After making peace with the Royal Censor, Li Yuanying immediately asked the Emperor if he can now leave the palace.

This time the Emperor didn’t turn him away, but he had a poker face, and it was hard to tell if the Emperor was pleased or otherwise.

Yuanying bravely approached: “Brother, the Censor apologized to me!”

“How did you come up with such an idea?”

“Are you talking about that story? I was so devoted in writing it that I cried!” The more you think about grievances, the more you feel aggrieved. Originally, you were only three points sad, but if you think too much, it becomes ten points. Li Yuanying argued, “It is them who bully us!”

“I mean the second half of it.”

Yuanying wrote about the 2 supervisory agencies in great detail and even listed how many to recruit and how much authority was given to each person. A superbly thorough plan.

Li Yuanying answered angrily: “I wrote down what I didn’t want. Didn’t the wise men say not to give to others what you wouldn’t want to receive? The opposite is also true. I wrote down everything I hate to scare them. Then only will people realized that it’s terrible and to not bully us again!”

“Are you really that confident that I wouldn’t execute what you wrote?”

“Royal brother, you won’t.” Yuanying was obviously very confident about this. “If you really wanted to do so, you wouldn’t have tolerated Old man Wei for so many years. Last time, you even sacrificed your favorite chicken over this!”

Li Er’s face twitched.

It would be better if Yuanying didn’t mention it. Once he did, the Emperor remembered Wei Zheng’s horrid face and his tragic pet.

“I will show your memorial to Wei Zheng later, let’s see if he is still willing to marry his granddaughter to you!”

“Old man Wei is not that stingy.” Yuanying asked expectantly, “Can I go back to school now? I want to take the exam this year and try to pass by next spring!”

Seeing him looking so eager, the Emperor allowed him. “Okay, take the exam. I want to see if you can pass it. Don’t fail on the first one.”

“Don’t look down on me!”

 Li Er was too lazy to pay attention to him.

Finally, the Emperor lifted Yuanying’s house arrest and the boy was about to run away happily.

Li Er stopped him: “The Tang Dynasty doesn’t need Shang Yang ^[1]a statesman, chancellor and reformer of the State of Qin. His policies laid the administrative, political and economic foundations that would eventually enable Qin to conquer the other six rival … Continue reading”

Shang Yang reformed the Qin Dynasty, but his policies were harsh and the people resented him for it. He also blurred the line between nobles and commoners and allowed commoners to join the ranks of  nobles through military merits. He offended many and died after being torn to pieces.

Since he became Emperor, Li Er had attached great importance to education; hoping to make Tang Empire prosper for a long time. Many of Li Yuanying’s ideas seemed wild and unrealistic, but were actually desirable except that it would offend many. Whether intentionally or unintentionally, Yuanying has already offended many.

Li Er doesn’t want his troublesome brother to become the target of public criticism. In the end, big brother will need to come to his rescue?

Yuanying was a little stunned when he heard “Tang doesn’t need Shang Yang”. After thinking, he realize brother was telling him to not offend others with bad ideas. It’s okay if it’s just all talk. If things were being executed, many will really want to kill him!

Brother wants a tolerant, open and inclusive Tang Dynasty; not a one-man show where everyone feels threaten and the channels for speech were restricted and no one dares to speak up.

Yuanying didn’t think that he had any similarities with Shang Yang, who met a miserable end.

“I have my brother anyway!” Yuanying then ran away, fearing that the Emperor would return and not let him leave.

In the next few days, Yuanying prepared for his exams. Wu Mei and the others also signed up. Although their academic performance was not among the best, they performed steadily and were rank in the middle.

Wei Shu quietly mentioned something to Yuanying. She realized that Mei Niang might be more clever than her current level, and she is deliberately lowering her abilities.

It is a rare opportunity for women to enter the Imperial College. After they arrive, the girls were very well-behave and never did anything out of the ordinary. They basically never interact with other students alone. Even their grades were average and did not stand out. Wei Shu and Chengyang were still young and had limited thinking, but Wu Mei is deliberately suppressing herself.

Yuanying immediately understood Wu Mei’s plan: “I think she wants to hide her strength and make a big splash later! Think about it, what’s the point of doing well in the exams? If she does too well, people will be jealous and make a fuss. Then she won’t have the chance to take the official imperial examinations.”

He said excitedly, “Now the officials will see your initial results and think that you can’t pass. They will let down their guard and allow you take the exams! If you do well now, they may not let you take the exams because they think it’s troublesome.”

“I’m afraid we won’t have a second chance.” (Wei Shu)

They are taking the exam with Li Yuanying and His Majesty may turn a blind eye now for his brother’s sake. In the future, girls may never be allowed to take the exams again.

“Don’t worry. After we finish the Imperial College exams, we will prepare for the Spring Examination together. We will definitely pass.” Yuanying comforted Wei Shu: “It doesn’t matter if you don’t pass this round. I will pester Brother to let you try again. As long as you want to take the exam, I will keep pestering him”

Wei Shu nodded.

They then visited Wu Mei and quietly ask if she had been deliberately suppressing her grades.

Wu Mei saw that they had seen through her and chose not to hide. She cherished the opportunity to enter College and to take the exams. Initially, she suppressed her grades to keep a low profile and later, she suppressed her grades to avoid being outstanding so that she could enter the examination room smoothly. When she mentioned this, her eyes sparkled: “I heard that the papers are marked with names covered, and the examiners won’t be able to tell who is who from the handwriting; let alone whether it was done by a man or a woman. As long as you are allowed to enter the examination room, it will be fair competition, regardless of gender or background!”

Yuanying was influenced by Wu Mei. He studied hard and entered the Imperial College obediently, now he wants to prove himself. He wants to be respected and be known as more than the youngest brother of Emperor Li Er and the little devil who was ignorant and unlearned!

“Yes, that’s fair competition! Wait until I pass and see if they dare to criticize me again!”

In terms of family background, he is better; in terms of knowledge, he is no worse than others! Why do people slander him every day!

He just wants others to know that if he is a b*stard, he is the most powerful b*stard in the world!

Yuanying was inspired and prepared for the exam more vigorously. Soon, the Imperial College ushered in the most important day. Candidates stepped into the examination room with high spirits.

Because there were 4 female candidates this year, the palace specially approved several female officials to take charge of relevant work. However, under Li Yuanying’s strong request, their papers were the same as those of other students, and there was no difference between them and other students.

Li Yuanying finished smoothly, checked his papers twice, and felt that he had written well. He handed in his papers early and left the room to wait for his friends.

Influenced by Li Yuanying, Tang Xuan, Tang Guan, Di Renjie and others all took the exam this year. Everyone entered the examination room with the mentality of “profit if you pass, no loss if you don’t”. There was no pressure and they left after answering the questions like Li Yuanying.

Although this was an internal exam, it dictated the future of hundreds of student so the marking process was tense and serious.

Of course, that had nothing to do with Li Yuanying. Whether he pass or not, he had accomplished a big thing. Taking advantage of the long vacation during the marking period, Yuanying invited his friends to play at Sunflower Garden. Now we are still within harvest season to taste fresh corn and peanuts. These crops are currently being promoted and there is no shortage of them in the Imperial College. However, how can the pleasure of breaking them off and roasting them, or eating them directly, be compared with the pleasure of eating them on the dining table?

As soon as Li Yuanying, the owner of the Sunflower Garden, proposed the “graduation outing”, everyone responded. Li Yuanying led a group of graduates and his nieces and nephews to Sunflower Garden. The Garden refused outsiders that day, and every family living there tried their best to entertain Li Yuanying and his group of prospective Jinshi, including barbecue, singing and dancing.

Yuanying led his friends up a tree house to play and stood on the corridor looking into the distance. Sunflower Garden was lively and beautiful, and the scenery in the distance was also very pleasant. Even the air inhaled into the chest was inexplicably sweet.

Li Xiang and Little Round Ball lay on the fence with Li Yuanying and looked into the distance. They felt that the wind was more comfortable than usual. They each stood at one side of Li Yuanying and took turns explaining what the clouds in the sky looked like, vying for Yuanying’s affirmation and approval.

Yuanying patted their heads and coaxed: “Yes, they do!”

The “graduation outing” was over and the marking work was also coming to an end. However, before the results were announced, Princess Yan was going to leave with her children to Xiangzhou. Yuanying saw that the three of them were either women or children, and was worried. He ran to discuss with Yan Lide if he could find someone to send them off. It would be best if Yan Lide went in person, otherwise how would it be safe?

“Aren’t we going to Taihe Palace in a few days?” (Yan Lide)

Yan Lide is on the list of accompanying officials following the Emperor.

When Yuanying heard this, he immediately started criticizing the Emperor to Yan Lide: “How can my brother be like this? I was the one who led the renovation at Taihe Palace; how can he sneak in without me! How mean! Does he want to shirk his responsibility of hanging the plaque for others?”

Yan Lide tried to change the topic: “I will ask my nephews to see them off, I will definitely not let them travel to Xiangzhou alone.”

Yuanying did not regard himself as an outsider: “Send your nephews to me. You have to pick those who are responsible and decisive.”

Yan Lide had no choice but to do so. Yuanying picked three that he thought were good, and told them to protect Little Round Ball’s family. Although there were many guards and servants accompanying, they were outsiders and not as reliable as family members.

Although Yuanying was not very old, he made arrangements properly and gave instructions in a reasonable manner. After running around the Yan family residence, he visited Prince Wei’s mansion and told Princess Yan which nephews would be accompanying her. If she feels lonely, call a few female family members to accompany her.

Yan thanked him, “Thank you uncle, for the arrangements.”

“We are family, so why should we thank each other?” After saying that, he felt a little upset about the mess he and Li Tai had created. He didn’t stay any longer and rushed back to the palace to settle accounts with His Majesty.

If not for little round ball being more important, Yuanying would have rushed to Li Er to ask for an explanation: It was me who took the lead in renovating Taihe Palace! It was me who risked my dignity to buy back all the pavilions and towers, why are you going to Taihe Palace without me? Am I still your favorite good brother? !

It is not too late yet. Yuanying went to the Palace and went straight to His Majesty, shouting that he wanted his unfaithful brother to give him an explanation.

His Majesty was discussing government affairs when he heard Li Yuanying shouting outside.

Zhangsun Wuji and others all had indescribable expressions on their faces, and at the same time, they tacitly cast sympathetic eyes at Wei Zheng.

Fortunately, this kid is not harming the granddaughter of their family.

Notes from the author:

Wei Zheng: I want to help my granddaughter break off the engagement every day!

Little Prince: What’s wrong with me? You lack an eye for good things!

As for the orange sauce mentioned before, it was called orange paste in ancient times. I don’t know the specific method or recipe. In the Tang and Song dynasties, people used this to eat sashimi, crabs, etc. It seems that they didn’t eat it this way in the Ming and Qing dynasties! It is said that one should not eat like this nowadays due to serious pollution in modern times. You’ll have problems if you mix it up.

For related content, please refer to the online article: “How did people in the Tang Dynasty eat crabs” Meng Hui