AMLFS Chapter 45

Chapter 45: Little Dimwit

Following the teacher through the academy gate, they hadn’t walked more than a few steps.

Song Huaixi turned around, his eyes anxiously searching for Zhao Fangye’s figure.

His eyes were filled with deep longing.

Standing at the entrance, Zhao Fangye saw his nervous expression from afar.

Zhao Fangye walked up to Song Huaixi, stroked the top of his head, and said in a gentle tone, “Don’t worry, I’ll pick you up after school.”

Being comforted by him, Song Huaixi’s fear of the unknown dissipated a little. He raised his face, grabbed Zhao Fangye’s palm, and rubbed it against his cheek, his eyes full of reluctance.

Seeing him like this, Zhao Fangye knew that this person was starting to back down again.

Pinching the soft flesh on his cheeks, he said in a low voice that left no room for argument, “Don’t be spoiled, it’s time for morning class.”

Song Huaixi’s little thoughts were seen through, and he reluctantly followed the teacher into the academy gate, turning his head back every few steps.

Qing Shan and Qing Yang followed behind him, carrying his belongings.

Zhao Fangye stood outside with his hands behind his back, watching the bright figure gradually disappear.

Many people outside the classroom took in this scene, and Song Huaixi’s identity was immediately clear to them. Because Zhao Fangye was present, everyone kept their mouths shut.

However, many other thoughts arose in their hearts.

The entire capital knew about Prince Zhao Fangye of the Ning district being betrothed to a male wife, but they never expected that the prince didn’t seem to hate his male wife as much as they imagined.

On the contrary, he seemed to care for him quite a bit, which surprised them.

After sending Song Huaixi into the academy, Zhao Fangye boarded his carriage and went to the Imperial Palace for the morning court session.

Because he was delayed for a while at the academy gate, when Zhao Fangye walked into the main hall, the ministers were already standing solemnly in the hall.

Preparing to welcome the emperor’s arrival.

Seeing him arrive late, the ministers had different expressions. Now that the Crown Prince Zhao Jingshuo was under house arrest, the ministers couldn’t help but have some other thoughts.

In the struggle between the two factions, it was clear that Prince Zhao Fangye of the Ning district had the upper hand. Originally, the Crown Prince Zhao Jingshuo’s faction and the neutral ministers in the court began to waver.

The old ministers of the Crown Prince Zhao Jingshuo’s faction immediately seized the opportunity to accuse him when they saw his behavior.

The confrontation at the New Year’s Eve banquet greatly weakened the power of the Crown Prince Zhao Jingshuo’s faction.

The Crown Prince Zhao Jingshuo was now confined to the Eastern Palace and could not attend court to discuss politics. They would not let go of such an opportunity.

They immediately said with veiled accusations, “Prince Zhao Fangye of the Ning district has quite the display. How dare you be so lazy on the first morning court session of the new year? Do you still have any imperial authority in your eyes?”

Faced with his words, Zhao Fangye walked calmly. He didn’t even give him a glance and went to his position on his own.

Seeing Zhao Fangye’s arrogant demeanor, and as he was about to say something else.

The eunuch’s voice came from the high platform, “The Emperor has arrived…”

The ministers immediately silenced and followed the crowd to kneel before the Son of Heaven.

The emperor’s face on the high platform was not very good. The national treasury was now in deficit and unable to make ends meet. In the court, Prince Zhao Fangye of the Ning district was the only one with power.

It was very headache-inducing.

After the court session, Zhao Fangye sat in his study. He looked at the bank’s financial records that were presented to him. He also dealt with the military letters sent from the Northwest.

Time flew by, and it was time for Song Huaixi to get out of school. Zhao Fangye got up and said to Deputy General Sun Shu, “Prepare the carriage. Go to Yi Cai Academy.”

At Shen time (3-5 PM), school was over.

Song Huaixi respectfully bowed to the teacher and then ran towards the academy gate impatiently.

Qing Yang and Qing Shan were still tidying up the ink, paper, and inkstone on his desk when they saw his figure flying out the door.

Qing Shan quickly said to Qing Yang, “Quick, you go watch the Wangfei (Prince’s wife). I’ll clean up here.”

The prince had specifically instructed them to take good care of the Wangfei (Prince’s wife). If anything happened to the Wangfei (Prince’s wife), they couldn’t afford to bear the responsibility.

Qing Yang nodded quickly and chased after him.

After being cooped up in the classroom all morning, Song Huaixi was finally able to breathe.

He was like a little bird flying out of a cage, incredibly joyous.

Zhao Fangye had said that he would come to pick him up. As soon as he stepped out of the door, Song Huaixi saw a luxurious gold-topped carriage pulled by two black and shiny horses parked quietly at the academy gate.

Beside the carriage, Zhao Fangye, wearing a black robe and with a tall and slender figure, stood on the snow-covered ground, with a white fox fur cloak draped over his arm.

His eyes were fixed on the academy gate, his expression indifferent.

“Zhao Fangye!”

From afar, Song Huaixi saw him. He didn’t care about the inquiring eyes of others. He waved to him and shouted loudly.

Seeing him, Zhao Fangye’s expression softened. He walked towards him.

Song Huaixi’s rosy and fair face was filled with joy. He ran towards him, his clothes fluttering, and plunged into Zhao Fangye’s arms.

Steadily catching him, Zhao Fangye put his arms around him and stroked the top of his head, “Be careful of the slippery road.”

They had only been apart for a morning, but Song Huaixi missed him very much.

He raised his face from his arms, his eyes curved with laughter, “You’re here!”

Behind him, Qing Yang ran over quickly. His eyes were filled with panic, “Wangye (Prince)…”

Song Huaixi had disappeared into the crowd and was gone. Qing Yang panicked and chased after him. Seeing that he was alright, his heart finally settled down.

Glancing at him, Zhao Fangye’s face turned cold, and his voice was tinged with coldness, “How are you taking care of the Wangfei (Prince’s wife)?”

Qing Yang’s heart trembled, and cold sweat broke out on his back. He immediately knelt down to plead guilty, “This servant failed to protect the Wangfei (Prince’s wife). Please punish me, Wangye (Prince)!”

Just as he was about to speak, Song Huaixi anxiously pulled on his sleeve, his round eyes staring tightly at Zhao Fangye, afraid that he would punish Qing Yang.

“Don’t! It’s not his fault! I wanted to see you quickly, so they couldn’t catch up with me! Don’t punish him…”

Faced with the pleading eyes in front of him, what else could Zhao Fangye say?

He turned his face away, his light-colored eyes lowered, pursed his lips, put the fox fur cloak on him, and pulled him into the carriage.

Qing Yang was still kneeling in the snow, his pants were wet from the melted snow and were bone-chillingly cold.

Inside the carriage, Song Huaixi was still worried, the ground must be very cold.

Zhao Fangye, who was next to him, looked at him and opened his mouth with a cold expression, “Will you still run around?”

“I won’t run…” Song Huaixi knew it was his fault, lowered his head, and answered in a low voice while fiddling with his fingers.

“In the future, do you know that you must have someone following you wherever you go?”

Zhao Fangye pulled his hands that were fiddling with each other, his tone a bit serious.

“I know.”

Song Huaixi raised his eyes and said obediently, “I won’t do it again. Don’t punish Qing Yang…”

Seeing that he knew he was wrong, Zhao Fangye said in a deep voice to Qing Yang, who was kneeling outside the carriage, “Get up, this time the Wangfei (Prince’s wife) pleaded for you, there won’t be a next time.”

“Thank you, Wangye (Prince), thank you, Wangfei (Prince’s wife)!”

Qing Yang thanked him and stood up from the ground, his knees trembling. He secretly thought in his heart that he must take good care of the Wangfei (Prince’s wife) next time.

On the way back to the mansion, Song Huaixi kept talking about the affairs of the academy.

The most mentioned was a man named Li Haoyang.

He was a student sitting next to him and was about the same age as him. He was humorous and enthusiastic.

Whenever he talked about him, Song Huaixi’s beautiful face would be lively, with animated expressions.

The expression on Zhao Fangye’s face gradually tightened, and he stared at him with dark and uncertain eyes.

He had only been in the academy for half a day and was already talking incessantly about another man in his ear.

Zhao Fangye began to question whether his decision was right or wrong.

Song Huaixi was in the middle of talking excitedly! When he turned his head, he ran into Zhao Fangye’s deep gaze.

But he didn’t know what had happened, and he still had a smile on his face that hadn’t faded.

He looked at him foolishly and said, “Zhao Fangye, what’s wrong with you? Are you unhappy?”

Seeing him like this, Zhao Fangye gripped his wrist, pulled him into his arms.

He reached out and caressed the corners of his round eyes, his tone gloomy, “It seems that Huaixi is very fond of him. Should this Wang (Prince) bring him to the Wang Mansion (Prince’s Mansion) so that he can be with Huaixi every day?”

Zhao Fangye rarely referred to himself as “this Wang (Prince)” in front of Song Huaixi. The only few times he did were when he was angry.

Unable to hear the anger in his words, Song Huaixi actually lowered his eyes and thought about it.

After a moment, he said seriously, “It’s better not to. We can also see each other at the academy.”

There’s no need to see each other every day.

Hearing his answer, Zhao Fangye chuckled. His heart was suffocating, and he pinched his chin and bit his lips fiercely.

Little dimwit, you won’t learn unless you’re punished.