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wangsejabin · 1 year

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Chapter 111

The rule in the study room is to enter at dawn and leave at dusk, so it is only natural that the imperial sons and grandsons who come to study should get up early.

If they were living in the palace, so be it, but if they were outside the palace, it was probably still early in the morning when they left.

This was a rule laid down by Emperor Taizu, who said that the more the sons of the dragon and the grandson of the phoenix, the more they had to sharpen themselves, and as it was now winter, the day dawned late, so it was only as bright as it could be, and they had to carry lanterns when walking along the palace roads.

The symbols on the lanterns differed from house to house, and when De Cai saw the lantern of the Eastern Palace behind him, he was busy whispering a word, and Zong Yue turned his head to look at it, stopped in his tracks and stood still to wait.

When Zong Duo came closer, he called out to his elder brother and said, "I got up early today, and when I came out, I saw that the door of my elder brother's courtyard was still closed, so I came here first, thinking that it was not easy to walk in the snow and I was afraid I would be late.

From a distance Zong Duo could not see Zong Yue's face, he only thought he meant what he said, but he didn't listen to it either.

Now that the new emperor has ascended to the throne, those who used to be imperial grandsons have now become offspring, and each family has a different mind.

There were those who were particularly unconvinced that it was the crown prince who had ascended to the throne, and those who, knowing that they could not be disobeyed, bowed their heads and behaved honestly, but on the whole there were more of the latter, so as soon as Zong Duo and Zong Yue walked in, they were surrounded by several children of their own age.

Zong Duo, in particular, was in the limelight, and even those who were much older and could not be bothered to behave in an ingratiating manner were all giving him their attention.

Zong Yue naturally had playmates too, the first of whom was Zong Wei from the Yue Wang Mansion.

Now, with the new emperor ascending to the throne, Yue Wang, who had been following the crown prince's side, had also risen to the top of the boat, and Zong Wei, who used to be a less conspicuous person in the upper study room, now also had a few playmates, but he and Zong Yue had long been friends and their relationship was naturally not ordinary.

Before they could say a few words, someone coughed a few times, the others thought it was the gentleman who had arrived and went to their seats.

It wasn't until they looked out the door and realised that Sir hadn't come, and seeing that it was Zong Duo who was coughing, their eyes all gathered there.

Someone said with concern, "Grand prince, are you alright?"

Zong Duo covered his mouth to suppress his cough as he said, "Yes."

The words had barely left his mouth before another series of coughs followed, and with the many concerned enquiries, further coughs were no longer apparent.

At that moment, a voice came from the door: "Have you finished the book you were asked to study?"

It was Wen Chengmao, a bachelor of the Hanlin Academy, who was also the chief teacher of the Upper School, overseeing the studies of all the imperial sons and grandsons in the Upper School. He was very knowledgeable, but was a serious and old-fashioned person, and was one of the most feared gentlemen among the imperial sons and grandsons.

"Mr. Wen." All of them stood up and bowed.

This rule was also laid down by Emperor Taizu, as the saying goes, the most important thing for a scholar is to respect the teacher. Although they were all imperial sons and grandsons, except for those very few, they did not need to pay respect to anyone, but the master still had to be respected.

"All of you gentlemen sit down, yesterday ......"

The room was extremely quiet, only Mr. Wen's voice could be heard, but a sharp cough suddenly rang out, interrupting his words.

Wen Chengmao dropped his gaze on Zong Duo's body and asked, "Is the Grand Prince unwell?"

He said, "I am not unwell, I just got up this morning and caught some wind," he said, but his face was red from holding his cough.

He Nian came in with some warm water, not forgetting to apologise to Mr. Wen.

After drinking the warm water, Zong Duo finally felt better, and He Nian was busy retreating again, and Mr. Wen didn't say anything, continuing with his unfinished conversation.

After that, it was time to check the books that had been set out to be warmed yesterday, some had been warmed but some had not.

Both Zong Duo and Zong Yue were praised, but Zong Duo inevitably coughed a few times during this period, thus attracting a lot of stares.

Everyone had heard that the eldest prince was not in good health, but usually they didn't think so, they only thought that the eldest prince was a bit thinner than his peers, but he was taller than his peers, so it didn't show much. But now it snowed last night, and today he is suffering from cold, so it seems that the words of weakness are true.

The younger ones in the upper study did not feel anything, after all, they were still young, but the older ones already knew what to do. The first and second princes are only half a year apart, one is the direct son of the middle palace, the other is the son of a favoured concubine, one is frail, the other is healthy, and now that the crown prince has not been established, it is not clear who will win.

All this was not apparent on the surface, but more people came to talk to Zong Yue after class.

The upper study was in the Qianqing Palace, on the south side of the east side of the palace, so naturally what happened here could not be hidden from Zong Cong. Especially since it was Zong Duo's business, Zong Cong knew about it before noon.

He did not say anything when he learned of the news, but his expression was slightly grave.

After the hour of Shenyang, Zong Cong went back to the Eastern Palace and did not go anywhere but to Zong Duo's courtyard.

When he went there, Zong Duo was being covered by He Nian in bed, sweating. He Nian said he would report to Empress Chen, but Zong Duo refused and lost his temper.

Everyone was surprised to see His Majesty coming, especially Zong Duo, who wanted to get off the couch to salute his father, but was held down by Zong Cong.

"Since you are not feeling well, lie down."

"There is nothing uncomfortable about my son, I just coughed a few times in the morning after getting blown by the wind, and He Nian is making a fuss and insisting that I lie down in bed."

His face turned red as if he had been caught in a lie, embarrassment and discomfort intertwined on his face.

He sighed in his heart, but did not seem to see anything on the surface, reprimanding He Nian for not bringing water, and saying that the coals in the house did not seem to be hot, and that the servant was not careful.

When Fulu went to give the servants in the house a lecture, Zong Duo also regained his composure.

It was also the first time that his father had shown such care for him, and his eyes were full of adoration, forgetting what he had covered up earlier.

"When father was your age, he was very playful, and the little eunuchs knew a lot of tricks, so he followed them and learned to play dice. I have heard from Sir Wen that you were unwell.”

“I wanted to say that at your age, you should not always force yourself to read, and play more when you have nothing to do, and combine work and leisure, so that you can read well."

When Zong Cong was speaking, Zong Duo had been listening attentively. Hearing that his father was still playing dice when he was as old as he was, he was still a bit incredulous, and seeing that his father had praised him so much, he could not help but be a bit shy.

When his father had finished speaking, he said, "Mother said that as the eldest and the legitimate son of father, he should give priority to his studies."

Hearing these words, Zong Cong tossed the string on his wrist, "Your mother ......"

After a pause, the words after that were not said in the end, but changed the subject and said, "Since you have blown the wind, let the servants go and ask the doctor to come and have a look, so that it does not drag into a wind chill. I will see you again in a couple of days."

The words that Zong Duo had wanted to say that there was no need to invite a doctor, were also held back.

Only after Zong Cong had left did he ask He Nian with some hesitation, "Is Father angry with me?"

He was scared out of his wits by His Majesty's reprimand, so he did not care to see whether His Majesty was angry or not, so he said soothingly, "How could His Majesty be angry with the Grand Prince, even if he was angry, it was because his servants did not serve him well. This shows that His Majesty sees the Great Prince very highly."

Hearing this, Zong Duo's heart was relieved, yet he had a bit of a headache that if the doctor came later, he would not be able to hide the matter from his mother.

---

As he walked out of the courtyard, Zong Cong let out a long breath.

It had been many years since anyone had been able to make him feel like this, a feeling of being unable to do anything.

He had never been one to comfort people, and Fang had just taken the events of his early childhood and even distorted some of the facts to tell Zong Duo, saying those words with extra shortness, a feeling he had never felt before, but the words had been all but ignored, no match for a mother saying them.

At times like this, Fu Lu really hated that he was blind and deaf, but unfortunately it was all a figment of his imagination, and he could only stand aside and try to reduce his presence.

Seeing that His Majesty was not leaving either, and that snowflakes were falling from the sky, he boldly said, "I guess Su Guifei's place has not yet called for dinner, would Your Majesty like to go for dinner?"

Zong Cong didn't say anything, and lifted his steps and walked away, heading precisely for the back courtyard.

When they arrived at the East Courtyard, Pan'er and the three children were in the West Pavilion.

Mother and son were sitting on the kang, everything on the kang had been moved away and a small kang table had been placed, Zong Yue had ink on his face and was drawing something on the kang table with a bitter face, while Pan'er was blushing as if she had just finished laughing.

"What are you doing?"

"Father."

The children were used to being casual with their father and had not yet moved out of the Eastern Palace, so they were not yet clear about their sense of inferiority. Even after Zong Cong's ascension to the throne, he had never seen her salute properly, so the three children called out to their father, and did not get off the bed to salute.

Pan'er moved out some space for him to sit, and said with a smile, "Zong Lin asked Zong Yue to draw the courtyard for him, and now that Wan Yin's drawing is ready, he can't find anyone to call on, so he's calling on his brother."

"Mother won't give the painting." Obviously Zong Lin was not stupid and knew to tattle.

"Self-reliance, ever heard of it? Your sister paints all by herself, and she doesn't bother Mother." Pan'er said it with a straight face, not at all self-conscious of bullying her son.

Wan Yin said embarrassedly, "Mother, that picture was not drawn by my daughter herself, it was drawn by the palace maid."

As if he had caught something, Zong Lin was busy looking at Pan'er, who did not balk at him at all, "Then you go and find a palace maid to draw it too."

Instead of looking for a palace maid, it would be better to look for his elder brother. Zong Lin was busy lying back in front of the table, plausibly directing Zong Yue to add something here and something there.

When Zong Cong came, naturally he could not mess with the children.

Pan'er went with him to sit down on a chair in the second room, and asked Qing Dai to serve tea. In between serving tea, she asked Xiang Pu what time it was, and Xiang Pu replied, adding that it was snowing outside.

She didn't even know that it had snowed last night, but it had stopped snowing in the morning, so she was surprised to hear that it had snowed.

She just watched hers and didn't care about Zong Cong. It was Zong Cong who saw that she had been out for a long time and was afraid that she might catch a cold, so he called her back.

After blowing a cold wind, her face was red from the cold, but she was radiant.

Zong Cong said, "Even Wan Yin is more poised than you."

Pan'er gave him a glance and didn't say anything, turning her head to explain to Xiang Pu to bring up the evening meal.

The dinner is a mutton pot, the weather is the warmest to eat pot, brass pot has a place to add charcoal underneath, eat some of the mutton down, can also add some cave dishes.

This is a rare dish, a tribute from the imperial estate on the outskirts of the capital, and only the imperial palace and some dignitaries in the whole capital can enjoy the fresh vegetables in winter.

Pan'er liked the dishes shaken out of the lamb soup most of all, Zong Yue and Zong Lin both picked up the lamb and ate it, she and Wan Yin were the only ones interested in the vegetables, really worthy of being mother and daughter.

Zong Cong was not picky about meat and vegetables, and could eat some of them. Usually, he ate alone in Qianqing Palace, and just ate some of them casually. The first time he saw a lamb pot for dinner, he thought it was a bit simple and wondered if the dining room was treating Yuan Yuan poorly.

The three mothers and sons did not think anything of it, and at this point, halfway through the meal, they were indeed eating with physical and mental comfort, and he was even vaguely jealous when he saw the three children eating with a sense of forgetfulness.

Because of this little thought, he kicked the three children out after dinner.

He exaggerated when he said he was rushing them, but he was just saying that they should rest early when it was dark. When Pan'er saw that the snow was getting heavier outside, he left the three children behind, as they had lived in the east wing for a long time anyway and had everything ready, so they should not brave the snow to go back.

The three children went to the east wing, but Pan'er turned her head and looked at Zong Cong, feeling that his mood was not right tonight.

The two of them soaked their feet and went to the couch.

The bedding was fluffy and soft, and there was a faint smell of fragrance, and the two of them slept under the same blanket, warm and cozy.

Pan'er was a little drowsy from the smell, and in a trance he heard him speak.

"Do you think it is a good thing to be the crown prince?"

#mtl #yingchong #i don't think it a good thing #immense privilege yes but danger lurking around every corner and so much pressure entirely too young

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