Back to Class

Before dawn had fully broken, the soft rustle of clothing was already stirring in the sleeping chamber.

Xiao Huaijin poked half his face out from beneath the quilt. When he blearily opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was a dim yellow palace lantern. Its light fell across the floor, casting the shadow of a tall, slender figure who stood with his back to him while palace attendants helped him dress.

He was wide awake at once.

"Father!"

The little bundle on the bed scrambled upright, his voice still heavy with sleep.

Xiao Lin turned around. Seeing that he was awake, he waved away the attendant straightening his sash and came to the bedside.

"What are you doing awake so early?"

He reached out to feel the child's forehead. Only when he found it still cool did he relax a little.

"I have to go to the Imperial Study today," Xiao Huaijin said solemnly, his eyes brighter than usual. "I can't be late."

Looking at him, so eager he seemed ready to put on his shoes and run outside that very moment, Xiao Lin's lips moved almost imperceptibly.

After two or three days of illness spent confined to the Hall of Mental Cultivation, this little monkey really had been stifled.

"It's still early." Xiao Lin pulled the quilt back up over him. "Lie down a little longer."

"I'm not sleepy anymore." Xiao Huaijin immediately shook his head, then added, "Really."

Xiao Lin did not call his bluff. He had warm water brought in, wrung out a cloth himself, and wiped his son's face. Xiao Huaijin sat at the edge of the bed with his little face tilted up for him, not forgetting to remind him, "Father, you promised I could go to class today."

"I remember."

Xiao Lin put the cloth back into the bronze basin.

"But only for half a day. Liu An will bring you back before noon."

Xiao Huaijin had wanted to bargain for a little longer, but his father's firm tone told him there was no use saying more. He could only nod obediently.

"Half a day it is."

Xiao Lin murmured his assent and reached out to pinch his cheek.

After he had washed and dressed, the director of the Imperial Medical Academy was summoned to take the crown prince's pulse again. Having finished, the elderly director bowed.

"Your Majesty, although His Highness's fever has completely subsided, he is still weak. If he must go to the Imperial Study today, he must not sit for too long or overtax himself, and above all, he must not be exposed to drafts."

"Did you hear that?"

Seated beside him, Xiao Lin did not even lift his eyelids.

"Yes."

Xiao Huaijin sat perfectly straight, but inwardly he muttered that he was hardly so delicate.

When breakfast was served, Xiao Huaijin had intended to finish quickly and leave early. But today the table held an extra pot of codonopsis and Chinese yam porridge, a plate of steamed shredded chicken, and a bowl of pitch-black medicine. None of it looked likely to let him leave anytime soon.

He stared at the medicine for a while, then asked quietly, "Father, can I drink it after I come back?"

"No."

"Then can I drink only half?"

"No."

Xiao Huaijin sighed, lifted the bowl, and swallowed the medicine mouthful by mouthful. It was terribly bitter. By the time he reached the bottom, even his eyelashes were trembling slightly from the bitterness. Xiao Lin brought a honey-preserved plum, prepared long beforehand, to his lips. He immediately opened his mouth and took it in, finally suppressing the bitter taste.

Only after watching him finish the medicine did Xiao Lin truly give his permission. "Go on."

The wind was gentler than yesterday, but the sky was overcast. When they left the Hall of Mental Cultivation, a line of palace attendants stood beneath the covered walkway, with hand warmers, cloaks, and medicine packets all ready. The grand procession looked as though it were sending the little crown prince on a distant journey.

Xiao Huaijin looked at the carrying chair, then at the palace path between the Hall of Mental Cultivation and the Imperial Study, which was not particularly long. He ventured, "Father, can I walk there myself? With so many people..."

"No."

"...Just a short stretch."

"Absolutely not."

Xiao Huaijin fell silent.

Clearly, his father still remembered that stumble when he had climbed out of bed last night.

Xiao Lin personally tucked his little moon-white cloak embroidered with cloud patterns snugly around him, then pulled the fluffy hood over his head. The delicate-looking little crown prince immediately became a tightly wrapped little white bundle, with only his eyes still showing.

Xiao Huaijin touched the edge of his hood, feeling that he probably looked very much like the glutinous rice ball Xiao Yue had eaten at New Year.

Xiao Lin stood at the entrance watching until the carrying chair rounded a bend in the palace path and vanished completely from sight. Only then did he turn and return to the main hall.

The Imperial Study was warmer than usual today. The braziers had been generously filled, and every gap around the windows had been carefully sealed with paper. As soon as Xiao Huaijin entered, Zhou Rucheng rose to welcome him.

"Your Highness looks much better today than you did two days ago."

"Thank you for your concern, Grand Tutor. I'm much better now."

Xiao Huaijin cupped his hands and bowed properly. He had only just finished speaking when he saw Xiao Yu, already seated behind his desk, wink at him. A space had been specially cleared for him beside the desk.

Xiao Lan and Xiao Rui had arrived too. Xiao Lan had a little hand warmer beside her, and as soon as he sat down, she pushed it over.

"This is nice and warm. Here."

Xiao Rui said nothing, merely placing a newly made bookmark gently on his book. It was cut from a thin piece of bamboo, with a little dragon painted on it in pale gold. The dragon's tail curled into a cloud pattern, and it looked very fine.

"For me?" Xiao Huaijin asked quietly.

Xiao Rui nodded, her voice very soft. "I made one for everyone."

"It's beautiful." As though he had received a precious treasure, Xiao Huaijin immediately slipped it into his book.

Once the children were all seated, Zhou Rucheng did not begin with a new lesson. Instead, he first asked Xiao Huaijin, "Your Highness, which section of Commentary on the Water Classic did you reach over the past two days?"

"I read the passage about the river flowing east." Xiao Huaijin sat a little straighter, thought for a moment, then slowly recited the few lines he had remembered over the past two days. Since he had read it in fits and starts while ill, he could not recite it all word for word, but he explained its general meaning clearly and also mentioned a couple of points he had found puzzling.

After listening, a hint of a smile appeared in Zhou Rucheng's eyes.

"To have absorbed this much while ill is already very good."

At the praise, Xiao Huaijin's eyes immediately lit up.

The morning's lessons were indeed not too tightly packed. Zhou Rucheng only led them through a review of two old texts, then had each of them write half a page of large-character calligraphy. Xiao Huaijin managed well enough at first, but toward the end, his wrist gradually began to ache, and the fingertips holding his brush grew cold.

He quietly clenched his hand without a word.

Ink dripped from the brush tip, spreading into a small round blot on the paper.

Zhou Rucheng saw it from the front of the room. He said nothing, merely closing the short new passage he had originally intended to teach.

"That will be all for today."

He stroked his beard, his tone gentle.

"His Highness the Crown Prince has only just returned after his illness. There is no need to rush everything into a single day. Learning takes sustained effort; there is no need to contend over half a passage or a single page."

Xiao Huaijin looked up, startled at first, then realized the grand tutor had noticed.

His face grew a little warm, but he still rose obediently and answered, "Yes."

After class ended, the faint twang of bowstrings drifted in from the training grounds. Kong Wu was taking Xiao Yu to practice riding and archery today. Xiao Huaijin wanted to go too, but remembering his father's instructions, he abandoned the idea.

After watching Xiao Yu leave, Xiao Huaijin stood by the window with his books in his arms. Through the tightly sealed window paper, he heard bursts of crisp hoofbeats in the distance, and his heart still stirred a little.

Seeing him standing there without moving, Xiao Lan came over and pushed the hand warmer into his hands.

"Go when you're completely well. It's not as if you'll never be allowed to go again."

Xiao Huaijin lowered his head over the hand warmer and nodded. "Mm."

Before noon arrived, Liu An was already waiting outside the Imperial Study, just as promised.

On the way back to the Hall of Mental Cultivation, the carrying chair swayed gently. Halfway there, Xiao Huaijin began to feel sleepy. By the time he entered the sleeping chamber, his lashes were slowly drooping, and his eyelids had begun to fight each other.

A palace attendant removed his cloak. He sat down on the bed with his books, intending to review his lessons for a little while, but he fell asleep after turning only two pages.

This was the scene Xiao Lin found when he came over from the main hall.

He lightened his footsteps, walked to the bedside, and first felt his forehead.

It was not hot.

Only then did he ease the book from his arms and set it on the low table beside the bed.

The slight movement woke Xiao Huaijin. Before his eyes were fully open, he instinctively called, "Father..."

"Mm," Xiao Lin answered softly. "Asleep as soon as you came back? Weren't you saying this morning that you were better?"

Xiao Huaijin was so sleepy that even his thoughts had slowed, but at this, he still made an effort to defend himself. "I only got up too early. I'm just sleepy."

"Yes, you got up early." Looking at him, too sleepy to open his eyes yet still insisting on arguing, Xiao Lin softened his voice.

"How did you find your morning of lessons?"

At this, Xiao Huaijin finally woke a little. He propped himself up and began sharing everything with his father in a torrent of words.

As he spoke, sleepiness surged over him again. Sitting there, his lashes fluttered twice, but he could not hold out, and his whole body slowly tilted to one side. Xiao Lin reached out to support him, lifted him straight back onto the bed, and pulled the quilt over him.

"Sleep."

The hall fell quiet, broken only by an occasional faint crackle from the brazier.

Liu An entered noiselessly from outside and placed a newly delivered secret memorial on the imperial desk. "Your Majesty, it is from Shuofang," he said quietly.

Xiao Lin raised his eyes. His gaze fell on the memorial, and his expression darkened slightly.

He had intended to read it at once, but the little hand of the sleeping child on the bed still clutched the corner of his sleeve.

After a moment, he remained where he was, gently laying his other hand over the back of the child's exposed hand.

Only when that little hand slowly loosened in sleep did he rise and walk toward the imperial desk.

Outside, the sky was gloomy, as though another cold rain were about to fall.

Xiao Lin opened the secret memorial. The first thing he saw was Lu Ming's characteristically spare, forceful handwriting.

There was not a single unnecessary sentence in the memorial. It simply listed, item by item, the findings from the past month's reorganization and training of the Shuofang cavalry camp: the actual number of military horses, receipt of fodder, distribution of winter clothing, transport along the relay roads-the old account books showed numerous discrepancies with the supplies actually held and received in camp. Lu Ming had neither tampered with the old accounts without authorization nor made the matter known within the army. He had first stabilized order in the camp, sealed the verified figures into a register, and submitted a separate secret memorial requesting an imperial decree for a thorough investigation.

Xiao Lin's gaze lingered on those lines of figures. His brow slowly furrowed, and his finger tapped lightly against the corner of the memorial.

In his previous life, only when the great edifice was about to collapse had he learned that the border army and its supplies had long since rotted to the roots. The Tartars had breached the passes, and the border forces had scattered. He had held out with his personal troops for seven days and seven nights, fighting desperately to turn back the raging tide and defend the realm. But by then Huaijin was dead, and his own body had withered like a dying leaf. Even after returning victorious, he no longer had the strength to investigate further.

He forcibly pressed the memories back down. That had been his previous life. This time, there was still time for everything. He would drag out those woodworms from his previous life, one by one, and clear every obstacle from his crown prince's path.

Xiao Lin turned to the next page and continued reading. At the end of the memorial, Lu Ming had added a separate note: the rotting fodder was not an isolated matter confined to one place or time. The transport figures at three relay stations outside Shuofang all failed to match the old registers. The matter might involve more than the army alone.

Within the Hall of Mental Cultivation, the lamplight was warm, and the wind and rain had yet to arrive.

But this storm had already shown its first signs in Shuofang.

Xiao Lin closed the secret memorial, his gaze settling into stillness. After a long while, he said, "Summon Sun Jingtang to the palace tomorrow."

Liu An quietly acknowledged the order.

On the bed, Xiao Huaijin slept soundly, half his face buried in the brocade quilt, with only the tip of his nose and the hair over his forehead showing.

Xiao Lin glanced back at him, and the chill in his eyes silently softened.

One day, I will show you these accounts, these people, and these things that cannot bear the light, little by little.

But not now.

For now, all you need to do is grow up safe and sound.