The palace schoolroom
In the end, Xiao Yu could not hold out against the crown prince, who coaxed and dragged him all the way to the palace schoolroom.
He could not help yawning.
Tsk, why did school have to start so early!
We're all mere mortals. Is there really any need to work this hard!
Bang-
Caught off guard, Xiao Yu nearly got knocked to the ground!
"Well, if it isn't my Elder Imperial Brother, the crown prince?"
The newcomer looked at him and the crown prince with an imperious air, his eyes full of contempt.
"To think the exalted crown prince has sunk to waiting on a crippled hostage!"
"Mind your words, Sixth Imperial Brother!"
The crown prince replied with quiet dignity, "Father has personally acknowledged Qi'an as the fourth prince. He is your fourth elder brother and my younger brother. What is wrong with me looking after him?"
Xiao Yu rested a hand on the wheelchair, his eyes shifting slightly.
The sixth prince? Is this Consort Cui's son?
He really is an idiot!
In this palace, it isn't just mothers who rise through their sons-sons rise through their mothers, too!
His Consort Mother has already been demoted, yet he still doesn't know to rein himself in... He's practically begging to die.
The crown prince wholeheartedly agreed.
Hadn't he been at everyone's mercy all these years without his Consort Mother to back him up?
Clearly, the sixth prince had yet to realize that.
He raised his chin at the crown prince and scoffed, "Emperor Father only said it in passing, yet you actually took it seriously, Elder Imperial Brother!"
The crown prince said, "An emperor does not speak in jest. Are you questioning Emperor Father's words, Sixth Imperial Brother?"
"You!"
The sixth prince was left speechless.
In a furious huff, he said, "Do you think currying favor with this cripple will make Emperor Father think better of you?"
A crack appeared in Xiao Yu's composure as the boy kept calling him a cripple.
The crown prince replied evenly, "I think no such thing."
Besides, he no longer wanted to curry favor with Emperor Father.
"Hmph! You'd better not!"
The sixth prince declared haughtily, "As long as I'm around, Emperor Father will never like you. You'd best stop dreaming!"
"You're so noisy."
Xiao Yu lifted his eyes.
Looking at the sixth prince, he asked, "Are you a magpie in the sky or a cicada in a tree, chirping away nonstop this early in the morning?"
"You! You!"
The sixth prince flushed scarlet with rage.
Pointing straight at Xiao Yu, he snapped, "You're the magpie! The cicada! Don't think I don't know you're calling me inhuman!"
"Oh, aren't you a clever one!" Xiao Yu replied blandly.
The crown prince had no intention of wasting any more time on him and pushed Xiao Yu inside.
Enraged at being ignored, the sixth prince suddenly charged forward and rammed Xiao Yu's wheelchair.
Thud!
He was already fat, and the force of his collision knocked even the crown prince to the floor!
Looking at Xiao Yu and the crown prince sprawled miserably on the ground, he felt immensely satisfied.
That would teach them to look down on him...
They deserved it!
The crown prince clenched his fists and shot him a look.
He helped Xiao Yu up first. "Fourth Brother, I'm sorry. It's my fault for not holding on properly..."
"Are you hurt?"
Xiao Yu shook his head.
He was not truly frail to begin with.
A grown man taking a tumble was hardly a big deal.
It was just that...
He glanced around at the other imperial children.
Seeing them standing aside, watching with aloof indifference and mockery in their eyes, he lowered his gaze slightly.
He settled back into the wheelchair, ignoring the smug sixth prince.
"Elder Imperial Brother, let's go," he told the crown prince.
Xiao Yu looked utterly unruffled, as though he had not been the one knocked to the ground. In contrast, the petty sixth prince looked like nothing more than a ridiculous clown.
If one ignored his inner voice, that was.
Ah, being too outstanding among your peers really is a crime. It makes people jealous. My fault, my fault!
The crown prince, who had still been indignant and anxious, felt the corners of his mouth twitch.
Qi'an really was...
Shameless.
The sixth prince, meanwhile, went livid with anger.
Now he hated Young Lord Xiao, who had stolen all of Emperor Father's affection, even more than he hated the crown prince!
Spotting a stack of books over two feet high on the lectern, he decided to put him in his place.
He ordered him, "See those books over there? Go bring them here!"
Xiao Yu: "..."
Did he really think Xiao Yu was a pushover?
He replied, "Sixth Imperial Brother, hasn't our teacher taught you to respect rank and seniority?"
He gave him a sidelong look, every word striking home. "You are merely a younger brother. You have no right to order your elder brother to fetch things for you."
"I won't fetch them, lest people criticize you for disrespecting your elders!"
"If I can't, what about Second Imperial Brother?"
The sixth prince pointed at the second prince. "Surely he can?"
The second prince's expression shifted.
This idiot.
He's dragging me into this.
Still, he could not stand Xiao Yu either, especially since Xiao Yu was close to the crown prince.
He told Xiao Yu, "Then, Fourth Brother, sorry for the trouble, but please bring the books over."
"Since you say so, Second Imperial Brother, I shall obey."
Then he told the crown prince, "Sorry for the trouble, Elder Imperial Brother, but please push me over to the lectern."
The crown prince could no longer stand by and watch.
"I'll fetch them for Fourth Brother!" he said.
"Are you two looking down on me as your Second Imperial Brother? All I did was ask him to move some books."
The second prince spoke with biting sarcasm.
"But..."
The crown prince wanted to say more, but Xiao Yu held him back.
"It's fine. I can do it."
Since they're so determined to bully poor, helpless little me, they can't blame me for what happens next...
Thinking Xiao Yu was about to do something, the crown prince grew nervous.
"Cough, cough-"
Xiao Yu suddenly coughed up a pool of blood, then shut his eyes and collapsed to the floor!
The crown prince's pupils shook with shock, and he immediately shouted, "Someone, summon the imperial physician! Inform Emperor Father!"
The imperial study
"Your Majesty! Your Majesty!"
Dequan hurried in.
"Why are you panicking!"
Emperor Jinyuan's hand paused, and he said in mild anger, "Catch your breath and speak properly!"
Dequan said, "Your Majesty, Xiao... the fourth prince has vomited blood and fainted!"
Emperor Jinyuan's hand jerked, but he paid no attention to the memorial stained black with ink.
He sprang to his feet. "Prepare my carriage for the Eastern Palace!"
If something happened to that Xiao boy in the palace, how would he answer to the Prince of Zhennan?
He might even lose his head!
The Eastern Palace
Emperor Jinyuan paced outside the door, anger radiating from him without abating.
The princes knelt in a row on the steps, trembling.
"Your Majesty, the consorts from the various palaces request an audience," the captain of the guards reported.
"What audience?"
Emperor Jinyuan snapped, "Tell them to get back to their own chambers and stay there, or I'll send every last one of them to enjoy the cold wind in the Cold Palace!"
Indulgent mothers breed spoiled sons!
Seeing that Emperor Father refused even to see their mothers, the princes lowered their heads still further.
Emperor Jinyuan glanced at his worthless sons.
His face stern, he said, "There is nothing I hate more than brothers turning on one another. Who gave you the nerve to stir up trouble and bully Qi'an?"
"You'd better pray Qi'an is all right, or else-"
The princes involuntarily shuddered at his words.
The sixth prince was even more heartbroken.
He was no longer Emperor Father's favorite prince.
Now Emperor Father had given all his affection to that boy named Xiao Yu.
It was all Consort Mother's fault!
If Consort Mother hadn't poisoned Emperor Father, she wouldn't have been demoted, and he wouldn't have come to despise him by association!
The second prince's gaze darkened.
That idiot Sixth Imperial Brother!
If he hadn't picked a fight, I wouldn't have been dragged into this and punished with kneeling!
"Where is Master He? What has he been teaching you all this time!"
"Your Majesty!"
Master He stepped forward, trembling. "I have failed to teach Your Highnesses properly. I deserve ten thousand deaths!"
Emperor Jinyuan said coldly, "If you cannot teach, then stop teaching!"
"Guards, drag this utterly useless fool away-"
"Your Majesty!"
Dequan emerged and said, "The fourth prince is awake!"
Emperor Jinyuan immediately felt relieved.
His head was safe.
The sixth prince asked timidly, "Father, since Fourth Brother is awake, can we..."
Emperor Jinyuan glanced at him. "Can you what? Keep kneeling. Kneel until Qi'an forgives you!"
The princes: "..."
Were they even his real sons!
Before you continue