Chapter Five: The Earth Is Round!

Very soon, the commotion over the thirteenth young master's remarkable memory faded away; after all, the strength of one's memory could not compensate for certain shortcomings. What replaced it was another matter altogether.

At this time, the thirteenth young master stood at a crossroads in his life—a crucial decision concerning his future development, namely, what honorary profession he should take up: scholar, civil official, or perhaps something else.

As for why it would only be an honorary profession, the reason was simple. No one truly believed the thirteenth young master would actually assume any such role, nor would they permit him to. What was needed was merely a title, something that sounded pleasing to the ear—a matter of face, nothing more.

Of course, this decision rested in the hands of his parents, and it was a source of considerable headache for Mr. and Mrs. Ye Chengtian. They were quite at a loss as to how this should be handled.

Given the thirteenth young master’s prodigious memory, turning him into a learned scholar was hardly a difficult task, even if he might not always be able to articulate precisely what he knew.

But for Mr. and Mrs. Ye, it was unnecessary for him to share his knowledge with others. Thus, they invited a renowned scholar to instruct the young master.

However, something strange happened. After teaching for a short while, the scholar promptly submitted his resignation to Mr. and Mrs. Ye, urging them to seek someone more capable, claiming he was unfit to teach the thirteenth young master.

At first, the couple assumed the issue lay in their son’s dullness, that he was hopelessly unteachable, and that the scholar could not find any way forward. Reluctantly, they invited another renowned scholar.

This time, the outcome was even swifter: in less than three days, the scholar made the same request, asking the Ye family to find someone more suitable.

Several more scholars followed, none of whom lasted long. In fact, the duration each scholar managed to endure grew ever shorter, until the last one only persisted for half a day. He left, his face pale with fear, on the verge of collapse, uttering a single sentence before the couple:

“Your son’s genius is unmatched. I cannot teach him. Perhaps only the gods themselves could.”

This situation finally alerted Mr. and Mrs. Ye that something was amiss. No matter how unteachable their son might be, these scholars had all been informed of the circumstances before arriving; they should have been prepared. There was no reason for them to abandon their posts in less than half a day.

Moreover, in normal circumstances, the scholars would become increasingly accomplished as time went on, and their endurance should have grown, not diminished.

Perplexed, Mr. and Mrs. Ye gently questioned the thirteenth young master, hoping to discover what had transpired between him and the scholars to provoke such bizarre reactions.

They were utterly unprepared for what they learned. Upon hearing his account, they immediately abandoned the idea of hiring scholars and likewise gave up the notion of making him an honorary scholar.

…

“Young master Thirteen, today let us begin by learning about the origins of the continent. Before the Age of the Gods, there was no life upon the earth. The gods descended to this world, granted life to the land, and created our human race, as well as elves, dwarves, beastmen, and other sentient beings.”

“Among the many races, humanity is the closest to the gods, for it is said the gods fashioned us in their own image. Thus, we are the wisest of all…”

As the scholar proudly extolled the superiority of his own race, the thirteenth young master, who had been listening in a daze, suddenly interjected with a statement:

“Humans were not created by the gods. That’s just a myth. Humans evolved from apes—this is what the theory of evolution says.”

The scholar had no desire to learn what this “theory of evolution” was. He was simply shocked by the young master’s words, for they constituted a direct challenge to the gods. He immediately began to correct him.

But as he attempted to admonish the boy, insisting that one must never question the existence of the gods, the thirteenth young master asked again: Why shouldn’t we question it? Have any of you ever seen the gods? Are you sure they even exist?

The scholar packed up and left at once, terrified that if he stayed any longer, he would be drawn further into this dangerous line of thought.

Subsequent scholars encountered similar situations. The thirteenth young master declared that the earth was not flat but a great sphere—so vast that its curvature could not be perceived. He claimed the sun was an enormous ball of fire called a star, and that it was the earth and all else that revolved around the sun, not the sun around the earth.

And many more such statements—each one, to the people of this world, a complete denial of the gods’ existence. If the Church ever learned of these heresies, they would surely take action, regardless of the speaker’s youth and innocence.

Therefore, once the scholars became aware of such ideas, they hastened to disentangle themselves, unwilling to bring calamity upon their own heads.

Upon hearing all of this, Mr. and Mrs. Ye’s expressions changed as well. They unanimously decided never to invite another scholar, lest the thirteenth young master voice even more astonishing theories.

Yet, they were deeply puzzled by one thing.

“Chengtian,” Anqi Long asked, “where on earth did he learn all these bizarre notions? He’s never set foot outside the Ye residence since birth.”

“Indeed,” Chengtian replied. “Since he was little, apart from us, only a handful of maids have cared for him, and then there’s…” As he spoke, a possibility occurred to him.

“Ye Lanyu!”

“What is it?” Little Lanyu looked at her parents, bewildered by their stern expressions, trying to recall what mischief she might have made.

“You little troublemaker! Mischief is one thing, but why would you tell your brother such nonsense? You know he can’t distinguish truth from fiction—he’ll believe whatever you say!”

“What?” Lanyu was truly confused. Which incident were they talking about?

Clearly, this was not the first time she had tricked her brother.

But once she understood the whole story, she declared with absolute certainty:

“Dad, Mom, this time I really didn’t!”

This episode led Mr. and Mrs. Ye to temporarily abandon their plans for scholarly training, deciding instead to let the thirteenth young master read on his own, so as to avoid any further shocking opinions.

To that end, they collected a vast array of books for him—of every kind, though, of course, none containing any subversive ideas.

Since the path of scholarship was closed, they decided to try something else: to prepare him for the role of an imperial lord, a duty he would eventually have to undertake, even if, in reality, another member of the Ye family would assist him when the time came.