Jing Mu was confined under house arrest in Zhongli Palace.
“This brat, privately leaving the palace is one thing, but he actually shows no regret at all!” Emperor Qianning, upon returning to his own palace, was so angry he smashed a teacup. “Look at his expression—he looks as if I’ve wronged him!”
The Empress, who followed behind him, brought a cup of tea and handed it to Emperor Qianning. She sighed and said, “But Your Majesty, keeping him locked up like this is not a solution either.”
Emperor Qianning took the tea, lifted the lid, brought it to his lips, then heavily set it back on the table. “Just keep him locked up! Lock him until he knows he is wrong, and only then release him!”
The Empress sighed upon hearing this.
“Your Majesty,” she said. “A child—when he gets older, you can control his thoughts less and less. Now that Mu’er is fifteen, he is already a half-grown child. And he grew up in the common world from childhood; at this age, his thoughts will only become more and more numerous. How can you possibly keep him under control?”
These words struck Emperor Qianning’s weak point.
“Then in the Empress’s opinion, what should I do?” he frowned and asked.
“Since he cannot be kept confined, why not release him?” the Empress smiled. “Yan’er was also fifteen when he entered court. Though I was reluctant to let him leave the palace, he was still able to stand on his own and help Your Majesty share some burdens. Now Mu’er is of this age—let alone entering official service, even enfeoffing him as a prince and establishing his own residence would be appropriate.”
“Enfeoff him as a prince and establish his residence?” Emperor Qianning asked.
“Ah, I did not mean that,” the Empress quickly covered her mouth with a handkerchief and said. “I was only making an example, it must not be taken seriously. Yan’er is still in the palace now. Mu’er has not committed any great fault—how would he be worthy of such punishment from Your Majesty?”
The Empress spoke very skillfully. Hearing this, Emperor Qianning slowly furrowed his brows.
This time, Jing Mu had indeed touched Emperor Qianning’s reverse scale. The Ye family had long been somewhat restless—this Emperor Qianning knew. But because of Consort Yun, he had deep affection and could tolerate these small movements.
However, Jing Mu repeatedly interacted privately with the Ye family, even going so far as to sneak out of the palace. Such behavior had never appeared among Emperor Qianning’s sons before. It even made Emperor Qianning think of his own imperial brother, who once, during the late emperor’s reign, formed cliques and almost pushed him off the throne.
He could not help but begin to suspect that Jing Mu harbored disloyal intentions.
Just then, the Empress’s words reminded him.
Jing Mu’s actions truly made him feel estranged from this son. In any case, this boy had no learning and could not accomplish great things; he was not originally capable of inheriting the throne. Since that was the case, it would be better to directly enfeoff him as a prince early, and also cut off his thoughts.
Once this thought emerged in Emperor Qianning’s mind, the more he thought about it, the more appropriate it seemed, and it could no longer be stopped.
——
Shu Changyu lay sick in bed for ten days.
He was like an ostrich burying its head in the sand. Ever since Jing Mu left, he simply used his illness as an excuse to empty his mind in bed, sleeping in a daze day and night.
But that brat Jing Mu actually made it so he could not even sleep peacefully. From that day on, Jing Mu frequently appeared in his dreams. Sometimes it was old events, sometimes trivial daily matters. If one did not look back carefully like this, even Shu Changyu himself did not realize there were so many entanglements between him and Jing Mu.
He had only vaguely known that he had let down Jing Mu’s teacher-student affection, so he simply pretended not to know and refused to think about it. After the changes of his previous life, Shu Changyu had become skilled at protecting himself. Things he did not want to mention, he would not think about at all, burying them beneath many trivial matters.
Now, that kiss in the dream was like tearing off the seal pasted over his memories. Those emotions he did not want to face surged out like a flood, making it difficult to resist.
Thus, after only two days of sleeping endlessly while ill, Shu Changyu got up in bed wearing an outer robe and continued writing his flood control strategy.
That day, Shu Changlan was quite surprised to see him in bed writing, with many documents piled beside him. “Jingchen, you really have the bearing of a great scholar now. Are you planning to simply die on these books and classics?”
As he spoke, he reached out to take his books away.
Shu Changyu quickly reacted and shoved the book in his hand back under the quilt. “I’m just too bored. You and sister-in-law won’t let me get out of bed or leave the house. I’m restless, so I can only read books.”
Shu Changlan had no choice and did not interfere further.
“Oh right, do you know? That Second Prince was caught red-handed by Emperor Qianning the very night he returned to the palace.”
When Shu Changyu heard this, his movement of taking the book from under the quilt paused. He subconsciously wanted to ask what happened, but forcibly held it back and lowered his eyes without speaking.
“The emperor flew into a rage and confined him in the palace,” Shu Changlan said, sitting on the edge of Shu Changyu’s bed. “Now the court is discussing it everywhere, saying His Majesty will surely severely punish him this time.”
Shu Changyu’s hand paused again. Yet that kiss, branded into his mind that day, uncontrollably surfaced again.
After a long moment, he said dully, “He deserved it.”
“You…” Shu Changlan was stunned, not expecting this reaction.
“I already told him not to act rashly out of momentary impulse. He simply did not listen,” Shu Changyu said softly again.
Shu Changlan sighed. “He is only a child.”
“If he is a child, I am not a child,” Shu Changyu said abruptly.
“Hm?” Shu Changlan did not react.
Shu Changyu thought: he is a child, unable to distinguish right from wrong, unable to grasp the proper distance in relationships. But he, Shu Changyu, having lived one more lifetime, should be able to handle these matters.
Therefore, this moment of foolish temptation must be cut off in time.
Shu Changlan laughed for a long while as if he had finally understood and patted Shu Changyu’s shoulder. “You’re not a child? You’re absolutely still a child. You’re not even of age yet—how much older are you than Jing Mu?”
Shu Changyu thought to himself: not just a few years—by calculation, more than twenty years older.
But of course, he could not say this to Shu Changlan.
In this way, the stack of manuscripts at Shu Changyu’s bedside grew thicker and thicker, and his illness gradually improved. When the peach blossoms outside the window had fallen and green leaves sprouted, he once again put on his official robes and returned to court.
The official road he had overseen had been mostly completed. Because he did not embezzle and did not cut corners, the budget had returned half to the national treasury. That day at court, Emperor Qianning specifically brought it up and highly praised him.
After court ended, Emperor Qianning named him and called him to wait in the study behind.
Shu Changyu already understood. Just the money for building a road was not enough for Emperor Qianning to praise him repeatedly, both publicly and privately. But if the emperor wanted to see him, it was only for a few matters. Apart from building the road, it was about the prince he had taken in.
It must be that prince’s matter.
Indeed.
“I intend to enfeoff Mu’er as a Prince and let him leave the palace to establish his residence. What does Shu Sanlang think?” he asked.
“Since it is within the Emperor’s heart, it is your sovereign decision and authority,” Shu Changyu said calmly, lowering his head. “Your Majesty’s decision is naturally wise.”
Emperor Qianning nodded in satisfaction.
“Your Majesty,” Shu Changyu said again. “Since the Second Prince intends to leave the palace and establish his residence, there is no reason to continue employing a Grand Tutor for a prince after enfeoffment. Therefore, I also boldly request to resign from my position as Second Prince’s Grand Tutor.”
This way, he would only be a minor official managing river channels, avoiding the emperor’s suspicion, and also staying away from Jing Mu, allowing that sudden improper thought within him to subside.
Emperor Qianning frowned and asked, “How much has Jing Mu learned now?”
“Reporting to Your Majesty, the Book of Songs has only been taught the ‘Airs,’ the Analects halfway, and the Book of Documents has just begun.”
Emperor Qianning frowned—this was far too little.
However, Shu Changyu had only been Jing Mu’s Grand Tutor for a little over a month; in such time, this progress was already not easy. But if Jing Mu stopped his studies like this, he would not even be comparable to a seven- or eight-year-old prince, which would be hard to justify.
But Emperor Qianning also did not want Jing Mu to have Shu Changyu as his support—although Shu Changyu’s entire family was rigid and old-fashioned.
Thinking this, Emperor Qianning hesitated for a long while, unable to reach a satisfactory conclusion.
“I will think about it again,” Emperor Qianning said. “This matter will be discussed later.”
“Then Your Majesty, today…” Shu Changyu asked.
“Though he is under confinement, he is not forbidden from receiving visitors,” Emperor Qianning said. “You shall continue teaching him. As for the future, we will decide once the time for his residence is set.”
Shu Changyu had not brought his book case that day; his writing tools and books were with Kongqing outside the palace. But since the emperor had spoken, he could not disobey and could only accept and withdraw.
That day, when he left the emperor’s study and went to retrieve his book case at the palace gate, it was already half an hour later than usual class time.
When he arrived at Zhongli Palace, the heavy palace doors opened before him, and he once again saw Jing Mu waiting on the steps of the main hall.
Shu Changyu did not know why, but his steps paused there as he looked up from afar at Jing Mu.
In the past, every time he saw Jing Mu, he had never thought about what would happen after that day. Whether in his previous life or this one, he had tacitly assumed he would always remain by Jing Mu’s side, never considering the possibility of separation.
Only today did he clearly understand.
He and Jing Mu would eventually become strangers on separate paths. Or rather, they had never been suited to long-term companionship.
Jing Mu was too simple, overly dependent on him. And he, relying on that dependence, not only acted freely but also developed improper thoughts toward him.
At that moment, he saw Jing Mu on the steps notice him arriving, his face breaking into a bright, clear smile like wind and sunshine.
“Grand Tutor, you have arrived,” Shu Changyu heard him say. “Has your health fully recovered?”
A spring breeze brushed past, and all things were silent.