Chapter 176
When Li Yuanying received the Emperor’s letter, watermelons were almost out of season. Clinging to the last of the season, Yuanying holding half a watermelon was looking through letters and documents with Wei Shu.
Upon seeing the Emperor’s letter filled with insults, Yuanying was bewildered. After figuring out what had happened, he pulled Wei Shu aside and poured out his grievances: “This Brother, after reading people’s private letters still dare to scole me? Isn’t this how I’ve always wrote to Old Li and your grandfather? What’s so strange?!”
Yuanying felt wronged. He hadn’t just praised his nephew; he also praised Li Dejian and Wei Shu. Why couldn’t he praise others for doing good deeds? Even Old Wei had never called him a sycophant!
“Be more careful, don’t send letters to the wrong people again.” (Wei Shu)
Yuanying resolutely refused to reflect on his actions, scoffing, “He insulted me, I’m never writing to him again!”
Wei Shu knew the boy’s anger flared and subsided quickly; he’d said similar things countless times before, so she didn’t take it to heart, letting him angrily shove the letter to the bottom.
Yuanying was a man of his word; for the next few days, he didn’t write to the Emperor.
Taking advantage of the off-season, Yuanying gradually arranged for construction to begin in various places. The road from the port to Tengzhou was now taking shape; all that is needed is to widen the road and properly resettle the people along the route.
After more than half a year of hard work, the shipyard is now gradually delivering ships capable of sailing. Although there were still many areas for improvement, with systematic guidance and refinement, the ships produced were more advanced than many existing ones!
Yuanying had high hopes. He hadn’t stayed at the Prince’s residence but had instead moved to the seaside going out daily to check on the progress.
Ever since the first batch of ships was improved, Yuanying’s gaze with envy towards Li Dejian and his group. The thought of them freely roaming the seas infuriated him!
As his anger grew, Yuanying began to have other ideas. Although elder brother forbade him to go to sea, Henan Province was far from Chang’an and news wouldn’t arrive for at least ten days. Ten days would be enough time for him to travel around the surrounding seas!
Having made up his mind, Yuanying practiced swimming with Li Dejian and the others every day.
He practiced even in the summer. The weather was hot and the water was cool. Being a boy, he could even swim naked without any problem. Besides, the Prince’s residence had a private small lake with running water so he could swim however he wanted.
Because he wanted to go to sea, he seriously thought about how to improve food and medical conditions at sea. After consulting the system and Sun Simiao’s advise, he compiled a detailed list of supplies that needed to be replenished. He also instructed the medical faculty to offer first-aid courses, preferably one to one teaching to ensure every member going to sea would master first aid.
Yuanying is quite cunning. He didn’t mention his desires to Wei Shu and Sun Simiao, so everyone assumed he was just preparing for Li Dejian’s group! As for him learning personally, everyone just thought he wanted to join in the fun.
No one uncovered Yuanying’s little scheme until the first batch of improved ships rolled off the shipyard.
On the day of the trial voyage, Li Dejian led the first batch of improved ships off. Their first destination is an island not too far from the harbor. These small islands, separated by the sea appeared deserted.
The fleet arrive at the island at noon. Li Dejian ordered the ships to stop for repairs, inspections, and record-keeping. This is to ensure everything was in order before proceeding to the next destination. The inspection revealed a problem: no quality issue but there was an extra person on board!
Yuanying had been hiding in the ship. The swaying and rocking made him dizzy, so he crawled out of his hiding place and found a place to sleep. He wasn’t seasick, just tired from waking up so early.
The people inspecting the cabin were startled to suddenly see a living, breathing person appear out of nowhere. Fortunately, Li Yuanying had been with them all day, and after a few glances, they recognized him and rushed to report to Li Dejian.
Li Dejian was shocked. He hoped his men had made a mistake, but when he arrived Yuanying had woken up and was sitting there rubbing his eyes and yawning.
Li Dejian said sullenly, “If anything happens to you, we’ll be dead.”
Li Yuanying felt a little guilty but said optimistically, “Nothing will happen. Look at all of us, our ships are good, our weapons excellent. Even if we encounter pirates or something, we’ll definitely win!”
He pulled Li Dejian aside: “You can’t send me back. Dividing the troops when the situation is unclear is a big no-no! We’ll all go together, so we can help each other if anything happens.”
Li Dejian didn’t want to talk to him; he knew very well that even 10 of him couldn’t out-argue Li Yuanying.
Upon learning that the ship had reached shore, Yuanying perked up and followed Li Dejian to inspect the island.
Stepping onto unfamiliar land, Yuanying felt no fear. He looked towards Tang but all he could see was water; Tang land was nowhere to be seen.
The weather was fine and the sea breeze pleasant. Yuanying feel extremely comfortable. He saw flocks of seabirds soaring above the water, rising and falling with the waves, and turned to Li Dejian with great interest: “Has your father ever been to sea? Had he ever seen these birds? I wonder if he could tame them!”
Li Dejian wasn’t particularly interested in answering him.
Li Yuanying unfazed by silence, bothered Li Dejian for awhile more before leaving to chat with Du He.
While Li Dejian’s actions were merely out of helplessness, Du He was genuinely frightened by Li Yuanying. If something were to happen to Prince Teng while at sea, aside from just the reaction of the Emperor, he would be place in a difficult position of having to explain to Chengyang.
Du He didn’t want to talk to Li Yuanying too and gave only short answers. At lunchtime, Du He discussed turning back with Li Dejian. They had already sailed for half a day, and the distance was sufficient for testing the ship; there is no need to continue taking the risk of bringing Li Yuanying along.
Li Yuanying disagreed and was displeased: “Aren’t we going to Wo Country [1]modern day Japan?” He had been involved in planning the entire route and naturally knew the final destination. “Wo country’s ships are dilapidated and yet they can cross the sea. Our ships are so much better, what are we afraid of!”
Back at the Imperial Academy, Li Yuanying had met students from Wo Country and had heard about their country from them.
Li Dejian and Du He finally understood why Li Yuanying had been so actively involved in discussing the trial route. He had decided from the beginning that he wanted to come along!
Du He complained: “Your Highness should have discussed this with us.”
Li Yuanying: “If I had discussed it with you, would you have let me come?”
Du He: “…”
No, not only would they not let him, they would also report him to Wei Shu and to the Emperor. No way he is coming to sea!
In all honesty, Du He was incredibly uncomfortable at sea when he first started and wanted to quit immediately. Later, with the gentle encouragement of Chengyang, he persevered and gradually got used to life at sea. He truly couldn’t understand how Li Yuanying could have such boundless energy so eager to visit foreign lands.
Li Dejian remained silent, determined to send Li Yuanying back immediately, giving him no chance.
Seeing Li Dejian’s unwavering resolve, Yuanying could only sit on a large rock on the deserted island, sighing deeply. He first recounted how he had lost his father early, then embellished the story of how awkward and deprived he and his mother were of life in the palace, even them leaving the imperial palace was a long and arduous process. He added that this might be his only chance to go to sea and only visiting this small island was truly heartbreaking.
Some people knows perfectly well that you are faking it, but they still can’t bear to see you look heartbroken. Li Dejian, seeing Li Yuanying almost tearing up with words, finally gave in.
“Alright, let’s proceed as planned.”
Yuanying immediately perked up, his earlier dejected expression completely gone. He jumped up and exclaimed, “Shall we set out now?” On the way here, he had hidden in the cabin to avoid being spotted. Now having had a good sleep, he was eager to experience the feeling of standing on the deck, riding the waves.
Li Dejian wanting to complete the voyage as quickly as possible, didn’t delay. He sounded the horn to gather everyone and counted the number of people. Soon, everyone was safely on board.
He warned Li Yuanying, “Your Highness must stay by my side at all times.”
Li Yuanying nodded vigorously and obediently.
…
At this same moment, Huang Ying and Huang Li hurriedly looked for Wei Shu. In the morning, Li Yuanying said he wanted to play a game with them: let’s solve a riddle and find a clue that he had left behind, and whoever found it first would win a reward. Yuanying would occasionally come up with new ways to play, so Huang Ying and Huang Li didn’t notice anything amiss and happily played the puzzle game.
As noon approached, Huang Ying solved the riddle and found the letter Li Yuanying had left for Wei Shu. They quickly realized something was wrong and rushed to give the letter to Wei Shu.
Wei Shu hadn’t seen Li Yuanying all morning and found it strange, but she assumed he was watching the ships sailing out, so she didn’t think much of it. When she saw Huang Ying and Huang Li together, bringing a letter, Wei Shu’s heart skipped a beat. Something is wrong.
After reading the letter, Wei Shu sighed.
Knowing Li Yuanying’s personality all along, Wei Shu naturally didn’t believe he would change after their engagement. Although he had been mischievous these past few years, he hadn’t caused anything truly unacceptable, so everyone mostly indulged his antics.
But then, he secretly went out to sea with Li Dejian’s team!
Yuanying even told her not to worry, that he was incredibly skilled in water, and might even be able to save someone if anything happened—he certainly wouldn’t be the one needing rescue! Most importantly, he asked her to keep an eye on everyone and not let them know his secret, otherwise he really wouldn’t be able to go out and play anymore!
Wei Shu really wanted to tell everyone about his antics and would prefer if everyone keeps an eye on Li Yuanying from now on! But knowing his personality that is un-restrained, how could he tolerate being watched? So she could only tell the public that Prince Teng was ill and is unable to receive guests. Only when Wu Mei and her close friends came to visit did she secretly tell them about Li Yuanying’s voyage.
“He’s too reckless! He should at least have told us!” (Di Renjie)
They were all very worried when they heard that Li Yuanying was ill and unable to receive guests; who knew he had gone out to play!
“General Li and the others should find His Highness soon, right? They might bring him back before nightfall.” (Lu Zhaolin)
Wu Mei calmly replied: “Given His Highness’s personality, he certainly wouldn’t want to be brought back after going out.” When it comes to persuasion, neither Li Dejian nor Du He are a match for Li Yuanying. If she was on the ship, she would have chosen to knock Li Yuanying unconscious with a chop to the neck and drag him home, giving him absolutely no chance to speak!
Wei Shu nodded.
All they could do now was to cover for him and to prevent news from reaching the Emperor’s ears. Leaving one’s fiefdom without permission was a serious offense and the mere fact that Li Yuanying dared to sail with the fleet will be enough to enrage the Emperor!
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The Little Prince: Create some trouble when bored!
References
References↑1modern day Japan