Chen Zhou’s prediction was calm. In the vision, he wore an official’s robe and looked as serene as he did now.
At Chen Zhou’s home, there was a particularly beautiful lady, though her voice wasn’t very gentle when she spoke.
Ling Rui quickly glanced at the vision before focusing back on Ah Wu.
He called several more times, “Ah Wu, Ah Wu?”
But still, there was no response from Ah Wu.
Ling Rui began to panic.
Previously, no matter what Ah Wu was doing, even if he was bathing, he would respond.
After calling out for a while with no reaction, Ling Rui found his snacks tasteless and the storytelling boring.
The storyteller continued to talk about the entanglements between Great Qing, Great Wei, and Great Qi.
These were all powerful, ambitious nations.
If Qi Dynasty hadn’t been allied with Great Qing, it might have been swallowed up by Great Wei to the west long ago.
Great Wei had coveted the Qi Dynasty for a long time.
For a small child, these stories were too complex.
Once the prediction time ended, Ling Rui finished Chen Zhou’s prediction and moved on to Jiang Yan’s.
In Jiang Yan’s vision, he was on a battlefield, saved by someone who demanded he repay the favor with his body.
During Jiang Yan’s prediction, Ling Rui called out to Ah Wu again.
This time, Ah Wu finally responded.
“Little Seven, I’m here.”
Before Ling Rui could express his grievances, Ah Wu explained first, “I just fell asleep. I’ve been feeling unwell lately and easily fall asleep.”
Hearing this, the little guy’s upset feelings vanished.
He hurriedly reminded Ah Wu, “You should take medicine!”
Ah Wu replied, “I have. What has little one been up to?”
Ling Rui kept a diary of his daily activities and sent it to Ah Wu.
So, when asked, Ling Rui didn’t answer directly but instead asked Ah Wu, “Are you well? What are you doing?”
He wanted to know how Ah Wu was doing.
Ah Wu paused before replying in a calm tone, “I’ve been fine, just have to go on a trip for studies.”
“Where are you going to study?” Ling Rui pressed.
Ah Wu seemed reluctant to say.
But the little guy insisted, urging him, “Tell me.”
Under the little guy’s persistence, Ah Wu finally answered, “I’m going to Guan Shan Residence Academy.”
Guan Shan Residence Academy was a place Ling Rui had never heard of.
“I see.”
Though unfamiliar with the place, the little guy nodded, indicating he understood.
Remembering Ah Wu’s promise to visit, the little guy asked expectantly, “Will you still come to see me?”
Ah Wu: “It will be a bit later.”
The little guy felt disappointed but tried to stay positive, “Alright.”
Sensing his disappointment, Ah Wu tried to cheer him up by mentioning a gift he sent.
Ah Wu’s gifts were frequent, but Ling Rui only wanted to see Ah Wu.
They chatted for a while until the little one felt better, and their connection ended.
Unable to speak with Ah Wu anymore, the little guy sat up straight, holding his chubby cheeks, lost in thought or listening to the storyteller.
After staying like this for a while, the little one’s ears twitched.
He heard the storyteller mention the words “Guan Shan Residence.”
The storyteller said that Guan Shan Residence is located on Guan Shan Island, which is known as a paradise on earth. The island is secluded, and it’s said that many hidden masters live there in solitude.
This time, the three powerful nations joined forces to send their princes and princesses there to train and cultivate them.
The little one, hearing this, raised his small hand and bravely asked, “Are only the princes and princesses of these three countries allowed to go? Can princes from other countries go too?”
“They can.”
The storyteller, who didn’t know where he got his information from, paused for a few seconds before saying, “Some smaller countries have also sent their princes and princesses, but they were merely sent as foils.”
The little one blinked his eyes and curiously asked, “Are we a small country?”
Storyteller: “…”
The storyteller didn’t dare to answer.
He vaguely avoided the little one’s question and continued talking about other things.
As time passed, the little one saw that the storyteller was taking a break, so he, feeling a bit disappointed, continued walking with Jiang Yan and Chen Zhou.
The children walked down the street, while Ah Wu, who had just spoken to the little one, was lying on his bed with blood covering his arm. His face was expressionless as he endured the imperial doctor extracting poison.
The imperial doctor, seeing this, couldn’t help but feel pity. He said softly, “Your Highness, if it hurts, you can cry out. It might help relieve the pain a little.”
Ah Wu responded calmly, “There’s no need.”
It was just cutting flesh to remove poison; he could bear it.
The imperial doctor’s hand almost trembled as he removed the poison. He had never seen a child as resilient as the little prince. Despite his young age, the doctor felt that, among the princes, none had more determination than him.
The Great Qing Dynasty was clearly best suited to be in the hands of the crown prince.
But their emperor, his resolve now weakened, had developed doubts about the crown prince.
“Your Highness, please take care of your health,” the doctor said earnestly as he bandaged the little prince’s wounds. “As long as you stay healthy, in the future… everything will be yours.”
Ah Wu said nothing.
His cold eyes were full of hostility. This time, he had underestimated the new empress’s schemes, but it didn’t matter; he had long been accustomed to a survival environment where the strong prey on the weak, even before coming into this world.
He had carved out territory for the little one in the world of mountains and seas through fighting and killing.
Here, he could do the same.
This world was even more interesting than the world of mountains and seas, at least because his little one liked it more here. Anything his little one liked, he would mark as his territory.
After the doctor finished treating his wounds, sweat had formed on his forehead.
He stepped back, leaving the little crown prince to rest.
After the doctor left, Ah Wu leaned back on the bed and closed his eyes.
The poison earlier had caused him to fall into a brief coma, during which he couldn’t hear the little one calling his name the first time.
Thinking of this, his fist clenched slowly at his side. Before heading to Guan Shan Residence, he planned to send the new empress a little gift.
What would be appropriate? Perhaps the life of her profligate brother or a bride title in the palace for her sharp-tongued, insulting sister.
The two sisters were very close; when the younger one had her eyes on another’s husband, the new empress made sure the wife of that man died of a sudden illness.
Now, the poor wife had been dead for less than a hundred days, and the empress sisters were already planning how to arrange a marriage using the emperor.
Weddings were joyous occasions, but having the old emperor as the groom would be even more festive.
Ah Wu kept his eyes closed, contemplating these matters.
Compared to him, the little one—despite being just slightly younger—had a mind far less complicated. The little one, wearing a veil and carrying pocket money from the noble consort, wandered the streets with his two companions.
The little one bought earrings for his mother, a beautiful hairpin for his second sister, a flower ribbon for his fifth sister, and some food for his third and sixth brothers.
He also spent his remaining money on writing paper for Zhu Zi and the others to practice calligraphy.
Though the items were inexpensive, they represented the little one’s heartfelt intentions.
After finishing his shopping, he returned to the palace and distributed the gifts one by one. The noble consort’s original earrings were worth a fortune, but when she saw the simple pair of earrings the little one had bought with just a few coins, she immediately had Ji Yan remove her earrings and replace them with the new ones featuring small green butterflies.
Ji Yan, helping her put on the earrings, smiled brightly.
She said to Noble Consort Yi, “Your Highness, these earrings look stunning on you. Our little prince is so thoughtful—every time he goes to the market, he brings back something for you.”
These rough earrings were the first of their kind that Noble Consort Yi had ever worn.
Though not exquisite or particularly beautiful, with a garish mix of colors that looked a bit cheap, to the little one, they were lovely.
He thought they were beautiful, so he bought them and gifted them to his beloved noble consort.
Noble Consort Yi touched the earrings as she looked in the mirror.
She was so beautiful that even these rough earrings seemed noble when worn by her.
The little one finished delivering his gifts but didn’t buy anything for himself.
He had spent all his money and had none left to buy himself anything.
Emperor Ling saw Noble Consort Yi’s earrings and asked, “Where did you get those earrings? Did Little Seven give them to you? I saw he gave a ribbon to Little Five.”
“Yes, he gave them to me.”
“Oh.”
Emperor Ling pursed his thin lips and thought—
The little guy went out and bought gifts for everyone, but none for him.
Emperor Ling suddenly felt displeased.
Feeling unhappy, he found something to pick on: “Little Seven isn’t back yet? Where has he gone to play this time?”
“I don’t know.”
Noble Consort Yi only knew that the little one was in the palace. After the last beating, the little guy didn’t dare to run around and make himself hard to find.
While they were talking about the little one, he was sneaking into his third brother’s room and found Shui Shui.
“Third Brother hid you so well!”
Ling Rui sneaked into the room and saw Shui Shui eating and reading at the same time, admiring his third brother from the bottom of his heart.
Being able to hide Shui Shui right under the Empress’s nose and raise him was truly an extraordinary feat.
Shui Shui was also happy to see him.
“Little Seven.”
Normally quiet, Shui Shui even called his name.
“Yeah, I came to see you!”
Ling Rui hugged him, then sat beside him, planning to accompany him.
Whenever Sixth Brother read picture books, Ling Rui would sit with him.
Seeing Ling Rui wanted to read with him, Shui Shui moved the book closer to him.
Ling Rui snuggled up and started reading, but the more he read, the more confused he became: “Where are the words? Why can’t I see the words?”
Shui Shui pointed to a bunch of symbols in the book and said concisely, “These are words.”
Ling Rui: “…”
Ling Rui was stunned.
At that moment, he felt like a little illiterate.
The book Shui Shui was reading had not a single word he recognized.
“It’s not in Qi Dynasty language.”
Shui Shui, seeing his confusion, explained, “I can read it, but Third Brother can’t.”
Hearing that even his third brother couldn’t read it, the little guy felt relieved.
Fortunately, he wasn’t the only one feeling illiterate.
“Shui Shui, are you doing well here?”
“Yes.”
When Shui Shui said “yes,” his tone was firm. He truly felt at ease here.
His stomach could be full, and he could find the books he loved.
Sleeping was also comfortable.
The bed here didn’t creak, wouldn’t crack, and wouldn’t lose two legs.
“As long as you’re happy here. If Third Brother doesn’t take care of you anymore, let me know.”
Daddy’s palace was big enough to take in another Shui Shui.
Shui Shui nodded.
After a while, he asked, “The veil?”
Ling Rui touched his veil and stammered, “This veil is beautiful.”
Shui Shui didn’t say anything, just looked at him quietly.
Under his gaze, Ling Rui hesitated for a few seconds but still took off the veil.
“Please, don’t laugh at me.”
The little guy, with a panda-like face, was being stared at by Shui Shui.
Shui Shui reached out and touched his face.
He didn’t laugh at him; instead, he said earnestly, “It’s cute.”
The panda-like face was very cute.
Under Shui Shui’s praise, Ling Rui’s confidence gradually turned into pride.
“Mother also said it was cute.”
“The other kids have ink on their faces, but they’re not cute!”
With his pride restored, the little guy no longer wore the veil and played with Shui Shui.
After playing for a while, Ling Rui was about to leave, but Shui Shui grabbed his arm and asked, “Are all the bad people in the mountains caught?”
“I don’t know. The bad people ran away, so there are no more bad people in the mountains.”
Daddy had searched the mountain several times and even found the underground palace with his claw marks.
All the things in the underground palace were taken out.
There were no more bad people in the mountains now.
Hearing this, Shui Shui asked, “Can I go there?”
Ling Rui: “?”
Ling Rui was puzzled, “Why do you want to go?”
Shui Shui’s tone was calm: “You mentioned the eight-leaf herb. I know it’s in the mountains.”
Ling Rui: “!!!”
Ling Rui’s eyes lit up.
His little face was full of excitement as he asked, “Really? Really? Is there really such a herb?”
He had been searching for so long without any success!
“Yes.” Shui Shui’s answer was brief and certain.
Hearing this, Ling Rui wished he could take him there immediately.
But it was already late today, so they couldn’t go out now.
“Wait, tomorrow night, we’ll go tomorrow night!”
“Okay.”
Leaving Shui Shui’s place, Ling Rui felt light on his feet.
Back at the palace, he began writing a letter to his fourth brother to share the good news.
The moon had risen, just hanging on the treetop.
The little guy sat by the window, swinging his head back and forth while reciting his lessons. Not far away, Emperor Ling sat there.
Father and son still weren’t speaking to each other.
Noble Consort Yi, seeing them in a stalemate for so many days, decided to give them a chance to reconcile.
“Little Seven, have you had your recent lessons checked by your father?”
“Daddy doesn’t check.”
The little guy muttered and continued reciting.
Emperor Ling also muttered, “A certain child doesn’t come to me for checking.”
“It was Daddy who stopped checking first.”
“It was a certain child who stopped coming to me first.”
As the father and son argued, Emperor Ling said to Noble Consort Yi without looking at the little guy, “Yi Er, tell a certain child that if he doesn’t want me to check his lessons, I won’t check anymore.”
The little guy also turned to Noble Consort Yi, “Mother, tell Daddy that if he doesn’t like me, he doesn’t have to look at me!”
Noble Consort Yi: “…”
Noble Consort Yi’s mouth twitched: “If you have something to say, say it to each other, don’t involve me.”
With that, she turned and left.
Inside the room, Emperor Ling and the little guy stared at each other. Finally, the little guy turned his face away again.
The little guy turned his face away, not actually reciting his lessons but staring at the book without taking anything in.
There was a moment of silence in the room.
After a while, the little guy asked sullenly, “Am I not good-looking anymore?”
“No.”
“Then why isn’t anyone comforting me?”
It had been several days, and after getting his bottom spanked, his father hadn’t come to comfort him.
Emperor Ling: “…”
Emperor Ling cleared his throat and walked over.
“Come here, I’ll comfort you.”
Outside the room, Noble Consort Yi waited for a moment before coming back in. Seeing the father and son finally reconciled, her face relaxed.
That night, the three of them slept together.
Ling Rui mentioned that he was going out and would bring plenty of guards; both Emperor Ling and Noble Consort Yi agreed.
With wide eyes, he added, “I… I also want to go to Guan Shan Residence Academy to study.”
Emperor Ling: “?”
Noble Consort Yi: “?”
