Chapter 174: Chapter 174: 157, Two Lonely People_1

After having chicken soup and tea snacks, and feeling full, Daohua felt even less inclined to move. She cozied up in front of the stove, leisurely warming herself by the fire.

The sky was still a bit bright, and there was some time left before dinner.

Daohua could sit still, but the others were getting restless.

“Staying inside is pretty boring. Let’s go out for a walk again. I saw earlier that there seems to be a martial training ground in the Royal Palace. Shall we go take a look?”

Yan Wenkai said loudly.

Seeing that Daohua showed no interest whatsoever, Xiao Yeyang immediately waved his hand, “if you want to go, go by yourself.”

“Don’t be like that, it’s no fun going alone.” Saying this, Yan Wenkai hurriedly looked at his elder brother, hoping he would accompany him.

Unfortunately, Yan Wenxiu was a scholar of modest demeanor and had no interest in martial arts. He shrugged at Yan Wenkai, indicating that he didn’t want to go either.

Yan Wenkai, out of options, turned his gaze to his uncle.

Li Xingnian smiled, “I’ll go with you.” Besides, he was also quite curious to see what the Imperial Family’s martial training ground looked like.

Yan Wenkai immediately cheered up and pulled Li Xingnian out of the house.

Once the two left, the room quieted down.

Xiao Yeyang, uncharacteristically, initiated a conversation, “There are quite a few books in my study, do you want to go take a look?”

Daohua became interested, “Do you have storybooks?”

Yan Wenxiu immediately said, “Didn’t mother tell you not to read storybooks anymore?”

Daohua pouted, and the body she had begun to rise with slumped back down.

While she didn’t like being controlled too much, she still needed to give some face to her stepbrother when outside.

Seeing this, Xiao Yeyang felt amused and looked at Yan Wenxiu, “The storybooks here are all sorts of travel notes about customs and geography; it wouldn’t hurt to read them.”

Yan Wenxiu then didn’t say anything more.

Xiao Yeyang gave Daohua a look, motioning for her to hurry up and follow.

Daohua quickly stood up again and returned an eyebrow raise, as if to say ‘you really know how to play along’.

Seeing her like this, Xiao Yeyang felt amused and laughingly led them both to the study.

“Wow, there are so many books here!”

Upon entering the study, Daohua was overwhelmed by the rows of bookshelves that filled the room.

It was the ancient times, after all; there were no printing machines back then, and books were extremely valuable. Gathering a whole roomful of books would have taken a great deal of effort.

Of course, on the other hand, this was the Royal Palace, so having this many books wasn’t surprising.

Daohua looked over after inspecting the rows of bookshelves and turned to Xiao Yeyang, “With so many books, how many have you read?”

Xiao Yeyang pointed to the first few rows, “The ones on military strategies and geography, I’ve read them all.”

Daohua was slightly surprised. She hadn’t expected Xiao Yeyang to have read so many books.

Yan Wenxiu, too, was visibly impressed.

The size of a family’s library could indicate the depth of its heritage. Like their Yan Family, the books they had collected wouldn’t fill two of the shelves here.

Even with his diligent studying, his knowledge paled in comparison to that of the children of prominent families.

Thereafter, Daohua went to look for the storybooks she liked.

Meanwhile, Yan Wenxiu and Xiao Yeyang picked up a book on military strategies to discuss.

It was then that Yan Wenxiu realized that the Little Prince, who primarily focused on martial studies, had such extensive knowledge. Many of his points and views were quite novel and unique.

This realization made Yan Wenxiu even more aware of the deficiencies in his own learning.

In the past, he’d always thought of himself as erudite and knowledgeable, but after getting to know members of the Imperial Family like the Little Prince, Dong Yuanxuan, and Zhou Chengye, he learned that there was always someone better. He had appeared exceptional only because he had been in a very small circle. Once he stepped out of that circle, he discovered just how vast the world was and how many talented people there were.

After discussing with Yan Wenxiu for a while, Xiao Yeyang noticed Daohua fiddling with his chess set and put down the book on strategies. He told Yan Wenxiu to read on his own and walked over to Daohua.

“What, do you also know how to play chess?”

As Daohua was examining whether the chess pieces were made of jade, Xiao Yeyang’s teasing voice came from above her head.

Daohua looked up and saw Xiao Yeyang watching her with an amused grin, that irksome ‘you wouldn’t understand so why pretend’ expression on his face.

“Who says I can’t?” she retorted, a touch deflated.

Xiao Yeyang raised an eyebrow, “Really? Then how about we play a couple of rounds?”

“Bring it on, I’m not scared!” Daohua declared, sitting down straight away.

Seeing this, Xiao Yeyang sat down as well.

Daohua felt uncertain seeing Xiao Yeyang’s brimming confidence. She only knew how to play Five-in-a-Row and even that was just for casual entertainment. After a moment’s thought, she said, “I’ll set the rules for the chess game.”