Cattail

In the study room in the afternoon, Di Shaoze pouted his lips, a straight brush resting on his pouting lips, and sat at the desk without moving for a long time.

Thinking of the homework lying at the bottom of the water, and then looking at the blank papers on the desk, no matter how much I wrote, it would be useless. It would only make my father spill more homework into the Imperial Lake. Maybe, if it piled up too much, the mud from the books would clog the Imperial Lake... and then the accumulated lake water would overflow into the Imperial Palace, causing a "flooding of the Imperial Palace"...

Di Shaoze laughed secretly, then quickly retracted his wandering thoughts, slowly picked up the pen, wrote and stopped, stopped and wrote again, and finally finished a piece of homework.

Even with just a casual glance, he could find that the text was not connected, but he didn't think it was a big deal. He wrote his name with a stroke of the pen and finished the draft.

When it was handed to Lin Huai'en, he was still eating, but Lin Huai'en immediately put down his meal and began to carefully circle and correct Di Shaoze. By the time he finished correcting every stroke, the meal was almost half cold...

However, the next second, Lin Huai'en's tone was colder than the rice: "Your Highness, you didn't put your heart into this article."

"It's just a homework." Di Shaoze didn't take it seriously and curled his lips, "It's useless to learn it anyway. Huai En...you might as well eat first. If you don't eat now, the rice will get cold." Food is much more important than homework!

However, this sentence ignited Lin Huaien's anger, and he retorted: "How can it be useless? Learning is not about size!"

Di Shaoze felt a little troubled and muttered, "I... I may not be able to use what I learn in the court. I might just end up with an idle official position in the future... Learning to paint and recognize calligraphy is enough. Why bother learning so much?"

Lin Huai'en couldn't hide his disappointment: "If it can't be used in the court, then use it in the local officialdom. If it can't be used in the local officialdom, then use it in the county government. If it can't be used in the county government, then use it in the countryside! We can't stop taking steps just because they're small!"

Di Shaoze's words made Lin Huai'en lose his appetite for the food on the table, and he stood up and left the room.

Di Shaoze stood there in a daze, clutching his homework. This was the first time that Lin Huai'en had confronted Di Shaoze like this. Although he didn't get angry, this slight disappointment made Di Shaoze even more flustered.

Di Shaoze didn't know what to do, so he could only tear up the homework that disappointed Lin Huai'en, scatter the pieces all over the sky, and lie down on the couch.

The butler brought the tea and nudged the little prince on the back: "Little Prince, what happened between you and Mr. Lin?"

"We had a quarrel." Di Shaoze said, "Because I didn't study hard, Huai En was disappointed in me..." The ending tone was low, hiding some disappointment in himself.

The butler heard it and said, "Your Highness, you don't understand Mr. Lin... Actually, I have talked to Mr. Lin..."

When he heard that it was Lin Huai'en's idea, Di Shaoze jumped up on the couch and sat obediently in front of the housekeeper. To exaggerate, his two ears almost stood up, like an obedient large dog.

The butler continued, "The master said he followed you, Your Highness, because he admired your character and wanted to assist you in your political career. He is happy to help you no matter how many steps you take, and he doesn't expect anything in return."

Di Shaoze was stunned, thought for a moment and retorted: "A wise bird chooses its tree. If I have no achievements, how can Huai En continue to pay attention to me and value me? Sooner or later, he will be disappointed!"

Di Shaoze lay back down again, his back facing the housekeeper.

"You don't understand," the butler said. "Mr. Lin started from a humble beginning. To put it bluntly... he was just a pig farmer, so he was easily satisfied. He had long been accustomed to a life of hard work and no reward. Those menial official positions and those meager fiefdoms that you despise were just dreams to him..."

To some extent, the last-rate prince and the country strategist are like the same pot with the same lid, but there is still a world of difference between the tail of a phoenix and the tail of an ox. Di Shaoze can achieve Lin Huai'en's unattainable dream with just a flick of his fingers, without him having to make any effort at all.

However, Di Shaoze was obsessed with this point, believing that he had to work hard to be worthy of Lin Huai'en. This strange inferiority complex was not groundless...

Among the princes, Di Shaoze has the most embarrassing background.

His mother's family, the Bai clan, had generations of skilled generals and distinguished military exploits, enjoying a high reputation among the common people. They had been a close ally of the emperor before he ascended the throne. However, after the emperor ascended the throne, the Bai clan, wielding military power, became a thorn in the emperor's side. Di Shaoze's presence also became an obtrusive reminder that he had once fawned over them...

The emperor endured this humiliation and did not say anything. After General Bai and the empress passed away, he began to indulge the people in the palace to mistreat Emperor Shaoze. The concubines could laugh at and play with him in person, not to mention the servants at the palace gates who mopped the palace once a week, made do with wild vegetables for meals, and could even reprimand the prince in a very harsh manner. During his childhood, the shape of Emperor Shaoze's ribs could be felt on his body, and he was as thin as a monkey.

It was not until his uncle Bai Hai grew up to become a major general and went to the battlefield in armor that Emperor Shaoze had the opportunity to establish his own dynasty like other princes and no longer had to live in the purgatory-like palace.

Such an experience caused a fatal flaw in Di Shaoze, but it was not without any benefits. Instead, it made Di Shaoze and Lin Huai'en, the king and his subject, perfect.

Because Di Shaoze had never enjoyed the honors of a prince, he had no concept of the countryside, pig farming, or Shuang'er, which made him confused about the superiors and the inferiors. Among all the princes, he was the only one who would accept Lin Huai'en, a pig farmer and Shuang'er, as an advisor. If it were any other prince, such an idea would have been beheaded.

Similarly, what Lin Huai'en was willing to follow was probably Di Shaoze's character, which made him expect Di Shaoze to achieve something and create a place where there is no hierarchy and where progress is achieved only through personal efforts. Even if it is just a corner, he would be pleased.

There is no other pair like this one in the world. They are strange and weak. I am afraid that as soon as they go out to sea, the slightest wind and waves will break them up.

The butler sighed, and after figuring out the situation, he stopped trying to persuade Di Shaoze. He packed up the tea bowls and left.

In the middle of the night, cicadas were chirping annoyingly. Di Shaoze was worried that Lin Huai'en had not finished his meal, so he went to the kitchen to make two bowls of snacks and sent them to Lin Huai'en's side yard under the cover of night.

The bamboo courtyard was very quiet and simple, just next to a lake. The cattails on both sides of the lake grew very tall. After crossing the stone bridge, he arrived in front of the house. Seeing that the lights in the house were still on, Di Shaoze glanced at the open window -

Lin Huai'en hadn't slept yet. He was only wearing the simplest undershirt and was still writing at the desk. On the table was a pile of texts to be learned tomorrow.

Di Shaoze was stunned for a moment, leaning against the window and looking at it, lost in thought.

Because of the angle, only Lin Huai'en's profile could be seen. His single eye was drooping with a serious look, and his lips were tightened into a straight line.

Lin Huai'en came from the countryside, and he would only go to the teacher to learn in his spare time when raising pigs. As long as he was given some pork from time to time, the teacher would let him take a seat in the corner. In addition, he was studious and read many books to develop his knowledge. However, when he arrived in the capital, he found that there were too many broad experiences. He did not want to be outdone by those highly educated counselors, so he would review a text three times until he had fully understood every word and sentence.

Di Shaoze couldn't bear to disturb Lin Huai'en at this moment. He sat by the window and quietly looked at the moon over the bamboo courtyard. The moonlight was as clean as if it had been washed by someone, sacred and transparent, just like... just like the eyes of Lin Huai'en reading a book...

Looking down, the tall cattails sway in the wind, seemingly swaying and being pulled at will by the wind, but in fact their roots are very strong, so strong that even the strong wind cannot uproot them...

This looks like Lin Huaien's thin but straight figure...

Di Shaoze blinked rapidly, but it wasn't because of the wind, but because his heart was beating wildly. Just because he was sitting not far from Lin Huai'en, he felt an indescribable joy, an indescribable shyness, an indescribable...throbbing...

A messy night breeze blew all the way from the moonlight, blowing through the cattails and blowing directly into his face, seemingly playing with his hair, but actually stirring his mood.

Only after his heart palpitations subsided did Di Shaoze dare to peek back again. His trembling eyes reflected the shadows of the lights and people in the room. After nervously glancing for several times, he turned his head back, took out the book from his sleeve, picked up the pen tucked between the books, and by the candlelight in the room, he imitated Lin Huaien and began to write, finishing his homework stroke by stroke...

I am doing the same thing as Huai En and moving towards the same goal.

As soon as he thought of this, Di Shaoze felt his heart burning and the flame of desire ignited.