DCPRT Chapter 55

Prime Minister Su had hoped that You Yuyi would compete for this, as success would be a blessing for the poor scholars of the realm. Without any hesitation, he lent out his personal collection of books.

“Many thanks, Grandfather,” You Yuyi immediately bowed in gratitude.

With Prime Minister Su’s collection of books, his library would have far greater depth and substance. Although the number of books might not match those housed in the great clans’ private archives, few were those who would open such a collection to scholars across the land. That reputation for virtue alone would be enough to secure his footing at court.

Not only that, but he had also gotten ahead of the Crown Prince in claiming a good name.

“Very well, go and take them.” Prime Minister Su gave a nod, then leaned on his walking stick and stepped outside, allowing the men You Yuyi had brought to carry away the books he had spent a lifetime collecting.

The books from Prime Minister Su’s study filled a full three horse-drawn carriages before they were all loaded. You Yuyi then departed from Prime Minister Su’s residence with a broad smile on his face.

After he had gone, Prime Minister Su’s son, Su Zhou, emerged from a room. He stared at the now-empty study and could not help but say, “Father, those were your most treasured possessions — how could you!”

Prime Minister Su replied, “There is no need for that. It has long been a wish of mine for these books to be viewed by scholars throughout the land.”

Su Zhou was so furious he felt his chest tighten. He had never thought well of his sister or the son she had borne — neither of them were any good. Were it not for that familial tie, their Su clan could only have thrown their support behind the First Prince. He truly wanted nothing more than to stay as far away from those two fools as possible.

In the end, Su Zhou glanced at his aging father, and swallowed the words ‘Prince Yan will probably bungle this entirely’ before they could leave his mouth.

“Father, the wind is strong here. Let me help you inside,” Su Zhou said carefully.

With a long sigh, Prime Minister Su turned and walked back into the room.

Meanwhile, at Prince Yan’s residence, the books brought back from the Su household were being carried inside box by box. Seeing this, You Yuyi’s Menke remarked admiringly, “With Prime Minister Su’s support, Your Highness’s library will surely strike first and win the hearts of the scholars before anyone else can.”

The corners of You Yuyi’s mouth curved into a smile. “Not only that — I also asked Father Emperor to inscribe a title for it.”

The Menke’s expression shifted to one of surprise. “Then Your Highness truly has wings added to a tiger.”

When the words had settled, You Yuyi handed the inscription he had obtained from the palace to one of his trusted attendants. “Ah Xia, find a skilled craftsman to have my Father Emperor’s calligraphy carved onto it.”

The Menke could not help but make a request. “Might this one have the honour of seeing His Majesty’s own brushwork?”

“What difficulty is there in that — take a look.” With that, You Yuyi unrolled the piece that You Fengyun had personally inscribed.

The Menke fixed his eyes upon it, and every word of praise he had prepared lodged itself in his throat.

“What do you think of the calligraphy?” You Yuyi asked with a smile.

The Menke struggled to squeeze out a smile. “His Majesty’s brushwork is naturally of the finest quality.”

Fine indeed — it was so terrible in the most natural way, showing not the slightest trace of having been deliberately written badly. It was the sort of thing that would make any educated person curse inwardly the moment they laid eyes on it.

“I think so too,” said You Yuyi, and handed the inscription to his trusted attendant.

“By the way, how has the selection of a site for the library gone?” You Yusui asked.

“It has been decided. It is on Zhuque Street — a three-storey building that was formerly a restaurant. The owner wished to return to his hometown and close the business, so I paid a handsome price to purchase it,” the trusted attendant replied.

You Yuyi had sent him to pawn the jewellery, which had amounted to no less than a hundred gold pieces — certainly enough to buy a shop in a prime location within the city of Chang’an.

“Good. See to this matter — I want it done as quickly as possible,” You Yuyi instructed.

“Yes,” the trusted attendant Ah Xia replied. “It will all be arranged.”

“As for you—” You Yuyi turned to the Menke at his side.

Before You Yuyi could finish, the Menke said, “This one will make sure word spreads throughout the whole of Chang’an that Your Highness is opening the library’s collection free of charge for scholars to read.”

“Good that you understand.” You Yuyi showed a satisfied smile.

Within a single day, word had spread through Chang’an that Prince Yan, You Yuyi, intended to build a library and open it to all scholars of the land free of charge.

The common people of Chang’an were full of praise when they heard the news. The current Emperor was not only an enlightened ruler himself — what was even more remarkable was that he had two sons of such virtuous character. One was building an Academy for scholars across the realm; the other was donating books for scholars across the realm. To hold such sentiments was truly rare and admirable.

Once this news spread, those poor scholars who supported Prince Yan felt their faces flush with pride. They cast a glance at the scholars from humble origins nearby — those who had once attacked Prince Yan after he had gotten into trouble — and said, “Now that Prince Yan has built a library for our benefit, so that we may have books to read, it is plain to see that Prince Yan is a man of virtuous character. I wonder whether certain people have come to regret their words?”

When those words fell, another person followed up, “I don’t know whether he regrets it or not — I’m just curious whether he’ll have the shamelessness to walk into the library and borrow books.”

“Exactly. Since things have come to this, why did he bother in the first place? Now that he has cut ties with Prime Minister Su and the First Prince, I wonder whether he can still find a way into officialdom.”

After all, it was an exceedingly difficult thing for a person of humble origins to enter officialdom. If one could not band together with others of similar background, if one did not join the faction that had formed around Prime Minister Su, then even if appointed to a post, one would never manage to distinguish oneself for the rest of one’s career.

At that moment, the plainly dressed young man who had been the subject of their mockery spoke up in return, “Never mind the earlier matter of Prince Yan having lured a young woman into a pregnancy before marriage — on the very first day Princess Yan entered Prince Yan’s residence, she suffered a miscarriage. What is there to say about that? And not long ago, when the court was raising funds for military expenses, Prince Yan donated an entire year’s tax revenue from his fief. So where did he get the money to purchase a building on Zhuque Street for a library?”

“Those who do not know propriety, righteousness, integrity, and shame will never know them. To keep company with such a person — I find it repulsive.”

With that, the plainly dressed young man turned and walked away. The two questions he had left behind gave those who firmly supported the First Prince no idea how to respond.

“Hmph — the library holds an enormous collection, including, I hear, Prime Minister Su’s lifelong treasures. I don’t believe they won’t be tempted,” someone sneered coldly.

Hearing these words, even those scholars who had cursed You Yuyi showed a trace of hesitation. Perhaps they would not hold themselves to such standards — they could curse him all they liked, but surely they could still go and have a look. Or perhaps they ought not to have said quite so much?

Meanwhile, in the Crown Prince’s Eastern Palace, You Yusui heard the news about You Yuyi’s plan to build a library and showed very little interest — he was not the least bit moved.

“Your Highness is not angry?” Huo Xiling asked, watching You Yusui, who was busy playing with a small bird.

“Why should I be angry?” You Yusui asked in return, then reached out and pinched Huo Xiling’s chin. “Are you angry?”

“I am angry on Your Highness’s behalf — that he presumes to seize Your Highness’s reputation for virtue,” Huo Xiling said earnestly, his gaze fixed on You Yusui.

Reputation for virtue? You Yusui smiled slightly to himself. In this lifetime, he had never intended to pursue such a reputation — otherwise, how could it be paired with the character Li that had defined his first life?

(TL: 厲 (Li) – harsh/severe (often implying ruthlessness or strictness))

“What belongs to Your Highness, I will not permit anyone to take away,” Huo Xiling said quietly, his voice carrying a faint note of grievance.

You Yusui knew that Huo Xiling only played the obedient one in front of him — with everyone else, he was well practised in striking from the shadows. If he was saying this, then his dear imperial brother was likely in for some trouble.

“Tell me what you’ve done,” You Yusui said.

“I’ll take Your Highness to watch a show, and Your Highness will know soon enough,” Huo Xiling replied.

“Very well.” You Yusui nodded. The little one even knew how to prepare surprises for him.

In his eagerness to open the library as quickly as possible, You Yuyi had the shelves moved in and all the books arranged in a mere three days. He even went to the library in person to cut the ribbon at the opening ceremony.

On Zhuque Street, the three-storey building was surrounded by a dense crowd — most of them scholars and commoners who had come to watch the spectacle.

Among the crowd was also Li Yuan from the Li family. After the events of that time, he had been confined to his bed for quite a long while and had finally recovered from his injuries. Now, hearing from his companions that Prince Yan was building a free library for scholars across the land, he had come specifically to have a look — and to look for an opportunity to embarrass Prince Yan while he was at it.

At this point, Prince Yan and Li Yuan had both arrived. Only one more person was needed for this fine show to begin.

“What are you being so mysterious about?” You Yusui asked, sitting by the window of the building across the street.

“They’ll be here very soon,” Huo Xiling said, eyes lowered, as he poured a cup of tea for You Yusui.

Then, as the sound of firecrackers faded, You Yuyi, surrounded by the crowd, cut through the red silk with a pair of scissors, and the library’s signboard was revealed before everyone.

“That calligraphy…”

“It’s so ugly!”

Hearing those words, You Yusui let out an involuntary laugh. In his view, You Yuyi would have done better to ask Prime Minister Su for an inscription than to go to You Fengyun.

Hearing such remarks, You Yuyi’s expression darkened and he wanted to rebuke these scholars — how could anyone casually slander the Emperor’s own brushwork?

Just then, a woman stepped down from a carriage. She wore a full set of jewelled ornaments on her head — the very same set of head ornaments that You Yuyi had once sold off — and a large Li family floral crest was prominently displayed right across her forehead. Even if Li Yuan had tried not to notice, it would have been impossible.

“Why do you have something from my Li family on your head!” Li Yuan cried out in shock at the sight of the woman who had suddenly appeared. “Speak — which Li family woman’s jewellery did you steal!”

With that, Li Yuan moved to grab at the woman. She let out a terrified scream.

You Yuyi’s face turned ashen at the scene. “Men—”

Before You Yuyi could finish, the woman cried out at the top of her voice, “This set of ornaments was purchased by my husband for me at Yunji Pawnshop just a few days ago. What grounds do you have to claim it is yours? The receipt is right here! Don’t go accusing me of stealing from your Li family—”

“Rubbish! The ornaments on your head bear my Li family’s crest — the twin butterflies playing among peach blossoms! That design was drawn by a master of painting and calligraphy, commissioned by my grandfather! It is absolutely impossible that my Li family would have pawned any ornament bearing our family crest!” Li Yuan shouted.

The crowd looked toward the woman’s head — and there it was, an enormous twin-butterflies-among-peach-blossoms pattern, identical in every detail to the pattern on Li Yuan’s own sachet.

The woman then took the receipt from the box her little maidservant handed her. “Look carefully — my husband purchased this at Yunji Pawnshop. Besides, the one who pawned this item was someone from Prince Yan’s household. What does that have to do with your Li family?”

In that instant, the looks the crowd directed at You Yuyi became strange.

This set of ornaments certainly belonged to the Li family — and the only Li family member connected to Prince Yan’s household was Princess Yan, who had married into it. This meant that this set of ornaments had been part of Princess Yan’s dowry.

It was now quite clear to everyone: Prince Yan had pawned his own Princess’s dowry. And the money obtained from pawning it — where had it gone?

The crowd’s gaze turned toward the grand, imposing three-storey library standing before them.

TL/N:

厲 (traditional) and 厉 (simplified) are essentially the same character in terms of meaning—they share the same root and basic definitions:

Core meaning: harsh, severe, strict, intense, or formidable.

Classical/literary nuance: can imply rigor, ruthlessness, or even danger, depending on context.

Difference: the simplified 厉 just has fewer strokes; traditional 厲 carries the full, classical form and often feels more formal, historical, or “weighty.”

–厉 (Li) was You Yusui’s posthumous title.