Chapter 25

Chapter 25

The Emperor officiated the ceremony with a solemn expression.

All attendees had serious expression and so Yuanying had to behave himself and follow the crowd in performing the ceremonial rituals. When the crowd worshiped he followed, when they shouted he did the same. It’s an interesting sight when a big group collectively gathers together to perform a ritual. When a crowd of almost 10,000 shouts in unison, it almost seems like it can reach even the vault of heaven.

Yuanying was just supposed to blend into the crowd as an extra but he completed the ceremony in all seriousness. Towards the end, he couldn’t take it anymore and nudges Li Zhi who was beside him.

“I’m exhausted, I’ll never join this again.”

He’s playful by nature and can’t stand serious occasions. He’s even thought about skipping big celebrations like the New Year’s festival.

Li Zhi was already thinking that its extremely strange that Yuanying has not kicked up a fuss so upon hearing this he felt that Yuanying is finally in character.

“The holy saints are still here with us, if they hears this you have came in vain today, they will not bless you!”

Yuanying felt that the statement has no logic so he retorted: “Whether I learn something or otherwise, do I need to rely on blessings for that? If so I don’t have to spend time reading, I can just pray towards the saints and become smart while lying down.”

Li Er who was about to speak to the students, looked over at Li Yuanying and Li Zhi who were whispering away.

Li Zhi quickly straightened his back and kept his mouth shut.

Li Yuanying looked at His Majesty innocently hinting that I’m a good boy why are you staring at me?

His Majesty ignored him and began to deliver his New Year’s speech.

Yuanying received a prompt that his task is completed and the corn seeds are being stored in his personal vault within the library. However, he chooses to keep his popcorn with him in his special snack compartment. While the Emperor was delivering his speech in all earnestness, Yuanying popped popcorn into his mouth. Mmmm....crunchy and sweet, delicious!

Yuanying secretly handed some to Li Zhi.

Li Zhi being the obedient child only stared at him.

Yuanying lowered his voice and urged: “It’s delicious, I promise you have not tried this before!”

Li Zhi knows Yuanying well so instead of letting him continue with his persistent pestering he might as well just take it! Li Zhi took a piece and realized that he indeed hasn’t seen it before. Giving out a sweet aroma it does look appetizing.

After sharing with Li Zhi, Yunaying looked toward his eldest nephew who was standing a distance away. His fourth nephew was standing in between them. After thinking for a bit, he handed the snack bag to Li Tai.

Li Tai glared at him.

“Father is motivating the students what are you doing?! I won’t make a fool of myself with you!”

He saw what the two boys were doing earlier including stuffing themselves with popcorn openly.

Yuanying glanced at him strangely and added: “Who wants you to fool around? It’s not for you, can you help pass this to Chengqian?”

Li Tai blushed and said angrily: “Not helping!”

Haih...stingy nephew! Yuanying didn’t care much for he knew it’s not good to make too much noise. So he instead munches away on his popcorn while listening to the Emperor going on and on with his speech.

When the Emperor was halfway through his speech, he glanced towards the princes.

Li Chengqian’s eyes were bright while he listens intently.

The Emperor secretly nodded in approval .

Li Tai’s eyes were bright while he listens intently.

The Emperor nodded in satisfaction.

Hearing that they would be going towards their land soon, Lady Liu became less worried and even smiled: “What nonsense are you talking about, You will still need to don it for formal occasion.”

Yuanying nodded obediently: “Mother should stop doing needlework. It hurts your eyes, leave it to the servants.”

“These are your clothes, how can I trust others with it?”

Lady Liu took his hand while looking at her son’s childish face then joked softly, “If you come back with a wife then I’ll leave it for her to take over. “

“It’s just clothes that I wear, what’s there to worry about?”

Yuanying wasn’t shy about marrying a bride and told his mother his thoughts: “And don’t even think about making my wife do such chores. If I get married in the future and the princess doesn’t like needlework, she shouldn’t be forced to do it.”

” Ahh... I didn’t think hard enough. My son is the smartest, he knows how to love and dote on his wife.”

Lady Liu being his mother knows exactly how to win an argument over Yuanying in accordance to his own logic. “But I want and prefer to do it for you myself, so you can’t stop me.”

After hearing Lady Liu’s thoughts the boy went to change and went back out to play with his friends.

Watching Yuanying leave, Lady Liu picked up her half-finished work, touch it to ensure that it’s comfortable to wear before continuing with the needlework.

.....................

On New Year’s Day, various ceremonies and banquets are held in the palace. Yuanying was ordered to stay put and so he failed to make progress on his yet to be opened library.

Being extremely thick-skinned, the boy has approached almost half of the ministers in court and even managed to get a copy of <<MoZi> [2]Mozi also called the Mohist canon, is an ancient Chinese text from the Warring States period that expounds the philosophy of Mohism. which was kept privately by Li Chunfeng. However, there was one person he did not approach – his brother, Emperor Li Er.

In Yuanying’s opinion, Li Er was the Emperor and had nothing much to contribute to his library. And so he approached many others but skipped Li Er. As a result, the Emperor only found out about the upcoming opening of Yuanying’s library when it was casually mentioned by Fang Xuanling.

The others were talking to each other and found that they had all been approached by Yuanying to request for books!

Only His Majesty Li Er was left in confusion: “What library?”

Zhangsun Wuji was surprised: “Didn’t His Highness Prince of Teng mention anything to your Majesty?”

Li Er thought to himself, what bullsh*t speech by that kid about missing him and him being a brother and father figure?! Everyone knew about his plans to open a library, yet he has never mentioned anything to him!

“He really has lot of ideas!”

Fang Xuanling and the ministers saw that His Majesty’s face was a little dark and they all ended the topic tacitly.

The next day, when Yuanying went to ask Wei Zheng for advice, Wei Zheng vaguely mentioned what happened at the banquet, saying that His Majesty was in a bad mood when he found out. Only then did Yuanying remember that he’s never told his brother anything!

Wei Zheng advised the boy that he should always stay vigilant. While you shouldn’t be plotting to harm others, you shouldn’t stay ignorant about the threats from others. Although his starting point is good, some people might inevitably want to find fault with him, stirring up trouble, stealing books, or even framing him. Many troubles and incidences will arise when managing a business. Therefore if you can persuade His Majesty to write a plaque for the library, it’ll be much easier to manage as everyone will have to help protect it!

Yuanying had never given things such deep thoughts. He knew that Wei Zheng engages in grassroots work for many years and was experienced in such matters. His advice would hold truths in them.

After weighing his options between getting the Emperor to write a plaque for him as endorsement or getting constant external trouble, Yuanying immediately ran towards his brother!

Li Er originally didn’t want to entertain his horrible heartless brother but he was being constantly harassed by him so he finally relented and agreed to write “Tang Empire Library” for his library.

When his brother finally gave in to him, Yuanying was extremely happy. It was a rare occurrence but Yuanying didn’t cross the river and demolished the bridge. He instead stayed back to massage his brother’s shoulder while helping him grind ink used for writing.

References

↑ 1Means to meet a person who is more skilled or prepared than oneself

↑ 2Mozi also called the Mohist canon, is an ancient Chinese text from the Warring States period that expounds the philosophy of Mohism.