The Emperor's Beloved: My Ancestor is the Crown Prince?

Chapter 58 The Teachings in the Side Hall

Inside the side hall, Li Chengqian placed Xiao Qingyi on a soft couch, ordered someone to bring warm water and a handkerchief, and personally wiped her face and washed her hands. He also carefully cleaned her bare little feet and put on a pair of brocade socks worn by palace children.

"Alright, stop crying." His voice was gentler than ever before. "Tell your brother, the Crown Prince, what is 'kindergarten'?"

Xiao Qingyi sobbed, describing in broken sentences, "It's...it's that there are a lot of children...the teacher teaches us to sing and draw...but...but it's all day...we can't go home...boohoo..."

Li Chengqian listened patiently and gradually understood—this was probably what later generations called "elementary education".

"Yiyi doesn't want to go to school?" he asked.

"I don't want to..." Xiao Qingyi threw herself into his arms. "I want to stay at home with Grandpa... I want to play with Prince... There are unfamiliar children at kindergarten... I'm scared..."

Li Chengqian gently patted her back, and only after her sobs subsided did he slowly speak: "Yiyi, do you know that your elder brother, the Crown Prince, also had to study when he was young?"

Xiao Qingyi looked up, her eyes red: "Does Crown Prince want some too?"

"Yes." Li Chengqian nodded. "I began my formal education at the age of three. Every day at dawn, I would get up and practice calligraphy for an hour, then read the Classic of Filial Piety and the Analects. In the afternoon, I would practice archery and charioteering, and in the evening, I would review my lessons. This was done year-round, rain or shine."

Xiao Qingyi opened her eyes wide: "Every day?"

"Every day." Li Chengqian looked at her earnestly, "Because in the future, my brother, the Crown Prince, will be governing the country, distinguishing right from wrong, and understanding the hardships of the people—all of these must begin with studying."

He paused, his tone softening slightly: "Yiyi is studying now not so that she can become a high-ranking official in the future, but so that she can understand reason, know etiquette, and distinguish between good and evil. Studying will make Yiyi smarter, more sensible, and better able to understand this world."

"But..." Xiao Qingyi pouted, "I'm scared... I don't know them..."

"Everyone we get to know starts as someone we don't know," Li Chengqian smiled slightly. "Just like when Yiyi first met her Crown Prince brother, didn't she not know him either?"

Xiao Qingyi thought for a moment and nodded.

"Reading and learning to read are good things." Li Chengqian carried her to the window and pointed to the servants reading in the courtyard outside. "Look, they are all reading. Reading allows people to see a wider world and understand more principles."

Xiao Qingyi leaned against the windowsill, watching the young faces holding books, and whispered, "Does reading hurt?"

Li Chengqian chuckled: "Studying doesn't hurt. It's just a little difficult at first, like learning to walk. You'll fall down, but after falling down enough, you'll be able to walk."

Xiao Qingyi lowered her head and whispered, "Then...if I go to kindergarten obediently, will Brother Crown Prince miss me?"

"Yes." Li Chengqian squatted down to look her in the eye. "But what I hope for even more is that Yiyi can learn to be brave. Not that she shouldn't be afraid, but that even if she is afraid, she should still dare to do it."

He gently wiped away the last tear from her face: "Yiyi can come to Tang Dynasty to play often, but you can't hide here just because you're scared. You need to learn to face what you have to face in your own world."

Xiao Qingyi looked into her Crown Prince brother's earnest eyes for a long time before finally nodding.

"Then...if I go back obediently today, will my brother the Crown Prince reward me?"

Li Chengqian smiled: "Yes. But not now—when you come next time, if you tell your Crown Prince brother that you went to kindergarten obediently and made new friends, your Crown Prince brother will take you to ride a real pony."

"Really?" Xiao Qingyi's eyes lit up.

A ruler's word is his bond.

Li Chengqian summoned a palace attendant, prepared several kinds of snacks and put them into a food box, and then took out the jade rabbit paperweight he often used from his desk—carved from white jade, with the rabbit squatting and holding a jade pestle, the carving was exquisite.

"This is for you." He placed the paperweight in Xiao Qingyi's hand. "Put it on your desk. When you see it while reading and writing, it will be like seeing your elder brother, the Crown Prince, accompanying you and encouraging you to be brave."

Xiao Qingyi hugged the paperweight and food box tightly, then suddenly leaned forward and gave Li Chengqian a quick kiss on the cheek: "Your Highness is the best!"

Li Chengqian was taken aback, his ears turned slightly red, and then he burst out laughing.

Half an hour later, Xiao Qingyi, carrying her "spoils of war," slowly disappeared into the side hall.

Li Chengqian stood there for a long time before raising his hand to gently touch the cheek that had just been kissed.

"Your Highness," the eunuch asked cautiously, "would you like to change your clothes for court?"

Li Chengqian withdrew his hand, his expression returning to calm: "Change your clothes. Also, go to the Lizheng Hall and tell Her Majesty the Empress that I will pay my respects again this afternoon."

"Yes."

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modern

The living room of the Li family's old house.

When Li Minghua rushed back, Ye Yier was sitting on the sofa silently weeping. Li Qingge was gently comforting her, while Li Qi stood by the window, looking at the ancestral hall in the backyard, his back stiff.

"Dad..." Ye Yier stood up, her voice hoarse, "Yiyi, she..."

"I know." Li Minghua put down his briefcase, his expression grave. "You...you all saw it?"

Li Qi turned around, his eyes bloodshot: "What did you see? You saw our daughter disappear into thin air? Dad, what happened?!"

Li Minghua remained silent for a moment, then walked to the tea table and slowly boiled water, warmed the teapot, and placed the tea leaves. His hands were steady, but Li Qi noticed that his father's eyes were trembling slightly.

"Sit down first," Li Minghua said.

The water boiled, and the aroma of tea rose gently. Li Minghua poured three cups of tea before slowly speaking:

"Six months ago, Yiyi 'disappeared' from the ancestral hall for the first time. Only Qingge and I were there at the time."

Ye Yier covered her mouth, and tears welled up again.

"She went to the Tang Dynasty, during the Zhenguan era." Li Minghua's voice was calm, as if she were talking about something ordinary. "She met the then Crown Prince Li Chengqian—our ancestor."

The teacup in Li Qi's hand clattered onto the coffee table, splashing scalding tea all over his hand, but he was completely unaware.

"Dad...do you know what you're saying?" His voice trembled.

"I know." Li Minghua raised his eyes, his gaze clear. "In the past six months, Yiyi has traveled between the two worlds seventeen times. She brought modern medicines, which saved Princess Jinyang from her illness; she brought high-yield grain seeds, which alleviated the famine in Henan Province; and she brought the governing philosophy of later generations, which influenced the Crown Prince's policies."

He finished speaking in one breath, and the living room fell into a deathly silence.