With words came mischief. Long Yue discovered cause and effect: cry and a servant runs; smile and a scholar teaches; toddle toward the stable and Bodyguard Shen laughs. The system labeled each outcome and rewarded him with small pings.
SYSTEM: Behavioral feedback loop active. Positive reinforcement: mimicry and small successful requests produce +5 morale per event.
One afternoon, while Scholar Zhao demonstrated a simple couplet to a small group of apprentices, Long Yue toddled in, clutching a scrap of paper he had found—scribbles from the scribe's apprentice. To a toddler it was treasure; to Scholar Zhao it was a lesson interrupted.
[Scholar Zhao:] "Ah—young one, not now."
[MC / Long Yue:] (spoken, urgent) "See! See!"
He thrust the paper into the scholar's hand with the solemn conviction of a messenger who had discovered true meaning. Scholar Zhao, amused and slightly chastened, read the crude strokes and then, seeing the child's bright insistence, used it as a teaching opportunity.
[Scholar Zhao:] "A discovery is what we make of it. Show them the lines: each mark calls to a sound."
The apprentices leaned forward. Long Yue's simple theft—call it that—became the centerpiece of a lesson on finding meaning in unexpected things. The system appreciated adaptable teaching moments.
SYSTEM: Adaptive learning bonus +6. Social impression among apprentices: improved.
But mischief had other consequences. On a day when the courtyard's gates were busy with visitors, Long Yue toddled farther than usual and nearly reached an outer corridor. Bodyguard Shen, always alert, swooped in with a speed that made a servant drop a tray in shock.
[Bodyguard Shen:] "Too far, small lord!"
[MC / Long Yue:] (protesting) "Go! Go!"
The near-escape triggered a flurry of whispered reprimands from the older servants and a memo from the steward recommending an additional barrier. The Empress consented—safety first—but the system flagged the incident as a moment when mobility could become hazard.
SYSTEM: Risk event logged. Recommendation: implement soft barriers and supervised stroll schedule. XP reward for compliance +50.
Long Yue learned a small lesson that day: freedom earned attention, and attention could be both armor and spotlight. Scholar Zhao, however, saw the pedagogic angle.
[Scholar Zhao:] "Use curiosity as a tool. We teach him boundaries by giving him small tasks that satisfy curiosity but keep him safe."
[MC / Long Yue:] (thought) "Tasks that are also dumpling practice. Useful."
So the tutors and servants devised a regimen: short supervised walks with defined stations—ink station for copying, stable observation for counting horses, kitchen window for smelling stews. Each station rewarded him with a small token: a ribbon, a bead, sometimes an extra taste of porridge.
SYSTEM: Task reward structure implemented. Behavioral conditioning effective. Loyalty growth in service staff: +4 per month.
Long Yue's manipulative instincts matured—if rudimentary—into deliberate acts. He used his voice to summon Aunty Lin when a bowl glinted on the shelf and learned to clap politely when a visiting scribe bowed. The system continued to give quiet nudges: learn to reward those who watch you, and they will watch better.
SYSTEM: Social engineering module: micro-reward sequences increase trust rate by 18%.
By evening, the nursery had become a microcosm of responsibility. He had scraped a knee, stolen a scrap, nearly exited the nursery, and made a handful of apprentices laugh. Each small sore was a lesson; each laugh, a resource.
[Empress Wu:] (softly, to Scholar Zhao) "He learns quickly. Too quickly, perhaps."
[Scholar Zhao:] "Quick minds smell danger sooner, Your Majesty. They can be taught to see better."
Long Yue, exhausted and blissfully unaware of the long estranged ambitions his learning might one day fuel, slept with a bead in his fist and a ribbon at his pillow. His world had grown larger, and his steps had found purpose in mischief turned into lesson.
SYSTEM: Toddler progression: stable. Unlock candidate: Basic Strategy Node at age 3 with early prep. Suggest continued measured exposure to courtly patterns.
He smiled in sleep, dreaming of wooden horses, soft porridge, and the delightful chaos of being both a child and a player in a court that did not yet know how dangerous small children could be.
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