Chapter 63 Excellent Tutors Produce Outstanding Disciples-O Campeão Vestido de Brocado(Imperador)

The testing of the two children by Zhu Youyuan concluded with Zhu San's complete victory.

In the end, Zhu Youyuan could only give a simple recitation question to Zhu Houcong, but even so, Zhu Houcong still recited it stammeringly. It was obvious that he had been overshadowed by his older sister's brilliance, and his entire demeanor had become somewhat unconfident.

After Zhu San and Zhu Houcong left the study, Zhu Youyuan looked up at Yuan Zonggao, wanting him to explain what on earth had happened.

Yuan Zonggao said, "Ever since Zhu Haole entered the Prince's Manor to study, Instructor Sui has consistently focused on the Heir's academics, rarely going to the West Courtyard study hall to teach. Now it seems that in certain aspects... he is still falling short."

In truth, he felt very awkward. As the Chief Administrator of the Prince's Manor, he was usually responsible for selecting the tutors for the residence. Sui Gongyan had been met with high hopes upon entering the manor, but now that such a situation had arisen, it felt as though he had been slapped squarely in the face.

A look of worry crossed Zhu Youyuan's brow: "What is Zhu Hao's actual scholastic attainment?"

Yuan Zonggao replied, "He is naturally clever, a material that can be molded. Furthermore, the one who initiated him in his studies is very likely Tang Yin. I will go and verify this with Instructor Sui."

"There is no need."

Zhu Youyuan appeared somewhat disappointed and said, "It is indeed time for the residence to change tutors. That Instructor Sui's teaching level... is truly nothing to write home about. I had already sensed it during several previous examinations. If Anyilu truly has no good talent locally, we shall look for someone from elsewhere in Huguang."

The Prince of Xing placed high hopes on his son. Now that he discovered the tutor he had invited was actually inferior to a seven-year-old child, how could he tolerate it?

I give you a stipend and grant you sufficient respect, and this is how you perfunctorily deal with me?

Yuan Zonggao pondered for a moment: "To invite another tutor—the biggest concern is the fear of mixing in spies from the Embroidered Uniform Guard... This matter must be deliberated at length."

"Do not drag this out indefinitely."

Zhu Youyuan stood up to leave, dropping a remark as he went, "Since the child Zhu Hao was able to save the Heir in a fire, it shows he possesses loyalty and righteousness; there is no need to be overly guarded against him... Since this child has a talent for learning, let him study alongside the Heir, mutually influencing and promoting one another... Chief Administrator Yuan, you arrange everything together and just inform me of the result afterwards."

……

Yuan Zonggao was in a foul mood.

It seemed that the Prince of Xing had opinions about Sui Gongyan, but was that not also having opinions about him?

His previous arrangements had seemed reasonable, but in reality, they had all deviated significantly, especially regarding his attitude toward Zhu Hao. Yuan Zonggao felt that he had somewhat stumbled like a horse losing its footing.

Yuan Zonggao found Sui Gongyan and inquired about Zhu Houcong's academic progress.

Sui Gongyan was somewhat baffled.

"Chief Administrator Yuan, could it be that my instruction of the Heir has fallen short in some way?"

From Sui Gongyan's perspective, he was merely teaching Zhu Houcong step by step. As for not teaching Zhu San and Zhu Hao, that was also arranged by Yuan Zonggao himself. Now that Yuan Zonggao had summoned him alone and struck a condescending posture, could the rumors outside be true—did the Prince's Manor truly wish to drive him away?

Yuan Zonggao said, "Gongyan, your learning is something I fully affirm, otherwise I would not have invited you to teach the Heir. How much... understanding do you have of Zhu Hao?"

This sudden conversational pivot left Sui Gongyan unable to make head or tail of it.

My learning is worthy of affirmation—what does that have to do with Zhu Hao?

"Zhu Hao... should be Tang Bohu's disciple, or at least Tang Bohu introduced him as such. When Tang Bohu was heading to Jiangxi, he made a detour to Anyilu and stayed for a few days..."

Sui Gongyan had nothing to hide on this matter and told him everything.

Once Yuan Zonggao verified what he had in his heart, he could not help but sigh inwardly: the disciple taught by someone else was better than him, did he still not know he had areas worth introspecting upon?

"It's nothing. Teach the Heir well. If possible, instruct him together with the *Collected Commentaries on the Four Books*; one cannot merely know what is happening without knowing why it is so... Alright, you may return first."

Yuan Zonggao was already past sixty, older than Sui Gongyan, and furthermore a palace graduate and the Chief Administrator of the Prince's Manor; his scholarship and status were far superior to Sui Gongyan's. Even though he harbored criticisms, Sui Gongyan did not dare voice them before Yuan Zonggao. He bowed respectfully and took his leave.

……

Inside the study hall courtyard.

Zhu Hao and Jing Hong were seated around a low table by the window, playing a game of go. Since no one came to manage their academic progress, they treated it as education through recreation.

Jing Hong had deliberately brought a Go set from home this time, precisely to demonstrate that he was superior to Zhu Hao in certain aspects, but he ultimately discovered... that he was no match for Zhu Hao even at Go.

"I'm back!"

Zhu San burst into the room jubilantly, giving Lu Bing—who had been propping up his head and nodding off nearby—a tremendous fright.

Lu Bing could not understand Go and sat there utterly bored, so he imitated Zhu Hao by sleeping in class.

Jing Hong remained single-mindedly focused, considering how to make his next move, while Zhu Hao did not take it too seriously. He raised his head to look at the excited Zhu San and asked, "How is it that you're only coming to the classroom when the sun is almost setting? In another hour, school will be dismissed... Did something happen?"

Zhu San said jubilantly, "You might not believe it, but just now my father summoned me... and Xiao Si to go be examined together. And guess what? I answered every single question, and Father looked at me with a whole new level of respect!"

When encountering a triumphant event, children are usually eager to share it with someone and simply cannot keep a secret.

The person she most wanted to tell was Zhu Hao, because it was precisely thanks to Zhu Hao that she had made such a prominent showing before her father and Master Yuan today.

Hearing this, Jing Hong turned his head and asked, "Who is Xiao Si?"

Seeing Zhu San staring eagerly at him and completely ignoring Jing Hong, Zhu Hao smiled faintly, "Then congratulations."

"Hey, Zhu Hao, don't you want to know what questions Father asked? Hehe, those questions were... identical to the ones you explained to us on the blackboard! Are you a roundworm in my father's belly, that you even knew what questions he would ask?" At the moment, Zhu San practically regarded Zhu Hao as a deity.

Jing Hong looked at Zhu Hao in astonishment.

Zhu Hao was actually able to accurately predict what questions the Prince of Xing would ask?

What kind of skill was this?

Zhu Hao casually picked up a Go piece and placed it on the board: "I merely lectured a bit further along Instructor Sui's teaching syllabus, going slightly deeper. Can you call that guessing the questions? It just so happened that your father examined that exact portion of material. The fact that you performed better than your younger brother, who relies on rote memorization, does not mean your future scholarly attainments will surpass his."

Zhu San looked pleased with herself: "I don't care about the future. As long as I outperformed him this time... Instructor Sui always teaches him and not me. I think having you teach us is much more formidable than Instructor Sui."

……

That afternoon, Zhu Hao did not continue lecturing the other children.

Teaching better than Sui Gongyan was, for the present moment, not a good thing. Given Sui Gongyan's narrow-minded temperament as he understood it, once the truth came to light, how could he not come and target him?

The man was a teacher and had the qualifications to discipline him; why look for trouble for oneself?

However, Sui Gongyan ultimately did not come.

After school was dismissed, Zhu Hao, Jing Hong, and Lu Bing returned to the West Outer Courtyard. Jing Hong was holding the Go board with a sullen expression.

As a pampered darling of heaven, being inferior to Zhu Hao in everything dealt a severe blow to his self-confidence.

At that moment, Lu Song led some men over and strode up to Zhu Hao. "New living quarters have been arranged for you, right in the study hall courtyard! Once the renovations are complete, you can move over!"

Jing Hong wore a troubled expression.

Having finally adapted to life here, they had to move again.

This was not particularly good news for Zhu Hao either. Although the study hall courtyard strictly speaking could not be counted as the inner precinct of the Prince's Manor, it added an extra access control gate between them and the outer courtyard, making it even harder to play truant in the future... Thinking of playing truant, Zhu Hao had already been back for three days and still hadn't gone out to see how Yu San's storytelling venue was coming along.

After returning from dinner, Zhu Hao smiled and said, "Jing Hong, tonight I am going to slip out of the Prince's Manor. Do you dare to come with me?"

"Ah?"

Jing Hong was clearly an obedient and well-behaved child; the idea of sneaking out at night was something he had never even considered.

Zhu Hao said, "If you don't go, stay in the room and review your books. I'll go by myself."

Jing Hong thought to himself: from talent to skill, he had been outmatched by Zhu Hao item by item. If he even lacked courage... then he might as well just bash his head against a wall and die.

"I'll go!" Jing Hong declared.

……

The sky gradually darkened; after the onset of autumn, the daylight hours noticeably shortened.

Zhu Hao led Jing Hong out of the courtyard gate. Jing Hong followed cautiously behind Zhu Hao, asking in a low voice, "What if we get caught?"

Zhu Hao curled his lip: "We're not entering the inner precinct of the Prince's Manor, nor are we offending the nobles inside. Do you think those people have nothing better to do than interrogate us about why we're leaving the manor?"

That may have been what he said, but after all, they had been ordered to live inside the Prince's Manor.

When they reached the West Gate of the manor, guards were standing watch there, and the large gates were tightly shut.

"Halt!"

The guards at the West Gate were also Lu Song's subordinates. One of them was someone Zhu Hao had heard Lu Song address as "Old Lian," though his specific given name was unknown.

Zhu Hao stepped forward, cupping his fists: "Guard Lian, my mother has fallen ill, and I'd like to go out for a while to check on her."

Being addressed as a "Commander/General" was not something that made a guard feel proud; rather, it felt somewhat embarrassing, as the three nearby companions who shared guard duty were already snickering.

"Right, Commander Lu seemed to have said that we are free to go out, didn't he?" Zhu Hao added, "I have a bit of money here for wine; wouldn't it be better if you gentlemen took it to buy a drink?"

Zhu Hao actually produced ten copper coins.

They weren't many to speak of, but they weren't few either; with the purchasing power of copper coins in this era, it was quite enough to buy a few jugs of unrefined liquor.

"Go quickly and return promptly!"

The guard surnamed Lian did not ask further, nor did he care how unreasonable it was that Zhu Hao claimed his mother was sick yet brought Jing Hong along out of the manor. He opened the gate and let the two of them out.

……

Zhu Hao and Jing Hong successfully left the Prince's Manor.

The prefectural city of Anlu was located in a remote area, and the manpower of the prefectural and county yamens was very limited. Once night fell and the city gates were closed, that was the end of it; a strict curfew was not enforced, though pedestrians on the road remained sparse.

Jing Hong was somewhat frightened: "It's so dark, what if we run into thieves up to no good?"

Zhu Hao sneered, "I say, Jing Hong, do you have so little confidence in your father's governance of his jurisdiction and the peace of the common folk?"

"Ah?"

Jing Hong was startled, then immediately realized that his father was the magistrate of Changshou County, the local official responsible for the people. If thieves were running amok inside the city, it could only mean his father lacked administrative competence.

Thinking of this, Jing Hong suddenly regained his confidence, puffed out his chest, and walked forward, his pace appearing much firmer.

Clearly, his family had a massive influence on him, and his worship of his father had reached almost blind proportions.

The two of them emerged from the alleyway in front of the Prince's Manor and had just entered West Main Street when they felt the pedestrian traffic become dense. A large crowd of people on the street was heading west.

"Why are there so many people?"

Jing Hong looked into the distance; it was brightly lit, and men and women, dragging the old and holding the young, were converging there.

Zhu Hao stepped forward and stopped a passing fellow, asking, "Big Uncle, what's going on up ahead?"

That fellow replied, "There's a storytelling shed over there. You can go listen to stories without spending money, and they tell them quite well. What a pity it's getting too late; I have to hurry back to sleep."

Zhu Hao thought to himself: barely past the first watch and they consider it late?

One could only say that in this era, the lifestyle pattern of rising with the sun and resting with the sunset was almost unchangeable, causing people to feel the absolute necessity of resting the moment night fell, their biological clocks temporarily incapable of adjustment.

"Let's go, let's go listen to some storytelling!"

Zhu Hao actually loved bustling scenes.

Upon arriving outside the Prince's Manor, he suddenly felt the atmosphere of everyday life become intense. No longer as dry and monotonous as playing a single-player video game, Zhu Hao felt a touch of gratitude that he hadn't wasted his second lease on life.