Amidst the wind and rain sweeping across the river, I watch the tide rise.

A month ago, the Prince of Qi was commanded to thoroughly investigate the official affairs and taxation of the five counties in Jiangdong. The prefectures of Hongzhou, Jingzhou, Qingzhou, and Quzhou were all thrown into turmoil, with Hongzhou and Jingzhou suffering the most.

Corruption and bribery, nepotism; underreporting taxes to line private pockets; deceiving superiors, colluding in secret; hoarding forbidden books and defaming the imperial family; forming factions for personal gain, neglecting official duties…

The Emperor, enraged, found that Lan Prefecture remained untouched and tranquil, arousing suspicion.

“Father, I stayed in Lan Prefecture for six days and indeed found nothing amiss. Prefect Xu Yan and his subordinates are diligent and frugal, adhere strictly to their duties, and have committed no violations.”

A pool of clear water amidst a mire of filth.

“Is that true?” The Emperor narrowed his eyes, suspicious.

“It truly is.” The Prince of Qi bowed lower.

“And Xu Yan’s subordinates?” The Emperor seemed even more incredulous.

“I have heard Xu Yan governs with strict discipline and never indulges his subordinates. Working alongside him for several days, I found it to be so.” The Prince of Qi replied cautiously.

He wanted even more than the Emperor to find fault with Xu Yan—for such a blow would be fatal to the Crown Prince and the Empress. Yet, after searching high and low in Lan Prefecture, he found nothing. No matter how clever Xu Yan might be, he did not believe anyone could fool him under his very nose.

Thus, Xu Yan was truly upright and incorruptible, his governance simple and his justice clear.

This was not necessarily a good outcome for the Eastern Palace. The saying goes: “The tree that stands out in the forest is the first to be felled.” With the Emperor’s cold and suspicious temperament, it was certain that Fu Lanchen would not enjoy his favor.

Sure enough, a cold laugh echoed above Fu Jinning’s head.

“The Empress is indeed a capable planner—she has found the Crown Prince a fine family to marry into!” The words were icy, forgetting that the two he spoke of were his own wife and son.

In the Palace of Eternal Autumn, the Empress looked with heartbreak at her son and spoke tenderly, “Chen’er, did your father scold you again last night?”

Fu Lanchen’s phoenix eyes were calm and unruffled. He smiled as if unconcerned. “I am fine, Mother, please don’t worry.”

If only the Empress could heed advice and worry less, she would not, despite being the same age as Lady Nangong, appear ten years older.

She began to weep, choking with emotion. “How hateful that your father always favors that woman and her son. If today’s events concerned the Nangong family, your father would be overjoyed. He always praises Nangong’s noble lineage, saying the Prince of Qi is like a jade tree in the courtyard; afraid of the Song family’s military power, he can be forgiven, but the Crown Princess’s family has done nothing wrong. Yet, merely for being related to the Eastern Palace, they must suffer. Chen’er, I cannot accept this!”

Fu Lanchen blinked, hiding the loneliness in his eyes, and mocked himself, “Mother, do you still not understand? It has nothing to do with the Nangong family or the Prince of Qi. Father simply… does not like me.”

The Empress was speechless. Fu Lanchen continued softly, “Sometimes I wonder, if my eldest brother were still here, would Father treat him the same as me? But the old palace servants say Father used to be very good to the eldest prince, so he simply does not like me.”

“Chen’er, don’t think such things. You are your father’s legitimate son, the Crown Prince of Dayi. He is just stricter with you; how could he not like you? Listen to me, there are many days ahead—he will surely see your worth.” The Empress seized Fu Lanchen’s arm, eager to explain.

Fu Lanchen sneered, slowly prying her hand away, his eyes full of disdain. “Mother, you forget—I do not like him either.” With that, he turned and left the Palace of Eternal Autumn, ignoring her desperate calls.

Because of the Emperor’s dissatisfaction with the Crown Prince, even the Crown Prince’s three tutors had not dared lift their heads in Deqing Hall these days.

At today’s court, the Emperor praised the Prince of Qi repeatedly, rewarding him with gold, silver, jewels, and treasures beyond count, and even spoke well of the Prince of Zhao.

Thus, the Crown Prince’s main tasks at court were to listen to the Emperor praise the Prince of Qi or the Prince of Zhao, and to hear the Emperor angrily rebuke his three tutors with thinly veiled criticism.

The Song family commands troops outside, making the Emperor uneasy; Xu Yan is far away in Jiangdong, out of the Emperor’s reach.

Since the founding of Dayi, there had been several Grand Tutors, but Fu Lanchen’s Grand Tutor had the hardest task of all.

By rights, Fu Lanchen was gifted and quick to learn, grasping lessons instantly. Yet, for all his intelligence, he seemed determined never to follow the proper path. He excelled in all manner of pleasures: music and literature, tea tasting, painting appraisal, horsemanship, bird keeping, flower viewing, moon gazing, listening to snow—every refined pursuit. He was also skilled at arguing with the Emperor, earning himself the reputation of a “rebellious son.”

When Fu Lanchen left Deqing Hall, his steps were swift. Grand Tutor Cao hurried after him, finally catching up.

“Your Highness, Your Highness!” Poor Grand Tutor Cao, elderly as he was, was breathless from running.

“Grand Tutor? What is it?” Fu Lanchen paused, his expression tinged with impatience.

Grand Tutor Cao patted his chest to steady his breath before asking, “I came to see if you have finished the assignment I gave you last time?”

Fu Lanchen laughed, scanning his teacher from head to toe, his tone cold. “You chased after me just for this?”

Grand Tutor Cao’s hand froze in midair, his throat working as he swallowed. He had meant to comfort the young prince, to advise him to keep calm and not be rash. But seeing Fu Lanchen so indifferent, he could only swallow his words and smile kindly. “If Your Highness has finished copying the eighty-one chapters of the Classic of the Way and Virtue, please send it to my residence. I will see if your calligraphy has improved.”

Looking at this elder, barely reaching his shoulder, Fu Lanchen suddenly found him inscrutable. “Teacher, you know Father values Confucianism, yet you insist I copy the Classic of the Way and Virtue. Does this not run contrary to the propriety he upholds?”

Grand Tutor Cao smiled openly and shook his head. “The sea is vast because it accepts all rivers. I taught you this when you were five. Confucianism, Daoism—sects do not matter; what matters is which inspires you at each stage. At your current stage, non-action prevails over action!” He stroked his thick beard, sounding every bit the old master.

The young beast finally grew docile before his teacher, speaking softly, “Is it really so?”

Grand Tutor Cao patted Fu Lanchen’s shoulder, steady and reassuring. “Do not fear, Your Highness. With me here, you need not worry.”

Fu Lanchen still frowned. Grand Tutor Cao raised his brows and smiled, “Tell me, when has our prince not gone against His Majesty? A teacher always knows how to check his student.”

Fu Lanchen, hearing this, raised his head. The gloom vanished from his face. He looked at the teacher who had accompanied him for eighteen years, now aged, yet in those gentle eyes there was an unyielding sharpness and resolve.

Grand Tutor Cao spoke calmly, “People say that with each new emperor comes new ministers. Though it means the rise and fall of factions, do you know why?”

Fu Lanchen thought seriously and replied, “Because each new ruler governs by different principles, so their choice of officials naturally changes.”

Grand Tutor Cao nodded in satisfaction. “Exactly. You have considered this carefully. Thus, His Majesty has his rules; in time, you will have yours. There is no need for distress.”

Fu Lanchen looked up at the sky, thick with dark clouds, and asked softly, “Teacher, do I really have a future?”

Grand Tutor Cao’s expression faltered. He was the Crown Prince’s teacher; he could help or teach him to answer any question in the world—but not this one.

“No matter what the future holds, I will always be your teacher. As long as you wish to attend my lessons, the doors of the Cao family will forever be open to you.” This old master, now past seventy, made the greatest promise of his life.

Fifty years ago, he and Old Chancellor Xu Shuo both served in the Hanlin Academy, both passing the imperial examination in the same year, both entering the Hanlin Academy together. Xu Shuo was ten years his senior and thus became Grand Tutor first.

But Xu Shuo served only ten years before resigning to join the Ministry of Personnel. At that time, Grand Tutor Cao was studying abroad in the Western Regions, so the late Emperor appointed his uncle to replace Xu Shuo.

He waited twenty years. When the Emperor brought the four-year-old Fifth Prince before him, Grand Tutor Cao was already fifty, but he took the little hand without hesitation, grinning for days.

He still remembers that moment vividly.

That night, an urgent message arrived from Jiangdong: the Prefect of Hongzhou committed suicide in prison out of guilt. For a time, everyone of rank lived in dread.

The Prefect of Jingzhou, dismissed and under investigation, was still in prison. Thus, both Jingzhou and Hongzhou were left without leaders, and Jiangdong grew ever more unstable.

The Emperor’s heart was vexed; in the cold autumn, sores broke out in his mouth, and he could eat only liquid food.

For three days, ministers argued over Jiangdong, finally reaching a conclusion.

On the morning of October eighteenth, Wen Liting, commander of the Dragon Guard, personally delivered the imperial edict to Jiangdong, appointing Xu Yan, Prefect of Lan Prefecture, to temporarily oversee the military and civil affairs of Jingzhou and Hongzhou.

When the news spread, the court was thrown into commotion once again.

The Guangling Chancellor’s residence simply shut its doors to visitors, but who knew what the scene was in the Xu residence of Lan Prefecture?

In a few days, the autumn hunt would begin. The Empress specially summoned Xu Guiyi to the palace, carefully instructing her in every detail to be observed during the hunt. Xu Guiyi accepted everything dutifully.

After months of interacting with the Empress, Xu Guiyi found she liked to pour a whole basket of information into the listener’s mind all at once, whether they paid attention or not, whether they wished to hear or not. She simply insisted on imparting everything she believed to be correct.

Such educational methods were, in truth, poor.

As a daughter-in-law, Xu Guiyi could feign attentiveness. Thankfully, her years at private school had made her lazy, not dull; of all the tangled advice, she absorbed at least seventy percent.

Still, she wondered how Fu Lanchen, as a son, had managed all these years.

Xu Guiyi stepped down from the carriage, reflecting on Fu Lanchen’s hardships, when Xiyue reminded her, “Your Highness, the Crown Prince is over there.” She turned and saw Fu Lanchen standing nearby, seemingly just returned from outside, and hurried over to greet him.

“This concubine greets Your Highness.” Xu Guiyi bowed, her eyes sweeping over Fu Lanchen from head to toe.