The long weeping willows by the river swayed with the spring breeze, gently caressing people's hearts.
The precocious Yin Yunhan stood under the weeping willows, his brows slightly furrowed. He watched the ducks on the river chasing and frolicking with each other, and no one knew what was on his mind.
The attendant beside him said timidly, "Your Majesty, it's time to return to the Hall of Diligent Government. Otherwise, the Regent will punish you later."
Yin Yunhan pursed his lips and said nothing, his face showing a hint of stubbornness.
The attendant added, "How about I go and report that Your Majesty is feeling unwell?"
Yin Yunhan nodded slowly, and the attendant scurried away.
However, if he was unwell, he should be resting in the imperial bedroom. Yin Yunhan didn't want to go back there. Just thinking about the numerous books and memorials gave him a splitting headache.
In fact, he didn't even want to be the emperor at all.
People around him often told him that the emperor was the symbol of imperial power, and as the Son of Heaven, he was the only one in the world who could have his own way. But he wondered what was so good about being an emperor. His grandfather, in order to be a wise monarch, even when he had free time to go out, he would travel incognito to learn about the people's livelihood. His father was weak and sick. Even with the help of his uncle, he had to read countless memorials all day long.
Now, he himself was also overwhelmed. He didn't even dare to complain, as it seemed that his uncle had even more affairs to handle than he did.
He didn't like this feeling.
A young maid about seventeen or eighteen years old, who was the chief maid in charge of Yin Yunhan's affairs, emerged from the side.
She bowed and looked around warily. Seeing that there was no one else nearby, she quickly stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, the abbess of Lanpeng Temple has always been concerned about Your Majesty and hopes that Your Majesty can visit her in the temple."
Yin Yunhan turned his face away and didn't say a word.
The maid took a step forward and said more cautiously, "Your Majesty, you are isolated and unsupported both inside and outside the palace. The abbess is so heart - broken that she can't sleep just thinking about this."
Yin Yunhan blinked his eyes and said, "If that's the case, I'll just stop being the emperor and go to Lanpeng Temple to accompany my mother. How about that?"
The maid widened her eyes and stammered for a long time, "You are the legitimate son of the late emperor. It is only natural for you to inherit the great unification. How can Your Majesty say such things about not being the emperor? This will only make the abbess more worried."
Yin Yunhan withdrew his gaze and watched the ducks frolicking on the river.
The maid quickly added, "Your Majesty, the Regent and his princess have wolfish ambitions. Now that they have a young son, they will surely harm you. Please don't take it lightly."
Just as Yin Yunhan looked up, he saw a young girl holding a long whip. She lashed the whip at the maid. The maid let out a wail and rolled on the ground. When she looked up and saw who it was, she didn't dare to make a sound.
The girl sneered, "Slandering the Regent and his princess and inciting the emperor. You are guilty beyond pardon. I'd like to ask you, who gave you the guts?"
The maid didn't even dare to raise her head and knelt on the ground trembling.
Yin Yunhan turned to look at the girl's hand. There was a red mark on her palm from holding the whip. He smiled, showing a cute canine tooth, "Does it hurt?"
The girl shook her head, "No, it doesn't."
Yin Yunhan ignored the wailing maid on the ground and turned back, "Uncle asks me to practice martial arts every day. When I first held the whip, I was in so much pain that I couldn't sleep."
The girl lowered her head to look at the wound on her hand and smiled, "I don't feel the pain. I'm so happy that I can whip now."
She kicked the maid on the ground and loudly called an attendant to drag the maid away.
Yin Yunhan frowned and said, "You don't learn everything, so you don't feel it's hard."
The girl looked at him curiously. After thinking for a while, she pulled him to sit on the grass beside and asked, "When did you start your enlightenment?"
Yin Yunhan shook his head, "I don't remember. The grand tutor said that when I was three years old, my grandfather thought I was intelligent and took me by his side to teach me the way of being a king."
"Three years old." The girl's eyes curved, "So, when you started to remember things, you could already recognize and write characters, and you could read any book you saw?"
Yin Yunhan was a little stunned.
The girl then said, "When I met the prince, I was almost six years old. I didn't recognize any characters and couldn't read at all. I was just a wild girl. The prince taught me to recognize characters and read word by word. If I couldn't write them out, my aunt would hold a thick ruler and threaten to beat me."
Yin Yunhan half - opened his mouth, "Did it hurt?"
The girl burst into laughter, "That was so long ago. Even if it hurt, I don't remember it. The prince even told me that if it was too difficult, I didn't have to learn. But I wanted to recognize characters, read books, and become a woman like my aunt. So I always pestered the prince to teach me more and more."
In his whole life, Yin Yunhan had always been urged to learn. He never seemed to understand where Shen Weirui got her energy from.
Shen Weirui continued, "Previously, when it came to reading and writing, I didn't have much talent and learned slowly. I could only rely on hard work, learning ten or twenty characters a day. I also had to practice calligraphy and take care of my younger brother... Later, when I entered the capital, I found that what I thought was hard work was nothing at all. The noble ladies were born smarter and learned faster than me. They had been learning since they were born."
"At that time, I secretly learned to ride a horse, play chess, and play the piano. I was scolded by the masters until I cried, but I came back and continued to study. I didn't dare to let my aunt know for fear that she would laugh at me for being stupid."
Yin Yunhan listened quietly without saying a word.
When Shen Weirui talked about these things, there was no sad emotion on her face. Instead, she always had a happy smile, "Actually, my aunt has always been calm. She thinks she has seen too many things, so things like chess, calligraphy, painting, and literary accomplishment are not necessary. But she learned and knew all these things since she was a child, so of course she didn't care. But I'm different."
"I'm different. I'm a wild girl from the countryside. Without my aunt and the princess, I'm nothing. I have to study harder to become better and more excellent."
She turned to look at Yin Yunhan, "My sky was once supported by my grandfather, and later by my aunt and the princess. But now I've grown up. I want to support my own sky, for myself and for them."
The ducks on the river were still chasing and frolicking. The spring breeze caressed their faces, and the willow branches on the riverbank swayed, presenting a beautiful sight.
Yin Yunhan didn't move for a long time.
He was bored, bored with everything in the world. Clearly he was dull, but just because his grandfather said he was extremely intelligent, he couldn't stop moving forward.
Previously, he thought that with his uncle around, he didn't have to worry for his whole life.
But after hearing Shen Weirui's words, he could no longer deceive himself.
His uncle had supported a sky for him, but their identities were doomed to be in a difficult situation. If he abandoned everything, he might not be tired now, but what about in the future?
He remembered the day when his uncle led his hand and walked towards the dragon throne.
He asked, "Uncle, why is it me?"
His uncle smiled kindly, "Han'er, it's注定to be you."
It's注定to be me. I'm the son of Crown Prince Fusu. Since I was born, I've been placed with high hopes. I can't lose.