Chapter 4: A Peacock Shedding Its Feathers Is Not as Good as a Chicken

  Going to school was once Yang You's most painful memory, in his past life he had gone to school for sixteen years, which was already more than enough, and what was even more hateful was that after graduation, he could only find a job with a monthly salary of two thousand.

  He thought he had escaped the fate of going to school in this life, but unexpectedly his plan to pretend to be ill was seen through by Wei Fei, and he had no choice but to come and enjoy the high treatment of student life!

  It's said that he was treated with high courtesy because this master had a big background, and he was Wei Wensheng, the Grand Secretary of the Imperial Secretariat and Minister of Justice.

  When Yang Guang went out, he ordered Yang You to treat Wei Wensheng with the courtesy due a teacher. Therefore, Wei Wensheng would occasionally come to give Yang You lessons in the main hall, after all, in this era, the relationship between teachers and students was very close, and being able to become a teacher of the Crown Prince also helped his position at court.

  Wei Wensheng was a high-ranking official left in charge by Yang Guang in Daxing. When Yang Xuangan rebelled, Wei Wensheng led the Daxing army to rescue Luoyang, dug up the tomb of Yang Xuangan's father Yang Su, and used Yang Su's corpse to threaten Yang Xuangan into surrender.

  It is laughable that when Li Yuan rebelled later, Wei Wensheng was afraid to come out. Gu Yi and Yin Shishi also dug up Li Yuan's ancestral grave, wanting to show their determination, but as a result, Li Yuan attacked Daxing and exterminated them.

  At this time, Wei Wensheng was already very old and frail, walking with a tottering gait, the only thing that still left a deep impression on people's minds were his sharp eyes, which made people dare not stare at him, including Yang You from his past life.

  "Is this love? A love without heart, can it still be called love?" Wei Wensheng's suppressed voice growled.

  If this scene were seen by outsiders, they would probably be shocked. Wei Wensheng always appeared dignified and composed in the imperial court, how could he have lost his composure like this?

  However, Yang You now has more than a decade of experience in confronting his teacher, and he also knows that his status is transcendent, so he innocently exchanged a glance with Wei Wensheng.

  Yang You is also depressed, damn simplified characters, no wonder there are so many heartless and crazy people in the future, when someone falls down, no one helps, it turns out that the word "love" has lost its heart.

  Apart from this, what made Wei Wensheng most angry was Yang You's handwriting. But this really wronged Yang You, he had never learned calligraphy with a brush in his previous life.

  He practiced calligraphy only when he was in third grade of elementary school, so his level is also that of a third grader. The characters he writes can be recognized which is already not bad.

  Wei Wensheng ended the course in a simple manner, leaving the East Palace in disappointment and returning to the imperial court. He left some of the courses to be supervised by Yao Silian, Yang You's attendant reader.

  Yao Si Lian was about sixty years old, with a pale face and few whiskers, looking elegant and refined, matching Yang You's image of an ancient literary scholar.

  Historically, when Daxing was breached, the officials around him scattered in all directions, leaving only Yao Silian to stay by his side. Whether he was acting or sincere, at least he preserved Yang You's dignity during his most desperate moments.

  At this moment, Yao Si Lian is still trustworthy.

  Yang You today honestly quietly came down and those awkward brush characters confronted, but can't guarantee another person also quieting down.

  Hahaha!

  Yang Jier quietly came up behind Yang You and pointed at his crooked handwriting, bursting into loud laughter.

  Yang Jier originally came to play with Yang You, but seeing that Yang You had gone to school, she was alone and insisted on sneaking into class.

  Anyway, teaching one is the same as teaching two, so I had no choice but to let her come.

  "Wow, I didn't know characters could be so ugly, and the word 'love' doesn't even have a heart! Yang You're really something! Haha." Yang Jier ruthlessly teased.

  When Wei Wensheng was there, she was a bit quieter. As soon as Wei Wensheng left, she immediately ran to Yang You's side and ridiculed Yang You's still awkward calligraphy.

  Behind him came Yang Jier's loud laughter, and Yang You, with a black line on his face, fled in defeat, ridiculed by a girl of about ten years old, which was quite embarrassing for the crosser.

  No way, I must move back this round.

  **

  Have you found out?

  In a corner of the East Palace, Yang You and Wang Xi were whispering in low tones.

  "I have made a thorough investigation and can confirm that the Beast Tamer's Garden definitely has what Your Highness is looking for," Wang Xi said with a flattering expression.

  No wonder so many eunuchs were able to exist throughout feudal history, now, without asking the reason, they wholeheartedly do things for you, and do them very well, how can people not feel at ease using them.

  "Let's go to the Beast Taming Garden." Yang You waved his hand grandly.

  Yu Shou Yuan is inside Daxing Palace and not far from Dong Gong.

  It was a place specially raised for the royal family to feed rare and exotic animals. Since Yang Guang moved the capital to Luoyang, the once prosperous Yuexing Garden gradually fell into disrepair.

  Most of the rare and exotic animals inside were moved to Luoyang, leaving only some ordinary goods. The eunuchs originally had several hundred people, but now only a dozen or so are left.

  "Welcome, Your Highness."

  The long-abandoned Beast Tamer's Garden finally welcomed a noble guest, as the Crown Prince himself came to the garden, accompanied by the eunuch in charge.

  "Please come this way, Your Highness." The eunuch in charge hurried ahead, leading the way.

  Your Highness, please take a look at this camel. It was presented as tribute by the Western Regions when Your Majesty conquered them.

  This...

  The eunuch in charge of the imperial household affairs introduced the general situation of the Imperial Menagerie to Yang You all the way, focusing on introducing a few rare and exotic animals that were worth seeing, but none of them had sparked any interest from the Crown Prince.

  Several people soon arrived deep in the Beast Garden and stopped in front of a small courtyard.

  The courtyard is not large, but it is arranged very delicately and comfortably. A male peacock is pacing back and forth in the courtyard, as if patrolling its own territory.

  "Your Highness, look at this peacock, it's so beautiful. However, it's not spring now, and the chances of it spreading its tail are very small." The eunuch in charge flattered, seeing that Yang You seemed to be interested in this peacock.

  After other rare animals were sent away, this peacock can be said to be the treasure of the beast garden.

  As soon as the words fell, the proud peacock that had been pacing back and forth suddenly opened its tail screen, and the gorgeous feathers gave people an astonishing feeling.

  His Royal Highness is as prosperous as the heavens, this peacock has not spread its tail for over a month, but today it unfolded its magnificent sight just as His Royal Highness arrived, what an auspicious sign!

  The eunuch in charge lavished praise on him without reservation.

  "Not bad, I'm very satisfied." Yang You looked at the peacock's tail screen and nodded in satisfaction.

  "Wang Xi" Yang You waved his hand.

  Wang Xihe stepped into the courtyard, and suddenly a stranger entered his territory. The peacock was startled and quickly retracted its tail screen, feeling that something was wrong with the newcomer who seemed to be evil.

  After several twists and turns, he still couldn't escape Wang Xi's poisonous hand, and soon the sound of a peacock's loud mournful cry was heard from inside the courtyard.

  "Your Highness, look."

  After a while, Wang Xi came out with two peacock feathers stained with blood at the ends, grinning from ear to ear, and handed them over to Yang You after wiping them clean.

  Yang You stroked the thick peacock feathers and nodded in satisfaction.

  "Remember, this is a peacock's naturally shed tail feather." Yang You said with a serious face.

  The eunuch was momentarily stunned and stared blankly at the two peacock feathers, but soon came to his senses.

  "Yes, yes, it's so hot that the peacocks have reached their molting season." The eunuch continued to spin his lie with a straight face.

  The method of making goose feather pens is not difficult. Although there was no place to raise geese in the imperial palace, there were better peacock feathers to make up for it.

  After wasting a peacock feather, Yang Hu finally made China's first hard pen. Of course, the sharpened ink stick before that couldn't be counted as a pen.

  Quickly returning to the school building, Yang Jier was in a great mood and made an exception by doing the homework left behind by Wei Wensheng. Seeing Yang You return, she couldn't help but smile proudly.

  However, Yang You didn't pay attention to her and returned to his own seat, took out his homework, and arranged the inkstone and paper on the desk.

  "Your Highness, please use it." Wang Xi handed over the peacock feather.

  The beautiful peacock feather caught Yang Jie'er's attention as soon as it was taken out, and she didn't even write her homework, rushing to Yang You's side in an instant.

  Under Yang Jie'er's curious gaze, Yang You held a peacock feather brush, dipped it in the well-mixed ink, and wrote several large characters for square and circle on the rice paper.

  After getting familiar with the hardness and strength of the peacock feather, Yang You finished the task left by Xu Wen yuan in three to five times, which was more than three times faster than usual, and used less paper by one third. More importantly, the font looked much better than before.

  Yang You completed the task with ease, leaving behind a disbelieving Yang Jier who walked away in dismay.

  Less than one minute.

  In the animal park.

  The peacock's mournful cry sounded again, and the eunuch in charge had a painful expression on his face as he forced a smile and handed a peacock feather to Yang Jier.

  "Do you know how to say it?" Yang Jier proudly said.

  They are all natural shedding, this is the molting season of peacocks. The eunuch thought for a moment about the miserable appearance of the peacock with its tail feathers dropped off, wiped his sweat and said in a flattering tone.

  Yang Jier nodded in satisfaction and proudly walked away, preparing to go back and test this magical peacock pen.

  It was as if the peacock feather had magical powers, for in an instant, Yang You's handwriting transformed from being ugly and unrefined to becoming perfectly round and regular. This left Yang Jier, who had always been fascinated by strange and unusual things, utterly delighted.

  "Hum, stinky Yang You, you think having a peacock feather makes you formidable? Now this princess has one too."

  Master, what about that peacock?

  After Yang Jier walked away, the little eunuch who raised peacocks asked anxiously.

  What peacock, where is the peacock, that's obviously a pheasant, hurry up and throw it into the pheasant group.

  Kanji-dono's face still showed a hint of pain, but it was also filled with joy. In just one day, he had encountered both the Crown Prince and Princess Izumo, wasn't his luck turning around?

  At this time, who still cares about a peacock? No! It's just a wild chicken.

  A plucked peacock is no better than a chicken!