CH 1

The Ugly Prince: Chapter One

Boom–! 

A thunderbolt exploded across the sky. 

Immediately, one after another, electric snakes forcibly tore the dark sky, and each tear would be accompanied by a burst of thunder. 

A black mass of clouds rolled across the sky, the clouds rumbled again and again, and torrents of rains poured down and swept the whole world. 

The heavy raindrops struck the eaves of the palace, sounding like beans upon the roof as they came down. The sound was almost loud enough to cover the screams coming from the magnificent palace.  

”It has been such a long time, why haven’t you been born yet?” The ninety-fifth emperor, dressed in bright yellow, anxiously asked the female attendants as he paced in his study.

”All births are this way, even your Imperial majesty’s own birth. Births are difficult, let alone the birth of a dragon son. Please be at ease, we request Buddha grant peace of mind for the virtuous concubine and blessings for the dragon son.” The female officer knelt on the ground and replied. 

When the others saw this, they knelt down on the ground together and said, “the god and Buddha are on the earth.”

“Enough!” And just when the victorious emperor was about to get angry…

“Wah!”

A loud baby cry accompanied a burst of thunder across the sky. Unfortunately, the emperor in the imperial study could not hear.

But soon someone came flying with the message, “A message – concubine Yin Xian gave birth to a son, mother and son are healthy.”

“Congratulations to the emperor, emperor’s son was born, the world is safe, long live the emperor!” Hearing the good news, all the people congratulated in unison.

Now the son of heaven’s anger suddenly turned to joy. With a wave of his robe’s sleeve, the emperor immediately departed to the Rui Hua Palace.

At this time, the inside of the Rui Hua Palace was the inverse ratio of the joy outside.

Silence. No one spoke except the baby’s loud cry.

The female official in charge of delivering the baby was holding the baby in her arms. Her face looked stunned.

None of the maids-in-waiting who had helped cut the umbilical cord and clean the room spoke. They looked at the midwife with faces that seemed to imply fear.

“Hong Xiu, is it a boy or a girl?” After having just given birth to the child, the virtuous concubine gasped for breath. She had not yet noticed the strange atmosphere in the room, or the wide open, searching eyes of the midwife.

“It’s a prince, my queen.” Kneeling on the edge of the bed to clean him up for her, the maid responded with a trembling voice.

“A prince!” The tortured and tired-to-the-point-of-dying countenance of Yin Xian changed, her eyes suddenly bright, “Quick! Show me my royal child!”

“Lady, you are still physically… ” The midwife wanted to stop it.

“Here comes the emperor—”

“Your majesty!” The virtuous concubine heard that the son of heaven was there, and was filled with joy. Listening to what the midwife said in her birth, the emperor had been waiting in the royal study. Now that her child had just been born, the emperor was coming to her palace? What an honor for her! Therefore, regardless of postpartum physical weakness, Yin Xian struggled to sit up.

“My queen, you… “

“Your majesty, my Lord, live forever!”

All the people bowed down, including the female official holding the prince. Virtuous concubine stayed in bed, but also bent her body, in order to greet the emperor respectfully.

“Lovely concubine, quickly rise. You have worked hard. Let me see my fourth son.” Then the emperor waved to the female officer who held the prince, motioning for her to come.

Huang Fu Sheng (the emperor) sat down on the edge of the bed. Yin Xian dare not sit on the head of the bed, and only braced her hand against it for support. She also couldn’t wait to look at the female officer.

That was her child, her hope.

Listen, what a powerful cry. This proved that her child is healthy and strong, and will be more reliable in the future.

The midwife female official held the child, and step by step came toward the son of heaven. The closer she approached, the more violently she shook.

The child’s cry became more and more urgent. When he came into the world, he didn’t know anything but to cry and howl loudly.

Closer. Closer and closer.

The female official continued to dawdle and Huang Fu Sheng was impatient, so he simply stood up and stretched his arms to take over his child.

His child, who is the child of him and his chosen concubine. He had never anticipated a child so much, except his first child. He hoped that the child will grow up in the future to protect his siblings, and he even thought of the child’s name beforehand. Like his brothers, whose names are all related to jade, and this child is the hardest and most beautiful that…

“What is this?!” The emperor roared in disbelief at what he saw in his swaddling clothes.

“Where is my prince? What kind of monster would you dare to put instead…!”

“Emperor, please spare our lives, spare our lives!” The ladies knelt together and cried.

Hong Xiu knelt down and kowtowed to the emperor with all her might. “I dare not cheat your majesty,” she said.

“Emperor, please spare our lives, please spare our lives!” Female officials in twos and threes knocked their heads on the ground.

The female officials knelt down and begged for mercy, knowing that their lives would probably not last through the night.

“Emperor… my child…” Yin Xian do not know what happened, and with her trembling voice asked to see the child, but did not dare to do more than that.

Huang Fu Sheng turned to Yin Xian, face full of anger. He began to raise his arm, and the swaddling wrap looked like it would fall.

“Boom—! Ka—!”

The crack of a thunderbolt exploded across the roof.

Huang Fu Sheng’s hand shook, and the swaddling in his arms fell on the thick quilt.

The short length of brocade that wrapped the baby fell open, and the naked baby that lay inside was exposed.

Red body, red hands and feet, red face…

“Ah ah ah!” The virtuous concubine saw the baby clearly in the midst of the swaddling clothes, and at once she screamed horribly, and fainted from fright.

Huang Fu Sheng’s face was full of disgust, and he departed with a wave of his sleeve. The little creature who he did not look at for a second more, cried itself hoarse.

When the emperor left, none of the maids in the room dared to get up immediately. They were waiting, waiting to see if they would live or die.

Hong Xiu rose, blood running down her head, to mercilessly stare to the baby on the bed, eyes full of venom. “You are a devil, born to be a detriment to others!” The son of heaven gave birth to such an ugly freak, so regardless of what they decide to do—whether to hide it or kill it—she will definitely die.

“Wah—wah—”

The baby boy on the bed knew nothing but to cry, so he could only cry.

The small face that cried crumpled more and more, crying so much that one could not see his eyes, mouth, or nose. One could only see the brow bone of that small face. There was a red, v-shaped birthmark that met in the center of his eyebrows, and two red birthmarks that extended from his eyes to his ears.

Soon after, there was an imperial decree. That night, every who had seen the newborn prince, including the servants and attendants, all 11 people were condemned to death. The reason for this is because they were bribed, bribed to curse of the prince. In the midwife’s house, they found a tool that had been used to curse the prince—a doll with an ugly face painted on the abdomen.

Three months passed, and at the urging of the minister of rites, the current emperor finally gave his fourth son the name ‘jie.’

Jie meant truly ugly and vicious.

After knowing that her child was given such a name, the virtuous concubine cried several times and fainted.

Her child was no longer her hope—not only a diminished amount of hope, but now no hope at all.

Day after day passed, and the emperor who had loved her and pampered her never did again.

Many other concubines, under the pretext of sympathy, came to see the misshapen son of the  woman, and laughed at her loss of royal favor.

Yin Xian’s loneliness, jealous, and hatred increasingly grew.

Because of the child’s birth, the emperor not only ceased to visit her rooms, but also some of the royal court no longer visited.

If she couldn’t see the emperor, she couldn’t win his favor again. If she can’t be loved, she won’t be able to conceive again, nor will she be able to have a prince who will guarantee her status.

‘I wish I never gave birth to him.’

‘If only he had died at birth.’

If only she’d had a miscarriage when she was pregnant. If so, perhaps everyone would pity her for the child she had lost, and perhaps she could take advantage of that, bringing down that nasty woman!

Now it’s all a dream.

There he is.

She can’t kill him, but can’t stand to keep him.

She had saved the midwife, after all, someone needed to take care of the child. The emperor did not choose to kill him, and for various reasons no one could kill him. After all, it was his seed.

When midwife saw that the concubine wanted to kill the child, the midwife reminded her: she couldn’t get rid him. If others noticed he was missing… even if the emperor himself wanted the prince to disappear, the baby is the son of the emperor. If he died, it would be investigated. Both she and her father will be affected. So she could keep him, but she couldn’t kill him.

Yin Xian understood this truth, but the person who originally would have been the most vulnerable to harm is now the safest person in the entire palace.

She hates it!

Everyone knew that the virtuous concubine gave birth to an ugly son, who was hated by the emperor. And that he was given a frightful name.

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Lacking the love from his mother and father, even if left alive, what kind of threat could he be? On the contrary, let him live, but he will impede the way of Yin Xian.

So, Huang Fu Jie lived in the palace. Under his mother’s gaze full of hatred, under the neglect of his father, under the eyes of his eunuchs, under the eyes of his concubines, under the eyes of his sons, under the eyes of his daughters, over and over.

Huang Fu Jie was still an ignorant child.

He lived, but sadly.

But he did not know what sadness was, he only knew that being beaten would hurt, being scolded would hurt, being hungry would make him dizzy and unable to walk.

Initially, he would cry to others, calling the midwife his mother, calling people to save him. For a long time, he knew it was no use to cry, that it made people hate him more.

He thought that the one who hates him the most should be his mother, and the second is the red/sleeve responsible for taking care of him. Then came the eunuchs of his mother’s palace, then his brothers and sisters, and of course the mothers of those brothers and sisters. Although he had never met them, they were said to dislike him as much as his father did, whom he had never met.

Oh, and his grandfather really hated him, too. Hong Xiu didn’t even let the prince come out, but it is said that his grandfather looked at him from a distance, and frowned at his mother.

Huang Fu Jie is five years old this year.

He doesn’t remember much until he was five. Five years of experience only taught him one thing: that is not to cry, especially not in front of other people, because crying will bring more misfortune.

It was past noon, and he had not yet eaten his lunch, nor does he seem to have had breakfast.

The midwife rarely comes to take care of him, leaving him in the care of a maid and a eunuch. But though this pair of maidservant and eunuch remembered to feed him in the beginning. After doing it for a while, they noticed that he was being neglected, either intentionally or unintentionally. Eventually, the servants began to eat the food that was sent for him.

He smelled the fragrance coming from the house where his mother was resting.

He thought about it, felt his little tummy, and decided to go into the house. Sometimes, he would be lucky and there would be no one in the house, but there would be a nice snack on the table.

He seems to be in luck today, too. His mother was in the room, but seems to be asleep on the couch.

The refreshments were placed on a small table in front of the bed.

He crept stealthily up to the couch, snatched up a piece of cake, put it in his mouth, and took a step backward.

His mother didn’t wake up. He’s still safe.

The delicious dessert was swallowed whole before he could taste it.

Licking his lips, he was even hungrier after the first bite.

Another piece, can’t be caught, don’t be scared, hurry up!

“What are you doing?”

A sharp rebuke rang in his ear, frightening him and causing him to knock over several of the fine jade serving dishes.

“Someone, come! What have you been doing? Allowing this evil thing to unexpectedly sneak in without notice!”

In a fuss, out of nowhere, not only did three or four female servants appear, but also the midwife.

Yin Xian grabbed the bamboo fan on the couch and handed it to the midwife way: “Is this how you mind him? By letting him come to my couch and steal my snacks?”

“It is Hong Xiu’s fault, reprimand me.” The midwife hurriedly knelt down and took over the bamboo fan, saying, “It is me who has not disciplined the fourth prince, and this midwife is willing to be punished.”

“Be punished? Why would you be punished? Since the prince breaks the law the same as a commoner, then today he will pay for his mistakes in the same way! Chunlan, give me a hand!”

With a crisp “yes,” a court maid appeared before the prince.

When Huang Fu Jie saw the palm of his opponent’s hand striking out at his face, he closed his eyes tightly.

Every time the maid hit him in the face, his mother would repeat: “This slap is to teach you etiquette as a prince.”

“Pa!”

His face burned with the pain. Huang Fu Jie did not dare to touch his face, also did not dare cry, also did not dare to dodge, because he knew that if he did these things, his mother will get angrier and he would get slapped more.

“This is a slap in the face to teach you a lesson. Give him a good beating for me, teach this greedy thing! See if later on he still dares to steal food!”

“Pa! Pa!”

Blood was pouring out of the corners of his mouth. The prince fell to the ground.

Yin Xian watched as a eunuch picked Huang Fu Jie up from the ground and let the maid Chunlan continue to slap him in the face 10 more times.

Before the 10 slaps were over, the emperor finally burst into tears. He wanted to stop, he didn’t want to be a nuisance, but he was in real pain, and he could not escape anywhere.

Yin Xian listened to him cry and cry, wathed Huang Fu Jie’s facial features distort because of his crying, and her eyes filled with more and more disgust.

“Midwife, you listen to me well: for two days, prohibit him from not only drinking water, but also eating rice! Have him watched, and do not let him leave his chamber!”

“Yes, mistress.”

“If he does not obey, and cries, take him to the palace and have the priest discipline him further.”

“Yes, mistress.” The midwife clenched the bamboo fan in her hand, which Hen Feo had given her in order to discipline the prince.

When it was late, the hungry prince took a copper spoon from under his bed and began to dig a corner.

There was no lamp lit in the room. It was completely dark.

But it didn’t matter. No one had ever lit a lamp for him, so he did not know how it should have been, that many lamps were supposed to be lit to illuminate the dark night.

As he dug, his strength left him.

But if he did not dig, he would not be able to eat for two days. That was too miserable. He had experienced it multiple times before, and if he could avoid it, he wanted to.

When he felt something beneath his touch, the prince took the soft thing and put it in his mouth.

It tastes bad, but at least it’s something to eat.

It’s his secret. The secret of his hunger.

He had hid in the corner of his room—some of the worms he had caught in the garden, especially the soft, disjointed worms that could be cut into two—with mud.

All he had to do was to pull out the brick, and that’s where he kept all the treasures he needed to survive his hunger. There were worms and some other edible thing thrown in messily.

A few times before, these things here had helped him get through a lot of this type of punishment. So he stored things like this often.

About half a year later, one day, he was taken to a very, very big house.

That day, the eunuchs in his mother’s palace cleaned him up a lot. When combing his hair, they trimmed off a lot of his hair and dressed him in a suit of purple cotton-padded jacket and trousers. He looked very smart.

There were already many people in the room when he arrived. Everyone looked at him as if they had been waiting for him for a long time.

As he went to see the strangers one by one, one of the children burst into tears. Crying and calling him a monster.

“Monster! Mother, mother, I’m scared, I’m scared!”

Sitting next to the crying child was another child who also appeared to be five or six years old. The child looked at him with panic and fear in his eyes.

The children, who were older than him, gathered around him.

“This prince looks different, not a good sign.”

The adult’s voice, though small, was heard by the older children. The children looked at each other.

That only happened once. For a long time afterward, he was not allowed to go up to the great house again.

The maid Dongmei, who was taking care of him, said that he frightened the youngest son (who was the emperor’s favorite and most precious child) so much so that he fell ill and had a high fever for two days in a Row.

For this, the emperor was furious, as punishment he sent Huang Fu Jie to the academy to study. Another punishment, of course, came from a different direction.

Not only was the emperor furious, but so was his mother.

In addition to not giving him anything to eat for two days, she also commanded the midwife to whip his back twenty times with bamboo fan in his back whipped twenty times as a punishment for frightening the other six princes.

Later, he had to go and apologize to the other six princes’ mothers in person. After coming back, he did not know what he had done to anger his mother again, but she took his hairpin and poked his brow bone with it.

The skin of the brow bone was punctured and bled.

The six year old prince stood on tiptoe in front of the bronze mirror and prodded his brow bone.

Why don’t the blemishes go down?

His mother had poked him and pressed that area with a board, and the midwife had tied a cloth tightly over his head for a long time. His brow bone was still raised more than normal.

He was young, but he also knew that without the brow ridge and the birthmark on his face, maybe his mother and the midwife would not hate him so much. And his brother would not see him and start crying.

“Bang!”

He banged his forehead against the wall, hoping to flatten his brow bone.

“Bang! Bang, bang!”

The blood stained the wall, leaving little red circles.

When he heard that his brothers had come to play with him, Huang Fu Jie was a little suspicious and a little afraid, but at the same time a little hopeful and a little joyful.

His brothers!

He never seemed to see them, except for that one time, that day in the big house.

He had never set foot outside of his rooms except that day.

The midwife led him to his brothers.

When his brothers proposed taking him out to play, not only did Hong Xiu not stop them, but she also smilingly asked him to obediently listen to the words of the other princes, and not to upset them.

So, he and his brothers stepped out of the palace where he had lived for six years.

They also found a few of his sisters, said to play together to catch the ghost game.

Since he was the one who looked most like a monster, he naturally played the monster.

His sisters, one by one, ran far away from him, covering their eyes with their little hands, and looking at him through their fingers with a mixture of fear and curiosity.

He thought it was funny, and he put his hand over his eyes and looked at them through his fingers and smiled at them.

As a result… the girls screamed and hid behind their brothers.

He was a little sad, and he lowered his hands and his head.

Then he resumed playing the monster.

The rule of the game was that he went to hide anywhere in the garden, and then other people would search him out. If you found him, give him a penny and order him do something. This is called, ‘money makes the monster go.’ The monster could not refuse and could not run away.

Prince Jie hid himself in the area full of stones and decided that he would not run away. If he did, they would probably never play with him again.

So, he told himself: ‘no matter what, as long as they catch him, he will do what they say.’

He was caught many times that day and did many things. Everyone had a good time. His sisters, in particular, no longer seemed afraid of him and began to laugh.

When he returned in the evening, his mother unexpectedly called him into the house, and told him to kneel on the ground and bow before answering. She asked him which games he had played with his brothers and sisters during the day.

He told her, his brothers stood in a row and let him crawl between their legs.

The six princes who he had frightened to tears had told him to pretend to be a horse, get on his hands and knees and crawl around the garden like a horse.

They told him to take off his pants and pee, paint his face in mud, and jump around on one foot. Huang Fu Jie told his mother that it had been fun. His brothers had a fun time, too, and said that they would call him to play again next time.

Huang Fu Jie’s mother was speechless for a long time. After a while, her face twisted into a sneer. She looked towards the midwife and said, “Teach him propriety and shame, a sense of decency. Otherwise he will never understand what is ugly, what is shameful. With no resistance, how can there be conflict?”

The Huang Fu Jie who had learned etiquette and shame could no longer bear to eat other people’s leftovers every time, so simply did not eat. Since it was unbearable, he plucked up the courage to tell his mother that the eunuch Gao Xin and the maid Dongmei had been eating his food.

Gao Xin and Dongmei were called for questioning, and naturally they both bowed and kowtowed.

Yin Xian casually let midwife watch a little, and told her not to even let the others touch his dinnerware.

As the head servant of this palace, she was very clear about the situation. She docked the pay of the two being punished for two months.

But on the second day, after Huang Fu Jie finally had a full meal, his stomach began to ache so much that he thought he was dying.

Gao Xin and Dongmei, who were in charge of his meal, sat in front of him and blocked his mouth with a cloth. Gao Xin asked. “Was dinner good? Today you were able to eat your fill, lest you go and complain again.”

The next day, he went crying to the midwife, asking her to stop the pain, but was midwife pushed him out impatiently.

He plucked up the courage to find his mother, but she said that his focus ws narrow and that he was only trying for revenge.

After that, Gao Xin and Dongmei ganged up on his a few more times.

For example, at night they made him sleep at night in wet and cold bedding, resulting in a serious illness. When his chamber pot was full, they did not empty it, which made his room smell foul. The he food was either cold or strange in taste, and distinctly dirty. When combing his hair, the maid pulled his hair and scraped his scalp. When it was time for a bath, they forced him into water that was either scalding hot or deathly cold. So on and so forth, any torture as long as it would leave no trace.

It was not until he knelt down to them, and wept, and said that he would never tattle on them again, and promised that anything of value would be brought to honor them afterwards, that the two stopped following him so attentively.

Two or three months passed, and then Huang Fu Jie was summoned to the great house again. The midwife told him that his grandfather wanted to see him, so he should cherish this opportunity.

So he began to study.

When he appeared in the school, his brother sought him out happily, and often asked him to play together, but also from time to time sent him something to eat.

“How perverse! It’s so gross, but he actually ate it!” The third brother covered his mouth.

The eldest brother kept asking him: “Is it delicious?”

He nodded and stuck the big ants in the box into his mouth.

“Monster!”

Once his eldest brother said he would fight him, and beat him black and blue.

Then his brothers pointed at him and laughed, saying his face looked much more symmetrical than usual.

For this, his brothers asked him to bow to the eldest son and thank him for making his face presentable.

Since he was unwilling, several of his brothers ganged up on him to pressure him to kneel and kowtow to his brother.

A few days later, his face was beaten until swollen again, this time by his second brother. After a beating, he kowtowed and thanked him.

“Thank you, brother, for taking care of my face. Thank you, brother.” He thanked him and kowtow.

Then there was third brother, and then brother five and brother six.

He could not fight all six brothers when they pushed him into the pond and made him climb out on his own. After seeing him climb out, they pushed him down again and again, ten times, until he climbed to the bank and lay on the ground unable to move.

In this way, their bullying continued for four or five months, until it was discovered and stopped by a gentleman from the academy.

He remembered the master of the academy looking at him with a look of great pity and disgust, and saying, “This poor person will have a hateful place in life. They say that appearance is born from the heart, and your face is not a good one. The misdeeds from your past life are repaid in this one. How pitiful!”

Huang Fu Jie did not quite understand his teacher’s words, but he could understand that his master’s words were not necessarily favorable.

At night, the prince Jie dug in the corner with a small copper spoon.

He took out some leftovers from it and ate until he was 30% full, then sat on the ground in a daze.

The room was dark, and ice cold.

Having learned to read, he was no longer a completely ignorant child. He already knew what was good and what was bad.

He also knew that no matter how hard he tried and how bent he was, he would never please others.

And no matter how he complained of his misery, no one would sympathize with him, but would laugh at him, or even kick him when he was down.

He should have died a long time ago. No, he shouldn’t have been born at all.

But he did not want to die. He did not yet know what it was like to die. He only knew that the palace ladies and eunuchs often pointed at him while saying it would be better for him to die early.

Look at the small copper spoon in his hand.

He poked his finger with the sharp end and smiled.

The next day, Huang Fu Jin, the second brother, found something wrapped in oil-paper on his chair and opened it curiously.

After one glance, Huang Fu Jin’s face changed.

The youngest of the six princes saw what was in the paper and screamed, immediately falling into tears and becoming a complete mess.

The prince Jie also stood up on tiptoe and peeked. After seeing it, he shivered and shrank away.

A small collar fell out of the paper and fell to the ground with a ringing sound.

After a while someone asked, “Who? Who did it!” It was the third brother.

The irascible third brother, even with tears in his voice, went to pick up the collar and looked at the pile of flesh, crying sadly, “This is Snow’s collar… this… is this is my Snow? Who? Who did it? Linyi, quickly, go back and see if Snow is still there. Come one, quickly!”

Linyi rushed out.

The master of the academy could not bear to see it, so he had the skinned flesh and blood collected first.

After about half an hour, the servant Linyi returned and reported that he could not find the third prince’s dog, Snow.

On the spot, third prince turned and grabbed the robes of the second prince, asking what he had done.

The academy was in chaos.

Though he was told to stop, the third prince did not. The second prince said he had not done anything, and turned pleadingly to the first prince.

The oldest prince laughed, walked over to comfort third prince, said he would tell their father, and after that they would find the murderer.

Huang Fu Jie was ignored, as usual.

Afterwards, the blame was somehow placed on him, and his mother was severely punished.

The emperor knew this was not because there was incriminating evidence, but because they had named a murderer that everyone had agreed upon. Jie just happens to fit the bill.

He just said “it wasn’t me” and never spoke again.

The prince remained in bed for more than a month after being severely punished by Yin Xian.

After his injury healed, he returned to the academy, where his third brother continued to bully him. But the beating was not very strong, as if perhaps his brother himself did not think the murderer was Huang Fu Jie.

The days passed.

At the age of 10, it was not known whether he was a genius, or whether he spent more time studying every day than the others, but he understood most of what the teacher taught in class could answer all of the test questions correctly.

Currently, their teacher had asked everyone a question at will—where did the rice come from?

The sixth brother, who eight years old, answered, “From the royal kitchen.”

The fifth son, who was nine years old, answered, “Everywhere sends their tribute.”

The twelve year old, third prince replied, “It was purchased with the money from the palace.”

The second prince, who was thirteen years old, answered, “It was planted in the ground.”

After asking four princes, the teacher asked the eldest.

“Do you know, your highness, where the rice comes from?”

Mr. Mo nodded slightly, as if pleased.

“Good, good. Your royal highness the eldest prince and your royal highness the second prince are worthy as the future pillars of the royal dynasty. Good, good.” He had asked this question to many nobles’ children before. Out of ten, eight or nine surprisingly were ignorant of where rice came from. It really made a person sigh in despair.

The first and second princes expressions showed they were very satisfied.

“The rice was planted by the people.” A dull voice sounded.

When they looked back, they found that the person who had spoken was Jie, who had never spoken in class.

“If there is only land and no people to cultivate it, grain cannot grow like weeds. But if corrupt officials run amok and the government is corrupt, the people’s lives will be miserable. After working hard in farming it, most of the rice must be turned in. In the same way, if there is a war, we also have no rice to eat. In other words, someone has to grow the food so that we can eat the rice. Therefore, the rice was planted by the people.”

Mr. Mo didn’t speak for a long time and just stared at him.

Huang Fu Jie was a little frightened at first, but then he calmed a little. He didn’t know much about it, but he had asked the eunuch who served him when he was studying, and the eunuch had told him about it.

“Well, let’s review today’s lesson.” Their teacher picked up his book and began to ask questions to the prince and his companions.

Huang Fu Jie waited a long time for praise, and could not help but be disappointed at not receiving it. But because his face was ugly, it was difficult to see his true expression.

Translator Notes: Poor Huang Fu Jie! I wish I could round up everyone who mistreated him and kick them in the teeth. *shakes fist* A big thanks to everyone who commented on the last chapter! You all really motivated me to get this out.