Ying Changle suddenly remembered that Brother had said he would personally teach him reading and writing once he returned.
Ying Changle had seen with his own eyes how strict Eldest Brother was when teaching the princes and princesses. Even the youngest imperial prince, His Majesty’s favorite and afraid of nothing, would tremble at the knees before him.
Ying Changle hurriedly said, “Father, I don’t want Brother to teach. You teach. Want you to teach.”
Ying Ding casually made a few sounds of agreement. Naturally, Ying Changle assumed he had agreed and became extremely happy.
In reality, Ying Ding was completely occupied with wondering why the Emperor had summoned Ying Chengqi into the palace and had not heard what his youngest son said at all.
Ying Changle tugged Ying Chengqi beside him and whispered, “Aqi, my brother is really, really fierce. Help me write my homework, okay?”
Even if Father taught him, Eldest Brother would inspect his work. Ying Changle was absolutely, positively certain that none of his homework would meet Eldest Brother’s standards. Only if Aqi helped write it could he pass.
Ying Chengqi felt this was wrong, but still nodded and agreed.
After they entered the palace, the Emperor allowed only Ying Ding and Ying Chengqi into Hall of Abundant Virtue and ordered palace attendants to take Ying Changle to play in the imperial garden.
Ying Changle hated listening to the Emperor and ministers discuss state affairs more than anything, so naturally he was delighted to go play. The attendants did not even need to coax him; he happily trotted off toward the imperial garden by himself.
The moment Ying Ding and Ying Chengqi entered Hall of Abundant Virtue, the Emperor casually found an excuse to make Ying Chengqi kneel on a patch of broken stones and rubble.
The rubble had naturally been prepared specifically for Ying Chengqi. That very morning, the Emperor had personally supervised palace attendants spreading it and, feeling it was not sharp enough, ordered them to mix broken porcelain shards into it.
Beneath Ying Chengqi’s knees was already a patch of blood-red, yet he did not even furrow his brows.
Even the ministers were beginning to find it difficult to watch. No matter how much the Emperor disliked this son, couldn’t he simply refuse to summon him? Why deliberately torture him? Yet in the end, no one dared say anything.
Ying Ding did not plead for mercy. He understood the Emperor’s temper too well. If he pleaded, the child would be punished even more severely.
He was extremely grateful Ah Huan was not here today. With Ah Huan’s bull-like temper, she would probably have started another argument with His Majesty.
…
Ying Changle loved the imperial garden. It had many artificial hills perfect for hide-and-seek, and in spring the flowers bloomed magnificently, making every corner beautiful.
It would be even better if Aqi could come play too. And if Eldest Brother finished reporting his work to the Emperor and came to play with him, then it would be even, even, even better!
The imperial garden was unusually quiet today. He had just begun running toward the artificial hills when something sticky splashed all over his head and face.
The overpowering smell of blood nearly made him vomit on the spot.
He froze. Only after a long moment did he react and burst into loud sobs. “Waaah, I want Father, Mother! Kill you all…”
This was not the first time Ying Changle had been splashed with chicken blood or dog blood, or forced to drink talisman water, elixirs, and similar things.
This was one reason his family almost never left him unattended.
But this was the first time anyone had dared act inside the imperial palace!
Anyone with secrets they did not want exposed wished Ying Changle’s inner voice would disappear. They had tried many methods, all useless, but still had not completely given up.
Ying Changle had grown used to everyone outside calling him possessed by an evil spirit or a demon reincarnated as a child. But every time someone treated him like a monster that needed exorcising, he still became especially hurt, aggrieved, and furious!
Palace attendants knelt all over the ground. The tall, thin eunuch leading them trembled from head to toe. “Young Marquis, we deserve ten thousand deaths, but we only wanted to help drive the evil spirit from your body.”
The blood had soaked his hair and clothes. It smelled terrible and felt freezing cold. He dropped onto the ground, endless grievance surging up inside him, and cried,
“Waaah, I didn’t do anything bad. You’re the possessed ones. Your whole families are possessed…”
He was too busy crying and shouting to notice the blood running from his hair and face straight into his open mouth. He choked and vomited repeatedly.
Even though the attendants had prepared for trouble, they still dissolved into panic. The tall, thin eunuch hurriedly ordered, “Quick, take the Young Marquis to bathe and change. Bring tea and ginger soup, quickly…”
Ying Changle was both furious and frantic. Crying, he glared viciously at the attendants like an enraged little lion, charged forward, and kicked and hit them wildly.
The palace attendants were already terrified beyond measure. None dared forcibly pick up this incomparably precious Young Marquis to wash and change him. They all remained properly kneeling and allowed themselves to be beaten.
The tall, thin eunuch knew perfectly well they had to clean this little ancestor thoroughly before the Marquis of Xuanping and Scholar Ying arrived. Otherwise, even slicing them to death by a thousand cuts might not satisfy the Young Marquis’s father and brother.
He could no longer worry about anything else and was just about to pick the boy up by force when he saw a flash of scarlet appear not far away.
Ying Changle saw his brother at once too. He had never seen Brother run so fast—faster than a shooting star!
He even thought the cold and exhaustion had made him hallucinate.
Hall of Abundant Virtue was so far from the imperial garden. How could Brother arrive this quickly? News could not possibly have reached him so fast.
The hem of Ying Shenchu’s scarlet court robe flew in the wind as he sprinted.
Ying Shenchu, praised as the Star of Literature descended to earth, always looked calm and unshaken no matter what happened, as though nothing and no one in the world could move him in the slightest.
Never before had he appeared so panicked, disordered, and completely stripped of composure.
Before Ying Changle could react, he had already been swept into his brother’s arms.
Brother’s ragged breath tickled his face. His brows were drawn tightly together, and the tears shining in his eyes looked so bright beneath the sunlight, like pearls.
Ying Changle pinched his brother’s face in disbelief and whispered, “Waaah, Brother, are you real?”
Ying Shenchu gently stroked the little face made even whiter by all the blood and spoke incoherently from panic. “Ale, real. Of course I’m real. I’m sorry. Brother came too late…”
Only after confirming this was not a hallucination did Ying Changle suddenly throw himself against his brother’s chest and begin sobbing without restraint.
Ying Shenchu did not even glance at the kneeling attendants. Carrying his little brother, he strode rapidly toward the nearest palace hall.
Everything needed for bathing had already been prepared inside, along with tea and ginger soup.
Ying Shenchu first repeatedly rinsed his brother’s mouth with tea while gently stroking his back and soothing him.
By then, the dull thuds of court rods could already be heard outside the hall. The guards had gagged the attendants, but their muffled cries of pain could still faintly be heard.
Ying Changle’s temperament was exactly like Yu Huan’s: any grudge had to be avenged on the spot. The moment he heard those attendants were already being beaten, he stopped crying and smiled.
“Brother, don’t need rinse anymore. Not gross anymore.”
Ying Shenchu gently opened his little brother’s mouth, leaned close to sniff, and said, “Breathe out.”
Once there was no strange smell left and only the faint fragrance of tea remained, Ying Shenchu fed him a honey candy pill.
Ying Changle loved sweets. His parents normally refused to give him candy this sweet, so he happily hugged Brother’s neck and kept saying,
“Brother, yummy, so sweet.”
Ying Changle’s clothes and hair were covered in blood and vomit. Ying Shenchu stripped his little brother completely, washed his hair first, then washed his entire body in a large basin.
His own upper clothes had become dirty too, so he simply stripped down to his underpants, gathered his brother into his arms, and entered the large bathing tub with him.
Ying Changle could not have been more comfortable being cared for. Lying against his brother’s chest, he spoke lazily and intermittently.
“Brother, you haven’t come home in so long. Mother and Father are so busy, they don’t stay with me… Aqi. Brother, have you met Aqi yet?”
Ying Shenchu carefully and gently washed his little brother with a silk cloth while answering, “Not yet, but Father and Mother mentioned Aqi many times in their letters…”
Just then, the guard commander’s loud voice came from outside. “Reporting to Lord Ying, fifty court strokes have been completed. Their mouths are extremely tight. We still cannot learn who ordered them.”
Ying Shenchu said coldly, “Keep beating them. Just leave them one breath.”
The attendants’ lower bodies had already been beaten into bloody pulp. They had only hoped to be killed immediately by the rods. Hearing they were to be kept alive frightened them into begging repeatedly for death, but their mouths were quickly gagged again.
Ying Changle finished his candy and saw several more on a nearby plate. While his brother was not looking, he secretly grabbed a handful and hurriedly stuffed them into his mouth.
He had somewhat forgotten that he was still a three-year-old brat and could not fit that many candies in his mouth. Both cheeks bulged out.
To keep from being discovered, he lay against Brother’s shoulder and did not dare speak.
Ying Shenchu had seen him take the sweets from the very beginning. He lightly smacked his brother’s bottom twice, held out his palm, and said, “Spit them out.”
Ying Changle had finally gotten access to candy this sweet. How could he bear to spit it all out? He secretly tried to keep several for himself.
Ying Shenchu dried his hands, gently pried open his brother’s mouth, and directly reached in to remove them. “This candy is too sweet. You can’t eat too much.”
[AAAAH, my tooth only hurt once and now you won’t let me eat candy. What would happen if I ate one extra piece?! Who digs candy directly out of someone else’s mouth?!]
“Open up. You are not keeping even one.”
As he spoke, Ying Shenchu lifted his brother with one arm. He still had to hurry back to Hall of Abundant Virtue to see the Emperor and report the need to investigate the mastermind.
Ying Shenchu was extraordinarily handsome, and now his whole body was wet. Every palace maid on duty in the hall blushed bright red.
Ying Changle pouted and even tried to lick the syrup from Brother’s fingers, drool running down his chin.
“Hopeless. Are you really that greedy for sweets?”
Ying Shenchu accepted the silk cloth a palace attendant handed him, wiped his hands, and conveniently wiped his little brother too.
