Being Yourself

"Wei Qing, take these children to Jianzhang Palace for training for a while. Remember to inform their families!"

The boys in the Imperial City District rarely went hungry, but the abstinence from meat and fish during the mourning period led to a retaliatory overeating.

The appearance of a new ingredient that had never been seen before led these teenagers to succumb to their cravings and become test subjects for white meat.

The new emperor dismissed the many people around him, scooped a ladle of tender white meat from the cauldron, and calmly made arrangements as he ate.

He clearly needed to prevent the matter from leaking out before it was done.

Next came his confrontation with the Prince of King of Huainan.

If the new emperor takes the lead himself, he will not need his ministers to offer advice or strategies.

Emperor Jing was the one most familiar with the King of Huainan, and then came the new emperor. Only the new emperor could understand the King of Huainan's mindset.

If he could imitate Emperor Jing's approach to handling matters, he might have a chance to suppress the King of Huainan.

However, this would also provoke fear and apprehension in the King of Huainan, inevitably pushing King of Huainan further towards the opposing side.

Ultimately, the King of Huainan was merely a tool used by Emperor Jing to control the King of Liang. Had he endured another ten years or so, the King of Huainan would have inevitably grown old and weak, and thus had to disappear from the stage of the Great Han Dynasty.

If he didn't have to contend with these uncles and elders, the new emperor believed he had no rivals among the younger generation.

But in reality, there is no distinction between the younger and older generations; everyone is competing on the same level.

"I must step out of my father's shadow!"

The world did not operate as Emperor Jing had imagined.

The new emperor always looked up to Emperor Jing and wanted to become the second Emperor Jing.

However, when the new emperor tried to follow Emperor Jing's instructions to be humble and modest, he discovered that many things had deviated from Emperor Jing's plans.

Everyone's experiences are different; no matter how low-key and secretive he is, he can never become a second Emperor Jing.

Perhaps when he used the fake Red Empyrean Sword to stabilize the legitimacy of the Great Han Dynasty's successor, he had already broken away from Emperor Jing's guidance.

This also means that many things can no longer be taken as golden rules from Emperor Jing, but rather require people to deal with them on their own.

For the first time, he felt he should be himself, instead of repeating everything Emperor Jing did.

"Dongfang Shuo, you're quite the riddle teller! Can you guess whether Lady Wei is carrying a boy or a girl?"

On one side was Emperor Jing's patient guidance, and on the other was the life she had decided for herself.

These are different choices: left and right.

When the new emperor made up his mind, he casually asked Zhang Xuezhou a question.

"Zhuang Qingdi said you really like Law Treasure cloth. If you guessed right, I'll give you ten bolts," the new emperor said.

"Lord Zhuang is truly outspoken!"

Zhuang Qingdi betrayed Zhang Xuezhou swiftly, perhaps because he had been pardoned by the new emperor and joined the new emperor's camp, or perhaps he was afraid of the Empress Dowager and could only cling tightly to the new emperor's coattails, or perhaps for other reasons. Zhuang Qingdi had already instructed them to invite Li Shaojun for help.

Zhang Xuezhou could only be thankful that he had limited interaction with Zhuang Qingdi and had not informed him about Divine Lord Zhenyuan during their cooperation, thus allowing Li Shaojun to maintain his status and position.

This not only allows Li Shaojun to retain the deterrent power of a great cultivator, but also enables him to protect Zhang Xuezhou in return, making Zhang Xuezhou, who maintains the relationship with Li Shaojun, still extremely important.

"I had nothing to store, so I thought of using Law Treasure cloth to make a storage bag. Lord Zhuang came to my door seeking help and wanted to meet with Master Li to talk. He said I could ask for any reward I wanted. I asked him if he could give me some Law Treasure cloth, and to my surprise, he agreed," Zhang Xuezhou said, bowing.

"Where is the storage bag?" the new emperor asked.

"It wasn't made," Zhang Xuezhou said.

"Where is the Law Treasure cloth?"

It's broken!

Zhang Xuezhou's answer left the new emperor speechless.

"Then take a guess. If you guess right, I'll give you a top-grade storage bag," the new emperor said.

The new emperor looked at Zhang Xuezhou; what he was about to do was no different from guessing the answer—it was either success or failure.

Zhang Xuezhou guessed the same way; the answer was either male or female.

In the past, the new emperor would humbly seek advice, but now he is clearly starting to use a style that suits him to seek comparative answers.

His riddle was very difficult, and Lady Wei was not even present.

The various categories also correspond to the King of Huainan whom the new emperor is currently facing.

If Zhang Xuezhou can accurately predict the outcome, the new emperor will also have enough confidence to challenge the King of Huainan.

"Madam Wei..."

"She has another month until she gives birth. She might be ready to deliver when you recover and wake up. Then you can check the answers!"

"Then Your Majesty, please examine this object at the appointed time and see if my guessing was accurate!"

Zhang Xuezhou did not give a direct answer as male or female.

He knew very well that the new emperor was unlikely to be able to predict what the future held, so when he presented the strategic item of white meat, he was still only given a reward that required a guessing game to determine the outcome.

Zhang Xuezhou didn't mind, after all, it was news brought by Dong Zhongshu, and he was just using it as a pretext.

After taking a ceramic bowl, Zhang Xuezhou turned it upside down on a tray, then pretended to be busy for a while before quietly slipping a half-ounce coin into the bowl.

He handed the tray and the earthenware bowl to the new emperor, indicating that Lady Wei could open the bowl to verify the birth when she was about to give birth.

"This can only be removed after childbirth?" the new emperor asked.

"Your Majesty, the concealment and answering in the riddle-solving game must be synchronized!"

What answers are written inside?

"Once Lady Wei gives birth, His Majesty will open this document and will naturally know whether my answer to the riddle was accurate!"

Zhang Xuezhou cupped his hands in greeting and then instructed everyone not to touch the tray and ceramic bowls without permission, lest they be suspected of haunting.

"I will keep it myself!"

The new emperor narrowed his eyes slightly.

He gave Zhang Xuezhou an unpredictable riddle, and Zhang Xuezhou's answer was equally enigmatic.

But Zhang Xuezhou looked confident of victory, seemingly unafraid of the answer being verified dozens of days later.

What exactly is this mystery?

The new emperor was preoccupied and didn't see clearly what Zhang Xuezhou was up to.

He was somewhat curious about what answer Zhang Xuezhou had written in the ceramic bowl.

But ultimately, the issue came down to him.

There are still more than twenty days left, and he and the King of Huainan may become enemies, or they may be able to conceal their conflicts and continue their relationship.

"If Dongfang Shuo has hidden the answer, then my Red Empyrean Sword also holds the answer. I can go to the Imperial Ancestral Temple to retrieve the Red Empyrean Sword to offer as a sacrifice to my ancestors, and in their name, I can command the King of Huainan. As long as the King of Huainan dares not test the Red Empyrean Sword, he should be able to give me a satisfactory answer!"

Many things share similar or related characteristics; as long as one knows how to learn from others, everything can be imitated.

At least the new emperor is currently satisfied with Zhang Xuezhou's response, and he is also looking forward to the answer in more than twenty days, and to see if the two of them have used the same method.

"Men and women?"

He picked up the covered tray in the hall of the Marquis of Pingyang's residence, carefully placed it in a box, locked the box, and then dismissed everyone, forbidding them from entering the hall for the next few dozen days.

Once the palace gates were closed, everything was sealed off.

He muttered it to himself, steeling his resolve to directly confront the King of Huainan.