Chapter 710 - 710: Encouraging
Chapter 710: Encouraging
Editor: Atlas Studios
After Qi Haoran emerged victorious from the Upper Wood Park incident, everyone was waiting for Qi Haoran to come out and show off (considering Qi Haoran’s personality, people just assumed he’d strut a few rounds in front of Grand Tutor Lu). However, Qi Haoran didn’t show up for two consecutive days.
Meanwhile, Grand Tutor Lu also took two consecutive days of sick leave and detained his son, Lu Jie, at home to prevent him from being accosted and humiliated by Qi Haoran. However, when he heard that Qi Haoran did not even attend the court meeting, he could not help but be curious. After asking around, he found out that the Emperor had grounded Qi Haoran and made him stay at home to copy books.
Grand Tutor Lu: “I see. I was wondering why this fellow didn’t appear. It turns out that he’s been locked up.”
Grand Tutor Lu went to court in relief. Lu Jie was like a bird out of its cage, wishing he could stay outside and not go home. Mrs. Lu cried until her eyes were about to go blind. Seeing Lu Jie show concern for their son, she thought this matter was finally over. Alas, when her son lost his status as the Eldest Prince’s study companion, her husband’s old behavior returned.
Oblivious to this, Qi Haoran was holding the pen in distress and feeling furious. “I’ve clearly copied it a hundred times, but Big Brother still refuses to let me leave the house. If he wants to lock me up, he could’ve just said it. At most, I’ll stay at home and teach Little Bear how to read. Why does he have to make me copy it again?”
Fan Zijin was making tea. When he heard this, he didn’t even raise his head and asked, “Did you copy those hundred times yourself? Aren’t you embarrassed to say it out loud? Eldest Cousin doesn’t want to let you out because he’s afraid that you wouldn’t be able to control your temper and go against Grand Tutor Lu again. Eldest Cousin has already forced the Lu family to retreat so many steps. If you aggravate the Lu family again and accidentally anger Grand Tutor Lu, he might just fly into a rage out of humiliation and attack. At that time, even if we manage to suppress the Lu family, we’ll definitely suffer some losses. My opinion is the same as Eldest Cousin’s. Anyway, we have plenty of time. We just have to slowly endure it. One day, there will be no longer exist a distinction between aristocratic families and poor families in the bureaucracy.”
Fan Zijin said with a smile, “Anyway, you can take your time to copy. I think you’ll be allowed to go out again when the Dali emissary delegation arrives. Since you’re familiar with the Dali Crown Prince, the task of receiving the Dali envoy will most likely fall on you.”
Qi Haoran rolled his eyes and asked, “Where is the Dali envoy now?”
Fan Zijin glanced at him and said with a faint smile, “I just received the news that they’ve already passed through Nan’an County.”
Qi Haoran immediately threw away the brush in his hand and said happily, “Since they passed through Nan’an County the day before yesterday, even if they travel at the speed of snails, they should be here in two days. Even if I have invincible hands, I won’t finish copying it a hundred times by then. In that case, forget it, I won’t copy anymore.”
Fan Zijin’s lips twitched. He knew that he would say that. In any case, Eldest Cousin’s original intention was not for him to copy books. Instead, he wanted him to stay at home obediently and hide from the limelight. He had to keep a low profile, but he could not be so obviously perfunctory. It was easy to deal with Eldest Cousin, but it was not easy to fool the court officials. If others knew that he had not even submitted the copies, it would be inevitable for the imperial censors to impeach him for it.
Hence, she reminded him, “Did Eldest Cousin return all your copies?”
Qi Haoran’s eyes lit up. He stroked his chin and said, “Then help me ask Big Brother if this will work. Tell him that Little Bear has been practicing how to speak for the past few days. Because I have to copy books, I don’t even get to see the child for more than an hour every day. This was worse than when I was busiest in Qiannan in the past.” He sounded pitiful.
Fan Zijin’s lips twitched and he nodded in agreement.
Qi Xiuyuan only replied with one word, “Scram.”
Still, Qi Haoran happily rolled off to play with Little Bear. He put together the five copies he had copied over the past two days with the five copies that Mu Yangling had copied and put them away. He planned to hand them in when the time came.
Little Bear learned to speak very quickly. It was as if once he managed to get over his barrier of speaking, everything else followed naturally. Now, he could already eloquently speak in sentences. Although he could not compare to when Little Treasure was three years old back then, he was not inferior to an ordinary three-year-old child.
Mu Yangling had always felt that it was fine as long as the child was healthy and happy. She was not counting on him to be a genius, but Qi Haoran felt that his son was already a genius.
Where could they find another prodigy in the entire Great Qi who could fluently deliver long sentences in less than ten days after he first learned to speak?
Especially since this prodigy had defeated four children older than him at the age of three.
In order to show that his son was the only prodigy, Qi Haoran even waved his hand and called for a guard to exchange moves with Little Bear.
The guards: “…”
Mu Yangling watched with interest. She also wanted to know how strong her son was now, but she was more inclined to experiment with inanimate objects, such as rocks.
Seeing that the guard was frozen, Qi Haoran didn’t want him to hit his son, so he turned to his son and said, “Lift him up and throw him out.”
Little Bear glared at the guard and bounced to the top of his thigh. The guard looked down at him and the corners of his mouth twitched. Just as he was wondering if he should lie down and admit defeat, he saw the little prince grab his waist with his small hands and throw him out. Stunned, the guard subconsciously flipped in the air before landing steadily. He looked up at the little prince in astonishment.
However, Little Bear pursed his lips and looked at his father unhappily. “Too short.”
Mu Yangling hurriedly said, “You’re not considered short. Look, you’re taller than ordinary children. Brother Little Treasure is a year older than you, but look, he’s a head shorter than you.”
If it was any taller, Mu Yangling would suspect that Little Bear had Giant Syndrome.
Qi Haoran was also very satisfied with his son’s height. He picked him up and said seriously, “You did throw him out, but he didn’t fall to the ground. Do you know why?”
Little Bear shook his head in confusion.
“Because he knows qinggong and kung fu. Son, you have to remember that although you were born with great strength, it doesn’t mean that you’re invincible. In this world, many innate shortcomings can be made up for through hard work. No matter how outstanding innate talent is, if you don’t train subsequently, you’ll fall behind others. At that time, your innate advantage won’t be worth mentioning in front of those who catch up with their hard work.”
Seeing that Little Bear only understood half of it, Qi Haoran pointed at Mu Yangling and said, “For example, your mother and I. Your mother was born with divine strength and was even more powerful than you, but she didn’t practice martial arts much after birth and only had a little internal energy. Meanwhile, your daddy has been practicing martial arts since he was young. Back when we were kids, I definitely wouldn’t have been able to defeat your mother. In our teens, we were evenly matched. But now, your mother can’t defeat me at all. What do you think is the reason?”
Little Bear’s eyes lit up and he shouted, “Because Daddy has been practicing martial arts.” Little Bear shouted excitedly, “I want to practice martial arts too!”
Qi Haoran said with a smile, “You’re my son, so of course you have to practice martial arts. However, martial arts isn’t that easy to practice. Once you start, you can’t stop and retreat.”
Little Bear nodded repeatedly and looked at Qi Haoran with bright eyes, as if he could already see himself flying between the trees like his father.
Qi Haoran stroked his head in satisfaction and said, “Since that’s the case, why don’t we start immediately? From tomorrow onwards, you have to get up in the morning and do the horse stance to start laying the foundation.”
Mu Yangling hurriedly said, “He’s only three years old…”
Qi Haoran said, “I, too, started practicing martial arts when I was three years old. At that time, I didn’t even have parents to supervise me and had to rely on my self-awareness. Didn’t I still manage to practice on my own?”
Qi Haoran rarely achieved anything because he rarely confirmed a goal. But once he confirmed his goal, he would persist until he reached his goal. His temperament had been like this ever since he was young. This was the benefit of being single-minded.
Little Bear also patted his chest and promised his mother that he would definitely persevere. He was determined not to be afraid of hardship or exhaustion.
Seeing how enthusiastic her husband and son were, Mu Yangling didn’t want to dampen their enthusiasm, so she could only agree. Then, she expressed that she would provide logistical support, making sure they had enough soup, water, medicine, and things like that.