CHAPTER 414: CHAPTER 395: QUESTIONED BY THE WHOLE FAMILY (1)

In the blink of an eye, it was time for school to end in the afternoon.

Prince Luling closed the books and said to the children, "Today’s class ends here."

Many children let out a long breath, their faces showing delight.

Some lively children even started dancing happily in their seats.

But Prince Luling didn’t dismiss class immediately; instead, he assigned homework.

The older children were assigned arithmetic and recitation.

The middle-aged children were given simpler arithmetic and writing tasks.

The youngest children were only assigned recitation.

He added, "I will check the assignments tomorrow morning. Additionally, those who were noisy in class this morning must finish copying their penalties at home. Three students who didn’t recite today will have to recite in front of me tomorrow."

After speaking, he announced the official dismissal of the class.

The children stood up and weakly said, "Goodbye, teacher."

Prince Luling gathered his books and left the room.

Li Yuzhu and Mu Yuanxiu walked over together.

"School’s over, let’s say goodbye to Mr. Song and head home," the Prince Luling said cheerfully, feeling light-hearted after finishing a day of teaching.

They went to the room where Mr. Song lived.

Mr. Song had been recuperating recently; he read and wrote in the morning, and took naps in the afternoon after meals.

Seeing Prince Luling approaching, he smiled and said, "From tomorrow, Mr. Li will officially take over the classes. I’ll entrust these children to him."

Prince Luling smiled and said, "As it should be."

Mu Yuanxiu turned the mule cart around and called out to Prince Luling and Li Yuzhu.

They greeted Mr. Song and left the Song family’s place together in the mule cart.

Along the way, they could see the cheerful children heading home.

Two children walking in front of their mule cart hadn’t heard the vehicle approaching and giggled, saying, "Our new teacher is great, but he’s too fat."

"Exactly, he’s like three times the size of Mr. Song." Another child covered his mouth and laughed too.

Inside the mule cart, Prince Luling’s face darkened, "..."

After the vehicle passed by, Li Yuzhu said, "Dad, you really should lose weight."

Prince Luling grumbled, "That’s easy for you to say."

Li Yuzhu said, "As long as you’re willing to lose weight, it’s not difficult."

Prince Luling snorted lightly, "You’ve never lost weight, how would you know it’s not hard? Try going hungry and skipping meals?"

Li Yuzhu thought to herself that she didn’t need to lose weight in this life; she’d dieted in her past life.

Controlling one’s diet and increasing exercise, if sustained over a long period, is truly not difficult.

"You don’t have to starve, just eat a little less and move a bit more," Li Yuzhu added.

Although Prince Luling punished the children today, being mocked as too fat by a group of kids had still hurt his feelings quite a bit.

Little kids have no filter, and who knows what people say about him behind his back.

Prince Luling decided he must lose some weight.

"Then... I’ll start losing weight tomorrow." He thought it better to rest today and prepare.

Li Yuzhu laughed, "Alright, you promise you’ll keep your word."

Outside, Mu Yuanxiu, who was driving the cart, also heard them, and immediately said, "Uncle Li, I heard it too. You can’t just slack off after three days!"

Pushed by his two juniors, Prince Luling said with a stiff expression, "Just wait and see."

.

When Li Yuzhu and the others arrived home, the mule cart hadn’t even stopped before three little kids ran towards them.

Chai Tianlang dragged Li Jing along, with Guoguo wobbling behind.

The Princess Consort Luling and Chai Eying chased after them.

"Slow down, slow down, the ground is wet and slippery!" the Princess Consort Luling called out repeatedly.

The three little ones didn’t listen, shouting, "Grandpa."

Guoguo called out differently, "Mr. Li!"

As soon as the cart stopped, Li Yuzhu hurriedly got off first, blocking the two smallest upfront, "You’re not taking care of your sister? Just running on your own?"

The two little ones looked back to see Guoguo panting her way over.

She grinned at Prince Luling as he got out of the cart and said, "Mr. Li."

Prince Luling laughed heartily, picking her up, "Guoguo, who taught you that?"

The Princess Consort Luling came over, laughing, "I mentioned it casually to E Ying, saying grandpa is Mr. Li, and she remembered. This child, such a good memory."

Chai Eying arrived, holding Li Jing and Chai Tianlang’s hands, "Dad, were the kids at the school obedient?"

With thirty-two children, all boys, they must have been quite a handful.

Li Jing and Chai Tianlang, the two boys, never gave the house a moment’s peace. What about thirty-two boys, would they not tear the roof off with their noise?

Chai Eying was curious.

Prince Luling proudly laughed, "As the old saying goes, ’the higher the road, the higher the devils’, hehehe."

He walked into the house carrying Guoguo, talking about the school matters as he went.

Mu Yuanxiu lived on the mountain; mules could climb up, but the cart couldn’t, so ever since he bought the cart, he had been parking it at the Li Family’s house.

Today is no different.

Li Yuzhu watched how he drove the mule cart. The Princess Consort Luling said, "Yuanxiu, you’re working hard today picking up Uncle Li. Why don’t you stay and have dinner with us before heading back?"

Mu Yuanxiu nodded with a smile, "Thank you, Aunt."

"You child, no need to be so polite," the Princess Consort waved her hand and laughed.

By evening, Li Xingsheng and the others who went to the market, as well as Li Xingmao and Li Xing’an who went to the fields, all returned.

As everyone sat down for dinner, they couldn’t resist asking the Prince Luling about his day at school.

Of course, the Prince Luling boasted about his left-handed writing and mental arithmetic skills.

Li Yuzhu, thinking of his skill at shooting birds, deliberately said, "Dad, there’s another talent you haven’t mentioned."

The Prince was puzzled, "I have another talent? What could it be?"

Li Xing’an and Li Xingsheng became interested, "Oh? Does our dad have another skill he’s showing off?"

Li Yuzhu nodded, of course, "Our dad can accurately hit a sparrow from about twenty paces away with a small pebble."

"What?" The whole family looked at the Prince in shock.

Chai Eying, Nanny Jiang, Uncle Gui, Mu Yuanxiu, and several children exclaimed in admiration, while others looked furious.

"Dad, if you can shoot birds, why didn’t you do it to eat?" the Great Princess said angrily.

"Exactly, hitting so accurately yet not doing it, that’s too much, Dad!" Li Xing’an snorted coldly.

Even the usually gentle Li Xingmao expressed his discontent, "Dad, that’s not right."

Prince Luling, "..."

Only the Princess Consort Luling teased, "Husband, when did you learn this skill?"

The Prince Luling wouldn’t admit this was something he’d known since childhood.

Back then, during his naps, there were always birds chattering in the trees by his window, disturbing him to no end.

Going outside with a bamboo pole to chase them away was too tiring and hot.

So he used pebbles to hit the birds.

Over time, he honed this extraordinary skill.

But he’s a prince, an uncle to the Emperor!

How could he rely on bird shooting to survive?

If this got out to the Capital, wouldn’t he lose face?

Now that the whole family is asking where this skill came from, he definitely couldn’t say it was something he learned as a child.

"Just... learned it a few days ago." The Prince cleared his throat, speaking with an unfazed expression.

But this only fooled the three little kids.

Guoguo uttered an "Oh."

Chai Tianlang exclaimed, "Wow—, Grandpa Li is impressive."

Li Jing said, "Grandpa, did you find catching birds too tiring, so you used pebbles instead?"

Prince Luling, "..."

Li Xing’an patted his little head, "Our Jingjing is indeed clever, hehe."

Others also had peculiar expressions.

With a gloomy face, Prince Luling said, "As the ancients say, ’Eat without speaking!’"

So everyone fell silent, eating their food quietly.

The next day everyone had work to do and needed to sleep early and wake up early, so after dinner, they all went to wash up.

Mu Yuanxiu also went back.

When resting at night, Prince Luling couldn’t escape being nagged by Princess Consort Luling.

Earlier, with the daughters-in-law and Mu Yuanxiu there, she couldn’t say much, but now that it’s just the two of them, she spoke without reservation.

Knowing he was at fault, Prince Luling didn’t dare to talk back.

Based on his experience, pretending to be ignorant and deaf would let him avoid trouble.

Sure enough, he only responded with "Mm-hmm" or "Uh-huh," suddenly complimenting her by saying the Princess Consort looked much better recently, asking if she used rouge.

The Princess Consort was both angry and speechless.

"Go to bed early; you have to go to school tomorrow morning."

"Oh."

.

Early the next morning, as usual, Li Xingsheng took the Great Princess and Second Princess to the market.

Li Xing’an and Li Xingmao went to help a family in Taohua River Village, and also planned to ask Liu the bricklayer about purchasing bricks. The school couldn’t wait to be built.

The village family’s son was getting married and needed young men to help out.

Li Xing’an, with his good looks, was invited to beat the drums for the wedding, while Li Xingmao, who could write, was invited to keep the accounts.

Li Yuzhu was going to Qingshui River Village with Prince Luling to check Mr. Song’s blood pressure and blood sugar.

Mu Yuanxiu came to the Li Family to drive the mule cart.

Li Yuzhu said, "My dad wants to lose weight, so we’ll walk there, Mu Yuanxiu, we’re not taking the cart today."

Mu Yuanxiu smiled and said, "I’m going to that mountain to look for wild game, so I’ll walk too."

Prince Luling was dumbfounded; walk to Qingshui River Village?