Main Hall.
Zhao Qingning rested her chin in her hands, feeling somewhat agitated.
These past few days, Lu Jinghan had been making rapid progress, and the basic books were no longer sufficient for his studies. She had considered hiring an ordinary tutor specifically for him.
But if she showed favoritism toward Lu Jinghan, others would only think it was a passing whim or that she treated him as a servant. If it came to hiring a private tutor, it could easily be exploited by those with ulterior motives to accuse the Princess Manor of harboring ambitions for the throne, which would be problematic.
Although she did have such intentions, the emperor had not yet acknowledged this son, so she couldn’t openly leave herself vulnerable to criticism.
This was also why she only allowed Lu Jinghan to serve with ink and brushes in the main hall after classes, not permitting him to attend lessons there.
After much thought, she still hadn’t found a good solution and couldn’t help but sigh.
“Zhao Qingning!”
Suddenly, someone shouted her name. Zhao Qingning turned and saw a girl storming toward her.
Even as the girl stood before her, she was still puzzled. “Who are you?”
It wasn’t that she didn’t recognize people, but the girl had a silk scarf covering half her face.
The girl said angrily, “You’ve gone too far!”
That voice?
She tentatively asked, “Liu Yiyi? Why are you covering your face?”
Hearing this, Liu Yiyi grew even angrier. “Don’t play dumb with me! Isn’t this your doing?!”
“What did I do? Don’t make baseless accusations.”
Zhao Qingning was utterly baffled, and their argument began to draw the attention of others.
Just then, Jiang Zhiyi walked in, also with a silk scarf covering her face.
Hearing Zhao Qingning’s words, she couldn’t help but say, “Zhao Qingning, if you didn’t want to keep your promise, you shouldn’t have agreed in the first place. Why harm us like this?”
Zhao Qingning felt exasperated. “What are you all talking about?”
Furious, Liu Yiyi yanked off her scarf. “You couldn’t outperform Zhiyi, so you tried to prevent her from taking the exam by having someone set hornets on us, didn’t you?!”
Beneath the scarf, Liu Yiyi’s originally delicate face was swollen with large bumps on both sides.
Zhao Qingning was taken aback. Staring at that face, she couldn’t help but laugh.
She now looked strikingly similar to that modern-day meme of a puppy swollen from bee stings.
“How dare you laugh!”
Enraged, Liu Yiyi raised her hand to slap her, but Zhao Qingning swiftly blocked it. “You need evidence to back your claims. I was in the main hall when you were stung by the hornets. How can you be sure it was me?”
“You were in the main hall, but what about that Little Wild Seed beside you?” Liu Yiyi sneered. “He was the one who threw the hornet’s nest! Zhiyi saw it!”
At her words, Zhao Qingning realized Lu Jinghan hadn’t come over.
Her expression tightened, and she instinctively retorted, “Impossible. Xiao Jiu wouldn’t do such a thing.”
“Chen Jinbao was there too.”
Zhao Qingning froze, her first thought being that Chen Jinbao had threatened Xiao Jiu into doing it.
She recalled Chen Jinbao telling her yesterday that he would find a way to handle the exam situation.
Could this be his idea of a solution?
“This isn’t over! I’ve already sent someone to fetch the teacher. This time, you’re going to be properly punished!”
Liu Yiyi fumed. Not long after, Yang Fuzi arrived.
At the sight of him, Liu Yiyi felt utterly wronged. “Teacher, you must uphold justice for me.”
She recounted the entire incident, and Yang Fuzi felt nothing but disappointment.
The academy strictly forbade internal conflicts. Zhao Qingning had only behaved herself for a few days—how was she causing trouble for him again?
Upon learning that Chen Jinbao was also involved in this matter, he felt even more headache and ordered someone to fetch him.
As soon as he entered, Chen Jinbao burst into laughter: “Liu Yiyi, why is your face swollen like a steamed bun?”
Liu Yiyi wished she could kill him: “Don’t play dumb with me. Isn’t this all thanks to you?”
“You can eat shit randomly, but you can’t speak nonsense. What evidence do you have?” Chen Jinbao stood casually to the side, confronting her.
Behind him, Lu Jinghan stood silently.
From the moment he entered the hall, Zhao Qingning’s gaze had been fixed on him.
Liu Yiyi insisted that Chen Jinbao had instructed Lu Jinghan to throw the hornet’s nest and even produced several witnesses, all girls who had been catching butterflies in the garden at the time.
With witnesses present, Chen Jinbao immediately changed his tune: “This has nothing to do with me. It was all Xiao Jiu’s doing.”
Zhao Qingning firmly denied it: “Impossible. He has no reason to do such a thing.”
Even with her protection, Lu Jinghan had always been cautious and discreet, never committing any offense against others, let alone having any reason to target Liu Yiyi.
“How could there be no reason? Liu Yiyi bullied you, so he loyally defended his master and took revenge for you.”
Chen Jinbao shifted the blame effortlessly.
Thus, everyone’s attention turned to Lu Jinghan.
Zhao Qingning frowned: “Xiao Jiu, come here. What exactly is going on?”
Meeting her gaze, Lu Jinghan quickly lowered his eyelashes: “What Young Master Chen said is true. I couldn’t stand seeing you being bullied, so I took action.”
Zhao Qingning didn’t believe it at all. She cast a cold glance at Chen Jinbao: “Xiao Jiu has always been pure and kind. Did you do this?”
“I’m innocent,” Chen Jinbao spread his hands, pleading his case.
When Lu Jinghan heard the words “pure and kind,” his heart trembled slightly.
He wasn’t foolish. During this period, Zhao Qingning had been guiding him through the study of sage texts, and he vaguely suspected that she seemed to want to mold him into a good person.
But his hands were already stained with others’ blood.
Now that she had discovered he would actively harm others, how would she treat him?
Would she discard him without hesitation?
Lu Jinghan suddenly felt some regret.
Perhaps he should have remained honest and dutiful as a servant by her side—at least that would have been better than his past life.
But humans are always greedy.
Zhao Qingning treated him well, so he wanted to know just how far her tolerance for him extended.
“Xiao Jiu, I’m asking you one last time: were you coerced?”
Zhao Qingning’s voice was cold. After a moment of silence, Lu Jinghan shook his head: “No.”
This was an admission of guilt.
Liu Yiyi gritted her teeth in hatred: “Teacher, did you hear that? This little bitch has confessed! Someone, drag him away and beat him to death with clubs!”
“Who dares?!” Zhao Qingning shouted sharply, frightening everyone into stillness.
“Zhao Qingning, do you still intend to protect him?” Jiang Zhiyi couldn’t help but speak up. “He has already confessed. Could it be that you were the one who ordered this?”
Lu Jinghan instantly looked up, his eyes gleaming coldly as he stared at Jiang Zhiyi.
Zhao Qingning remained silent.
Her mind was in disarray.
From the crowd, a girl timidly spoke up: “Yesterday, I saw Sister Qingning and the Little Wild Seed under the tree in the courtyard, looking at a hornet’s nest…”
This was indeed true.
However, at the time, they were studying together, and it was Lu Jinghan who had first noticed the hornet’s nest and warned her to leave to avoid being stung.
The implication in the girl’s words was clear to everyone.
Qiuhua couldn’t help but ask: “Second Young Miss, what do you mean by that?”
Zhao Qingning turned to look at the girl upon hearing this, only to see her shrink back, not daring to meet her gaze.
Liu Yiyi sneered, “Zhao Qingning, even your sister has come forward as a witness. How do you plan to weasel out of this now? I think it was you who instigated it!”
“This matter has nothing to do with the young lady. I acted alone.”
Lu Jinghan immediately spoke up. Seeing that Zhao Qingning was being implicated, Chen Jinbao’s face fell, but he still stepped forward to claim responsibility for his own misdeed.
After all, if Zhao Qingning were punished and the elder princess visited his home again, his father would surely beat him to death.
Yang Fuzi felt utterly overwhelmed. Stroking his beard, he finally declared, “Chen Jinbao, you are to copy texts three hundred times as punishment and must apologize to the student who was stung. Zhao Qingning, for failing to discipline those under you properly, will copy texts one hundred times…”
As for Lu Jinghan, he was to kneel in the front courtyard for two hours.
“This matter ends here.”
Though Liu Yiyi was unwilling to let it go, Yang Fuzi had spoken his final word and turned to leave, leaving them no time to press further.
Bystanders gradually dispersed. Liu Yiyi snorted coldly and took Jiang Zhiyi to tend to her wounds.
Soon, Lu Jinghan was kneeling in the front courtyard.
With such a disturbance, Yang Fuzi had no mood to teach that afternoon, and the examination was postponed.
Everyone assumed Zhao Qingning would quickly allow Lu Jinghan to rise, but to their surprise, even after two hours had passed and the Little Wild Seed looked on the verge of collapse, she did not so much as glance his way.
As dusk approached, the academy’s students had all left.
Lu Jinghan’s legs had gone numb from kneeling, and his entire body ached.
Yet his gaze remained fixed intently on the hall.
Zhao Qingning had not emerged—was she abandoning him?
Only when twilight deepened did he finally see her approach him slowly.
Zhao Qingning looked down at him, her emotions tangled.
On one hand, she was glad that Lu Jinghan had been willing to stand up for her—it showed he remembered her kindness.
On the other hand, she was angry. He could have told her about Chen Jinbao’s threats and let her handle it, yet he chose to resort to underhanded means to harm others.
Had all her efforts to teach him virtue been in vain?
No matter how strained her relationship with Liu Yiyi was, they only exchanged sharp words or fought openly.
Scheming behind someone’s back was one thing, but leaving evidence behind was both wicked and foolish.
As the saying goes, a child who steals needles will grow up to steal gold.
If he resorted to such deceitful tactics at such a young age, what cruelty would he be capable of once he gained power? How could he ever become a wise ruler?
Especially since, in the original story, he was already a bloodthirsty tyrant.
So, Zhao Qingning decided to leave him be—let him kneel for two full hours and reflect deeply, to honor the teachings of the sages he had studied all this time!
“Have you realized your mistake?” she asked sternly.
Lu Jinghan reached out, clutching the hem of her skirt, suppressing the tremor in his heart. “I know I was wrong. I shouldn’t have harmed them.”
You prefer an innocent Xiao Jiu. From now on, I will hide my true self well.
Please don’t abandon me.