Zhao Xi didn't know if this was considered self-inflicted suffering, but it seemed he quite liked days like this.

  As soon as it's a little bright, Zhao Xi will be called to get up by someone, then someone will serve him to dress and wear a hat, all the way to washing and eating, he can even do it with his eyes closed.

  The professional ethics of these palace maids and eunuchs in serving people are really not comparable to those of the service industry in later generations.

  After everything was ready, he would be led by a small eunuch named Wang Zhongzheng to the Zishan Hall to receive education, known as entering school.

  Wang Zhongzheng was brought by Empress Cao and Old Chen Lin. When Zhao Xi first woke up, it was this little boy who accompanied the empress to the Qifu Palace. Zhao Xi still had some impression of him. Although he was a eunuch, this kid had some heroic spirit and was not effeminate.

  Sometimes Zhao Xi wonders if he is really infertile, or else a bunch of non-biological younger siblings will appear in the end.

  Thinking carefully, it seems like my old man doesn't have any descendants, of course I'm an exception.

  Today is the first day of school.

  On that day, the nine linked rings were solved, and the gentlemen's words of advice made him enter the school. Father had a kind heart and couldn't bear it, fortunately, the empress also had this intention, even Zhao Xi himself finally said: Dad, I want to go to school.

  The husband's own teacher, recommended by his father-in-law, was named Sun Fu. Zhao Xi thought for half a day and couldn't recall who he was.

  My knowledge of history is just what's in textbooks and TV dramas, which don't seem reliable now.

  The fortune tellers all nodded in agreement, and it seemed that this teacher was not an unknown person. After all, his own son had a unique status. Whether it was the fortune tellers or the old man himself, they would not be lax in their education.

  "Is Zhongzheng far from Caishantang?"

  Zhao Xi didn't know how to address the little eunuch, and as for terms like "Little Prince", he knew that wasn't suitable at this time. Inner monitor or inner attendant seemed not to be the right term for his identity either, so he simply called him by name.

  "It's not too far back to Wangye."

  "How about we go for a run?"

  This... Wang Zhongzheng was stunned. He understood the rules of the palace, but this was a request from the prince, and it was the only prince who made such a request. For a moment, he didn't know whether to agree or not.

  Take another look at the people carrying lanterns in front and holding ceremonial instruments behind, it just doesn't seem right.

  "Your Highness, the imperial escort..."

  "And don't mind them."

  Anyway, I'm a spoiled brat, so I can be willful. Besides, even if we run, this group of people should be able to keep up, it's just going to be messy.

  Zhao Xi felt that getting up so early and not exercising was a waste of waking up.

  Zhao Xi was too lazy to say more, in this team he is the boss and they can only follow him.

  They really can't stand this group of people. They are serving the royal family, but they don't have any discipline at all. They haven't even run a few steps yet, and the whole team is already in chaos.

  "Wait... all of you listen up! When I say one, step out with your left foot. When I say two, step out with your right foot. Stay in your original positions and don't move around!"

  Zhao Xi shouted, they were almost at Zishantang, but instead of getting organized, they became more and more chaotic.

  "Halt!"

  I'm fed up, it's even more annoying than training new recruits. New recruits at least have some foundation, but these... are purely a group of idiots, simply stupid... forget it, if they were smart, they wouldn't have entered the palace in the first place.

  "Zhōng zhèng, I'm going to class, what are you guys doing?"

  "Return to the king, we will be waiting."

  "Alright then, find a place to train them, just some basic training around 1-2 hours. Normally march in step when walking, and run in stride when running. Got it."

  "Understood, Your Highness. Shall we stop here?"

  "Halt! Remember, train them well and we'll make rapid progress when they come to study!"

  When facing a group of foolish people, Zhao Xi didn't have any reservations and spoke freely. Anyway, they only knew that the King of E was wise and somewhat different from ordinary people, which they had accepted.

  Zhao Xi thought that the Zishantang was just a small house, with a few tables and chairs, and maybe a blackboard. But when Wang Zhongzheng took him there, he realized it was actually a palace complex, or a large courtyard.

  The main hall and wing halls are all present, it's a three-entrance courtyard.

  The key is that there are actually many people coming and going...

  "Zhong Zheng, you all came here to study?"

  "Your Majesty, this is a public office, mainly for organizing books, lecturers and readers to review materials, as well as eunuchs and miscellaneous servants."

  So it's a library? That's good too, saves having such a large hall all to yourself with just the teacher.

  Sun Fu repeatedly failed to pass the imperial examination, and devoted himself to learning for over twenty years. He thought that he would spend the rest of his life this way. However, last year, in response to recommendations from Fan Xiang and Fu Xiang, he was appointed as a lecturer at the Imperial Academy and a proofreader at the Secretariat. This can be considered as having found an application for his learning.

  The day before yesterday, an imperial edict was announced, and I knew that I had been recommended again to serve as a reader for Prince E.

  Sun Fu devoted himself to cultivating talents and spreading Confucianism, which he would never refuse. As for enlightening young children, it was not his first attempt either.

  It is said that King E of Hubei was precocious, but in Sun Fu's view, it was just to meet the needs of emperors and kings and to embellish folklore.

  However, he still waited at the school at dawn.

  "Good morning, Teacher Sun."

  Zhao Xi didn't know what to call the teacher this year, and there was also the issue of his own identity, so he simply followed the convention of later generations.

  "Your Highness, Ming Fu dares not be your teacher, but rather attend to reading for Your Highness. I dare not address you in such a manner. You may call me Ming Fu."

  It's not that anyone can be a mentor, even if it's actually oneself teaching; the prince is destined to be the crown prince, and eventually the emperor, so it's absolutely impermissible to address him as "mentor" in such an offhand manner.

  "Then I'll call you Mr."

  Zhao Xi didn't argue about this, he thought it was no big deal, since others were being polite, then just change the way of saying it.

  The book returned to its rightful owner, and Zhao Xi also began his first lesson.

  "The prince has never been enlightened, but today he will first lead the reading of 'Thousand Character Classic', and the prince only needs to follow along, recognizing and memorizing characters as he pleases."

  Zhao Xi looked at the book in front of him, still open, a bit blurry.

  Shouldn't it start with simple characters like "population" from top to bottom? Why does it start with something like "heaven and earth are mysterious and yellow..." as soon as it begins?

  There are even annotations behind this character... Is this pinyin? What a hassle! It's easier to just remember the characters directly than to memorize pinyin.

  Zhao Xi is not illiterate, and what's called recognizing characters is just re-recognizing the traditional Chinese characters. It seems easy for him, as he had also been taught traditional Chinese characters by his father when he was younger.

  Heaven and earth are mysterious and vast, the universe is immense and chaotic. The sun and moon are full and empty, the stars are arranged in order. Cold comes and heat goes, autumn harvests and winter stores...

  After reading it once, except for a few rare characters, Zhao Xi had basically recognized all of them.

  This is not the most important thing, he feels that this rhythmic reading, combined with rhyme, makes it easy to remember.

  "Your Highness, may I take note of a few passages?"

  After reading it five times, Sun Fu asked again. He also had some intention of exploring the cleverness of King E.

  "Please check, sir."

  Zhao Xi got up... In his impression, respecting teachers and valuing morality seemed more important in ancient times than in later generations.

  Zhao Xi put down the book on his desk and then seemed to have sorted out those rare characters in his mind, before starting to recite.

  It seems that it's really not difficult, just a thousand words, thinking back to the 4-5 thousand word speech draft from before, without any rhythm, he could recite the whole thing in half a day, this really isn't anything.

  He was immersed in the unique flavor of the rhythm, but didn't know that Sun Fu had already been stunned at this time. When Zhao Xi recited around 300 words, Sun Fu had already firmly believed... King E indeed is clever, or rather, clever beyond what ordinary people can reach.