Chapter 2 Zhou Dao owes his success to His Highness today.
Fu Mingzi gave Luo Xing a half-smile and looked him up and down: "If you can come, why can't I? His Majesty appointed me as the Fifth Prince's study companion. Do you have any complaints?"
"You!" Luo Xing's face flushed red, then as if he remembered something, a cold smile flashed across his face: "What could I possibly be dissatisfied with? I'm overjoyed for you to have such a promising job."
Luo Xing's tone was sarcastic, and he specifically emphasized the words "promising future".
They seem to look down on the Fifth Prince, who is relatively unknown.
Fu Mingzi's face darkened, revealing a hint of ruthlessness, and she was about to speak.
“Fu Qing, no need to say more.” Zhou Xiaoyan suddenly interrupted Fu Mingzi. His tone was very calm, as if he didn’t care at all about Luo Xing’s rudeness: “The teacher will be here soon. Let’s review our lessons first.”
Fu Mingzi frowned and glanced at Zhou Xiaoyan.
On the other side, Luo Xing became even more arrogant, looking at Fu Mingzi provocatively.
Fu Mingzi thought for a moment, then glanced at the Ninth Prince sitting to the side, seemingly unaffected.
The Ninth Prince is only eight years old this year, but he already has the air of a prince who is high and mighty. He raises his chin slightly and has an arrogant look on his face.
Fu Mingzi chuckled softly, then ignored Luo Xing and returned to her seat.
He argued with Luo Xing, but everyone in the room acted as if nothing had happened. What a calm mindset! What a deep pool of water!
Seeing that Fu Mingzi ignored him, Luo Xing assumed that he had subdued Fu Mingzi, and his face became even more smug.
"Let me tell you, you surnamed Fu, don't think you can be arrogant just because you act all high and mighty outside. In this palace, you have no place to tremble. You'd better behave yourself and be my study companion. If you dare to challenge me again, watch out..."
"What are you going to do to me?" Fu Mingzi became increasingly angry as she listened. Suddenly, she turned her face and looked at Luo Xing with a smile, but that smile looked extremely creepy.
Luo Xing was startled and took a half step back, thinking to himself, "How can this kid be so scary?" Then, realizing how embarrassing he was, he quickly mustered his courage and pointed at Fu Mingzi's nose: "You dare scare me? You'd better watch out..."
"Third Brother Luo!" A clear child's voice interrupted Luo Xing's words: "Scholar Duan is coming soon, Third Brother Luo, you should talk less." The speaker was actually the Ninth Prince. He looked at Luo Xing with a smile, but there was a warning in his eyes.
Luo Xing, who had been so arrogant just moments before, suddenly calmed down and obediently replied, "Yes." After giving Fu Mingzi a fierce glare, he returned to his seat.
At this moment, the Ninth Prince looked at Fu Mingzi and said with a smile, "Brother Luo is impulsive and doesn't know how to speak properly, which has caused Young Master Fu to suffer. I apologize to Young Master Fu here."
Fu Mingzi smiled and said she wouldn't dare, but her eyes were full of coldness.
This palace is truly fascinating; even an eight-year-old knows how to win people's hearts. However, the methods used are rather crude, and it seems to treat others as fools.
Zhou Xiaoyan glanced at the Ninth Prince, but the Ninth Prince didn't give him a friendly look, only letting out a disgusted sneer. Zhou Xiaoyan's expression remained calm, but his eyes grew increasingly cold.
This incident passed by uneventfully, and apart from the four of them, everyone else seemed to be deaf and blind, as if nothing had happened.
Fu Mingzi was surprised before, but not at all now. He had a vague realization that perhaps being deaf and blind in the palace would allow him to live longer.
**
Not long after, Scholar Duan, who was serving in the Imperial Study, finally arrived. Scholar Duan was fifty-eight years old this year, and his knowledge was unmatched by many in the court. However, he was stubborn and always offended people. But the emperor valued his talent and learned him, so he transferred him to the Imperial Study as a lecturer.
Since he arrived, the rules of the Imperial Study have become three times stricter. Even if a prince makes a mistake, this Scholar Duan will punish him without exception, showing no leniency.
Therefore, as soon as he entered, everyone in the study, whether they were pretending or not, all looked like they were engrossed in their studies.
Fu Mingzi followed local customs and became serious on the surface, but in his heart he wondered whether this Scholar Duan's lectures were more hypnotic or the teacher in his family back then.
However, before Fu Mingzi could even make a ranking, Duan Xueshi's cold and sharp eyes had already fixed on him.
"If you expose it to the sun for one day and then freeze it for ten days, nothing will grow." What does this mean?
Fu Mingzi frowned, finding this all a jumbled mess. She stood up abruptly, her voice booming with confidence: "I don't know!"
Scholar Duan was so angry at his self-righteous attitude that his beard bristled: "Such a simple question, even an eight-year-old child should know. You are truly ignorant!"
Luo Xing gloated from the side, while the other princes remained calm and didn't even glance at him. Only Zhou Xiaoyan frowned slightly and stared at him intently.
Fu Mingzi was very impatient, but she didn't dare to confront Duan Xueshi directly. She just lowered her head and pretended to be receptive to instruction.
Scholar Duan was furious. He turned around and saw Luo Xing's silly grin. He pointed at him and said, "Luo Xing! You speak!"
Luo Xing was stunned. He never expected that the lightning would hit him on the head. He stood up and hesitated for a long time, unable to utter a coherent sentence.
Seeing that he was about to die of anger, Duan Xueshi waved his sleeve, took out a ruler, and hit each of them three times. Luo Xing cried out in pain, while Fu Mingzi's lips twitched, but he managed to endure it. Although this old teacher was quite ruthless, he had been beaten by his father at home quite often, so he could bear this pain.
However, Scholar Duan was still not satisfied and wanted to say something more. Just then, Zhou Xiaoyan suddenly spoke up.
"If you expose something to the sun for one day and then leave it in the cold for ten days, nothing will grow." This comes from Mencius, Book 6, Part 1. It means that without perseverance, one cannot succeed in learning or doing anything. The saying "one day of sunshine followed by ten days of frost" originates from this.
Scholar Duan was taken aback, then turned to look at Zhou Xiaoyan, as if he were seeing this prince with a low profile for the first time.
"Indeed, Your Highness's explanation is excellent. In the future, whether in scholarship or in dealing with others, you should keep these words in mind." After saying this, Scholar Duan only nodded to Zhou Xiaoyan, without even looking at his two unfortunate brothers, Fu Mingzi and Luo Xing, and turned to leave.
After Scholar Duan left, the princes' companions around him began to cast glances at Fu Mingzi, seemingly trying to discern something from him. However, Fu Mingzi was too thick-skinned to care and simply sat back down in his seat.
To Fu Mingzi's surprise, Zhou Xiaoyan, who was sitting next to him, suddenly took out a small porcelain box from his sleeve and handed it to him.
"This medicine reduces swelling and relieves pain. Try applying it." His face remained cold, but his tone softened slightly.
Fu Mingzi was somewhat surprised. This fifth prince seemed difficult to get along with, but he turned out to be kind-hearted. It was one thing for him to remind him to study before, but now he was even giving him medicine. Although he still had a cold and aloof demeanor, he found him more and more interesting.
"Thanks!" He smiled at Zhou Xiaoyan and took the porcelain box.
Zhou Xiaoyan remained expressionless, gently rubbed his fingertips together, and continued reading with his head down.
Fu Mingzi ignored Duan Xueshi's dark face and openly applied medicine to her hands.
All the gazes that had been fixed on Fu Mingzi vanished at that moment.
**
After finishing the morning's classes, Fu Mingzi accompanied Zhou Xiaoyan back to his prince's residence.
Zhou Xiaoyan's sons all lived in the West Third Palace, each in a three-courtyard room, cramped and not very bright.
But there's nothing that can be done about it. If they want to live a more open and prosperous life, they can only wait until they are granted the title of king and have their own residence. And for this group, they probably won't be able to leave the palace until they get married.
Zhou Xiaoyan lived between the fourth and sixth princes. A tree was planted in front of the courtyard, which shaded most of the front yard but also blocked most of the sunlight, so the house was always a bit cold in winter.
When they entered, the eunuchs had already prepared lunch. Zhou Xiaoyan's personal eunuch, Wei Baocheng, was a quick-witted man. He smiled and said to Fu Mingzi, "The room for Young Master Fu has been prepared. It is located in the left courtyard of the Fifth Prince's study. Young Master can rest there after you finish your meal. There is still a martial arts lesson in the afternoon."
The prince's curriculum is divided into literary and martial arts classes. He studies literature in the morning and martial arts in the afternoon, with a one-and-a-half-hour break at noon. Therefore, if Fu Mingzi wants to go back, he can only do so after the martial arts class in the afternoon.
Fu Mingzi thought the arrangement was acceptable, so she nodded and dined with Zhou Xiaoyan.
And this lunch was prepared to Fu Mingzi's liking.
Fu Mingzi loves to eat fish, especially steamed fish, and today there just happened to be a plate of fresh and juicy steamed fish in front of him.
With a glance from Wei Baocheng, a young eunuch came up and served food to Fu Mingzi.
"This steamed fish is quite rare. It was originally a tribute fish from the coastal areas. Today, His Highness the Fifth Prince wanted to use it, so we got a plate of it. What do you think, Young Master Fu?" Wei Baocheng said with a smile.
Fu Mingzi ate with a beaming smile: "Not bad, not bad at all, much better than what the chef in my household makes."
After saying that, he looked at Zhou Xiaoyan and said, "I am grateful for Your Highness's favor today."
Zhou Xiaoyan lowered his eyes, not looking at him, only revealing a delicate profile: "If you like it, eat more. The afternoon classes won't be easy." His tone was clear and crisp.
Fu Mingzi smiled. Although he was terrible at academic subjects, he was a different story when it came to martial arts. As a military officer from the Duke of Jingguo's mansion, even though he was pampered by his family, he had received a lot of training since childhood, which was much more arduous than the training of princes in the capital.
However, he couldn't say it directly, so he just smiled and said, "I will definitely not embarrass the Fifth Prince."
Zhou Xiaoyan raised his head, glanced at Fu Mingzi, saw his smiling face but his eyes seemed somewhat dazed, and after a long while he nodded: "Let's have a meal."
Fu Mingzi finished his meal in a flash, and almost all of the steamed fish was eaten by him. Zhou Xiaoyan only took a bite. After he finished eating, Wei Baocheng personally escorted him to the courtyard of the study.
Fu Mingzi went in and looked around. The furnishings were quite exquisite, and everything was to his liking. He nodded and said, "Thank you, Father-in-law."
Wei Baocheng smiled warmly: "I hope you are comfortable, young master. If you want anything, just tell Xiao Yunzi, and he will be waiting outside the door." Wei Baocheng pointed to the little eunuch behind him.
Fu Mingzi looked him over, recognized the face, and nodded: "Thank you for your trouble."
Wei Baocheng nodded and left.
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