Chapter 415

Side Story: Popularize Simplified Chinese

On a certain day of a certain day and a certain month, a little boy wearing a golden robe frowned as he walked toward the imperial study.

In the end, the moment he pushed open the doors, he saw that unscrupulous father hugging his lovely mother, reading through a memorial.

Outrageous, this is simply outrageous! the little crown prince endlessly ridiculed in his heart. The emperor in the imperial study finally noticed him.

"Why are you back? Class is over?"

"Not yet," the crown prince gloomily replied.

"So you're skipping class?"

Seeing Mo Linyuan's expression become displeased, Ye Mu quickly said, "Why are you pulling a long face? Maybe the child has a problem?"

With this said, she left Mo Linyuan's embrace and walked to the little boy. She crouched and, smiling, pinched his face.

"Xiao Qi, tell mother, what happened?"

"Nothing!" the little boy gloomily replied because he had understood it on the way back as if it wasn't a big deal, but seeing Ye Mu keep staring at him, he sheepishly said, "I used simplified characters* that mother taught me to write a poem. Master and the other students said, the characters mother taught me are wrong! I was so angry and explained it to them, but they were all saying like that. I got angry and came back first."

*Chinese characters have two versions, simplified and traditional. The simplified one mostly has fewer strokes than the traditional. Simplified Chinese was only introduced in the 20th century, it's still unknown in ancient times.

Mo Linyuan frowned. "Why did you use simplified characters, were you lazy?"

Hearing Mo Linyuan's stern tone, Ye Mu glared at him. Glared by his own wife, even if Mo Linyuan was still displeased, he couldn't say it.

He warned his son with his eyes, and then lowered his head and continued writing the report. Ye Mu on the other hand smiled at him.

"It's fine, it's not a big deal, but because the simplified characters are characters that aren't popularized yet, no one knows it, so of course they said you're wrong. But, how will you solve this matter?"

The little crown prince furrowed his brows, and in a low voice said, "Is it because it's not practiced yet? But I think the simplified characters is convenient. Not only is it easier to write, but it's also easier to memorize. If it can gain popularity, these characters can benefit the people who have never read or are about to learn to read."

Ye Mu saw her own child could already think of such matters at such a small age. She also didn't hit him and only said, "Then how will you popularize it? Tell me, mother will support you."

Mo Linyuan on the side humphed quietly. Such a big child and still needed his mother's support, indeed too weak!

The crown prince had wanted to ask his mother for help, but after hearing that humph, he puffed up his chest. "Mother, don't worry about this, I already have a solution, I know what to do!"

Ye Mu was quite surprised. Her son was only ten years old and he could think of a good plan already?

She smiled. "Mother is all ears."

But the little boy refused. "Mother, I want to surprise you. Relax, I will show you that your son is outstanding!"

Seeing Ye Mu speaking softly with their son, Mo Linyuan was quite jealous.

"Wife, didn't you say you want to mix me some ink, how come you stopped halfway?"

Ye Mu glared at him in anger, you're telling me! He coaxed her to mix him ink, but the next second she was held in his arms.

The little boy revealed a look of despise. It was always like this, every time mother talked with him for a while, the unscrupulous father would become jealous. But it's okay, he'd thought of how to "bully" his father!

He complacently smiled and gleefully said to Ye Mu, "Mother, I'll go prepare my popularizing plan! I'll secretly tell you at night!"

Ye Mu was just about to respond when she heard Mo Linyuan on one side say, "Wife, you said you wanted to go boating and admire the moon with me tonight."

Remembering the boat, Ye Mu felt somewhat embarrassed and angry. She glared at Mo Linyuan, but people could see there was a deep affection between this husband and wife. A few casual words could emit pink bubbles.

The little boy sighed and slipped away first. Ye Mu watched his back and turned around. Irritatedly, she said, "Look at you, bullying our son like that. He definitely won't be close to you when he's older!"

Ye Mu walked over. Mo Linyuan held her in his arms once again, sighing contentedly.

"That's fine, as long as you and I are close!"

With this said, he lightly kissed her forehead. The two had been married for eleven years but were still as sweet as newlyweds.

Ye Mu had completely grown up now, and the years had given her special treatment, almost didn't leave any sort of trace on her face. Although she was still not tall and her small delicate face also looked young, she was already a ripened peach*.

*t/n: ripened peach - mature woman

She nestled in her husband's arms. Having thought of something, she smiled. "Say, what plan have Xiao Qi thought of? Popularizing a written language is not a simple matter."

Mo Linyuan said, "He's still young anyway, this matter handed over to him is enough to get him down for a few years. As for the end result, it will be up to his own ability. But this is also good, this way, we have more time to be alone together!"

After he finished saying these words, he also finished writing the memorial as he multitasked. Then, he carried Ye Mu onto the bed inside.

Ye Mu glared at him. "You still want to be lascivious at daylight?"

Mo Linyuan faintly smiled. "As a reward for being busy all afternoon, satisfy me, wife!"

Ye Mu declined. "No, today is a dangerous time."

"It's alright." Mo Linyan excitedly undid her belt. "I've taken medicine, that medicine is harmless to a person's body, but can decrease your chance of becoming pregnant, don't be afraid!"

In this respect, Mo Linyuan had done his homework because once it occurred, he would need to be a vegetarian for a year. This kind of feeling was not good.

Ye Mu had no choice and yielded.

On the other side, in the eastern palace, the little boy was wielding his brush vigorously!

"Hmm, you big devil, since you've snatched my mother, I've decided, I will write a biography for you without mother, bite me!"

With this said, he used simplified Chinese to write the four characters emperor for all eternity, and then he recalled his father's life. Thoughts welling up in his mind, he wrote.

The next day, learning what the crown prince had done, Mo Linyuan was awed. He listened to the servant's report, and his face didn't betray any emotion, but Ye Mu was very happy!

"Our son is really smart, actually thinking of such a way! With such a plan of his, it saves up manpower and material resources the most, and simplified Chinese will be popularized."

The crown prince's way was both difficult and easy. He planned to gather a group of people to learn how to write the simplified characters first, and then let them use the simplified characters to write story scripts.

The entertainment in this era was very few, so story scripts were rare products of pastime, but because those who could write came from well-off families and were well-educated, the people who could write widely-loved scripts generally were officials or rich people with considerable literary talent, and the little crown prince wanted to start from story scripts.