Regarding the matter of letting Liu Er’ya study mathematics, it could be said that the mission failed before it even began.

Because the girl couldn’t read at all.

Wei Yu had only planned to give her some textbooks and let her learn on her own, but Liu Er’ya didn’t even know how to read!

Wei Yu admitted—it was his oversight.

Fortunately, he hadn’t started copying the teaching materials yet, so this little mishap wasn’t a big deal.

While he was preparing the textbooks, Liu Er’ya could take that time to learn how to read, right?

Wei Yu wasn’t in a rush.

As for the task of teaching Liu Er’ya to read, Wei Yu temporarily handed that over to Xiao Anzi.

Although Xiao Anzi wasn’t a well-versed scholar who could quote classics or lecture effortlessly, guiding a complete illiterate through the basics of reading should be well within his abilities.

Wei Yu felt reassured. So after assigning her to Xiao Anzi, he didn’t follow up much. Instead, he just flipped through his tablet and continued copying the math textbooks while sighing in irritation each day.

Then, a few days later, Xiao Anzi came to him “complaining.”

“Your Highness, I think I’m stupid.”

Xiao Anzi stood in front of Wei Yu with his head down, looking a bit downcast.

With his honest face, he always gave the impression of being bullied like a simpleton, and now he looked even more so.

Wei Yu stroked his chin, too embarrassed to ask—had he really never realized he was a bit slow?

After all, they’d grown up together. Wei Yu still had a conscience, so he coaxed, “How could that be? Stupid people lack self-awareness. But you can reflect on yourself, which means you have strengths. Your Highness doesn’t think less of you, so why say such things?”

That… couldn’t really be called comforting. Anyone else would’ve seen right through that empty talk, but after hearing it, Xiao Anzi actually looked a lot better.

He thought, His Highness is right. I can self-reflect, which means I have strengths. And people with strengths aren’t stupid!

He wasn’t stupid.

Not-stupid Xiao Anzi looked up and seriously stated the reason he had come: “Your Highness, Liu Er’ya is smart. I probably won’t be able to teach her for much longer. You’ll need to find her a new teacher.”

Wei Yu: …?

Oh my god, could she really be a little genius?

Wei Yu was a little excited. “What have you taught her so far? Why do you say you won’t be able to keep teaching her?”

Xiao Anzi said, “The Three Character Classic, Thousand Character Essay, the ones you used to read. I read her a passage, and she remembers it after hearing it once. I teach her characters, and she remembers them after one try—writes them correctly after three. Your servant feels like… like his confidence has taken a hit.”

He said it had been a blow to his confidence, but with that stiff, expressionless face, Wei Yu figured his tolerance must actually be pretty high.

“Hiss—”

After understanding Liu Er’ya’s learning progress, Wei Yu sucked in a breath and shook his head, clicking his tongue. “This is the world of geniuses. Frightening.”

His expression didn’t really change—he said “frightening,” but he was surprisingly calm.

Wei Yu patted Xiao Anzi’s shoulder. “It’s fine. Keep teaching her for now. Your Highness believes in your ability. We’ll talk again after I officially open my residence.”

Xiao Anzi’s face fell.

He hadn’t come to keep teaching Liu Er’ya. He’d come to ask His Highness to find someone else.

Liu Er’ya had really crushed his confidence!

Finding out that Liu Er’ya was truly a math genius didn’t actually affect Wei Yu’s textbook copying speed at all.

Life, after all—why rush? Young people ought to learn to kick back and enjoy it.

Wei Yu had no intention of letting others pressure him into overworking.

Hmph.

The days drifted by leisurely once again.

During this time, the matter of Liu Er’ya’s family being targeted by loan sharks was quickly investigated and resolved by the Gray Guards.

The culprit turned out to be the wife’s family of a certain Assistant Minister of Personnel.

An Assistant Minister of Personnel is a fifth-rank official. In the capital, that’s a minor position. For a capital official with a jinshi degree, reaching fifth rank by old age is already the limit—let alone being from the fifth rank.

But despite being such a minor official, his wife’s family had the guts to run loan-sharking operations right under the emperor’s nose. Either incredibly stupid or really stupid.

The wife was stupid. And her husband, the Assistant Minister, who failed to control her, was even more so.

Great Wei’s law didn’t prohibit lending altogether, but it stipulated: for private loans and pawns, the monthly interest must not exceed 3%, and no matter how long the term, total interest could not exceed 100% of the principal. Violators would receive 40 blows and be fined based on the excess interest. Severe cases would face criminal charges and up to 100 strokes.

In short, interest couldn’t exceed 3% per month, and the lifetime cap on interest was double the principal. If violated, punishment followed.

And the Assistant Minister’s wife’s family not only exceeded the interest rate, they even charged compound interest—essentially trying to crush generations of debtors under endless interest!

The Gray Guards discovered thirteen families that had been ruined because they couldn’t repay the loans.

Whether or not the Assistant Minister knew what his wife’s family had done, to the public, they were all complicit and must be punished.

In ancient times, a family rose or fell as one. That’s just how it worked.

The Gray Guards’ investigations always drew attention. Since they didn’t hide their actions, and especially after the Emperor publicly expressed his fury at morning court, the already-suspicious officials moved swiftly to appease him. They decided to severely punish the Assistant Minister as an example to others.

A mere fifth-rank official—losing him wouldn’t change the balance of power at court at all.

The ministers didn’t care. And Emperor Wei cared even less.

With so many officials under him, he could barely name all the fourth-rank ones, let alone someone who didn’t even attend court sessions.

If you had ability and made a mistake, you could at least make up for it. But if you were incompetent and dumb?

A man who couldn’t even manage his own household clearly wasn’t very bright.

So Emperor Wei issued an order: the Assistant Minister was dismissed, sentenced to 40 strokes, and his wife’s family had their property confiscated. The offenders were sentenced to 60 strokes, and after calculating the illegal profits, all of it was returned to the people.

Because of this heavy punishment, many officials and wealthy families in the capital who had secretly been lending at high interest were deeply shaken and rushed to cover their tracks.

It was still fine to lend money—but high-interest loans? Absolutely not.

If the Emperor investigated further and uncovered them, their good days would be over.

Those who’d been charging high interest worried the Emperor might continue probing and eventually trace things back to them. Meanwhile, the upright and clean officials weren’t afraid, just curious—why had the Emperor suddenly ordered the Gray Guards to investigate this Assistant Minister?

The Emperor, seated high atop the halls of state—he wouldn’t pay attention to such a minor figure unless someone tipped him off.

Capable people could always pick up on small clues.

At the very least, someone had seen Commander Huo Tingyu bring a young girl into the palace. Upon closer investigation, it became clear who she was and where she was now…

So, before Wei Yu even realized it, the high-ranking second-rank officials at court had already figured it out.

—This Assistant Minister matter was most likely something the Ninth Prince had reported to His Majesty.

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