The Villain Runs Wild

Ch 67 - Ruthless Crown Prince x Foolish Prince: Acting Spoiled To Sell Foolishness


Lin Sui looked at Yan Qin laying on the ground with a rather strange expression, swallowing the word ‘fool’ back down. After all, Yan Qin was indeed pretending to be a fool right now.

But wasn’t he a little too immersed in the act? This was way too natural.

Yan Qin looked at the Crown Prince as if he was trying to say something, and his smile became even sweeter.

There were still benefits to playing the fool, how could a fool cheat someone? He wanted to let the Crown Prince feel his sincerity and thoroughly integrate himself here, so it would be a lot easier when the time came.

Two warm feet were casually placed on the youth’s chest. This scene, combined with their identities, would definitely be astonishing if seen by outsiders, but the two people within it were actually at ease.

Yan Qin wasn’t very sleepy at the moment, although ointment had been applied to the bruises on his neck, they still stung and felt a little hot, and it was all thanks to the person next to him.

He was a little overcome with boredom, so he looked around and went on a tangent as he guessed where the secret compartment at the side of the bed would be and what kind of things would be inside it. Finally, his attention returned to the feet on top of his body.

Light blue-green veins climbed along the fair skin of the back of the feet, Yan Qin had never seen another person’s feet aside from his own, but he thought his older brother’s feet were extremely nice-looking, not feminine, but still delicate.

Above them, the ankles were covered by the thin undergarments, and Yan Qin recalled the soft feel of his face rubbing against them today, and how Lin Sui had stiffened at his touch.

If he touched him now, would his big brother the Crown Prince kick him out?

Yan Qin stared fixedly, but didn’t do anything in the end, and fell asleep with the warm fragrance that seemed to be there, but also not.

Yan Qin opened his eyes after another night of restful sleep, and the person on the bed was already gone.

How strange, why did he sleep so soundly under the Crown Prince’s feet?

Lin Sui didn’t know what Yan Qin was thinking. After going to the Ministry of Rites, he ‘coincidentally’ ran into the Governor of State Affairs on his way to court and walked with him.

“Hasn’t Your Highness been behaving a little too brashly recently?”

The Governor of State Affairs was quite concerned, this grandson of his who had no blood relation to him was still behaving as usual after finding out about his identity, and had a temperament unlike that of an ordinary person.

Lin Sui answered leisurely: “There’s no need to worry, grandfather, the more normal I am, the less suspicions they’ll have. If I were to fall silently in place, that would make people suspicious.”

The Governor of State Affairs thought about it and felt like he was right, so he said a few words about the matter with Zhong Zhuo.

Lin Sui told him of what he was doing, then turned around and went his separate way from the Governor.

Things were going just as he’d anticipated. First Class Attendant Yu had gotten through the crisis with Zhong Xiang, and had now been promoted to Noble Lady, and although there were many people pressuring her, she could be regarded as one of the most regarded and favoured people at the moment.

She was also clever, and tactfully handed over her trust.

Incidentally, those jade luan flowers the Imperial Noble Consort secretly ordered someone to plant had already been pulled up.

The Emperor hated Empress Lin, he was even unable to tolerate the flowers she liked after her death. There were two reasons for this, one was her outside family, and the other was the Empress restricting his life of debauchery while she was alive. The beauties he doted on were often targeted by the Empress, and Noble Consort Shu had been one of the results of the Emperor and the Empress’ competition.

The Empress did not wish for him to indulge in the charms of a woman, so the Emperor insisted on placing his beloved Consort in an extremely high position, but he didn’t take much responsibility for it nor protected Noble Consort Shu, allowing her to become a target and be swallowed up by the filth of the harem.

Noble Consort Shu’s family had no power or authority, her father was an upright official from a humble family, and she had no grandfather to shield her. Perhaps because relying too much on the power of his wife’s father to ascend the throne, to the point of being unable to deal with his external relatives for a long time, had cast a shadow on the Emperor, all the beauties he wantonly doted on had families which posed no threats.

The way Lin Sui saw it, First Class Attendant Yu, who should now be called Noble Lady Yu, could also follow his approach.

Noble Lady Yu’s father was a scribe in charge of writing annals, a civil servant in a low position. He immersed himself in books and historical records every day, and had nothing to do with any kind of struggles.

This was more or less the reason why the Emperor favoured her, and the Imperial Noble Consort and Consort De were well aware of this. They didn’t want to see a second Noble Consort Shu appear, which is why they had framed her, wanting to get rid of two threats at once.

But unlike Noble Consort Shu, Noble Lady Yu had him as a backer.

Lin Sui had already ordered someone to send Noble Lady Yu a few things to help her vie for favour, working towards her development in the path of becoming a favoured consort, or even a bewitching consort.

When Lin Sui had just transmigrated into the cultivation world, he was forced to read a few jade slips to ‘study’, which included all sorts of positions and even things like aromatic pills and so on.

Although this was just an ordinary mortal world and there were no immortal grass magic potions, there were always medicines with the corresponding effects. If she were to put them to use, it would be more than enough to attract a man like the Emperor who was not resolute in his fondness for beautiful women.

Of course, he also clearly spoke to Noble Lady Yu before delivering the medicine. Noble Lady Yu didn’t care, she had already entered the palace anyway, if she didn’t vie for favour, other people would just step over her, and she had been somewhat provoked by what happened before. She would rather become a bewitching concubine who ‘brought disaster to both country and people’, and was unwilling to be secretly stabbed in the back and killed.

Lin Sui walked towards the Eastern Palace, thinking about how his villain’s faction was already starting to take shape.

On the outside he had the Governor of State Affairs and Zhong Zhuo as a close minister to the Emperor, and on the inside he had the favoured Noble Lady Yu which, when adding onto it the infamous Crown Prince he was, simply made them a group of evil forces.

Lin Sui smiled lightly, it was quite interesting.

This year’s summer wasn’t that hot, so the Emperor didn’t go elsewhere to escape the heat.

The Imperial Noble Consort couldn’t take action as before, probably also sensing his irritability, so she settled down.

The harem was harmonious, but there were billowing waves at the court, among which one person was the most notorious.

Xue Dingchun of the Zhang Province, the Lower Fourth Rank Assistant to the Provincial Governor, gathered evidence that even his superior, the Governor of the Zhang Province, had colluded with rich merchants to exploit the common people and hold onto his post without meriting it. This was reported in one fell swoop, and the Emperor appointed a special task force of supervisors and patrolling censors to go investigate the matter, which was extremely quick due to the complete evidence, so all the officials involved were searched and had their possessions confiscated as they waited in exile to be sentenced to death.

The Zhang Province was located in Jiangnan, it had canals, and calling it affluent wouldn’t be an exaggeration. The money shifted by all the officials involved was enough to equal the Zhang Province’s taxes of twenty years.

The Emperor was furious, and this matter became the most-discussed thing nationwide for the summer.

In the small courtyard overflowing with the scent of tea, the Governor of State Affairs took a small sip and shook his head.

“Your Highness’ previous order of roping Xue Dingchun in might be difficult, it’s no wonder he was so stubborn before, it turns out he’d already made preparations. Now that he’s made such a big move, he’ll definitely be transferred to the capital, at this point not even making him Governor of the Zhang Province would be enough to reward his deeds.”

“Moreover, this person is quite righteous, which is a tactful way of saying he won’t be willing to bind himself to a group or stand on a side. He’s a capable official, so it will be a thorn in our side if he sides with the Emperor.”

Lin Sui, however, wasn’t worried. He drank some tea and spoke: “Pay attention, others are bound to take action as well.”
Lin Sui didn’t directly assert with the Governor of State Affairs that Xue Dingchun was a faithful official who wouldn’t stand on another faction.

He’d had the Governor of State Affairs pay attention to this person before, wanting him to rope the other into their side, but he knew it would be difficult. That was because Xue Dingchun was an unyielding faithful official who wanted to purge unhealthy influences. The way Xue Dingchun saw it, he as Crown Prince was a bad influence, and although he never outright spoke of wanting to depose him, he wasn’t willing to let the Crown Prince ascend the throne, and felt like the Crown Prince would surely be a tyrant.

But even though Xue Dingchun thought as much, he never thought about choosing a side. This person’s way of thinking was simple: he wouldn’t participate in the struggle over the title of Emperor, and whomever became Emperor would be the person he would swear his allegiance to. Even if the Emperor was a crooked seedling, he would try his hardest by himself to make things better for the people.

In the plot of the original book, after the incident in the Zhang Province, Xue Dingchun was promoted to Records Supervisor and became a member of the Son of Heaven’s inner circle of ministers, then suppressed the power of the Governor of State Affair’s faction under the Emperor’s orders.

After the heir to the throne was abolished, he saw the increasingly fierce battle to seize the throne and found it hard to stand alone, so he chose to support Yan Qin, not because he thought Yan Qin had a large chance of winning, but rather because he felt that Yan Qin was the most suitable to become a good Emperor.

This move pushed him further towards the heart of the struggle, but even as he suffered injustices and threats, he never became a traitor. He was relegated to a bitterly cold place with his family, and he was only able to return to the capital when Yan Qin ascended the throne and helped him reverse the verdict.

But he never had complaints, while he was in the barren hills and wild rivers, he still tried his hardest to control his circumstances and lead the people to find a way out, and after he returned to the capital he never became complacent. Regardless of whether he was a small official in a mountain city or Prime Minister, he was always conscientious.

He was a good official with firm beliefs regardless of his position. Lin Sui really admired him, not only because he appreciated the way he behaved towards his subordinates, but also because of his strength of character and conduct.

This kind of person should be carefully held onto.

After leaving the courtyard, Lin Sui brought subordinates along to the Eastern Palace to deal with government affairs.

The Crown Prince had to learn how to handle government affairs, as well as read books like “Cultural Studies”, but the Emperor intended to guard against him, so the things he handed Lin Sui to examine and approve were all small, trivial matters. However, he didn’t care either, he also had other ways of finding out about the matters at court.

At night, after taking a bath and returning to the inner hall, Lin Sui saw the person laying down on the ground and stood in silence for a split-second.

Back when Yan Qin had more or less recovered, he was rushed back to Zhongyu Palace, but Yan Qin seemed to have gotten into the habit of dropping by for a visit, so he came by at all times to make his bed on the floor and freeload some food in passing. Lin Sui had turned a blind eye and let him do as he pleased, after all, the food at Zhongyu Palace was nothing worth mentioning, and the puppy was still growing.

“Big brother Crown Prince, Susu said I grew a little taller, and also grew more flesh, so you can definitely step on it more comfortably.”

Yan Qin sat up from the ground and pointed at his chest towards Lin Sui with pride.

Compared to his previous thin and weak appearance from a few months ago, Yan Qin now had a physical condition suitable for someone his age. He’d grown a bit, and had gotten more robust.

He looked lively and innocent, with the adorable look of someone who completely trusted the person in front of him, like that of a puppy one couldn’t refuse, who wasn’t threatening in any way.

But this deceptive appearance was just a disguise, his fangs and sharp claws were deeply hidden as he waited for the right time.

This was even more adorable, wasn’t it? Lin Sui thought so.

Compared with genuine allegiance and loyalty, he preferred this kind of fake obedience that hid wolfish ambitions, it was more challenging and tempting to conquer.

No one made him be Yan Qin, it was because he was Yan Qin that he was special.

“This One should praise you, you really have prospects.”

Lin Sui gave him a sideways glance, but didn’t get on the bed, instead he sat down on a chair.

It was only then that Yan Qin realised his big brother’s hair was wet and dripping, soaking into his white undergarments and turning them see-through.

His fair face looked like warm jade under the light, gentle and beautiful.

A maid lit some candles to illuminate the inner hall, and Fu Shu entered holding a tray, on top of which was a cloth to dry Lin Sui’s hair with.

“Sister Fu Shu, can I?”

Yan Qin put his clothes on and walked next to Lin Sui with eagerness across his whole face as he looked at the cloth in Fu Shu’s hands.

“This… Your Highness…”

Fu Shu looked in her Master’s direction a little hesitantly, waiting for his orders.

“Should the next step be to wash this One’s feet and really become a little eunuch in the Eastern Palace?”

The Crown Prince snorted coldly, clearly looking down on his attitude. But the fool seemed to not hear the ridicule in his words as he seriously thought about if before replying:

“If big brother Crown Prince likes it, I can also wash big brother’s feet, but A-Qing isn’t a little eunuch.”

Lin Sui tilted his head and lifted his eyebrows as he deliberately asked him: “Why aren’t you a little eunuch?”

Fu Shu stood off to the side, looking down, acting like she didn’t exist.

Yan Qin’s facial features wrinkled as he thought about it, then gave his answer: “I’m the Fifth Prince, so I’m not a little eunuch.”

Yan Qin had never known the ways of the world, plus he’d been foolish for a very long time, so he really didn’t know why eunuchs had such a soft appearance. He’d turned it over in his mind and decided to go back later and read some books to find the answer.

“Big brother Crown Prince, I’ll help you dry your hair.”

Yan Qin took the thing in Fu Shu’s hands and covered Lin Sui’s fine black hair.

Lin Sui also let him go, if Yan Qin had been a few years older, he would have been able to guide him towards some colourful rubbish, but he would let the current puppy remain clueless.

Fu Shu watched from the side to stop the Fifth Prince from clumsily pulling her Master’s hair and hurting him, but she found that the Fifth Prince was doing a decent job.

His fine black hair fell like a waterfall, and Yan Qin dried it carefully and attentively, thinking that the hair felt much softer than the satin cloth in his hands.

The older brother in front of him was only wearing his inner clothes and, under the candlelight, his neck looked lustrous and faintly pink.

Yan Qin looked down at the memorial in Lin Sui’s hands and deduced the content of the memorial from the few words and phrases he was able to catch sight of, the movements of his hands unconsciously slowed down, and his little finger accidentally brushed against Lin Sui’s neck.

The exquisitely soft feeling was gone in the blink of an eye, and Yan Qin switched to a new cloth to continue drying, staring at his finger and frowning lightly.

By the time it was September, the weather gradually got a slight chill.

On the first of September, Bao Su came to the Eastern Palace holding a food box, but the box was empty inside. The Fifth Prince hadn’t come to the Eastern Palace today, she had come by herself to ask something of Fu Shu.

“What’s this for?”

Fu Shu looked down at the pieces of silver stuffed into her hand and frowned.

Bao Su asked earnestly: “Sister Fu Shu, today is my Master’s birthday. After the Madame passed, His Highness never celebrated a birthday properly again, I want to borrow your small kitchen to cook a bowl of longevity noodles for my Master.”

In the past, Bao Su had also gone to try her luck at the imperial kitchen, but they didn’t agree, fearing they would be found out by the other Madams and punished.

“I’ll go report to my Master, His Highness the Crown Prince will probably agree.”

Fu Shu took the silver and walked towards the study.

Lin Sui was slightly stunned when he heard this request, but nodded looking like he didn’t care.

After Fu Shu’s departure, he revealed a slightly absent-minded expression.

“So it’s already the September first?”

Lin Sui muttered, the sound of his voice scattering in the draft of wind.

Perhaps because they were pieces of his soul, Yan Qin’s birthday in these minor worlds was always the same as it was in the cultivation world, September first.

However, people in the cultivation world very rarely celebrated their birthdays. After all, everyone’s lifespans were relatively long, and sometimes they would spend decades in seclusion, so there was no sense in commemorating every single year.

Yan Qin also wouldn’t make time to celebrate, but sometimes he would bring it up if the time was right.

When Yan Qin had asked him when his birthday was, Lin Sui had shaken his head and not given him a date.

This was based on the memories of the cannon fodder he transmigrated into. The cannon fodder’s human cauldron constitution was discovered before he was even born, so he was switched at birth and adopted into the sect, where he grew up alongside the other human cauldrons and learnt how to move and absorb spiritual essence, thinking this way was just how it was done.

A few clever ones understood something was wrong and managed to hug some big thighs before growing up or tried to escape. The identity of the original cannon fodder could be classified as one of someone quite capable of making trouble. He climbed onto the bed of the young sect leader, then took a liking to Yan Qin on his first big competition and wanted to sleep with him. He was discovered by the young sect leader when he stepped up to start a conversation, and the young sect leader, who was resentful towards Yan Qin’s popularity and his attempt at snatching his own human cauldron away, fought him.

Of course, the young sect leader lost, and the original owner, as a cannon fodder used to provoke conflict and allow the protagonist to complete that passive slap to the face, was also caught up in the young sect leader’s fury, so he was drained of his cultivation and thrown into a pile of beasts as food.

Lin Sui didn’t act according to the original plot and had no relationship with that young sect leader, however, that young sect leader still died by his hands. Who told him to approach first and insist on wanting to sleep with him?

How could the original owner possibly remember his own birthday with this kind of life?

Lin Sui actually remembered his birthday from his previous life, after all, it was hard to forget when looking at his mistaken identity again, but these were all things from the past, so he had answered Yan Qin by saying he ‘didn’t know’.

How had Yan Qin responded at the time? He’d handed him a piece of roasted meat and spoken in an orderly way: “Since you and I are brothers brought together by fate, why don’t you celebrate your birthday with me in the future? I was born on the first day of the ninth month, this day can also be your birthday in the future.”

They didn’t yet have that kind of intimate relationship at the time, and Yan Qin regarded him as a brother with an agreeable personality and a fated connection.

Every one of the young sword cultivator’s movements were bright and honest. They were surrounded by the corpses of beasts, with the stench of blood and the fragrance of roasted meat mixing together, creating a distinct picture from that day.

But, at that time, Yan Qin didn’t know that what he attributed to fate had all been orchestrated by him.

Lin Sui freed himself from his memories and continued looking at the memorial in front of him. He still had his teacher’s lecture that afternoon, so he had to finish dealing with these first.

In the Zhongyu Palace, Yan Qin saw Bao Su come back holding longevity noodles and thanked her.

“You made sure to have Fu Shu inform the Crown Prince of this?”

“This servant guarantees it, but doesn’t know if Sister Fu Shu spoke about Your birthday.”

“Can we notify grandfather?”

“Replying to Master, it’s been notified, the information will not be leaked out.”

Noble Consort Shu had no contacts to leave behind back then, but Bao Su was still able to transmit information to family outside of the palace.

Yan Qin nodded, an undecipherable light flickering in his eyes.

The rays of the afternoon sun made one feel a little lazy, so Lin Sui leaned back in place and listened to the Grand Tutor’s lecture on “Policy Affairs”.

Even though the Emperor didn’t want to educate him and originally set him up as heir with extreme reluctance, he still did what had to be done.

For instance, finding him a Grand Tutor, finding him study partners, and finding him officials. The original owner had three study partners, but Lin Sui didn’t like any of them, so he had gotten rid of them one by one in the past few months and was planning on choosing new ones.

The one he had his eye on was still at his grandfather’s house and had not yet returned to the capital, so he just had to wait for him to come back.

For his part, the Grand Tutor was a great contemporary scholar. Although the Emperor had hinted that he didn’t have to teach attentively, the Grand Tutor was still responsible and diligent, but upon discovering that the Crown Prince was a hopelessly inept good-for-nothing, he just threw his hands up and began acting like a shopkeeper, talking to himself and not caring whether the Crown Prince understood or not. Either way, it wasn’t like the Crown Prince would ask questions.

Lin Sui propped his head up and listened, in-keeping with the original owner’s good-for-nothing character while thinking about it in his head, occasionally making a few notes in shorthand of things he couldn’t understand to go investigate later.

The Grand Tutor before his eyes was one of the Emperor’s men, and Lin Sui didn’t trust him at all.

Those shorthand symbols seemed like nonsense scribbles to the Grand Tutor, he drank a sip of tea to moisten his throat and continued lecturing.

A head poked in through the door and smiled when seeing Lin Sui.

“Big brother Crown Prince, can I play here?”

Lin Sui of course knew that he wasn’t here to play, but rather to study secretly. The other Princes had all began studying at the Imperial College, Yan Qin was the only one who didn’t have the opportunity to study. When he was at the Eastern Palace before, he would often eavesdrop on the Grand Tutor’s lectures from the doorway or around the corner, even stealthily making his way to the Grand Tutor’s side, and just pretended to be playing when he was found out.

No one would think he could understand those things, and naturally no one cared either.

Lin Sui raised his hand lazily, motioning for him to do as he pleased.

Yan Qin came in holding a little ball made out of bamboo and focused on playing with it while his back was to Lin Sui and the Grand Tutor, but his brain was constantly absorbing the information the Grand Tutor was talking about.

The Grand Tutor looked at the Crown Prince and the once-bright Fifth Prince in front of him, and inwardly heaved a long sigh.

If these two people had switched places, the situation of Great Yan in this day and age would have long since transformed.

Lin Sui looked at the back of the person who fell asleep laying on the ground with the sound of the lecture, and inwardly thought that Yan Qin had truly perfected the art of acting stupid.

The person on the floor was still laying down by the time the Grand Tutor left.

Lin Sui didn’t wake him. He watched his officers come to report and wrote down some remarks in the memorials.

Yan Qin picked a suitable time to open his eyes, and went to Lin Sui’s side to act spoiled.

“Big brother Crown Prince, today is A-Qin’s fifteenth birthday, can you take A-Qin out of the palace to look around?”

Yan Qin pulled at the corner of Lin Sui’s clothes with eagerness written all across his face.

Yan Qin spoke with the yearning expression of someone who wanted to go have fun out in the big wide world: “I’ve never gone out of the palace, I heard that the outside is really fun.”

However, the elder brother he spoke of waved him away somewhat impatiently, speaking with annoyance: “I’m not your older brother and I’m not your mother, why are you still so dependant?”

Lin Sui inwardly understood this was probably the purpose for Yan Qin’s visit today. As expected, his desire to leave the palace was certainly not just because he wanted to experience it for himself, he must have gotten in touch with his grandfather, Senior Imperial Censor Pei Xinian.

The Senior Imperial Censor was in charge of impeaching and maintaining the order of numerous officials. He supported the Imperial faction, but had made his own plans in private. He was not a purely upright man, after all, that kind of person wouldn’t last long in bureaucracy. He held plenty of evidence of officials’ wrongdoings in his hands, he would choose to impeach at suitable chances and occasionally directly criticise people to make them uncomfortable, he was a sly and astute man.

Lin Sui had been here for so long he’d often been impeached by him, of course, King Qing’s and the Seventh Prince’s group, and even the neutral faction had all been impeached by him in order to maintain balance. He maintained a subtle balance between all of them, so no one touched him.

Currently there were three First Rank Grand Commandants[1] at court, after which was the Governor of the Department of State Affairs. The Governor of State Affairs was once an Imperial Masters[2], but was demoted to the position of Second Rank Governor of State affairs after the Emperor looked for all sorts of excuses to do so. However, out of the three Grand Commandants, two of them had a relationship with the Governor, which was why the Emperor was afraid of the Governor of State Affairs.

Pei Xinian was a useful tool for the Emperor and all other forces, and although this tool might target anyone at any time, this actually kept all sides in check.

Of course Lin Sui would let him go out, so, after being coaxed and pestered by Yan Qin, he brought him out of the palace.

Lin Sui only brought Imperial guards along, then just Yan Qin and his maid Bao Su.

As Lin Sui had expected, not long after leaving the palace, the Fifth Prince ran off into the crowd as though he’d taken a fancy to something, while his maid yelled and chased after him.

There was no night curfew at Shengguang, so the crowds still came and went on the streets, and they quickly disappeared among the people.

The Imperial guards turned to look at Lin Sui with great alarm: “Master…”

“Go find him, if he gets lost, you’re the only ones responsible!”

Lin Sui’s face was gloomy, but he actually wasn’t the least bit worried on the inside.

After the Imperial guards left, Lin Sui leisurely looked at the coloured lanterns as he waited for them to come back.

Around half a sichen later, the Imperial guards came back with Bao Su and Yan Qin.

Yan Qin joyfully ate sesame biscuits with one hand and candied haws with the other, while Bao Su apologised repeatedly.

“This servant got lost a bit after being pulled away by Master and didn’t know how to come back, so we were forced to walk the way from memory. Master saw food on the way and went to buy it, and luckily met a few Imperial guards.”

Lin Sui’s expression was still gloomy, looking at Yan Qin with a cold gaze as he made the Imperial guards toss him back inside the sedan chair.

Once inside the sedan chair, the little fool shrank back and handed the candied haws he hadn’t eaten over.

“Don’t be angry, big brother Crown Prince, I didn’t run away on purpose, I saw they were selling candied haws and wanted to by some to give to big brother.”

He acted spoiled to sell his foolish act, looking extremely genuine.

The Crown Prince’s beautiful face was filled with gloomy viciousness as he looked at his nominal younger brother in annoyance.

“You think you’re worth this One’s anger? Nothing you do is worth this One’s attention.”

 

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[1] A position for the highest level military commander and army advisor. ⤴

[2] From a quick google search it seems an Imperial Master (太師 Taishi) is a First Rank position along with the Grand Commandant (太尉 Taiwei) and a few others, including the Grand Tutor (太傅 Taifu). Even though both Taishi and Taifu roughly translate to ‘imperial teacher/tutor’, the Taifu was the one that was actually doing the teaching while the Taishi did more governance. ⤴