The Regent’s Secret

East Palace, Wen Hua Hall.

Summer had arrived, the nights were getting longer, and the first crescent moon of the season shone like water.

Li Yi came to pay his respects, and the Crown Prince Li Chi invited him to have dinner, which lasted until late at night.

Emperor Guanghua arrived under the moonlight, and he seemed to be in a good mood as he enjoyed the newly painted summer fans with his grandchildren. During their conversation, he asked about Li Yi’s studies.

“Guo Jijiu has profound knowledge and did not provide any leniency from me just because I am the Crown Grandson. Professor Xia’s poetry is excellent, he can even explain imagery…”

Li Yi finished talking about his teachers’ classes and then the Crown Prince asked him how his classmates were doing. 

Li Yi then talked about the incidents involving Young Master Liao and Qin Wang Shizi. 

Emperor Guanghua laughed after hearing this and said, “These flatterers are too quick to act.” There was no hint of anger in his words. 

The Crown Prince then spoke about several officials in the court who liked to flatter and curry favor. He told the Emperor some embarrassing stories that these officials had done behind others’ backs, which made Emperor Guanghua even more amused. As they talked, the two eventually turned to discussing the court affairs.

They specifically discussed the Imperial Censor who reported that the Dian-Nan Shizi had been conquering many small tribes and had become increasingly powerful. 

Emperor Guanghua suddenly asked Li Yi, “I heard that the Dian Nan Wang Shizi is not very intelligent in school?” 

Li Yi was surprised, realizing that the emperor had been paying attention to this matter for a while. He then truthfully reported what he had heard since entering the school, without making any speculations or explanations. 

The Crown Prince looked at the Emperor, who did not look at Li Yi but instead replied to the Crown Prince, “Although he is not very intelligent, he is a person who keeps to his duties. Teach him diligently.” 

In fact, Zhao Shen was foolish and refused to enter school, and his aptitude was also very poor, as he repeatedly failed to improve. To put it bluntly, the court could replace him with another candidate. 

However, Emperor Guanghua only said that he was not very intelligent. 

As for keeping to his duties and obediently enduring daily punishment and humiliation without any complaints, it was not just simply keeping to one’s duties. 

The Crown Prince smiled and agreed, while Emperor Guanghua appeared to be in a good mood.

Li Yi then realized that both his father and grandfather were quite satisfied with the Dian Nan Wang Shizi, although it was unclear why. 

The Crown Grandson would only stay at the Pan Palace for half a day, either leaving early or returning late as usual. 

On this particular day, there was a midday poetry contest at the academy for the summer season. Li Yi was invited to be a judge, so he stayed back to have lunch. 

The ingredients brought from the palace were meticulously chosen to ensure that the meal was of the highest quality. Even the kitchen staff was replaced by those from the imperial kitchen to guarantee the best results. 

Although Li Yi’s meal was different from the others, he ate it in the same room as everyone else. As usual, Li Yi entered the room first and picked a seat. Then the other students followed in, seating themselves according to their proximity to him. 

The last to enter was Zhao Shen. He walked straight to the corner on the right side of the hall, which was the hottest spot in the room on such a scorching day. This was the second time Li Yi had seen Zhao Shen up close, sitting alone with a cold expression while a round-faced, likable young eunuch stood beside him. From Li Yi’s position, he could glance up and see Zhao Shen.

The dining tables were all small round tables, and no one dared to sit with Li Yi. As a result, the entire hall was filled with tables, except for two tables that were extremely empty and occupied only by one person, a strange sight.

Li Yi picked up his chopsticks, and everyone followed suit. They had only eaten a few mouthfuls when a burst of laughter erupted in the hall.

Li Yi looked up and saw that everyone was pointing and laughing at Zhao Shen. He didn’t know who had poured ink into his baozi. When he took a bite, the ink spilled out and covered his entire box of food, even his mouth was covered in black ink.

Li Yi thought that even if he didn’t erupt on the spot, he would have collected his box and left. At this moment, even the little eunuch who always greeted people with a smile had stiffened into a grin that was like a cry.

Unexpectedly, Zhao Shen remained silent and continued to eat the rice mixed with ink as if he were completely unaware.

Qin Wang Shizi, Li Di, waved his chopsticks and shouted first, “Hey, idiot! Can you eat more ink and read more books, huh? Should I add some more for you?” 

The whole room erupted in laughter, and some people even stood up, ready to come up with new jokes for Zhao Shen.

Li Yi couldn’t stand it anymore. He slammed his wooden chopsticks on the table with a silent “clang”, which was enough to make everyone in the room stand still in silence.

Everyone looked at the Crown Grandson, and Li Di looked at Li Yi with some confusion. This was their daily amusement, how could the Crown Grandson suddenly intervene and make them unable to carry on, and publicly embarrass him with this kind of thing? 

No, it couldn’t be. 

“Go, invite the Dian Nan Wang to dine with me.” 

As soon as Li Yi spoke, the whole hall fell silent, and even the sound of a needle dropping could be heard. 

What did the Crown Grandson say? 

The Crown Grandson said dine together! And they will even share a table! 

Li Di’s face turned red. Li Yi didn’t even bother to look at him. He was a person who didn’t intervene in things, but in his previous life, he was a professor at a university and spent his whole life there. He hated bullying in schools the most.

If he had never witnessed it himself, that’s fine, but anyone who dared to act recklessly in front of him, even if it was his own father, would have to show respect to Li Yi.

The face of Qin Wang Shizi was nothing to him. Today, he would smash it on the ground, and not only that, but he would also make sure everyone saw it. From now on, as long as he was present, no one would dare to act recklessly.

Zhao Shen was invited to sit at Li Yi’s table and was offered food and a bowl of rice by the eunuch. 

“I’m not sure if the food from the palace suits your taste. I’ve heard that people from Dian Nan are used to eating spicy and sour food with strong flavors.”

Zhao Yuan hesitated and replied, “Thank you, Your Highness.”

His response was awkward and stuttering, as expected, his Chinese was not very fluent.

Li Yi smiled faintly and continued eating slowly. According to etiquette, when he stopped eating, everyone had to stop too. To make sure everyone was full, he had to eat slowly.

As he ate slowly, Li Yi couldn’t help but sneak a glance at Zhao Shen. It wasn’t quite appropriate to sneak a glance as a Crown Grandson; one ought to meet his gaze head-on and not look around recklessly but Li Yi didn’t want Zhao Shen to know that he was looking at him, so he could only consider a sneak peek.

After getting used to Zhao Shen’s eyes, Li Yi finally noticed that he was also very handsome. With the eye of a painter, he saw that his features were distinct and perfectly proportioned, and his nose and lips were very charming. Such a handsome young man would never have to worry about making a living as a model.

In the room filled with young heirs, only Li Yi and Zhao Yuan were seated face to face, enjoying the most delicious food.