Chapter 5: Scummy Second Prince II
In the far east corner of the palace, there was a large wooden building where the princes went to "school." It was the same moldy wood and leaky roof as the rest of the palace, but it smelled like incense constantly. The teacher would complain about his sensitive nose and burn two incense burners on every corner of the room, making the smell so overwhelming that the Yang brothers wanted to faint.
And the worst thing was that nearly every day, the scent of the incense was different. There was almost a schedule. On the first day it was fruit, the second vermillion, the third day lotus. It was a miracle how the teacher managed to afford all of this.
Yang Guang stepped foot in the big, musty room, and felt his head spin at the overwhelming scent. He shook it off and walked forward to his very distinct looking desk. It was the smallest desk by quite a margin, and also the only desk littered with old ink stains. He sat down at the small table, waiting for the teacher to come in.
The other Yang brothers filed in one by one, all of them wearing a look of annoyance on their faces. Especially Yang Yong, possibly because he was caught sneaking out from the Fa Shi yesterday. Yang Liang, the youngest Yang brother would just merely sit in the back, reading his childish pictures while his brothers sat in the front and listened to lectures.
He snuck a little wave at the sitting Yang Guang, which the second prince returned, although much more subtly, so much so Yang Liang may not have even noticed it. Yang Yong sat down at his seat, leaning on Yang Mo's table behind him. The third prince grit his teeth and sighed.
That was when the teacher walked in, holding a large pile of scriptures and scrolls. He placed those down in a small basket and sat on the old wooden chair at the front of the room.
"Your Highness the Crown Prince, posture," he said. The teacher was a curious old man, not too old, but his hair was already the color of ash and his face filled with wrinkles. He had a long beard that seemed to have a mind of its own, which the Yang brothers, even Yang Guang, found quite hilarious. Sometimes it would swing wildly without any wind, and sometimes it would even curl itself randomly.
"Well, we're going to go over the texts we read two days ago. Does anyone remember how the first one went?" he asked, picking up a textbook.
Yang Mo stood up and said:
"Sir, I do."
"Recite it. Every word."
"Heaven's blessing is never by chance and neither is hell's curse. Through the eight ways and the almighty wheel, there is one chance to bow to the almighty gods...*" he droned.
Yang Yong in the back was nearly falling asleep on Yang Mo's desk, much to the younger's disgust. Yang Mo continued to recite the entire 50 page book until the teacher called him out.
"Stop. What word did you use there?" the teacher demanded.
"Uh, fly up?" Yang Mo muttered.
Yang Guang at the side silently rolled his eyes but didn't dare do anything else.
"The proper term is 'ascend.' Don't use offhand slang like that," the teacher said.
"Yes sir," the third prince whispered.
"Continue."
And so the third prince did, this time with deliberate care so he wouldn't mess up. Every time he passed a section in the text where he would mention heaven, he was especially careful to say 'ascend.'
"By heaven and hell, there are no restrictions."
Yang Mo finished and bowed before sitting down. He gently nudged his desk forward so as to awake the sleeping Yang Yong.
"So, let's summarize what the text is about. Yang Guang, get up."
Obediently, Yang Guang stood up on unsteady feet. His eyes were trained on the floor, ignoring Yang Yong and Yang Mo's shouting match on the side. Yang Liang was covering his ears and hiding under a table from the noise while Yang Cheng was looking very scared and annoyed on the side.
"CAN YOU TWO SHUT UP!" the teacher shouted. "WE'RE TRYING TO BE PRODUCTIVE! YOU CAN FIGHT AT CULTIVATION!"
Yang Yong immediately jerked up at the ear-piercing shout. He straightened his back and sat at his desk with a proper posture, although from the look on his face, he was clearly not happy about it.
"Now continue."
Yang Guang looked apprehensively at the ground, as if not wanting to speak. He felt his brothers' eyes staring onto his back. His lips quivered as if wanting to speak, but in the end, nothing came out.
"Hurry up." The teacher was now getting impatient.
"Sir, I don't know," Yang Guang at last said.
"Hahahaha, as expected of the retard!" He heard Yang Yong laughing in the back.
"Then sit down. There's no use for you to stand up now," the teacher declared.
Yang Guang sat down and looked quietly at his scriptures. His hands balled into fists, but then he released them, remembering there was nothing he could do about it.
"Sir, I can," Yang Cheng said.
"Huh. Okay, begin."
"What brother Mo said was that through the reincarnation wheel and the official path of heaven*, one can reach immortality. For example, the one known only as Daozhong Xian was the one who avoided all earthly desires, and through years of cultivation, ascended to become a god."
"Very impressive, but what you forgot is the seven curses*. What are they?" the teacher asked.
"Uh-the seven curses are based on the idea of payback. I think it works very similar to heaven's blessings, just like the idea of earning merit and worth, the seven curses are for earning disgrace. Once you have enough disgrace, heaven will strike you down with a curse."
"Good enough. However, no, it's not solely heaven that will work against you. The seven curses can also take form in things around you that slowly torment you," the teacher replied.
"Oh." Yang Mo sat down.
Yang Guang didn't know why, but those particular words from the teacher hurt. He really did wonder if he was cursed, as anyone bearing his misfortune would wonder. Funny thing is that once a stranger cursed him that whenever he was at a happy occasion, it would always be ruined. Jokes on him because Yang Guang had about one happy occasion since then, and that occasion was attending a proper dinner.
"Ok, well today we're going to be starting a new Imperial text. Since you've spent the past month learning about the Dao and virtue, I've decided to give you a break and start some poetry."
"Ew, poetry," Yang Yong muttered.
"If you want to recite the entire Qin handbook for cultivators and royals ten times, continue. If you don't, shut up"
Yang Yong had never met someone with such audacity to tell him "shut up" directly, but the teacher was under his dad's protection, so even if he wanted to punch him he couldn't. His dad was so focused on the boys' education, he made extra sure everyone who was even remotely capable of teaching them was treated extra well.
"Now, stand up and go get your books. I've put them on the empty desk."
"Can I read it too?" Yang Liang shouted, his eyes gleaming with excitement. He had put down his toys and scrolls of childish books and stared hungrily at the pile of scrolls. Yang Liang had forever admired his second brother, third brother, and fourth brother, following whatever they did and trying to act like an adult. He frequently tried to join his brothers' studies although he couldn't understand much.
"You won't understand," the teacher grumbled.
"I will!" Yang Liang shouted.
"Sir, just let him read it."
"Well then, you'll have to share with someone."
"Er-ge!" Yang Liang cried.
Yang Guang cast a sideways at Yang Liang, taken aback. He was surprised at how enthusiastic his brother was about sharing a book with him.
"Hahahahahaha! With the retard! Yang Liang, you're the best at making choices!" Yang Yong burst out laughing.
Yang Liang glared at him, at least, tried to. His puffy cheeks made that glare look as menacing as a baby kitten.
"He is not a retard. In fact, he's smarter than you," Yang Liang retorted.
Yang Yong's face immediately dimmed the second those words came out of Yang Liang's mouth.
"What did you say?" Yang Yong demanded.
Completely indifferent to the change of tone in his brother's voice, Yang Liang spoke up again.
"I said, he's not a retard! Clearly, since you didn't understand what I said, you're the retard!"
This seemed to hit Yang Yong in a particularly hard way, and his face darkened even more. His lips curled up into a snarl and his eyes narrowed.
"Say that again," he growled.
"I said-"
"A-Liang, how about let's not provoke older-" Yang Mo tried to intercept, but was cut off by Yang Liang's loud voice.
"I said you're stupid!"
Yang Yong clenched his fists before he grabbed Yang Liang by the collar and smacked him against the face. That slap sent the fifth prince's head sideways, and, even from a distance, everyone could see the tears brimming his eyes.
Yang Yong's eyes were brimmed with annoyance and almost even hatred. He raised his arm to slap Yang Liang again, and everyone turned away and flinched. Suddenly, a lone leaf flew out from nowhere and struck the crown prince just before he could land his hand on the fifth prince. Just as it hit Yang Yong's arm, it disappeared, leaving no trace but the slight wound on his hand.
It was clearly powered by decently strong spiritual energy, or else there would've been no way it could move so quickly and precisely, hitting the crown prince's hand and being quick and strong enough to draw blood.
"OW! WHO DID THAT!" Yang Yong screeched, clutching his hand and dropping his brother. Yang Mo and Yang Cheng crowded around the crying Yang Liang and pulled him back to his table in the back.
Yang Guang was still stoic as ever, small face devoid of emotion, his hair gently rippling in the spring winds and head held down, trying to avoid being noticed.
Yang Yong looked at Yang Guang and a fire erupted in his eye.
"Scumbag!" he screamed and lunged toward Yang Guang. Before he could even move away, Yang Yong had his hand firmly wrapped around the second prince's neck.
"I-I," Yang Guang stuttered.
"I SWEAR! CAN I JUST TEACH A NORMAL CLASS FOR ONCE!" The teacher finally broke and shouted, waving his arms and sending all the Yang brothers flying back. Yang Yong and Yang Guang piled up against the east wall, right next to all the swords, which were now scattered across the ground and very close to impaling Yang Guang. Yang Mo, Yang Cheng and Yang Liang were stuck against the west wall, with Yang Mo and Yang Cheng serving as human cushions to soften Yang Liang's landing.
"Owwww…" Yang Mo grumbled, clutching his stomach.
"WHAT THE HELL OLD MAN!" Yang Yong angrily screeched at him, pushing Yang Guang out of the way and standing up.
Yang Guang could feel the edge of a sword pierce his back from the sword and flinched. He slapped the sword away and pressed his hand to the wound, trying to stop the bleeding. It was no use, as after only a few seconds, he could tell that his robes were wet with blood.
He sighed and walked over toward his younger brothers.
"Everyone, back in your seats unless you want that to happen again." The teacher seemed to have calmed down again, his commanding air still there, but a little less sharp now.
The princes reluctantly headed back to their seats. After another few hours of "boring" academics, the sun was high in the sky. Before lunch, there was one last class left, the "fun" one. Cultivation.
"Finally the fun part," Yang Yong said.
Yang Guang shakily summoned his sword from the pile. It was quite a flimsy sword, barely firmer than Yang Liang's toy swords, so weak that, if it wasn't for Yang Guang's cultivation, it would be snapped in half by his brothers' swords.
He called it the WuMing sword, as it was just that, nameless. He followed behind the others silently, crouching his back, hoping not to be noticed.
The cultivation clearing was a medium sized opening where all sorts of contraptions stood, from spinning wheels donned with spikes to moving stumps, everything was there.
"Oh shit," Yang Guang muttered under his breath. That leaf was a really bad decision on his part, he really didn't think that through. At least Yang Liang might be at his funeral.
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