Li Yuanying was thrown back to his little group. This is mainly because the Emperor is worried that he would beat him up if his younger brother blabbers on with his big mouth.

He’s seen ridiculous people but no one as ridiculous as him!

Luckily he is spewing nonsense with family and trusted aides. If he told this to Songtsen Gampo and Lu Dongzan, this kid might not live to see tomorrow.

The horse farm was right in front but Yuanying sent back to his friends and he unhappily accused the  Emperor of crossing the river and demolishing the bridge. Except for Lu Zhaolin, everyone present were good friends and they knew Li Yuanying’s personality well. If he was driven away by the Emperor, they knew that he must have used his extraordinary skills to annoy people again.

Fortunately, Yuanying didn’t really think that he was doing a good thing. He stopped complaining after a few words and didn’t make anymore remarks about promoting good relations with neighbors in the presence of outsiders.

Yuanying instead focused on getting to know his new friend. He mainly wanted to know if Fanyang was far away, what’s the scenery like, and what delicious food was available.

Fanyang is indeed far away from Chang’an. It’s in the Youzhou area and belonged to Hebei Province.

The Lu family of Fanyang was one of the five major surnames, with a long history and deep heritage. Lu Zhaolin’s speech and behavior were also more calm and composed than other ordinary teenagers. He and Mrs. Lu were not particularly close, but since Fang Xuanling is the prime minister, he had to visit his cousin when he came to Chang’an to study.

Unexpectedly, when Mrs. Lu heard that Fang Xuanling was visiting Taihe Palace, she asked him to bring the boy along. He patiently answered Li Yuanying’s questions, speaking slowly and calmly, with a demeanor that was different from an ordinary youth.

“You not only write poems well but articles too” praised Yuanying.

“I’m still learning from teacher.”

Yuanying told the boy to stop being humble. “Looking at your writing style,  I can tell that you’re talented.” Yuanying then continue sharing that his group, with the exception of Gao Yang will be taking the Spring Exams next year.

In order not to make Gao Yang look too unlearned, Yuanying pointed out some praises, “Gao Yang doesn’t like to read, but she is also great. She plays polo well and is the first to reach a peak when they go hiking. She is never tired.”

Gao Yang was not happy that young uncle exposed her like this: “Who say I don’t like reading? I like reading books too!”

It is actually very strange that Gao Yang is refuting him saying that she likes reading. Although he didn’t know why Gao Yang suddenly changed her personality, Yuanying didn’t expose her further.  “Yes, in fact, she likes reading too.”

Lu Zhaolin would not comment on girls, so he could only smile shyly.

Gao Yang thought Lu Zhaolin looks handsome when he smiled, better than all the other young men she has seen. If she could see him smile like this every day, any food she eats will taste more delicious than usual!

The group walked towards the horse stable to check out the horses and they picked one out for  a walk.  This place was built well and will definitely  raise a large number of excellent war horses for Tang Empire! Even if they were inferior horses, they are still useful to reduce the workload burden of humans.

Li Er was in a good mood and he led the group back to Cuiwei Palace for dinner and announced that he would stay the night.

Li Yuanying couldn’t stay idle, so he asked his friends to go out for a walk to appreciate the moon and they called Lu Zhaolin to tag along. The group strolled, talking about whatever they wanted, and were very happy.

After several contacts, Lu Zhaolin changed his view of Li Yuanying. He is definitely not an unlearned, spoilt Royal kid. On the contrary, many of his knowledge and ambition were far beyond his peers.

At least Lu Zhaolin was often excited by Li Yuanying’s words and wished he could stay in Chang’an and do something great with them.

Li Yuanying also got to know Lu Zhaolin.

It is not easy being part of the aristocratic family. Lu Zhaolin is the best among his peers, so he was educated very by his family. He had to learn everything quickly and treat people with courtesy. He has never stopped reading and practicing calligraphy and soon his talented brain became more and more brilliant.

Seeing that Lu Zhaolin was outstanding and sensible, his family sent him to Yangzhou to study a few years ago. His teacher was Cao Xian, a famous philology expert from the Sui Dynasty. He once annotated <<Er Ya>> and His Majesty once requested him to serve as a scholar for the Hongwen Academy but he refused on the grounds of old age. He is a talented man recognized even by the Emperor and scholars often travel to Yangzhou to seek his advice.

Lu Zhaolin studied with Cao Xian for three years.Teacher found him talented and so he recommended another teacher to him: Wang Yifang. That’s how Lu Zhaolin came to Chang’an to meet his new teacher.

This Cang Ya studies is actually the study of words and characters.

After Li Yuanying got a little understanding of what Lu Zhaolin usually studied, his scalp felt a little numb. No wonder his family has been exceptional from generation to generation; Lu Zhaolin work so hard at such a young age, this is not something that many others can compare to!

 “That’s really hard.”

“You won’t feel so once you get used to it.”

Li Yuanying sympathized with him even more. It takes a lot of suffering to get used to things!

After walking around for awhile, Yuanying sent Wei Shu home. Of course, he is doing this because he wants to know how Wei Zheng is doing. Lately, the old man has been giving him angry looks so he had to work harder to win him over. At least he needs to make his presence visible to Wei Zheng.

Yuanying told Wei Zheng about his new friend.

“In the past, I hardly have time contact with children from aristocratic families, but now that I know them, I think I know why they stay as aristocratic families.”

Wei Zheng himself married the daughter of the Pei family, so he knew the benefits of being part of an  aristocratic families. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have gone against his usual frugality and spent much effort to get a aristocratic family’s daughter to marry his son.

“I’m glad you think so.” What Wei Zheng is most satisfied with Li Yuanying is not his identity or his favor, but his flexibility. “The most difficult thing for a person to do is often to know the strengths of others and their own weaknesses.”

Often when a person dislike or is hostile to someone, they cannot see any good in that person. If they then become successful, they do not think objectively about why but gets angry that God doesn’t stand on their side. Many are also blind toward themselves, always thinking that they are the best and if they fail, it’s the fault of others and has nothing to do with themselves.

This blindness is the reason why many people fail again and again.

Yuanying was happy that Wei Zheng affirmed him, and listened to his teachings seriously. At the end, he mentioned that Lu Zhaolin’s teacher is Wang Yifang. He wonders I he’s really that good and if he is he would want to also meet him. “Yifang is upright and has good knowledge. He is currently working in Hongwen Academy.”

Wei Zheng did not want to hide anything. At first, he saw Wang Yifang’s good character and talent and wanted to match-make Pei’s niece to him but Wang Yifang refused. He did not want to curry favor with the powerful.

“What’s the big deal? Even if they got married, you can’t give him a shortcut!”

Wei Zheng was very careful when criticizing people, and he praised His Majesty well, so nothing happened. But since he is the role-model benchmark set by the Emperor, he cannot fall easily or let anyone catch dirt on him!

Yuanying felt that Wang Yifang’s worry about clinging to the powerful was completely unnecessary. Wei Zheng would not let him abuse his power for personal gain!

Wei Zheng glared at him.

Li Yuanying was silent.

Wei Zheng urged him to home to bed.

After talking with Wei Zheng, Yuanying really interested in Wang Yifang. He will move to his fiefdom so he would need support. Although Master Xiao promised to introduce candidates to him, wouldn’t the Imperial Court also arrange people to supervise and advise him? This upright and straightforward temper was very suitable to be a chief secretary!

The most important thing is, if Wang Yifang is poached, wouldn’t Lu Zhaolin have to follow his teacher? He could kill two birds with one stone, so happy!

Since he put his heart to it, found <<Cangjie Pian>> and <<Er Ya>> and studied them, picking out a few difficult questions with tricky angles for use. After returning to the capital, he followed Lu Zhaolin to visit Wang Yifang.

Although Lu Zhaolin found Yuanying’s sudden enthusiasm was a bit strange, he didn’t mind going with him. But soon, Lu Zhaolin regretted it, because while Li Yuanying followed him into the Wang family’s house in an orderly manner, he then let himself go completely and began discussing with Wang Yifang enthusiastically.

Yuanying didn’t look like someone who studied last minute as his questions were both profound and broad. Even Lu Zhaolin felt confused by them at first, and he only understood after Wang Yifang interpreted them one by one.

Lu Zhaolin felt a little embarrassed: Compared with himself who wanted to be a disciple, Li Yuanying was more like a good student who was eager to learn. What should he do?

Fortunately, Li Yuanying calmed down after asking his questions and sat aside obediently to watch Lu Zhaolin become a disciple of Wang Yifang.

Wang Yifang knows that Lu Zhaolin was introduced by Cao Xian and part of the Fanyang Lu family, so he readily accepted him as a student.

Yuanying followed Lu Zhaolin happily again.

After leaving, Yuanying praised Lu Zhaolin: “Your new teache is not bad.”

 Some teachers are well-read, but cannot really teach well. There are only a few like Xiao Deyan who are good at guiding and teaching. Although they only met once, Yuanying felt that Wang Yifang was the kind of person who could teach!

Lu Zhaolin nodded.

The two parted at Tianjie, one returned to Fang’s  family residence, and the other to the Imperial palace. After returning, Yuanying went straight looking for Li Er to share that he has chosen his  chief secretary!

Since Lu Zhaolin  is now a disciple, he must quickly abduct his teacher!

When Li Er heard Yuanying not only asking to go to his fiefdom, but has also selected his chief secretary, he didn’t know if he should just kick him out.

“Tell me, who do you like?”

“It’s Wang Yifang! Old Wei told me that he once wanted to match him with the Pei family, but he refused. He has such a bad temper, that makes him the best fit! With such a chief secretary, if I do something wrong, he will definitely pick it out and report it!”

 Li Er was so angry that he laughed, “Can’t you just not do what you shouldn’t do?”

“How should I know what I should do and what I should not do? Everyone has their own role and profession. Isn’t the chief secretary responsible for this?”

 “Okay, I have my own decision.”

Li Yuanying was secretly happy when Li Er didn’t ban him from his fiefdom. Sure enough, after leaving the Imperial College, there is hope of leaving! He did not stay long. After discussing the selection of the Chief Secretary, he ran away, determined not to bother the Emperor.

His Majesty looked at Li Yuanying’s back as he ran away happily. He put down the memorial in his hand, and shook his head helplessly. Zhangsun Wuji’s old words about being on guard against Li Yuanying were really an over-concern. If this kid were to be the emperor, he might ask to abdicate in 3 days!

No! 3 days is too long, he probably won’t last one night!

The palace was calm, but Fang Xuanling’s family was not calm. Mrs. Lu was furious when she heard from Lu Zhaolin that Li Yuanying visited Wang Yifang. She angrily scolded Fang Xuanling: “I asked Zhaolin to avoid him, why did he still find him!”

Notes from the Author:

Little Prince: Not only will I find your nephew, I will also kidnap him!