Chapter 101: The Final Apprentice
This novel is translated and hosted on bcatranslation.
“Wo don’t want!”
“Wo don’t want to start school!” Lu Chao Chao stood with hands on her hips, her little face flushed red with indignation. She slammed her tiny hands on the table, directly confronting the Emperor.
“What gratitude… What payback!” Lu Chao Chao fumed, cursing her faltering memory. [Why must I study?]
The Emperor pursed his lips tightly. “Look at you! You’re so flustered you can’t even form proper sentences. If you don’t study, you’ll grow up illiterate!”
“The phrase is ‘repaying kindness with enmity.’”
“Wo illiterate! Wo proud!” Lu Chao Chao puffed her cheeks, exclaiming, “Angry! Angry! Wo mad now! Wo not going to school!”
The Emperor sighed. “I’m not asking you to start school now. Just basic enlightenment! At least learn to speak properly.”
Most imperial princes began their education at three. Chao Chao was only two, so starting early wasn’t unreasonable.
“Repaying kindness with enmity!” she shouted, her anger causing a bit of drool to escape.
Chief Minister Yuan’s beard twitched as it whitened with exasperation. “You little rascal! You don’t know what’s good for you. If not for you saving my grandson’s life, this old man wouldn’t even consider teaching you.” He and Grand Tutor Xu were political rivals, after all.
Although Grand Tutor Xu had retired, their factions remained at odds.
Lu Chao Chao waved her tiny hands as she backed away. “No teaching! No teaching! No teaching!”
What surprise? What joy? This was a nightmare! Repaying kindness with enmity.
Chao Chao was so mad she gritted her teeth—though her baby teeth weren’t fully grown yet. This realization made her even angrier. Without another word, she turned on her little legs and crawled over the threshold of the Imperial Study.
As she stomped along, her anger boiled over. Finally, she let out a loud wail.
The Fifth and Sixth Princes were building a snowman in the imperial garden when they heard her cries. They ran over, only to find her sitting on the ground, tears and snot streaming down her face.
“Woooo… Wo don’t want to study…” she sobbed. [I already studied in my past life. Why do I have to study again?] Wo illiterate. Wo happy.
“Woooo… Don’t want to go to the academy to study!” she bawled. [Don’t want to study! Don’t want to write words!]
The Sixth Prince looked at her in sympathy. “You’re only one, and Father wants you to study?” He recalled his own enlightenment at three, with sore red palms from repeated punishments.
The Fifth Prince shot him a glare. [Don’t add fuel to the fire!]
“Chao Chao, don’t cry. If you attend the Imperial Academy, you can study with us,” the Fifth Prince coaxed.
“The ground is cold. Get up and stop crying,” he added gently.
Yu Qin and Yu Shu, her two attendants, thanked the princes profusely. However, their young mistress was beyond reason, her tantrum in full swing.
“Studying can make you wise. It’ll prevent you from being deceived by bad people,” the Fifth Prince tried again. “And the food in the study hall is delicious!”
The cries suddenly stopped.
Lu Chao Chao, her eyes red and swollen, stared intently at him. “Delicious? Really delicious?”
The Fifth Prince hesitated, then nodded. “Yes, really. And there are many young princes, so the food is made to suit children’s tastes.”
Chao Chao sniffled, swallowing her drool. Maybe studying wouldn’t be so bad.
“The Imperial Academy is highly prestigious,” the Fifth Prince continued. “Chief Minister Yuan occasionally gives lectures there. Mother said that if I could become his final apprentice, it’d bring great honor to our family.”
“Don’t even dream about it,” the Sixth Prince interjected with a grin. “Big Brother tried and was rejected outright.”
Grand Tutor Xu had been the Emperor’s mentor, but Chief Minister Yuan’s reputation was unparalleled. Those who studied under him were revered by scholars across the land.
Lu Chao Chao? Becoming Chief Minister Yuan’s apprentice?
Her lips trembled. “Wo don’t want him as teacher.”
The Fifth Prince’s eyes widened. “Chief Minister Yuan wants to teach you? Personally? For your enlightenment?!” His voice cracked.
Chao Chao muttered reluctantly, “Mm.”
Repaying kindness with enmity! [I saved his only grandson, and now he wants to teach me to read?!]
The Fifth Prince looked like he was about to cry from envy. [Chief Minister Yuan, teaching personally!]
He gazed at the clueless one-year-old. [What does she know? She doesn’t realize how this would drive every scholar mad with jealousy. Even Lu Jing Huai was rejected and had to settle for being a student of the Soaring Elegance Academy’s headmaster—who was one of Chief Minister Yuan’s own students!]
Meanwhile, Chao Chao had no idea her position could infuriate Lu Yuan Ze and Lu Jing Huai to death. Now calm, she let the Fifth Prince lead her on a stroll through the garden.
“What a beautiful lady…” Chao Chao’s eyes widened as she spotted a woman praying under a plum tree. The woman’s noble beauty, framed by the blossoms, captivated her.
“That’s Noble Lady Qin,” said the Fifth Prince. “She was the most beautiful in the harem during her youth. She’s the Second Prince’s mother.”
“It’s called ‘half-hidden like a lute behind a veil,’” he explained, quoting a phrase from his studies.
“Oil-fried loquat?” Chao Chao misheard.
“Served with noodles?” She tilted her head. “Is it tasty?”
The Fifth Prince sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “You… should really start your lessons soon.”
Chao Chao blinked, puzzled.
Yu Qin and Yu Shu exchanged a glance, relieved to see their mistress smiling again.
“Wo having birthday. You come?” Chao Chao invited her companions.
“Of course,” the Fifth Prince replied warmly.
“I’ll come too. It’ll get me a day off school,” added the Sixth Prince mischievously.
As they stood on the veranda, they watched palace servants clear a beehive from the roof. Winter had driven the bees away, leaving only the empty hive. When it fell, golden honey dripped from the comb, glistening temptingly in the sunlight.
The Sixth Prince licked his lips.
Chao Chao licked hers.
Their attendants stood a safe distance away.
“Do you think it’s sweet?” asked the Sixth Prince.
“Definitely,” Chao Chao declared confidently.
The two sneaked over to the honey-coated pillar. With the servants distracted, they leaned in and took a lick.
Bright-eyed, they exchanged delighted glances.
Moments later, a wolf-like wail pierced the air.
“Woooo!”
“Woooo!”
Chief Minister Yuan emerged from the Imperial Study, recalling the Emperor’s words about Chao Chao’s talent. [Despite her young age, she’s already demonstrated wisdom beyond her years. What a promising disciple!]
But as he stepped outside, his hopeful thoughts shattered.
There was his prized pupil, licking honey off a frozen pillar—her tongue now stuck to the icy surface. Tears streamed down her face as she clung to the column, howling miserably.
Chief Minister Yuan froze. [Which is worse—defying an imperial decree and be executed, or teaching her?]
He sighed. [I wanted a final apprentice, not one who’d seal my coffin lid!]
Which would kill me faster, defying the king or teaching her?
This sentence spark me with a long laughter…. defying king is speed poison, teaching her is slow poison, at the end of the day it’s all poison….
I totally agree??
I totally agree, lol
I also agree
Almost a 8 months later, yep I agree too.