Chapter 233: Chapter 218: Third Son’s Original Intention (Second Update)
A single sentence almost made the teacup in Emperor Guangxi’s hand fly straight out.
The conversation couldn’t continue this day.
Emperor Guangxi could only give the Imperial Chief Steward a glance.
The Imperial Chief Steward quickly brought the bronze vase that Emperor Guangxi had collected years ago for Song Wei to inspect.
Because it belonged to the Emperor, Song Wei dared not be careless. He weighed it in his hand, examined it carefully from inside to outside, and quickly spoke out the story behind it and the dynasty it belonged to.
When it was collected back then, Emperor Guangxi already knew which dynasty it was from; he was only using it to address Song Wei, otherwise summoning him without reason would be too unreasonable.
However, listening to Song Wei’s analysis, Emperor Guangxi’s curiosity was aroused again.
"Song Wei, when did you start collecting?"
Song Wei did not hide, and answered truthfully: "Around ten years old."
"Oh? Ten years old, just a little child, and you could understand this?"
Emperor Guangxi was greatly surprised.
He carefully thought about it; at the age of ten, besides attending classes in the Study Room every day, he was forced by his birth mother to learn other things.
At that time, the struggle for succession was intense; the concubines of the late Emperor competed for the Crown Prince position, scheming one after another, and inevitably some plots landed on him.
At that time, his birth mother, now the Empress Dowager, was not yet the Empress, and he was not the legitimate heir, the number of times he was plotted against only increased.
To enable him to focus on his studies, cultivating him as the most suitable Crown Prince among the late Emperor’s many sons, his mother settled all external disputes for him.
During those years, he had hardly any freedom, while other Princes were asleep, he was reading, learning about power strategies, learning the Emperor’s Art.
For him, enduring hardship to achieve goals was commonplace.
...
Now, hearing Song Wei’s words, Emperor Guangxi suddenly realized his childhood time was spent entirely in busyness, without any chance to touch upon what was called preference.
In other words, he didn’t even have time to discern what he liked or disliked.
Song Wei was able to do what he loved at ten years old, despite originating from the countryside, compared to having no freedom, considered lucky and happy.
Song Wei remained silent for a moment, "Not to hide from the Emperor, my fate is special, seldom went out when young, spent a lot of time at home reading books, inevitably broadening my knowledge, over time, remembered it all in my mind."
Song Wei being followed by bad luck from a young age, Chu Feng had told Emperor Guangxi about it.
For Emperor Guangxi, born into the Royal Family with a strong mother supporting behind the scenes, he couldn’t understand what kind of experience and encounter "being under a spell of bad luck" could be.
However, he did not intend to ask.
Not because of lack of curiosity, but to avoid being hurt by Song Wei’s sharp tongue again and losing face.
The appraisal was complete, and with nothing else, Emperor Guangxi let him withdraw.
Upon returning to the Hanlin Academy, a group of colleagues gathered around, asking Song Wei eagerly why the Emperor summoned him.
Song Wei said to view antiques.
"Did you figure it out?"
Song Wei said he did.
The person asked again: "Did you get any reward?"
Having appeared before the Emperor, although not necessarily promoting or enriching, shouldn’t there be some benefit for getting the job done?
Song Wei shook his head, "No."
Those watching the spectacle thought the Emperor was utterly stingy, last time when Song Wei successfully delivered gifts to the Princess Mansion, he was rewarded with a carriage at least, but this time, he got nothing.
Not talking about gold or silver, a fine ink stone or brush, giving someone even one piece, in the future won’t they be willing to work earnestly for you?
Except no one dared to voice such words.
Someone comforted Song Wei with a few sentences; soon enough, everyone dispersed to attend to their own business.
Song Wei sat down, carefully reflecting on the process of having an audience with the Emperor today, roughly guessed the Emperor wished to extract information of the Su Family from him.
Undoubtedly, such a practice was using him as a tool.
Although Song Wei had been in Hanlin for a short period, he understood the current court situation to some extent.
Emperor Guangxi had few children, so far only one son, Zhao Xi; he wanted to establish Zhao Xi as Crown Prince, the Su Family disagreed but couldn’t do anything, since Empress Su had no child.
In this situation, the Su Family could only choose to yield on the matter of establishing a Crown Prince, Emperor Guangxi wanted to establish Zhao Xi, then they began to expand their influence externally, as long as the Empress Dowager and Emperor Guangxi faltered, no matter who the Emperor is, he would become a puppet of the Su Family’s supremacy.
It was precisely because of this that Emperor Guangxi delayed making the Crown Prince’s appointment final.
To this day, the position of Crown Prince remains vacant.
Song Wei’s initial intention for entering the court was to overturn the wrongful deaths of dozens of people at Da Huan Mountain years ago. He never intended to get involved in the power struggle between the Royal Family and the Su Family. Thus, earlier in the Imperial Study Room, he dared to speak boldly and mockingly to discourage Emperor Guangxi from using him as a pawn.
——
Lin Xiaoyue, having been resting at home for over half a month, was feeling extremely bored. Taking advantage of Su Qing’s absence, she secretly arranged for a carriage to go to Hongwen Academy to find Wen Wan.
There was still a while until school was dismissed, and Lin Xiaoyue, fearing being recognized when she went down, sat in the carriage waiting, occasionally glancing out the window.
This glance unexpectedly caught sight of Su Yaoqi, the fourth young master of the Prime Minister Mansion.
The other party evidently saw her as well and was walking toward her.
Seeing no time to hide, Lin Xiaoyue simply lifted all of the curtain.
Su Yaoqi walked over to the carriage and respectfully greeted, "Seventh Aunt."
"Isn’t Little Four studying at the Imperial College? Why is he at Hongwen Academy?" Lin Xiaoyue was puzzled.
A hint of embarrassment at being caught flashed across Su Yaoqi’s face, and he quickly explained, "It was just by chance that I passed by."
He didn’t dare reveal his secret admiration for a girl at Hongwen Academy, fearing that it would tarnish her reputation since it was baseless.
"How about you, Seventh Aunt?" Su Yaoqi looked at Lin Xiaoyue.
Lin Xiaoyue had no need to hide anything since she wasn’t at Hongwen Academy, "I have a friend studying inside. I’m here to see her about something."
Su Yaoqi acknowledged with a "Hmm" and asked her, "Are you and Seventh Uncle well lately?"
This question was on behalf of his father, Su Xiang, inquiring about the long-separated seventh branch.
Su Yaoqi was young and inexperienced, but he could see some things.
During the family separation, Seventh Uncle became the most ostracized because he was no use to his father. He received hardly any benefits before moving out to establish his own household.
Nowadays, Seventh Uncle has successfully passed the martial exam and become an official in the court on his own merit. His father now wants to bring him back and says Seventh Uncle, being a biological brother born to the same father, has no reason to turn against the family. If he really did that, he would be opposing the entire Su Family.
Su Yaoqi understood this behavior was clearly ungentlemanly and unfair to Seventh Uncle. Yet his father forbade him from interfering in any affairs inside or outside the Su Family and told him not to think about anything, just focus on studying at the Imperial College.
Because of his powerlessness, Su Yaoqi felt guilty at seeing Seventh Aunt.
Regarding the family separation, Lin Xiaoyue held much resentment toward the people in the Su Family Mansion, but she found it impossible to dislike her nephew, Su Yaoqi.
Having been married into the Su Family for so many years, Lin Xiaoyue had seen plenty of scheming in the inner mansion, had a rough idea of who was in each courtyard, and what sort of faces those people wore.
Su Yaoqi was different from them; he was the purest and most innocent-hearted person in the entire Su Family. It’s just unfortunate that he’s the Prime Minister’s son.
How pure he was now, would be how repulsive he would become after being molded by the Prime Minister’s hand.
Thinking of this, Lin Xiaoyue couldn’t help but sigh, unsure whether to look at Su Yaoqi with pity or indifference.
"I’m doing well with your Seventh Uncle." Lin Xiaoyue said, "Little Four, when you have time, come by our mansion for a visit?"
Su Yaoqi nodded, "Alright."
As they spoke, the school dismissal hour had arrived, and female students began to leave Hongwen Academy one after another.
To avoid awkwardness later, Su Yaoqi took the initiative to say goodbye and strode away, looking somewhat flustered.
Nevertheless, Lin Xiaoyue paid it no mind; she was waiting for Wen Wan.
However, after waiting for a long time, most of the people had left and she still hadn’t seen her. Puzzled, wondering if the girl had taken leave and not come, she lifted her skirt and stepped down from the carriage to ask other classmates.
Just as she approached the gate, she saw someone slowly walking from inside, Wen Wan, who was always the last to finish school each day.
"What took you so long?" Lin Xiaoyue asked with a smile.
Wen Wan raised the booklet in her hand, "If it weren’t for helping you with this dull thing, would you think I’d be willing to go home late every day?"
Lin Xiaoyue, hearing that it was for her, smiled even more, "Thank you for your hard work!"
As she spoke, she took the booklet from Wen Wan and looked at it, noticing that the records were more profound and detailed than what Su Qing had invited the tutor to teach. She was somewhat incredulous as she looked at Wen Wan, "You did such a great job on this!"
Though they were classmates, they hadn’t interacted much. Wen Wan helping her like this made Lin Xiaoyue feel a little guilty.
"Anyway, I’ve done my best. Whether you can catch up in three months depends entirely on yourself," Wen Wan said.
"I understand. In any case, I have to thank you," Lin Xiaoyue said, closing the booklet, and reaching out to encircle Wen Wan’s arm, "You’ve helped me so much; I must reward you. Tell me, what do you want?"
Su Yaoqi walked quite a distance, and inadvertently looked back, coincidentally seeing Seventh Aunt and that girl standing together, their demeanor seemed very intimate.
He was stunned and showed a momentary look of astonishment.