Chapter 53 Don't Delay My Pursuit of Being Good for Nothing

Li Xubai was stunned for a long time before he finally found his voice. "Empress Dowager Yang was assassinated? Has the assassin been caught?"

Song Shiyu shook her head. "I don't know." Seeing the skeptical look on Li Xubai's face, which bordered on treating him like a fool, she grew angry from embarrassment. "What are you looking at?" she shouted aloud, "Sanlang, Yunnang, come inside and keep practicing!"

Li Xubai chuckled softly and asked, "Song Shiyu, do you have any sworn enemies you must kill? I can help you with that, as long as you grant me a sudden and massive stroke of fortune in return."

"..." Song Shiyu was left speechless, and she turned her strict attention back to Li Xuzhang and Li Yunnang, who had just stepped through the door.

On the fifth day of the fifth month, the Dragon Boat Festival.

The morning sun blazed like fire, scorching the very earth the moment it peeked over the horizon, baking even the jade-green leaves until they took on a charred hue and curled slightly at the edges.

Li Xubai and his group had been up before dawn getting ready. Layer upon layer of solemn and rigorous ceremonial robes were fastened onto them, and before they even stepped out of their front door, they were already sweating profusely in frustration.

While grumbling impatiently about such sheer torment, Li Xubai meticulously double-checked everything as if facing a formidable enemy.

Ever since the Li family made a sudden leap to become the newest imperial relatives, Song Shiyu had subjected them to a rigorous cramming of all kinds of etiquette. From eating, drinking, dressing, and walking, she practically intended to rebuild each of them from scratch.

As a former noble herself, Song Shiyu possessed the ultimate authority on the matter, and Li Xubai regarded her words as golden advice.

The noble and aristocratic families of the Great Yu Dynasty were countless. Some had been passed down for centuries, surviving multiple dynastic changes while remaining as firm as ever, while others were rising stars whose flourishing splendor faintly rivaled the old-line clans.

Yet, an aristocratic family like the Li clan, which had appeared out of nowhere so inexplicably, probably had no second counterpart to be found anywhere across the entire Great Yu Dynasty.

They had produced no earth-shaking ancestors, nor any brilliantly talented descendants.

Their household was so impoverished that even a seasoned burglar would leave in tears.

They had no wealth, no manpower, and certainly no merits to speak of.

Once a mistake was made on a major occasion right under the watchful eyes of the crowd, it would be magnified infinitely, becoming a laughingstock for a century.

And if someone were to slap them with the grave crime of disrespect, they would never have a chance to turn their lives around.

Having been relentlessly drilled by Song Shiyu for so long, Li Xubai employed the memory-reinforcement tactics of his past life's exam-prep strategy, forcing Li Xuzhang and Li Yunnang to practice every rule and regulation until it became muscle memory.

Li Xuzhang was already able to stand and walk quite steadily.

On the very day the decree of bestowal was announced, the palace had dispatched three senior imperial physicians with a wealth of experience in treating bone fractures to visit daily and treat Li Xuzhang's injuries.

This finally allowed him to stand up just a few days before the Dragon Boat Festival.

"Come on, put this on." Song Shiyu distributed a five-colored auspicious cord to everyone, and additionally handed a sachet to Li Xubai and Li Yunnang, instructing them, "Hold onto these well. Once you enter the palace, you must present them respectfully to His Majesty and the Empress Dowager."

Terrified by this grand spectacle, Li Yunnang turned pale, her calves trembling, and her hands freezing cold as she tightly grabbed Li Xubai's hand. "Eldest Sister-in-law, pl-please come with me. I'm scared."

Song Shiyu patted Li Yunnang's hand. "We'll let it go this time, but next time. Next time, Sister-in-law will definitely go with you."

To be frank, it was rather awkward. Song Shiyu had been enfeoffed as the Lady of Xin'an Commandery and held an official rank, giving her the qualification to attend such imperial banquets.

Yet now, due to her recent mourning as a widow, she had lost that eligibility. For at least the coming year, she could not make an appearance at palace banquets.

It was considered inauspicious.

In truth, Li Xubai and his siblings were also in deep mourning. Li Xubai's official post normally required him to observe a period of mourning away from duty, but neither the Empress Dowager nor Emperor Jingjiu said anything about it. Consequently, the Ministry of Personnel simply treated it as the Emperor exercising discretion in employing him, bypassing the mourning period altogether and tactfully avoiding the mention of it entirely.

Furthermore, Song Shiyu had more important tasks to attend to today.

The Dragon Boat Festival was the second most important holiday in the Great Yu Dynasty, coming right after the Spring Festival and the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Every household hung items for warding off evil spirits on their lintels, such as portraits of Celestial Master Zhang or tiger-headed Baize noon talismans.

The streets and alleys were filled with the faint, fresh fragrance of calamus, artemisia, willow, and sweet flag.

Whether in small snack shops or grand restaurants, various flavors of rice dumplings had been prepared in advance, all striving to innovate and win the top sales spot on this day of the Dragon Boat Festival.

High-ranking officials and nobles had long since booked the best private rooms in the restaurants on both sides of the Bian River, while festive viewing sheds were erected along the riverbanks.

The two tallest, bright-yellow silk sheds stood at the very front, reserved for Emperor Jingjiu and the Empress Dowager to celebrate together with the common people.

Since Li Xubai did not know how to ride a horse, he shared a carriage with Li Xuzhang and Li Yunnang as they hurried toward the imperial city.

Lifting the carriage curtain to look outside, he found the magnificent scene before him deeply astonishing and praiseworthy.

Such a spectacle was beyond the descriptive power of countless texts in later generations. To think he was fortunate enough to witness it with his own eyes—for the very first time, he felt genuinely grateful for his transmigrated existence.

This Dragon Boat Festival audience marked the first time the Li family was formally presented to the public. Intent on displaying his regard and favor for the Li family before all the civil and military officials, Zhao Yizhen had deliberately kept Li Xubai by his side.

"Who is that young man? He looks so young, yet he clearly enjoys His Majesty's high regard."

"How long has it been since you last read the imperial court bulletins? You don't even know who he is?"

"It's the Li family. They say he's the younger brother of the late Emperor's Noble Consort Chen, newly appointed by His Majesty as the Vice Commander of the Martial Virtue Guard."

"Ah, so His Majesty has added another hound—oh, no, another dragon's claw."

Listening to the whispered discussions around him, Li Xubai accepted the baptism of everyone's scrutinizing gazes with complete composure, while still remembering to remind Li Xuzhang behind him to watch his step.

"Erlang, are you getting used to things at the Martial Virtue Guard?" Zhao Yizhen asked as they walked.

Li Xubai nodded and replied, "I am getting used to it."

Zhao Yizhen cast a surprised glance at Li Xubai. Assuming that having been left out without a summons for so long, and having heard that he had been enduring the cold shoulder at the Martial Virtue Guard, the young man would complain, he never expected him to maintain such forbearance.

He truly was a piece of raw jade worth carving.

"Then why have I heard that things haven't been going so smoothly for you at the Martial Virtue Guard?"

Without a moment's hesitation, Li Xubai blurted out, "Your Majesty has heard about that? It's only natural that things aren't smooth. I was dropped in there out of nowhere, lacking both backing and foundation—how could I command respect? Once I get familiar with everyone and accomplish some practical deeds, it will all work out."

Zhao Yizhen raised an eyebrow slightly. "Erlang certainly has ambition. Do you really not need My help?"

"No need," Li Xubai firmly refused. "Your Majesty has a thousand matters of state to attend to; there is no need to trouble yourself over such trivial affairs. Rest assured, Your Majesty, in less than half a month, I will definitely have all of them completely tamed and submissive."

"Really?"

"Really!"

Full of confidence, Li Xubai once again declined Zhao Yizhen's offer.

Goodness gracious, he must not make any more enemies. It was better to keep a low profile and simply allow himself to be a peace-abiding good-for-nothing.

Watching Zhao Yizhen and Li Xubai conversing happily, the courtiers behind them periodically raised their hands to reveal the five-colored cords presented by Li Xubai as a token of imperial favor, and their expressions grew several degrees heavier.

Since ancient times, interference in state affairs by imperial relatives had frequently led to ruin. The current state of the Li family possessed all the potential to blossom into such a disaster.

As long as the Emperor kept him confined to the role of a mere dragon's claw, he would not be worth worrying about.

The moment the Emperor showed any sign of promoting him to a position among the heavyweight ministers of the court, they would willingly risk their lives and bash their heads against the pillars several times over to drag this imperial relative down from his horse.