Seventh Uncle

Cui Xiu was putting his all into his training. Even before falling asleep, he would lie on his pillow, mentally reviewing the technical essentials and rehearsing them over and over.

"Kick back, pull the legs together, and exhale through the mouth and nose simultaneously..." Cui Xiu kicked repeatedly until he was panting heavily, only then stopping his practice.

Once his breathing steadied, he gently kneaded his calves. It was said that besides relieving soreness, this also helped with growing taller. Thinking of the stature of his father in this life, Cui Xiu kneaded even more diligently.

Nurse Yu and the others, seeing Cui Xiu so industrious and hardworking, felt a pang of heartache and repeatedly tried to dissuade him: "Young Master, we only need to stay away from the water. You don't truly have to learn it."

"After all, you are a son of a Duke's household, golden and precious. There is no need to study so arduously!"

Cui Xiu: "..."

Given his bloodline and background, Cui Xiu was likely a branch of a branch at best. Sighing inwardly, he met Nurse Yu's sincere, worried gaze. Instead of correcting her choice of words, he shook his head and pretended to be a three-year-old child: "Nurse, I have already started my enlightenment. The stories say that Great-Grandfather and the others worked so hard, shedding blood and sweat, to defeat the bad guys."

"Young Master Xiu is truly clever to have memorized the stories so thoroughly!" Nurse Yu touched Cui Xiu's head, feeling a sense of reflected glory. "Just as smart as the Young Master!"

The "Young Master" in Nurse Yu's words referred to Cui Enhou.

Well, by now, through subtle probing and listening to the servants' gossip, he had learned one thing: his legendary eldest uncle was a quintessential, talented wastrel—illiterate, greedy, lecherous, and fond of using his status to bully others. His favorite phrase was: "My grandfather spoils me; if you're capable, go settle the account with him in the Ancestral Temple!"

So... if he weren't a ten-year-old child, he might have actually been fooled by Nurse Yu into taking his uncle as a role model.

Cui Xiu cautiously acted spoiled: "Then I want to be as amazing as Uncle, and speak in four-character idioms from now on!"

Hearing this, Nurse Yu was even more delighted. "Exactly, you must be eloquent just like the Young Master!"

"Then I must study, making a little progress every day." Cui Xiu drew out his tone, acting pompous: "I can walk for the duration of a stick of incense without gasping now. Once I remember all the instructions, I will be able to swim."

"Besides, there are no bad guys forcing me; I don't feel bitter at all."

He said the last sentence with great solemnity. In truth, the enlightenment in the Cui family was actually quite relaxed. He didn't feel it was hard at all; he even felt Nurse Yu was a bit overprotective.

Seeing the shadow of Cui Enhou’s childhood arrogance in his features, Nurse Yu felt even more concerned. She racked her brains to figure out a method suited for Cui Xiu's training so he wouldn't be too exhausted.

As she thought, Nurse Yu watched Cui Xiu swinging his arms as if preparing to walk, and her eyes suddenly lit up. "Young Master Xiu, how about we start with the most basic soldier drills? Let's first fix your bad habit of moving your limbs in the same direction, and learn the most fundamental running, jumping, kicking, and pushing."

The more she spoke, the more she felt her suggestion was right: "Moving your limbs in the same direction is not good. I once followed the army and watched the soldiers train. Those who lack coordination in their limbs learn everything slower than others!"

***

Hearing this, Cui Xiu lowered his head to look at his hands and then his feet, his eyes filled with bewilderment.

Suppressing the urge to say "I learn to write very quickly," Cui Xiu nodded solemnly: "I will listen to you, Nurse!"

"Good. I will go ask the garrison troops to see if they can recall any training tips, and then you can practice hard, Young Master Xiu." Seeing Cui Xiu's trusting eyes, Nurse Yu agreed quite earnestly.

"Shall we have our Young Master ride his donkey back to the courtyard to listen to stories now?"

"Alright." Cui Xiu agreed quite readily: "I will walk by myself for a while, and when I'm tired, I'll ride the donkey."

In terms of the layout of the Duke’s mansion, he lived in the west, and the training grounds were in the east. The distance was quite far—it would take three sticks of incense to ride a donkey. Therefore, he could use this time to squeeze in some exercise.

"Young Master Xiu is truly wonderful." Nurse Yu praised: "When you are a little older, you will ride a pony."

Cui Xiu nodded quickly. The image of a top scholar riding a horse through the streets was what he looked forward to most.

As they chatted on the way back, Cui Xiu suddenly heard noise approaching from afar.

Nurse Yu, who was accompanying him, immediately darkened her expression. Her gentle look vanished, replaced by a stern, intimidating air that showed her authority in managing internal affairs. "Dao Jian, go and take a look."

The moment she finished speaking, a guard ran over in a panic: "Nurse Yu, you must hurry and persuade the Duke!"

"Did the Young Master return to the mansion?" Nurse Yu headed straight for the front courtyard. "Did he suffer grievances at the summer villa?"

Cui Xiu watched Nurse Yu leave without hesitation, the smile on his lips stiffening for a moment, but he immediately suppressed his slight sense of loneliness. After all, Nurse Yu was Cui Enhou's wet nurse. And most importantly, it was Cui Enhou!

The head of the Cui family seemed to be in trouble. Feeling nervous, Cui Xiu hurriedly followed Nurse Yu with his short legs.

The servant beside him quickly advised: "Young Master Xiu, you cannot go to the main courtyard!"

The long-term attendant named Dao Jian simply bent over and picked up Cui Xiu.

Cui Xiu struggled: "I want to go see Uncle; Nurse Yu said Uncle is very amazing!"

"But you..." Before Dao Jian could finish, a loud military bugle sounded, making him shudder: "What... what on earth is happening?"

Filled with anxiety, he hurriedly carried Cui Xiu and ran.

Now it was Cui Xiu’s turn to be curious: "Why is everyone running? What is this bugle?"

"It is summoning everyone in the mansion to assemble! Anyone who does not arrive within a quarter of an hour will be expelled from the mansion."

***

Hearing this, Cui Xiu watched Dao Jian and the others moving with lightning speed, nervously calculating the time in his head.

Before he could even figure out if the rule of a quarter-hour was reasonable, he suddenly felt himself lifted into the air.

Cui Xiu stared blankly at Dao Jian, who was leaping over walls and eaves, his eyes full of envy.

When they reached the assembly courtyard, the "flying" Cui Xiu had sparkling eyes filled with infinite curiosity. He carefully used his "vantage point" to observe the surroundings:

Servants were rushing in from all directions. Some stumbled and fell to the ground upon arrival, only able to stand straight with the help of others.

However, these servants were clearly divided into two groups: the male servants were mostly still breathing steadily. Some of the older ones, even those missing arms or legs, had ruddy complexions and seemed quite accustomed to emergency assemblies, forming neat lines.

The women, however, were mostly pale or bruised, and some of the weaker ones were vomiting without any regard for their image.

Aside from maids and matrons, were there many concubines here too?

Scanning the group of women, adorned with pearls and jade, whose faces were now drained of all color, Cui Xiu secretly pondered their identities. He then raised his eyes to look at the head of the Cui family, Duke Rong, Cui Enhou, who was standing on the high platform, hysterical: "Everyone in the Cui family, pick up your tools! Follow me to dig up the tombs of our Great Ancestor. First, dig up the tomb of the founding Duke, then tear up the tomb of that dog-shit war god Cui Zhen, so that I, the Cui family, won't be framed for hoarding military power!"

"No need to bother those intellectuals who love to talk about 'taking history as a mirror'—I will dig them up myself!"

These words were like a thunderclap; everyone was stunned: "Dig... dig..."

They didn't even dare to utter the word "grave."

One had to know that the world valued burial as the final peace; whether they were high-ranking officials or street peddlers, the tomb was the most important thing. And for a person or an official, the highest honor was to be buried with the Emperor and enjoy sacrifices in the Ancestral Temple.

The previous two generations of the Cui family had held this honor. Even if... even if Cui Enhou was incompetent, there was still a final verdict on his ancestors; how could he implicate the two Dukes?

Just as everyone was in a daze, Nurse Yu, who had climbed onto the platform, pulled at the furious and uncomposed Cui Enhou, asking cautiously: "Young Master, please... please speak slowly, who exactly is bullying our Cui family? Who wants to frame us? I will stake my old life to fight them!"

Hearing this thunderous, murderous declaration, Cui Xiu swallowed nervously, looking at Cui Enhou with a bit of trepidation.

He saw Cui Enhou laughing up at the sky: "The Eldest Princess is coming of age, and they want to build her a palace. Those people in the Ministry of Works have their eyes on our house! The Ministry of Rites wants me to respect the order of status! They say my house exceeds the regulations!"

The last two words were uttered with a deep, mournful wail.

Just listening to it made one feel quite sorrowful.

But once he thought of the endless training grounds...

In an instant, a phrase echoed in Cui Xiu's ears: "When the cunning rabbit is caught, the hunting dog is cooked!"