“She is only three years old!”
Jin Lanyue thought so too.
She was still a baby; she shouldn’t have to bear such immense pressure. Boohoo.
Qu Zijin hesitated and said, “Actually, it doesn’t strictly have to be ten sets a day. I think, maybe doing…”
Jin Lanyue looked at him expectantly, a glimmer of light returning to her eyes.
Qu Zijin held up five fingers: “Five sets?”
The light in Jin Lanyue’s eyes instantly went out.
Her small, potato-like body swayed precariously in the wind, looking as though she was about to topple over.
“No, no, no, three sets! Three sets! Three sets is fine too!” Qu Zijin hurriedly squatted down to steady the little tot, stopping her from rocking back and forth like a rooly-pooly toy.
Yet in the next second, the little tot buried her head straight into his chest. Clutching his lapels, her tears began to plop down like little pearls as she sobbed and whimpered, “I… I don’t want to do exam papers…”
She was sobbing so hard her shoulders shook, looking pitiful to the extreme.
Qu Zijin froze.
“I really don’t want to do them at all, boohoo…”
Unlike other children, Jin Lanyue didn’t throw a tantrum or roll around on the floor. She just hid in your arms, weeping and sobbing, staring up at you pitifully with her misty, large eyes, longing for you to change your mind.
A soft, adorable little toddler possessed zero combat power; she only knew how to act cute and spoiled.
But to Qu Zijin, this was incredibly lethal.
Thus, he compromised in an instant: “Although this is very improper… fine, you don’t have to do them.”
“Thank ou, Grand Tutor. Grand Tutor, you are so good…” Jin Lanyue’s eyes lit up again. Sniffing back her tears, she sensibly pulled out her own little handkerchief and clumsily wiped her own face.
Watching her obediently wipe her own tears, Qu Zijin’s heart melted completely. He no longer cared about thoughts like “what a pity” or “what a waste,” and only felt that he had done something terribly wrong.
It must be my fault.
He reaffirmed this in his mind once more.
Jin Lanyue rubbed the handkerchief vigorously across her face, squishing the chubby meat on her cheeks every which way.
Unable to watch any longer, Qu Zijin took the handkerchief from her and carefully wiped the tears from her face himself.
Though the little tot’s eyes were still watery, she flashed him a bright smile, revealing her tiny white teeth: “Thank ou~”
Qu Zijin, who was unmarried, childless, and had remained single to this day, finally understood why some people loved children so much.
Because they really were… so adorable!
Cute, well-behaved, clever, and polite—he felt deeply that no one could possibly dislike a child like this.
Jin Lanyue had no idea that she had unwittingly captured Qu Zijin’s heart. Having learned that she didn’t have to do the exam papers, her little brain was so filled with joy that it couldn’t hold anything else.
She happily took the Grand Tutor’s hand: “Grand Tutor, let’s go!”
Holding onto Qu Zijin, she skipped and hopped toward the schoolroom, her steps light and breezy once more. She even hummed a children’s folk song that was currently popular in the imperial capital—it was a song Jiang Xiyue had sung to her. After hearing it often enough, she had learned to hum it all on her own.
Even though she carried the tune terribly—in fact, not a single note was on pitch.
But that didn’t stop Qu Zijin from being infected by her joyful singing. A smile surfaced on his face as he followed her into the schoolroom.
However…
The moment they stepped into the schoolroom, the smile on Qu Zijin’s face vanished instantly.
Because the little Princess was sprawled across the desk, fast asleep.
And she was sleeping very soundly too.
She emitted soft snores, occasionally accompanied by a mumble or two in her dreams.
Jin Lanyue was still humming her out-of-tune song, pulling Qu Zijin’s hand to walk forward.
Qu Zijin suddenly stopped. She gave a tug, but couldn’t budge him.
Confused, she looked up and found that the Grand Tutor’s expression had turned fierce again as he glared toward a certain spot.
Her foreboding premonition returned. Following the Grand Tutor’s gaze, she also spotted the sleeping Princess.
The five-year-old Princess was sleeping sweetly, slumped over the red sandalwood desk. A red crease had been pressed into her tender, pink cheek, and a glistening trail of drool hung from the corner of her mouth.
“Insolence!” Qu Zijin let go of Jin Lanyue’s hand, strode forward, and pulled a ferule from his sleeve, slamming it onto the desk with a loud thwack!
The Princess jolted upright, rubbing her eyes in a daze, the hairpins atop her head tilted to one side.
“Sleeping in class during broad daylight, completely devoid of decorum—where are your manners?!” Qu Zijin barked furiously. “As punishment, you will copy the first two chapters of the Three Character Classic ten times! If you cannot hand it in tomorrow, I shall report this to the Emperor!”
The Princess woke up completely.
However, her first reaction was to slam the desk in return and stand up, placing one hand on her hip: “What on earth are you blabbering about again? Why should I copy books?!”
Jin Lanyue carefully edged closer.
After all… when the Grand Tutor was angry, she was very scared too.
Peeking at Qu Zijin’s expression, she tiptoed quietly behind the Princess.
Like the Princess, she didn’t understand the sophisticated words in the first half of his sentence, but she understood the latter half.
Looking down, she noticed that although the Princess had one hand on her hip, her other hand—the one that had just slammed the desk—was shaking behind her back. The palm had been slapped bright red by her own force.
Looking at her hand, Jin Lanyue felt… felt like it must hurt a lot.
Over there, the little Princess was arguing with Qu Zijin again.
Qu Zijin still had absolutely no realization that he shouldn’t be bickering with a child: “Sleeping in class, do you have even a shred of a student’s proper bearing? As a princess, is this how you fail your Imperial Father’s expectations? Is this how you set a fine example for the people of the world?!”
“I am dying of sleep, so why can’t I sleep?! And what even is a fine egg-sample? Why should I be a fine egg-sample?!”
“Example! It is an example! Not an egg-sample!”
“I don’t care if it’s an egg-sample or a fine example, anyway, I am not doing it!”
“You!” Qu Zijin was about to faint from rage. “Hold out your hand! Today, I shall teach you the meaning of respecting your teacher and honoring the Dao!”
He brandished the ferule.
The little Princess and Jin Lanyue shuddered in unison. The little Princess lost her stubborn edge, swallowed hard, and retreated a few steps in nerves, bumping straight into Jin Lanyue behind her.
Jin Lanyue… Jin Lanyue was terrified too.
That ferule looked like it would hurt immensely if it hit!
But…
The little round dumpling, who wasn’t even as tall as the study desk, dashed forward with a series of patter-patter-patter steps. Like a little mother hen protecting her chick, she strained to spread her short arms wide, shielding the Princess.
“Grand Tutor, do not be angry!” The three-year-old study companion, Jin Lanyue, shouted in a milky voice, the two little buns atop her head swaying with her movements. “The Princess did not do it on purpose!”
Qu Zijin looked down at the tiny person who didn’t even reach his knees, temporarily at a loss for words.
His fury was directed at the Princess; when it came to Jin Lanyue, he truly couldn’t bring himself to be angry.
Taking advantage of the moment, Jin Lanyue stood on her tiptoes, reaching out with her chubby little hand to tug at his sleeve: “Grand Tutor, look—”
She pointed out the window: “Even Mr. Sun is yawning!”
Qu Zijin, along with the Princess, followed the direction of her finger. Coincidentally, a cloud drifted across the sun, and the hazy play of light and shadow really did make it look as though it was dozing off.
Qu Zijin paused. His first thought was that her description was remarkably vivid.
His second thought was—wait, why did his train of thought keep getting derailed by these two little tots?
“Nonsense, step aside first,” Qu Zijin chided her softly, looking down. But then he saw the little creature suddenly untie her small personal bundle, open her pastry box, take out a piece of cake, and hold it up high with all her might.
“Grand Tutor, eat some cake. Once you eat the cake, you won’t be angry anymore.” As Jin Lanyue spoke, she thought herself incredibly clever.
In the past, whenever she was unhappy, her mother would stuff a piece of pastry into her mouth. The moment the sweet pastry hit her tongue, her face would instantly beam with joy.
Now, if she gave a piece to the Grand Tutor, the Grand Tutor would be happy too~
The hand Qu Zijin used to hold the ferule froze in mid-air. He looked down at the innocently smiling Jin Lanyue and, after a long pause, let out a soft sigh.
“Forget it…” He accepted the pastry, his voice softening unconsciously. “Do not let this happen again.”
He carefully placed the pastry onto his handkerchief and, carrying it, turned toward the desk to set it down.
Jin Lanyue let out a sigh of relief, patting her little chest with her hand: “It’s fine now, I am so awesome!”
Behind her, the little Princess tugged at her, though her eyes remained glued to the pastry Qu Zijin had taken away. She said rather unhappily, “Shouldn’t that have belonged to the two of us? That mean Grand Tutor actually stole our cake to eat!”