Chapter 20: My Father Hasn't Hit Me for Three Days

The colored glaze was made, but figuring out how to put it to use had become a monumental problem.

Li Kuan didn’t want anyone to know these glazes were connected to him, at least not before the disaster relief grain purchases were secured. There had to be a clear and acceptable origin story for the glazes.

After much thought, Li Kuan set his sights on his group of “Qujiang Scholars.”

After all, they had shared the blood wine together—though it wasn’t his blood, the symbolism of chicken and human blood was enough.

So, after much contemplation, Li Kuan finally found a suitable scapegoat.

The second son of Prince of Hejian, Li Huairen.

The next day, having just become King of Chu, Li Kuan completely forgot about the formal court assembly where he was supposed to be officially presented to the officials. Before Li Er had even risen to prepare for the morning court, the impetuous King of Chu summoned the old eunuch Jiang Qu and hurriedly drove away from the palace in a horse carriage.

“Your Highness…” Jiang Qu only realized, as he drove past the Vermilion Bird Gate and saw Chang He’s astonished expression, that today’s truancy was different than usual. “You’re not attending court today? By tradition, you should receive the officials’ greetings.”

“Tradition my foot. I’m not going!” Li Kuan couldn’t be bothered with these formalities. To him, showing off could happen anytime, but right now, the real business was urgent, and wasting even a minute was a crime.

“…” Jiang Qu looked at the second prince, who had become even more unruly after being severely reprimanded by His Majesty.

He had a feeling that, to the prince, the previous beating wasn’t meant to teach him a lesson but was merely an advance payment for what was to come.

Otherwise, how could he dare act so wildly on such an important day?

Sigh…

Jiang Qu flicked his wrist, cracking the reins against the horse’s back. He decided not to dwell on it. After all, this old bones servant would be responsible for the prince no matter what, and since the prince refused to listen, he could only resign himself to fate.

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Half an hour later, after Li Xiaogong had ridden away from the prince’s mansion, Li Kuan’s carriage appeared around a corner and entered the still-open city gate.

Li Kuan was now a familiar figure at the Hejian Prince’s Mansion. The old steward, who was about to close the gates, saw this nobleman disembark and naturally wore a flattering smile.

“Second Prince, Your Highness…”

“Call me King of Chu!” Li Kuan jumped down from the carriage. “Jiang Qu, wait here for me. We’ll leave soon.”

“Yes!” Jiang Qu nodded slightly, expressionless.

“Second Prince… King of Chu, Your Highness!” The old steward was momentarily stunned, then realized this noble scion had now been crowned king. Just as he was about to offer some congratulatory words, Li Kuan had already disappeared behind the main gate.

“Go wake Li Huairen! Tell him to meet me at the gate!”

The steward dared not delay. Regardless of where the King of Chu was headed, he ordered his men to ensure the king’s safety and not to let him get hurt. Then he hurried to the back courtyard and instructed the maids to wake the young master.

“King of Chu’s orders!”

So, a groggy Li Huairen, still unclear who this “King of Chu” was, was pulled from his bed, dressed, and escorted to the mansion gate.

Meanwhile, Li Kuan appeared leisurely before Li Huairen, munching on a flatbread, two eggs tucked in his pocket, and holding a large pork knuckle in each hand.

“Brother Kuan?!” Li Huairen’s eyes widened. “You skipped class again?”

“Hmph.” Li Kuan, struggling to speak with the flatbread in his mouth, handed one pork knuckle to Li Huairen. After freeing his mouth, he said, “Not only did I skip class, today you’re skipping too!”

Without waiting for Li Huairen to process this slightly complicated news with his still-waking brain, Li Kuan strode out of the mansion, handed the other pork knuckle to Jiang Qu waiting in the carriage, and waved to Li Huairen.

“Hurry up and get on! I have important business with you!”

Li Huairen stared blankly at Li Kuan, feeling an urge to dash back inside.

But Li Kuan immediately read his thoughts.

“If you try to run, I’ll tell Chu Mo tomorrow that you tried to see who had the bigger bird, and accidentally caught his cousin bathing!”

“…” Li Huairen looked at Li Kuan and thought how lucky he was to have a brother like this.

Little did he know, his luck was only just beginning.

Reluctantly resisting, Li Huairen weighed Chu Mo’s strength and was forced to climb aboard Li Kuan’s rogue ship.

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“Brother Kuan…” Once on the carriage, Li Huairen seemed to awaken some new resolve and immediately launched into a plaintive plea.

“No matter what you ask of me, brother will follow you through fire and water. No, every time you ask! So, please give me a ‘every time’ chance. Don’t let me perish so quickly…”

Faced with such a skillful plea, Li Kuan glanced sideways at him, then tore half a flatbread and stuffed it into Li Huairen’s hand.

“Don’t worry. What I need you to do this time is your specialty, and it won’t put you in any trouble.”

“Really…” Li Huairen eyed the half flatbread, suddenly feeling uneasy. If Brother Kuan was willing to share half a flatbread, this meant he was planning to revive the glory of the Heavenly Strategy General and lead the gang in another Xuanwu Gate Incident…

Born not the sharpest tool in the shed, Li Huairen’s face grew heavy with worry.

“What are you thinking!” Li Kuan smacked him on the head again. “Can you change your expression? Every time before we get into trouble, you look like you’re ready to die. It’s damn unlucky!”

“Sigh…” Li Huairen sighed heavily. “My father hasn’t hit me in three days…”

“Good for you,” Li Kuan shot him a glance. “After today, your chance will come…”

At the same time, Li Xiaogong, already on horseback outside the palace, sneezed inexplicably.

Several colleagues who saw this teased him, asking if last night’s “battle” had been so intense that he looked more delicate than a flower this morning, even collapsing at the slightest breeze.

Their teasing earned Li Xiaogong a colorful retort.

“Zhang Liang, go kick your grandmother’s leg! Unlike you, I don’t adopt sons. I insist on doing things personally…”

“Ha ha ha ha…” Li Xiaogong’s words sparked laughter, including from Zhang Liang, Duke of Changping, who had adopted five hundred sworn sons.

Unfortunately, the hearty laughter soon turned to regret for Li Xiaogong, who would come to be seen by all of Chang’an as the Prince of Hejian, richer than a kingdom—thanks to the “personal efforts” that produced a certain troublesome offspring.