Chapter 593 - Too Irresponsible
Longyuan sat beside Elder Meng, using his little hence to pull open his eyelids while yelling, Wake up, sir! Teach me already so that I could leave soon, you hear me?"
The old man frowned and sat up, rubbing his temples to calm his mood… before laying down again.
Without so much as a look at Longyuan, he grumbled feebly with his ancient voice, "Your Highness, I"ll teach you the a.n.a.lects first—repeat after me and memorize it, alright?"
"Are you going to teach me the Four Books and Five Cla.s.sics, sir?" Longyuan asked, blinked his large eyes.
Elder Meng nodded in reply. "Of course. What else would I teach you?"
"But I could recite all of it," Longyuan said honestly.
Startled, the old man sat up again and looked at Longyuan with twinkling eyes.
"Really?" He asked.
"Yes, I"ll recite it now—"
Longyuan began to recite the text, but the old man suddenly snapped, "Stop."
The boy did as he was told, and the old man praised him without holding back. "It couldn"t get any better if you could recite those texts. I am truly in awe of your memory, Your Highness—you most certainly are a prodigy, a one-in-million."
Longyuan smiled from the flattery, while Elder Meng rose to his feet and lit up a candlestand nearby, illuminating the room immediately.
After that, he took a book offhandedly from the rack. Handing it to Longyuan, he smiled faintly and asked, "Are there any words which are too difficult for you in here, your highness?"
Flipping through the pages, Longyuan recognized most of the words and rarely encountered any he didn"t know.
"I could read almost every word, elder." He said, blinking his big round eyes.
Elder Meng appeared beside himself with joy at that. "Great. There are around fifty thousand words in this book, Your Highness—I"m giving you ten hours, so start memorizing now and commit it to memory by noon tomorrow. Understand?"
Longyuan nodded and replied, "Yes, elder."
"Start memorizing now, then. I"m going back to sleep." Elder Meng yawned, lay down, and curled into his blanket again, before falling asleep once more.
Longyuan picked up a book and read it seriously, but was soon dozing off and fell asleep at Elder Meng"s side.
He woke up the next morning to find the old man still asleep.
Seeing that he did not even memorize half the book he was a.s.signed, he picked it up again to start reading it again.
When it was time for breakfast, Liu Rushuang returned to spoon-feed Longyuan again, and ordered the servants to clean up the study.
"How much have you memorized, Your Highness?" Elder Meng smiled at Longyuan from across the table.
Since he fell asleep last night, Longyuan had only managed to memorize twenty thousand words or so. As such, he frowned and said, "I"m not done yet—wait a little longer."
Elder Meng smiled and rose to his feet, and headed to a nearby clearing to do some stretches.
After lunch, he asked with a smile again, "Are you done memorizing?"
Longyuan looked up at him and frowned. "There are still less than twenty pages. Please hold on."
Nonetheless, Elder Meng s.n.a.t.c.hed his book away, flipped through it and smiled faintly. "Hold out your hand, Your Highness."
Longyuan held out his hand, and—
Smack, smack, smack—
Elder Meng had whipped out a small stick and struck Longuyan"s hand multiple times.
Longyuan quickly pulled his little hand away at that and exclaimed tearfully, "It hurts! Don"t hurt me! I"ll just memorize it right!"
Though Elder Meng was smiling, he spoke with a tone that permitted no refusal, "Hurry up and hold your hand out, your highness, or I"m telling His Majesty that there"s no hope for you."
"If that happens, His Majesty is never letting you out."