Ying Changle was beside himself with happiness and immediately made his parents take him to choose the most interesting things among the rewards.
He even generously shared them with his adopted brother, earning constant praise from Mother and making him even happier.
Only Ying Ding could not be happy. He could tell that the Emperor had already begun to regard Changle’s inner voice as a considerable problem, and on top of that, they were stubbornly determined to keep Xiao Chengqi alive.
Neither matter had a solution for the moment, but they needed to find countermeasures as quickly as possible.
After breakfast, Ying Chengqi immediately proposed that he could simply live alone in a small room.
Mainly because he was completely unused to being cared for this way.
Yu Huan naturally rejected the idea outright. No matter what anyone said, she insisted that her young adopted son eat and sleep together with them.
For many days afterward, Ying Changle used the Gossip System to look through Ying Chengqi and Yelü Zhenzhu’s past.
He also discovered that his adopted brother’s injuries healed both quickly and well. He wondered whether years of childhood training had given him an abnormally powerful ability to recover.
He wanted his adopted brother to play with him but could never find a chance.
His adopted brother was like a robot programmed in advance. Every day at fixed times he practiced martial arts, swordsmanship, calligraphy, read books, played chess… Forget playing; he barely even slept!
That afternoon after lunch, Ying Changle could still only fool around with the maids and young servants.
The servants only knew how to entertain him respectfully and obediently. The senior maids were more relaxed around him, but they also had to discipline him, so naturally that was no fun either.
Senior maid Yuehua picked up a golden rattle the Empress had bestowed not long ago and shook it as she said, “Young Master, don’t you like this sound best?”
The rattle was made entirely of gold, small and exquisite, with openwork carvings of flowers, birds, pavilions, and towers on the outside. When shaken, it produced an exceptionally clear and pleasant sound.
Early childhood was a crucial stage for development of the brain and hearing, and young children naturally enjoyed listening to all kinds of different sounds.
Ying Changle took it himself and shook it randomly twice. “Not fun.”
The heated couch was covered with toys of every kind, but none interested him. He simply stood up, leaned against the window, and watched his adopted brother practice swordsmanship in the courtyard.
Seeing how warm and gentle the spring breeze was today, Yuehua coaxed him. “Young Master, would you like to go outside and watch?”
Not long ago, early spring had still been bitterly cold, with fierce wind and snow every few days. Barely more than a month had passed, yet spring was already growing deep.
Several peach and pear trees in the courtyard were covered in blossoms. Whenever the breeze stirred, petals drifted down in showers and fragrance filled the entire courtyard.
Ying Changle shook his head. “I’m not goin’ out. You’ll make me wear shoes and socks again!”
It was not as though he had never gone outside to watch. His adopted brother practiced so seriously that he ignored him. There was little point in going out; staying comfortably on the heated couch was better.
Yuehua said helplessly, “My little ancestor, the weather has warmed, yes, but it is only the third month. How can you leave the warm room without shoes or socks? What if you catch a chill?”
This little ancestor of theirs hated restraint more than anything. He disliked wearing clothes, loved being barefoot, and when the weather was cold he did not like leaving the room at all. He preferred playing in the warm chamber where he did not have to wear so much.
[Tsk, tsk, tsk. That swordsmanship, those movements—if you didn’t know better, you’d think a sword immortal had descended from Heaven. And he’s practicing beneath flowering trees too! This whole scene is too beautiful. Put him on the Spring Festival Gala!!!]
Ying Chengqi unconsciously glanced toward his younger brother. What was the Spring Festival Gala?
After living together for this period of time, Ying Chengqi naturally understood everything about his younger brother’s inner voice, but he still found it strange that the boy constantly said things none of them understood.
[Heavens, if only I could someday practice such beautiful swordsmanship. So light, so graceful… No, no, no, forget it. To get this good, you have to endure so many vicious beatings!]
Ying Chengqi remembered every kind of training he had undergone in the past. Even the slightest distraction had been forbidden; otherwise he would be beaten half to death.
Previously, when his younger brother watched him practice swordsmanship and tried to talk to him, he had not ignored him deliberately. It was simply a habit formed by years of training, one he could not change at all.
Zhaojun, the senior maid assigned to Ying Chengqi, walked over to the window and said to Yuehua,
“Young Master Chengqi specifically told me this afternoon to tell you that if our young master wants to learn swordsmanship, he’ll teach him. He can learn just for fun and doesn’t have to train hard. But he has to wait until Young Master Chengqi finishes this busy period. He can start teaching him next month.”
Ying Changle immediately bounced with happiness and howled, “Brother Aqi, you’re so nice!”
He had pestered his adopted brother before, saying he wanted to learn just for fun, but had always been refused. His brother kept saying that martial arts and swordsmanship were not things one learned “just for fun.” He had never expected to finally get his wish.
But why next month? Why after he finished being busy?
Ying Changle had also noticed that lately his adopted brother was away from home for several hours every day. What was he doing?
[Whatever. As long as I get to play with swords!]
Yuehua laughed. “Why didn’t Young Master Chengqi tell our young master himself? Why make you come all the way over to say it?”
Yuehua and Zhaojun had once both been Yu Huan’s senior personal maids and were also closest to each other. One had been assigned to Ying Changle and the other to Ying Chengqi, partly so the two brothers would become even more harmonious and affectionate.
Zhaojun laughed and scolded playfully, “Stop pretending you don’t know. Young Master Chengqi has been in this family this long. Even if you don’t serve him personally, surely you know his temperament. His face is cold and he’s terrible with words.”
Ying Changle immediately grabbed the sleeves of both senior maids. “Brother Aqi is the best! He’ll teach me sword-play!”
Yuehua and Zhaojun both burst into laughter. “Yes, yes, yes. You two brothers are the very best.”
Zhaojun smiled. “Madam is always worried that our young master is used to being willful and troublesome while Young Master Chengqi doesn’t like to speak, so she fears Young Master Chengqi will suffer in silence. In my view, they get along wonderfully. What is there to worry about?”
Yuehua was still a little concerned. They were both young. One would swallow every grievance without speaking, while the other was carefree and knew only how to run wild and play.
If a real rift ever developed between them, it would ultimately mean the maids had failed in their care.
Besides, Madam wanted the two to be even closer than biological brothers. But one always kept everyone at a distance, while the other was obsessed with playing, and that one refused to play with him. How were they supposed to become close?
Ying Changle noticed that Brother Aqi was no longer as thin as when he first arrived. He had put on a little flesh and seemed to have grown taller. A body like this made his sword dancing even prettier!
But watching for too long was boring too. He opened the Gossip System again, wanting to see what Father and Mother had been busy doing lately.
[AAAAH!!! You really don’t know until you look, and once you look you get the fright of your life!!!]
Ying Chengqi: …Why is Younger Brother always so dramatic?
Changle’s inner voice could only be heard by people who held an official position, noble title, or honorific rank. Naturally, maids and servants could not hear it.
Although Ying Chengqi was young, he had already passed the most brutal examination and become a first-class death-sworn guard. That too counted as an official court position, though ordinary people did not know of it. The corps answered directly to the Emperor alone.
[Aaaaah, I hereby announce that my mother is the bravest person in this world. The human among humans, dominator of humanity, ruler among humans, lord of mankind, terminator of humanity, queen, demon king, peak carbon-based life-form!]
Ying Chengqi no longer understood anything he was hearing, but unconsciously slowed his sword practice anyway.
[That was so dangerous. Half a month ago, the Emperor had already issued an order giving Father and Mother only three days. After three days, he wanted to see Adopted Brother’s corpse. Hmph, what a horrible, horrible scumbag father Emperor!]
Ying Chengqi listened intently, his gaze becoming increasingly resolute and cold.
[Mother turned on him immediately and said she would cut off her own head and put it in front of the Emperor. The Emperor barely yielded, but then gave them another impossible task: Father and Mother had to uncover within three days the undercover agent sent by the ruler of Northern Di, and that person was hidden among the civil and military officials of the court.]
[The Emperor is absolutely insane. If an undercover agent sent by Northern Di were that easy to find, wouldn’t Yelü Zhenzhu have been wasting all these years? Why would she send someone that useless to be a spy?!]
[Father and Mother are even more insane. They would rather arrest a thousand innocent people than let one suspect escape. Heavens, the court has practically been drowning in blood this whole month…]
[Everyone they arrest gets tortured brutally. Even a stone lion would be forced to open its mouth and confess. After a full set of tortures, people can remember how many eggs they secretly stole and ate as children!]
[Father and Mother really are grand villains. They’ll stop at nothing to reach their goal. They say other people’s lives obviously don’t count as lives; only the lives they want to preserve count. They’re treacherous ministers among treacherous ministers, villains beyond villains!]
…
Ying Changle immediately searched the Gossip System to help his parents find the person. But the Gossip System was, after all, not a people-finding System. If someone had no explosive gossip attached to them, they would not appear inside it.
When he truly could not find anyone, he began to think perhaps the Emperor was simply paranoid, or was using the excuse to eliminate certain people’s political allies. If there was no spy at all, where were they supposed to find one?
[No wonder Father and Mother have been so busy lately. They’ve been busy battling it out with the Emperor!]
Ying Changle was accustomed to afternoon naps. As he read, he drifted off to sleep.
He was sleeping soundly when a burst of drums woke him, along with the faint sound of chaotic hoofbeats. He already had a bad temper upon waking, and since he had not woken naturally, he pouted and was about to cry and make trouble.
Ying Ding gently patted the child in his arms and coaxed him.
“Weren’t you making a fuss a few days ago because you wanted to come see the spring hunt? Be good. Father will take you riding in a little while.”
The spring hunt was an imperial tradition and had begun several days ago. Today the Emperor happened to be in high spirits and had come in person to preside over it. He had even specifically ordered the Marquis of Xuanping to go home and bring both children to play.
Ying Changle immediately perked up and nodded again and again.
Only then did he notice they were sitting inside a large carriage. Father and Aqi were both wearing bright red riding-and-archery outfits, and he himself wore the same kind, except his was much thicker.
No wonder he had dreamed about changing clothes and riding in a carriage. It had all actually happened. The sleep quality of a child’s body really was incredible.
Just then the Gossip System popped up another major-gossip alert.
[How did it turn into Princess Roujia crying and begging to marry far away for love? Didn’t the princess hate the northern tribes more than anyone and say they were uncivilized, savage, and violent???
[No way. Just because she met Yelü Zhendan a few times and competed with him in riding and archery, Princess Roujia fell madly in love with this little grassland prince?]
[Ohhh, so Yelü Zhenzhu’s whole family are peerless beauties. The former ruler of Northern Di who’s already dead was a handsome man when he was young, and the queen he married was even beautiful enough to topple kingdoms. Every child they had is absurdly gorgeous!]
Although Ying Changle’s Gossip System had no moving images, its written descriptions were extremely detailed. It never omitted things like appearance, and for some gossip subjects it even included portraits.
[The whole family has god-tier faces, and Aunt Zhenzhu is the prettiest of all. The Emperor was completely bewitched by her back then too.]
[Yelü Zhendan is also insanely handsome. No wonder Princess Roujia got bewitched into stupidity!]
[The princess is really bold. Those two aren’t hunting at all right now. They’re hiding away on a secret date.]
[Wait, Yelü Zhendan is Yelü Zhenzhu’s biological younger brother. Doesn’t that make him Brother Aqi’s actual little uncle?! The more I think about it, the wider my nostrils! How did I never think of that before?!]
Ying Ding and Ying Chengqi: …
This was also what worried Ying Ding most. The Emperor had ordered him to go home and bring both children to the spring hunt, and had specifically emphasized that Ying Chengqi must come.
He could not guess the Emperor’s intentions. But Ying Chengqi also carried Yelü blood. If Yelü Zhendan dared deceive Princess Roujia and take her away, the Emperor would certainly vent his anger on this child.
