Chapter 215
Chapter 213: The Prince Cannot Sleep
The carriage turned back toward the city.
From Shengjing to the dock was about a day’s journey. There was nothing urgent, so Xiao Huai Feng ordered that they did not need to travel through the night and told them to rest at an inn in a small town.
Inside and outside the inn, bodyguards from Prince Yong’s manor were on watch, dressed up as ordinary attendants.
After the three of them got out of the carriage, the bodyguards had already asked the innkeeper to prepare a late-night meal.
“…Prince, there is something I want to tell you,” Luo Ning suddenly said.
At the dock earlier, maybe it had been the freezing wind, or maybe she had been troubled by ghostly thoughts, but Luo Ning had felt a kind of depressed feeling that life was boring and pointless.
Only after half a bowl of hot noodle soup went down did her fighting spirit return.
There were still many things for her to worry about.
“Speak,” Xiao Huai Feng said as he ate his noodles.
His voice was calm.
“I want A’You to leave Chunshan Academy,” Luo Ning said.
Luo You and Xiao Huai Feng both looked up from their bowls at her.
“I know Chunshan Academy is good, and that there is a chance later to enter Lushan Academy. But Lushan Academy belongs to the Pei family. I want A’You to be able to study in peace, without being bothered by trivial matters,” Luo Ning said.
Keeping him far from Madam Pei was one of the things Luo Ning worried about.
She had also decided this because, after Prince Yong ascended the throne, he would open the imperial examinations.
By then, recommendations from academies would not be so important. Everyone would rely on their own skills. Of course, the scholarly youths from the academies would still have an advantage, because their learning was more solid.
Luo Ning hoped that her brother would become a civil official.
If they wanted to revive their family, the path of a military general would be even harder.
Those who truly held troops in their hands were Prince Yong himself, his uncle, and the Duke of Shen, who was Empress Zheng’s blood uncle.
In the future, one would be his uncle by blood, and the other would count as an in-law from another clan. There would not be many chances left for someone like Luo You.
On the other hand, among the civil ministers many had been promoted in unusual ways, such as Chancellor Xie Zheng Ting, who was not yet thirty.
And since Luo You did not hate studying, this was a road he could take.
He did not have to remain at the academy.
His maidservant Chun Zhi had died at the gate of Chunshan Academy.
Sometimes Luo Ning thought that if this had happened to her, her heart would ache a little each time she went in or out of the academy. How could it not be a kind of torment for Luo You?
He was sensible and knew chances were rare. He hoped to make a name for himself, so that he would not be bullied in the future. So he endured everything.
“…Prince, do you know any good place for A’You to study?” Luo Ning asked. “I heard the Imperial Academy is not bad. Many sons of noble families study at the Imperial Academy.”
“The Imperial Academy is in steep decline now,” Xiao Huai Feng said.
The Imperial Academy was where noble households sent their young masters and young ladies to study alongside the imperial princes and princesses of the Imperial Palace.
Even though the Crown Prince had not studied at the Imperial Academy, and neither had Xiao Huai Feng and his three brothers, his Imperial Father still had sons born to his other consorts.
After the Imperial Father passed away, most of his brothers went to their own fiefdoms.
Two who were still underage idled around in the Imperial Academy and had yet to amount to anything. Among the princesses, there were also two who had not yet held their hairpin ceremony.
As for the current Emperor, if his health were good, he should already have had an imperial heir when he was still the Crown Prince, and his children could have filled the empty places in the Imperial Academy.
But he did not.
He had only two princesses and one imperial prince, and none of them were old enough to begin formal studies.
So now the Imperial Academy only opened and taught on and off.
At its most flourishing, the Imperial Academy had more than seventy male and female students.
“Madam Cui’s clan academy is also large, and its rules are strict. I will speak to my second uncle. Your brother can go there as a visiting student,” Xiao Huai Feng said.
The imperial clan might have a break in its line of heirs, but the great noble families did not. Their children still needed to study.
Lushan Academy gathered scholarly youths from all under heaven, but noble families like Madam Cui’s were wary of it and would not send their own children there.
Luo You listened very carefully.
“…Big Sister, can I bring Zhou Huai with me? If I am not at the academy, he will not want to stay either. He would rather go home and muddle along in the clan academy,” Luo You said.
Luo Ning looked at Xiao Huai Feng.
“You can,” Xiao Huai Feng said.
Luo You spoke at once: “Then I am willing to change schools. Prince, do not worry, I will never bring shame to you.”
Xiao Huai Feng nodded slightly.
Once the matter was settled, Luo Ning let out a breath of relief.
“Have you eaten enough?” Xiao Huai Feng asked her.
The noodles in Luo Ning’s bowl had already turned into a lump. She could not be called picky, but she rarely shortchanged herself: “I am full.”
“Go to sleep,” he said.
The inn in the small town was very old. In the rear courtyard, there were only four guest rooms for lodgers.
The bodyguards from the Prince’s manor had cleaned the rooms and laid out the bedding they had brought, but they had prepared only two rooms.
Luo Ning took one look and said thoughtfully: “Prince, I will sleep on the floor.”
“You sleep on the inside,” Xiao Huai Feng said.
Luo Ning did not argue with him. As long as things were in her favor, she followed his words, whether or not he might be half joking.
She climbed onto the bed.
Both of them lay down fully dressed, too lazy to undress. They were only taking a short rest and would have to get up early to hurry on their way.
The cover of the oil lamp had been blackened by smoke. Once it was set in place, the room became completely dark.
There was some noise under the bed.
Luo Ning could not help speaking: “Is that a rat?”
Xiao Huai Feng’s fingers moved slightly.
He flicked out a hidden weapon, then lifted the lamp cover to take a look. Sure enough, it was a dead rat.
Luo Ning spoke again: “Why not leave it? It won’t stink in just one night.”
Xiao Huai Feng said nothing.
The Prince had spent seven years on the border, long used to hardship. He got up and threw the dead rat out the back window.
He did not mind.
Luo Ning did not seem to mind much either.
Xiao Huai Feng thought that if he had to go back to the frontier someday, he could take her with him…
But what would he take her for?
She did not know martial arts and did not understand the art of war.
After putting the lamp cover back on, Xiao Huai Feng heard Luo Ning speak again: “Prince…”
“What is it now?” he asked.
His voice was cold, and Luo Ning could almost feel his brows knitting together.
“…I thought you also could not sleep and wanted to talk. In these days since my wedding, I have not seen Chang Ying, the grand general,” Luo Ning said.
“It is not usually in the main courtyard,” Xiao Huai Feng said.
“When we return to the Prince’s manor, can I play with it?” Luo Ning asked again.
“You can. Can you sleep now? You are not allowed to speak again,” Xiao Huai Feng said.
Luo Ning really did fall silent.
Xiao Huai Feng could not fall asleep, and he could feel that Luo Ning was awake as well.
In the darkness, she seemed to sniff.
Xiao Huai Feng thought of the scene at the dock and wondered how she felt.
Madam Bai had not been kind to her, but she was still her birth mother. A child’s attachment to their mother was something they were born with and hard to resist.
Xiao Huai Feng did not know whether she had cried.
He thought about it, but was too lazy to ask. He reached out to touch her eyes, wanting to tell her not to cry, but his hand brushed against a place that was very soft.
Luo Ning spoke: “You scared me. What are you doing, Prince?”
He had touched Luo Ning’s lips.
There was no sleepiness in her voice, and of course no trace of tears.
Xiao Huai Feng fell silent.
After a long time, he finally said: “Sleep.”
“All right.”
Later, Luo Ning fell asleep, her breathing light and even. But Xiao Huai Feng still could not sleep, because he felt uncomfortable.
This discomfort was like hunger. It would come and bother him from time to time.
After all, he was a man and knew how to control himself. Many times, if he simply bore with it, the feeling would fade.
But this time, Luo Ning was sleeping right beside him.
Xiao Huai Feng thought again of how he had been angry over Pei Ying, and how, when he accidentally pulled out that deed of sale, his anger had vanished at once.
Was there any need to lose his temper with his own servants?
On their wedding night, when she had taken the initiative to suggest sleeping on the foot couch, that deed of sale had appeared in his mind again.
Since even the Grand Master knew about the situation, Xiao Huai Feng could not pretend to be foolish.
He had always been clear and strict in how he handled things.
And he was proud of his self-discipline.
It was only in the latter half of the night that he slowly fell asleep.