15 – His Highness’s Brain Has a Pit – Can afford to raise one little dumpling
Shi Sui asked, “Did His Majesty not say anything?”
“What could he say?” Wen Nian chuckled indifferently. “I never cared about being Crown Prince in the first place.”
Shi Sui thought: Alright, this is definitely the most willful Crown Prince I’ve ever seen.
Since things had come to this point and Wen Nian showed no intention of attending court, it seemed the first round of persuasion had ended in failure. But first attempts are always awkward, and besides, Wen Nian wasn’t entirely unreasonable—most of the time, the two could sit down and speak calmly, which already far exceeded Shi Sui’s expectations.
Shi Sui wasn’t in a hurry either; these things took time.
Compared to the leisurely Shi Sui, Yuan Youdao was nearly frantic with anxiety. He kept peeking in at them, then squinting his eyes while standing at the doorway, claiming there were mosquitoes and that he was helping to swat them.
Shi Sui was impressed and said bluntly, “Just come in. Watching you sway back and forth out there is annoying me.”
Thus, Yuan Youdao got his wish and entered the library.
Having experienced the trials of the imperial examinations, Shi Sui had developed a habit of underlining and taking notes while reading. Sometimes, when she came across particularly brilliant passages, she would even copy them down.
Perhaps she had dipped her brush in too much ink. With a light flick, a large blot of black ink appeared on the page. The ink was so thick that the characters she had written earlier now looked hideously crooked and messy—utterly unsightly.
Seeing Shi Sui about to smudge the ink blot with her hand, Yuan Youdao was heartbroken and pleaded, “Don’t! Crown Princess! That’s a rare edition! It was personally transcribed by Mr. Zhang! Please be careful with your markings!”
Shi Sui was startled: A rare edition??
Feeling somewhat desperate, Shi Sui looked down again at the creases she had casually folded into the history book, the splotches of black ink, and the scrawled, messy characters.
“…”
Shi Sui set down her brush, sat up straight with a guilty conscience, and thought she might as well brace herself for the consequences. She had already decided where to hang herself for the best feng shui, hoping to catch the last reincarnation bus.
Wen Nian casually took the book from Shi Sui’s hands, curled his lips, and remained as composed and unbothered as ever. Looking at the messy characters, he couldn’t help but smile. “The handwriting is quite nice.”
Shi Sui: “…?” When did he go blind?
Look at that—our little dark flower had even mastered the art of lying with a straight face!
Surprised as she was, Shi Sui glanced sideways at Yuan Youdao, who stood frozen in place, nearly petrified. She was certain this seemingly unflappable guard was cursing inwardly.
Yuan Youdao held back for a long moment before saying, “Your Highness… this book was personally written by Mr. Zhang—”
“If it’s smudged, it’s smudged.” Wen Nian twirled the brush in his hand, perhaps finding it displeasing, and casually tossed it to the ground. “Do you have any objections?”
As he spoke, Wen Nian glanced at the guards behind Yuan Youdao.
The two guards exchanged a knowing look at Wen Nian’s expression and began squinting as they said:
“Whatever His Highness says goes!”
“Who dares to object?!”
Yuan Youdao’s face turned green. Gritting his teeth, he nodded. “This subordinate has no objections.”
For some reason, Shi Sui suddenly felt as if she had someone backing her up, yet she still felt guilty about ruining the books. Since Wen Nian had already praised her handwriting, Shi Sui didn’t hold back and immediately wrote a piece for him. However, the result was less than ideal, and Shi Sui naturally blamed the brush. Slapping it onto the table, she said bluntly, “Why is it so ugly?”
Wen Nian glanced briefly at the writing, casually tossed the brush aside, and remarked calmly, “The brush just doesn’t suit your hand.”
Yuan Youdao was almost ready to kneel before them: “Ah… that’s a purple crystal brush that was auctioned off for a hundred taels of silver!”
Shi Sui stared at the brush Wen Nian had so carelessly discarded: “…” Such extravagance.
Wen Nian’s lips curved into a slight smile as he said, “I like your calligraphy style. Could you teach me to practice writing?”
Shi Sui suddenly felt as if the second-to-last student were teaching the last-place student how to solve a problem.
She knew exactly how much her handwriting was worth, and she had no idea where Wen Nian got the courage to ask her to teach him.
The Youth asked again, “Have you practiced calligraphy before?”
Shi Sui was even more surprised. If she had practiced and still ended up with such scribbly handwriting, wouldn’t that make her seem utterly useless?
But judging by Wen Nian’s expression, he seemed quite serious. Should she play along?
So Shi Sui went along with it: “Just average, really. I haven’t practiced much. Maybe… it’s talent?”
Listening to the utterly absurd conversation between the two, Yuan Youdao felt somewhat numb. He glanced again and again at the ink blots on the historical text, looking utterly defeated, as if he were about to forget how to read. Yet, seeing Wen Nian’s confident demeanor, Yuan Youdao refused to accept it: “This… is there something extraordinary about it? No! Since His Highness says so, there must be something worth appreciating! I must simply lack the eyes to see beauty!!”
And so, in just one afternoon, the spendthrift Wen Nian and his second spendthrift, the Crown Princess, managed to ruin a rare, out-of-print book and a brush worth a hundred taels of silver that looked utterly ordinary and unremarkable.
Along the way, they further diminished Yuan Youdao’s already limited intelligence.
Now Yuan Youdao doubted himself even more, wandering around as if he had lost his soul, completely absent-minded.
When they left the library that day, Shi Sui walked side by side with Wen Nian, while Yuan Youdao trailed behind them like a zombie. Shi Sui couldn’t help but ask, “Dong Zhi… if things go on like this, won’t the family fortune be squandered away in no time?”
Wen Nian was puzzled: “Isn’t money meant to be spent?”
Shi Sui: “But not wasted like this.”
The Youth paused in his steps. His dark eyes were moist, the pupils as black as ink. Shi Sui had always thought the Youth’s eyes were beautiful. He spoke slowly: “Don’t worry, we can still afford to raise one little sticky rice ball.”
Shi Sui: “…”
If not for her status, Shi Sui would have clapped for him right then and there.
Look at the level of awareness our little black flower has!!
Isn’t this so much better than that central air-conditioning male lead?!
But with this kind of extravagance, Shi Sui truly feared their family would go bankrupt.
As she spoke, Shi Sui suddenly felt her nose itch for some reason, and she sneezed, then sneezed again.
Wen Nian looked puzzled and asked, “What’s wrong with you?”
“I don’t know,” Shi Sui said, sneezing again, unable to stop. “It feels like an allergy.”
Wen Nian raised her hand to pat Shi Sui’s back, glancing around. She hadn’t heard that Shi Sui was allergic to anything, but just as she withdrew her gaze, a wildly barking large dog came charging toward Shi Sui.
Yuan Youdao had been lost in thought earlier, and by the time the dog’s barking snapped him back to reality, it was already a bit late. He saw Shi Sui let out a startled cry and start running frantically around the yard, chased by the dog.
Shi Sui: Could it be that I, the grassland lord, am allergic to dog fur?!
The large dog seemed to have gone mad, relentlessly chasing after Shi Sui, who had no choice but to sprint away, shouting as he ran, “Help! I’m going to die!!”
Wen Nian called out to Shi Sui, raising an eyebrow: “Where are you running? Come over here.”