Chapter 111 - An Apology to Old Ten's Diligent and Lazy Life
The Ninth Prince was even more surprised than Yin'e. He looked at Yin'e with a strange expression, tilted his head, and his delicate and beautiful face was full of confusion: "When have I ever been stupid?"
After a pause, the Ninth Prince opened his mouth, about to say something, when he suddenly realized what he had said. He glared at Yin'e with a dark expression, pouting and asking in a frustrated tone, "Tenth Brother, were you just saying bad things about me?"
Call him stupid!
And it wasn't just that they called him stupid, they said it to his face!
He blinked, his raven-black eyelashes fluttering twice like butterfly wings. Yin'e avoided the Ninth Prince's questioning and instead pressed him for an answer: "Ninth Brother, when did you notice that Eighth Brother wasn't as close to Fourth Brother as before?"
The Ninth Prince rolled his eyes at Yin'e. Although he was dissatisfied, he still answered Yin'e's question honestly: "I noticed it as soon as I entered the Imperial Study. Didn't you notice? The Eighth Prince doesn't take the initiative to contact the Fourth Prince much anymore. Of course, he hasn't openly cut off contact with the Fourth Prince either."
After giving the Ninth Prince a deep look, Yin'e breathed a sigh of relief, as if a huge rock had finally been lifted from his shoulders.
His shoulders relaxed, and Yin'e looked at the Ninth Prince, muttering to himself, "Ninth Brother, so you really aren't stupid after all!"
Upon hearing Yin'e's words, the Ninth Prince's anger subsided somewhat, and his fury gradually disappeared, causing him to start baring his teeth and brandishing his claws again.
He glared fiercely at Yin'e, leaned his upper body forward, grabbed Yin'e's shoulders with both hands, and shook his body back and forth forcefully, as if to teach Yin'e a lesson: "You're the stupid one, I'm smart!"
Being able to keep up with the lessons in the Imperial Study and maintaining a moderate level of academic performance without burning the midnight oil every night is enough to show that the Ninth Prince is not only not stupid, but also very smart.
Those who are less intelligent cannot withstand the rigorous parenting style of Emperor Kangxi and his tutors.
In fact, regarding the matter between the Fourth Prince and the Eighth Prince, the Ninth Prince was not an insider. Being an outsider, he naturally saw things more clearly than the parties involved.
Moreover, the Ninth Prince is very sensitive.
Perhaps the Eighth Prince didn't make things very obvious, but to onlookers, his every move was clear and impossible to hide.
Now that the Ninth Prince has a clear understanding of the Eighth Prince's character, although he doesn't necessarily harbor any malice or disgust, a sense of unease is inevitable. Given the Ninth Prince's overly sensitive nature, he will not have any further contact with the Eighth Prince.
Yin'e breathed a sigh of relief, but the Ninth Prince, with his delicate and pretty face puffed out, kept nagging at Yin'e: "Tenth Brother, what kind of image do you have of me? How could you think I'm so stupid?!"
Looking up at the Ninth Prince, Yin'e's eyes revealed a hint of apology.
Seeing how excited the Ninth Prince was, Yin'e also realized that he had made a mistake: how could he think that the Ninth Prince was "stupid" and easily deceived just because of historical records and future events, and that he would be tricked by the Eighth Prince in the future?
We cannot draw conclusions about people based on things that haven't happened yet, even if those things are recorded in future history books!
After realizing this, Yin'e straightened his expression, took the Ninth Prince's hand, and apologized to him earnestly, "I'm sorry, Ninth Brother. I was overthinking it. I didn't know you well enough, and I didn't trust you enough."
"I'm sorry, what I said upset you. I sincerely apologize to you here, and I hope you can forgive me, Ninth Brother. I also promise you that I will never make this mistake again!"
Yin'e's sudden, earnest apology made the Ninth Prince somewhat uncomfortable. He wasn't actually as angry as he appeared; it was mostly just him joking around with Yin'e. He hadn't expected Yin'e to apologize to him so seriously.
Meeting Yin'e's clear, bright almond-shaped eyes, and seeing the serious and earnest look in them, the Ninth Prince blinked several times before mumbling, "Alright, since you've apologized, I'll be magnanimous and forgive you."
After a pause, afraid that Yin'e would see through his joke and that he wasn't really that angry, the Ninth Prince hurriedly added, "You promised me you wouldn't call me stupid again!"
Yin'e hesitated for a moment, wanting to explain to the Ninth Prince that he would no longer have any "prejudice" against him because of the historical records he remembered, not that he would stop saying that the Ninth Prince was stupid.
If the Ninth Prince makes a foolish mistake in other areas in the future, then Yin'e will certainly not hesitate to scold him awake, and then pull the Ninth Prince out of the pit he has fallen into, so that he will not pay too heavy a price for his foolishness.
Not only will he scold the Ninth Prince, but at the end, Yin'e will also mock him severely to teach him a lesson!
Correspondingly, if the one who made the foolish mistake was Yin'e, then he would also hope that the Ninth Prince could scold him awake... Well, it would be even better if the scolding was mild—although it sounds a bit hypocritical, the essence of humanity is being a repeater, having a "it smells good" mentality, and being hypocritical!
Although he wanted to explain things to the Ninth Prince, considering that he had said something wrong and upset the Ninth Prince, Yin'e decided to swallow his explanation for now and explain things to the Ninth Prince when the time was right.
So, the childish brothers, who had "fallen out" for less than three seconds, immediately made up and snuggled together intimately. As for the Eighth Prince's matter—there's no need to comment too much, nor can we comment too much, since the Eighth Prince is older than them after all.
After Yin'e and the Ninth Prince "reconciled," the Fifth Prince, who was sitting in front of them and loudly reciting his lessons, seemed to be exhausting his life force with every sentence he read. He put down his book and turned around to look at them.
With dark circles under his eyes, the Fifth Prince looked at Yin'e and the other man with a puzzled and confused gaze. After a moment, he asked in a hoarse voice, "Why aren't you two reciting your lessons?"
Under the Fifth Prince's gaze, which was tinged with a hint of hostility, the Ninth Prince subconsciously replied, "We've already memorized it; there's no need to spend time reciting it."
The Fifth Prince actually had a pair of phoenix eyes just like those of Consort Yi and the Ninth Prince. However, because he had become chubby, the beauty, affection, and shimmering light of his phoenix eyes were not apparent.
At this moment, the Fifth Prince's already round phoenix eyes widened even more, and the slight hatred in his eyes turned into deep grief and indignation.
Seemingly realizing he shouldn't have asked the question, the Fifth Prince glared angrily at the Ninth Prince, not wanting to say another word. He turned away angrily, his sturdy and heavy back conveying his attitude to Yin'e and the Ninth Prince.
The Ninth Prince was not affected by the Fifth Prince's anger at all. He even grinned at Yin'e with a sly smile and said, "Tenth Brother, we've made Fifth Brother run away!"
With a slight twitch at the corner of his mouth, Yin'e glanced speechlessly at the Ninth Prince, who was grinning like a little fox who had stolen a chicken. He really couldn't understand why the Ninth Prince and the Fifth Prince, both academic underachievers, would "fight each other."
There are only three lazy bums in the Imperial Study. They should stick together for warmth. Do they even know how valuable the "Lazy Bum Team" is after they form a group?
The Fourth Prince was off today and did not come to the Imperial Study, but this did not affect the daily teaching routine of the Imperial Study, which had been going on for years. The tutors continued to teach, and the princes continued to recite their lessons, just like every other day.
However, those who were closer to the Fourth Prince were concerned about his experience when he went to pay his respects to Consort De. Apart from that, the other princes were envious of the Fourth Prince's day off.
After entering the Imperial Study, the princes only had a few days of vacation throughout the year until graduation: their own birthdays, their mothers' birthdays, and various important festivals that required the princes to attend palace banquets.
Apart from that, the princes had no other holidays to rest, and spent almost all of their time in the Imperial Study throughout the year.
Yin'e, the Ninth Prince, and the Fifth Prince were all progressing at the same pace in their studies. Indeed, as the Ninth Prince had said, they had memorized the lessons assigned by their master.
But to say that there's no need to spend time memorizing anymore is pure boasting from the Ninth Prince.
To remember your lessons better and more firmly, you need to review and reinforce them frequently.
These were things that Yin'e and the Ninth Prince would only do in the Imperial Study. Because they adhered to the principle of never bringing their homework back to the princes' quarters, they would never open a book and look at it even once after school.
They are like salted fish, content to lie flat and never compete with each other, never burning the midnight oil or studying by lamplight.
“Come on, Ninth Brother, let’s each recite it once, and check each other to see if we’ve memorized it all, or if we’ve made any mistakes.” Yin’e took out his overly new thread-bound book from his book box and called on the Ninth Prince to join him in the “energetic” morning reading.
The Ninth Prince exclaimed "Ah!" and looked at Yin'e with a slightly confused expression, tilting his head to ask in a low voice, "Tenth Brother, why are you so enthusiastic today?"
This is nothing like the tenth brother he usually knows; he's so diligent and hardworking!
While flipping through the book, Yin'e glanced at the Ninth Prince and lowered his voice, replying even more quietly, "Fourth Brother is on holiday today and didn't come to the Imperial Study. Master Gu made time for him."
His phoenix eyes, with their upturned corners and delicate shape, widened instantly. As soon as Yin'e finished speaking, the Ninth Prince understood almost immediately.
Master Gu, the eighth generation of the Imperial Study, favored and valued the Fourth Prince the most. Rather than saying that their relationship was that of teacher and student, it would be more accurate to say that they were like-minded friends despite their age difference.
When the Fourth Prince was around, he always managed to draw away the vast majority of Gu Badai's firepower—of course, the Fourth Prince didn't think he was drawing away firepower. The Fourth Prince, who was like-minded with Gu Badai, actually thought it was a good thing, that Gu Badai was giving him special treatment.
Today is the Fourth Prince's birthday, and he has a day off, so he didn't come to the Imperial Study. Without his favorite student to draw his attention, Gu Badai's focus will inevitably be more on the other princes.
As problem students with an improper attitude towards learning, Yin'e and the Ninth Prince have always been the focus of Gu Badai's surveillance.
Today, Gu Badai has more free time to discipline the princes, so Yin'e and the Ninth Prince should behave themselves and not slack off or cause trouble, lest they incur Gu Badai's "special attention".
Hurriedly rummaging through his book box for books, the Ninth Prince sighed repeatedly as he flipped through the pages: "I didn't realize how important Fourth Brother was when he was here, but now that he's gone, I immediately realize how important he is—I really wish Fourth Brother was always here when Master Gu is on duty in the Imperial Study."
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