Chapter 17: Young Master Yun Turns the Tables!

“Good, good.” Hearing the firm reply on young Yun’s little face, Li Fu was overjoyed. Aside from the time he had lost control of himself while drinking during the Mid-Autumn Festival, this was only the second time he had ever been so openly delighted.

“Yun has a good memory. From now on, Father will officially begin teaching you to read.”

Yun’s brows drew together at once, and he hurriedly refused. “Too young, too young. I’m too young. I can’t.”

Li Fu paid no attention to him.

As the old saying went, a child who was brilliant young might not necessarily grow into an exceptional adult.

Since Yun possessed such talent, it should not be allowed to go to waste. Otherwise, he might one day use his intelligence for the wrong purposes and eventually become indistinguishable from everyone else.

“You must learn. From now on, I’ll teach you one character a day, and you must study properly. If you cannot learn it well, I’ll write to Ziming and tell him that his future disciple is not clever at all—that he cannot recognize even one character in a day, and is the worst student Ziming has ever had.”

Li Fu smiled as he “threatened” Yun. He knew that the boy was very concerned with his reputation. If word got out that he was not clever, Yun would surely be frantic.

Sure enough, Yun immediately wore a conflicted expression. Every so often, he turned his head to glance at Li Fu, as though silently complaining that his father was being rather unscrupulous—how could he treat his own son this way?

“Then it can only be one character.” In the end, Yun compromised.

If it was only one character a day, his tender little brain ought to manage.

Li Fu smiled and said nothing. In truth, if Yun had thrown himself on the floor and started kicking up a fuss like Yi, Li Fu had already been prepared to teach him only one character every three days.

After all, Yun was still far too young. From the day of his birth until now, he had not even reached his first birthday.

Li Fu might be determined to push him, but he was not so heartless as to disregard his own son’s well-being.

As things stood, however, Yun seemed to be taking it quite well. After agreeing to one character a day, there was even a trace of smug delight on his face.

In that case, perhaps Li Fu could increase Yun’s lessons a little, depending on the circumstances. He would have to wait until Yun officially began studying before deciding.

Li Fu’s mind was already racing with teaching plans. He had never taught a student before. Now Yun was both his son and his pupil, and Li Fu could hardly wait to show what he could do. One day, he would let Zheng Ziming see that he was not a poor teacher either—that his teaching skills were every bit as impressive as those of the instructors at the Imperial Academy.

After enjoying himself for a while, Li Fu asked cheerfully, “What does Yun think of this Treatise on Diseases?”

The language in the Treatise on Diseases was rather obscure. Even if Yun wanted to test his ability to remember characters, he ought to have chosen something simpler.

Li Fu’s reading was broad and eclectic. His shelves even held quite a few illustrated little stories—what people nowadays would call ancient comic books. By rights, books with more pictures and fewer characters should have been far more appealing to Yun.

Of course, Li Fu was only asking casually.

Children sometimes did things without any particular reason. For instance, Yi was now biting the little wooden horse again, laughing as he did so, and smearing drool everywhere.

“Useful.”

Li Fu had not expected Yun to offer any meaningful answer, yet he heard the boy reply in a somewhat troubled voice.

“How is it useful? Tell Father.”

If Xin and Madam Bu simply doted on the children, Li Fu was stern but rational. Even so, he truly listened whenever either child tried to say something.

Even when Yi’s speech had no logic to it at all, Li Fu would listen with complete seriousness.

The same was true of Yun.

Li Fu even opened both the Treatise on Diseases and the advisory booklet before him, then looked at him encouragingly, urging him to continue.

Yun had a bold temperament. In truth, he dared to say anything; he was merely still gathering his thoughts.

After a long while, he raised his little finger and pointed to the three characters for Nightmare Illness written in the Treatise on Diseases.

Without thinking, Li Fu read aloud the description beneath it:

“When a pit allows the fire’s fumes to escape, filling the air with a foul stench, a person exposed to the fumes will perish without realizing it. The corpse will be exceedingly limp, resembling one who has died in sleep after being seized by a night demon. Thus it is called Nightmare Illness.”

“Father, Gouzi told me that their house has many broken places. At night, the wind comes in and it isn’t warm, so they must be careful not to suffer Nightmare Illness. Our house is very good. No wind comes in.”

Li Fu suddenly exclaimed and slapped his forehead, realizing that his advisory booklet had indeed left something out.

He had been thinking only about how the villages and townships would get through the winter and had forgotten the wealthy households in Long County itself.

Nightmare Illness was, in plain terms, carbon monoxide poisoning. After being poisoned, a person’s body became limp, as though death had come during sleep. That was why people in this era called it Nightmare Illness.

Deaths from it were not uncommon, though it was essentially an illness of the wealthy. Only prosperous families could build houses with thick walls, shut their windows tightly against drafts, and keep charcoal burning all night. Once the fumes accumulated, the entire family could perish.

Li Fu had never witnessed such a thing himself, but he had heard of it. There were still a number of well-to-do households in Long County, and Nightmare Illness was precisely what they feared most.

“Have you already read most of my advisory booklet?” Li Fu asked in delighted surprise.

He had previously thought that Yun remembered only a few characters. He had not expected him to remember so many. Yun could have noticed that the booklet had omitted something only if he had read a considerable portion of it.

Yun’s eyes widened, and he spoke anxiously. “One character a day. You promised. You promised. You can’t go back on your word.”

This time, Yun was genuinely alarmed. His father seemed about to increase the difficulty of his studies, and that absolutely would not do.

Li Fu nodded. He still had some dignity; he did not put on a performance by breaking his promise on the spot.

But inwardly, he was thrilled.

He had not expected Yun to possess more than a good memory. The boy was quick-minded as well, and already skilled at observation despite his tender age. It seemed that Li Fu truly had a prodigy for a son.

Li Fu turned his gaze toward Yi, and his eyes grew heated as well. The Taoist priest had said that Yi was destined for the martial path. One son for letters and one for arms—surely the Li family’s fortune would never run out.

It seemed that the ancestral rites would have to be placed on the schedule.

At first, Li Fu had not been in a hurry. Both children were still young. But since Yun was clearly extraordinary, it would be better to inform the ancestors sooner rather than later.

“Father.” Yun saw Li Fu suddenly fall into thought and assumed he was truly planning to alter the lessons. He called out in alarm.

Only then did Li Fu return to himself.

Suppressing the thoughts that had just occupied him, he continued, “What about this Cold Illness? Why did you circle it?”

Cold Illness was a major winter epidemic. Li Fu had not only written about it in the advisory booklet but had also listed specific measures, instructing each township to prepare medicinal materials for relief.

Yun thought for a moment before speaking. “Cold Illness can spread. Anyone who catches it must pay attention to cleanliness and should live separately until they recover. If someone has to care for them, they should soak a piece of cloth in hot water, dry it in the sun, and cover the sick person’s face with it. That will prevent droplet viruses from spreading. It should help a little.”

“Droplet viruses?” Li Fu was very interested in this new term Yun had introduced.

Yun, however, instantly went blank.

What was he talking about?

He did not know himself. The term had simply emerged from his mind all at once, and he had blurted it out without thinking.

Now that he was being asked to consider where the words had come from, Yun truly could not remember.

Sigh.

His mind kept producing strange terms and other odd things on its own, and Yun had no idea how to control them.

“I don’t remember. Perhaps I saw it somewhere.” Yun answered with a troubled expression.

Seeing that the boy had thought so hard that his whole face had twisted up, Li Fu guessed that Yun could not recognize all the characters and had somehow cobbled together a strange phrase by himself.

He decided not to dwell on it.

Although he did not understand the meaning of Yun’s peculiar expression, he understood the overall point: Cold Illness was contagious, and after one person became sick, the others should cover their noses and mouths with cloth to prevent the illness from spreading to them.

Li Fu had never heard of this method, but something was better than nothing. He would add it to the advisory booklet later.

After all, Li Fu knew that most people who contracted Cold Illness could not afford medicine. Even if he instructed the three elders and the county officials to purchase some, they would not be able to stock very much. It was little more than a token gesture.

Once his official duties were finished, Li Fu decided to praise Yun a little. Yun loved hearing words of approval more than anything.

After an extended round of praise, Yun was so delighted that he nearly agreed to begin learning how to write that very day. Fortunately, the boy did not let the flattery go to his head. He happily accepted the praise, but absolutely refused to agree to learning to write.

Li Fu shook his head, thinking that Yun was a sly little fellow.

Then he looked over at Yi and saw that the boy was no longer playing with the wooden horse. Instead, he had staggered to his feet and was biting the leg of the table.

This sent Li Fu into a panic.

He hurried over, scooped Yi up, and carefully examined the boy’s teeth. Heaven forbid he had bitten them badly.

After checking him thoroughly, Li Fu decided to hold Yi while beginning his reading for the day, giving him his daily dose of learning.

Yun had given Li Fu a tremendous surprise. Although Yi had always seemed like an ordinary child, Yun had overturned all expectations. Why should Yi be incapable of doing the same?

With the faint hope of raising both sons into outstanding men, Li Fu decided to devote special attention to reading aloud to Yi that day.

Normally, Yi would sit some distance away and listen to Li Fu read. Today, however, Li Fu read directly beside his ear, chattering on and on.

Yi was bewildered at first.

Then he completely refused to cooperate.

That day, Yi’s cries of resistance against his father’s relentless educational campaign rang throughout the entire Li residence, proving once and for all that he was not cut out for reading. He did not want to read—not even listen.

In the end, the maids carried Yun and Yi away, leaving Li Fu alone in the study with a perfectly clear understanding that Yi had no love for learning whatsoever.

By evening, the sky had darkened.

Night fell much more quickly now than it had in summer. Though snow had not yet come, frost already covered the ground outside in the mornings.

Thus, by dusk, even with the doors and windows shut, the room was icy cold unless one was tucked beneath the blankets.

Several basins of charcoal had already been placed in Yun’s room for warmth.

It was the finest charcoal wood. When it burned, it made a faint crackling sound, yet produced very little smoke or irritation. At Yun’s request, a small piece of wood propped open the window, leaving a gap two fingers wide.

With the charcoal burning, the medium-sized room finally grew warm and cozy.

Yun was not yet asleep. With Gouzi accompanying him, he wandered about his room, playing idly while thinking about tomorrow’s lessons.