Chapter 26
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This chaotic extracurricular tutoring session finally ended with the arrival of the instructor. As soon as the instructor arrived, the classroom fell silent.
“Everyone, return to your seats.”
The instructor, holding a ruler, sat down. In no time, all the princes and princesses were seated properly.
Even Ling Rui, who was wiping his tears, put down his hands and sat up straight.
The instructor scanned the room and finally focused on Ling Rui’s tear-streaked face. He couldn’t pretend not to see him.
“What’s the matter, Your Highness?” the instructor asked.
Ling Rui, following the rules, stood up and, still with a sob in his voice, replied, “I don’t know how to do arithmetic.”
The instructor was speechless.
After learning about the arithmetic problem he had done, the instructor paused for a few seconds and then asked, “Your Highness, what’s the highest number you can count to?”
Ling Rui choked up, counted on his fingers, and showed the instructor: “1, 2, 3… 10.”
He counted to ten and then started over again.
Asking a little prince who could only count to ten to solve a problem with an answer of twenty was almost impossible.
The instructor cleared his throat and comforted the sad little prince, “Your Highness, you are still young and don’t need to solve these arithmetic problems yet. Did you memorize the poems I assigned?”
“Yes.”
Ling Rui recited the poems the instructor had assigned, word for word.
The instructor nodded in satisfaction, “Very good. Your current progress is excellent. You may sit down.”
In the classroom, the instructor had the highest authority. All the princes and princesses, regardless of their temperament, had to obey him. And not just anyone could serve as an instructor for the princes and princesses.
After questioning Ling Rui, the instructor called up Ling Fu.
Ling Fu, with his head down, obediently listened to the reprimand.
After a day of study, Ling Rui walked hand-in-hand with Ling Fu. The older siblings who had tutored Ling Rui earlier saw them and reminded him, “Little Seven, next time you want to study, go straight to the instructor.”
Ling Rui nodded his little head.
After the older siblings walked away, Ling Fu shook Ling Rui’s hand and cheerfully said, “Little Seven, let’s go play in the garden! We can kick the ball around.”
Though Ling Fu wasn’t good at studying, he had a genuinely good nature.
He took Ling Rui, with the little ball, to the back garden to play.
Ling Rui loved playing with the ball. The two little ones kicked it back and forth, competing to see who could kick it the farthest and most accurately: “Sixth Brother, I kicked it far!”
“Not as far as I did!”
Ling Fu, not to be outdone, played ball with him for a good hour.
Cuixi followed them, somewhat anxious, afraid that the little prince might fall and hurt himself on the garden’s stone path, which, though smooth, was still hard.
While she was worried, the little prince kicked the ball and didn’t hurt himself, but it did hit a woman in palace attire nearby.
“Ouch,” the elegantly dressed woman exclaimed.
The maid following her picked up the ball and angrily said, “Who kicked this ball? Don’t you know you hit our Niang Niang?”
Ling Rui looked at his ball and, with short steps, ran over to apologize, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to.”
There hadn’t been anyone there when he kicked the ball.
“Do you think saying it’s unintentional makes it right?” the maid scolded, “Our Niang Niang just gained favor, and you dare to offend her—”
“Who is this Niang Niang?” Cuixi stepped forward before the maid could finish.
She gathered the apologizing Seventh Prince behind her and, with a polite smile, said to the maid, “Our Seventh Prince didn’t mean to disturb your Niang Niang. If you think it was intentional, I will report to our Noble Consort, and she can clarify it with your Niang Niang, okay?”
As soon as Cuixi mentioned the Seventh Prince, the maid’s face turned pale.
When she mentioned reporting to the Noble Consort, the maid’s face went white, and she immediately apologized, “It’s my fault for not recognizing the Seventh Prince.”
“No, I was mistaken. The Seventh Prince did not hit our Niang Niang.”
The maid repeatedly apologized, urging her Niang Niang to apologize too, “Our Niang Niang is newly favored and not familiar with the Seventh Prince…”
Although the newly favored beauty hadn’t met the Seventh Prince before, she knew about Noble Consort Yi.
Her earlier arrogance vanished, and she joined her maid in apologizing to Cuixi.
Cuixi retrieved the ball and handed it back to Ling Rui.
She calmly said, “Our Seventh Prince still wants to play.”
The beauty hurriedly left upon hearing this.
As she walked away, Cuixi crouched down in front of Ling Rui and asked gently, “Seventh Prince, are you scared? How about we go back to the palace for dinner?”
“No.”
Ling Rui hugged the ball softly and replied, “I still want to play with Sixth Brother.”
He was a playful little rui beast, full of energy and love for playtime.
Ling Fu also loved to play, and the two of them, now playing together, kicked the ball around for a while before starting a game of hide-and-seek, with one chasing and the other hiding.
“Little Seven, where are you?”
When it was Ling Fu’s turn to seek, he searched for Ling Rui but couldn’t find him anywhere.
Ling Rui had hidden up a tree, climbing up swiftly. From up there, he could see Ling Fu searching for him everywhere.
He hugged the tree branch, his face filled with joy.
After some time passed, Ling Fu still hadn’t found Ling Rui, and he started to worry, “Little Seven, did you leave?! If you left, you should’ve told me.”
“Didn’t leave.”
“He didn’t leave.”
Two voices sounded at the same time. Emperor Ling, passing by, had already noticed them, especially Ling Rui sitting in the tree, which made his eyelids twitch.
He approached and stood beneath the tree, looking up, “Little Seven, come down.”
Being discovered, Ling Rui looked at his Royal Father and brother, and with a good temper, said, “Okay.”
He stepped on the branches, preparing to climb down by hugging the trunk.
Before he could climb down much, he lost his balance, his little hand slipped, and he fell straight down.
Ling Rui: “!”
He flailed in panic.
Emperor Ling also looked startled, instinctively reaching out to catch the child.
Luckily, Emperor Ling wasn’t lacking in strength; he caught the child steadily in his arms.
“Why did you climb so high?”
Emperor Ling frowned, “It’s dangerous. Where is your attendant?”
“Daddy, don’t be mad.”
Sitting in Emperor Ling’s arms, Ling Rui hugged his neck and rubbed his face against it, “Don’t be mad.”
Emperor Ling was softened by his affectionate gesture.
Father and son hadn’t spent much time together lately. Ling Rui was busy in school during the day, playing with Ling Fu after school, and then sleeping with the Noble Consort at night.
His schedule was quite full.
It had also been a while since Ling Rui had been close to Emperor Ling, so seeing him now brought a sense of longing.
He hugged Emperor Ling tightly.
Emperor Ling lifted his little bottom and said, “You’ve gotten a bit chubby.”
Just a bit, not too noticeable.
Ling Rui liked being chubby. He squinted his eyes happily and shared his secret to gaining weight, “I eat a lot of food!”
Emperor Ling nodded in agreement, “Eating more is good.”
After saying that, he glanced at the slightly chubby Ling Fu and added in his mind—
Of course, gaining weight should be done in moderation.
It would be even better if Little Six could slim down a bit.
In the garden, Emperor Ling spent some time with his two sons.
Towards the end, little chubby’s stomach growled.
Ling Rui also felt his tummy and said to Emperor Ling, “I’m hungry.”
Emperor Ling: “…”
Emperor Ling: “Let’s go, I’ll take you both to dinner.”
Dinner was served in the Chengming Hall. Ling Fu was a bit older than Ling Rui, and he hadn’t spent as much time with Emperor Ling, so there weren’t as many intimate gestures between them as with Ling Rui.
Ling Fu didn’t feel envious; he just really liked his Seventh Brother. If Royal Father liked Seventh Brother, that meant they had the same preferences—truly Father and son!
“Daddy, can we play together after dinner?”
Ling Rui pushed his food around in his bowl, still not finished eating, and invited Emperor Ling to play after dinner.
Emperor Ling had planned to spend the night with a young beauty tonight, but seeing Ling Rui’s eager expression, he thought for a moment and agreed, “Sure, what do you want to play?”
“Play lots of things!”
Ling Rui knew a lot of games to play.
The princes in the palace were all very intelligent, especially Ling Chen, who had started learning early and worked hard in his studies.
Emperor Ling had high expectations for the princes, but with Little Six and Little Seven around, who both loved to play, he didn’t blame them. After all, they were still young, and there was nothing wrong with playing.
After dinner, Ling Rui drew squares on the ground and played hopscotch with Emperor Ling.
After playing for a while, Ling Fu was called back to do his homework.
He tended to procrastinate with his homework, so if he wasn’t reminded to start early, he could end up working late into the night.
Once Ling Fu left, Ling Rui remained.
Emperor Ling had someone send a message to the Fenghua Palace, instructing Ling Rui to stay in the Chengming Hall for the night.
“I understand.”
After receiving the message, Noble Consort Yi rewarded the messenger.
She sat on her couch and massaged her temples, “Finally, I can get a good night’s sleep tonight.”
Ji Yan, sitting at her feet and massaging her legs, chuckled and said, “Without the little prince disturbing you, the servant is worried that the Niang Niang won’t be able to adapt.”
Noble Consort Yi chuckled and denied it, “What do I need to adapt to? This little guy is getting more and more energetic. I don’t know where he gets all this energy every day.”
“Niang Niang, at his age, it’s normal to be energetic. He’s not even four or five yet. There’s a saying among commoners that children at the age of four or five are as troublesome as cats and dogs.”
Hearing this, Noble Consort Yi raised an eyebrow, “If he dares to be troublesome at that time, I’ll give him a spanking.”
Noble Consort Yi’s words sounded harsh, but Ji Yan knew she was just putting on a tough front.
When the little prince in the palace accidentally bumped into things, the Niang Niang would feel heartache and would hold him, comforting him for a long time.
When the little prince truly reaches the age of four or five and starts causing trouble, the Niang Niang might not even bear to punish him.
As they talked, they eventually began discussing Emperor Ling.
Ji Yan lowered her head and said softly, “Niang Niang, His Majesty really values our Seventh Prince.”
Noble Consort Yi leaned against the beauty couch in silence.
His Majesty valued and cherished the Seventh Prince, but she had no intention of letting him compete for the throne.
Being an emperor wielded supreme power, but being an emperor also had its burdens.
She didn’t want the Seventh Prince to become emperor; she just wanted him to live safely and happily.
As night fell, Ling Rui, who was staying in the Chengming Hall, changed into a white undershirt and sat on the bed, playing with origami.
After finishing his nightly routine, Emperor Ling also sat down.
“Little Seven, are there patterns on this origami?”
“Yes.”
Ling Rui generously handed the origami to Emperor Ling. “Second Sister drew them.”
He didn’t talk much with his second sister, but he liked to watch her draw.
His second sister could draw many small animals.
Whenever she left her drawings of animals on the table, he would ask for them.
“Daddy, this one is a tiger.”
“This is a panda, so cute.”
As Ling Rui spoke, he was lifted onto Emperor Ling’s lap.
The two of them sat together like this, and Ling Rui introduced each animal on the origami to Emperor Ling.
“Why isn’t there a dragon?” Emperor Ling suddenly asked.
Ling Rui was taken aback.
He looked at the origami and honestly replied, “Second Sister didn’t draw one.”
He knew about dragons; they were auspicious creatures. But true dragons had long since disappeared.
He had heard that remnants of dragon energy still existed in the world, and if they could find it, their bodies would become stronger!
But he wasn’t sure if that was true.
“Little Seven, do you want to become a true dragon emperor?”
Ling Rui: “?”
Ling Rui opened his mouth and shook his head vigorously like a drum.
“No.”
He was just a little rui beast, so why would he want to be a dragon?
Ling Rui’s answer made Emperor Ling silent for a moment.
After a while, Emperor Ling hugged him and continued, “Little Seven, if someone hopes that you will become a true dragon emperor in the future?”
“It won’t happen.”
Ling Rui leaned against him, his serious black eyes full of sincerity. “Mother said she hopes Little Seven will be happy and live joyfully.”
Everyone wanted him to be happy, nobody wanted him to become a dragon.
Emperor Ling looked at his innocent face and smiled in the end. “Hmm, Little Seven being a happy child is enough.”
After chatting for a while, Emperor Ling patiently played origami games with Ling Rui.
That night, Ling Rui, who slept beside Emperor Ling, felt a brief warmth in his small body once again.
The next day.
Emperor Ling got up quietly, not wanting to disturb the child on the bed.
“It’s still early, no need to wake the Seventh Prince up so soon.”
“Understood.”
Because no one woke up Ling Rui in the Chengming Hall, he ended up being late for school.
When he woke up and realized he was late, he almost didn’t want to eat and just wanted to rush to school.
Lu Guang coaxed him into quickly eating a bowl of rice to fill his stomach before accompanying him to school.
Arriving at the school, Ling Rui, clutching his little clothes, stood at the door with his head down, feeling ashamed.
“I, I’m late.”
His voice was full of guilt. He felt embarrassed about oversleeping and being late.
The tutor had always been lenient with him, and seeing him almost in tears with his head bowed, he kindly said, “It’s okay, Seventh Prince, take your seat.”
“Thank you, Teacher.”
Sniffling, Ling Rui walked to his seat and sat down.
Another day of studying passed. After leaving the school, Ling Rui went straight back to the palace without looking for Emperor Ling.
Days passed uneventfully. Murong Xu’s birthday banquet was about to begin, and the princes and princesses in the palace would attend.
Ling Rui had already agreed with Ling Fu to play together in the General’s Residence.
“Little Seven, we can also bring Eldest Brother to play in the General’s Residence.”
Ling Fu thought since Ling Rui also liked playing with Eldest Brother, he suggested.
But the joyous child’s face fell when he heard the words “Eldest Brother.” “It seems like Eldest Brother doesn’t like me anymore.”
“How could that be?” Ling Fu didn’t believe it. “Eldest Brother likes you; he even takes you out of the palace to play.”
“Maybe he doesn’t like me anymore; he doesn’t let me see him.”
Ling Rui gloomily said to Ling Fu, “I’m at his palace gate, but I can’t see him.”
After Ling Chen was injured, he recuperated quietly in the palace and did not attend classes during this period.
Meanwhile, Ling Rui went to visit him in his palace, but couldn’t see him at all.
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