As he spoke, he casually pulled a book from a stack and tossed it to her.
Song Yi'an caught it and looked down at the cover: 《The Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art》.
Song Yi'an: "..."
She hadn't expected that after transmigrating back to ancient times, she would still have to revisit math class.
Thus, inside the Study Room, Prime Minister Song sat at the head of the table processing a pile of official documents, while Song Yi'an sat at a small desk below, head buried in copying.
Song Yi'an was surprisingly quiet, and Prime Minister Song was so busy with government affairs that he almost forgot there was a little girl in the room.
When he finally had a moment of leisure and looked up, he finally understood why it was so quiet; at some point, the little girl had fallen fast asleep on the desk, her hand still loosely gripping a calligraphy brush.
He had told her to study, yet she had fallen asleep instead. Prime Minister Song looked at her with disdain, but considering it was her first time, he didn't lose his temper.
He summoned the maid Haitang, who was waiting outside the door, and ordered her to carry the child back to Bright Moon Pavilion.
The next day, when Prime Minister Song entered, Song Yi'an was already sitting properly in the room.
However, a sweet scent was faintly floating in the air, smelling delicious.
Prime Minister Song glanced at Song Yi'an but did not reprimand her, only saying indifferently, "Continue with yesterday's copying."
After the order, the two continued with their own tasks.
Halfway through the copying, Song Yi'an was so sleepy that her eyelids were fighting each other. She snuck a glance at her grandfather, and seeing his attention was not on her, she quickly fished a small piece of hawthorn candy from her Cloth Bag and popped it into her mouth.
The sweet and sour taste instantly melted in her mouth; the sweetness of the honey wrapped around the tartness of the hawthorn, refreshing her mind.
Prime Minister Song caught a glimpse of Song Yi'an's sneaky movements out of the corner of his eye and let out another, "Ahem."
Song Yi'an immediately straightened her back, looking straight ahead, pretending nothing had happened.
"How is the copying going? Is there anything you don't understand?" Prime Minister Song asked.
Song Yi'an shook her head. For someone who had gone through nine years of compulsory education, these math problems were not difficult.
Prime Minister Song stood up, walked to her desk, and casually picked up a sheet of rice paper. Upon looking at it, his brows furrowed tightly; the handwriting on the paper was crooked and messy, like a dog's scrawl—truly, even a dog would shake its head at it.
However, after seeing the content copied on the paper, he was slightly taken aback. He hadn't expected that what he had casually handed her yesterday was actually 《The Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art》.
"You understand the content in this book?" His tone carried obvious skepticism.
This book was obscure and difficult to understand; even adults found it strenuous to study.
Song Yi'an nodded.
Prime Minister Song absolutely did not believe that a little girl who had never formally attended school could understand this book.
He began to test her: "I ask you, if there is a field fifteen paces wide and sixteen paces long, what is the area of the field?"
Song Yi'an tilted her head. Wasn't this just length times width to find the area?
She answered crisply: "One mu."
A flash of surprise appeared in Prime Minister Song's eyes. He asked several more questions in succession, and Song Yi'an not only answered them fluently but sometimes even wrote and drew strange symbols on the paper that he couldn't understand.
Prime Minister Song: "..."
He picked up his teacup and took a sip to suppress the surging astonishment in his heart. "That is all for today. You may return now and come back tomorrow."
Song Yi'an's eyes lit up when she heard she was getting out of class an hour early.
She immediately packed her things and left.
Before her foot had even crossed the threshold, her grandfather's calm voice came from behind her.
"Wait, take out the snacks in your Cloth Bag."
Song Yi'an: "..."
There was still a flower cake and three hawthorn candies in the Cloth Bag.
She reluctantly took them out and placed them on the desk.
Prime Minister Song glanced at them: "From now on, no eating in the Study Room. Let this be the only time."
"Yes, Grandfather." Song Yi'an obediently agreed, though she thought to herself that next time she would hide them in her Space; he wouldn't be able to search for them anyway.
After Song Yi'an and the servants had left, Prime Minister Song slowly picked up the flower cake that had been wrapped tightly in oil paper.
He unwrapped it, and a scent of osmanthus immediately wafted out. He took a bite; the crust was crispy, the filling was sweet but not cloying, and his mouth was filled with the clear fragrance of osmanthus.
He had craved this for a long time. The little girl was very protective of her food and didn't know to share any with him. Tomorrow, he would have Nanny Zhou buy some.
However, the flower cake Nanny Zhou bought the next day, while similar in appearance, was dry and bland when eaten; it was neither fragrant nor crispy. He lost interest after one bite and gave the rest to the servants.
For several days in a row, he had Nanny Zhou buy from different shops, but the taste was never right.
Nanny Zhou was also puzzled; why had the Prime Minister suddenly become so fixated on flower cakes?
He would usually only taste one bite of the cakes she bought before telling her to distribute them.
She reported this matter to Old Madam Song.
During dinner that evening, the Old Madam remembered what Nanny Zhou had said during the day and asked with concern, "Old Master, is your appetite poor lately? Nanny Zhou says you've wanted to eat osmanthus cakes for several days but are never satisfied."
Prime Minister Song cleared his throat uncomfortably: "It's nothing, I just wanted to eat osmanthus cakes lately, but the ones bought outside always taste a bit off."
Connecting this to the fact that the Prime Minister had been tutoring the Little Miss recently, Nanny Zhou asked cautiously, "Prime Minister, is the osmanthus cake you tasted the one given by the Little Miss?"
Prime Minister Song did not want to admit that he was snatching food from his little granddaughter, so he gave a slightly awkward "Mm." "It is the one she gave."
Old Madam Song and Nanny Zhou exchanged a smile.
"You can't buy that cake outside," Old Madam Song laughed. "That was made by Yi'an herself. I only get to taste a few pieces shared from Yan Ran."
She signaled to Nanny Zhou: "Go, brew some tea with that jar of Osmanthus Honey for the Prime Minister to taste."
After Nanny Zhou acknowledged and went to do so, Old Madam Song smiled again: "Try this tea; it was also made by the girl Yi'an herself."
Nanny Zhou brought out an old Pottery Jar that looked like it had seen better days; the jar itself was even slightly damaged.
She removed the lid, used a spoon to scoop out a spoonful of crystal-clear Osmanthus Honey, and poured warm water over it. Immediately, the clear, sweet fragrance unique to osmanthus rose up and permeated the air.
Prime Minister Song took a sip. The tea had the sweetness of honey and the fragrance of osmanthus, and the taste was warm and refreshing. After swallowing, his throat, which had been uncomfortable from catching a cold a few days ago, felt much better, the dryness and itchiness significantly relieved.
However, after drinking this tea, he didn't feel comforted; instead, he felt even more displeased.
Why hadn't the little girl sent him any?
Seeing her husband's awkward and indirect demeanor, Old Madam Song guessed immediately that the little girl hadn't given him any, and she was amused.
"What, you didn't receive any? Was it because you were too strict when teaching Yi'an, scaring the little one so much that she didn't dare to show you filial piety?"
Who in the household didn't know that the Prime Minister was always strict with his children and grandchildren, and none of the younger generation were unafraid of him?
Prime Minister Song kept a straight face and refuted, "Nonsense, I wasn't fierce to that girl." After finishing, he couldn't help but ask, "Is this Osmanthus Honey sent to everyone in the household?"
Old Madam Song laughed: "Not at all, it was only sent to me and Yan Ran."
Prime Minister Song narrowed his eyes. A fine little girl, not very old, yet she had learned to treat people differently. Tomorrow, he would definitely have to give her a good talking-to.
The next day, Prime Minister Song specifically returned early from the morning court and sat in the Study Room waiting for Song Yi'an.
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