Chapter 18: The Profound Pain Concealed Within His Words.

Mu Zhiming restrained his emotions, pretending to be calm as he approached both Princes: “Was the Fifth Prince looking for me?”

“Yes.” Fu Yi smiled and nodded, but didn’t mention what he wanted right away. Instead, he turned his head to Fu Ji’an: “I would like to speak with Lizhu alone. Can I take him away for a while?”

As soon as Mu Zhiming heard this, the blood in his body seemed to flow backward, and his head was about to explode out of annoyance. In a hurry, he spoke: “Forgive me, Fifth Prince, but I already have an appointment with the Seventh Prince. He has to go to the equestrian archery garden to practice martial arts, I have to accompany him!”

“Huh?” Fu Ji’an said with a smile: “It’s alright, Mu-gege can accompany me next time. Of course, Imperial Brother’s matter is more important!”

Mu Zhiming: “….”

‘Fu! Ji! An! I won’t let you fucking sleep until the next year!!!’

Fu Yi smiled: “Thank you.”

“There’s nothing to thank me for!” Fu Ji’an laughed out loud. “Then, Imperial Brother, Mu-gege, I’ll go practice martial arts in the equestrian archery garden! See you later!”

“Wait! Wait…” Mu Zhiming tried to stop Fu Ji’an, but Fu Ji’an simply waved his hand and ran away, disappearing in an instant.

For a moment, only Mu Zhiming and Fu Yi were left in the corridor, in complete silence, with only the sound of the cicadas in the background.

Given that the matter has come to this, Mu Zhiming would have to deal with it. At that moment, Mu Zhiming stopped panicking and calmed down. After all, he wanted to see what kind of tricks Fu Yi had up his sleeve.

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Without any kind of wind passing by, the hot air felt suffocating, as the scorching sun burned on the ground. Fu Yi looked at Mu Zhiming with indifferent eyes, but as he shallowly smiled, he said: ”My mother is chatting with the Noble Consort in the Fengyi Palace today. Accompany me to the Fengyi Palace, we can talk as we walk.”

“Alright. I wonder, what does the Fifth Prince have to tell me?” Mu Zhiming responded indifferently.

“I’ll tell you as we walk.” As he began to walk, Fu Yi said with a smile. Mu Zhiming followed him, and they both headed to the Fengyi Palace together.

Mu Zhiming originally thought that Fu Yi would say a bunch of ambiguous things again, but in the end, he only chatted about their childhood, poetry, and literature. Mu Zhiming was wondering what Fu Yi meant by this, and when they got close to the Fengyi Palace, Fu Yi suddenly said: “There’s an ancient saying that goes; ‘Saints treat everyone equally’. Lizhu, do you think that saints exist in this world?”

Mu Zhiming was confused and even pondered on how to answer. But at that moment, Fu Yi muttered: “There’s certainly no saints in this world. There are many people in the world, and everyone’s hearts are biased. Lizhu, did you know? When I was seven years old, I was able to recite the article ‘Do Politics’ by memory, but….”

Fu Yi smiled, but the expression on his face looked a bit odd: “The Emperor has never praised me. Today, Fu Ji’an wrote a word wrong, but the Emperor even asked Fu Ji’an if he wanted a reward. Isn’t that funny?” After saying that, Fu Yi recklessly laughed twice.

Mu Zhiming said indifferently: “There’s more to this world than receiving the Emperor’s attention.”

Fu Yi restrained his expression and stared at Mu Zhiming with a terrifying gaze.

Mu Zhiming wasn’t afraid and even added: “The brotherly love Fu Ji’an has been giving to you, is far more valuable than gold and stronger than stone. Noble Consort Niangniang has protected you and treated you with kindness since you were a child….”

“Noble Consort Niangniang?” Fu Yi suddenly interrupted Mu Zhiming’s words. With a cold smile, he said: “Do you know what the biggest difference between Fu Ji’an and me is? My mother’s status is low, and I’m nothing more than a bastard son that was born from a mistake, from a night my mother spent with a drunk Emperor. Mu Qingwan is different—….”

“How dare you?!” Mu Zhiming scolded angrily. “How dare you say the Noble Consort’s name?!!”

“Why shouldn’t I?!” Fu Yi’s voice was louder, and his gaze was fierce, as vicious as Hell. Moving one step at a time, Fu Yi approached Mu Zhiming. However, all of a sudden, Fu Yi noticed something and his gaze became gentler, hiding every emotion on his face. Immediately after, the cheerful voice of the Noble Consort could be heard from afar: “Oh! Lizhu, Yi’er!”

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Fu Yi smiled and hurried to salute her. Mu Zhiming, on the other hand, knew very well that this wasn’t the time to get himself entangled with Fu Yi, so he simply held his breath and saluted the Noble Consort as well.

Soon, the Noble Consort approached both young men, smiling brightly and beautifully: “Why is it just the two of you? Where is Ji’an?”

“Replying to the Noble Consort,” Mu Zhiming said. “The Seventh Prince has gone to practice martial arts.”

“Oh….then he won’t have the pleasure to eat with us. The Imperial Kitchen just sent over my favorite sesame cloud cakes. It’s delicious! Come with me!” As she spoke, the Noble Consort took their hands and pulled them towards Fengyi Palace with a smile.

—

At the same time, Fu Ji’an walked toward the equestrian archery garden. From a distance, he could see a young man dressed in white clothes, with a red agate jade pendant hanging down from his waist, standing by the bamboo pavilion.

“Shifu1!” Fu Ji’an shouted as he strode over.

When seeing this, the Palace attendants became worried and hurried to advise: “Your Highness! Be careful, if you don’t slow down, you might fall!”

Gu Heyan was trying the tension of the bowstring with an arrow in his hand, when he suddenly heard a voice that was not that far away. After raising his head, Gu Heyan saluted: “Seventh Prince.”

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“Shifu, you came here so early!” Fu Ji’an said with a big smile.

In reality, Gu Heyan felt that this title was inadequate, but Fu Ji’an insisted on calling him this, saying that it added to the atmosphere of a fictional martial arts novel, something Fu Ji’an had always yearned for. Gu Heyan didn’t know how to argue against it, so he simply agreed.

“Today, I’ll teach you how to draw a bow.” Gu Heyan handed the curved bow in his hand to Fu Ji’an.

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Fu Ji’an, on the contrary, said with a bitter face: “Shifu, you’re too formal. Haven’t we practiced martial arts together for a long time now? Don’t you want to chat with me?”

Gu Heyan: “….What does His Highness want to talk about?”

“About….about….” Fu Ji’an patted his little head and stammered for a long time. However, in the end, he couldn’t find a topic they could talk about. After a long sigh, he said: “Haa, if only Mu-gege had come with me today. He’s very talkative!”

Gu Heyan’s eyes trembled, while his expression instantly changed from indifferent to flustered. Even his voice sounded a bit weakened: “Is the Duke of Yan’s son coming here today?”

Unaware of the change in Gu Heyan’s mood, Fi Ji’an said: “At first, he was going to come with me, but my Fifth Imperial Brother had to talk with him, so Mu-gege went with Imperial Brother.”

At that, Gu Heyan lowered his head and looked down with a somewhat dull gaze. After a while, Gu Heyan finally asked a very out-of-place question without a second thought: “Does the Fifth Prince treat the Duke of Yan’s son….well?”

“Well?” Fu Ji’an repeated in confusion. He was only ten years old at this time, so how could he understand the profound pain concealed in Gu Heyan’s words? Of course, Fu Ji’an simply laughed: “Of course my Fifth Imperial Brother treats Mu-gege well! My Fifth Imperial Brother hangs out with Mu-gege the most! They have such a good relationship, I’m a little envious of it. When they were young, my Fifth Imperial Brother would often tease Mu-gege a lot. Even making Mu-gege call him ‘Yi-gege’. Mu-gege was silly back then, so he actually did it! Later, my Fifth Imperial Brother bought a lot of sesame cloud cakes for Mu-gege, and he didn’t even share a single one with me! I was so angry!”

“Hmm.” Gu Heyan quietly heard Fu Ji’an talk, waiting until he would finish his rambling. As soon as Fu Ji’an was done, Gu Heyan murmured with a trembling voice: “That’s wonderful.”

“Huh?” Fu Ji’an didn’t hear him clearly.

“Seventh Prince, it’s time to practice archery. Draw the bow.” Gu Heyan’s breathing gradually calmed down, as he began to instruct Fu Ji’an in archery exercises.

—

In the twinkling of an eye, it was the end of the 9th Lunar Month2. The parasol trees were illuminated by the cold moonlight, wet from the autumn rain. At this time, the weather was getting colder and colder.

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The vengeful Mu Zhiming really didn’t let Fu Ji’an sleep lazily this whole time. Every day, early in the morning, Mu Zhiming would enter the Palace to shout at Fu Ji’an, telling him to get up and begin to read. Fu Ji’an, on the other hand, had to foolishly get up early every day.

On this day, as usual, Mu Zhiming requested permission to enter the Fengyi Palace to wake Fu Ji’an.

When Fu Ji’an finally opened his eyes, he hugged his quilt and began to howl: “Mu-gege! Can’t I rest today? The Grand Tutor hasn’t even entered the Palace yet, what are you doing here?! The Academy hasn’t even opened yet!”

“Do you think you can be lazy simply because the Academy hasn’t opened yet? You think you can stop waking up early to memorize the books?” Mu Zhiming bitterly smiled and said: “Nice try.”

The pitiful Fu Ji’an rolled around the bed in protest, but in the end, he was still forcibly dragged by Mu Zhiming to the study in the Fengyi Palace.

Fu Ji’an cried for a while, took the book, and memorized it in silence for a while. However, in the end, his playful mind prevailed. After abandoning the book, Fu Ji’an went to Mu Zhiming’s side and rummaged through his pile of books, trying to see what Mu Zhiming was reading.

“Machinery techniques around the world? The Book of Songs and the Classic of Rites? Mohe3 language?” Fu Ji’an read out the titles of the books, one by one, only to lament next: “Mu-gege, the books you read are too miscellaneous! It’s a mess!”

Mu Zhiming said: “One is my personal interest, while the rest are for the future of my career. Quit rummaging through my books and seriously go read yours.”

“Awww, Mu-gege, please let me rest!” Fu Ji’an wailed. “I still have to go practice martial arts in the afternoon!”

Mu Zhiming flipped through his books and asked casually: “Who’s teaching you martial arts?”

Fu Ji’an replied: “General Gu’s son!”

Mu Zhiming suddenly raised his head and looked at Fu Ji’an: “The son of General Gu?!”

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“Yes, yes, that’s right!” Fu Ji’an nodded his head excitedly, with his eyes filled with admiration. “Mu-gege, let me tell you! My Shifu is so powerful! He’s well versed in archery, horseback riding, swordsmanship, and Qinggong4!”

Mu Zhiming slammed shut the book in his hand and said: “Why didn’t you tell me he was teaching you earlier?!”

Fu Ji’an scratched his head, not understanding where the complaint came from: “You didn’t ask!”

At that moment, Mu Zhiming’s eyes brightened: “I’ll go to the equestrian archery garden with you this afternoon!!”

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