DCPRT Chapter 61

Gu Shen grumbled that You Yusui was even drawing from the family’s treasured collection while simultaneously pondering which books from his own collection he could donate, so that the younger members of his household could copy them.

Neither he nor Xie Yi were the type to hoard their treasures — donating some books to benefit scholars throughout the realm was a worthy endeavor.

“My collection is nowhere near as large as the Xie family’s. I can’t produce two thousand volumes all at once,” Gu Shen said, turning his wine cup in his hand.

The Xie family’s heritage stretched back generations, and the number of books they had preserved was beyond what ordinary aristocratic clans could match — only the Five Surnames and Seven Great Houses could perhaps compare.

(TL: 五姓 (Five Surnames) → the most prestigious family names (clans)

七望 (Seven Great Houses / Lineages) → seven elite branches within those surnames)

“I knew the Grand Preceptor would be generous,” said You Yusui nearby, his eyes bright as he looked at Gu Shen.

Gu Shen let out a cold snort and then turned to You Yusui. “Our books can be donated to Lingchuan Grand Academy as a personal favor, but other noble houses won’t agree to donate so easily.”

Even if only copies were being donated, some people would sooner die than give them up, believing their family’s books to be priceless rarities that would lose their value the moment ordinary people laid hands on them — and You Yusui could hardly go around seizing them by force.

“Grand Preceptor., rest assured — I already have a plan for that,” You Yusui said with a smile.

“A plan? What plan?” Xie Yi smiled and set down his wine cup, then looked at the young man before him with a gentle expression.

He had originally intended to personally approach the various noble houses to borrow books on You Yusui’s behalf, to help him establish Wenyuan Pavilion at Lingchuan Grand Academy. He hadn’t expected the boy to have already come up with a solution of his own.

You Yusui spoke up obligingly. “I have already proposed to Father Emperor that we compile a comprehensive reference work gathering all ancient classical texts into one great compendium.”

When the time came, You Fengyun would issue an imperial decree ordering the sons of the various noble houses to bring their family books to Lingchuan Grand Academy to take part in the compilation. Given the sheer scale of such an undertaking, it would require at least several years to complete — and during those years, many additional copies of the noble families’ books would naturally be produced.

Moreover, compiling such a work was itself an act of great merit. His father emperor craved legacy and renown, while the noble houses, seeking their own good name, the benefits that came with participating in such a monumental project, and the opportunity to curry favor with his father emperor, would all hand over their most treasured books.

Gu Shen, hearing this, couldn’t help but draw a sharp breath. He looked at You Yusui and said, “That’s devious.”

Gu Shen felt that You Yusui’s scheme gave him a fleeting vision of You Fengyun — except that You Yusui’s methods were considerably more measured, offering the noble houses enough benefit to make it worthwhile, unlike You Fengyun’s sweeping, overwhelming approach that left people feeling crushed and wanting to curse him to his face.

Upon hearing Gu Shen’s assessment, You Yusui blinked innocently and then said, “Beyond that, I also intend to recommend Grand Preceptor to Father Emperor as the chief supervisor of the compilation project.”

The moment those words fell, Gu Shen found himself staring into You Yusui’s clear, guileless eyes. He couldn’t help but burst out, “You little wretch — do you take me for the village donkey, to be worked without rest?”

You Yusui promptly ducked behind Huo Xiling and called back, “I think the Grand Preceptor is perfectly at leisure — fishing one moment, cockfighting the next. If you’d rather, I could recommend Prime Minister Su to Father Emperor and have him oversee the compilation instead.”

At that, Gu Shen was so infuriated that he laughed. “Have Prime Minister Su oversee the compilation? You’d work him to death.”

Given the sheer volume of state affairs Prime Minister Su handled every single day — already far beyond what an ordinary person could manage — piling the compilation work on top of it would be nothing short of exploitation.

After saying it, Gu Shen paused and thought for a moment, then added, “Actually, that’s not a bad idea. Working Prime Minister Su to death would be the same as removing Prince Yan’s greatest asset.”

The moment Gu Shen finished speaking, Xie Yi broke into a severe fit of coughing. “Mind your words.”

Gu Shen let out a disgruntled huff at that but said nothing further and sat back down.

You Yusui then turned to Xie Yi. “Maternal grandfather, why not let you oversee the compilation instead? I won’t give this honor to the Grand Preceptor — I’ll give it to you.”

When a unified dynasty compiled a comprehensive reference work gathering all ancient classical texts, it not only demonstrated the strength of its culture and the depth of its national power — it was also the kind of achievement that earned a place in the historical record for generations to come. The name of whoever presided over the compilation would be remembered by posterity.

Gu Shen’s face darkened at that. “Who said I wasn’t going to do it? Hasn’t he done enough already to earn his place in history?”

Xie Yi let out a hearty laugh and said, “Just let him have it.”

You Yusui exchanged a conspiratorial wink with his maternal grandfather — the trap had been sprung.

Xie Yi looked at You Yusui with a quiet smile but said nothing for a moment. Then he spoke. “It’s nearly dark now. Will Suisui be staying here tonight, or returning to the palace?”

Strictly speaking, a prince had no grounds to spend the night outside the palace without cause — yet Xie Yi couldn’t help but voice this selfish little wish of his.

The Xie family had always kept a courtyard set aside for You Yusui — right next to the one where his late mother had lived before she left home upon her marriage. When Xie Yi’s daughter — his late daughter, You Yusui’s mother — had been with child, she had told him she wanted to bring the baby home often and asked him to prepare a courtyard for her child.

Xie Yi had known full well that once his daughter married an emperor, she would rarely be able to come home, and that the child she bore, being a prince, would almost never be permitted to stay overnight at the Xie residence. And yet Xie Yi had prepared the courtyard all the same.

But the outcome had been this: his daughter passed away the day after giving birth. Then came the early death of his eldest son, who had never been in good health. And his wife, unable to bear the blow, grew weaker with each passing day, until she too departed the following spring — leaving Xie Yi alone to erect one gravestone after another.

You Yusui was momentarily taken aback. Then he said, “Alright.”

You Fengyun already knew he had left the palace, and he knew why — besides, with his poor health, one trip out of the palace was already enough of an ordeal. Of course he would rest properly at his maternal grandfather’s home for the night before returning.

And so, after arranging for a young eunuch to go back and send word to his father, You Yusui stayed at the Xie residence without the slightest twinge of guilt.

After dinner, grandfather and grandson talked for a while longer, and it was only when night had fully fallen that You Yusui was led by a Xie household servant into the courtyard that had been kept ready for him for over a decade.

The courtyard was styled after the garden estates of the Jiangnan region, with ornamental bamboo planted along the white walls and flowering trees of all four seasons lining the covered walkways, so that there would always be blossoms to admire no matter the time of year.

The room inside was immaculate, clearly swept and tended to every day, and it was furnished with things suited to a child growing into a young man.

On the bookshelves sat a Luban lock, a kite, and a set of linked rings. Beside the bed stood a small wooden rocking horse. From the bed canopy hung shells and bells and a grasshopper woven from straw — and resting atop the bed was a tiger-head cap, its embroidery still unfinished.

(TL: A Luban lock is a traditional Chinese interlocking wooden puzzle — pieces fit together precisely and can’t be taken apart without knowing the trick.)

You Yusui reached out and picked up the tiger-head cap, his fingertips tracing the stitches lightly. “This unfinished tiger-head cap — it was meant for me by maternal grandmother, wasn’t it.”

His maternal grandmother had passed away in the spring of the year after his mother’s death. By that time, her health had already been failing, and the tiger-head cap she had wanted to embroider for him was never completed.

There are still people in this world who love me, You Yusui thought, holding the cap. It’s a pity that in the fifteen lives before this one, for one reason or another, I missed all of it. Only in this life did I come to know that my maternal grandfather and cousin brother have always loved me.

“Your Highness, it is time to rest,” said Huo Xiling, having finished making the bed, turning to address You Yusui where he stood to the side.

“Alright.” You Yusui set the tiger-head cap down carefully, then took off his outer robe and slipped obediently under the covers.

Meanwhile, Huo Xiling began to arrange the small sleeping pallet used for overnight attendants, apparently intending to make do on it for the night.

You Yusui watched what Huo Xiling was doing and asked, “You’re not warming the bed for me anymore?”

Huo Xiling turned and said, “This is the Xie residence. If someone were to find out—”

You Yusui reached out and pulled Huo Xiling onto the bed, cutting him off. “This is my home!”

Huo Xiling, who had never imagined he would be so easily pulled into bed by His Highness the Crown Prince: ……

“Very well. This is His Highness’s home,” Huo Xiling said, looking down at the Crown Prince beneath him.

You Yusui was satisfied. He patted the space beside him and told Huo Xiling to lie down.

The moment Huo Xiling slipped under the covers, a pair of ice-cold feet burrowed between his thighs, and You Yusui let out a contented rumbling sound, much like a cat.

Huo Xiling, a hot-blooded young man in the full vigor of youth: ……

After a moment, Huo Xiling lowered his head, his ears flushed red, and quietly suggested, “Your Highness, could you move to a different spot?”

You Yusui reached up and tickled Huo Xiling under the chin with a finger, then said with a smile, “Then where should this prince move? Here? Or here?”

Huo Xiling could feel it distinctly — You Yusui’s feet, now warmed by the heat of his body, were slowly creeping upward, and would soon reach somewhere decidedly dangerous.

“Your Highness!” Huo Xiling cried out in flustered outrage.

You Yusui was never one to clean up after his mischief — he would tease, then retreat, leaving Huo Xiling alone to silently recite his heart-cleansing sutra.

Looking at the flustered and indignant Huo Xiling, You Yusui laughed, then settled his feet against Huo Xiling’s abdomen and kept them there without moving.

“Then will you let your abdominal muscles warm this prince’s feet?” said You Yusui, gazing at Huo Xiling, his voice pitiful and aggrieved, his expression carrying an unself-conscious allure.

Huo Xiling reached down and pressed both of You Yusui’s feet against his abdomen firmly. “Your Highness, please stop moving.”

“Alright, this prince won’t move,” said You Yusui — and promptly began using his feet to feel out exactly how many abdominal muscles Huo Xiling had.

“Your Highness!”

At Huo Xiling’s outburst, You Yusui burst out laughing, threw his arms around Huo Xiling’s neck, and closed his eyes.

Finally, You Yusui stilled. Huo Xiling, holding You Yusui in his arms, let out a quiet sigh of relief.

Meanwhile, back in the imperial palace, the candles in Xuande Hall had already burned halfway down by the time You Fengyun finally finished processing all his state affairs.

“The Crown Prince — has he not returned?” You Fengyun asked offhandedly.

An Hai hurried to reply, “His Highness the Crown Prince sent word earlier saying that his health is too poor to bear the strain of traveling back tonight, and he has decided to stay at the Xie residence until tomorrow morning, when he will return to the palace.”

“Staying at the Xie residence?” You Fengyun narrowed his eyes.

An Hai dared not say another word. After all, His Majesty greatly disliked the princes growing too close to their maternal families. In the past, in order to set His Majesty’s mind at ease, the Crown Prince and the Xie family had kept entirely away from each other and never exchanged visits. But now that had changed. As far as An Hai could see, the Crown Prince wished he could go to Lord Xie’s home every single day.

After a moment, You Fengyun recalled what the Cheif Imperial Physician had said and spoke. “Let it be.”

Then You Fengyun added, “I suspect he simply doesn’t want to attend tomorrow morning’s court session. Tomorrow you will personally go and fetch him for the morning audience. Whatever he proposed, he cannot be absent when it is announced.”

It was out of the question for You Fengyun to announce the establishment of Wenyuan Pavilion at Lingchuan Grand Academy and call on all parties to contribute personnel and effort toward the compilation of a great compendium — only for the one who had proposed all of it to not even be present.

You Fengyun would not allow that to happen, and so he instructed An Hai to personally go to the Xie residence and bring the Crown Prince back in time for the morning court session.

“Yes, Your Majesty,” An Hai answered at once.

He would have attendants bring the Crown Prince’s court attire along and dispatch a carriage to collect His Highness the Crown Prince for the hour of Mao morning audience.

(TL: 卯 (Mǎo) corresponds to roughly 5:00 AM–7:00 AM.)

You Yusui, at that moment sound asleep in Huo Xiling’s arms, had no idea yet that his pleasant morning of sleeping in had just been ruined by his father emperor.