Zhang Su wanted to go with him but was stopped by Emperor Xingwu, who told him to continue practicing archery.
Qingyang, curious, followed her father to watch Third Brother lift the stone locks.
The lightest lock weighed only one jin, while the heaviest was twenty jin.
Qin Ren picked up a one-jin lock in each hand and slowly raised them from his sides until his arms were parallel with the ground.
After just a short while, eight-year-old Qin Ren’s face turned red, sweat beaded on his forehead, and his arms trembled.
The stone locks in his hands began to shake.
Suddenly, the breath he’d been holding escaped, and both stone locks crashed to the ground.
Emperor Xingwu: “You didn’t even reach a count of five. Pick them up again!”
Qin Ren dropped to his knees, looking up at his father in desperation.
“Father, I really can’t lift them. I’m not doing it on purpose, I just can’t hold on. Why not tie me up and strap the locks to my hands?”
He could sit patiently and practice calligraphy or memorize books until he got them right, but when it came to martial training, he simply lacked the perseverance.
Emperor Xingwu’s anger flared as he watched his son.
“So soft! I don’t believe it, if a wolf were chasing you, you wouldn’t be able to run?”
Qin Ren imagined the scene.
“Your son would keep running. But if I really couldn’t go on, then let the wolf eat me. I only hope it bites my neck first, so I don’t suffer too much.”
Emperor Xingwu: “……”
Qingyang panicked and rushed over to hug her brother.
“I don’t want the wolf to bite Third Brother’s neck!”
Emperor Xingwu quickly soothed his daughter.
Once she had calmed down, he asked his son, “What if you were escaping with your sister, would you give up that easily too?”
Qin Ren: “…Your son would never take Sister and run alone. If we really ran into wolves, I’d hand her over to Zhang Su for protection and run in a different direction. If I could lure a few wolves away from them, at least I’d be doing my duty as an older brother.”
Emperor Xingwu: “……”
The Third Prince had skin thick enough to be immune to blades and spears, so Emperor Xingwu turned his temper on the eldest and second sons.
Qin Hong scored top marks in both academics and martial arts, leaving little room for criticism.
So the emperor hinted that the eldest should broaden his heart and not be so intolerant of others.
Qin Bing excelled in martial arts but was terrible in his studies, so Emperor Xingwu scolded him for having a blockhead and punished him with an extra half-hour of copying texts tonight.
By the time Emperor Xingwu left, Qin Hong and Qin Bing looked like they’d been hit by frost, while the utterly mediocre Qin Ren, who failed in both academics and martial arts, took it the easiest.
He even comforted his older brothers: “You should learn from me, accept the scolding humbly, and don’t dwell on it after. Just work harder next time with a clear conscience.”
Qin Hong and Qin Bing: “……”
With a clear conscience, Qin Ren knew their father liked spending time at Consort Li’s palace.
So after leaving the Martial Practice Hall, he went straight back to Chengming Palace with Zhang Su.
After all, their parents hadn’t insisted that he pay respects every single day.
He’d gone often before only because Father was away from the capital, and Mother had to supervise his studies.
Now that Father was back and had already lectured him today, what was the point?
If he bumped into Father again, it’d just mean another round of scolding, and maybe even ruin Mother’s mood.
“Your Highness is back. Her Ladyship said the princess will be staying here from now on, so it’s easier for her to get to Chongwen Pavilion. Jieyu has already tidied up the west side room. Did Your Highness know?”
Qin Ren blinked, then grinned wide.
“Really? Then I’ll go pick up my little sister.”
Zhang Su looked like he wanted to say something but held back.
Qin Ren understood at once.
“You don’t have to come. Finish your breakfast and study. She’ll probably want to play before bed tonight.”
Zhang Su: “……”
Qin Ren, drenched in sweat, arrived at Xianfu Palace.
Once he confirmed Father wasn’t there, he relaxed and joined his mother and sister for a meal.
Afterward, he took his sister by the hand and said goodbye to their mother.
Consort Li was worried her daughter wouldn’t sleep well in a new place, and also feared she’d disturb her son.
“Once you’re there, go to sleep right away. Don’t bother your Third Brother or Zhang Su while they’re studying.”
Qingyang: “Okay.”
But once they got to Chengming Palace, Qingyang pushed aside the nursemaid’s hand that tried to carry her to bed and tugged on her brother’s instead.
“I want to watch Third Brother do his homework.”
Qin Ren: “But you promised Mother you wouldn’t be a bother.”
Qingyang pouted.
“I’m not saying anything. Can’t I just watch quietly?”
Qin Ren could never bring himself to refuse her.
“Alright, alright. Then go with Zhang Su to the study first. I’ll come over after I bathe.”
Qingyang happily went to grab Zhang Su’s hand when he came out to greet them.
Zhang Su had already bathed.
In the light summer robe, he carried a clean, fresh scent that couldn’t be fully concealed.
Qingyang leaned in to sniff his chest curiously and asked, “What kind of flower dew did you use?”
It was different from hers, her mother’s, or her brother’s.
Zhang Su stepped back, still holding the little princess’s hand but keeping his body at a distance.
He glanced at the nursemaid and Jieyu, then said, “This subject used the most ordinary soapberry powder.”
Qingyang: “Is it expensive?”
Zhang Su shook his head.
Qingyang: “Then why don’t you use the expensive kind? Didn’t Third Brother give you any?”
Zhang Su: “This subject is used to this kind.”
As the Third Prince’s study companion, Zhang Su often came into close contact with the other two princes as well.
He couldn’t be certain which scent might offend which prince, so using soapberry powder for washing clothes and bathing was the safest option.
His parents had reminded him of this before he entered the palace.
Qingyang sniffed again. “Alright, it still smells pretty nice.”
Zhang Su looked at the little princess in front of him, her round head tied with two little buns.
He couldn’t understand why this princess liked clinging to him so much.
Once inside the study, there were two desks placed by the south-facing window.
On the other side stood a luohan bed, for the Third Prince to lean on and read when tired of sitting in the chair.
Qingyang was too small for the tall chairs, so Zhang Su settled her on the luohan bed while he went to his desk to start his homework.
Qingyang asked, “You two are doing homework, what do I do?”
Zhang Su glanced at Jieyu, who had followed them in.
Jieyu said, “Shall this servant take the princess outside to hear a story?”
Qingyang: “No, I want to stay in the study.”
Jieyu was troubled.
The Third Prince’s studies were important, and they couldn’t risk making noise in the study.
Qingyang looked at the two attendants beside her and remembered something.
She said to Zhang Su, “Write down the lines ‘Heaven and Earth, dark and yellow; the universe, vast and wild,’ and I’ll recognize them again. Teacher’s testing me on them tomorrow.”
Zhang Su immediately began writing and placed the finished paper on the purple sandalwood table in the middle of the luohan bed.
Jieyu noticed that Zhang Su didn’t write the lines in order, so she asked the little princess, “Would Your Highness like to read it?”
Qingyang pointed and read the characters aloud one by one, getting them all right.
Jieyu was delighted.
“Your Highness is truly clever.”
Qingyang smiled.
Since she already knew the words, she asked Zhang Su to teach her how to write them.
Zhang Su said, “Your Highness is still too young. Starting to write too early could harm your wrists.”
Jieyu came up with an idea and prepared a few paints for the princess to draw with, this way, she’d have something to do without making any noise.
By the time Qin Ren finished washing up and changed clothes to enter the study, the little princess had already completed a drawing.
The lines were all sorts of crooked, tangled colors.
Qin Ren sincerely praised her, then sat down at his desk to focus on homework.
Not used to having others in the study, he asked Jieyu to wait outside.
Bad grades aside, Qin Ren was always very serious about his schoolwork.
Soon he forgot both Zhang Su and his sister.
Seeing this, Zhang Su naturally took on the responsibility of looking after the little princess, glancing at her from time to time.
When he looked again, the little princess had shifted from kneeling at the low table to lying on her side on the luohan bed.
Her long lashes were closed, her chubby, rosy cheek resting against the mattress.
One little hand was loosely holding a brush stained with blue paint, which had already smeared onto the bedding.
Zhang Su looked across the room.
The Third Prince was still completely absorbed in copying texts.
Zhang Su quietly rose from his seat, his gaze sweeping over the sleeping princess once more.
After a moment of hesitation, he went outside to find Jieyu.
He wasn’t confident he could carry the little princess out without waking her.