APSIL -Chapter 177 Summoned to Attend the Morning Court

Late at night, in front of the Qingning Gate of the imperial palace, a sedan chair slowly came to a stop amid the escort of numerous palace attendants and eunuchs.

Sitting upright inside was the Empress. She wore a dragon-and-phoenix jeweled crown atop her head and a deep blue-green formal robe. Even under the faint glow of the lanterns carried by her attendants, the dazzling jewels and brilliantly embroidered fabric still gave off a hazy radiance.

After stepping down from the sedan chair, she glanced at the First Prince and Second Prince who had followed behind on foot. A deep trace of anger appeared on her face.

However, she ultimately did not lose her temper at such a time and place. She took a deep breath and ordered someone to knock on the door and request an audience.

But when Xu Shangguan, the senior palace maid beside her, went forward and announced their arrival, the people inside hesitated for a moment—but still did not open the gate.

“Your Majesty the Empress, His Majesty is currently chatting with the Empress Dowager. He said that even if the sky were to collapse, it can wait until tomorrow.”

Faced with such an obvious refusal, the Empress took a deep breath.

Then she turned her stern gaze toward the Second Prince.

Under her silent pressure, the Second Prince—despite having a belly full of anger—could only step forward hesitantly and personally call out to the gate, saying that he had come to apologize.

Urged on by the Empress’s expressionless stare, the First Prince, who considered himself unlucky, had no choice but to go over and knock together with him.

Unfortunately, even after the two brothers exhausted every possible plea, the people inside merely said in a low voice that they would first report the matter.

But the final response they received remained the same: “Your Majesty the Empress, please take the two princes back. His Majesty says it is already too late tonight. Whatever matter there is can be discussed tomorrow. Additionally, His Majesty requests that the First Prince and Second Prince attend court together tomorrow morning.”

Although both princes were already approaching adulthood, and occasionally attended court sessions together, they were only allowed to listen. Moreover, they were not permitted to attend every day.

Normally, if the Emperor personally ordered them to join the morning court, the brothers would have been delighted. They would even compete with each other and secretly trip one another up.

But at this moment, after hearing this command, both of them suddenly felt their hearts sink.

Especially the Second Prince, who had caused trouble after drinking that day—his heart was filled with anxiety.

Just then, he heard the Empress speak from behind: “His Majesty has refused to see us, but did the Empress Dowager not have anything to say?”

Inside, Yuquan had personally come behind the Qingning Gate.

She was one of the few female officials in the palace who had surpassed the normal age limit for service. She had followed the Empress Dowager for more than thirty years.

Hearing that the Empress’s words carried a subtle implication that the Empress Dowager had refused to help the First and Second Princes, Yuquan immediately became furious.

However, she knew very well that this was not the time for her to step forward. Thus, she simply gave a glance toward the eunuch standing by the gate.

The eunuch could only cough awkwardly before saying: “Your Majesty the Empress, the Empress Dowager says that children and grandchildren each have their own destiny. She is now enjoying her later years and no longer concerns herself with such matters. Your Majesty comes from a family with excellent teachings and knows how to educate children well. Naturally, there is no need for her old lady to say anything further.”

The phrase “knows how to educate children well” was like a heavy slap across the Empress’s face.

Her expression instantly turned pale with anger.

She staggered backward two steps, then turned around without saying a word and climbed back onto the sedan chair.

Afterward, she slammed her hand heavily against the armrest and spat out a single word through gritted teeth: “Leave!”

The First Prince originally had no desire to be dragged into this mess for the Second Prince.

However, his own intentions had already been exposed by the Empress earlier, and he had been thoroughly scolded.

Now, he immediately rushed to the side of the sedan chair, forcing a smile as he quietly comforted and explained things to her.

The Second Prince also hurried over.

But when he reached the other side of the sedan chair, what awaited him was not comfort, but the Empress’s painful reproach.

“Second son, what am I supposed to say about you? Why must you compete with your elder brother in everything? Can’t you two brothers work together? You are already this old. Haven’t you heard that when two people share one heart, their combined strength can break metal?”

Seeing the First Prince glance at him smugly, the Second Prince felt his anger surge.

His heart, liver, and every part of his body hurt from frustration.

The Eastern Palace was currently empty.

The Third Prince and Fourth Prince were clearly far too young to have any chance of competing.

And the Emperor had sent them to the Banshan Hall of the Imperial Academy—this clearly revealed his intentions.

If he stopped fighting now, then in the future he would have no choice but to bow his head and become a subject under his elder brother.

Why?

Just because the First Prince was lucky enough to be born more than a year earlier?

That night, many people failed to sleep well.

Zhang Shou and Lu Sanlang were among them.

The two had only finished their discussion late into the night before collapsing into sleep.

After all, tomorrow was a rest day for Banshan Hall—but not for Jiuzhang Hall.

Compared with the pampered noble students who could not endure hardship, the students of Jiuzhang Hall had personally rejected having two days off every week.

Therefore, they only rested one day every six days.

Originally, Zhang Shou had planned to give this extra working day to Lu Sanlang, the head of the dormitory, allowing him to lead everyone in reviewing old lessons and gaining new understanding.

However, since the topic had been his own creation, he could not simply abandon responsibility.

Thus, he had worked himself half to death the previous night.

Early in the morning, relying once again on his stubborn biological clock, Zhang Shou struggled to open his eyes.

Right.

After Lu Sanlang had returned from the Marquis Weinan Residence last night, the two of them had spent the entire evening calculating and calculating…

In the end, after sending out the message, they simply decided that one would sleep on the bed and the other on the soft couch.

Lu Sanlang, showing the spirit of a disciple, gave his own bed to him.

At least they did not create some ridiculous story about “sleeping side by side.”

Hearing Lu Sanlang still snoring loudly, Zhang Shou glanced outside.

The sky was still dim.

And unlike the Imperial Academy, there was no dedicated person here whose job was to strike bells and wake people.

He was just wondering whether he should wake him up when—

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Someone knocked on the door.

Immediately afterward, Lu Wan’s voice came through: “Doctor Zhang! Lu Zhu! The palace has sent word. You two are to attend morning court today!”

Lu Sanlang, who had been snoring in bed moments ago, instantly flipped upright with agility completely inconsistent with his body shape.

He looked around blankly.

“I think I heard my father’s voice? Am I dreaming? Definitely dreaming. Why would my father call me to attend court? Hmm… what one thinks about during the day appears in dreams at night…”

Then Zhang Shou watched as the little fatty who had just gotten up immediately collapsed back down.

A moment later—

His snoring started again.

Even through the door, Zhang Shou could almost feel the veins on Lu Wan’s forehead bulging one by one.

Taking a deep breath, Zhang Shou suddenly shouted: “Lu Sanlang! Class is starting!”

In an instant, Lu Sanlang shot up like he had a spring attached to him.

Even with his eyes closed, he immediately began putting on his shoes, then rummaged around noisily for his clothes.

All the while, he muttered:

“Cannot be late. Must have dignity. Must have bearing. Always remember I am the head of Jiuzhang Hall. I am the head of Jiuzhang Hall…”

Are you trying to hypnotize yourself?

Zhang Shou finally laughed.

The last bit of sleepiness vanished completely.

“Alright, wake up. Your father is waiting outside. The palace sent word that you and I are to attend court together.”

When he saw that Lu Sanlang had finally opened his eyes and was clearly awake, Zhang Shou suddenly remembered the most important problem.

Normally, when he taught at the Imperial Academy, wearing ordinary clothes was enough.

But today was morning court—a truly formal occasion.

He needed official robes.

Yet…

Did he even have official robes?

Also, were the clothing regulations for sixth-rank and seventh-rank officials the same?

Therefore, while Lu Sanlang was hurriedly dressing himself, Zhang Shou found himself troubled.

However, when he got out of bed and put on his outer robe, Lu Sanlang had already rushed three steps at a time to the door.

He yanked it open.

Seeing his father standing outside with a completely dark expression, Lu Sanlang—having no idea he had just spoken nonsense in his sleep—jumped backward in alarm.

Then, full of caution, he asked: “Father… you’re not joking, right? I’m just a student of the Imperial Academy. Why would I attend court?”

“Who told you to create such a fine mess?”

Lu Wan sneered.

Only then did he turn and order the people behind him:

“Send Doctor Zhang and Sanlang’s clothes inside. Hurry and change. The court time waits for no one! If this were the previous dynasty, you would already be late at this hour!”

Hearing that his father was blaming him for waking up too late, Lu Sanlang immediately became dissatisfied.

“That was because Emperor Taizu cared about the health of officials! He said that waking up confused and half-asleep in the early morning was harmful, so the court time was adjusted differently between winter and summer. Besides, the list of participants for regular court sessions and grand court assemblies was reduced! And furthermore, Little Teacher and I were busy until midnight yesterday before sleeping!”

Lu Wan hated nothing more than having someone argue back with him.

Combined with the headache his wife had caused him the previous night, his temper was even worse.

If Zhang Shou had not appeared behind Lu Sanlang at that moment and politely thanked him with a smile, Lu Wan would have truly wanted to teach this little fatty a lesson.

He did not want to stay any longer.

Thus, he simply left behind one sentence before walking away with a flick of his sleeve.

“Change quickly and come out. It is already late!”

After seeing his father leave, Lu Sanlang noticed that the person personally delivering the clothes was actually Nanny Jin.

He immediately rushed forward and asked: “Nanny Jin, why did the palace suddenly order me and Little Teacher to attend court? Did the palace people not reveal anything else? And what about the proposal to the Liu family? What did Father and Mother say last night? Where did Little Teacher’s clothes come from?”

With so many questions pouring out at once, Nanny Jin could only laugh helplessly.

Seeing Zhang Shou smiling silently, she scolded: “Third Young Master, stop asking so many questions. Change clothes first. You also need to eat something to fill your stomach, and bring some food for the road. Otherwise, once you attend court and become hungry, no one will prepare a meal for you. If you faint from hunger, that will be considered losing your dignity!”

Only then did Lu Sanlang reluctantly stop asking.

Watching Nanny Jin signal the maids to enter and help him wash and dress, he followed them inside.

When Nanny Jin saw the two young maids helping Zhang Shou put on his official robe, both of them had flushed cheeks and kept stealing glances at him, she could not help sighing inwardly.

Fortunately, Doctor Zhang did not often stay overnight at their residence.

When the Zhao State Duke Residence sent over these clothes, they had subtly reminded them:

In the future, they should avoid letting Zhang Shou stay overnight too often…

Otherwise, who knew what kind of rumors might spread?

Of course, not rumors involving the maids.

Rather…

Rumors involving their own little fatty young master.

When Lu Wan, waiting at the entrance of the residence beside the carriage, saw the teacher and student duo walking over from the corridor, he immediately felt his temples twitch.

His mood became extremely complicated.

In front walked Zhang Shou.

His wide sleeves fluttered, his appearance elegant, his bearing outstanding.

Behind him followed Lu Sanlang.

The fatty carried a food box, smiling happily while walking step by step behind him.

He looked exactly like a little servant carrying snacks and serving his young master.

This scene…

Was truly beautiful beyond words.