Besides lying down, I also know a little about power struggles

Chapter 151 Hibernation
When Feng Twelve became the twelfth prince and all the palace people dared not have any second thoughts about him, several months had passed since his mother's death.

During those days when he was fighting alone, he fed two wild cats.

The wild cats in the palace were always roaming back and forth between the various palaces, going wherever they could find food. The place they went to most often was the imperial kitchen, where they would pick up some leftovers to eat their fill, and then reproduce in a corner.

Kittens born in winter often do not survive. Feng Twelve once found the frozen bodies of a litter of kittens outside the temple, two of which were dying.

He was treated like a prince at that time. Although the amount of charcoal he received every month was not much, it was enough for him to spend a warm winter in his bedroom, and the two kittens survived.

Winter has just passed, and the half-grown cats have learned to climb walls and trees. They are no longer satisfied with the warm palace and go out every day to hang out with friends. In the middle of the night, one can always hear a cry similar to that of a baby in the palace. That is the joy that belongs only to wild cats.

The two wild cats were not yet of estrus age, but they preferred the outside world to the cold and lonely palace. Gradually, they disappeared from Feng Twelve's life, only occasionally returning to visit with their friends.

The last time Feng Twelve saw one of them was in summer.

That day, on his way to the prince's classroom, he met the Sixth Prince Feng Wuqiong. Feng Wuqiong was not yet King Ping at that time. He was very tall when he was young and the strongest among all the princes.

He was playing Cuju with a few of his study companions on the side of the road. When he saw Feng Twelve coming, he suddenly raised his foot and kicked the Cuju at his feet towards Feng Twelve's face.

Feng Twelve dodged and suddenly felt a few drops of smelly mucus splashing on his face.

He raised his finger and wiped his face, only to see a few dark red spots on his fingertips.

Feng Wuqiong laughed at him: "You stinky, rotten, and cheap bastard, get the hell back to your palace!"

Feng Twelve lowered his eyes and saw a piece of rotten meat lying at his feet. It was the "Cuju" kicked by Feng Wuqiong.

The flesh was rotten and bloody, and there was no head or tail. Four curled paws and brown fur were vaguely visible. Feng Twelve looked at it carefully for a while and recognized that it was the body of a cat.

He thought of the two kittens he had taken in during the winter. They both had short brown fur with white stripes. When they were the fattest, they looked like two chubby little tigers.

Feng Twelve was not sure whether the rotten meat in front of him was them, but it didn't matter anymore.

Feng Wuqiong was still cursing loudly, while his study partner laughed at the side. They ridiculed him in secret more than once, and Feng Twelve chose to ignore them every time.

This time, he walked towards Feng Wuqiong and punched him on the bridge of his nose.

The tall and strong Feng Wuqiong was knocked unconscious, two streams of blood gushed out of his nostrils. Everyone around him was dumbfounded and then screamed.

Feng Twelve ignored the extra voices. He pushed Feng Wuqiong to the ground, rode on him, and punched him in the face again and again.

Later, he was pulled away by a group of people. Later, Feng Wuqiong cried and shouted, and ordered people to pin Feng Twelve to the ground, hold down his limbs, and smash his head into the mud.

Feng Twelve fainted.

When he woke up again, he was lying in his own palace. Crown Prince Feng Yunxi was standing by his bed with a worried look on his face. Next to him stood a majestic middle-aged man. That was Feng Twelve's father, the Emperor of Dazhao, whom he had never seen in all these years.

The emperor said only one sentence to him that day:

"I have always been clear about rewards and punishments. Wuxian was the first to provoke you, and I have already punished him. What compensation do you want?"

When the emperor said this, there was a hint of boredom in his eyes, as if a fight between children was not worth his personal involvement, but Feng Yunxi kept pulling him, forcing him to speak.

Feng Twelve looked at his father seriously with his eyes that were so swollen that only a slit remained. He struggled to get up and performed the proper salute between a king and his subject.

"Your son wants to learn martial arts." This was the first and only request Feng Twelve made to the emperor.

The emperor did not answer.

He looked at the child in front of him, his eyes critically scanning his thin body, and after a while he said, "The prince already has riding and archery lessons."

This was the emperor’s reply to Feng Twelve.

Feng Twelve lowered his head, and the light in his eyes gradually dimmed.

"Yes."

He did not argue, did not force, and did not have any conflicts with Feng Wuqiong after that.

He was quiet, dormant in the corner like a weed, until the former Grand Marshal Lin Yang came to the palace to teach the prince.

Lin Yang was over seventy years old, and years of fighting had left his body with wounds that were difficult to heal. He had a slightly hunched back, rough skin, white hair, and loose teeth. From the outside, he looked like an old, frail country scholar.

He said he was here to give lessons, but most of the time he would doze off while sitting by the training ground. The princes' riding and archery lessons were taught by young and strong coaches. Lin Yang came once every ten days, took a nap, and left, as if he didn't care about anything else.

Only Feng Twelve, who was observing him secretly, discovered that when they were practicing horseback archery, whenever someone hit the center of the target on horseback, Lin Yang's slightly closed eyes would always open a tiny slit, as if he could judge which arrow went where it should go just by listening.

Feng Twelve practiced archery even more diligently. No matter whether Lin Yang was there or not, he was always the best among all the princes in shooting targets. His fame even reached the ears of the emperor, who rewarded him with a bunch of grapes from the Western Regions for the first time.

A jade plate filled with grapes appeared at the edge of the parade ground, attracting the attention of all the princes. Feng Wuqiong, who had been silent for a long time, came to him again.

Seeing his arrogant look, Feng Twelve did not wait for him to open his mouth to provoke him, and took the lead to ask: "Do you dare to compete with me?"

Feng Wuqiong was stunned: "Comparing what?"

Feng Twelve pointed at the bunch of grapes and said, "I've counted them. There are eleven grapes in this bunch. Tie each one with a silk thread and hang them on the horizontal pole. Let's see who can shoot the most grapes."

Feng Wuqiong looked at the bunch of grapes, hesitant.

His archery skills were comparable to Feng Twelve's, but Feng Twelve always took the first place. This time, when he saw Feng Twelve getting the reward, he felt indignant and wanted to find an excuse to teach him a lesson, but Feng Twelve took the initiative and proposed a duel.

It would have been fine if he was shooting at something else, but Feng Twelve insisted on shooting at grapes.

Each grape was only the size of a thumb and was hung in the air with a silk thread. It would sway when the wind blew, so even their coach might not be able to hit the target every time.

"If you don't dare, then forget it." Feng Twelve said coldly.

As soon as these words came out, Feng Wuqiong immediately said angrily: "Who dares not? I'm just thinking of a way to win."

"It's up to you." Feng Twelve said.

Feng Wuqiong saw that everyone was looking at them, and immediately smiled arrogantly: "Okay, if you lose, kneel down and lick my boots clean."

Feng Twelve nodded.

"If I win--" he said, his eyes moving around Feng Wuqiong's face.

Seeing that he was still hesitant to say the second half of the sentence, Feng Wuqiong couldn't help but growl, "What do you want to do if you win?"