Volume One, Chapter 10: Establishing Authority (Part One)

Inside the palace, just after class had ended at the academy, the teacher stepped out and upon seeing Zhu Zhu, let out a cold snort before walking away without a word.

This action immediately angered Qin Er. How dare someone be so disrespectful to his prince? He was about to step forward and reprimand the teacher when Zhu Zhu stopped him.

“Qin Er, no need.”

Qin Er looked confused and asked, “My lord?”

Zhu Zhu smiled wryly and said, “I just scolded a whole bunch of scholars. Did I really expect them to treat me kindly? What was I thinking? It’s a blessing they don’t badmouth me behind my back.”

“My lord, they wouldn’t dare! The Qin Prince’s guards aren’t to be trifled with!” Qin Er said indignantly.

“Enough, that’s unnecessary,” Zhu Zhu waved his hand, signaling Qin Er to stop.

At that moment, a noisy crowd of princes and royal sons burst out from the academy, jostling and playfully shouting. Upon seeing Zhu Zhu at the entrance, each of them eagerly rushed forward, calling out, “Second Brother! Second Brother!”

The few leading them quickly surrounded Zhu Zhu, their eyes shining with excitement.

“Second Brother! You haven’t taken us out to play in ages. Take us out of the palace! This place is so boring.”

“Exactly, Second Brother. We’re your brothers. You can’t just spend time with Second Sister-in-law, or I’ll tell Mother!”

The little rascals clamored around Zhu Zhu, who looked at them with a mix of exasperation and disbelief. He had thought they were glad to see him, but in truth, they just wanted him to take them out to play.

“Get lost. You just beat up your own teacher and caused trouble, and now you want to leave the palace? Go tell the old man yourselves!”

“And you, Fifth Brother, when you hit someone, at least speak up! Why drag me into it? Now I have to clean up your mess. Looks like I’ll be doing your wicked father’s dirty work forever.”

Feeling ‘heartbroken,’ Zhu Zhu bluntly pushed back, scolding these troublesome brothers. Little did he know, their mischief was all learned from the stories he had told them since they were young. Truly, what goes around comes around.

“Uh, uh,” the brothers, hearing Second Brother’s reprimand, dared not retort. They stood quietly like obedient children as Zhu Zhu continued:

“You don’t even know how to fight properly. Damn it. You should have brought a few guards so that when that White Something teacher left the palace, you could have dragged him into a sack and beaten him. That way, nobody would know it was you, and they wouldn’t dare file a single complaint!”

Zhu Di and the others listened to their second brother’s words, growing more and more incredulous. The brothers exchanged strange smiles. The more Zhu Zhu spoke, the more ideas he had, and he began eagerly sharing and discussing them with Zhu Di and the rest.

Completely forgetting that initially, someone had come under Zhu Biao’s orders to teach these brothers a lesson.

Just as Zhu Zhu was getting into the spirit of it, Qin Er reluctantly interrupted his lord.

“My lord, the Crown Prince asked you to educate them, not, uh, to give pointers?”

Zhu Zhu’s words caught in his throat. He glanced awkwardly at Qin Er, thinking, ‘Why didn’t you remind me earlier?’

Qin Er, lifting his head to the sky, paid no mind.

With no other choice, Zhu Zhu put on a righteous face and addressed his brothers:

“Anyway, hitting the teacher is wrong. Eldest Brother, since I’m here to punish you all, each of you must copy an essay about filial piety for me to check.”

Upon hearing this, Zhu Di, Zhu Song, and the others immediately fell silent, gazing at Zhu Zhu with grievance.

Zhu Zhu no longer cared about saving face. Suddenly recalling something, he asked, puzzled, “By the way, do you know what happened to Little Twelve later?”

“I know, I know, Second Brother! It’s because the maids and eunuchs around Little Twelve bully him all the time, taking his food and ice, and threatening him not to tell anyone!” Zhu Song recalled angrily, complaining, “I only found out secretly a few days ago. Without seeing our parents, there’s nothing I can do. When I ask about Brother Twelve, they never tell me and don’t trust us at all.”

“Enough, Fifth Brother. That’s our little brother. What about you all? Don’t you know?” Zhu Zhu interrupted Zhu Song sternly and looked coldly at the others.

“We know.”

“We know. But it’s Little Twelve’s fault…”

Zhu Zhu almost laughed in disbelief upon hearing this. “You’ve really grown up! You don’t even want to care for your own brother? Skip lunch and go kneel in the ancestral hall all afternoon to learn some sense!”

“Second Brother~” Fifth Brother, unaware of the mood, still tried to plead.

“Get lost!”

Seeing Zhu Zhu’s anger rising, Zhu Di quickly grabbed the younger brothers and fled.

“Let’s go. Take my sword and call a few imperial guards. We’re going to the harem,” Zhu Zhu ordered Qin Er with a dark expression.

Inside the harem, at Little Twelve’s quarters.

As soon as they arrived, Zhu Zhu instructed the guards to detain the little eunuch who was about to report the news.

Striding into Little Twelve’s courtyard, they saw several maids and eunuchs leisurely seated at a stone table, feasting on sumptuous dishes of fish and meat. Meanwhile, Little Twelve sat by the palace door, clutching a small bowl and hungrily eating the servants’ leftovers.

Sumptuous dishes? Within the palace, while the eunuchs and old ladies were never short of food, they certainly weren’t served such lavish fare. Most of the time, Old Zhu only had simple dishes.

Looking at the group, each was flushed with health, whereas Little Twelve appeared far thinner than the last time they met.

Zhu Zhu’s fury flared instantly.

“Qin Er, seize these beasts!” At that moment, the authority of the Qin Prince was unmistakably displayed.

The eunuchs and maids closest to Little Twelve panicked upon hearing the order, quickly kneeling and kowtowing in desperation.

“Your Highness, spare us! We don’t know where we offended you. Please, for the sake of the Twelfth Prince, have mercy on us!”

“Qin Er, slap them! They’re too noisy,” Zhu Zhu said coldly.

“As you command.”

The sharp crack of slaps echoed through the courtyard.

Zhu Zhu approached Little Twelve with a face full of pity. Zhu Bai stared blankly at the visitor, once the brother he had been close to.

Excitement? Grievance? Fear? Confusion?

A flood of complicated emotions swirled in Zhu Bai’s heart, but they were soon drowned out by the harsh words of the eunuchs and maids, leaving more sadness:

“Prince? Without a mother, what nobility is there?”

“Exactly. Being motherless, how could he compete with those princes? It’s us who suffer, forced to endure this.”

“Who does he think he is? The Empress only put on a show. Look at how no one near her has cared for this cursed kid.”

“Those princes would be glad if he died. They’re not even half-brothers. Do they really treat him like a brother?”

…

…

“All the brothers know, but not one has come to see him.”

Such words and thoughts echoed in the mind of five-year-old Little Twelve, pushing him to slowly withdraw the arms he used to stretch out, begging Second Brother to hold him.

Forcing a smile, he held his bowl obediently and said to his second brother,

“Second Brother, you came to see Little Twelve? Little Twelve has been good and eating well~”

Seeing Zhu Zhu’s increasingly pained expression, Zhu Bai worried he had upset his brother. Growing more anxious, he even started to cry.

“Second Brother, Twelve has really been good. I’ve listened well to the maids and haven’t caused any trouble.”

“Second Brother, please don’t ignore Little Twelve! I can change everything. I’ll be good…”

As he spoke, Zhu Bai suddenly burst into tears.