Chapter 41 Special Skill

Chapter 41: Special Skill

Cheng Ge rolled his eyes, speechless, and yanked his hand back without ceremony.

"Yeah, yeah, I even powder my ass, okay?"

"Really?" Zhou Zhan's eyes went wide.

Cheng Ge looked at Zhou Zhan and began to doubt his own choice.

Can this dumbass really be emperor someday? Is he gonna get me killed too?

He cleared his throat and asked offhandedly, "Your Highness, I hear you've got a younger brother?"

Zhou Zhan looked puzzled. "Yeah, why're you asking all of a sudden?"

"Nothing, just... more brothers means more options, right?"

Zhou Zhan's face fell. He grabbed a book and started flipping through it, acting all casual. "You know Zhou Hao?"

Zhou Hao was the Second Prince, two years younger than Zhou Zhan, raised by his mom, Consort Chen, and supposedly real smart and well-behaved.

"No, I never got to go inside the palace before, let alone meet a prince."

"Oh." Zhou Zhan let out a relieved breath. "I can't stand him. He's always acting fake."

Cheng Ge freaked out and cut him off. "Your Highness, watch your mouth."

Zhou Zhan got pissed off. He slammed the book on the table and pouted.

"I'm just telling the truth. What, I can't even say that? You taking his side now?"

Cheng Ge was speechless at how childish he was being and quickly tried to calm him down.

"Your Highness, it's not about taking sides. These palace walls have ears, you know. If that gets out, it could screw you over."

Zhou Zhan turned away, moping, and muttered, "I'm not scared. He's just some concubine's kid. I'm the real deal, born of the Empress."

"Exactly because you're the legitimate heir, you gotta watch what you say and do, so nobody can grab onto your slip-ups and blow them out of proportion."

Zhou Zhan could be a bit dense, but he wasn't actually dumb.

"I know. It's just 'cause I see you as one of my guys, so I told you. I won't say it again."

Cheng Ge thought the Crown Prince was kinda flaky, but with his rank, he couldn't say much.

Anyway, now that he was the Crown Prince's Tutor, he was stuck on the Crown Prince's team, for better or worse.

Life in the palace was boring as hell. The red walls shut out the outside world, and looking up, you could only see a tiny square of sky.

Working here was okay, but if Cheng Ge had to stay here forever, no way in hell.

After an hour nap at noon, the afternoon was for martial arts. That's when someone unexpected showed up.

"Your Highness, what are you doing here?" Cheng Ge had just changed into a tight black outfit with a narrow waist and cuffs, looking sharp.

Zhou Zhan was holding a fancy gold-inlaid bow with a quiver at his waist, looking miserable.

He hated archery practice the most—it was tiring and he never got any better.

To make things worse, Zhou Hao was really good at riding and archery. Compared to him, Zhou Zhan looked like a total klutz.

He was already in a bad mood, and then he looked up and saw Cui Ji, which pissed him off even more.

Zhou Zhan wasn't afraid of anything or anyone, except two people.

One was his no-nonsense dad, the Emperor, and the other was Cui Ji.

Being scared of Zhou Mingqi was normal—he was the Emperor, after all, and had that authority.

But Cui Ji? That brought back a seriously traumatic memory from Zhou Zhan's childhood.

Back when he was about five, and Cui Ji was like fourteen or fifteen.

It was a blazing hot afternoon. Zhou Zhan only had one old maid with him, and the pond in the imperial garden was full of colorful koi.

He was a kid, so naturally he was playful. Seeing those little fish swimming around, he couldn't help it and insisted on leaning over the edge to catch them.

Sure enough, he fell in and swallowed a ton of water.

The maid freaked out and collapsed, but by chance, the Cui family had been summoned to the palace for business that day. Cui Ji just happened to be passing by and jumped in without thinking to save him.

Zhou Zhan, well-nourished from childhood, was a bit chubby. Terrified from choking, he cried loudly and clung desperately to Cui Ji, refusing to let go.

Though Cui Ji was strong, dealing with a little demon like Zhou Zhan was like being entangled by a water ghost.

At that time, Cui Ji's temperament wasn't as restrained as it was now—in fact, he was quite unruly, known as the little tyrant of the capital.

Annoyed by Zhou Zhan's incessant crying, he slapped him without a second thought, knocking him out cold, and incidentally knocked out two of his front teeth.

This incident left a deep shadow on Zhou Zhan's young heart, giving him nightmares for days.

As a result, every time Zhou Zhan saw Cui Ji, his hair stood on end.

Zhou Zhan swallowed nervously, forcing himself to stay calm. "Prince Zhenbei, why are you here? Are you looking for my father?"

Cui Ji glanced at Cheng Ge's hand, his expression dark. "What happened to your hand? Did someone bully you again?"

Cheng Ge was taken aback, hiding his hand behind his back with a dry laugh. "It's nothing. I just bumped it."

Cui Ji's frown deepened. He turned to look at Zhou Zhan with no goodwill whatsoever.

"His Majesty told me that the Crown Prince has practiced martial arts for years with no visible improvement, so he specially ordered me to supervise Your Highness's training."

Zhou Zhan felt as if the sky had fallen upon hearing this, unable to believe his ears.

Cheng Ge, however, had the opposite reaction.

Back in the day, his parents wanted to cultivate hobbies for their three sons to refine their tastes.

They hired teachers for them. His eldest brother, steady as an old dog, unhesitatingly chose horseback riding and the violin.

His second brother wasn't particularly interested in other things but had been passionate about painting since childhood.

However, the things he painted were exceptionally abstract, like a Picasso plus version.

Whenever he presented his shocking masterpiece for Cheng Ge's appreciation, it cast a thick shadow over Cheng Ge's bright mind.

Of course, Cheng Ge usually preserved some brotherly goodwill and didn't point it out directly.

But as it turns out, you can't force a wild boar to appreciate fine dining.

Just when he thought his good-for-nothing second brother was about to become another crazy art school reject and take down the world with him.

He actually... got accepted into the Paris Academy of Fine Arts, all fresh and fancy.

What the hell...

How can someone be so successful? Life really is a piece of cake, huh... hahaha...