The Empress left the Eastern Palace shortly after her arrival, taking Chen Deshun with her. She found the Crown Prince foolish and impulsive for offending Minister Wang, and she blamed his personal eunuch—Chen Deshun—for failing in his duty to advise and restrain the Prince’s excesses. Sending Chen Deshun to the Prince’s side was meant to exert control, not to indulge him.

As the Empress departed, Chu Yu pinched the corner of his sleeve, eyes downcast, and stood up. The palace staff swarmed back in, moving with terrified caution, fearful that any small mistake might be reported back to the Empress and cost them their lives.

When Yunsheng entered, this was the scene he encountered. He guessed the Empress had been there, and after a brief pause, he continued inward. In the vast hall, the front gauze curtains were tied to the pillars, but further back, they hung low, obscuring the person behind them. The only sound was the rustling of pages being turned.

Yunsheng knelt on one knee: “Your Highness.”

“All of you, leave. Yunsheng, stay,” came the cold, indifferent command from behind the curtains.

The attendants bowed and retreated. Once they were alone, Yunsheng looked up respectfully. “Those people have all been sent to the Dali Temple. We are just waiting for them to begin the investigation.”

“Minister Wang has already entered the palace to see the Emperor. The Emperor refused to grant him an audience, so he is currently kneeling outside the Zichen Hall, begging for forgiveness.”

“It seems Minister Wang will take a heavy fall this time. I fear his position as Prime Minister is in jeopardy.”

“Not necessarily.”

“Not necessarily?”

“He is, after all, the official the Father Emperor relies on most.” Chu Yu, behind the curtains, turned a page. “As Prime Minister, he sits above all but one. Half the court is under his influence. The Father Emperor uses him with such ease that he can even turn a blind eye to his massive embezzlement. A mere collateral relative… in the end, this matter will likely be handled with a heavy hand but a light sentence.” His voice was light, laced with mockery.

“Then our trip to Yongcheng County was in vain?” Yunsheng asked, showing surprise and disappointment.

“Not entirely in vain.” Chu Yu stood up, holding the book, and pushed aside the gauze curtain with the back of his hand. “Because of this, in the eyes of others, I am a stupid and impulsive Crown Prince. To ‘teach me a lesson,’ Minister Wang will treat me with indifference. I will no longer be a threat to the Father Emperor, and he will stop watching me with such vigilance.”

“The Crown Prince is fading; the Sixth Prince is rising. The Father Emperor’s next target of suspicion will be the Sixth Brother.” He curled his lips.

Yunsheng was clever. “Does Your Highness intend to lie low?”

“What else can I do?” Chu Yu chuckled softly. “The ministers of the court are the Father Emperor’s ministers. The Father Emperor is still in his prime. Although I am in the Wenhua Hall receiving the education of a successor, I haven’t touched a single true matter of state. How am I different from a dead ornament?”

“Must we just keep retreating like this?” Yunsheng gritted his teeth. He didn’t understand. The Prince was so outstanding, yet the Emperor was mediocre and incompetent. Why wouldn’t he pass on the nation, instead clinging to power and fearing his own son to such a degree?

“I have no true followers of my own; even this position of Crown Prince must be maintained by appearing weak.” Chu Yu clutched the book and looked up through the thin paper at the warm light. “The Empress wants me to build a base of power, but she does not know that these ‘factions’ are rotten to the core. None of them are truly loyal. The more I gather, the faster I walk toward a dead end.”

“Even if they eventually push me to the throne, they would only be holding their ‘kindness’ over me to extract even greater greed, harming the people. Such a group of officials…” On his jade-white face appeared an expression of extreme coldness: “It is better to wait for the right moment and discard them all.”

“Stop investigating the affairs of Chi-Cheng County. Seal all the files for later use.”

With the help of a clerk and a bribe of two hundred taels, Ji Linxi managed to enter a local academy. Of the one thousand taels he had started with, only seven hundred remained. He exchanged most of it for bank notes, keeping only a small amount of silver for daily expenses.

Entering the academy at this time was extremely late. The academy held enrollments in the first lunar month and in August; it was nearly the time for the winter break. Students were already settled into their cliques and were quite exclusionary.

The supervisor assigned Ji Linxi a small, simple student room. As a newcomer, he had to add a wooden bed himself, and it was empty of everything else. The academy head gave him one day off to buy necessities.

While Ji Linxi was in the market buying bedding and toiletries, he encountered Zhao Yun again. Because he was currently in his true form and not disguised, Zhao Yun did not recognize him—nor did she look at him, as she was busy selling fish, accompanied by someone who appeared to be her father.

Ji Linxi pretended not to see her. He was a scoundrel, not even worthy of being called a hypocrite. While he wouldn’t do anything as heinous as Wang He, he was the type of person who disliked ties to his past after having “reborn.” Moreover, he needed to keep this face to meet his “Beautiful Young Master” again. If Zhao Yun knew he was the old “Chu Xi” who survived by trickery, it would be an added risk.

Didn’t the Beautiful Young Master sign a contract with the government to buy her fish? Why is she out here selling it herself? The thought crossed his mind, but he quickly dismissed it.

Back at the academy, Ji Linxi made his bed. He had also bought a new set of clothes. Between the bedding, stationery, and clothes, it was another significant expense. Wearing the new clothes, he was noticeably warmer. There was no bronze mirror in the room, so he looked down to smooth his waist and sleeves, finally puffing out his chest.

If I appear before the Beautiful Young Master in this state, I might catch his eye, right?

Sigh, I miss the Beautiful Young Master. A shameless person like him missed him with his mind, his heart, and even more so with his body. Yet, he had promised yesterday to restrain his desires.

Endure. Endure. Endure…

Forget it, one more day of indulgence. I’ll start studying tomorrow and endure then; one day won’t matter.

Just as Ji Linxi thought this and crawled into his new quilt, planning to satisfy himself, he shook his head, gritted his teeth, and threw the quilt aside.

No.

If he indulged today, there would be a next time, and a next time after that. He must not break the rules. He couldn’t recall the specific proverb, but the meaning was clear: if one lets their standards slip just a little, they will eventually fail completely.

With this in mind, Ji Linxi turned to grab the book the supervisor had given him. But his mind was filled with romantic thoughts; the classical texts before his eyes turned into sensual lips and tongues.

After several attempts, he anxiously hammered his own head: “Read!!!”

If he didn’t read, the Beautiful Young Master would drift away! Was he to be a useless waste for the rest of his life, watching the Beautiful Young Master fall into someone else’s arms?

[“Sorry, Master Xi, you cannot give me what I want. I cannot wait for you anymore…” The Beautiful Young Master, dressed in red wedding robes, brushed aside the gold tassels of his crown with slender fingers, looked at him with disappointment, and turned to fall into the arms of a black-clad swordsman. The swordsman glanced at him with contempt, and he could only stand there, hands empty, watching the Beautiful Young Master depart, kneeling on the ground with two lines of tears…]

The image shocked Ji Linxi, and he widened his phoenix eyes. “No!!”

The erotic thoughts dissipated instantly. Rationality returned. He shook his head vigorously to banish the image, gripped the book tightly, and buried his head in his reading.

When the students returned to the room after class, they pushed the door open to see the newcomer engrossed in his book in the dim sunset light, chanting: “Government is like the pu-lu plant. Therefore, government depends on the man. To govern a man, one must use one’s own body. To cultivate the body, one must use the Dao. To cultivate the Dao, one must use benevolence…”