Chapter 406 The Tenth Prince Recovers

Yuan Hongqu had crossed back and forth between the two boats several times today. She was initially a little afraid of the small plank bridge between the two boats at night. It was just a narrow plank, and although it had railings and all the necessary equipment, she was still a little scared to walk across it at night.

The water, which was clear during the day, now looks dark and murky, as if it's going to suck people in; it looks quite frightening.

Perhaps because she had walked back and forth so much that night, she didn't feel scared at all.

Suddenly, the Tenth Prince recovered. Not only did he recover, but he also felt energetic and quick-witted. Before he even reached his destination on his southern tour, he suddenly wanted to disembark and walk on land.

He even told the Emperor that he was traveling incognito and would surely be able to find things that the spies couldn't.

The Emperor scoffed. This tenth brother of his had taken on a lot of errands on a whim this year, but he never did them well. Every time, he would come back crying and the Emperor would have to clean up his messes.

He didn't believe that his tenth brother could change his personality and temperament this time and do a good job.

However, this time the Tenth Prince brought up Yuan Hongqu, saying that Yuan Hongqu had cured his illness and that Yuan Hongqu could come and testify to see if he was completely cured.

Whether it's good or bad, the Emperor doesn't care. The main thing is that he doesn't want to assign this task to the Tenth Prince.

This guy is unreliable!

Fortunately, Yuan Hongqu came to the rescue.

“Lord Yuan, the Tenth Prince said he is cured. The Empress and I just checked a few times, and the Tenth Prince’s eyes didn’t even turn red.”

"Your Majesty, may I take a look first?" Yuan Hongqu approached the Tenth Prince, lifting his chin with one hand and deliberately turning his head to various angles—sometimes making him look up, sometimes down, sometimes at an angle, and sometimes straight ahead...

In order to prove to the Emperor that he was indeed cured, the Tenth Prince cooperated fully with Yuan Hongqu's instructions, making various head-turning movements to facilitate Yuan Hongqu's inspection.

"Your Majesty, it seems that the Tenth Prince's eyes have indeed recovered."

Yuan Hongqu naturally knew that the Tenth Prince's incontinence problem had been cured, but to make the act more convincing, she couldn't very well tell the Emperor that two highly accomplished Taoist masters had placed a curse on the Tenth Prince, and that the curse had now been lifted, and the Tenth Prince had recovered.

"Brother, I told you I'm all better now and can take up my post," the Tenth Prince said happily.

"I'm afraid it's not feasible for the Tenth Prince to be assigned any tasks." On the way here, Yuan Hongqu had already heard the eunuch explain the situation, and she knew that the Emperor did not want to assign any tasks to the Tenth Prince.

"Why? I'm already healed. I want to share my brother's burdens." The Tenth Prince looked up.

"Although Your Highness seems to have recovered, your condition is unpredictable. It was still flaring up this afternoon, and it's only evening now. Perhaps you should wait until it's certain that it won't flare up again before proceeding with your duties."

"How long is 'a period of time'? One night?"

"At least ten days." Yuan Hongqu made a tough decision and changed the five-day timeframe she originally wanted to give to ten days.

Keeping this troublemaker on the ship will at least prevent him from causing more trouble.

"It's been so long, the ship is almost in Jiangnan, how can I still travel incognito? No, no..." The Tenth Prince shook his head.

"Traveling incognito?" Yuan Hongqu read these four words aloud. "Where did the Tenth Prince hear this term?" She remembered that the term "traveling incognito" existed in this dynasty, but as for the term "private visit," Yuan Hongqu had never heard it anywhere in this dynasty.

"Isn't there a legendary book in your academy's library about a prince who disguised himself as a commoner, traveled throughout the country, redressed wrongful convictions, performed great deeds, and was eventually bestowed the title of First-Class Prince by the Emperor? Now that I am a prince, naturally I must do the same..."

“Your Highness, that’s just a miscellaneous book, something to pass the time. Don’t believe the stories in it.” Yuan Hongqu doesn’t know who leaked the book to the Tenth Prince yet, but if that’s the Tenth Prince’s idea, then he really can’t let him go.

"I think it's written very realistically," the Tenth Prince insisted.

The emperor then realized why his foolish younger brother insisted on going ashore—it was because of a book.

"Lord Yuan, since the Tenth Prince loves reading, if you have any extra storybooks on board, bring them to him. As for going ashore, wait until we reach our destination!"

The emperor was extremely busy with state affairs, and even when he was on a ship, he still had a lot of official business to attend to every day.

He had already made a great effort by summoning the Tenth Prince during the time before he went to sleep, so he didn't want to waste any more time on this matter.

Since the Tenth Prince likes to read miscellaneous books, let him read them.

Today I read about a prince traveling incognito; tomorrow I might read about a prince who falls on hard times and begs for food, only to be rescued by a young lady from a wealthy family, and eventually they pledge their lives to each other...

The Emperor has decided to ignore it!

Yuan Hongqu was still somewhat stunned when she saw the Emperor flick his sleeves and leave.

The Tenth Prince wanted to stop the Emperor and plead again, hoping that his elder brother might change his mind.

"Lord Yuan, does my brother dislike me?" the Tenth Prince asked belatedly.

"You're a crybaby, stingy, and make a fuss. Don't even mention your own brother doesn't like you. How many people can actually like you?" Yuan Hongqu said irritably.

"Lord Yuan is still willing to talk to me about this? It seems you do like me." The Tenth Prince wasn't upset at all by the scolding; on the contrary, he seemed rather smug.

"Since my brother forbids me from disembarking, I will stay on the ship and travel incognito. Among these dozen or so large ships, there will surely be people who don't recognize me. If I change my clothes and put on some makeup, no one will be able to recognize me."

"I advise the Tenth Prince not to do this," Yuan Hongqu said coolly.

“Everyone on each boat knows the people in charge. If a stranger boards the boat and no one recognizes him, he will be thrown into the water for several hours before being handed over to the Imperial Guards for interrogation.”

The image of himself being submerged in water, feeling like he was dying, inexplicably flashed into the Tenth Prince's mind, and he couldn't help but shudder.

"Then let's forget about it." He finally gave up the idea, but then immediately said,

"Lord Yuan, my brother asked me to ask you for books. What kind of books do you have? First of all, let me make it clear that I don't read classics, histories, philosophical works, or poetry and prose. I only read storybooks."

Yuan Hongqu thought for a moment,

"Does the Tenth Prince like books about chivalrous heroes who are all high-spirited and unconventional?"

"I love reading it, I love reading it!" The Tenth Prince nodded. "It's a pity that the Grand Tutor in the palace is too strict, otherwise I could secretly read the storybooks in every class."

Who doesn't love reading storybooks? Especially someone like the Tenth Prince, who doesn't need to take the imperial examinations or understand poetry and songs to appear cultured, so his extracurricular reading is very diverse.