The Prime Minister's Darling
Chapter 850 - 850 390 Overbearing (second update)

Chapter 850: 390 Overbearing (second update) Chapter 850: 390 Overbearing (second update) Xiao Liulang ignored the ash-faced Prince of An and turned to enter the Hanlin Academy.

He had taken two days off, and some official business had piled up on his desk. He flipped through it, not too much and mostly manageable by noon.

Starting tomorrow, he was to resume teaching the crown prince, and he needed to prepare some questions, but it wouldn’t take much time.

In any case, he would be able to finish his duties on time.

What no one expected was that just as he had finished his current official duties, Yang, the reader in waiting, thrust upon him a new task.

It was to write a eulogy for the late emperor, to be used in the sacrifice rites.

This task had been assigned to Minister Han of Hanlin Academy, but Yang, being too lazy to do it himself, had passed it on to Xiao Liulang.

It had been a while since Yang had last bullied Xiao Liulang; first, he had been recovering from severe injuries and had no energy, second, Xiao Liulang had had an unbeaten exchange with Minister Zhuang at the entrance of the Hanlin Academy, and third, it was said that Marquis Xuanping himself had gone to the countryside to fetch Xiao Liulang.

All these things combined meant that most people no longer dared to provoke Xiao Liulang lightly, yet some people by nature seemed unable to learn from experience, as the saying goes, “Once healed, the pain is forgotten.”

Yang, the reader in waiting, happened to be one of them.

He barked, “What are you standing there for? Go on! Have you never written one, or never seen one? If you don’t know how, look it up yourself! The Book Pavilion has eulogies from past years!”

Xiao Liulang cast a cool glance at Yang.

Even such a seemingly casual look made Yang’s heart skip a beat.

Was it an illusion?

Why did it feel like he was being stared at by a venomous snake?

When Yang looked at Xiao Liulang again, Xiao Liulang had already returned to his usual cool and indifferent demeanor.

Xiao Liulang knew that without rewriting the eulogy for the late emperor twenty or thirty times, it would not satisfy Yang, who probably wouldn’t even look at it before asking him to rewrite it again and again.

If it had been before, he wouldn’t have minded.

People like him, who should have died in a great fire long ago, what right did he have to care about his own experiences?

But now—

If he were not doing well, someone would worry.

Xiao Liulang turned and went back to his office.

Yang scoffed coldly, “I knew it, you’re just a lucky dog, a lame man from the countryside, do you really think those nobles above care about you?”

Perhaps the gaze from earlier had left Yang feeling uncomfortable, for he hassled Xiao Liulang all morning, making him rewrite countless times until, just when the work had to be submitted, he picked up the first eulogy Xiao Liulang had written: “I think, this one is the best.”

Xiao Liulang walked out without saying a word.

Yang snorted disdainfully and then carried a neatly written eulogy to Minister Han’s office.

As soon as Minister Han saw the pleasing calligraphy, he couldn’t help revealing a trace of satisfaction, “This is… Xiao Liulang’s handwriting, right?”

In the entire Hanlin Academy, Xiao Liulang’s handwriting was the most exquisite, even surpassing that of Prince An.

Yang smiled obsequiously, “My handwriting isn’t good, so I had him make a transcript.”

Making a transcript was no great feat; the real skill lay in producing a soul-stirring eulogy.

“Hmm, these few sentences are well written,” Minister Han praised generously.

Yang was delighted.

But his delight did not last long before Minister Han’s smile froze on his face, “Is this really written by you?”

Yang, lost in his self-delusions of praise, failed to notice the change in Minister Han’s expression, “Yes, it’s written by me.”

Minister Han slammed the eulogy on the desk with a smack!

Yang was startled, stammering, “M-Minister Han?”

Minister Han thundered, “Do you have a death wish, Yang? To dare disgrace the late emperor’s name!”

“The late emperor’s name?” Confused, Yang hastily grabbed the eulogy to take a look.

Indeed, the eulogy mentioned the late emperor’s name, not his formal name but his courtesy name, which appeared in an antithetical couplet designed to initially depress before uplifting, unfortunately placed in the depressing part, which upon careful analysis might indeed be construed as an insult to the late emperor.

Yang’s face drained of color as he said in panic, “Minister Han! It wasn’t me! It was, it was Xiao Liulang! He did it!”

He almost blurted out the fact that the eulogy was written by Xiao Liulang but changed his statement at the last moment, “He must have copied it wrong!”

Minister Han said coldly, “He is the top graduate of the recent imperial examination; would he make such an absurd mistake? Besides, without the late emperor’s courtesy name, the sentence would not even read properly!”

Indeed, the couplet was so well written, seamless, flowing like clouds and water, that without the late emperor’s courtesy name, it would have been a perfect couplet.

No, it was precisely because of the late emperor’s courtesy name.

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