Chapter 49: The Formidable Young Lady

Yang Hui's arrival made the hall noisy, forcing the palace attendants to remind everyone to be quiet.

Princess Heisei also took the initiative to explain, "I invited Miss Yang to help me organize my notes."

*Oh my,* the Princess of Nangong thought, her eyes flickering. *They said no maids were allowed. You're a princess, so you get special treatment?*

A more reasonable explanation would have been, "I am somewhat slow, so I asked someone to help me."

But clearly, the proud Princess Heisei would never describe herself that way.

Princess Nangong hurriedly looked toward Princess Wuyang. Since she and Heisei had always been at odds and harbored resentment toward her, she expected Wuyang to seize this loophole and mock her.

However, Princess Wuyang merely curled her lip and said nothing.

Princess Nangong's eyes flickered with confusion. It was strange; although she feared Princess Heisei, it wasn't like Wuyang's style to remain silent when presented with such a reasonable opportunity to strike—unless... she didn't want to offend Yang Hui.

Princess Nangong's gaze involuntarily fell upon Yang Hui.

She knew little about this young lady from the Ding'an Ducal Mansion, as she rarely visited the imperial palace.

*Is she really that capable?*

"What is this lady's background?" she couldn't help but whisper to Princess Wuyang.

Princess Wuyang kept a stiff face. "I don't know."

*As if!* Princess Nangong muttered under her breath with a look of grievance, "My biological mother was a low-ranking concubine; she knows nothing and cannot teach me anything..."

Princess Wuyang interrupted her irritably, "Shut up."

She truly didn't know, but before leaving home, her mother, Noble Consort Li, had strictly instructed her not to be disrespectful to Yang Hui. At the time, Wuyang had thrown a tantrum, arguing that since the Empress and Princess Heisei had broken the rules first, why couldn't she speak up?

"Don't be foolish," Noble Consort Li had scolded, tapping her on the head. "How could they break the rules without His Majesty's permission?"

Then, she had forbidden her from asking further.

"Just remember: you can make Princess Heisei dislike you, and you can make the Empress dislike you, but you must not make your Imperial Father dislike you."

That was why she had endured today without mocking the two of them.

Princess Wuyang had been warned not to ask too many questions. The other young ladies didn't need such warnings; they knew that all imperial decisions were beyond questioning. Even if they were told there would be eleven study companions and it eventually turned into twenty-one, it was not their place to interfere.

"This is wonderful! With Miss Yang here, it will be even more lively."

Cheerful congratulations immediately rang out through the hall.

"Alright, alright, ladies," the palace attendants signaled. "Stop the idle chatter and take your seats."

Since they were there to attend a lecture, the princesses did not sit separately at the top this time, but instead sat in the very first row.

The others were arranged according to the order in which they were announced on the selection list.

Yang Luo was the eleventh, placed at the very end, but an extra table had been brought in behind her.

To organize the princess's notes, she could not sit directly beside the princess like a maid, and because she hadn't been officially selected through the standard process, an extra desk could only be added at the end.

Yang Hui was not dissatisfied with this position, but she was somewhat displeased with Yang Luo, who sat in front of her.

Yang Luo turned her head, and their eyes met.

With a hint of smugness, Yang Hui whispered, "You only managed to sit here by sheer luck. I..."

Yang Luo withdrew her gaze and sat up straight.

*Is she ignoring me?* Yang Hui felt humiliated and angry, staring hatefully at Yang Luo's back.

...

...

"That lady who was pushed out has come again. Is your lady alright?"

Ling Yu held a book in his hand, glancing behind him.

"Do you want to go over and check?"

Mo Zheng, who was carrying Ling Yu's book bag behind him, smiled. "No need. My lady is quite formidable herself."

Ling Yu had no interest in his lady and nodded, asking no further questions.

"Do you want to go to the Library Pavilion to read?" he asked. "The teacher is over there."

Mo Zheng looked toward the Half-Mountain Library Pavilion ahead. The National Academy had hundreds of students; although most were in class, many were moving about, and the Library Pavilion would certainly be crowded.

"No. I am, after all, a guard. It wouldn't look good if I were seen," she said, smiling at Ling Yu. "Senior Brother Ling, find me a place to rest."

Ling Yu smiled back. "Then come to my quarters."

For the convenience of studying, his quarters were located in the middle, closest to both the lecture halls and the Library Pavilion. It was not a quiet place; in fact, it was quite noisy.

Upon pushing open the door, the small room was filled with books on every available surface—tables, desks, and even the floor. A small bed was squeezed into a corner, its bedding neatly arranged as if it hadn't been used for a long time. Another corner was partitioned off by a screen, holding cleaning implements and a small cabinet.

"Seeing a place like this, who would think you come from a wealthy family that owns silver mines and mountains of gold?" Mo Zheng said, pulling a cushion from beneath a pile of books to sit down.

Ling Yu laughed. "There are houses of gold within books; in a way, I am sitting on a gold mine." He then looked at the empty teapot on the desk. "Sit for a moment; I'll go get some tea and snacks for you."

Mo Zheng smiled and thanked him. "I'm interrupting your studies, Senior Brother."

Ling Yu waved the book in his hand. "It's just a walk; it's not an interruption."

As he walked out, he paused to look back, seeing that Mo Zheng had already picked up a book from the floor and begun reading.

He loved reading, his eyes rarely leaving a book. This youth was the same; though she could not read constantly due to her livelihood, she would always read whenever she had free time.

Ling Yu smiled faintly, gently closed the door, returned his gaze to his book, and walked briskly toward the dining hall.

Sitting in the room, Mo Zheng's eyes scanned the lines of text. She heard Ling Yu's footsteps fade away, and occasionally heard the footsteps and laughter of others passing by outside.

Her gaze focused intently on the rows of words, her hand turning the pages continuously, until she heard footsteps approaching from a distance... these footsteps...

Mo Zheng snapped her head up.

...

...

"Why has Wei Jiao come again?"

"Coming once a month is annoying enough."

"He used to only come in the evening; why is he here in broad daylight?"

The murmurs followed him all the way, but Wei Jiao didn't care. However, perhaps because it was his first time coming in the daylight, he seemed somewhat unaccustomed, his expression lazy and his gait sluggish.

Suddenly, he stopped and glanced to the side with upturned eyes.

...

...

Mo Zheng ducked back behind the window slit.

*This man is too sharp!*

She had only taken a single glance, and she had been spotted.

Of course, she had experienced Wei Jiao's keenness back in Zhao County, but that was because she had actively wanted to be noticed—to create a new wound before he could inspect the old one.

That wouldn't work now.

She couldn't let Wei Jiao catch even a glimpse of her, or she would be dead.

The footsteps suddenly vanished.

*Oh no.*

...

...

The students watching Wei Jiao from a distance felt their vision blur; the Wei Jiao who had been walking through the courtyard had vanished.

When they focused again, Wei Jiao was standing in front of a set of student quarters.

A wooden fish hung above the doorway, spinning rapidly due to a sudden gust of wind.

Though they disliked Wei Jiao, everyone liked Ling Yu.

"Scholar Ling has gone to the dining hall!" a student couldn't help but shout.

They didn't want Wei Jiao to barge into Ling Yu's quarters and defile his place of peace.

Wei Jiao looked at the slightly ajar door and raised an eyebrow.

He knew it wasn't Ling Yu.

He knew what Ling Yu's gaze looked like.

Unless he was scolding him, Ling Yu wouldn't spare him a second glance; that bookworm only looked at books.

There was someone else in this room.

It wasn't strange for someone else to look at him.

Since entering the National Academy, eyes had been watching him everywhere.

But...

This gaze was different.

Ignoring everything, Wei Jiao kicked the door open.

His eyes met a chaotic pile of books, the small bed squeezed among them, and an empty room. However, behind the partition, a figure rustled.

The small, glowing blue Snake Sword at Wei Jiao's side hummed.

"Ling Yu, are you blind?" he said. "Are you afraid to face people?"

As he spoke, he instantly stepped up to the partition. A low gasp reached his ears, and in the next moment, a patch of glowing white skin rushed toward him.

Wei Jiao froze instantly.

A woman's scattered black hair fell like a waterfall, swaying to cover her face as she frantically tried to wrap her robes around herself...

They were a man's robes.

The chest was covered, but white calves and bare feet were exposed...

"Young Master, I beg you, do not... do not tell anyone," the woman's voice trembled, sounding as if she were about to cry.

...

...

With a sharp sound of spitting, the figure behind the partition vanished. The kicked-open door remained unclosed, but the footsteps walked away.

Mo Zheng, who had been curled up, stood straight. Her long hair swayed in front of her face, hiding her features before she could change them.

Mo Zheng exhaled softly.

*I made it through.*

(End of Chapter)