Chapter Six: The Unbelievable

As soon as Li Zhi finished speaking, the two men were utterly astonished.

Even the guards and palace maids standing outside perked up their ears, thinking to themselves, “Not even Lord Fang Xuanling knows this, but the little prince does? How unbelievable!”

Emperor Taizong had always considered Li Zhi clever, but he didn't believe his son could know such profound matters, let alone believe in the existence of some white-bearded immortal. He was convinced Li Zhi was just causing mischief.

Thus, Emperor Taizong spoke sternly, “Zhi’er, don’t be naughty!”

Li Zhi bowed and replied, “Father, I am not being naughty… I truly know how vast the sky is, and what lies beyond it. Does Father not wish to hear?”

Of course Emperor Taizong wished to know! But did Li Zhi truly have the answer?

Fang Xuanling, sensing the intrigue, stood up and said respectfully, “If His Highness enjoys speaking so astonishingly, then I would very much like to learn from him.” He stood there with all the earnestness of a student.

Li Zhi found his manner amusing and, adopting a serious tone, began, “The land we live on is called Earth. The Earth is elliptical in shape, circling it measures forty thousand kilometers… What we call the sky is not really the sky, but the universe. What we usually see as blue is due to the atmosphere filtering out other colors, leaving only the blue—so we cannot see what lies beyond!”

“But I know that in the universe there are countless planets, many even larger than Earth… The sun and moon we see are among them…” Li Zhi spoke at length, explaining as much as he could.

In the end, his explanation remained unclear.

But what mattered was that Emperor Taizong and Fang Xuanling understood none of it. They were left dumbfounded, completely forgetting their original question, their minds now occupied with one thing: How on earth did Li Zhi know all this? Was there truly a white-bearded immortal?

“Father, Teacher? Are you listening?” Li Zhi waved his hand in front of them.

Emperor Taizong snapped back to his senses. “Are you finished?”

“Yes, yes!”

“You didn’t understand, Father? I’ve explained it quite clearly!”

Emperor Taizong and Fang Xuanling exchanged glances, smiling to cover their embarrassment. “We understood, we understood…”

Fang Xuanling, originally the teacher, had been stumped by Li Zhi, unable to answer the question of a three-year-old child. This was already quite humiliating. If they admitted they couldn't even comprehend Li Zhi's explanation, wouldn't that be even worse? So, whether they understood or not, both tacitly agreed to feign understanding.

“Your Majesty… giving His Highness lessons is a tremendous pressure,” Fang Xuanling said with a pained expression. “It feels less like teaching and more like being taught myself.”

“I leave Zhi’er in your hands. I have pressing matters to attend to,” Emperor Taizong lied, making a quick escape from the scene.

Fang Xuanling and Li Zhi were left alone, and the awkwardness in the room only deepened.

“Teacher, please begin the lesson…” Li Zhi prompted.

“Very well,” Fang Xuanling replied, intending to start by teaching Li Zhi some basic characters.

However, after some inquiry, he was shocked to discover that Li Zhi recognized more characters than he did—sometimes even teaching him new ones! For example, the character ‘Zhao’, which was created by Empress Wu but was as yet unknown to anyone else. Fang Xuanling had never even heard of it.

“How is this possible?” Fang Xuanling was nearly driven mad. “Little Prince, how do you know so much? Was it the white-bearded immortal again?”

“Of course not! My mother often reads, and I sit beside her, watching quietly. Over time, I just remember things,” Li Zhi lied glibly.

After all, he was a prince—he had no fear of seeming odd.

Fang Xuanling half-believed him.

“That’s enough for today’s lesson. Your Highness should just read more books,” Fang Xuanling said, realizing there was little point in assigning homework to someone so precocious. If he asked too much, the little prince might retort in ways he couldn’t handle.

“Alright, class is over!” Li Zhi dashed away in a flash.

Soon after, Emperor Taizong arrived at the study and found Fang Xuanling wiping sweat from his brow.

“How was your first day of teaching?” the Emperor asked with a smile.

“Not well at all,” Fang Xuanling replied with a bitter smile. “It was humiliating enough not to be able to answer His Highness’s questions. Most of the time, he was teaching me! I can hardly keep my dignity.”

Emperor Taizong laughed heartily, his molars showing.

Back in the inner palace, in the Hall of Lijing, Li Zhi returned to find three people in the sitting room: his eldest brother Li Chengqian, his second sister Princess Lichang, and his third brother Li Tai.

He himself was the fourth among the siblings.

The royal family had so many children that even Li Zhi sometimes lost track. By the ranking of Empress Zhangsun’s children, he was the third legitimate son and fourth in line. By Emperor Taizong’s children, he was the ninth son. If the princesses and adopted daughters were counted, the order would be even more confusing.

He simply remembered himself as the third legitimate son—for a member of the royal family, that was what mattered.

“Fourth brother, how was your first day of lessons? Did you learn anything you can share with your big brother?” Li Chengqian, now twelve years old and feeling more mature than Li Zhi, put on the air of an elder brother.

Li Zhi couldn’t be bothered to respond—what a child!

“Little brother, it’s been so long!” Princess Changle, Li Lichang, rushed over and gave Li Zhi a big bear hug.

“Ouch!” Li Zhi, losing his balance, landed on the floor with a thud and immediately burst into tears. “Dare bully me? I’ll cry and see how you handle it!” he thought as he wailed aloud.

Sure enough, Empress Zhangsun immediately came to his defense. “Changle, don’t bully your brother!”

“Help your brother up,” she said to Li Tai, who had remained silent until now. Li Tai, polite and gentle, helped Li Zhi up, but Li Zhi was unimpressed. From what he knew of history, Li Tai was cunning and not to be trusted.

After the commotion, everyone sat together.

Empress Zhangsun asked with concern, “Zhi’er, was your first day of lessons comfortable?”

“I’m used to it, but… it seems the teacher isn’t,” Li Zhi replied.

“And why is that?” Empress Zhangsun’s expression turned stern. “Were you being naughty again and made the teacher upset?”

“No!”

“Are you sure? Do you want me to summon your teacher and ask him about your conduct?” Empress Zhangsun had used this threat many times on Li Chengqian, Li Tai, and Li Lichang, and they always surrendered immediately—for in their world, teachers were the most fearsome authority.

But Li Zhi was different. He wasn’t afraid of teachers; on the contrary, the teacher was afraid of him!

Li Zhi smiled. “If Mother wishes to ask the teacher about me, by all means do so… I’m an excellent student—the teacher will only praise me!”

Instead of backing down, Li Zhi encouraged her to speak to Fang Xuanling. “Mother, you should ask him about me. He might even praise you! I was truly outstanding in class!”

Click! Li Chengqian and his siblings all stared at Li Zhi in disbelief.

“This rascal is too bold! He actually dares his mother to summon the teacher—could it be that he really isn’t afraid?” The three of them felt utterly outdone.