MYUFPC CHAPTER 10
Like a little puppy
After leaving Princess Ruyang’s place, Jiashan returned to her own courtyard. She pulled out a copy of the "Lingbao Wuliang Duren Shangpin Miaojing" (Du Ren Jing) and called for Su Yu to bring Zhao Youze.
Jiashan’s visit to Changchun Temple was partly with ulterior motives, but she was also sincerely praying for the late Empress. She always felt that her chance at rebirth might have been due to her mother’s spirit watching over her from the heavens.
Thinking about it, Jiashan called for Dancui, “After you finish tidying up, make time to go to the Pei family’s residence. Ask Cousin to make sure he comes over in the next couple of days.”
Dancui instinctively said “Yes,” but her face showed a hint of difficulty.
Seeing this, Jiashan realized her mistake. In the past, at the Princess’s residence, she was used to ordering Dancui around. Now she remembered that at this time, Dancui had no idea where the Pei family’s residence was.
“Let’s do it this way.” Jiashan picked up a pen, wrote a letter, and handed it to Dancui, “Take this letter to Zhan Daren and ask him to help deliver it to the Pei family.”
Dancui, much more confident now, quickly bowed and said, “Yes, I’ll go right away.”
Jiashan’s maternal uncle’s family, the Pei family, was a renowned and influential family, especially in the Jiangnan region. Currently, the head of the Pei family was still Jiashan’s grandfather, the late Empress’s father. However, her grandfather was quite old and had retired long ago.
Jiashan’s eldest uncle, Pei Zijing, currently served as the Headmaster (Chief academic officer) of the Imperial College. He has an honourable position with students all over the country.
As for her cousin, Pei Yuantang, he had recently placed second in the palace examination and had a promising future.
Among all the officials in the court, the Pei family, being her blood relatives, were probably the only ones who would not harm Jiashan and Zhao Youze.
Unfortunately, after Zhao Youcheng ascended the throne, he began to strongly suppress the Pei family and their affiliates. Even the highly promising Pei Yuantang was demoted from his central position as Vice Minister of Personnel to a distant and rugged place as the Prefect of Yunnan and Guangxi.
In the end, they suffered because of Jiashan and others.
Jiashan couldn’t help but recall the day in her previous life when Zhao Youze was forced to commit suicide by Zhuang Fei. In fact, in the early days of Zhao Youcheng's reign, although he was vigorous in political affairs and was very unkind to the Pei family, he was not too harsh on Jiashan and Zhao Youze.
After all, Jiashan was a woman, and Zhao Youze was blind. For the sake of his reputation, Zhao Youcheng wouldn’t resort to extreme measures against them.
The reason for the change in attitude was that, at that time, Jiashan's fifth maternal uncle, Pei Ziqi, suddenly found a miracle doctor surnamed Kong from a remote corner of Jiangnan.
Pei Ziqi was a free-spirited man who never held an official position in the court. He just enjoyed traveling around the world. For this reason, he had many friends from various backgrounds who respected him.
Jiashan didn’t know where her fifth uncle got the news about “Doctor Kong’s expertise in treating eye diseases.” By the time Jiashan and the Pei family members reacted, Pei Ziqi had already brought Doctor Kong to the Ning Wang Mansion to treat Zhao Youze.
Initially, no one took this Doctor Kong seriously. Zhao Youze was already had been blind for twenty years by then. Despite the Emperor and Empress’s efforts, no physician had come up with an effective treatment.
At first, no one paid much attention to this person surnamed Kong. Zhao Youze had already reached adulthood that year and had been bling for twenty years. For the sake of his eyes, the Emperor Zhanghe and the Empress had invited famous doctors from all over the land, yet none of them could prescribe an effective remedy.
Even Zhao Youze himself had accepted his blindness.
To everyone's surprise, after only two months under the care of Doctor Kong, Zhao Youze could actually sense "light".
Jia Shan and the others were overjoyed.
Although he had no chance of claiming the throne, if he could see again, it would be a significant turning point. Even ordinary people wouldn’t want to remain blind if they had a chance to see.
However...
This hope barely surfaced before it brought disaster upon Zhao Youze. Even though the Empress Dowager Zhuang and her son had firmly grasped power, they could not tolerate the Ning wang who could see.
Zhao Youze never got to see what his sister and his maternal family, who protected him all his life, looked like.
Jiashan’s face turned pale as she stared at a crabapple tree outside the window.
In her previous life, the timing was unfortunate. Doctor Kong appeared too late, and it was already too late.
But this time was different.
Her father was still in good health, with no plans to establish a successor soon. If her cousin could find this miracle doctor named Kong before Zhuang Fei and her son gained power, everything could change in the future.
The blood she and Yuan Kang shed would one day be repaid in full.
Jiashan lowered her eyes, biting her lip slightly.
When Su Yu went to fetch Zhao Youze, he had just woken up, and the maids were helping him dress, causing some delay.
By the time they arrived, Jiashan had already started copying scriptures.
Though Zhao Youze couldn’t see, Emperor Zhanghe couldn’t allow him to be illiterate. Not to mention that he was the only legitimate son of the Emperor Zhanghe and the Empress, even a concubine’s son wouldn’t be left uneducated.
Therefore, Zhao Youze had a private tutor who taught him, and he could write as well. His handwriting was quite beautiful, but it took him longer than able-bodied people to complete.
"Has Sister already started?" Zhao Youze asked as Su Yu led him to Jiashan's side. He sniffed the air near the desk, "I smell the fragrance of ink."
Seeing him stretch his neck like a little puppy, Jiashan couldn't help but laugh, and said "In future, If I ever lose something, I'll just ask our Yuan Kang to find it. Your nose is better than anything else."
Zhao Youze pouted, feeling a bit upset, "Sister is scolding me in a roundabout way."
Jiashan smiled.
She motioned for Su Yu and the others to leave, then carefully helped Zhao Youze sit on a nearby wooden chair. Since he was going to copy scriptures, Zhao Youze brought his own books, paper, and pen.
He carefully felt the characters on the scriptures before starting to write. His way of holding the pen was more awkward compared to others, and after finishing one character, he would feel the structure of the next one before continuing.
Watching her brother, Jiashan felt a pang of sadness.
Would her brother really have to live like this for his entire life?
Feeling a sharp pain in her heart, Jiashan temporarily put down her brush and turned to quietly observe Zhao Youze for a while.
Seeing him so focused, Jiashan couldn't help but lowered her head slightly and softly asked, "If Yuan Kang could see again someday, what do you think he would want to do?"
On the white paper in front of Zhao Youze, he had already written the first three characters with some difficulty. Hearing Jiashan's question, he paused visibly for a moment. After a while, he propped his chin up with one hand and swung his legs, saying, "If I could see, maybe I wouldn't be able to just do whatever I wanted."
Jiashan was stunned.
Zhao Youze put down his pen and rested his chin on both hands, lowering his voice and speaking calmly, "Mr. Xu, who teaches me, once told me that even though I am the legitimate prince, Father won't make me the Crown Prince because of my eye condition. Even if I have the legitimacy of being born from the Empress, it doesn’t matter."
"Father doesn’t consider me as a potential heir. He pities me, so he lets me and elder sister come here to play. But if I could see, Father would have to reconsider the matter of succession. Perhaps he still wouldn't choose me, but he also couldn't easily make my elder brother the Crown Prince. Uncle’s family wouldn't allow it, and the civil and military officials wouldn't easily agree to abolish the legitimate heir for a concubine's son. If that time really comes, I probably wouldn’t have the chance to come here with Sister anymore."
Zhao Youze's tone was calm, as if he were merely stating an ordinary fact, but it made Jiashan gasp.
Jiashan looked down at him.
Zhao Youze's youthful face was as clean as a blank sheet of paper. Compared to Jiashan, he resembled the late Empress more. His delicate features, pale complexion due to his frailty, and his dark, lightless eyes seemed very pure and clear.
Jiashan’s gaze didn’t dare to move as she looked at him, her lips slightly pressed together, "Did Mr. Xu teach you all these things?"
Zhao Youze shook his head, "He only told me that because I can’t see, I can’t be made Crown Prince. I figured out the rest myself."
Jiashan’s eyes on Zhao Youze deepened. She was silent for a while.
Zhao Youze then smiled lightly, unconcerned, "Sister doesn't need to worry. If my eyes can be cured, it's only right for me to compete for the throne. After all, I’m the only legitimate son."
Jiashan almost couldn’t resist covering his mouth. She said, "Has Yuan Kang ever said this to anyone else?"
"No," Zhao Youze replied, "I know it’s something that can’t be said, except to Sister."
"In this world, only Sister is someone I can completely trust," Zhao Youze’s lips curved slightly, "Actually, sometimes I feel lucky. If I were born seeing, maybe Sister and I wouldn’t be so close."