In the quiet Imperial Study.
Muffled sobs drifted about intermittently.
The western window next to the desk separated two individuals.
Inside the window stood a young Confucian Scholar with arms crossed, outside, a youngster knelt, burying his head among the flowers.
The latter seemed not to have noticed the former’s arrival.
Zhao Rong thought for a moment and then emitted a slightly loud cough.
The young Emperor jerked his head up, his swollen eyes widening. On seeing the visitor, his tear-stained face filled with panic.
"Zhao... Teacher Zhao! I, I..."
Zhao Rong gently shook his head, turned around, stepped out of the study, and walked around to the flowerbed outside the western window, standing in front of the panicked, tear-wiping youth.
The young Emperor used his sleeve to cover his face and fumbled to stand up, but in the next second, his head was gently pressed down by a warm, large hand.
This supremely noble youth of the Li Territory was taken aback.
Zhao Rong pressed the young Emperor down with his hand.
Then, he himself exhaled and bent down to squat.
They faced each other.
Between them lay a bloodied, askew lunchbox and vibrant flower mud.
"What ’I’? Aren’t you still just a boy? If you want to cry, cry. Don’t hold it back."
"But... but my mother said, I am the supreme ruler, I should not show my vulnerability to anyone."
"That’s true, but that’s for adults, isn’t it? It’s okay for children to cry. You’re just a few years old, why live so exhaustingly? Cry more now; otherwise, you’ll feel more aggrieved when you grow up."
Zhao Rong smiled and gently ruffled his hair.
The young Emperor shook his head stubbornly, "Teacher Zhao, I am the Emperor, my mother said tears are for lambs. Once we show weakness, those wolves below will pounce on us and devour my mother and me completely."
Zhao Rong thought for a moment, smiled and nodded, "You have a point, I apologize, your teacher didn’t consider everything. The life you’re leading now, indeed, you have to endure and show a brave face to those officials. Tears should be saved for specific occasions."
The young Emperor was not expecting Teacher Zhao to humbly apologize and hurriedly waved his hand while wiping away tears.
Zhao Rong handed him a handkerchief.
The young Emperor took it, wiped his tears, clutched the handkerchief, and whispered, "Thank you... Teacher Zhao, that’s what my mother also said, tears have to be shed in specific places, like... beside father Emperor’s Dragon Coffin, where she said, everyone has to cry, the more violently, the better."
Everyone? I’m sorry I couldn’t cry,
Zhao Rong coughed, somewhat embarrassed.
The young Emperor wasn’t aware of ’Teacher Zhao’s’ internal remarks, and after speaking, silence fell between them again.
Zhao Rong glanced at the young Emperor.
Having talked with him, the youth’s attention had dispersed a bit, and his tears had mostly stopped.
At that moment, the youth buried his head in his arm, his eyes fixed on the lunchbox on the ground between them.
"Teacher Zhao..." he suddenly said.
"But I, I want to cry right now," he said with a sobbing tone.
The young Confucian Scholar was silent for a while, then shook his head instead and said, "Don’t cry, you are the Emperor."
The young Emperor opened his mouth in surprise.
Zhao Rong suddenly reached out, retrieved the handkerchief from his hand, then rolled up his sleeves and bent down to dig into the fertile flower mud before him.
The young Emperor was stunned for a moment, then hurriedly rolled up his sleeves too and joined Zhao Rong in digging.
The young Confucian Scholar with bowed head calmly said:
"I was going to tell you a story... but then I thought, forget it... and I also feared that you might laugh at me."
"I, I won’t laugh at Teacher Zhao!"
As the young Emperor dug through the soil with his bare hands, he vigorously shook his head.
Zhao Rong suddenly said, "Actually, you have much more courage than I do. I admire you for daring to reach for the hand you wanted to hold."
The young Emperor stared blankly, looking at the sticky red flower mud clinging to his fingers, "Does Teacher Zhao really admire me?"
Zhao Rong, with eyes lowered, nodded calmly.
At that moment, he stopped his actions and glanced at the nearly complete hole between them, then turned to look at the askew lunchbox beside the pit.
The youth, in silence, picked up the lunchbox containing severed hands and placed it into the pit.
Dark blood dribbled from the seams of the box.
The hands holding the box trembled.
All ten fingers pressed against the box walls, the knuckles turning blue.
The youth fiercely clenched his teeth, "Li... Li Mingyi!"
A deep roar resounded.
It was the first time he had boldly shouted that Python Robe man’s name.
Countless times before, in the presence of the Python Robe man, the youth could only look up and kindly call him Uncle Emperor.
No matter what Li Xianwang’s initial motive was for doing this.
Whether it was from the perspective of a blood relative and elder, strictly teaching the young Emperor to restrain desires; or if it was harboring treasonous intent, to intimidate and threaten.
One fact remained undeniable and indelible.
That is... he dared to have guards present a pair of severed hands to the young Emperor in public!
He had despised imperial power.
Just this aspect alone made Zhao Rong feel that any man would be intolerant, let alone the young Emperor.
Because from his earliest education, the youth learned that within the Great Li Territory, no one was his equal, except for ancestral spirits and the Teacher, and nothing deserved his reverence—not even humility or patience, each still harboring pride deep within.
Zhao Rong spoke with a smile, "You want to kill him."
The young Emperor, with his head down, did not reveal his expression.
As he placed the lunchbox, also serving as a coffin, into the pit, his teeth cracked audibly, "The audacious Li Mingyi, I... I intend to... to execute..."
But just as he was about to say the word ’execute’, the youth suddenly staggered backward, hands supporting him on the ground, his face pale as he looked at Zhao Rong.
"But Teacher Zhao, Li Mingyi, he... he is too powerful, with cultivation, military authority, and the hearts of the soldiers and people... he has it all!"