Chapter 6 Hug

Prince Duan wasn't even afraid of the Emperor, but he was terrified of his unpredictable, ruthless, and decisive second brother.

The emperor is now bedridden, and the court has been fighting for decades, only finally ending the war last year.

His second brother led troops at the age of thirteen and fought on the battlefield for more than ten years, which had long since honed his iron heart.

Some time ago, a palace maid, unafraid of death, climbed into his bed, and he immediately ordered her to be executed.

In his heart, he had no idea what a woman was.

Otherwise, my younger sister wouldn't have invited all the unmarried noble ladies in the capital to the palace just to find a woman for her clueless second brother.

He and his second brother just had a meeting with the six ministries.

It's been more than an hour since I got back.

The Regent's study was arguably the most confidential place in the court.

A clueless little girl barged in.

He even dared to sit on his second brother's throne.

He used his second brother's pen to scribble on his second brother's various documents.

It wouldn't have been his second brother's doing if he hadn't been skinned alive and had his tendons pulled out.

He had intended to stop his second brother.

She must have been a noblewoman invited to the palace by her younger sister. She was not a member of the royal family, but she was the daughter of an important official. Admiring the Regent's demeanor, it's not hard to understand why she would be so audacious as to take a crooked path.

Just give the court officials and the younger sister some face, and a scolding will suffice.

Unfortunately, his second brother went into the study first.

As his second brother walked step by step to the desk with a dark face and a chilling aura, the palace maids and eunuchs behind him knelt on the ground, too frightened to even breathe.

"Second brother..."

Before he could even utter a word to stop her, he suddenly saw his second brother waving his hand to signal him to be quiet. He could only stand at the doorway and silently mourn for the daring little girl inside.

The bloody and violent scenes quickly flashed through his mind, and he even closed his eyes.

But the room remained completely calm, so calm that he thought he was hallucinating.

When she opened her eyes again, the little girl was still sitting in her second brother's chair, intently drawing something.

Sunlight streamed through the window, falling on the little girl's beautiful face.

She would occasionally brush her hair back.

She seemed to be isolated from the world, constantly immersed in her own world.

The scene was exceptionally harmonious and beautiful.

Meanwhile, his ruthless and decisive second brother stood beside the little girl, watching her as she wrote and drew.

Prince Duan was constantly worried that his second brother would reach out his steel-like hand and strangle the little girl to death on the throne at any moment.

But this "next moment" never came, even after he had been waiting for more than an hour.

It wasn't until the little girl slid off the chair and cried out that she was hungry that her celibate second brother unexpectedly asked her what she wanted to eat.

The voice was gentle and tolerant, unlike anything he had ever heard before.

This is... a thousand-year-old iron tree blooming?

He quickly waved his hand, signaling the eunuchs to prepare the meal.

The palace maids and eunuchs who had been kneeling on the ground seemed to have regained their senses and hurriedly got up and ran towards the regent's small kitchen.

More than a dozen dishes were quickly served.

The Regent eats simple food, and usually doesn't eat such lavish meals. However, today the palace is entertaining noble ladies, so the kitchen has prepared extra food in case of need.

Then Prince Duan saw that his second brother, who was always cold and aloof and never smiled at women, actually cleaned up his desk himself and ordered people to put the food directly on the desk.

Prince Duan: "..."

Tang Xinuan didn't eat much that morning, worried that it would be inconvenient after entering the palace.

It has been at least three or four hours.

Upon seeing food, she didn't stand on ceremony and would grab some and stuff it into her mouth.

As expected of food from the palace, the shrimp was delicious, the beef was delicious, and the mushrooms were delicious too.

She ate until she was almost full before noticing that someone was staring at her.

Do you want some?

She pinched a piece of beef jerky and brought it to the Regent's mouth.

The man kept staring at her; he must be hungry.

"Don't mention it, it's on me."

The regent, who considered himself quite worldly, was speechless.

This is his territory, and he doesn't know where this little girl came from, eating his food and saying she wants to treat him to a meal.

"I...have already eaten."

Tang Xinuan ignored him and focused on filling her stomach.

She wiped her hands, clutched her stomach in pain, and looked at the Regent. "I need to pee."

The Regent waved his hand knowingly, and a palace maid helped Tang Xinuan to go out to relieve herself.

Prince Duan finally seized the opportunity to speak, "Second Brother, do you have feelings for this girl...?"

He received a cold glare from his second brother and quickly shut up.

But after a short while, she couldn't help but ask again, "What did she write on your documents?"

The regent casually pulled out two documents and tossed them to him, saying, "Look at them yourself."

Prince Duan could hardly believe his eyes. "She knows mathematics?"

The Regent nodded thoughtfully: "It seems so."

If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, Prince Duan would never have believed it.

The Great Zhou Dynasty fought for decades and almost perished, even halting the imperial examinations for more than a decade.

The last imperial examination abolished mathematics as a subject.

The imperial court has long been experiencing a talent shortage.

The Ministry of War and the Ministry of Works, from top to bottom, were all staffed by people transferred from the military. They barely knew any characters, let alone arithmetic.

The Ministry of Revenue, the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of Personnel, and the Ministry of Justice were almost all recommended by imperial relatives and high-ranking officials.

They were all good-for-nothing spoiled brats.

Writing an article, praising the government, arguing, engaging in entertainment—each one more impressive than the last.

If you really ask them to do something practical, they'll all run away as fast as they can.

Let alone mathematics, they can make mistakes even in everyday tasks like collecting taxes and distributing welfare.

Otherwise, the Ministry of Revenue wouldn't have come up with so many plans to resettle tens of thousands of disaster victims, which angered the Regent several times.

Today I actually saw a young girl who corrected the plan that the Ministry of Revenue had been studying for more than half a month.

Both Prince Duan and the Regent were shocked.

"Second brother, could it be that we two are mistaken? The ministers in the Ministry of Revenue are fighting tooth and nail, and no one believes anyone else. Is what she did really the right thing?"

The regent had been riding across battlefields ever since he could lift a gun, and he only learned to read and write in his spare time.

He knew absolutely nothing about mathematics.

However, after becoming regent, he encountered numerous troubles and only then began to dabble in some areas.

But it's just an introductory stage.

But he had been watching it for over an hour and was certain that the girl hadn't just written it randomly.

He also did a mental calculation on a few simple questions, and the result was the same as her revised one.

"I'll check with the Ministry of Revenue later."

About an incense stick later, Tang Xinuan was brought back.

The palace maid thoughtfully perfumed her with osmanthus fragrance, making her smell wonderful.

From childhood to adulthood, she has always done whatever she wanted, never knowing how to be polite or what politeness is.

There were many books in the room, and she liked several of them.

Looking at the Regent, he asked frankly, "May I ask you for a few books?"

The Regent was quite generous: "Which one do you want?"

Tang Xinu opened her arms, "Hug me."

The books she liked were displayed too high for her to reach.

Her voice was soft and sweet.

Regent: "..."

Prince Duan couldn't help but burst out laughing.

By this time, the food had already been cleared away by the palace maids, and only the three of them remained in the room.

Prince Duan wisely retreated to the doorway.

The regent hesitated for a moment, then bent down and picked the person up in a princess carry.

The scent emanating from the young girl made his ears turn red.

Tang Xinuan wasn't embarrassed at all. She earnestly corrected, "That's not how you hug someone."

The regent hurriedly put the person down.

Tang Xinuan pointed to the book above her head, "I can't reach it."

A hint of awkwardness flashed across the Regent's cold face.

He picked the person up again.

This time he hugged my legs, saying, "Sit on my shoulders."

Having been through many battles, he was physically strong, and Tang Xinuan was held firmly in his arms.

He sat on his right shoulder.

His legs dangled on his lower abdomen.

She first took a copy of "Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art," and Prince Duan rushed over to take it from her.

Tang Xinuan pointed to an arm's length to the right, "There."

The Regent walked over as instructed, and Tang Xinuan took out a book titled "Mathematics/Calculation".

Then I picked up a few more books: "Sunzi's Algorithm", "Zhoubi Suanjing", and "Youzhu Suanpan", all of which are books related to mathematics.

Actually, the Marquis's residence also has them; Tang Xinu has searched them thoroughly.

But what she had wasn't the original, and the annotations weren't comprehensive.

She wanted to see what the other versions were like.

"alright."

Tang Xinuan was not greedy; once she found what she wanted, she grabbed the Regent's hand and jumped to the ground.

The regent was unusually attentive and made a gesture to prevent her from falling.

However, things returned to normal quickly.

"Can I take all these books?"

The regent felt a pang of sympathy.

These books are all unique copies, and he is now studying mathematics, making them priceless treasures.

But if the little girl wants it, he can just search for it again.

"able."

Tang Xinuan was delighted, "You're so kind, giving me such an expensive gift on our first meeting."

Prince Duan thought to himself: You asked for all of this, didn't you?

The Regent was quite generous: "You're too kind, young lady."

If he had suspected the girl of scribbling on his documents earlier, now that he saw she had chosen math books, he was completely convinced she had that ability.

They solved something that several departments hadn't been able to do for half a month in just two hours.

It really helped him a lot.

“You just helped me organize the documents,” the Regent said carefully, “and solved a big problem for me. Now you can make a request of me, and I will do my best to help you achieve it.”

Tang Xinuan was flipping through the book she had just picked up.

Hearing the Regent speak to her, she smiled sweetly at him and asked, "Can you grant me any request?"

The regent nodded without hesitation.

Prince Duan stared at the little girl, and without her saying a word, he already guessed what she wanted to do.

She went to all this trouble to get into the Regent's study, helping him revise documents and even letting him hold her—wasn't it all because she wanted to be his woman?

However, the little girl is indeed smart and has the confidence to back it up.

Being the regent's wife might not be suitable, but being a concubine would be acceptable.

Prince Duan, who was overjoyed at the prospect of having a second sister-in-law, suddenly heard the little girl speak in a soft, sweet voice, "I want a title."

Prince Duan smiled again, knowing exactly what the young girl was thinking; she had deliberately come over to seduce his second brother.

After all, he was the most honored man in the Great Zhou Dynasty.

A hint of a smile flickered in the Regent's dark eyes.

But the girl added, "I want my cousin to give me a proper status."

Tang Xinuan remembered her second sister's advice: a formal title is the best guarantee a man can give a woman.

She asks for nothing now but for her cousin to marry her and give her a proper status.

Prince Duan: "..."

He frowned as he looked at his second brother. The man who had been so gentle just moments before had suddenly turned icy cold.

Indeed, the first time I met a woman, I was stabbed in the back.

Who could stand this?

A note from the author:

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Random red envelope