A Rebirth: Joined As One - Chapter 11

Once the assignment was given, the old gentleman had barely left before discussions broke out in the classroom.

A boy sitting slightly farther back, who looked about fourteen or fifteen, clicked his tongue twice and said, “That little old man really struck after first showing courtesy. His hand is ruthless enough.”

Behind him, another boy who looked even younger echoed, “Isn’t it just! Forget copying it five times—my hand would start shaking after three! If I really had to copy it five times, I probably wouldn’t even be able to pick up my chopsticks tonight!”

“Exactly… Ah, the Crown Prince really has good fortune. By resting for a few days, he just happened to avoid all the days that little old man is teaching… Sigh, I’m almost tempted to learn from him and catch a cold too…”

When Jing Ya heard them mention the Crown Prince, she could not help turning to glance over.

With only one look, Jing Ya recognized the two people speaking. The boy sitting in front, about fourteen or fifteen years old, was the youngest son of the Prince of Zhennan. The younger one behind him was his study companion.

The Prince of Zhennan was a descendant of a founding meritorious official. Though he had illustrious military achievements, he had always been loyal. Even when officials submitted memorials warning that the Prince of Zhennan’s merits were so great they overshadowed the ruler, the current emperor’s trust in him had never diminished in the slightest.

Even in Jing Ya’s previous life, the late emperor had deliberately intended for the Prince of Zhennan to assist the new emperor, using military power to guard imperial authority and make those who thought the young emperor could be bullied restrain themselves. But it was far too unfortunate that the new emperor’s courage was simply too small. He was always suspicious that the Prince of Zhennan wanted to rebel. Whenever he discussed matters with Jing Ya, two out of every three times, they were about how to get rid of the Prince of Zhennan.

Under the new emperor’s repeated probing, again and again, first by controlling his power, then by giving him empty titles to strip him of real authority, and finally by using the heir of the Prince of Zhennan’s residence as a hostage, the Prince of Zhennan was left utterly disheartened. In the end, he went straight over to the Grand Princess’s faction without ever looking back.

The heir of the Prince of Zhennan’s residence, who was deeply beloved by the Prince of Zhennan, was none other than the one who had just mentioned the young Crown Prince.

The father was in the southern border, while the son remained in the capital. This could also be considered a rein that the current emperor had placed around the Prince of Zhennan.

Fortunately, the emperor had done it openly, and the Prince of Zhennan himself understood it clearly as well. Since both sides accepted it willingly, it could not really be considered anything improper.

Jing Ya withdrew her gaze, sat properly again, and began tidying the books on her desk. The Princess Royal turned around to look at Jing Ya and asked, “Are you going back?”

“I am. Is the Princess Royal not going back?”

The Princess Royal said, “I’m not going back. I need to go show some concern for that nephew of mine who caught a cold. You can have lunch by yourself first. There’s no need to wait for me.”

A ripple rose faintly in Jing Ya’s heart, but her face still showed nothing. She remained as calm and indifferent as before, as though she did not care very much. She only lowered her head slightly and answered, “Yes.”

The Princess Royal glanced at Jing Ya, who was pretending to be undisturbed, and laughed silently in her heart. Naturally, she knew that after what had happened in their previous life, the young Crown Prince was now an existence Jing Ya hated beyond measure.

However, for the time being, she had no intention of letting Jing Ya and the young Crown Prince meet.

Aside from fearing that Jing Ya might lose control on impulse and slaughter that good nephew of hers, she was also worried that this little mouse might quietly slip away from her again.

Even if the Princess Royal did nothing else right now, she still had to keep firm hold of this little mouse.

Drawing back her thoughts, the Princess Royal placed a stack of paper on Jing Ya’s desk. Jing Ya looked at the paper, then looked at the Princess Royal and asked, “Princess Royal… what is the meaning of this?”

The Princess Royal said, “Today, you failed to answer the question and dragged me into being punished too. Tell me, what do you think this means?”

Jing Ya understood completely. So the bottom of the pit had been waiting for her here.

She rubbed her fingertips together, picked up the stack of copying paper, and pinched it. It was quite thick. If she had to fill this entire stack, then her hand would probably be nearly ruined.

The Princess Royal said, “If there isn’t enough paper, take more. In short, before the xu hour, after you finish writing, hand it in for me as well. I won’t make another trip for this.”

It seemed Jing Ya had no choice but to write it…

Jing Ya sighed soundlessly, set the stack of paper down, and lowered her head in acceptance. “Yes.”

Only after hearing Jing Ya’s response did the Princess Royal nod in satisfaction. She stood and walked out of Lingyun Pavilion.

Only after Jing Ya watched the Princess Royal’s figure disappear did she lower her head and flip through that stack of paper again, thinking about how she should copy out the Princess Royal’s share of the assignment.

The handwriting definitely had to be changed. But the Princess Royal’s handwriting…

Jing Ya flipped to the very end of the stack. When her gaze landed there, the movement of turning the paper abruptly paused. After pausing for a brief instant, Jing Ya moved her fingers and pulled out the manuscript attached to the very back of the stack.

The Princess Royal truly was thoughtful…

Jing Ya held that manuscript and looked at the familiar handwriting filling the page. She could not help sighing again in her heart.

She had never known that the Princess Royal could have such a considerate side too.

After carefully looking over that manuscript from top to bottom, Jing Ya placed it back where it had been, pressed it on top of the stack of paper, then set the whole stack neatly atop her books. Only then was she done.

Taking the things with her, Jing Ya gave a slight nod to the few people looking her way. Neither warm nor cold, without any extra expression on her face, she left Lingyun Pavilion.

Those people who had been watching Jing Ya nodded back at her, then watched her leave.

Only after she was gone did they withdraw their gazes and look at one another. Each of them quietly tucked their thoughts back into their hearts, without speaking much.

After all, they were not children of ordinary households. Each had their own shrewdness, whether deep or shallow.

The matter of Prime Minister Jing’s only daughter becoming the Princess Royal’s study companion had long since spread through the capital. There were all sorts of guesses, merely kept beneath the surface and not brought out into the open.

But now that Jing Ya was right beside them, they truly could not help paying attention.

After all, if someone said Jing Ya’s every action did not represent the Jing family at all, no one would believe it, nor would it be possible to believe.

Then, as long as Jing Ya showed even the slightest hint of representing the Jing family’s intentions, they could not afford not to care.

But after observing until now, they felt that the relationship between the Princess Royal and Jing Ya did not seem as close as the rumors said…

Yet they had clearly heard that the imperial decree granting Jing Ya the position of the Princess Royal’s study companion stated outright that Jing Ya was deeply beloved by the Princess Royal, and that the emperor had therefore agreed to the Princess Royal’s request and granted Jing Ya as her study companion.

But looking at the current situation, it did not seem to be as the imperial decree had said…

Those people were puzzled, but Jing Ya did not care. After eating lunch alone, she did not even rest. She immediately began studying the Princess Royal’s manuscript, stroke by stroke, learning the Princess Royal’s handwriting.

After spending most of the afternoon, Jing Ya finally learned about seventy to eighty percent of the Princess Royal’s handwriting. Then she spread out the stack of paper the Princess Royal had given her and first silently wrote out from memory the assignment the old gentleman had set for the Princess Royal.

Fortunately, Jing Ya remembered all the contents, saving herself the trouble of having to flip through the books page by page.

Her brush moved extremely quickly, yet each stroke still had to look like the Princess Royal’s handwriting. Jing Ya held her arm up for half the day. By the time she finished copying the Princess Royal’s two assigned texts five times each, it was already close to the xu hour.

With no other choice, Jing Ya could only tidy up the Princess Royal’s share first and go to Lingyun Pavilion to hand it in.

Fortunately, that old gentleman had not personally come to collect the assignments. There was only one teaching assistant, who was often in the palace school. Jing Ya handed over the completed stack. The assistant looked at it and, seeing that there was only one set, did not ask further. He only nodded and said, “The other set may be handed in before the chen hour tomorrow.”

Jing Ya nodded in acceptance. “Many thanks.”

The assistant repeatedly said he did not dare. “Miss Jing is too polite.”

Even if he was a teaching assistant in the palace school, he could not forget his own status, nor could he forget the status of this group of students who attended the palace school.

After handing in the Princess Royal’s share, Jing Ya immediately hurried back to write her own.

But several times after she put brush to paper, during a momentary lapse of attention, she would end up writing her original characters in the Princess Royal’s style. She had no choice but to be careful, then even more careful, forcing herself to forget the Princess Royal’s handwriting she had just learned and slowly write her own characters again.

With such delays, this share was not much faster than when she had written the assignment for the Princess Royal earlier.

The Princess Royal was kept until after dinner before returning. The very first thing she asked about upon coming back was Jing Ya.

“She still hasn’t eaten dinner?”

“Yes. Miss Jing has been writing in her room the whole time and would not let anyone go in to disturb her. We went to ask once, but Miss Jing only said through the door that she was not hungry…”

The Princess Royal lifted her brow.

Was she angry?

She should not be, right…

According to the Princess Royal’s understanding of that little mouse, this level of thing alone should not be enough to make the little mouse angry.

However, not eating…