Yi had made two plans. She instructed Lian Wang to retrieve the drug that Consort Li intended to use to frame Consort Ru and took it into her possession.
It was said that the late emperor had taken too much of this drug in his later years, leading to his demise.
This was also why Emperor Ling despised this drug greatly.
She set the drug aside, her delicate brows furrowed with worry about the little one that Ji Yan had taken away. “By now, the clingy little one should have arrived.”
Noble Consort Yi had estimated the time well; Ling Rui had just arrived at Chengming Hall.
Lu Guang Gonggong greeted him at the hall entrance, smiling broadly: “Seventh Prince, I haven’t seen you for two days. How have you been?”
“Good.”
Ling Rui clutched the windmill in his hand, answering with a touch of pride on his small face: “I can eat two bowls of rice!”
“Oh my, our Seventh Prince is so amazing.” Lu Guang exaggeratedly expressed surprise, as if eating two bowls of rice was a great achievement.
As they chatted at the door, Ling Rui didn’t forget his purpose. He extended his little hands to Lu Guang: “Gonggong, carry me.”
Seeing his outstretched hands, Lu Guang instinctively picked him up.
Sitting in his arms, Ling Rui commanded in a soft voice: “Let’s go find Daddy!”
Lu Guang: “…”
Lu Guang didn’t move. He smiled helplessly and coaxed the little prince in his arms: “Seventh Prince, you came at an inconvenient time. The Emperor is currently playing chess with Consort Ru.”
Seeing that Lu Guang wasn’t heading inside, Ling Rui hugged his neck directly.
“Gonggong, let’s go!”
Ling Rui pressed his little face against Lu Guang’s, thinking that since Lu Guang was always with Daddy, he could surely see Daddy if Lu Guang took him inside.
Lu Guang saw the little prince pressing his cheek against his and quickly stopped him, saying, “Seventh Prince, you mustn’t. I am of low status and dare not dirty your esteemed self.”
Ling Rui blinked, not understanding his meaning.
He was still very young, and if people didn’t speak plainly, he truly couldn’t understand.
Before Lu Guang could clarify, Ling Rui had already pressed his soft, chubby cheek against Lu Guang’s face. The soft, warm touch made Lu Guang pause.
Lu Guang was the chief eunuch most trusted by Emperor Ling, and because of this status, most of the palace residents treated him kindly and showed him respect.
However, he had sharp eyes and knew that while the nobles were polite, they didn’t consider him a normal person.
They only saw him as an incomplete servant to be looked down upon.
But the innocent Seventh Prince in his arms always looked at him with bright, joyful eyes, full of genuine affection.
The Seventh Prince truly didn’t mind his status.
“Gonggong, I have a mill mill,” Ling Rui said.
Ling Rui persisted: “I want to show it to Daddy.”
Lu Guang looked at the windmill Ling Rui brought, and after some thought, decided to give him a chance: “Seventh Prince, the Emperor will be testing the Eldest Prince’s knowledge in the side hall soon. If you want to see the Emperor, you can wait there, okay?”
Ling Rui obediently nodded.
Seeing the little prince being so good, Lu Guang’s usually cold heart softened. Holding the little prince, he headed to the side hall, gently reminding him: “Seventh Prince, the Noble Consort treats you very well, but if you want to stay in Fenghua Palace, you should change the way you address her.”
As for changing the topic, Lu Guang lowered his eyes and remained silent.
Soon after,
Ling Rui was carried to a side hall where there were ready tables and chairs. Among them was a set of low tables and chairs, and as he got down, Ling Rui promptly sat on one of the low chairs.
“Gonggong, where’s daddy?”
“The Emperor will be here shortly, Seventh Prince. Please be patient,” Lu Guang replied, preparing to bring him some pastries and goat’s milk.
But Ling Rui shook his head, declining the pastries and milk, and instead asked for paper and pen.
Papa wanted to check his knowledge, and he wanted to write down what he knew.
Before long, Lu Guang brought paper and pen, setting them up for the little prince seated on the chair. “Seventh Prince, can you write?” he asked.
Ling Rui gripped the pen with his small hand and nodded seriously.
Lu Guang stood beside him, watching expectantly as he started writing. “In the palace, the earliest to learn writing was the Eldest Prince. He could recognize and write characters before he was even three years old. You are even earlier than the Eldest Prince.”
Before Lu Guang could finish his praise, he saw the serious expression on the Seventh Prince’s small face. Gripping the pen, after dipping it in ink, he began to write.
He drew a line on the paper.
“This is 1.”
The Seventh Prince continued to seriously draw more lines.
He filled the entire page with 1’s.
Lu Guang’s smile froze on his face. “Seventh Prince, is this the great writing you know?”
Ling Rui: “…”
Ling Rui thought for a moment, then firmly replied, “Yes.”
Lu Guang was speechless.
Just as he was about to find the right words, a slightly cool voice sounded, “Not bad.”
Lu Guang looked up and saw who had arrived.
The newcomer was about eleven or twelve years old, dressed in a bright yellow robe. Though his face still had some childishness, his demeanor was calm and steady. He had little expression, and his voice was indifferent.
“Big Brother.”
Ling Rui looked up, his expression changing from confusion to determination. He remembered what Lu Guang had said earlier.
Lu Guang had mentioned that the Eldest Prince would be coming.
The Eldest Prince was his big brother!
Ling Rui’s soft “Big Brother” made Ling Chen raise an eyebrow.
There were several chairs under the low table, and Ling Chen sat down next to Ling Rui.
“Besides this ‘1’, what else do you know?”
“I can recognize big characters, count, and also do arithmetic!”
Ling Rui eagerly listed all he could do to his big brother.
Hearing this, Ling Chen’s previously expressionless face showed a hint of appreciation.
“Very good.”
Ling Chen, who had always been strict about his siblings’ studies, patted Ling Rui’s head approvingly.
This newly appeared Little Seven was not only cute but also very motivated.
Ling Chen picked up another pen from the table and asked Ling Rui, “What characters can you recognize?”
Ling Rui listed the characters he knew.
Ling Chen wrote them down one by one and asked him to identify each one.
Ling Rui stared at the paper for a long time, then pouted: “No, no, it’s not right.”
“It’s different from what Sixth Brother taught me.”
Ling Chen: “?”
Ling Chen’s eyelid twitched violently: “Wait, who taught you these characters?”
“Sixth Brother!”
“And arithmetic?”
“Sixth Brother too!”
Ling Chen: “…”
The veins on Ling Chen’s forehead stood out.
He took a deep breath and gave Ling Rui a few simple arithmetic problems. After seeing Ling Rui’s answers, he pressed his temples and closed his eyes.
That Sixth Brother of his, the one always last in class, seemed to want to teach another brother to be equally last!
While the two princes were “exchanging” their studies, Lu Guang stepped aside, wisely not interrupting.
The Eldest Prince was the oldest among the princes and had a calm demeanor. He treated his younger siblings with a stern elder brother’s attitude.
But this stern brother was evidently less strict with the soft and cute Seventh Prince.
The Seventh Prince was terrible at arithmetic and couldn’t recognize many characters.
If it were the chubby Sixth Prince, he’d probably have received a tap on the head by now. But the Seventh Prince, with his adorable face, had yet to be reprimanded once by the Eldest Prince.
“Big Brother.”
After being corrected, Ling Rui, with his big black eyes, asked the Eldest Prince in confusion, “Is Little Seven wrong?”
The Eldest Prince, facing his beautiful little face, paused for a few seconds and replied, “It’s your Sixth Brother who is wrong, not you. If you want to join the school, I will speak to the tutor and have you attend.”
Ling Rui: “!”
Ling Rui, who had long wanted to go to school, opened his arms and hugged the Eldest Prince, joyfully exclaiming, “Big Brother, okay!”
Ling Chen patted his head and had him sit back down.
The atmosphere in the side hall was harmonious, while in the adjacent Chengming Hall, the Emperor and Consort Ru were sitting face to face. After taking a sip of the soup Consort Ru had offered, the Emperor inexplicably felt a bit restless.
Though Consort Ru had dressed meticulously, her appearance was not enough to move his heart.
He stared at Consort Ru, frowning at his inexplicable impulse.
“Has the Eldest Prince arrived?”
After finishing a game of chess, the Emperor averted his gaze from Consort Ru and casually asked the attendant eunuch.
The eunuch quickly nodded, “The Eldest Prince has arrived.”
The Emperor glanced towards the side hall, contemplating a reason to send the Eldest Prince away.
But the eunuch added, “Your Majesty, the Seventh Prince is also here. Lu Guang Gonggong said the Seventh Prince made a small windmill and wants to give it to you.”
The Emperor: “…”
The image of a small clingy child flashed in his mind.
After a few seconds of hesitation, he got up: “Let’s go and see.”
Approaching the side hall, he heard the little clingy child’s adoring praise: “Big Brother, you are amazing!”
The elder brother, being adored, was reciting ancient poetry for him to learn.
Their voices blended, creating a warm scene.
The Emperor cleared his throat and walked over.
His footsteps startled Ling Rui, who was reciting poetry with his big brother. Seeing his Royal Father, Ling Rui’s eyes lit up.
“Daddy!”
The little one stopped reciting and ran towards him on his short legs.
The Emperor bent down and lifted him up as he ran over.
Seeing his Royal Father safe and sound, Ling Rui beamed with joy.
Being so close to the little one improved the Emperor’s mood, despite his inexplicable restlessness.
Suppressing this restlessness, he held his little son and sat down to examine Ling Chen’s studies.
The examination didn’t take long.
In less than a cup of tea’s time, he sent Ling Chen back.
“Little Seven, you’ve been out for a while. Noble Consort Yi must be worried. Go back, and Royal Father will visit you later.”
The Emperor wasn’t foolish; he soon realized that there was something wrong with his body. He planned to send Little Seven away and then investigate what was causing his condition.
However, Ling Rui clung to him, unwilling to leave.
“I want Daddy,” Ling Rui said, holding his little windmill, his beautiful eyes looking expectantly at the Emperor. “Niang Niang said I could play with Daddy.”
He loved playing with his little windmill, running around the courtyard with it. But after playing with him a few times, Niang Niang stopped playing with him. She said that Daddy had more energy and could play with him.
Ling Rui held up his little windmill, preventing the Emperor from moving.
Time passed by minute by minute.
In the end, the Emperor couldn’t delay any longer. Just as he put Ling Rui down and was about to have someone take him away, an urgent palace attendant arrived.
“Your Majesty, Noble Consort Yi is in trouble at Zaochun Palace!”
Can’t wait until next week to see more? Want to show your support? Come to my Patreon where you can get up to 5 more chapters of Did The Young Prince’s Kingdom Get Destroyed Today? right away or get access to early chapters of all the available BL novels translated by Lazy Girl T! Go donate at Paypal or Ko-fi to show your appreciation! :)
<Previous Chapter<Table of Contents>Next Chapter>
Obrigada pela tradução