It was already after winter when I joined the East Palace.
The first day of the twelfth lunar month is an auspicious day.
Bai Song holds the emperor's imperial edict and will conduct the prince's apprenticeship ceremony in the East Palace at three o'clock today.
Bai Song had been preparing for this day for a long time.
They also knew that there were many dangers in the East Palace, so the ladies at home paid special attention to it.
From hair accessories to clothing to etiquette, everyone warned Bai Song repeatedly, warning Bai Song not to make any mistakes.
It was getting late, so Bai Song packed up and got on the carriage heading to the East Palace.
…
In the East Palace, the prince was still sleeping soundly.
The serving maid was a little anxious.
Today is the apprenticeship ceremony, which is also an extremely important thing for the prince.
If the prince is late, it will be disrespectful to the teacher. If word spreads, he will be scolded by others.
If the emperor finds out, the emperor will definitely be unhappy.
But the prince had a disrespectful nature and would always get angry if someone woke him up.
Several palace maids were discussing among themselves, not knowing what to do. When they saw Princess Danyang coming, they rushed up to report it.
"Your Highness Princess, it's already a quarter of an hour, and there are still two quarters of an hour before the apprenticeship ceremony. Your Royal Highness is still sleeping. What should I do if I am delayed?"
Princess Danyang looked good today. She failed to prevent an outsider from entering her East Palace, but there was no hint of displeasure on her face.
"Why do you want to disturb me over such a trivial matter?"
The maids were anxious, but they did not dare to say anything more. They left and prepared to go in directly to wake up the prince.
"Wait a minute..." Princess Danyang said, "The prince played too late last night. If he wants to sleep, let him sleep."
"But..." The palace maid was a little worried.
"Huh?" Princess Danyang exclaimed softly, and the maids quickly retreated, not daring to say any more.
The East Palace is very big. Apart from the Imperial Palace, there is no bigger palace in Chang'an City.
Bai Song came here for the first time. He wandered around for a long time and got lost. He should have been able to get there at a quarter of an hour, but he wasted an extra quarter of an hour.
From the moment he stepped into the East Palace, Bai Song felt the attitude of the East Palace.
There wasn't even a guide, so it was completely assumed that Bai Song didn't exist.
No one told Bai Song where he couldn't go. As long as Bai Song arrived, everyone would be respectful. Bai Song could go wherever he wanted, and no one would stop him.
After asking several people in succession, I finally found the agreed upon location under the pavilion in the inner garden.
The Shuting is the classroom where future teaching will be held. In addition to the prince, there are also several royal children.
All are children around ten years old.
Thinking of this, Bai Song felt like his head was as big as a bucket.
It would be difficult to deal with just one of the royal children, let alone more than a dozen?
Dealing with these children will definitely be more difficult than dealing with those ministers.
These little brats must be playboys and very difficult to deal with.
If you are a little harsher, you may be afraid that the parents behind you will grab their pigtails and complain to the emperor.
Therefore, Bai Song was quite nervous when he came to the East Palace.
But when he arrived under the pavilion, he saw about ten young princes, princesses and so on, which was beyond Bai Song's expectation.
These children are very quiet. Everyone sits upright at the dozen or so small desks, and they are not noisy at all.
Only when they saw Bai Song arriving, they probably felt that Bai Song was too young. Many people were surprised in their eyes, and then became a little confused and even disdainful. Then they looked at each other and occasionally made some small comments.
An old father-in-law stood next to the book stand. Hearing the voices of the young masters, he coughed in a higher tone: "Ahem!"
The group of little brats became quiet again.
Bai Song went to the main seat under the pavilion and sat down. He put away the four books and five classics he had brought with him. He glanced blankly below, but Li Chengqian was nowhere to be seen.
The father-in-law came up to Bai Song's ear and whispered: "Mr. Bai, the prince will be here soon. Please wait a moment."
Bai Song looked at the sky and asked, "What time is it?"
"Um..." The father-in-law looked a little embarrassed, "It's already three quarters of a day."
Bai Song didn't say anything, he just sat there and didn't show any displeasure.
Seeing Bai Song's face, the father-in-law breathed a sigh of relief.
If it were the teacher in the past, if the student was late for the apprenticeship ceremony, the teacher would leave in anger.
Fortunately, the young gentleman was good-tempered and showed no emotion.
Bai Song didn't have this awareness at all. On the contrary, he felt that with the prince's dignity, he could understand whatever he did, but he was just late, so he should just wait a while.
But Bai Song completely underestimated how long his father-in-law said it would be soon.
Seeing that it was past midnight, there was still no sign of the prince.
The students below were a little impatient, and they all squirmed a little while sitting, obviously a little tired.
"How much longer?" Bai Song asked.
The father-in-law still had the same embarrassed look: "This..."
"Send someone to see what happened and come back with a message."
A palace maid received the order and turned around to find the prince.
At this time, a familiar voice came: "There is no need to look for it. His Highness the Prince was playing around for a long time yesterday and went to bed late. What's the harm in Mr. Bai letting the Prince rest a little longer?"
When Bai Song saw the other party, he frowned slightly and stood up to salute: "I have met Princess Danyang."
"Mr. Bai is the prince's husband, so there is no need to be more polite with me. Sir, you have a distinguished status. Logically speaking, everyone in the East Palace should salute you when they see you."
"The apprenticeship ceremony has not yet been completed, and the due etiquette cannot be omitted."
Bai Song said it easily, but he inadvertently told Princess Danyang that as long as the apprenticeship ceremony is completed, I will not be polite to you.
The other thing is to tell Princess Danyang that it is useless to hide the prince like this and not let the prince come over. Should we wait soon? It doesn't matter how long we wait.
Princess Danyang was obviously a little unhappy. She raised her eyebrows and smiled: "Mr. Bai is so generous. The student is late on the first day, but he can still sit here without changing his attitude."
"People have three urgent needs. I believe the prince has his own reasons. If he loses his temper if he waits a little longer, wouldn't it weaken his magnanimity?"
"Third emergency? Giggle..." Princess Danyang smiled sweetly, "Mr. Bai is afraid that he still doesn't know why the prince slept late last night, right?"
"What's the matter?"
"Mr. Bai should know that the prince is now in his youth and is obsessed with things between men and women. Last night, he talked with four or five little maids in the room all night long, laughing and playing, so that he was tired and couldn't wake up for a long time. Such a student,
Is Mr. Bai confident that he can teach well?"
Princess Danyang's voice was loud and undisguised, regardless of the dozen or so young princes and princesses present.
In ancient times, children developed early and were open-minded early. Children of such royal relatives often became curious about men and women when they were about ten years old.
Even women have heard some of it.
Princess Danyang is an elder. She said this in front of a group of juniors, which made a group of children become restless, each of them yelling and looking at each other, showing great interest.
The little girl blushed, lowered her head, and was so embarrassed that she almost squeezed out the water.