Chen Jinbao declared with righteous confidence, “I came to apologize.”
Before Zhao Qingning could react, he had already stepped in front of Lu Jinghan: “Little Wild—no, Xiao Jiu, right? I’m sorry I had people beat you up. Take a look at these things—pick whatever you like, or take them all if you want.”
The servants opened the boxes, revealing jewelry, clothing, and various fashionable pastries popular in the capital.
Zhao Qingning was speechless: “Seriously? You call this an apology?”
That arrogant tone—where was the remorse?
Chen Jinbao looked puzzled: “Isn’t this how you apologized to Jiang Zhiyi? I learned from you.”
She took a deep breath: “I absolutely did not!”
She had sincerely said sorry, hadn’t she?
Chen Jinbao scoffed; he didn’t see any difference.
After thinking it over carefully yesterday, he realized the current Zhao Qingning was very different from before—fiery-tempered yet willing to apologize to him.
He still wanted to be friends with her.
Since she valued the Little Wild Seed so much, he naturally had to treat him better.
With that, he slung an arm around Lu Jinghan: “From now on, I’ll protect you along with Zhao Qingning. I guarantee no one will dare bully you again.”
Lu Jinghan’s body stiffened slightly.
His gaze turned icy as he stared at Chen Jinbao’s hand on his shoulder, a surge of disgust and violence rising within him, but he suppressed it almost immediately.
Zhao Qingning pulled him away irritably: “Xiao Jiu’s injuries haven’t healed yet. Don’t lean on him.”
Chen Jinbao grinned at the boy beside him: “So? These goods in exchange for your forgiveness—deal?”
“Don’t listen to him,” she said, turning to Xiao Jiu. “My stance remains: forgive him if you want, don’t if you don’t.”
Lu Jinghan was silent for a moment before replying calmly, “I accept the apology.”
Chen Jinbao immediately broke into a smile.
This Little Wild Seed knew his place.
“Then consider the matter settled,” Chen Jinbao announced loudly. “Zhao Qingning, you can’t ignore me anymore, right?”
Zhao Qingning frowned.
If Chen Jinbao could also protect Xiao Jiu, his life would become much easier.
Moreover, if there was ever a chance for him to ascend the throne…
To be honest, she had considered supporting Xiao Jiu’s claim, but relying solely on the Grand Princess Manor’s influence was insufficient.
With the added backing of Weiyuan Marquis Manor, their chances might improve.
Considering this, she looked at Chen Jinbao: “You’d better keep your word about protecting Xiao Jiu.”
“Of course,” Chen Jinbao agreed readily.
At worst, he’d treat Lu Jinghan like a Personal Servant—everyone knew he always protected his own.
To demonstrate his sincerity, he insisted on giving the gifts to Lu Jinghan, but the boy refused them all.
Zhao Qingning didn’t let him leave them either.
After all, for now, he was still an unfavored prince—possessing valuables would only attract unwanted attention.
“By the way, what were you two doing earlier?”
Noticing the book on the stone table, Chen Jinbao’s eyes widened.
“The Three Character Classic?”
Zhao Qingning snatched the book from his hands: “Put it down.”
She placed it before Lu Jinghan: “Xiao Jiu, let’s start learning this first.”
Since Lu Jinghan’s injuries hadn’t healed but he kept insisting he was a servant and couldn’t stay idle, she had no choice but to tutor him during this time—at least it gave him something to do.
The Three Character Classic was specially chosen by her.
“Repeat after me—the first line: ‘At the beginning of humanity, people are inherently good.'”
She spoke softly: “This phrase means that humans are born inherently good, and it teaches people not to forget their true nature…”
Zhao Qingning spoke eloquently, attempting to brainwash him, hoping he wouldn’t become a tyrant in the future.
Lu Jinghan repeated after her, finding the statement utterly absurd.
If humans were born good, why had people been trampling on him since his birth?
Human nature is inherently evil—that was the fundamental truth.
Given any opportunity, people would always crush the weak.
But Lu Jinghan didn’t show his thoughts, diligently continuing to learn.
However, with no foundation, he had to memorize many characters through sheer mental force.
Chen Jinbao sneered: “With your level, you’re teaching him?”
Zhao Qingning shot him a glare, not wanting to argue, and proceeded to teach Lu Jinghan character by character.
As Chen Jinbao listened, he realized he’d been shortsighted.
She actually could teach Lu Jinghan, and quite well at that.
Remembering how her grades had recently improved dramatically, earning praise from their teacher while he himself got scolded, Chen Jinbao pulled over a stool and sat down: “I want you to teach me too.”
He even had servants prepare paper and brushes.
Lu Jinghan glanced at him, his gaze dark and unreadable.
Zhao Qingning showed little reaction—if he wanted to learn, so be it. This would be a perfect chance to teach him about inherent human goodness!
The scene was witnessed by many, and soon the academy’s gossip topic shifted again.
Days passed, and Lu Jinghan recovered well, with no visible scars remaining.
Main Hall.
Lu Jinghan placed the freshly ground ink before Zhao Qingning, speaking softly: “For your use, Miss.”
He followed Zhao Qingning daily, and when the teacher was absent, he even entered the main hall to grind ink and copy texts for her.
This was Zhao Qingning’s arrangement to help him gain more exposure to books.
During these times, the other students remained silent, keeping their distance, afraid to interact with Lu Jinghan.
After all, they’d heard the Ninth Prince was born under an ill omen with a disgraceful birth mother, and they feared catching his misfortune.
Only Chen Jinbao sat with them completely unfazed.
One day, Yang Fuzi announced the latest test results.
Right after class, Chen Jinbao shouted: “Zhao Qingning! I improved, hahaha! This young master finally isn’t last place anymore!”
Zhao Qingning jumped in surprise, then calmly responded: “Oh, second to last then.”
This was only because the actual last-place student had been absent.
Chen Jinbao instantly deflated.
Zhao Qingning comforted him: “It’s fine, at least you scored points this time.”
“…”
He didn’t feel comforted at all.
With about fifty students in the hall, how did Zhao Qingning improve so quickly?
Nearby, Liu Yiyi sneered: “Some fools think they’re remarkable for scoring a few points, not realizing they’re just ridiculous clowns unfit for proper society.”
Chen Jinbao immediately turned: “Liu Yiyi, did you eat dung? Your mouth reeks!”
Liu Yiyi’s face darkened: “You’re supposedly an heir to a marquis—couldn’t you speak less crudely?”
“I’ll stop being crude when I’m talking to someone who deserves better manners,” Chen Jinbao retorted, hands on hips. “With your behavior, you don’t deserve my elegance. Besides, you didn’t do well either? Tsk tsk, twentieth place—several ranks below Zhao Qingning.”
Infuriated, Liu Yiyi gritted her teeth but soon replied: “Beating you is enough for me.”
Her tone turned smug: “Besides, Zhiyi always ranks first. Learning from her is definitely better than learning from Zhao Qingning.”
Hearing this, Lu Jinghan’s hand paused while copying texts, his gaze sweeping past Liu Yiyi before subtly withdrawing.
Meanwhile, Jiang Zhiyi slightly raised her head.
To her, this was merely child’s play.
Zhao Qingning felt helpless.
Why did they have to drag her down while boosting themselves?
In her view, this was nothing but childish one-upmanship about friends.
In truth, that exam paper was extremely simple, but she had intentionally made many mistakes to avoid raising suspicions about her rapid improvement and attracting the teacher’s “special attention.”
Upon hearing this, Chen Jinbao flew into a rage: “What does Jiang Zhiyi amount to? Zhao Qingning will definitely take first place next time!”
Liu Yiyi clapped her hands: “Excellent! How about we make a bet? If she doesn’t get first place, you’ll kneel and kowtow to apologize!”
“Fine! If she does get first place, you’ll kneel and kowtow to me!”
Neither of them would yield.
Zhao Qingning: “…Wait, did either of you consider how the person involved feels about this?”
Chen Jinbao pressed her shoulders and declared solemnly: “I believe in you. You can definitely do it.”
Zhao Qingning retorted irritably: “How kind of you.”
To get first place meant beating Jiang Zhiyi – why didn’t he try doing it himself!
Just as she was about to tell them not to use her for their bet, Jiang Zhiyi closed her book and said gently: “Yiyi, you shouldn’t make things difficult for Miss Zhao like this. Everyone knows she needed to copy the Thousand Character Classic a hundred times before memorizing it. With the heavy coursework the teacher is assigning now, if Miss Zhao had to copy everything a hundred times, I’m afraid a whole year would pass by.”
Zhao Qingning narrowed her eyes.
She could clearly detect the sarcasm in those words.
The original female lead’s hostility toward her was certainly not shallow.
Jiang Zhiyi spoke with a smile, putting on a considerate front: “How about this – as long as Miss Zhao makes it into the top three, that should suffice. What do you think?”
With her around, Zhao Qingning wanting to take first place? She might as well dream on.
She was being merciful by going easy on her.
Top three – how easy was that?
Before Chen Jinbao could respond, a voice drifted leisurely: “Fine.”
He turned to see Zhao Qingning holding a teacup in one hand, blowing on the tea leaves before taking a sip: “Then it’s settled.”