"Yes, Your Majesty!"
So, he wasn't even going to mention the man's dereliction of duty? He was just focused on meeting that old farmer?
Even more baffling, His Majesty stood silently nearby without raising a word of objection. From the look of it, he even intended to accompany them to see Old Shi himself?
Could it be that he was the one who had gone mad? Had the world truly turned upside down? Were they seriously matchmaking rice now?
The steward led Yun Shu and her companions to the small field where Old Shi had been toiling away. All the while, his mind churned in quiet disbelief, questioning everything he knew about the world.
Only when they reached the patch of land and saw Old Shi's honest, weathered face did he snap out of his daze, though his tone still wavered as he spoke.
"What are you standing there for? Hurry and pay your respects to His Majesty, Her Highness the Crown Princess, and the Sixth Prince!"
Pay… respect to whom?
Old Shi had spent a lifetime with his back to the sky and his hands in the soil. He had never once encountered such exalted figures.
When he heard the introductions, his first instinct was sheer terror. Surely the nobles had discovered his recent blunder. Trembling from head to toe, he dropped to his knees and kowtowed frantically.
"Spare me, Your Majesty! Forgive me, Your Highness the Crown Princess! Have mercy, Sixth Prince!"
Yun Chuhuan blinked in surprise.
That was certainly a new variation on a formal greeting.
"Quickly, rise!"
Before Yun Chuhuan could linger on it, Yun Shu had already stepped forward and personally helped Old Shi to his feet.
"This Princess heard you discovered that rice has male and female varieties. Is that true?"
"Commoner… I…"
Still trembling, Old Shi struggled to steady himself. Her words nearly made him drop to his knees again out of sheer reflex.
But then he caught something in her tone. She didn't sound angry. Nor was there any trace of doubt or reproach.
She sounded… genuinely excited?
Old Shi wasn't sure if he had misunderstood, but his tightly wound nerves did ease a little. At the very least, he found the courage to answer her question.
"Replying to Your Highness the Crown Princess… it happened like this…"
While Old Shi spoke with Yun Shu, Emperor Xuanwu and Yun Chuhuan stood quietly to the side, listening intently.
Emperor Xuanwu, already aware of the potential of hybrid rice, listened with particular focus.
Yun Chuhuan, on the other hand, found it all a bit much. He hadn't been interested to begin with, and much of the explanation went over his head. After a while, he could only grasp one point clearly—
His Fifth Sister actually intended to appoint this Old Shi as a instructor at Tian Sheng Academy's agriculture department!
Had the academy really run so short of instructors that they were recruiting illiterate farmers?
If he had known, he would have asked his Fifth Sister to let him try his hand at being a instructor too!
Sure, classes had to be taught, but being a instructor carried far more prestige than being a student. He could swing a ruler at unruly children and, most importantly, wouldn't have to do any homework.
The moment he got back in the carriage, Yun Chuhuan voiced his idea without hesitation.
"Fifth Sister, really! I'm definitely more qualified than that Old Shi fellow! At least I can read! I've studied the Four Books and Five Classics. Compared to a farmer who can't read a single character, I'd be more than enough!"
"You?"
Yun Shu chuckled at the absurdity of it.
But after a pause, she actually gave it some thought and nodded.
"If you're truly interested, then on days when the Upper Academy is on recess, you may go to the academy and help teach basic literacy."
Tian Sheng Academy primarily admitted children and youths from families too poor to afford formal schooling.
For hands-on trades like blacksmithing or carpentry, literacy was less important.
But for studies like medicine or accounting, reading was essential.
Relying on physicians from the Imperial Medical Bureau or borrowed officials from the Ministry of Revenue just to teach basic literacy had always felt like a waste.
If Yun Chuhuan had time to spare, he could certainly fill in.
While Yun Shu calculated the matter quickly in her mind, Yun Chuhuan's expression was one of utter disbelief, as if the heavens had collapsed.
"Fifth Sister, I don't think you understand me. I meant I want to be a full-time instructor at Tian Sheng Academy. But I still want my recess days. I can't be expected to work on my days off!"
"You certainly think highly of yourself."
Emperor Xuanwu, who had been listening nearby, let out a cold laugh.
"Tian Sheng Academy has no need for a half-baked instructor like you. If you truly have that much free time, you'd best spend it figuring out how to explain to Us what sort of mischief you've been up to behind Our back."
Yun Chuhuan froze.
He had already forgotten the careless comment he had made in front of the steward at Imperial Estate earlier.
Now, with Emperor Xuanwu's cold laughter hanging in the air, his scalp prickled with dread. His mind scrambled to recall which of his past sins might have come to light.
As he went over each offense, he ended up confessing nearly everything under Yun Shu's pitying gaze.
And, as expected, Emperor Xuanwu fined him thirty thousand taels of silver.
Yun Chuhuan was speechless.
Yun Shu had heard stories about this reckless troublemaker getting fined over and over again, but this was the first time she had seen it happen in person.
Perhaps out of some misplaced sympathy, she actually spoke up to help him request a brief reprieve, offering a small balm for the boy's bruised pride.
"Father Emperor, in a few days, the heir of Marquis Wu'an will be departing the capital for Qiongzhou to begin naval training. His daughter, Cen Yiyi, will be accompanying him.
She was once my study companion. We do not know how long it will be before we meet again.
I would like to take Sixth Brother to Tian Waitian Restaurant the day after tomorrow to host a farewell banquet for Yiyi."
"Very well. You may handle the arrangements as you see fit."
Cen Yiyi was, after all, the future first female General of the Nation. Her close friendship with the imperial family was something Emperor Xuanwu welcomed.
He even worried the two might grow distant after such a long separation and thoughtfully added,
"She is but a young girl heading to unfamiliar territory. The people around her will likely be rough military men with little attention to detail.
When you have time, write to her. Or ask Tang Aiqing to keep an eye on her."
"Yes, Father Emperor."
Yun Shu didn't pause to question why her Imperial Father would make such a meticulous suggestion, as if he were deeply invested in her friendship with Cen Yiyi.
Her thoughts had already drifted elsewhere—specifically to that last sentence.
Ask Tang Aiqing to keep an eye on her?
True, Yiyi was still young, and somewhat oblivious in certain matters. At the moment, her mind was wholly fixed on her dream of becoming a general.
But who knew how long she would stay in Qiongzhou with the Marquis's heir?
If the original storyline's moonlight in her heart was going to be the one keeping an eye on her…
Tsk. If they spent enough time together, would Yun Chuhuan—once her destined match—be written out of the story early?
She turned her head and gave a quiet, meaningful glance at Yun Chuhuan, who remained blissfully unaware of the emotional tides shifting beneath the surface.
He was still happily celebrating that he wouldn't have to attend the Upper Academy the day after tomorrow and could also get a free meal at Tian Waitian Restaurant.
Yun Shu's gaze lingered a moment longer before she quietly looked away, her expression unreadable.