Whispers filled the hall.
“Zhao Qingning actually spoke to the Little Wild Seed instead of beating him up?”
“How unbelievable.”
“Do you think she’s plotting something evil, trying to finish off the Little Wild Seed?”
“I think it’s very likely.”
The teacher strode in, and everyone fell silent.
Zhao Qingning casually doodled on paper with her brush, her mind racing.
There were two reasons for her tragic ending, one of which was offending the tyrant Lu Jinghan.
However, Lu Jinghan had been abused by the original host, which was why he had her executed by a thousand cuts.
If she treated him well, wouldn’t he hold no grudge against her?
Moreover, at this point, he probably hadn’t become psychologically twisted or developed a bloodthirsty tendency yet—he was just living a very difficult life. If she extended a helping hand now, it would undoubtedly be like sending charcoal in snowy weather.
She could take advantage of his young age to instill the right values in him, guiding him to become an enlightened ruler so he wouldn’t be overthrown later.
Then, she would be the benefactor of an enlightened emperor, equivalent to having a “get-out-of-death-free” card. As long as she didn’t rebel, no matter what happened, she probably wouldn’t end up with her family ruined and herself dead, right?
Thinking of this, Zhao Qingning immediately decided: she would support Lu Jinghan! She would treat him doubly well.
Who knows—she might even follow in her mother’s footsteps and become a princess.
At this thought, she couldn’t help but smile.
“Zhao Qingning, what are you smiling about?”
Suddenly, a stern voice rang out. Startled, she looked up and met the severe gaze of the teacher’s aged face.
Yang Fuzi had once been a Grand Secretary in the Inner Court, highly respected and virtuous. After retiring, he came to Virtue and Abundance Academy to teach.
But ever since his arrival, Zhao Qingning had infuriated him.
This young girl was always disruptive in class.
Yet, her status was so noble that he couldn’t punish her.
Over time, he could only choose to ignore her to keep his temper in check.
Just now, while inadvertently mentioning the devastating famine decades ago, all the other students were sympathizing with the victims—only she had actually laughed!
Yang Fuzi couldn’t hold back and questioned her.
He expected her to spout nonsense, but to his surprise, she obediently stood up and said, “Teacher, this student admits her mistake.”
This response startled Yang Fuzi greatly.
The others also looked at Zhao Qingning with strange expressions.
When had this little troublemaker ever apologized to anyone?
Well, there was one time—when the previous teacher caned her, she tearfully apologized, but as soon as school was out, she immediately went to the palace to complain. The next day, the previous teacher was demoted by the emperor.
Remembering this, Yang Fuzi’s face paled, and for a moment, he genuinely feared this little rascal would lodge a complaint.
After all, the current emperor was her uncle and doted on her excessively.
Chen Jinbao couldn’t help but interject, “Zhao Qingning, what do you have to apologize for? It’s not like you caused the famine victims’ deaths. So what if you laughed?”
He felt resentful.
He considered her a good friend, yet she had hurt him—preferring to apologize to the teacher rather than spare him a glance.
Unexpectedly, Zhao Qingning glared at him fiercely and snapped, “Shut up!”
She was sincerely trying to apologize, okay? It was her fault for not respecting the teacher in class.
Chen Jinbao grew even angrier. He stood up directly and swaggered out of the classroom, making the teacher’s face darken further.
Zhao Qingning turned to the man before her. “Teacher, I—”
“Hmph! This old man can no longer manage you people. I shall resign to His Majesty at once!”
Yang Fuzi declared furiously, flicking his sleeves as he stormed out.
Better to leave on his own than wait for Zhao Qingning to complain and have him demoted.
Zhao Qingning was also bewildered, while others in the main hall grew even more disdainful of her upon seeing this.
“If you don’t want to study, don’t hold others back. What are we supposed to do if you drive the instructor away?”
“Why isn’t she attending classes at the Hall of Enlightenment? That’s where the princes and princesses study. Let’s see how smug she remains there.”
“She may not be a princess, but she might as well be one. How dare we criticize her? Keep this up and we might lose our heads.”
At Virtue and Abundance Academy, royal descendants and officials’ children attended separate classes. They eagerly wished for Zhao Qingning to leave the main hall.
Hearing these remarks, Zhao Qingning couldn’t help but feel frustrated.
The original host’s terrible reputation was so deeply ingrained that even when she tried to change, others only suspected her of having ulterior motives.
Ah, life was so difficult.
She sat down and sighed involuntarily, thinking she should find time to apologize to the instructor.
Now she had another matter to attend to.
The second reason for her tragic ending was opposing the female lead who possessed a Mary Sue aura.
This was easy to resolve—as long as she stopped targeting the female lead, surely they wouldn’t become mortal enemies anymore?
Maybe she should just run away now—leave the capital, stay far from conflicts. After all, she had wealth and influence, she could just find a place to retire.
But would this actually work?
She was merely a supporting female character now, and she had already offended the female lead. What if the plot repeated itself? What if the female lead’s Mary Sue aura prevailed and running away proved useless? Eventually, the female lead would become empress—what if she ended up dying even more miserably?
Thinking this, Zhao Qingning couldn’t help glancing toward a certain corner.
There sat a young woman in pink, gentle in demeanor and delicate in features.
This was the female lead, Jiang Zhiyi.
According to the novel’s setting, she was a transmigrator who had been an eighteen-year-old student in her previous life.
Jiang Zhiyi’s father had only been transferred to the capital last year, holding a mere fifth-rank official position.
Yet despite being the daughter of such a minor official, she was brilliantly talented and widely adored. Unlike Zhao Qingning, whom everyone despised, Jiang Zhiyi was practically beloved by all.
After much deliberation, Zhao Qingning took a deep breath.
Running away was definitely not an option.
Even if she could escape now, she had no idea what suffering might await her in the future.
With this thought, she stood up and walked over to Jiang Zhiyi.
The moment Jiang Zhiyi saw her, her expression turned cold. “Is there something you need, Miss Zhao?”
Given that Zhao Qingning had inexplicably attacked her just yesterday, it was natural for Jiang Zhiyi to be unwelcoming.
Zhao Qingning spoke earnestly, “Miss Jiang, I’ve come to apologize for what happened yesterday.”
While the incident had been committed by the original host, she was Zhao Qingning now with no way back to the modern era. To survive, she had to tread carefully.
The Mary Sue aura was too powerful to confront directly. As long as she maintained good relations with Jiang Zhiyi, perhaps she could avoid family ruin and ultimately being executed by a thousand cuts?
Moreover, to be fair, Jiang Zhiyi hadn’t done anything wrong initially—it was the original host who, out of jealousy, had unilaterally bullied her at school.
School bullying was unacceptable, which was why she was apologizing.
“This is a peace offering—please accept it.”
She presented a golden hairpin that appeared quite valuable, adorned with Eastern pearls worth a fortune.
Jiang Zhiyi, who had initially only worn a cold expression, now flushed with anger.
After being pushed into the water, she had returned home expecting justice, only to have her father—fearing offending the Grand Princess—brush the incident aside.
She had suffered injustice yet had to swallow her pride—what kind of logic was that? As a modern woman, she couldn’t accept such an outcome.
What was so great about having money?
Jiang Zhiyi could only imagine how smug Zhao Qingning must be feeling at this moment.
She rose angrily: “Miss Zhao is fortunate to be born into a noble family. With my common status, how could I dare offend you? There’s no need for your pretentious act!”
She threw the golden hairpin aside, her eyes slightly reddened and glistening with tears.
Zhao Qingning: “??”
Yet the onlookers all felt Jiang Zhiyi had been wronged, and she too slumped over the table weeping, as if bullied once more.
Zhao Qingning was utterly bewildered.
Seriously, you’re an adult already—how can you cry at the drop of a hat like a child? We could have discussed any issues properly. We’re even from the same hometown!
The crowd couldn’t help but condemn Zhao Qingning, who had no choice but to leave under the circumstances.
Ah, the road ahead is long and arduous.
Since Jiang Zhiyi detested her so intensely, she could only take things one step at a time.
With the tutor driven away by anger, she lost all interest in attending class and decided to go check on Lu Jinghan instead.
Side hall.
Lu Jinghan stood meekly to the side with lowered eyes.
The others sat on long benches sipping hot tea while whispering about him.
It was truly lamentable that a royal prince should live worse than these servants.
Qiuhua couldn’t resist asking: “Why has our young lady suddenly become so kind to him?”
Chunlan shook her head: “I don’t know.”
Their young lady had always been capricious—who knew if she might suddenly fly into a rage tomorrow and beat this bastard child?
A eunuch arrived with tea and pastries for the noble guests to enjoy.
Before leaving, spotting Lu Jinghan standing aside, he kicked him: “You little beast! I’ve been searching everywhere for you—so this is where you’ve been hiding.”