A Rebirth: Joined As One - Chapter 12

Jing Ya gripped the brush tightly. In truth, her entire right hand had already gone completely numb. The only reason she could keep writing was because she was holding one nerve taut.

She was very certain that if she stopped midway, then later she would definitely no longer have the strength to pick up the brush again.

So even though she had already lost all feeling, Jing Ya kept writing with all her might. Even when a palace attendant came to ask whether she wanted dinner, she answered while continuing to write.

However, just as Jing Ya was holding on with that single breath and was about to finish the second copy, the door was suddenly pushed open.

Startled, Jing Ya’s hand paused. A blot of ink instantly spread across the page, and the sheet she had been about to finish was ruined.

Jing Ya lowered her head and looked at the blot of ink on the paper. “…”

The Princess Royal entered from the doorway and said loudly, “What, are you trying to go on a hunger strike against me?”

Jing Ya calmly set down the brush and looked at the Princess Royal walking toward her. She tried and tried again, and finally managed to maintain the faint expression on her face.

The Princess Royal did not stop until she reached the desk. Looking at Jing Ya, she asked, “Why didn’t you eat dinner?”

Jing Ya answered calmly, “My assignment is not finished yet.”

“Would it be too late to do it after dinner?”

“It is already late.” Jing Ya smiled.

Only then did the Princess Royal remember that it was already long past the xu hour, past the time that old gentleman had set for handing in the assignments.

After glancing at Jing Ya, the Princess Royal raised a hand and touched her nose. She looked away and said, “Late is late. If you hand it in tomorrow, he will not refuse to accept it. So what if you eat dinner first and write afterward?”

Jing Ya lowered her head and rubbed her right wrist, ignoring this particular remark from the Princess Royal.

The Princess Royal then consciously picked up the stack of pages Jing Ya had already written and asked, “How much have you finished? How many copies are left?”

Jing Ya replied, “Three copies are left.”

“That many?”

“Out of ten copies, only three are left. How can that be considered many?”

Hearing this, the Princess Royal shifted the papers slightly and looked toward Jing Ya. Jing Ya remained calm and composed, without the slightest trace of anger visible.

But not being able to see it was one thing. The Princess Royal knew Jing Ya’s temper. No matter how great Jing Ya’s anger was, it would only burn inside her own heart. She would absolutely never let anyone see it.

In the past, what the Princess Royal had found most irritating about Jing Ya was precisely this point. But looking at it now, it did not seem quite so hateful.

At the very least, it was much more adorable than being spoiled and willful.

Still, the Princess Royal truly had teased Jing Ya a little too much over these past two days. She ought to restrain herself for the time being. Otherwise, with this little mouse’s cleverness, Jing Ya would sooner or later discover that the Princess Royal was hiding something from her…

Besides, she had never been someone who pushed the fault of her own defeats onto others.

If she lost, then it was her own mistake. It meant she had not planned well enough.

The fact that Jing Ya could beat her was something she actually admired.

Moreover, Jing Ya also had the identity of the Prime Minister’s only daughter. No matter what, the Princess Royal could not go too far. What was more, she still intended to bring Jing Ya and the Jing family under her own use…

After “reflecting” on herself, the Princess Royal set down the stack of pages Jing Ya had already written and said, “You go eat dinner first. I will write for you.”

“What?” Jing Ya was somewhat astonished.

The Princess Royal walked around the desk, pulled Jing Ya up from the chair, and pushed her forward two steps. “Go eat dinner. I will not repeat myself a third time.”

Jing Ya turned her head and saw the Princess Royal sit down in the chair, spread out the paper, pick up the brush Jing Ya had just used, dip it in ink as though she truly knew what she was doing, and begin writing directly. Her brush moved smoothly, and every character was familiar to her.

This morning, she had indeed been messing with Jing Ya on purpose…

Jing Ya pressed her lips together and stopped looking at the Princess Royal. She let her write, while she herself walked over and sat at the nearby round table where the palace attendants had already laid out dinner, then began eating.

Only after this very difficult dinner was finished did Jing Ya look toward the Princess Royal, who was still writing with the brush in hand.

The bright candlelight covered the Princess Royal’s face with a layer of warm yellow, reducing a few degrees of her sharpness and giving her the faintest appearance of approachability.

But that appearance was nothing more than an illusion…

One slap, one sweet date. The punishment was hers, and the reward was hers too. Now, merely to tease Jing Ya a little, the Princess Royal had already come up with so many methods. From this tiny glimpse, one could already see a hint of the future Grand Princess’s tactics.

Jing Ya held her teacup and took a sip before setting it down and walking toward the desk.

“Where has the Princess Royal written up to?”

“More than half.” The Princess Royal did not even lift her head, her hand still moving as swiftly as flying.

That fast?

Jing Ya looked over with a bit of curiosity, only to discover that the “more than half” the Princess Royal spoke of meant more than half of the first copy, and even that half was not yet finished.

Who knew where the Princess Royal had written all those words when she was writing so quickly?

But Jing Ya did not tell the Princess Royal to stop. She only let the Princess Royal keep writing there. She also wanted to see just how sweet this date the Princess Royal had given her could be.

The Princess Royal’s brush continued without stopping, moving quickly across the page. The characters were still beautiful, but they were not Jing Ya’s characters.

Using the fastest time possible to finish one copy, the Princess Royal set down the brush and wiped her hands with a handkerchief. This clearly meant she was not preparing to continue writing.

Jing Ya moved her brows slightly and asked, “Is the Princess Royal not writing anymore?”

The Princess Royal casually set down the handkerchief, stood, looked at Jing Ya, and said, “I wrote in order to free up time for you to eat dinner. Now that you have eaten, naturally, you should continue writing your own assignment yourself.”

For a moment, Jing Ya actually had nothing to say in response.

And the Princess Royal took advantage of that pause while Jing Ya had yet to think of a reply. Very naturally, she walked past Jing Ya and returned to her own side.

Jing Ya could only sit back down in the chair, gather up the copy the Princess Royal had written for her and set it aside, then spread out the paper again and continue writing.

However, because she had been able to rest for a short while just now, writing now no longer felt quite so numb.

Finally, Jing Ya managed to finish the remaining two copies before the zi hour.

After finishing, Jing Ya stacked the pages together, pressed a book on top of them, then rose to wash up and rest. The first day had meant waking early; tonight had become sleeping late. The Princess Royal truly knew how to torment her in every possible way.

Still, there was one good thing about the Princess Royal.

She never teased Jing Ya twice over the same matter.

The night passed. The next morning, after Jing Ya rose and washed up, she went over to eat breakfast with the Princess Royal again. After the two finished breakfast, they went to Lingyun Pavilion together.

Jing Ya handed in the five copies she had finished last night, only to discover that she was not the only one handing it in this morning.

At the chen hour, that old gentleman entered the classroom without being off by even a moment.

The people sitting below were uneasy, all thinking he would bring up the assignments. But the old gentleman simply refused to mention the matter of having reviewed them. After slowly looking through the assignments that had only just been handed in that morning, he still said nothing. Instead, he directly began the lesson.

Then, after the lesson ended, just as everyone was about to relax, the old gentleman suddenly stroked the tuft of grizzled beard on his chin and spoke.

“I have already looked over all of yesterday’s assignments. Many were missing, but they were all fully made up this morning. Not bad.”

“However, when it comes to the handwriting in your assignments, between every two or three sets, quite a few seem rather similar.”

The moment the old gentleman said this, everyone below immediately grew nervous.