"Yuanzhao, why have you lost so much weight? Are you not eating well at the county school?"
Lady Lu pulled her eldest son close, her heart aching for him.
"Mother, the food at the county school is fine. It's just that the workload is heavy, and the pressure is a bit much."
Lu Yuanzhao pursed his lips, trying to reassure her.
"Learning should be a gradual process—you can't rush it. Don't ruin your health over this. No more studying today—rest properly. I’ll make your favorite jade shrimp for dinner. Yuanyi and Chaochao, keep your elder brother company for a while."
Seeing that her son didn’t want to elaborate, Lady Lu didn’t press further. After sending the brothers away, she anxiously called for someone to fetch Lord Lu, asking him to inquire about the situation at the county school. Meanwhile, she summoned the attendant Ankang for questioning.
"Big brother, is the county school fun?" Lu Chao asked curiously.
How had Lu Yuanzhao become so haggard after just half a month there? Could he be suffering from bullying?
That shouldn’t be the case! The Lu family might not be among the top nobility, but they were still a well-established household, and Lord Lu held an official position. While their influence might not extend to the capital, in Yingchuan City, their name still carried some weight.
Lu Yuanzhao gave a bitter smile and shook his head.
"It’s not fun."
"Big brother, were you bullied at school? Who was it? I’ll go beat them up for you!"
Lu Yuanyi, seeing his brother’s melancholy, grew furious.
"No, nothing like that. You kids shouldn’t overthink things. Let me check your schoolwork instead."
Under his younger brothers’ concerned gazes, Lu Yuanzhao’s mood lightened slightly, and he changed the subject.
"Mother said no studying today—we have to listen to her," Lu Chao said, shaking his head.
"Since when have you two ever been this obedient? Hmm?" Lu Yuanzhao patted Lu Chao’s little head, skeptical.
"We’ve been very obedient lately! Big brother, it’s rare to have a day off—don’t bother with all those Confucian texts. Let’s play flower cards instead!"
Seeing that he wasn’t in the mood to talk, Lu Chao thought it best to distract him and suggested a game.
"Ah! You know how to play this too? Some students at the county school secretly play, but if the teacher catches them, they get punished."
At school, passing the time usually meant chess or arrow-throwing—flower cards were forbidden because some students had started gambling with them, leading to a strict ban.
Lu Yuanzhao had been buried in exam preparations, and to avoid disturbing him, the family hadn’t kept him updated on household matters. So he had no idea that the flower cards were actually a creation of his own family.
"Big brother! Of course we know how to play! Your little brothers were the first in the Great Yuan Dynasty to master this!"
Lu Yuanyi puffed out his chest proudly.
After some explanation, Lu Yuanzhao finally learned the origin of the flower cards.
"Chaochao, you’re so clever! This is amazing!"
Lu Chao scratched his head sheepishly.
"Not really—Yuanyi came up with the name, and Mother added her own design touches. That’s how we ended up with such beautifully crafted cards."
"I had no idea about any of this. I haven’t been able to help with anything at home."
Lu Yuanzhao felt a pang of guilt. As the eldest brother, he had failed in his duty. When Yuanyi was nearly kidnapped, he hadn’t even known—it was only thanks to Chaochao’s quick thinking that Yuanyi escaped harm. His mother had fasted for months, her health deteriorating, yet he hadn’t noticed. Everyone told him to focus on his studies, so his mind had been filled with nothing but the Four Books and Five Classics. But was studying really so important?
"Who says it isn’t? Think of it like building a city wall—laying one or two bricks might seem pointless, but when it’s tall enough, it can protect an entire city from invaders. Your studies are the same—they’ll make a difference in the future."
First, there was Sun Quan urging his officers to study; now, there was Lu Chao giving a motivational speech. Lu Chao couldn’t help but feel impressed with himself.
"If you understand this so well, why don’t you take your studies seriously?"
Lu Yuanyi frowned, his eyebrows twisting like caterpillars as he stared at Lu Chao in confusion. Despite his intelligence, Chaochao was notoriously lazy when it came to schoolwork—his exam scores were always average, never outstanding. His handwriting was erratic too: when he was in a bad mood, he scribbled messily, but when he felt inspired, he’d purify his hands with incense and carefully practice calligraphy. He was utterly unpredictable.
"Uh…" Lu Chao felt as if an arrow had struck his knee, leaving him momentarily speechless.
Under Lu Yuanzhao’s equally questioning gaze, Lu Chao shrugged.
"You two study for the imperial exams, aiming for a path to glory. I study just to understand the world—I don’t want an official career."
Lu Yuanzhao froze. From the moment he could reason, he had known he was destined for the exams, so he had studied relentlessly. And he had talent—those convoluted, archaic texts? He could memorize them after just a few readings. But why was he taking the exams? For power?
Thinking of the unsavory affairs at the county school, he shook his head with another bitter smile.
How was he any different from them?
"I don’t really know why I study either. I just know that if I do well, Father and Mother will be happy. But what’s the point of studying?" Lu Yuanyi also seemed lost.
Lu Chao looked at the two pairs of bewildered eyes and sighed. Ah, adolescence—the age of existential crises. But they couldn’t afford to slack off! If they gave up, who was he supposed to rely on in the future?
"Of course it’s useful! Studying teaches propriety. Look at Uncle’s sons, Chengyin and Chengxian—they never studied, so they went around lifting girls’ skirts. But there’s another side to it. If you pass the exams and become officials, wouldn’t you be able to help the people under your governance? To establish moral principles for society, to secure livelihoods for the people, to preserve the wisdom of past sages, and to bring peace for generations to come."
Lu Chao thought of his university roommate, Zheng. After graduation, Zheng had followed his family’s wishes and taken the civil service exam. At first, he’d joked during video calls that he could endure the three-year probation period. But six months later, when they spoke again, Zheng was wearing a straw hat and digging roads with a shovel, urgently asking, "Your uncle owns a juice factory, right? Can you connect me? I need to help the villagers here sell their hawthorns."
Lu Chao had asked why he was pushing himself so hard. Zheng’s reply: "When I see how hard these villagers have it, I can’t just stand by. Their lives are too difficult."
The room fell silent.
Lu Yuanzhao gazed out the window, lost in thought. Lu Yuanyi stared at his own hands, doubting whether someone like him could ever make a difference.
A breeze drifted in, lifting the hem of a robe outside the door before gently letting it fall again.
