Chapter 4: Entering the Palace as a Study Companion

Chapter 4: Entering the Palace as a Study Companion

The morning air was fresh, and the birds sang melodiously.

Chen Jingxian woke up and went to the courtyard to stretch his limbs. He felt that the courtyard was unusually spacious today, which lifted his spirits.

He glanced around, clicked his tongue, and felt that something was off.

However, he didn't dwell on it and began to enjoy this rare good time.

Today was the first day his son was away from home, and he missed him already.

Chen Jingxian kicked his legs as he walked and said to Chen Fu, "I often hear my friends mention their children, saying that when it's time to go to the academy, they feel a void in their hearts. I never bought it. Shuo'an usually doesn't leave home, but after he left yesterday, I really do feel that void now."

Chen Fu lowered his head and chimed in, "Ain't that the truth, Master? The young master nearly cleaned out the whole mansion. If I hadn't talked him out of it, the courtyard dog would be guarding the palace gates by now. If you ask me, Master, it's not your heart that's empty—it's the house."

"..." Chen Jingxian was silent for a long time, standing still in the morning sunlight as if he might just crumble into pieces.

Chen Fu, oblivious, kept pouring salt in the wound: "The young master hauled three carriage-loads of stuff into the palace yesterday."

Chen Jingxian looked like he'd aged twenty years overnight. He waved his hand and said, "If the boy likes it, let him have it."

Chen Fu saw that his waving gesture seemed like he was trying to shake himself off, so he weakly added, "He also swiped that hand warmer you kept in the study."

"My rose-quartz chi-dragon hand warmer?!" Chen Jingxian turned around in disbelief, his voice like a rooster getting its neck wrung.

"Exactly," Chen Fu said, closing his eyes in grief.

That was enough. He was about to have a heart attack on the master's behalf.

"That little shit! When he gets back, I'll skin him alive!"

---

"Ah-choo—" Chen Shuoan sat across from Yuan Rang, turned his head, and let out a loud sneeze.

"Cold?" Yuan Rang looked up at him, his thin lips parting from the rim of his porridge bowl as he spoke.

Chen Shuoan wasn't cold.

But he'd just gotten the first bit of attention that morning, and it got him a little excited. No way was he letting Yuan Rang's words just hang there.

So he said with confidence, "Not at all. Perhaps someone is missing me."

Yuan Rang didn't seem all that interested in whether he was cold. He just gave a grunt of acknowledgment and lowered his head to continue drinking his porridge.

Chen Shuoan thought that reaction was way too cold, so he carefully said, "Does Your Highness know?"

"What?" Yuan Rang was interrupted again, his thick brows knitting together, a clear sign to spit it out.

"There's a saying—one sneeze means someone's missing you, two means someone's cussing you out, three means you're catching a cold. One sneeze means someone is thinking of you," Chen Shuoan explained, feeling a little sorry that the Sixth Prince didn't even know that.

Yuan Rang swirled his spoon through the porridge and said lazily, "Is that so?"

Chen Shuoan let out a cheeky laugh and said, "There's another version—one's a scolding, two's missing, three's muttering. So if you want, you can spin it so anyone's thinking of you no matter what."

Yuan Rang looked at the pure idiocy shining in Chen Shuoan's eyes and couldn't tell for a second whether the saying was funny or the guy was.

But he didn't bother holding in his laugh. He let out a low chuckle and left it at that.

---

After breakfast, the two of them headed to the Upper Study.

Chen Shuoan trailed behind Yuan Rang, groggily dragging himself to the ancient version of an 8 a.m. class.

He thought to himself that princes had zero human rights. If this were college, getting up this early would at least earn you extra credit.

Go ahead and study, you guys—who the hell could out-study you?

Chen Shuoan felt bummed knowing that, unless it was a holiday or something big, he'd be up this early no matter the weather. No light at the end of the tunnel.

To his total shock, the Great Rong Dynasty's academy actually ran a rotating classroom system. Basically, you finish one class, then shuffle to another room for the next teacher.

Honestly? It kind of felt like being back in college.

Yuan Rang sat down nearby, while Chen Shuoan stood stiff as a board beside him, hands flailing, looking like he was at attention in the army.

Yuan Rang's brow twitched, and he said flatly, "Go grab a seat. You don't need to stick with me."

Chen Shuoan's face lit up at these words, and he said, "Got it, Your Highness. Study well."

With that, he slipped to the back row with lightning speed, intending to fully embody the principle of "college students do everything except study."

His butt had barely touched the stool when he felt a sharp glare from his left.

Was it his imagination?

Chen Shuoan turned his head woodenly and caught sight of Qin Zhonglian's stern face. On closer inspection, he could even discern the barely concealed disgust in his eyes.

Chen Shuoan reasonably suspected that Qin Zhonglian wanted to turn into Squidward and spin around, slapping him until he reincarnated three lifetimes as a spinning top.

"Hmph." Qin Zhonglian let out a cold laugh, seemingly unwilling to waste a single word on him.

"You came too?" A young man in the front row turned around to chat with Chen Shuoan. "Didn't you say you'd rather be beaten to death by your father than step foot in here? What happened? Did you die once?"

Chen Shuoan was impressed and silently cheered for him: Blind man, you've found the key point.

"To make a long story short, it's a long story. The situation is what it is—what exactly the situation is depends on the situation," Chen Shuoan said vaguely, as if he had a secret he couldn't reveal.

"...Say something I can understand." Zheng Yuanzhi stared blankly.

"I was forced," Chen Shuoan said woodenly.

"Hehe," Zheng Yuanzhi chuckled foolishly. "What a coincidence. Same here."