In the afternoon, while Qingyang was napping in her mother’s palace, Jieyu took a few palace maids to the Third Prince’s Chengming Palace.
Chengming Palace, like Xianfu Palace, followed a two-courtyard layout. Qin Ren lived in the rear hall, and his study companion Zhang Su stayed in the west side room of the front hall.
The two of them were almost always together, studying and practicing martial arts side by side, only separating at night when they slept.
Now that the little princess was going to move in, Jieyu, following Consort Li’s instructions, cleaned out the west side room of the rear hall and replaced everything with items the little princess was used to.
The maids bustled about, but Princess Qingyang didn’t have to worry about any of it.
After her nap, she went to look for her mother and found that her father was there too.
Her mother was standing nearby, eyes red, and there was a pile of her small clothes laid out on the couch.
Qingyang looked at her mother and asked softly, “Did Mother cry?”
Consort Li cast a resentful glance at Emperor Xingwu, who was leaning against one end of the couch.
She hadn’t expected him to come nap in her quarters in broad daylight and act so recklessly.
It had already ended some time ago, but she had cried because her daughter was only three years old and already moving out, she couldn’t bear to part with her.
Emperor Xingwu pointed to the pile of clothes and explained the reason to his daughter.
Consort Li picked up her daughter and kissed her.
“It’s nothing. Our Lin’er loves to study, and Mother is very happy. I’m not crying anymore.”
Qingyang hugged her mother’s neck.
“I’ll still be with Mother during the day, so Mother doesn’t have to be scared.”
Emperor Xingwu silently watched the clingy mother-daughter pair.
When Consort Li asked her daughter if she wanted to go lie on the couch with her father, Emperor Xingwu finally said, “Father is going to the Martial Practice Hall to watch your brothers train. Does Lin’er want to come?”
Qingyang: “Yes!”
Emperor Xingwu put on his dragon boots and carried his little daughter as they set off.
The palace paths were indeed long.
After holding her with one arm for a while, it became uncomfortable.
But Emperor Xingwu couldn’t bear to make his daughter walk under the sun for such a distance, so he asked, “Does Lin’er want to ride in a sedan chair?”
Qingyang: “What’s a sedan chair?”
Emperor Xingwu laughed.
He placed both hands under his daughter’s armpits and lifted her up.
As he lowered his head, he effortlessly set her astride his shoulders and reminded her to hold onto his head.
Then he grabbed her little legs one by one.
“This is called riding in a sedan chair.”
Qingyang loved sitting up so high, it let her see more of the palace, even far-off places!
Looking at the father and daughter stacked together on the ground as they passed by, Emperor Xingwu sighed, “When I was little, your grandfather once carried Father like this too.
Back then, our family was so poor we couldn’t even eat meat.
Now life is rich and full, but Grandfather doesn’t get to enjoy it with us.”
Qingyang: “Where did Grandfather go?”
Emperor Xingwu: “He died. He got very seriously ill.”
Qingyang understood what death was.
If you stepped on ants or caterpillars, they died.
If you hit the butterflies in the flowers too hard, they died too.
The birth mother of her eldest brother and eldest sister, the Pure and Filial Empress, had also died, which was why she wasn’t seen in the palace.
Only the Noble Consort and her own mother were there.
“Will Father get sick?”
Qingyang asked worriedly.
Emperor Xingwu: “…Yes, but there are imperial physicians in the palace. They’re the best doctors in the world. They’ll cure Father.”
Qingyang: “But I don’t want Father to get sick.”
Emperor Xingwu’s heart felt as soft as if it had been soaked in hot spring water.
Striding forward with his usual commanding gait, he promised his daughter, “Alright, Father won’t get sick!”
When they arrived at the Martial Practice Hall, Emperor Xingwu finally set his daughter down, and the two of them walked in hand-in-hand.
The princes were practicing archery.
Emperor Xingwu instructed the accompanying eunuchs and guards to stay outside, then made a shushing gesture to his daughter.
The two of them quietly approached the archery field.
There were ten targets set up on the field.
The three princes and their three study companions each had one and were in the middle of drawing their bows and aiming.
The martial instructor was walking behind them, correcting anyone whose form was off.
Because the princes were of different ages, the distance to each target varied.
For example, Qin Ren and Zhang Su’s targets were thirty paces away, Qin Bing’s was at sixty paces, and Qin Hong’s was at a full hundred paces.
The targets were painted from the inside out with yellow, red, and blue rings, representing top-tier (jia), second-tier (yi), and third-tier (bing) scores.
If an arrow landed outside the blue ring, it was marked as failing (ding).
A new round was about to begin.
Emperor Xingwu stopped at a distance and lifted his daughter so she could see more clearly.
Qin Hong and his study companion Qin Liang both hit the yellow ring.
Qin Bing and his study companion Yuan Chongli also hit the yellow ring.
It was Third Brother’s turn.
Qingyang leaned forward eagerly and watched as her brother’s arrow struck the red ring, noticeably closer to the blue.
Qingyang turned to look at her father. Emperor Xingwu gave a light snort and casually said, “Takes after your mother, no arm strength.”
Qingyang blinked her lashes.
That didn’t sound like a compliment for either her mother or her brother.
Last up was Zhang Su, who hit the yellow ring with one shot.
At that moment, everyone finally noticed Emperor Xingwu.
The instructor and all the students immediately bowed in unison.
Emperor Xingwu walked up with his daughter in his arms, set her down, and held her hand.
With his other hand, he pointed to the clearly visible targets.
“Lower jia, upper jia, upper jia, lower jia, lower yi, upper jia. Mm, Qin Liang, Qin Bing, and Zhang Su are doing quite well.”
Of the three who didn’t get praised, Qin Hong lowered his eyes nervously.
Qin Ren scratched his head to hide his embarrassment.
Yuan Chongli, from the Pingliang Marquis estate, sneaked a glance at Zhang Su.
Though they were all study companions, he had only ever compared himself to Qin Liang and Zhang Su.
But Qin Liang was the emperor’s own nephew, so Yuan Chongli never considered himself a real rival.
At that moment, Heir Qin Liang humbly said, “It was pure luck that I managed to hit upper jia today. I didn’t expect His Majesty to witness it.”
As he spoke, he couldn’t help but glance anxiously at Crown Prince Qin Hong.
Qin Hong: “……”
Emperor Xingwu encouraged his nephew, “If it’s luck, then practice more. I hope to see all of you hit upper jia every time.”
Qin Liang: “Yes, Your Majesty.”
Emperor Xingwu pointed at Qin Bing’s target and said to Zhang Su, “Suge’er, give it a try. I think thirty paces is no longer a challenge for you.”
Zhang Su kept his father’s teachings firmly in mind, treating the emperor’s words as absolute command.
Having already understood the Third Prince’s generous and non-competitive nature, he didn’t even glance at his face.
He simply accepted the order, walked straight to the sixty-pace target used by the Second Prince, nocked an arrow, drew his bow, took brief aim, and released.
The arrow landed in the middle of the yellow ring: a “mid-jia.”
Yuan Chongli’s eye twitched.
Zhang Su was three years younger than him and still shot better, if word got out, wouldn’t people start saying that the Marquis of Pingliang’s son was no match in martial skill for the son of the Duke of Wei?
Emperor Xingwu was thoroughly pleased, giving Zhang Su an approving pat on the shoulder.
“Good, truly a tiger father breeds no dog son. From now on, you’ll practice with the sixty-pace target. Let the Third Prince play around with the thirty-pace one.”
Qin Ren: “……”
Suddenly, Emperor Xingwu grabbed his third son’s arm.
As a ruler who won his empire through sheer force, his grip was far too strong, Qin Ren cried out on the spot.
Emperor Xingwu’s face was full of disdain.
“No arm strength, how can you talk about precision? Go lift the stone locks for a quarter-hour.”
Qin Ren looked miserably at the martial instructor and muttered, “But I already did that today…”
The martial instructor kept his gaze fixed and expression neutral.
No matter what they practiced, the Third Prince never made it to the end.
Scolding him didn’t help.
Despite his handsome looks, the prince’s face was thicker than city walls, he never felt shame or guilt, only knew how to smile.
And they couldn’t beat him either.
How could the instructor possibly play the strict teacher?
With no help coming, Qin Ren had no choice but to obediently head off to lift the stone locks.