"ah!!"

A scream shattered the tranquility of the study. It came from Aisin-Gioro Tai'an. He had just opened his desk to get a book when he discovered a large beehive inside. His hand touched a bee on the hive, and he was immediately stung, leaving a large, red welt.

"Tai'an, what are you shouting about!" Master Zhu was sitting behind his desk preparing his lessons when he suddenly heard such a shout, which startled the old man, who was over sixty years old.

"Master Zhu, someone... someone put a beehive in my desk! A bee stung my hand!" Tai'an cried, his face contorted in pain. These nobles, pampered from birth, were in excruciating pain from a sudden bee sting.

The old man walked down from the lecture hall with a dark face, his hands behind his back, and strolled over to Tai'an. He looked into Tai'an's bag and saw a honeycomb with a hole punched in it lying in his desk.

"Who put this in?" The old man, his face as black as a pot, roared angrily at the group of nobles. Someone actually dared to make such a joke in his class—it was utterly disrespectful!

Instantly, the entire classroom fell silent. No one dared to look at Master Zhu's face, and everyone silently lowered their heads.

Seeing that no one stepped forward to speak, Master Zhu walked back to the lecture hall, picked up his pointer, and said to the group of imperial grandsons and nephews, "If no one comes forward to admit it, then all of you will be punished! All of you, put out your hands!"

This is what is meant by equal punishment and equal penalties!

Hongshi said with dissatisfaction, "Master Zhu, it was clearly someone who was joking with my cousin Tai'an, why should we be punished along with them!"

His words were met with a chorus of agreement from those below, none of whom were willing to be punished for the actions of others.

"What did I teach you yesterday? What does 'shared loss and shared glory' mean!" Master Zhu said angrily, his beard trembling. "You are all so stubborn and unruly, truly hopeless fools!"

No one had ever seen Master Zhu roar so fiercely. After all, he was only a child of about ten years old, and they were all too frightened to make a sound. Even Tai'an dared not utter a sound.

"Everyone, stretch out your hands! Five strokes with the ruler each!" Master Zhu roared.

As everyone hesitantly reached out their hands, the less timid ones had already done so; the bolder ones, however, still refused to extend their hands; and the two princes of the crown prince were even more unwilling to extend their hands and risk being punished.

Upon seeing this, Hongjun immediately stood up and said to Master Zhu, "Master Zhu, I put it there. If you must punish someone, punish me alone!" With that, Hongjun stretched out his hand.

Master Zhu, with a stern face, pointed at Hongjun and said, "First, tell me why you put the beehive in Tai'an's desk?"

Hongjun glanced at Tai'an and said nonchalantly, "Tai'an insulted me, I just wanted to teach him a lesson!"

When Tai'an saw that Hongjun had indeed released him, he stood up angrily and said, "Who insulted you? You retaliated without any evidence. Master, punish him severely."

"Shut up! How to punish him is my duty as a teacher. It's none of your business to interfere!" Master Zhu roared.

Tai'an immediately wilted and stood there noncommittally.

“Hongjun, come with me! The rest of you, read Confucius’s ‘Friends’ chapter to me,” Master Zhu said.

After Master Zhu and Hongjun walked out of the study together, they went to the courtyard outside.

"Tell me, how did Tai'an curse you?" Master Zhu asked.

“He called me an ‘idiot,’ and I also can’t stand how he always flatters Hongxi. His fawning manner makes me angry!” Hongjun said.

"Why did he call you an idiot?" Master Zhu asked, a strange light flashing in his eyes.

“I don’t know. Master Zhu, actually Hongjun’s interest isn’t in books, but in the martial arts arena. But I’m not stupid,” Hongjun said, clenching his fist.

Master Zhu stroked his beard and said, "Hongjun, I admire your straightforwardness. But you are still too young to go to the martial arts arena. If you like riding and archery, you might as well talk to Prince Yong. He will make arrangements for you. But it is wrong of you to cause trouble in Tai'an like this."

Hongjun lowered his head and said, "He always likes to flatter Hongxi, and he's got everyone else following suit. Master, is that right?"

Master Zhu coughed a few times and said, "Hongxi is the Crown Prince's eldest son. Offending him won't be good for you!"

Hongjun blushed and said, "So what if he's the Crown Prince's eldest son? Isn't he still the Emperor's grandson? If people nowadays rely on flattery and empty promises to consolidate their positions, then what will our Great Qing Dynasty have left to defend against foreign enemies, govern the country, and bring peace to the world?"

Master Zhu looked at Hongjun in surprise. His tense face finally relaxed, and he said, "You should be punished with the ruler, but I think your idea is correct."

Hongjun looked up at Master Zhu in surprise for a few moments, then consciously followed him back to the study.

Master Zhu struck Hongjun five times with a ruler in front of everyone, and then criticized Tai'an for mocking his classmate, striking him five times as well.

After school, Tai'an was dissatisfied, but he didn't dare to go directly to Hongjun. He couldn't beat Hongjun in a fistfight. So, he went to Hongxi and complained to him.

“Brother Hongxi, look at Hongjun. He’s just getting revenge on me. He looks down on me. He looks down on you, Brother Hongxi.” Tai’an said this in an attempt to incite Hongxi’s dissatisfaction with Hongjun.

"Hmph, his father was formerly the Fourth Prince, now Prince Yong. His father used to follow my father around like a shadow. Now that his father has been promoted, he doesn't respect me anymore. What a despicable person!" Hongxi said.

“Yes, Hongxi’s father is the Crown Prince, the future emperor. The fact that Hongjun doesn’t respect you means he doesn’t respect his uncle, the Crown Prince. It must be his father’s doing,” Tai’an said.

A flash of jealousy crossed Hongxi's eyes, and he said calmly, "There's plenty of time. We'll settle things with him slowly."

Meanwhile, Hongjun and Hongwen returned to their room together. Hongwen pulled Hongjun aside and said, "You really dared to tease him! But seeing him like that, it felt good! Just seeing his usual attitude makes me angry!"

"Why wouldn't I dare? He's not even from the Hong generation, so why is he bossing us around like that in front of our Imperial Grandfather? I've wanted to beat him up for a long time," Hongjun said disdainfully.

“Exactly. Look at how he wags his tail and begs for Hongxi’s attention,” Hongwen laughed.

Hongshi was arranged to live in the same courtyard as Hongjun because they were brothers. He walked in, looked at the conversation between Hongjun and Hongwen, and frowned, saying, "Hongjun, it's not a good thing for you to be an enemy of the eldest son of the Crown Prince."