Where to go and what to do?

Tang Feng nodded and smiled at Zhou Ziliang. "I know, I'm not interested in those things either, don't worry. But speaking of this Prince Cheng, he's got quite a mind of his own." Tang Feng initially had no feelings for Li Yunheng, but after meeting him a few days ago, and thinking about Xu Chang'an, he realized that like father, like son! Neither of them were good people.

Zhou Ziliang ruffled Tang Feng's hair. "Are you hungry? Let's go eat! Don't go hungry."

"What are you eating!" Zhang Mobai stood at the door, clearly a little angry. "Little brother, your studies are practically useless! My dear brother! You need to pay more attention! I'll have your son give you a proper make-up. I have no other choice. You have exams in two months. Tell Yang Fei to go get the food. Come in with me, I have to give you a good make-up." After saying that, Zhang Mobai went back inside.

Tang Feng looked at Zhou Ziliang and tugged at his sleeve, "Ziliang..."

"Brother Mo Bai is determined to take care of you, there's nothing I can do!" Zhou Ziliang spread his hands and pushed Tang Feng into the house. "Alright, come on in! You don't want to be here after we leave, do you? Listen to me, I'll go in with you."

Tang Feng pinched Zhou Ziliang's waist. "You're showing off, you're showing off, Yang Fei! I want five steamed buns and West Lake pork soup! Ouch! Zhou Ziliang, don't push me, I'll go in!"

Yang Fei pouted, "All you do is order me around. Five steamed buns, how come you don't burst from stuffing yourself!" Yang Fei thought she had already spoken very softly, but then Tang Feng's voice came from inside the room, "Yang Fei, you squinty-eyed rascal, don't think I can't hear you talking bad about me. Hurry up and go, that little madman still wants a bowl of wontons!"

According to Zhang Mobai, Tang Feng was severely unbalanced in his studies. He excelled at poetry and prose, but in other areas, he was terrible at everything: breaking a string while playing the zither, hitting a hole while drawing a bow, falling off a horse, wrestling, and having no skill at chess. "Little brother, where are you going to go with all this learning?" Zhang Mobai frowned, holding Tang Feng's handwritten calligraphy. "Put away that innocent expression. Don't tell me you don't know either."

Tang Feng was also surprised to learn that Zhang Mobai could be so strict. "I... I don't even know where I can go, let alone where I want to go."

Zhang Mobai sighed. "The Three Academies and Six Ministries, let me tell you about them, the Ministry of Works?"

"Too tiring," Tang Feng shook his head. The Ministry of Works was basically for craftsmen. Who would go through three years of schooling and end up as a carpenter?

"Ministry of Personnel?"

"Too gory"—that stuff involves watching people get spanked every day, and if there's no blood, they'll cry and scream.

"Ministry of Revenue?"

"Too mentally taxing"—what's the point of being a bank accountant? In real life, accountants are constantly losing their hair; they're a life of endless toil.

"Ministry of Justice?"

"Too scary" How scary is that? Killing and chopping, watching people chop off their toes every day?

Ministry of Rites

"Too mystical" is just a shaman!

"Ministry of War?"

Too tired

"Then where do you want to go?!" Zhang Mobai slammed his hand on the table, breaking a leg instantly. Tang Feng jumped in fright and burrowed into Zhou Ziliang's arms. "You...you said there was a Third Hospital!"

Zhou Ziliang put his arm around Tang Feng and patted his back. "Brother Mo Bai, don't scare him. How would he know any of this!"

"Look at his smug look, he doesn't seem scared at all," Zhang Mobai said angrily, hands on his hips, sitting at the desk. "Fine, fine, fine, Governor's Office."

"That place is...it's terrifying." Tang Feng shuddered as he recalled Sima Ru, whom he encountered when he and Zhang Mobai went to the Protectorate to find Yang Fei.

"Mo Academy?"

Tang Feng looked at Zhang Mobai and then at Zhou Ziliang. "Where is that?"

"The Ink Academy is a place for copying and compiling books. The books and articles you usually read are all written by the Ink Academy," Zhou Ziliang explained to Tang Feng in a low voice, seeing that Zhang Mobai was angry and didn't have time to explain further.

"Copying books? No way, my handwriting is too ugly."

"Pawnshop"

"What's that for?"

"Collecting tributes from other countries, keeping track of the accounts of gifts exchanged between Yan and Yun and other countries—in short, managing imports and exports," Zhou Ziliang sighed. His wife had really forgotten everything after being exposed once.

"No... okay, okay, this one's fine." Tang Feng wanted to refuse, but after counting on his fingers, he realized this was the last one and he probably had no other choice. Looking at the rising steam from Zhang Mobai's head, Tang Feng chuckled, "Go for this one, go for this one, hehe, little madman, don't be angry!"

Zhang Mobai rolled his eyes at Tang Feng. "If you're going to the pawnshop, none of this matters." Zhang Mobai swept all the books on the table onto the floor. "Look at this one. You must memorize it from beginning to end."

"What is this?!" Tang Feng picked up the book and looked at it. "A treasure trove of historical records about tribute items?"

“Yes! If you memorize this, you can get into a pawnshop without taking an exam.” Zhang Mobai opened his folding fan and fanned himself. “How about it, young man? Isn’t memorizing this easier than those other things?”

“That’s true…” Tang Feng flipped through the “Treasury of Tribute History” and frowned. “But this book is way too thick!” The book, when laid flat, was almost half a person tall, and when opened, it was filled with densely packed small characters in classical Chinese.

Zhang Mobai lifted the table he had just broken, placed a few books underneath it, and then dusted off his hands. "Young man, you can't have your cake and eat it too. I really don't know of anything that's both easy and comfortable. Otherwise..." Zhang Mobai closed the "Tribute History Encyclopedia" in Tang Feng's hands, stared at Tang Feng, and smiled, "You could also choose to be a good young mistress in the Marquis's mansion."

Tang Feng glanced at Zhou Ziliang, shook his head, picked up the book, and said, "I'll memorize it! I'm not afraid of him! It's just a book!" Tang Feng stood up, laboriously moved the book aside, and said somewhat aggrievedly, "I just heard Yang Fei come back. Can we eat first? I'm really hungry! I didn't eat breakfast."

Zhang Mobai tapped Tang Feng's forehead. "Alright, alright, all you know is eating. How come we didn't know you had so many troubles back in Xiling? From today onwards, Ziliang and I will take turns watching you study. Little brother, don't even think about slacking off."

Zhou Ziliang chuckled to himself, "That must be tough on Xiaofeng."

"What's with all the suffering? Don't give him any free water!" Zhang Mobai said, then shouted towards the outside, "Yang Fei, bring the food over, it's time to eat!" For the next few days, Tang Feng lived a miserable existence. He was woken up before dawn by Zhang Mobai and forced to sit at his desk to memorize texts. Zhou Ziliang would supervise him at night. He spent the next ten days in a daze. Although he couldn't memorize everything perfectly, he managed to get by, albeit haltingly.

"Have you made all the arrangements?" Li Yunrui smiled at Shen Qinghang kneeling below. "What position did you assign him?"

"Your Highness, I wrote to my father a few days ago, and the matter you instructed me to handle has already been arranged. My father has secured a position as a supervisor for him at the pawnshop."

"The head of the pawnshop? That's quite a high-ranking position! Shen Yan is really interested." Li Yunrui closed the book he was reading and placed it on the table. "But isn't the position of head of the pawnshop a bit... for Tang Feng?"

"Then I'll ask my father to transfer it again."

"Wait a minute," Li Yunrui called out to Shen Qinghang, "Let him give it a try! This position might only be used once in decades, and he might even prefer it. It's a kind of sinecure anyway. Oh, right, what about the fourth brother..."

"As for His Highness Prince Cheng... it is indeed as you said, there has been no movement recently. However... I still want to remind Your Highness that once you become the Crown Prince, you will certainly be seen as a thorn in someone's side. You must be extremely careful, proceed with caution, and lest you lose sight of the bigger picture for the sake of small gains."

"I understand. You should return to Xiling tomorrow," Li Yunrui said, helping Shen Qinghang up. "I've looked at the pawnshop's ledgers these past few days, and something seems off. The tributes and exports match up, but the silver is significantly less. The Ministry of Revenue's accounts don't match. Go back to Xiling and handle the pawnshop matter for me. You absolutely must get to the bottom of this. The pawnshop is no small matter. If Father finds out, it's embezzlement, and everyone involved will be in deep trouble."

Shen Qinghang nodded. "Your Majesty, I understand. I will depart for Xiling immediately tomorrow."

"Remember, be careful with the pawnshop business. Don't give yourself away and let others find out." Li Yunrui didn't know why he had been feeling uneasy lately, as if something big was about to happen. However, he had written to Xiling many times without revealing anything amiss.

"Your Highness, you can rest assured about my work."

"Oh, by the way, before you leave, have Tang Feng come see me once."

Shen Qinghang was taken aback, wondering what Li Yunrui was up to. "Your name is Tang Feng...?"

"Nothing much, just a chat." Seeing that Li Yunrui wouldn't say more, Shen Qinghang could only bow and leave. After Shen Qinghang left, Li Yunrui sighed. She realized she had begun to envy Tang Feng, carefree and protected by Zhou Ziliang and Zhang Mobai, never having seen the harsh realities of the world.

Shen Qinghang said goodbye to Li Yunrui and went to find Tang Feng. "It's you again?" Yang Fei opened the door and saw Shen Qinghang, looking troubled. "Don't bother looking, Ziliang is nowhere to be found... Hey! Hey! Hey! You..." Shen Qinghang pushed open the door and walked in. Yang Fei couldn't stop him and hurriedly called into the house, "Bai Bai! Bai Bai! That guy is here again!"

"Yang Fei, you bastard! You can't even handle a simple task! Oh, Qinghang, Brother!" Zhang Mobai blocked the doorway, looked at Shen Qinghang, and bowed to him. "Brother Mobai, I don't know..."

"Ah! Ziliang! He's not here!" Zhang Mobai saw Shen Qinghang leaning into the house and quickly blocked the gap in the doorway. "Just tell me what's wrong!"

"No, I..."

"We've known each other for years, you wouldn't not even want to tell me, would you!" Zhang Mobai said with a forced smile, blocking the doorway completely. "What are you doing!" Just then, Tang Feng returned from outside. Shen Qinghang's eyes lit up. "Yes, yes, it's you! Here I am!" Shen Qinghang bowed to Zhang Mobai. "Brother Mobai, let's meet another day. I'll take Young Master Tang ahead; His Highness Prince Duan is in a hurry to see him." After saying that, he pulled Tang Feng out the door. Zhang Mobai had never seen anything like this before! He stood there stunned for a while before shouting into the house, "Zhou Ziliang, hurry up! The young master has been snatched away! Shen Qinghang is holding the young master's hand!"