Exceptionally Powerful Memory

The discovery of Thirteenth Young Master's aptitude came as a blow to his parents. Still, they consoled themselves: as long as their son was safe and sound and could live his life free of worry, there was no need to take it too much to heart. Of course, they would not give up on educating him. They still believed that hard work acquired later in life could make up for innate deficiencies. Even if he could not become an outstanding figure who stirred the winds and clouds, he should at least possess some useful skill.

Fortunately, their other three children were all naturally bright. Ye Hui in particular, the eldest child and the only son besides Thirteenth Young Master, was a joy to watch grow. He was the complete opposite of his younger brother—an undeniable genius.

Because of him, Ye Chengtian and his wife felt slightly more balanced. They once again focused their efforts on raising Ye Hui, with their other two daughters as secondary priorities. As for Thirteenth Young Master, they would not abandon him and still loved him dearly, but they were always far more casual when it came to his upbringing.

If Thirteenth Young Master remained like this, then he would live out his life in peace. With the Ye Clan's influence, although he could not marry the Imperial Princess, they could still find him an excellent wife, and he could live a happy and fulfilled life.

Why could he not marry the Imperial Princess? What nonsense. Under normal circumstances, both sides would cancel the engagement. Neither the Ye Clan nor the royal family could possibly allow Thirteenth Young Master to marry the Imperial Princess.

Too many matters were entangled in this. If the Ye Clan ignored everything and let him marry the Imperial Princess, they would not have been able to stand firm in the Xiangkong Empire without falling.

No matter what, as subjects of the throne, the Ye Clan would not let the royal family lose face. Even if the royal family gave them every courtesy and insisted upon it, they would still have to turn the matter down.

What was more, so long as there was a step for them to descend from, the royal family would go down it and would not persist.

Naturally, while they were still young, this matter would temporarily be set aside and no one would touch it. In other words, Thirteenth Young Master and the Imperial Princess were still fiancé and fiancée in name.

Back to the point: Thirteenth Young Master still had an extraordinary side to him. Naturally, this was not referring to his intellectual development, which everyone already knew about. It referred to something else.

Some things were exceedingly strange, things no one could explain—like the rosy clouds that had appeared when Thirteenth Young Master was born. No one could figure out why they had appeared.

Speaking of which, the first person to discover Thirteenth Young Master's strangeness was none other than his lively elder sister, Ye Lanyu. Once, while holding him as they played, she discovered that his memory stood in stark contrast to his level of intelligence.

At that time, Thirteenth Young Master could barely communicate with others. Although he developed a little slowly, it was still within a range everyone could accept. By then, no one held high hopes for him anymore; they only wished for him to spend his life safely and happily.

Even if he could not take care of himself, it did not matter. The Ye Clan could look after him for a lifetime, and some had already made such plans.

Yet at that time, little Lan Yu discovered Thirteenth Young Master's oddity. She had been playing a puzzle game that tested one's memory and judgment. Originally, she had only played relatively simple ones, games suitable for children to rack their brains over.

However, little Lan Yu believed herself to be smarter than ordinary children, and most people thought so too. Thus, she brought out a relatively difficult one—something absolutely difficult for a child, something even ordinary adults would find somewhat challenging.

Indeed, little Lan Yu was exceptionally clever, but a child's intellectual development was limited after all. She worked at it for ages without success. In a fit of annoyance, she threw the puzzle to the floor and sat off to one side in a huff.

While little Lan Yu was sulking, Thirteenth Young Master beside her made some movements. He looked at the puzzle on the floor, then at his angry sister, his expression seemingly somewhat confused.

He seemed to understand that his sister was angry because she could not put the picture together. So he stretched out his little hands, picked up the scattered puzzle pieces from the floor, placed them in the frame, and began trying to piece them together bit by bit.

"Little brother, stop playing. This is no fun at all. Big Sister will take you..." After little Lan Yu finished being angry, she noticed Thirteenth Young Master lying on the floor playing with the puzzle. At first, she thought he was merely fiddling with it, but she quickly realized something was wrong.

Out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of one corner in the frame. It seemed to be part of a completed puzzle, leaving her utterly shocked. Looking more carefully, she discovered that over half the puzzle had already been completed.

"This, this..." Little Lan Yu looked as though she had discovered a new continent. She was certain Thirteenth Young Master had done it; only the two of them were here.

But she had spent ages trying and failing to assemble this puzzle, while her foolish little brother had now completed more than half of it. It seemed far too unbelievable.

Little Lan Yu blanked out, staring at Thirteenth Young Master in a daze.

"Big Sister, look, it's done. Don't be angry anymore." Thirteenth Young Master spoke very slowly. After every sentence, he had to think for a while, striving to express what he meant.

Little Lan Yu was used to this. He had always spoken like that.

A coincidence. It had to be a coincidence.

Little Lan Yu looked at the completed puzzle, scarcely daring to believe it. First, she could not believe that her foolish little brother had completed it. Second, she could not believe she was worse than her little brother. Where would that leave her dignity as his elder sister?

"I'm not angry. Little brother, let's play again." Little Lan Yu smiled, then scattered the completed puzzle once more, wanting to see whether it had been a coincidence.

Thirteenth Young Master looked at little Lan Yu, then crouched down and continued arranging the puzzle pieces. As the puzzle was slowly restored, little Lan Yu's mouth opened wider and wider.

"Mother, Mother, this is incredible! Little brother, he..." Little Lan Yu immediately ran off to report to Long Anqi.

As a result, the entire Ye Clan was stirred into a small uproar. Everyone discovered that Thirteenth Young Master's memory was extraordinary—he could remember something after seeing it only once.

This was the conclusion reached after many different tests, a conclusion that was somewhat unbelievable.

Thirteenth Young Master's intelligence remained unsatisfactory and still did not match the level expected for his age, but his memory was enough to make even adults feel ashamed of their inferiority.

Was this the legendary combination of genius and idiot?

Perhaps it was. Or perhaps Thirteenth Young Master lacked something, preventing him from properly and reasonably using his abilities.