During the summer afternoon, the weather was even hotter than usual. The sunshine appeared dazzling and sharp like a sword and no one could open their eyes under its brightness. No one wanted to spend even a moment outside except for the guards who were on duty.
The swift pace of the maids, when passing by the martial arts court, paused in surprised upon hearing bursts of cheering coming from inside. They couldn't help wondering who was working so hard in this unusually sultry afternoon; it inevitably made them curious. Thus, as they passed by, they peeked in through the window and saw several princes.
Within the martial arts field, there were bursts of sword shadows and a sweaty young man was concentrating on his sword moves. He exercised each move very seriously, and there were still a few people who looked younger than him standing around and watching him practice with fascination and admiration shining eyes in their eyes.
He made a few more strong sword moves and put it in its sheath. There was no expression on the boy's face but the joy in his eyes revealed the pride and satisfaction he truly felt inside.
"Eldest Brother is so powerful!" The youngest child on the side clapped his hands, his eyes glowed with worship and his blushing face was full of excitement as he ran towards the young swordsman.
Qi Musheng took the towel handed over by a guard standing on the side to wipe his sweat and said to the enthusiastic child, "Sixth Imperial Brother is still young. When you are older, I will teach you how to practice martial arts."
Qi Ziyu heard the words and jumped up in excitement. "Eldest Brother, you truly mean it? Great, I--"
Before he could finish speaking, he was interrupted by another child. "What is so great?! Eldest Brother is going to teach you, but Second Brother is going to teach me! We'll see who is good at that time! Humph!"
"Xiao Seven, stop fooling around. Second Brother is in Father's Xuantian Palace all day long, how can he teach you how to practise martial arts? Moreover, he has to follow Father to Imperial Court every morning. Where does he have time to spare? You just want to compete with Xiao Six and started talking nonsense again." Another child older than the two bickering ones, smiled warmly, intending to stop his two younger brothers from fighting each other, but he did not know that his words caused the seventh-ranked Qi Yaoyu to be even more discontented.
"Fifth Imperial Brother is partial, I'm not speaking any nonsense! I just want Second Imperial Brother to teach me! Second Brother and I have a very good relationship. If I ask him, he will agree! I will prove how wrong you are!" Qi Yaoyu finished and stretched his face at Qi Ziyu's small face, trying to show his dreadful majesty but didn't know that the guilty conscience in his eyes had already been revealed.
Qi Musheng listened to their dispute and thought of Qi Mingyue, the most beloved prince of Father Emperor and had a strange feeling in his heart. There seemed to be some jealousy but also many other things. He thought of the words his consort mother had said when he had visited her recently. The words he recalled suddenly made him withdraw of all his expressions and he lowered his head slightly to say, "Don't fight. Every day Second Brother has to accompany Father, it's not easy for us to see each other. How can it be possible for him to practice martial arts with us? If you two younger brothers want to learn, then I will teach you. No matter how bad it is, you can look for a master; Father Emperor will agree."
It was Father Emperor who didn't care, Qi Zheli's face revealed a trace of loss. He ranked fifth, and Third Imperial Brother, Qi Lianshuo, above him had once been loved by Father Emperor, but the closeness was just for a while before they grew estranged. As for Second Imperial Brother, Qi Mingyue, Father's love for him made people both envious and jealous. When Father came to him, he had to wait until he was greeted by Father Emperor before he could see his expression from afar. Father would then he ask a few words casually and then let him return.
Qi Musheng saw his face and knew that he was just like himself. He was thinking of their brother and sighed, but didn’t speak. The two little ones didn’t know these things. They were just shouting and arguing about the truthfulness of Qi Yaoyu's previous words.
"Strange, I don't know why I don't see Third Imperial Brother these days? Is he not bored staying inside the house all day?" Qi Zheli asked.
"Concubine Xiao does not allow him to come out at random and only lets him study poetry inside and that's why it feels like we see Third Brother less often, but compared to Second Brother, he's still easy to see." There was some sarcasm in Qi Musheng's words that Qi Zheli perceived but only smiled and didn't answer.
On the other side, both the little princes were already in trouble and their small faces were red and scrunched up in competition. Neither of the two was convinced. Suddenly, a figure passed by the door and after a pause, Qi Ziyu saw and called out, "Second Imperial Brother?!"
Qi Mingyue, who was passing by outside, had to stop. He regretted that he shouldn't have hesitated because of the noise from the court. Now that he was seen, he had to stop because of the cry of surprise.
With a gentle smile on his face, he unhurriedly walked in. Looking at the row of brothers standing in front of him, he couldn't help but frown, thinking that his Father Emperor was too capable at procreating, but there was still a smile on his lips. The brothers who rarely met, greeted each other, "I just happened to pass by here and didn't expect Eldest Brother and several younger brothers to be here."
It was the first time they saw him outside of a banquet at such a close distance. In all the princes' minds, rumours flashed - whether it was Father's attitude towards him, the time he drank Ming Xun, and the chaos about the envoys in court - they were both envious and jealous of him, but couldn't help giving birth to a little worship and yearning as well. It wasn't known when their Second Brother became an existence similar to Father Emperor who could only be looked at from afar and admired.
Qi Mingyue looked at the younger princes' stunned faces, then looked at Qi Musheng, who didn’t like to speak in front of him since he was a child, and said, "It must be hard for Eldest Imperial Brother to practice martial arts in this weather seeing all that sweat. What are all younger brothers doing here? There are swords everywhere, they can be dangerous so be careful."
"Thank you... Thank you Second Imperial Brother for reminding, we... will pay attention." Qi Yaoyu blushed, looked up at the Second Prince who resembled Father Emperor just as the rumours had said and stuttered.
At this time, except for Qi Musheng's eyes that were somewhat dodgy, the remaining few looked at Second Prince Qi Mingyue in front of them, all a little awestruck. There was a faint smile on Second Brother's lips and when he spoke to them, it felt as if warm spring breeze blew that brought a calm feeling. It was as if they were facing their beautiful and noble mothers, he made them feel very close and warm.
Qi Zheli, faced with his smile and gentleness, the feelings of loss and envy in his heart lightened up a lot. He smiled back, "Second Imperial Brother can rest assured, we are just watching from the side. Eldest Brother's swordsmanship is so powerful, all of us feel envious."
Qi Mingyue saw that he looked beautiful and behaved in a gentle manner. He couldn't help but glance at him a few times, recalling the comments he had heard from the servants. Fifth Imperial Brother liked literature and was of gentle character but he wasn't noticed much when he was born. He was two years younger than him. At that time, he had attracted everyone's attention because of his Father's affection. Qi Zheli's mother was kind and well-mannered, and happy being by herself and didn't compete for favour which made this prince even more inconspicuous.
Thinking of this, he could not help hooking his lips and patting his head gently. "Zheli is really a good boy, I really like it."
He didn’t call him Imperial Brother, instead, called his name which didn’t conform to the court’s etiquette but Qi Zheli only felt very cordial when he heard it. Although he had learned to act like an adult, appeared calm in front of everyone, and didn't want to be treated as a child, but somehow, when Second Brother stroked his head and spoke such words, it made him feel inexplicably happy.
Xiao Six Qi Ziyu stood on the side full of envy, biting his finger, and suddenly said, "Second Imperial Brother, listen to Seventh Imperial Brother! He said that you and him are close and if he wants to learn martial arts from you, you will agree. Is that true?" He asked while looking at Qi Yaoyu proudly, waiting for his lies to be broken through and make him look ugly.
Xiao Seven, who glanced at his face with a guilty conscience and looked around. Qi Mingyue looked at him behaving like this, held back a smile, and nodded, "It is indeed like this, but Xiao Seven is still young. It would be too early to learn."
Qi Yaoyu looked up in disbelief, Second Brother actually helped him lie! God knows that he had only met Second Imperial Brother a few times. Listening to him, he felt happy at once and raised his head smugly at Qi Ziyu.
Qi Ziyu turned his little head and then said to Qi Musheng, who had never said a word, "Eldest Imperial Brother, who is better between you and Second Brother?"
Qi Musheng always shrank in front of Qi Mingyue. He looked at the long sword in his hand and asked softly, "I don't know which weapon Second Brother has learned?"
"My weapon has always been carried on my body but you can't see it. Can you guess where it is?" Since it was boring, it was better to tease these Imperial Brothers. Chief Liu still had some business with his Father and it hadn't reached the time for martial arts practice yet. He wanted to go to the Father Emperor’s martial arts court earlier, but at the moment, he could only spend time here.
At this time, he was wearing a light-coloured robe which appeared lilac under the sunlight but he wasn't holding any object in his hands; they couldn't see where he could hide a weapon. Everyone, including Qi Musheng, shook their heads.
With a light smile, Qi Mingyue raised his sleeves and a ray of sunlight flashed in front of everyone's eyes. The iron shelf full of various weapons not far away suddenly broke apart and scattered. The weapons placed on it remained intact, then fell on the ground one after another.
Looking at this scene, Qi Ziyu and Qi Yaoyu gaped in silent disbelief, even Qi Zheli, who didn't hold much interested in martial arts, was suddenly shocked by the scene in front of him. Qi Musheng looked at the scattered broken iron, lowered his head again, looked at the sword in his hand and said nothing.
Just then, a man appeared outside the door. It was Chief Liu Yi, "This one has seen Your Highness." He walked into the martial arts court, appearing blind to everything on the ground. But to the sight of the undamaged weapons, his eyes showed a little satisfaction. He bowed to Qi Mingyue, "Your Royal Highness, the martial arts Master has been waiting for a long time."
Wasn't Chief Liu his master? He usually looked expressionless and stayed in the background, however, he occasionally spoke such funny things. Qi Mingyue nodded, “I'm coming.” No one in the palace knew the other identity of Chief Liu as the Second Prince, Qi Mingyue's martial arts Master, nobody knew that Chief Liu, who was rigorous in daily life and lacked expressions, was an expert.
Watching him go to the martial arts field that only Father Emperor could enter, the princes stopped talking but there was even more longing in their eyes. Only Qi Yaoyu murmured, "I also like Second Brother." It wasn't known whom the 'also' referred to.
With Chief Liu, Qi Mingyue entered the martial arts field. This was the place where Qi Xutian came to learn martial arts. Usually, the gates were locked and no one was allowed entry. In fact, there was nothing special in inside, just the weapons displayed on the shelf were the best of all. There were also excerpts of Jianghu's various martial arts schools' manuals for reference.
When he arrived inside, Qi Mingyue didn't start practising immediately. Thinking of the disaster he had suffered a while ago, he asked Liu Yi, "Can anyone in this world interfere with the mind of others?" In his view, it should be hypnosis but he didn't know how it was done here.
"Of course. Your Highness should know, the Empress is one of them."
"She can control people's minds with guqin sounds. It comes across as easy but it must not be easy to practice this method."
Liu Yi shook his head and expressed seriously, "Your Highness is right, it is not easy to learn this method. If they aren't special, ordinary people don't even have the qualifications to learn."
Did Jiang Yao have these qualifications? "The Empress seems to be good at this method. How is she different from ordinary people?"
A hint of a smile appeared on Liu Yi's face, "Your Royal Highness, don't think that you can learn this method. In fact, you need to learn to use a string instrument for it to be effective. The difference between the Empress and ordinary people is also up to Her Highness to tell, she might tell Your Highness about this method. After all, it's from her school. The wrong words of others are ultimately inappropriate."
Why did it seem like Chief Liu's rare smile was strange? Qi Mingyue looked at Liu Yi who was standing on the side, suspiciously. Liu Yi resumed his normal appearance of expressionlessness he had normally.
It seemed that he would have to visit Empress' Ranxin Pavilion one day, he sighed. He recalled the scene of his dream. Occasionally, he dreamt back and remembered those again. Father Emperor also seemed to be aware of it and always hugged him in his arms, or just...
Qi Mingyue thought of something unknown and his face turned strange.
Since Father Emperor said those words to him, his attitude towards him had become even more unrestrained; now, he always loved to tease him and periodically, he would still go to a harem concubines but no longer brought back powdery fragrance on his body. From his reaction on the bed, it looked like he never really favoured those concubines...
Thinking about the things Father Emperor did to him in bed recently, even with his past experience, he still couldn't stand it. Father simply tried to lure him and provoke desire. What he did wasn't unknown to Qi Mingyue, but he was only twelve years old and still insisted on waiting for a few more years. If he let Father do what he wanted, it would be him who would actually suffer.
Liu Yi was in deep contemplation after seeing him asking these questions. He also saw the look on Qi Mingyue's face which he had never seen before - helplessness and even a little bit embarrassed... It was truly rare to see His Royal Highness in such a way, revealing this kind of expression. It seemed that His Majesty had really done something excessive.
Liu Yi looked away casually and pretended not to have seen anything. After following His Majesty for so many years, his preferences were naturally clear to him. His Majesty's behaviour had long been known to him. Therefore, even though he was aware of the relationship between both father and son, he didn't say anything.
Between the two of them, there was no room for others to interfere. But His Royal Highness was still young, after all, so he hoped that His Majesty could bear it for a bit more time. How to say... His Royal Highness Mingyue was his own disciple. He didn't want to see the appearance of his weak and tired body during his martial arts practise every day.
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