From the city gate to the palace gate, the people of the capital kept shouting "Prince Dai, long live" or "Prince Dai, hero" and the like.
The little episode that happened earlier, since the Crown Prince didn’t mind, the people didn’t care either and continued shouting loudly to their hero. It seed like the louder they shouted, the more they showed their respect to Prince Dai.
Zhao Yao initially felt invigorated by the earth-shattering shouts, but after a while, he found them annoying.
The Fourth Prince, seeing Zhao Yao frowning with a bit of displeasure, asked with concern, "What’s wrong, are you feeling uncomfortable sowhere?"
Zhao Yao shook his head and said, "Fourth brother, I’m fine, it’s just that..." At this point, he didn’t continue.
The Fourth Prince patiently asked, "What do you feel?"
Zhao Yao first looked around cautiously, and seeing no one was watching them, he raised his hand to his mouth and whispered, "Fourth brother, I feel these people keep calling, it’s a bit noisy." After saying this, he showed a timid expression, as if realizing he said the wrong thing. "Fourth brother, should I not say this about the people?"
Seeing the fear and unease in Zhao Yao’s eyes, the Fourth Prince smiled warmly at him, "You’re right, it is indeed a bit noisy."
Upon hearing this, Zhao Yao’s black and white eyes imdiately lit up, and he said a bit excitedly, "Fourth brother, do you really think it’s noisy?"
The Fourth Prince nodded, "Noisy, I don’t like it."
Only then did Zhao Yao rember that his fourth brother liked quietness. Seeing that his fourth brother shared his thoughts, he said happily, "Fourth brother, I don’t like it either."
The Eighth Prince, hearing their conversation, laughed and said, "I don’t like it either."
"I like Fourth Brother and Eighth Brother the most." Fourth Brother and Eighth Brother were indeed his best brothers, even their thoughts were the sa. "Fourth brother, Eighth brother, do you think their throats hurt from shouting like that, are they thirsty?" The people shouted so hard their voices went hoarse, but they were still shouting. Zhao Yao thought if they kept shouting like this, their throats would surely hurt a lot and they wouldn’t be able to speak the next morning.
The Eighth Prince looked at the people with their veins popping out from their necks, and let out a snicker: "Ignore them, let them shout."
The Fourth Prince cast a glance at the Eighth Prince, who showed a bit of mockery, with a trace of contemplation in his eyes.
"Fourth brother, Eighth brother, how much longer until we reach the palace?" On this road with only the shouts of the people and nothing else happening, Zhao Yao felt a bit bored.
The Fourth Prince, looking at the slow pace of the procession, estimated, "About half an hour or so."
"Half an hour more?" Zhao Yao grew a bit impatient. He suddenly thought of sothing and hurriedly asked, "Fourth brother, Eighth brother, do we have to study when we return to the palace? No, this afternoon we should be studying painting, do we still have to study painting when we return?" Other than disliking reading, Zhao Yao was willing to learn other things.
"This afternoon’s classes have been canceled, and we don’t have to study painting after returning to the palace." The Fourth Prince said jokingly to Zhao Yao, "Although the teacher is not teaching us painting this afternoon, you can co to my room, and I’ll teach you to read."
"What?" Zhao Yao’s little face imdiately fell upon hearing this. He pouted in displeasure and said, "Fourth brother, I don’t want to go to your room to read."
The Fourth Prince was not surprised at all to hear Zhao Yao say this.
He asked, "Did you understand what the teacher taught this morning?"
Uh...
Zhao Yao’s eyes flashed with guilt, and he turned his head not to look at the Fourth Prince.
"Fourth brother, can we not talk about reading?"
The Fourth Prince reached out to turn Zhao Yao’s little face back and pinched his chubby cheeks.
"I see you only want to play."
Zhao Yao tugged at the Fourth Prince’s sleeve, acting spoiled, "Fourth brother, it’s rare that we don’t have classes this afternoon, please let play."
The Fourth Prince poked Zhao Yao’s forehead, reminding him very coldly, "Tenth brother, Father asked you to copy the Analects a hundred tis, how much have you copied, and how much is left?"
With a boom, the Fourth Prince’s reminder struck Zhao Yao as if a bolt from the blue, leaving him frozen.
Seeing Zhao Yao in this thunderstruck state, the Fourth Prince and the Eighth Prince knew he had forgotten about the punishnt of copying the Analects.
"Have you been having so much fun these days that you’ve completely forgotten about the copying punishnt?" He reminded Zhao Yao again, "Father only gave you a month’s deadline, and there are only about ten days left until the deadline."
"What?" Zhao Yao exclaid, "Only ten days left?" This news was even more shocking to Zhao Yao, "I’m done for, I’m done for..."
The Third Prince and others, hearing Zhao Yao’s terrified cries, turned to look at him and asked, "Tenth brother, why are you screaming like a ghost?" After saying this, they saw Zhao Yao looking like he was about to cry, and asked amusingly, "What’s wrong with you?"
"Third brother, I’m done for, I forgot about Father punishing to copy the Analects." Ahhh, how could he forget such an important thing? With only ten days left, even if he had ten hands, he couldn’t finish copying a hundred tis.
"Hahaha..." The Third Prince and others were amused by Zhao Yao’s troubled words, "Tenth brother, you really are done for, Father will definitely not let you off."
The Fifth Prince gloated, "Tenth brother, you should take care."
"Tenth brother, seek good fortune for yourself." The Sixth Prince said this, but there was no trace of concern in his tone.
Seeing the Third Prince and others not only not comforting Zhao Yao but also gloating and waiting to see Zhao Yao punished by the Emperor, the Fourth Prince was very displeased, and his face involuntarily turned a bit cold.
"It’s not too late to start now." The Fourth Prince gently comforted Zhao Yao.
With the Fourth Prince present, the Eighth Prince didn’t have much to say, so he could only comfort Zhao Yao, "Tenth brother, there are still ten days, it’s completely doable."
With the comfort of the Fourth Prince and the Eighth Prince, Zhao Yao’s sorrowful and anxious mood was slightly relieved.
"I will try my best."
The Fourth Prince raised his hand and gently patted the back of Zhao Yao’s head, "Will you still dare to indulge in play and forget your responsibilities?"
Zhao Yao shook his head like a rattle, "I don’t dare, never again!"
The Fourth Prince rubbed Zhao Yao’s little face, "Alright, when we return to the palace, you don’t have to co to my room."
Zhao Yao listened, and his previously gloomy little face once again showed a smile.
"Fourth brother is the best."
Soon, Zhao Yao put this matter aside, sitting on horseback, continuing to watch the people on both sides of the road.
The people on both sides of the road, having seen the Crown Prince and Prince Dai, then turned their attention to the other princes. The Fourth Prince was the most handso among the princes. His deanor was calm and his temperant elegant, naturally making him the most eye-catching among the princes.
Many young won were gazing at the Fourth Prince with burning eyes, and they seed to be talking about sothing.
Today was because they were welcoming Prince Dai back to the capital that the young ladies could co out to the street. Usually, young ladies waiting to marry couldn’t reveal themselves so openly.
The Fourth Prince was only a year younger than the Third Prince. Consort Li was already secretly choosing an official wife for the Fourth Prince.
Many civil officials in the court supported the Fourth Prince because the Fourth Prince’s maternal grandfather was the sacrificial wine of the Imperial College.
The Li Family was a scholarly family. Since the previous dynasty, the Li Family Patriarch had always been the sacrificial wine of the Imperial College. Over the years, the disciples of the Li Family were spread throughout the world.
The Li Family held a high position in the hearts of scholars, not losing to the Kong Family of today. Since the previous dynasty, many officials in the court or regions were students of the Li Family.
Initially, the Li Family was unwilling to enter officialdom. In the dynasty before the previous one, the Li Family secluded themselves in deep mountains to study, never concerning themselves with politics, yet they were always very famous. The emperors of that dynasty wanted to invite the Li Family into officialdom to assist, but the Li Family preferred to face execution rather than descend from the mountains.
The founding emperor of the previous dynasty was a great and benevolent emperor who cared for the people. He visited the Li Family in their humble abode thrice to invite them out of seclusion. The Li Family agreed to assist because first, the founding emperor of the previous dynasty was a good emperor, and second, after the establishnt of the dynasty, ritual and music were in disrepair and urgently needed the Li Family to co out to restore order and rules.
The Li Family first served as Grand Tutors, and after restoring the ritual and rules, they were unwilling to hold office in the court, so they established the Imperial College and continued teaching there.
During the Emperor Xia Ling’s period, the Li Family was frad and suppressed, suffering nurous casualties. Disillusioned, the Li Family left the Imperial College and retreated to the mountains, intending to seclude themselves again and deciding never to co out. Later, the late Emperor personally went to the mountains, inviting the Li Family to co out and continue teaching at the Imperial College.
The Li Family, moved by the late Emperor’s sincerity, descended the mountains again, reopened the Imperial College, and continued educating.
During the ti when the Kong Family was scorned by scholars all over the world, the Li Family was held in high esteem by literati and students. Although the Li Family couldn’t match the millennial prestige of the Kong Family, their reputation was much better than the Kong Family’s.
Kong Taichang was unwilling to marry off his youngest daughter to Prince Dai also because he feared the Kong Family’s reputation would be tarnished again, disappointing scholars worldwide, and thereby the Li Family would replace the Kong Family.
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