Song Yu had thoroughly consolidated his position as Crown Prince through the Great Yue campaign. On the day of his triumphant return to the capital, Emperor Yuanyou was uncharacteristically sentimental.
"Minister Shen, I feel as if I'm dreaming."
In just half a year, everything had turned upside down.
And all the changes had begun from the day Ahuan was found and brought back.
"I... I also feel as if I'm dreaming."
Watching Song Yu return laden with military achievements, now eloquent and learned, Shen Mingwen couldn't shake the feeling that something had been stolen from him.
He had discreetly asked the Emperor several times if he had secretly found a tutor for the Crown Prince, but the Emperor had flatly denied it each time.
Could the Crown Prince have become so accomplished through self-study?
Shen Mingwen shook his head regretfully. He had even dreamt of becoming the Emperor's teacher himself.
"Your son has fulfilled the mission and returned victorious."
Song Yu stood tall and clear-eyed, his bearing dignified.
"Elder Brother, next time there's such a good opportunity, take your younger brother along, alright?"
Before Emperor Yuanyou could speak, Prince Qi jumped out. Now that the streets and alleys were all praising his elder brother, if he could fight and win a battle alongside him, wouldn't he share in the fame? Prince Qi was eager to prove his own worth.
"The next battle might be against Mobei," Song Yu said, his gaze towards Prince Qi carrying a hint of deeper meaning.
"Mobei is excellent!" Prince Qi grinned, revealing his white teeth. "Little brother loves fighting Mobei the most. To be honest, just hearing 'Mobei' fills me with an inexplicable hatred, a firm resolve to wipe them out!"
"Good. I'll take you next time." Song Yu looked at Prince Qi, thinking he now resembled a silly roe deer.
Seeing this, Prince Chu, who was standing nearby, also spoke up timidly, "I... I want to go too..."
Prince Chu had recently had many people around him get into trouble. Although he had chosen to uphold justice by cutting ties with them, he still found it somewhat difficult to meet Song Yu's eyes directly.
"Everyone goes together."
With Song Yu's one sentence, Prince Chu immediately began bobbing his head and followed behind him. Seeing this scene, Emperor Yuanyou suddenly smiled as well.
"Let's go, into the palace."
Emperor Yuanyou, holding little Song Shihuan's hand, had taken just one step when he stopped again. He called out towards a head that wasn't well-hidden on the city wall, "You little rascal from the Gu family, come into the palace with us as well."
Gu Zheng's eyelid twitched.
Gu Mingzhu quickly ran down, bowed to Emperor Yuanyou, but her bright eyes remained fixed on Song Shihuan.
A day apart felt like three years.
She missed the princess, Song Shihuan, sincerely every day.
Third Uncle Shen had said that once her martial arts improved a bit more, she could also go to war and even become a female general.
...
At the palace banquet.
Song Yu smiled faintly as he clinked cups with Shen Qingping. "Chief Minister Shen of the Dali Temple has uncovered so many cold cases; your governance is truly effective."
Seeing Song Yu's feigned manner, Shen Qingping couldn't help but lower his head. "It cannot compare to Your Highness's merit of expanding our territory."
"Teacher, I just heard Nian'an say there's a particularly skilled female coroner at the Dali Temple?" Song Shihuan's face slowly leaned in.
"I've heard about that too. Third Uncle Shen often takes that female coroner on cases," Gu Mingzhu chimed in, propping her chin on her hand. "I even ran into them once."
The two girls' curiosity, however, instantly turned into alarm for Song Yu.
"What is that female coroner's name?"
"Yue Qing," Shen Qingping replied. "Her methods of examining corpses are exceptional. She contributed greatly to solving those cold cases."
"Shen the Third, you haven't taken a fancy to her, have you?" Song Yu wore a look of utter distress. "You two aren't suitable, truly not suitable."
Good heavens, Yue Qing is Feng Kuizhi's wife.
One mustn't play matchmaker recklessly.
Song Yu felt as if facing a great enemy. He even glanced towards the two families who, in his previous life, had married their daughters to Zheng Fang and Ling Ming. Surely they wouldn't be arranging marriages for their daughters this early now?
In that short moment, Song Yu's mind had already staged a whole drama of wrong bride, wrong groom.
Shen Qingping twitched the corner of his mouth speechlessly. What he wanted to say got stuck for a long while, finally transforming into one sentence:
"Is the Crown Prince perhaps thinking of taking a Crown Princess?"
"Ah?" Song Yu's mouth fell open.
"Someone who is thinking of marriage sees everyone else as wanting to marry." Shen Qingping said expressionlessly, "My relationship with Yue Qing is strictly professional. Your Highness should go and wash your eyes."
"Father, how does one wash their eyes?"
Meeting Song Shihuan's teasing gaze, Song Yu pinched her cheek.
"Daring to make fun of your old man now?"
"Hel...p..." Song Shihuan wailed.
...
That night, Shen Mingwen got thoroughly drunk.
The servant behind him couldn't hold back Shen Mingwen, who was heading straight for the Ye residence.
The Ye residence was a small house, devoid of any valuable objects. After Shen Mingwen knocked, it was even Ye Shijie himself who opened the door.
Seeing the drunken Shen Mingwen before him, Ye Shijie didn't think twice and made to shut the door, but Shen Mingwen shoved it open.
Grabbing Ye Shijie by the collar, Shen Mingwen roared:
"Ye Shijie, have you been secretly teaching the Crown Prince his lessons?"
Ye Shijie: ???
"You old thing, your ambition never dies! You were so infuriated by His Highness back then it made you spit blood, and yet you still sneak around trying to mold a future ruler." Shen Mingwen at this moment looked very much like a husband catching his spouse in infidelity. "You just want to be the Emperor's Teacher, don't think I don't know."
"What are you talking about? I don't understand." Ye Shijie frowned. He had heard about the Crown Prince pretending to be a wastrel while actually being learned.
But he would stake his head on it—the one who infuriated him to the point of spitting blood back then was a genuine, bona fide wastrel.
If there had been even half a drop of ink in his belly, he couldn't possibly have been angered to that extent.
So, Ye Shijie had actually suspected Shen Mingwen of secretly tutoring the Crown Prince.
"You didn't teach him? Then why... why does His Highness's policy essay bear traces of your style?" Shen Mingwen felt as if his heart was being sliced by a knife, pulling out a policy essay from his robe.
When Ye Shijie saw it, he felt like he was looking in a mirror.
"That's not right. The Crown Prince's policy essay clearly bears traces of your style." Ye Shijie also pulled out a policy essay from his own robe.
When Shen Mingwen saw it, he also felt like he was looking in a mirror.
"Huh?" Shen Mingwen was bewildered.
"Huh?" Ye Shijie was also somewhat dumbfounded.
"It seems there is another master giving guidance..." Shen Mingwen sniffed. "Someone familiar with both our styles, combining the strengths of various schools, taught His Highness."
"If that's truly the case, then I accept it." Ye Shijie looked at Shen Mingwen, and his attitude suddenly improved.
It was a pity that the Emperor's Teacher wasn't himself.
But as long as it wasn't Shen Mingwen, then it wasn't so bad after all.
A quarter of an hour later, wine cups were placed before both of them.
"Don't let me find out who the future Emperor's Teacher is!"
Shen Mingwen issued a fierce threat.
Ye Shijie's gaze was also growing hazy. "Old Shen, do you think if I had held back and not spat out that mouthful of blood back then, the future Emperor's Teacher would have been me?"
Shen Mingwen shot a glance at Ye Shijie:
"Don't do that to yourself."
