Chapter 74

The negotiations just started, with tit-for-tat, and ended with a free give.

Qu Dubian and Xu Tingfeng, the two uncles and nephews, met each other for the first time and the meeting ended successfully. After saying goodbye to his uncle, the remaining matters were handed over to Xia Fuyang, Xi Zixing and Xue Letian to deal with.

Sitting in the carriage, Qu Dubian asked: "Ye Banban, how much do you know about my uncle?"

Ye Xiaoyuan: "Master Tingfeng used to be a general."

Qu Watanabe was surprised: "Young General."

Ye Xiaoyuan: "Well, he was trained by the Marquis. Later, he violated military regulations and was beaten with a stick, which is why he became what he is now. After he came back from the Northern Frontier, he started to do business."

"After Young Master Tingfeng got into trouble, the Third Master and his wife stopped associating with the old Marquis, and that has continued until now."

Since he himself didn't know much, he just spoke briefly.

-

Two days later, Qu Dubian returned to the palace.

He has been going out too frequently recently and he probably won’t be able to go out for a while.

Things at the bookstore had finally stabilized.

Qu Dubian's identity is guessed by Xi Zixing, but he promises Xia Fuyang to keep it secret. The two gradually become familiar with each other because of their cooperation in the bookstore.

Xi Mansion.

Xizi walked through the side door and entered a remote attic in the backyard.

This is where he lives in Xi Mansion.

His father is Xi Shiqiu, the current Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice. He is also responsible for teaching the laws of the Great Zhou to the princes and is very busy all day long.

Xi Zixing's mother was an inconspicuous concubine who passed away a few years ago. Now the mistress is in charge of the family, and she has an eldest brother above her.

He was a motherless bastard who didn't study and wasn't valued by his father. Naturally, he had no sense of existence in this mansion.

There was only Adong, a servant who grew up with him, and the owner of the bookstore.

Ah Dong waited until he entered the yard before anxiously saying, "Master, how is Nian'an Bookstore? That is the only thing your aunt left you. If it is gone, you will have even less money to spend."

Then I would have to go to the mistress again, and I would inevitably be scolded and ridiculed.

The mistress of their family was extremely fierce, but she managed to maintain some of the demeanor of an official family. She would always give the illegitimate son some of what he should have, even if she deducted a few points. But if he asked her for anything extra, it would be harder than climbing to the sky.

Xi Zixing: "It's okay, the bookstore is fine, don't worry."

He entered his study and took out a book that had been sealed for a long time.

Ah Dong was surprised and delighted: "Master, you?"

Xi Zixing: "The scroll I placed in the bookstore was turned upside down. Now that fate has arrived, let's start reading."

A-Dong: "Did you meet the person you were waiting for?"

Xi Zixing thought of the clever kid wearing the straw hat, hesitated a little, and then shook his head.

The Seventh Prince is young and in poor health, so he and the Seventh Prince can only be considered to be destined to be together, and they may become close friends when they grow up.

But the wise leader he was waiting for in his heart was not him.

Xi Zixing sat upright in front of the desk and once again took out his [Criteria for Selecting a Wise Leader] - the word "wise leader" was not written, mainly because he was afraid that someone with ulterior motives would see it and make a big fuss about it.

The first one above is:

1. Good health and long life (you will be irritated by ministers or tired by government affairs, but nothing will happen)

2. Be considerate of the people and have the world in mind (it is best to have both kindness and dignity)

3. Humble character and open-minded (officials will not be beheaded suddenly when they are angry and make suggestions)

4. Good at both civil and military affairs, smart and capable (ambitious to annex northern Xinjiang and Nanning, and unify the Central Plains)

5.……

Xi Zixing recited it silently several times, his serious and somewhat stubborn face finally revealing a childishness that was in line with his age.

In his mind, the Seventh Prince didn’t even pass the first criterion.

After reciting it, he rearranged the furnishings on his desk from large to small as if he had obsessive-compulsive disorder, and aligned the spines of the books he had just taken out.

Adong's mouth twitched, his young master's problem came back again.

After Xi Zixing finished arranging the arrangements, he let out a long sigh and opened the book.

Anyway, he still has several years to study, so let’s start by observing the eldest prince.

-

The Imperial Palace.

Six Palaces in East Garden.

As soon as Qu Dubian came back, he attended Master Fang's class.

The school is much emptier.

After the eldest prince built his palace, the second and third princes occasionally joined him, and after court dismissal, they followed Emperor Chongzhao to attend government affairs, so they did not come to the school every day.

There are only four, five, six, seven and Zhiyi left here.

Before class started, the Fourth Prince secretly told him, "Master Fang was looking for you the day before yesterday, but you were not in the palace. Master Fang's expression was not right. I think you will be kept in the afterschool."

Qu Watanabe: "It's okay, I'll stay if you want."

The Fourth Prince gave him a thumbs up.

"Seventh brother, what do you do when you go out of the palace? What's fun in it?" The Sixth Prince came over and wrinkled his nose. "My mother told me that people outside are commoners and have no right to talk to the royal family." She also said that the Seventh Brother often went out and mingled in the market, which lowered his status.

Of course, he didn't say the latter sentence. As he grew three years older, he became more sensible.

Zhiyi said: "It's actually quite fun outside. Sister Xie and the other girls are very interesting."

The Sixth Prince: "Weaving Ceremony..."

Qu Dubian hit him and said fiercely: "You are disrespectful, call me sister."

The Sixth Prince bared his teeth and howled, then reluctantly said: "Sister, the ones you play with are the children of the officials in the court, not those common people outside."

Zhiyi rubbed her brother's hands, fearing that he might have hurt them, and frowned, saying, "I think you are wrong."

"No?" The Sixth Prince pulled the Fifth Prince, "Am I right?"

The Fifth Prince: "Yes, that's right."

Qu Watanabe: "Okay, okay, stop."

Seeing that they were about to argue, Qu Dubian interrupted them in time, put his hands on the table and sat down obediently, "Master Fang is here."

Master Fang came over slowly. The old man and the young man looked at each other for a moment. Master Fang snorted, flicked his sleeves and held the book, "Class begins!"

Qu Dubian felt a little guilty. Ever since the last time they had a tacit understanding, he hadn't had a serious conversation with Master Fang and had been busy with the bookshop's affairs.

Don't underestimate him because he is small. He has a very busy schedule.

Outside, there are grandma, uncle, Xia Fuyang and Xi Zixing. Grandma needs to be visited often, and the latter two need to be contacted from time to time to improve their favorability. In the palace, he also has to tell stories to Liuliu, help Concubine Xuan farm, teach weaving etiquette and arithmetic, visit the concubines, study new songs, practice martial arts, and walk Dahei...

He felt like a little spinning top.

People like Fang Taifu and Xi Zixing trigger favorability later and are not very important now, so they are given priority at the back.

Sure enough, when school was over at noon, Qu Dubian was called to the side hall by Master Fang.

Master Fang took out the calligraphy and homework he handed in yesterday and asked, "Who wrote it for you? The handwriting is quite similar."

Qu Dubian blinked and played dumb.

"I won't buy into your tricks."

Master Fang raised his beard and said, "From today on, I will give you your answers individually. As promised, you are not allowed to fool around."

Qu Watanabe: "Didn't you give me the test paper?"

Master Fang: "You can answer it in three to five years? If you can't answer it, will I not give you any other questions?"

There is no such good thing in the world.

"You can find someone else to do other things, but this one needs to be done well."

Master Fang handed over the assignment that he had given him. "Don't worry. I know you're very busy, so I'll give you an assignment every ten days."

Qu Watanabe: “Okay.”

Master Fang: "He's much better than that teacher of yours who gives you math problems every now and then." He spoke in a very kind tone, but he managed to sound a little sarcastic.

Qu Watanabe: “…”

An ancient version of the battle between liberal arts teachers and science teachers?

-

Qu Watanabe's life in the palace returned to normal again.

The bookstore outside was doing well, and Xia Fuyang even sent him a batch of finished storybooks.

It includes the complete set of "Even After Death, I Can Still Smell the Fragrance of Heroes", which includes a full set of peripherals, the gold plus version, and other basic best-selling scripts and their peripherals.

Qu Watanabe gave all of them to Yi Twelve.

Although the latter did not say a long speech of gratitude after receiving the gift, his favorability level actually increased by +4.

It’s like a diligent worker who suddenly receives a set of his favorite grains from his boss one day. Words of thanks are empty, as he can work for his boss forever.

Zhiyi also had a copy. Qu Watanabe was worried that his sister would be brainwashed by the sour stories written by poor scholars and rich ladies, so he specially sent these heart-wrenching chivalrous stories to her.

Zhiyi, however, was somewhat worried.

Qu Watanabe: "Sister, if there is anything you don't understand, please tell me."

Zhiyi sat beside the vegetable patch in the backyard of Shunning Palace. These vegetables were grown through the hard work of the four members of their Shunning Palace family - of course, the main force came from Concubine Xuan and Concubine Guo.

He and Zhiyi mainly helped out, and Dahei would also patrol the vegetable fields on a daily basis, catching insects and pulling weeds.

Zhiyi had a flower basket at hand. While making a wreath, she said, "It's the topic I talked about with my sixth brother. He said that we are the royal family and are very different from the common people. I think he is wrong. I asked Empress Xuan, and she told me to think about it myself. I asked mother again, and she said that our identities are different."

Qu Dubian sat on the swing nearby, thinking that everyone is born with one life and everyone should be equal, but in the Great Zhou, at this moment, the more he thought about it, the more painful it would be.

Sometimes it's better to be confused than to be sober.

He didn't say it so bluntly. On a psychological level, he was actually Zhiyi's brother and could give his sister some guidance.

After thinking for a while, Qu Dubian said, "Sister, it is because of those common people that Sixth Brother mentioned that we have the Great Zhou. The people of the Great Zhou support the royal family. Without the people, there would be no princes, princesses, or even my father."

"Those guarding the border are the people of the Great Zhou. When a loved one dies, we shed tears, and they also shed tears. No one's grief is nobler than anyone else's."

Qu Dubian was swinging on the swing.

He knew that he was a bit selfish. He just wanted things to go smoothly for himself and for his family and friends to be well. He didn't want to pay attention to other things that had nothing to do with him.

But he also knew that in this era, there were always many things that he had to do against his will. Perhaps one day he would be caught in a vortex, and perhaps his hands would eventually be stained with blood.

But no matter what, he hoped that day could be later, later.

Zhiyi: "I understand a little bit now. The vegetables grown by the common people and the ones we grow in Shunning Palace taste the same. They won't become gods by eating the vegetables, and neither will we."

Qu Watanabe laughed, "Sister is right!"

Zhiyi walked to the swing and put the woven wreath on her brother's head.

Qu Dubian raised his head with his little face tilted up, smiling like a fairy: "It's for me, doesn't it look good?"

"nice."

Zhiyi suddenly reached out and pinched the soft flesh on her brother's cheeks. She looked into his eyes seriously and said, "Xiaoqi, I felt that you were a little lonely just now."

She felt that her brother gave her the same feeling as a star in the sky sometimes. Although there were many other friends around her, she was still a lonely star, shining alone.

Qu Watanabe: “No way.”

"Yes. Your eyes are not so cute anymore. Just like this..." Zhiyi tried to imitate, "It droops here and it's not bright anymore."

Qu Duanbian sighed: "Sister, you are going to pull out all my wrinkles."

Zhiyi didn't listen to his nonsense and generously gave her brother a warm hug.

"You're not alone. Sister is here."

“…”

Qu Dubian buried his head in the wreath and his sister's shoulders, closed his eyes for three seconds before opening them, and said with the same worried tone as before: "Sister, I still want to swing, you're blocking my way."

Zhiyi: "Then I'll push you, and we'll go secretly pick fruit from Empress Xuan's tree at night."

"OK."

The brother and sister hit it off immediately and laughed at each other.

The swing started to swing, and Qu Dubian used his mouth to pick up the wreath that had fallen on his nose. He wanted to say that his sister's wreath was a little too big.

Also, he was not alone.