Li Zhaoyi still went into the hall to change into more formal attire.
While he changed, Yun Yin waited at the door. Halfway through, Li Zhaoyi suddenly remembered the small portrait he had put away on the table, and his heart clenched. But when he came out after changing, Yun Yin showed no unusual expression. Li Zhaoyi breathed a sigh of relief, yet also felt a vague, inexplicable disappointment.
Coming back to his senses, he looked up to find Yun Yin’s gaze resting on him.
Li Zhaoyi was wearing a black casual robe with gold trim.
Apart from court sessions, he rarely wore such clothes. He always felt he couldn’t quite carry them off; the person in the mirror possessed a dignified unfamiliarity.
Under Yun Yin’s scrutiny, his discomfort only grew. He asked, “…What is it?”
Yun Yin withdrew his gaze. “Nothing.”
The same dismissive reply Li Zhaoyi was used to.
He almost wanted to leave again, but the sedan chair had already arrived. In the end, he got in.
They had little conversation along the way. Many scenarios flashed through Li Zhaoyi’s mind, only to be dismissed by himself. His experience was pitifully scarce; he couldn’t imagine any situation requiring him to make a special appearance.
By the time they reached the entrance of the Hall of Civil Governance, his unease had peaked. He wanted to ask Yun Yin, but his pride made him unwilling to bow his head just yet. He still remembered last night’s “unpleasant parting” with Yun Yin.
“Your Majesty.” Yun Yin’s voice sounded. “Go inside.”
Li Zhaoyi thought the other man must have seen his embarrassment, but he said nothing.
He pressed his lips together.
Grievance and irritation gave birth to a sudden, inexplicable courage. He walked in without further hesitation, Yun Yin following behind. Stepping through the hall doors, he saw two people seated inside.
Both were in court attire. One appeared to be over sixty, his hair already white, his back slightly stooped, yet he possessed an aura of upright integrity and firmness. The other was somewhat younger, around forty or fifty, with a sharp gaze. The two men uniformly performed a grand, respectful salute to Li Zhaoyi.
Li Zhaoyi had lived deep within the Imperial Palace for so long. The only person he frequently interacted with, Yun Yin, had spent years at the border passes and possessed a thoroughly irreverent nature. He called him “Your Majesty” verbally, yet used a dagger quite proficiently. This was the first time elders had paid him such respectful obeisance. He blanked for a second, a bit at a loss, and subconsciously stepped back—only for a hand to press against his lower back.
“Your Majesty, you are the Son of Heaven,” Yun Yin said softly from behind him.
He was reminding Li Zhaoyi not to show timidity before his subjects.
Li Zhaoyi snapped back to his senses.
The spring clothes were thin, the palm’s temperature scorching. He used that force to steady himself, paying no mind to this slight breach of propriety. But once he was steady, Yun Yin didn’t withdraw his hand.
Li Zhaoyi: ???
He turned his head to look at Yun Yin, only to see the man withdraw his hand with a perfectly normal expression. He then introduced to Li Zhaoyi, “Vice Grand Secretary of the Cabinet, Gu Qingdai, Elder Gu. Lin Ping, Grand Tutor Lin. Your Majesty should have seen Vice Grand Secretary Gu at court sessions. Elder Lin was unwell some days ago and thus reported illness. He has come today specifically to pay his respects to Your Majesty.”
Li Zhaoyi listened attentively, but his expression was somewhat blank.
He didn’t know Lin Ping, but he knew of Gu Qingdai.
After his ascension, Senior Grand Secretary Shen Hong had retired and returned to his hometown. Currently, court affairs were managed by Yun Yin and Vice Grand Secretary Gu Qingdai on his behalf.
In the past half month, Gu Qingdai had never sought him out privately.
However, Yun Yin’s next words directly caused Li Zhaoyi to round his eyes in surprise.
“Starting tomorrow, every other day, these two elders will come to the Hall of Civil Governance to teach Your Majesty scholarly principles and political affairs.” Yun Yin said, “Your Majesty, you may call them Teacher.”
–
Lin Ping and Gu Qingdai had only come today to meet Li Zhaoyi for the first time.
The Son of Heaven had just ascended the throne; although he attended court daily, there was, after all, a distinction between ruler and subject. Even at court, aside from someone like Yun Yin who treated rules as nothing, most people dared not, and would not, gaze directly upon the Imperial Dignity for long.
But if they were to be teachers and student, it would be different.
The position of Imperial Tutor was prestigious. Although a nominal post, it could still signify the imperial family’s high regard. At this moment, even though both old ministers held high positions and great power, upon clearly seeing what this young Son of Heaven looked like for the first time, and how he interacted with Yun Yin, their hearts could not help but be filled with mixed emotions.
Of course, outwardly they remained perfectly composed.
After performing the rites between teacher and student according to imperial rules and exchanging some pleasantries, the two men took their leave with perfect discretion.
Only, as he departed, Lin Ping glanced at Yun Yin.
He said nothing, but Yun Yin seemed to understand his meaning, and directly followed him out.
Through the open lattice window, Li Zhaoyi saw Lin Ping frowning as he spoke to Yun Yin, while Yun Yin maintained that same infuriatingly calm and collected demeanor.
In the end, the two didn’t seem very happy.
With a flick of his sleeve, Lin Ping stormed off in anger.
Li Zhaoyi suddenly felt a bit nervous. When Yun Yin returned to the hall and saw his expression, he paused: “What is wrong with Your Majesty?”
Li Zhaoyi asked him quietly, “You and Grand Tutor Lin, what were you just talking about?”
Yun Yin paused for a moment.
Then he sighed and explained, “Elder Lin was reminding me to mind my manners before Your Majesty, and not to do anything improper.”
He had history with Lin Ping. Lin Ping had previously been the Crown Prince’s teacher. When Yun Yin studied alongside Li Zhaoyu in his youth, Lin Ping had always felt his temperament was too extreme, far inferior to the Crown Prince’s humility. Yun Yin didn’t care.
If the monarch was benevolent, and those following him were to be endlessly yielding, then they would appear weak and easy to bully.
Li Zhaoyu could be his sage ruler; he, Yun Yin, would play the villain.
Thinking of Li Zhaoyu, Yun Yin lost focus for an instant.
But the next second, he inadvertently looked up and caught Li Zhaoyi secretly breathing a sigh of relief out of the corner of his eye.
Yun Yin: ???
His train of thought was interrupted, and he became thoughtful. “This subject is being scolded by Grand Tutor Lin, and Your Majesty is happy?”
At these words, Li Zhaoyi’s eyes immediately widened.
He hastily clarified: “That’s not what I meant.”
Yun Yin said, “This subject saw it clearly and unmistakably.”
Li Zhaoyi: “…”
Yun Yin had already discovered that Li Zhaoyi didn’t know how to argue.
If he could ever win an argument against someone, there were only two possibilities. First, the opponent was won over by his unconventional ideas. Second, his pitiful appearance was too deceptive, and the other party, inexperienced in the ways of the world, softened.
Yun Yin was neither of these. He won the verbal spar against Li Zhaoyi without any sense of having bullied the weak unfairly. Leaving Li Zhaoyi in disbelief, he leisurely took a sip of cold tea.
After finishing the tea, he spoke: “Your Majesty, if you have any questions, you can ask them now.”
Li Zhaoyi stiffened slightly and averted his eyes.
The atmosphere just now had been pleasant; sunlight could dilute most shadows. The killing intent hidden in the rainy night, the back-and-forth probing and confrontation, along with the lingering fear and grievance. In the past, when Li Zhaoyi encountered painful matters, someone had told him to just sleep it off. Fact proved, this was indeed somewhat effective.
At least now, he could at least maintain a surface calm.
But what needed to be faced, must be faced eventually. With only him and Yun Yin left, yesterday’s events seemed to lie invisibly between them once more.
After a moment, he quietly spoke: “Why did you get me a teacher?”
He decided to face it.
Yun Yin asked him, “Does Your Majesty want to hear the truth or a lie?”
Li Zhaoyi: “…”
That familiar feeling of being toyed with like some amusing creature returned.
He said, “The truth.”
“The truth is,” Yun Yin said, “If I truly allowed Your Majesty to become a decoration upon the Throne, then in half a year, memorials impeaching me would flood the Hall of Civil Governance. Although this wouldn’t actually affect me, it would waste a great deal of my time to deal with.”
Li Zhaoyi hadn’t really held much hope that Yun Yin would speak the truth.
After last night, he realized that Yun Yin had perhaps never trusted him. It was just that, most of the time, he had little chance to threaten the other man, which was why he had been granted a half-month of indulgence.
But Yun Yin had spoken it.
Not only spoken it, but spoken it openly and frankly.
Had Lin Ping still been present, a cry of “Insolence! Treason!” would have already left his lips.
Li Zhaoyi’s throat felt dry.
He didn’t ask what the lie was; there was no point.
But he thought, getting him a teacher also held other meanings. The question he had asked… its true intent had been:
Why didn’t you kill me?
He hesitated, wondering if he should be more explicit, but Yun Yin spoke first.
“Your Majesty.” Yun Yin said, “You must understand, this subject has never harbored any hostility towards you.”
–
After a long silence, Li Zhaoyi spoke in a low voice, “You don’t want me doing unnecessary things.”
Yun Yin paused for two seconds. “Your Majesty, at times, this subject also suddenly feels Your Majesty is very intelligent. Is that my misconception?”
Li Zhaoyi glared at him, utterly without menace.
Then, he pressed his lips together.
The reasoning was actually very simple. He could figure it out, too.
The reason Yun Yin had suddenly turned on him was because he had gone to find Wanrong. To Yun Yin, he was just a figurehead. Only with an Emperor could there be a Regent. But if this figurehead tried to do something else, regardless of the motive, it was highly worthy of vigilance.
From this perspective, Yun Yin’s actions were beyond reproach.
From the moment Yun Yin had been frank with him just now, Li Zhaoyi actually no longer felt angry.
His way of not being angry was also simple. He said:
“It won’t happen again.”
He rarely made promises, but once made, he would keep them.
Yun Yin didn’t know this, but he himself would remember.
By this point, the conversation was essentially over. Li Zhaoyi waited for Yun Yin to say so, but the other man remained silent.
Silent, yet watching him. Li Zhaoyi felt utterly uncomfortable under the gaze and murmured, “Did I say something wrong again?”
Yun Yin suddenly said, “Your Majesty, this subject has a question.”
He looked at Li Zhaoyi thoughtfully. “Are you this good-tempered with everyone?”
