Translator : Phiare
*unedited*
[beware of misspelled, grammar mistake, and other thing that may cause inconvenient while reading]
Ye Zhizhou discovered that Yan Mingyong always sleepy these days. He often fell asleep with just a few pages of books after lunch. When his lover once fell asleep on a small couch, he finally couldn"t bear it anymore and called the physician. Even after a long time, the physician still could not find anything wrong with him, but the emperor who was visiting his son was very scared.
"Is he really okay?"
"Answering the Emperor, His Highness is in no harm, his health is also improving. Maybe he could accompany Your Majesty in the ceremony* this year." He said in delight. In the past, every time the Eight Prince is sick, the imperial physician courtyard would suffer various scolding. Now that the prince"s body became healthier, the Emperor was in a good mood. Not only he didn"t scold them, he also sent them various reward occasionally.
(*to offer sacrifices to G.o.ds or ancestors)
"Hmm, not bad. Reward!" The emperor really pleased hearing this. He looked at the physician"s old face then toward the young and handsome face beside him. He thought for a while and asked, "With Yong Er"s current condition, could he attend the Autumn Hunting in the next two months?"
The physician considered this and answered, "If you made sure he won"t exhaust himself, then he could go."
"Very good!" The Emperor laughed heartily. Just like all the ordinary father in the world, he was very delighted seeing this slight improvement of his sickly son.
Ye Zhizhou could only sighed seeing the Emperor like this. Even if he has many sons, but they are not just simply his son*, only Yan Mingyong is. His birth mother"s status is low and has no relatives, his age also a lot younger than the Emperor. He does not pose a threat to the throne. He"s the only one - that could make the emperor to rest a.s.sured while showing fatherly love. Besides, Yan Mingyong had indirectly saved his life…… A misfortune concealed as blessing; a blessing concealed as misfortune. Yan Mingyong"s sickness is also his own protection. When his body becomes better in the future, it"s uncertain whether the Emperor will care about his son as he is now.
(*They also the son from their mothers" side, usually will involve in politic to obtain the throne or to get their people a position in court.)
The imperial physician couldn"t find the reason why Yan Mingyon is always sleepy. Tong Tian* also couldn"t detect any problems. Although Ye Zhizhou is worried, but he couldn"t do anything. He could only convince himself that this is a normal condition for a child in p.u.b.erty.
(*the system"s name)
Yan Mingyong saw his worries and knew that he secretly invited the physician to check on him, but in order to enjoy the pleasure of being cared for and valued, he pretended to know nothing and continued to "sleep".
Three days later, the original plot said that An Cheng Jie will partic.i.p.ate in the literary meeting held by Yingtian Academy. The academy"s great scholar, Liu Qingfeng, will take notice of him and accept him as his disciple, then he"ll officially embarks on the journey of conquering literature"s world. When Ye Zhizhou opened Chuan Yue restaurant, he remembered about this plot. Originally he wanted to take Yan Mingyong with him to join the fun, but seeing that he became sleepy like this, he was so worried that he couldn"t dare to take him out, so he dismissed the idea.
Therefore, the awake Yan Mingyong found that Ye Zhizhou had left the book and already left. The afternoon warm sunlight filled the room, dimming the edge of the pillow, which also blurred the instant gloomy expression on his face.
________________________
Spring turned into summer, the last batch of peach blossom bloomed under Yuansi Temple. Ye Zhizhou was nestled under a peach tree. He listened to the student reciting their poems while biting melon seeds and swaying a long gra.s.s leisurely.
An Chengsheng got out from the small circle and found his brother in the corner. He couldn"t help but sighed, "Le Er, you"re already 16 years old. Don"t you want to set your heart to study and attend the academy?"
Since he gave him the poetry collection, An Chensheng"s att.i.tude toward him is getting better and better, and he became more and more tolerant. Ye Zhizhou is very satisfied with this. Listened to him, he shamelessly said, "I don"t want to study ah. I"m not a suit for studying. I"m going to make big fortune! Mother gave me a dowry shop a while ago. I changed it into a restaurant and made a lot of money." A scholar and a businessman is far in comparison. Many aristocrat family"s children who don"t have the talent for studying will eventually choose to be a businessman through their family connection. It"s a good way out, but it"s not as n.o.ble as becoming a scholar or an official.
An Chengsheng couldn"t bear to let his silly brother went through the up and down of merchant"s life, he continued to persuade, "You don"t have to study that well, you just need to pa.s.s the palace exam and graduate, and then you could be an idle small official in the Imperial Academy. Father and I could also protect you."
A palace entrance exam? As for the original host, he also won"t take that test! Ye Zhizhou spit in his heart, but on the surface show a stupid willful look, "But becoming an official is terrifying. Big brother, you know my brain is not good enough. With business, if it come to worst, I"ll only lose money. But becoming an official, if I"m not careful, I could directly lose my life. Anyway, I don"t want to study or becoming an official."
He insisted on keeping the original host no-brain setting. He continued to bait on him, "And if I made a lot of money, I could find more cla.s.sic poetry for Big brother. It seems the last book I gave you have a series. I want to collect them all for Big brother."
There"s a pile of poetry book on his s.p.a.ce, courtesy of Ouyang Zhi"s charity buying. It"s probably enough to make more than a dozen copy of "Ancient poetry collection". It"s enough to win over An Chengsheng.
An Chengsheng was really excited and didn"t persuade him anymore. He eagerly asked, “Is it really has series? How many other books can you have?”
"I couldn"t tell yet." He glanced at his cheap brother who was about to take a green light and pointed toward the entrance, then said, "I saw Brother Chengjie just now. Big brother, did you invited him?"
This event is based on invitation. As the branch"s champion, An Chengsheng invitation will have a big influenced, and now An Chengjie"s invitation is a normal one. In the original plot, An Chengjie rely on An Chengsheng"s victory to send his own poetry.
Unexpectedly, An Chengsheng frowned after hearing this and gave negative answer, "I didn"t invite him. The second brother must have got it from another place." Before this, he admired this younger brother and thought that he"s also a person who loves poetry. But seeing him always run around outside every day, without any sign or intention to read, the appreciation gradually faded. However, he still felt a bit pity for the other"s talent and cleverness……
"Is that so……" Ye Zhizhou put away the melon seed into a cloth bag and ready to throw it away. He got up and clean the dust on his clothes, then said, "Brother Chengjie is smarter than me. He surely came with amazing lines, let"s go cheer him on." He took An Chengsheng"s arm and drag him over, unwilling to miss a good show.
An Chengsheng was lost in thought. He almost couldn"t stand while being dragged over by the youth. After regaining his composure, he rubbed the youth"s head while holding his laugh, "Before, whenever you see the second brother, you always act like an angry hedgehog. And now you could give him this treatment. What father said is right, our family Le Er has really grown up."
Yeah, yeah, grew up, he also had changed his core and grow for hundreds of years, he silently thought. He walked forward and looked for Liu Qingfeng in the crowd, wondering how to let the other party listen to An Chengjie"s “masterpiece”.
The meeting has begun not long ago. Most students just gathered to chat with each other. Most people around An Chengjie are people who love poetry. Originally, there are some students who stand not far away, but they suddenly left when he came.
Ye Zhizhou finally found the short figure of Liu Qinfeng. He deliberately glared at An Chengsheng and stood in a place where the other party could hear him. He said loudly, "Big Brother, why those people move away when they see Second Brother? Do they hate second Brother?"
"It"s not like that…… umm, they just have different circle." An Chengseng was troubled by this question and just gave a rather vague answer. Most of the dislike came from students who took part in the imperial examination, and the reason is because An Chengjie would only sell poems for "side job business". However, An Chengsheng didn"t want his little brother to know about this mutual exclusion in literary circle, it was a bit shameful.
He (ACS) wanted to be vague about this matter, but as if Ye Zhizhou would follow his intention. Just like he suddenly realized about something, Ye Zhizhou exclaimed, "I know, they are the students of this year"s examination, right? I heard people said that they seem to particularly hate Second Brother for not showing initiative. But I don"t understand, Second Brother"s poems are so good. Even if he"s not studying hard, not taking the imperial examination, or not becoming a member of officials, he already produced some poems. Didn"t we all should respect him?"
"Nonsense!"
An old voice suddenly sounded not far behind them. Ye Zhizhou turned around with amazement and frowned. "This old gentleman, how can you overhear our conversation, a gentleman should not do this."
An Chengsheng guessed his ident.i.ty after hearing his voice. He hurriedly pulled the Ye Zhizhou"s sleeve to signal him not to talk back. He respected the old man and gave a sigh of relief. "Liu Daren, please forgive me. My younger brother is insolent. This student will discipline him when we return."
Liu Qingfeng was very satisfied with An Chengsheng. His face was slightly relaxed. He said to Ye Zhizhou, "A gaudy knowledge can only obtain the world"s brief approval. Literary is a lifetime matter, not seeking for the country. Diligence itself is essential. You must not be so frivolous in the future."
Ye Zhizhou was busy bowing his head and pretending to be shy. He took out another copy of the poetry book from his bosom and hand it over, "Thank you so much for this gentleman"s advice. This is a little thank-you. Please accept it."
Liu Qingfeng was a book lover, and when he saw him handing a book over, his conditional reflex was to pick up and turn the page over. Only then did he realize that something was wrong and couldn"t help but feel a bit confuse.
"It"s a collection of ancient poems written by my younger brother. Please accept it, Sir." An Chengsheng quickly explained.
Liu Qingfeng then relaxed and continued to read the book. "Ah, so it turned out to be a copy made by the younger brother. The handwriting…… cough, of course the most important thing is the content. This poem…… hm?!"
An Chengsheng smiled and Ye Zhizhou was satisfied. Then suddenly, a loud noise come from An Chengjie direction. A student excitedly said, "Brother Cheng Jie"s literary talent is so good. This poem that praises peach blossoms can only be described as an extraordinary level!
For whom the Heaven"s Will would stay, walking through the deep dyed peach blossom,
I am not yet drunk, I"ll remember when I woke up,
The pa.s.sion dropped and the worry attacked.
Foolish moth……"
"Foolish moth flutter toward the flame, making a crackling light as the fire reject,
Within the snowy white peach blossom, making the color of spring lasted long."
(T/N : Sorry, I couldn"t find the real translation. It"s manual. The poem is "Peach Blossom" [緋桃花 ] by Li Xianyong )
Liu Qingfeng uttered the next sentence, then he closed the book in his hands. He looked toward the students who just spoke earlier, and asked, "Who did you say writing this poem?"
That student looked at Liu Qingfeng who walked slowly toward him and stuttered, "It"s Cheng, Brother Cheng Jie…… How could you know the next sentences Teacher Liu, obviously this poem is just……"
Liu Qingfeng heard this and looked at An Cheng Jie, his face was ashen, "Obviously because it"s written in the book of "best collection of cla.s.sic poems". Besides, since when did it become this youngster"s work? Let us make this clear up today!"
An Chengjie was shocked by the old man"s severe insult eyes and he quickly panicked.