A Good Student's Confidence

By the end of his tirade, Zhu Yunwen was almost swept away by his own words.

But when he saw that Zhu Yuntong seemed to pay him no mind, he grew angry.

I'm so benevolent and righteous, yet you won't even listen.

Still, all the better if you don't.

The less you listen, the more benevolent and righteous I look. The contrast will be even sharper.

"Third Brother, you... are cruel and immoral," Zhu Yunwen said. "I've said so much, yet you haven't taken a single word to heart."

He put on another expression of heartbroken anguish, as though Zhu Yuntong was beyond saving.

"Your Highness, Third Imperial Grandson."

Qi Tai said gravely, "You cannot behave like this! You killed people yesterday. However much they were in the wrong, you should not have killed them with your own hands. Let us set yesterday's killings aside and discuss only Han Xin. He killed his own benefactor, repaying kindness with betrayal. Could Your Highness be that sort of person too?"

He, too, wanted to stand atop the moral high ground and condemn Zhu Yuntong, continuing to brand him cruel and heartless.

Zhu Gui and the others listened with disdain in their hearts.

They all agreed with Zhu Yuntong, but not with Qi Tai or Zhu Yunwen.

Han Xin had been out fighting a war. It was kill or be killed.

Anything could happen on a battlefield. He had merely killed a woodcutter. Was all this really necessary?

Zhu Yuntong was amused, too.

He badly wanted to tell them, "Why don't you go lecture Old Zhu instead?"

After all, Butcher Zhu had killed far more people than he had.

They dared not condemn Butcher Zhu, yet they condemned him instead. Even when squeezing persimmons, they picked the soft ones.

"So this is the struggle for the succession."

Zhu Yuntong found this sort of struggle far too childish. He thought, Zhu Yunwen's foundation lies in benevolence and righteousness, in meeting Confucian expectations, which also means meeting the expectations of the civil officials at court. He's trying to expand his advantage while suppressing me along the way.

In Zhu Yuntong's eyes, this method of suppressing him really was childish.

But when he considered the low ceiling on Zhu Yunwen's abilities, along with the string of outrageous antics from the Three Fools of Jianwen, whatever childish tactics they employed seemed perfectly reasonable.

After all, that was about as high as they could reach.

"Yes, yes, absolutely!"

Having figured out what they wanted, Zhu Yuntong simply stopped playing along. He nodded and said, "Everything you've said is right. I've learned my lesson. From now on, I'll always remember benevolence and righteousness and never commit cruel acts again."

With that, Zhu Yuntong sat straight down.

Qi Tai and Zhu Yunwen both froze.

Something seemed wrong!

Judging by the way he had raised a sword and sought death that day, they had expected Zhu Yuntong to stand by his views and argue to the bitter end.

They thought Zhu Yuntong was stubborn like that, not someone who would concede easily. Yet halfway through the argument, he suddenly admitted defeat, leaving them feeling as though their punch had landed in cotton. There was no satisfaction in it at all.

Most importantly, Zhu Yuntong had even admitted his mistake.

They wanted to say more, but although their mouths opened, no words came out. This was already outside their plans.

Mr. Fang's plan isn't working very well!

Zhu Yunwen thought, Never mind. I'll still arrange for people to spread the word later that Zhu Yuntong is neither benevolent nor righteous, that he's cruel and heartless, no good person at all.

"Very well!"

Qi Tai came back to his senses, feeling even more disgruntled.

He still had plenty of arguments prepared to refute Zhu Yuntong, but now he could not use them. He added, "There is no greater virtue than recognizing one's mistakes and correcting them, Third Imperial Grandson!"

"I understand."

Zhu Yuntong's response left them feeling powerless once again.

Still, if they insisted on slapping labels on him, they could slap away. Zhu Yuntong did not care.

"Teacher, what will we study today?"

Zhu Yunwen spoke again.

They had discussed this earlier. Today's task was not merely to portray Zhu Yuntong as lacking benevolence and righteousness, but also to help Zhu Yunwen display his learning and talent, recovering the advantages he had lost recently.

Study, benevolence, righteousness, scholarship-all of these were Zhu Yunwen's pillars of support.

He absolutely could not fall behind Zhu Yuntong.

"Today," Qi Tai said, "I will teach you how to compose poetry."

Then he stood at the lectern and earnestly explained how to compose poems and ci verse.

After the Tang and Song eras, poetry had already declined by the Ming dynasty. Every poetic mood worth writing about had been written to death during the Tang and Song, and few poets or ci writers after the Ming became especially famous.

Zhu Yuntong did not know what else Qi Tai was plotting, but he gave him face and listened along with the others.

"Zhu Yuntong."

Zhu Gui leaned over. "How could you admit defeat?"

Zhu Yuntong shrugged. "Arguing with them is so boring. If I don't concede, they'll keep pestering me."

They nodded slightly at that, finding it reasonable.

Zhu Yang asked, "Do you really think that woodcutter deserved to die?"

"Of course he did!"

Zhu Yuntong affirmed, "When marching to war, you're responsible for every officer and soldier in the army. You absolutely cannot go soft on those who must be killed. The merciful cannot command an army!"

"Well said! The merciful cannot command an army!"

The speaker was his fifteenth uncle, Zhu Zhi, the Prince of Liao.

Only then did they realize just how much Zhu Yuntong suited their tastes.

Qi Tai enthusiastically explained the composition of poems and ci verse up front while they whispered among themselves below.

Those imperial princes did not take Qi Tai seriously.

Especially the younger, more rebellious ones.

Had they not performed the ceremony of accepting him as their teacher, and had Zhu Yuanzhang not granted Qi Tai ample authority, there was no telling whether they would even have shown up for class.

"Quiet!"

Qi Tai could no longer tolerate their whispering. "Third Imperial Grandson, are you just like them? Rotten wood cannot be carved!"

Only then did they quiet down, pretending to pay attention for a while.

"Fine. You don't want to listen, do you? Then write a poem!"

Thinking this should give Zhu Yunwen a chance to perform, Qi Tai added, "Anyone who can compose a poem or a piece of ci verse may finish today's lesson right there."

"Great!"

When Zhu Gui and the others heard that they could leave class early, they howled with excitement.

It was as though composing poetry was especially easy for them, something they could toss off at will so long as it meant getting out of class early.

"Teacher, what should we write about?"

As a good student, Zhu Yunwen asked obediently and sensibly.

Even Zhu Yunjian, who followed at his side, now looked obedient and sensible rather than like a little brat.

"A snowy scene!"

Qi Tai recalled for a moment, then declared clearly, "I once traveled north and saw the snow there. Draped in silver, wrapped in white, heaven and earth were pure white from end to end. Your subject is snow!"

For a moment, the Great Ben Hall filled with the rustling of sheets of paper being unfolded.

The good student Zhu Yunwen had clearly come prepared. After a brief moment of reflection, he lifted his brush and began writing.

Snow?

Zhu Yuntong felt he could utterly crush every one of them.

But he was in no hurry to show off just yet.

"Zhu Yuntong, can you write one?"

Beside him, Zhu Gui nudged him with an elbow.

"Of course."

Zhu Yuntong nodded.

"Write one for me?"

Zhu Gui wore an ingratiating smile.

Zhu Yuntong asked curiously, "Wait, you were all so excited just now, as though composing poems and ci verse was easy. How come you can't write one?"

Zhu Pian said, "We were excited because we heard we could leave class, not because we were writing poetry."

Zhu Yuntong: "..."

Sure enough, that was it.

These imperial uncles of his were all poor students, none too reliable.

Still, Zhu Yuntong had no intention of writing for them. After all, he only knew a handful of poems himself.

"Teacher, I'm finished."

Before long, the good student Zhu Yunwen was the first to rise. He stood ramrod straight, looking brimming with confidence, certain that a single poem of his could dazzle the Great Ben Hall.