A court official mumbled, “Isn’t Immortal Master Qiu already… this, this is an evildoer.”
Chen Siru raised his hand, stopping them from continuing, “Do not be rude.”
“Lord Chen, I…” Qiu Yutong felt terribly awkward and simply didn’t know what to say.
“This official still has things to take care of, farewell.” Chen Siru didn’t seem to want to talk to him either. He nodded at him and left quickly, taking some of the cabinet officials with him.
“Eh, take care Lord Chen,” Qiu Yutong murmured.
He knew that although Chen Siru was kind and just towards others, he had a strong sense of pride that naturally disdained associating with someone with “Xue Rong”’s reputation.
After the crowd of people left, Qiu Yutong looked towards the vermilion doors of the palace. Taking a deep breath, he gently pushed them open.
The inside of the palace was extremely dim. The long windows on the four sides of the room were all tightly shut. The rug was covered in a mess of tossed aside official papers and reports along with cracked porcelain teacups, the tea and tea leaves spilled out.
Lu Xiao sat behind the desk, his face expressionless as he flipped through reports.
Qiu Yutong couldn’t help but feel apprehensive. What had happened to this kid, always with having a long face, simply as if someone owed him a few ten thousand silvers.
He hesitated for a moment, then quietly walked around the mess on the rug to the writing desk and opened the cover of the food box, putting the snow-white fungus soup on the writing desk.
“Your Majesty, you should drink some.” Qiu Yutong suppressed his temper, gently urging him.
Be patient, be patient. Just pretend that Lu Xiao was still that bratty eight-year-old child.
Lu Xiao ignored him.
“Your Majesty…”
“Get out!” Lu Xiao couldn’t contain his anger and brushed him off!
“Clatter!” the crisp sound of warm white fungus soup spilled all over Qiu Yutong, the bowl shattering to pieces.
Qiu Yutong, who wasn’t able to react in time and was now covered in sticky white fungus soup, was immediately furious. “Why are you throwing a tantrum?!”
Lu Xiao suddenly raised his head, glaring ferociously at Qiu Yutong, “What did you say?!”
As soon as the words left Qiu Yutong’s mouth, he instantly regretted it, stammering out, “Eh, this…”
It was over. With his current identity and the words he had just spoken to Lu Xiao, it would be enough to get his head cut off hundred times right?
Qiu Yutong inwardly complained, immediately lowering his eyes and submissively attempting to save the situation, “Your Majesty, please don’t be upset. Xue Rong was just… worried for Your Majesty.”
Lu Xiao glared at the gentle and fawning face, unresponsive.
Silence filled the palace.
After who knows how long, Lu Xiao suddenly became discouraged. He leaned against his chair in exhaustion, then raised his right hand to cover his eyes.
“How… How did you learn it? You probably haven’t met him. Did Lu Yande tell you to say that?” Lu Xiao’s voice was so tired and hoarse. “Lu Yande, Lu Yande… We really want to kill him.”
Qiu Yutong was almost exposed. Right now, he was scared witless and just wanted to escape. As he was frantically trying to pack the food container, he was also hazily trying to deal with Lu Xiao’s words. He didn’t even know what he said.
Lu Xiao suddenly said, “Alright, since you’ve brought it then just leave it.”
“Here?” Qiu Yutong was somewhat surprised. This brat was actually willing to eat something?
Lu Xiao didn’t respond, he simply opened the box, taking out a plate of hibiscus cakes.
As he picked up a slice of cake, he seemed to be in a trance, suddenly saying softly, “If… if he were still here now, he would probably scold Us like that too.”
“What did you say, Your Majesty?” Qiu Yutong didn’t hear him clearly.
Lu Xiao ignored him, slowly beginning to eat.
Qiu Yutong exhaled in relief. Since this brat was willing to eat, then that was the best.
Lu Xiao ate two pieces of sweets, then opened the official reports again, scanning through them carefully.
As he looked through the papers, he reached his hand out for the brush, wanting to review it, only to frown.
The ink was dry.
“Stay here. Help Us grind some ink.”
Qiu Yutong had packed up the food box and was about to quietly slip away, when the emperor began speaking. He could only unwillingly put down the food container in his hand and obediently pick up a slab of ink, dipping it in water, and began grinding it.
As Lu Xiao read the reports, he also wrote remarks or amended them. Beautifully drawn, thin and perfect characters, without any hesitation in his strokes.
Qiu Yutong looked down at him and couldn’t help but feel proud inside.
He had taught Lu Xiao calligraphy, one stroke at a time.
That year he and little Lu Xiao, apprentice and master, drifted around, homeless and miserable among the commoners, for five or six years. Every night then, he would work hard to teach little Lu Xiao how to read and write. It seems like his efforts weren’t in vain.
How did that saying go again? An accomplished teacher had skilled students.
“What are you looking at?” Lu Xiao dipped some ink onto his brush and asked indifferently..
Qiu Yutong coughed quietly, as he secretly praised himself, “Your Majesty’s calligraphy is thin and strong*, it’s very beautiful. Which great calligrapher taught Your Majesty?”
[T/N: The raws actually state a type of font, which can be translated to Shoujin (Thin gold) body.
]
As Lu Xiao looked down at the word he just wrote, “准 (allow or grant)”, his tone unconsciously carried a faint joy without him realizing, “He…”
Just as Qiu Yutong prepared himself for his little apprentice’s praise, he heard Lu Xiao say, “Had terrible writing.”
“…” Qiu Yutong’s entire being was dumbfounded.
This youngster dared to slander him like this?
Forget it, forget it, he obviously knew that Lu Xiao hated himself so he knew he shouldn’t hope for this brat to say anything nice.
Lu Xiao continued to stare dazedly at the thin and perfect vermillion “准”, almost as if he’d remembered something in the long past. Even the corners of his mouth that had been tightly pursed for so many years had hooked up slightly.
“Not only was his writing terrible, his four books and five classics* along with military tactics and politics were horrid as well. He barely understood any of it himself, yet he’d braced himself every night and gave lessons. Every time there was something he didn’t understand, he’d make things up or ramble incoherently. That, or he’d secretly rummage through the books in a last ditch effort. After his lesson, We’d have to relearn everything by Ourselves again, and We couldn’t let him find out either.”
[T/N: Famous books of Confucianism]
Qiu Yutong: “??!!”
Lu Xiao’s string of words were like a set of powerful punches that struck him until his head spinned and his eyes became blurred.
As a genius sword cultivator and the future hope for North Snow city, in order to give lessons to that brat of a child, Lu Xiao, he worked hard and learned that thin and strong calligraphy, the four books and five classics, along with the messy and hard to understand military tactics… he, he already had it hard enough!
This evil disciple actually dared to dislike him!
Yet, Lu Xiao clearly didn’t say those things before…
Qiu Yutong unconsciously remembered something. Little Lu Xiao’s pair of glistening pitch-black eyes, along with his well-behaved and gentle voice, “Shizun, Xiao-er* doesn’t understand this part… could Shizun teach it to Xiao-er again?”
[T/N: The same way QYT calls LX, he addresses himself in third person to act cute or to seem more respectful though I think it’s the former…]
It turns out that this youngster faked all of it?
All this time, he was acting for a full ten years?
Did Lu Xiao really relearn everything after each of his lessons?
Could it, could it be that his teachings were actually that bad…
Qiu Yutong stood there stiffly, his gaze empty as his entire being sunk into self-doubt.
“Even if We tell you this, what use is there…” Lu Xiao came back to his senses and sighed, once again beginning to review more official papers.
Qiu Yutong’s frustration had now peaked. He didn’t even want to say anything as he ground the ink slab without much strength absent-mindedly.
Only after a long time did he slowly come back to his senses.
Right. Anyways, anyways, Lu Xiao had already become a person worthy of respect… as they say, don’t look at the process, only the end result. As the emperor’s teacher, he was fully qualified. He needn’t take his evil apprentice, Lu Xiao’s, nonsense seriously.
After comforting himself for a while, Qiu Yutong’s heart finally felt somewhat better and he couldn’t help secretly glancing at Lu Xiao while he was approving of the reports, curious as to how his apprentice was doing.
He looked for a moment and understood the gist of it. The reason Lu Xiao was so angry with the cabinet officials was because of the Changqing River in the south.
The Changqing River had broken through a dike* in the sixth month of this year. Just helping those hit by the disaster had cost a few million silvers. However, the continuous autumn rain over the past few days had caused the Changqing River to break through the dike again.
[T/N: Basically like a dam bursting and caused a flood.]
Lu Xiao severely punished the officials that were in charge of fixing the dike previously, in the end, like pulling out one radish brought out dirt as well*, he continued to connect the situation to a large number of local officials. Even the high level ministers from the Ministry of Work were involved, so that was why Lu Xiao was absolutely furious, insulting and yelling a torrent of abuse at a whole group of ministers.
[T/N*: One thing went bad, leading to other things becoming troublesome as well.]
Seeing his little apprentice seriously dealing with official matters, Qiu Yutong felt quite emotional.
Lu Xiao, this youngster, had really grown up.
Soon after the two of them had defeated the northern barbarians that year and returned to Daning palace, it was the lantern festival. The previous emperor decided to reopen lessons* on this day and found some of the most famous scholars in the world to teach the princes.
[T/N: This just means lessons for the imperial princes, not the entire country.]
The reopening of lessons was a big deal in the palace, and was a chance that all of the princes could use to demonstrate their strengths. However, after Lu Xiao heard that he was going to go watch the lanterns in the Lantern festival, he relentlessly insisted on accompanying him, so Qiu Yutong had no choice but to cut out a paper puppet and use that to replace Lu Xiao in the lectures.
Yet today, his little disciple who had refused to listen to the lectures, was now able to neglect eating and sleeping for his country’s affairs.
After a long time, Lu Xiao finally finished looking over and approving the reports related to the Changqing river and he kneaded his eyebrows wearily. “Is Chen Siru still in the cabinet*? Call him in.”
[T/N: I’m thinking this has to be a nearby room or something, not an actual cabinet, but the raws do state cabinet so I’m leaving it as that.]
Not long after, Chen Siru hurried over.
“Your Majesty, what situation has summoned this official?”
After Chen Siru finished speaking, he glanced indifferently at Qiu Yutong, as if he strongly disapproved of Lu Xiao letting “Xue Rong”, this male pet, stay in the study. However, he didn’t say anything about it.
“Sit.” Lu Xiao allowed him to sit, and continued, “Beloved Officlal Chen, We have already made a decision regarding the events at Changqing River. Jiang Yao is a capable person. Demote him three ranks and have him atone with meritorious service. Xu Changan was dismissed, and He Zicheng exiled three thousand miles and fined 20,000 gold… as for Li Muen, behead him, and funnel all of his family properties into the disaster relief fund. You should implement these things as quickly as possible.”
Chen Siru got up and said deferentially, “Your Majesty is wise, this humble servant will do so right now.”.
Although he said this, he stood there not moving.
Lu Xiao raised an eyebrow, “What, is there something else?”
Chen Siru hesitated for a moment before quietly saying, “Your Majesty, just now, Qin Tianjian received… an order from North Snow City’s white crane. In three days time, North Snow City’s Immortal Master Sang is coming to Daning Palace to select a royal child with the most outstanding spiritual roots and take him back to cultivate. Your Majesty, take a look, should any arrangements be made?”
Lu Xiao froze and couldn’t help but ruthlessly crush the reports in his hands, mumbling, “North Snow City?”
Qiu Yutong was also entirely dumbfounded.
Immortal Master Sang… Third-Shixiong, Sang Lingxi, was coming to Daning palace!
It was tradition in the Chen dynasty to revere cultivators, and all the powerful aristocratic families wanted to send their own children to the best sect, the royal family was no exception. The Lu family had a slight connection with North Snow City. In the past few hundred years, three or four of the Lu family’s children had severed their mortal ties and entered North Snow City, but most of them have died.
In the recent century, besides Qiu Yutong and his apprentice Lu Xiao, the Lu family had basically severed ties with North Snow City.
But now, Sang-shixiong was coming to Daning palace to personally pick a disciple!
Didn’t that mean he could follow his Third-Shixiong back? Although he was a little humiliating to look this way, at least it was better than wasting his time Daning palace!
Chen Siru quietly asked, “Your Majesty?”
Lu Xiao didn’t answer, he only continued to stare dazedly at the dim candlelight on the desk, thinking of something unknown.
After a long time, he hoarsely said, “North Snow City’s Immortal Master Sang… We understand, you may arrange it.”
