Five Years To Ascend The Throne, Three Years Of Mock Simulations - Chapter 8

But she still had to have some backbone.

Ming Tan was lazy and short on ambition. She had originally planned to muddle through her days in the Upper Study and leave it at that, but then a Lin Shurong, talented and beautiful in equal measure, had dropped from the heavens and effortlessly destroyed her long-planned great cause of eating, lazing around, and waiting to die.

In the eyes of Ming Salted Fish, the hatred value of this was practically no less than that of a class enemy.

…Not to mention this enemy was also ruthless and insisted on forcing her to study, which only added another crime on top.

The events recorded in the Classic Spring and Autumn Annals were major affairs that had occurred among various states in ancient times. Although the word count was sparse, “almost every sentence secretly contained praise or criticism.” Later generations called this the “Spring and Autumn writing style,” and this was precisely what it referred to.

In order to make reading and understanding it easier, when students specialized in Spring and Autumn Annals, they would also study the “Three Commentaries on Spring and Autumn,” which supplemented and explained it: Zuo Tradition, Gongyang Tradition, and Guliang Tradition.

With Teacher Qin’s permission, Lin Shurong created a teaching outline for Ming Tan that was appropriately detailed and perfectly designed to take a person’s life. She also volunteered to strictly supervise the latter’s daily coursework.

After Ming Tan finished the Four Books lessons taught in the morning, Lin Shurong would take her somewhere else: sometimes a corner of the Upper Study, sometimes another empty palace chamber, and sometimes even the lakeside pavilion in the imperial garden…

Then, with a smile, she would take out that thick copy of Zuo Tradition from her book chest and begin giving the unlucky Ninth Princess her early-stage lectures amid the gentle spring scenery.

Ming Tan: “…”

There is beautiful scenery, but I won’t admire it. I’ll just study. Mm, exactly, I’ll study.

Zuo Tradition was a chronological prose history book. At first glance, it seemed interesting, but when explained in detail, it was all dry principles of rites and righteousness. It was so dull one could not even nap in peace.

After several days of life in deep water and scorching fire, Ming Tan finally could not endure it anymore and began thinking of every possible way to cause trouble for Lin Shurong.

At first, she broke every brush on the desk—but when Lin Shurong, smiling, took out a handful of various small-script, medium-script, and large-script brushes from her book chest, Ming Tan could only obediently give up and roll a despairing eye at her.

Later, she also tried tearing up exercises, throwing away textbooks, splashing ink on Lin Shurong’s skirt, and other such tricks. But all of them were casually resolved by the latter one by one. Lin Shurong even took the opportunity to assign Ming Tan a massive pile of after-class homework, threatening that if she did not write it, she would immediately go to Teacher Qin and speak ill of her.

Ming Tan was furious, but she was also completely helpless against Lin Shurong.

The emperor had personally ordered the Ninth Princess to enter the Upper Study early. Yet if she did not strive to improve, failed to get along with her study companion, and even caused trouble before the teacher, would that not be slapping her own father in the face?

And so, the Ninth Princess, who had always been arrogant and domineering, could only swallow her anger. While burning the midnight oil in Kunning Palace, she cursed under her breath and wished that Lin Shurong’s book chest would be eaten through by ants tomorrow.

…

The next day.

Ming Tan had stayed up late again last night, writing until her hand went numb. When Jinkui woke her in the morning, she truly wished she could sleep forever on the bed and pretend to be a dried salted fish without any dreams.

“Your Highness, Your Highness?”

Looking at the little girl who had wrapped herself into a caterpillar, Jinkui could not help laughing softly. She softened her tone and called, “The hour has come. It is time for you to get up.”

“…”

Ming Tan shrank inside the quilt and muttered quietly, “Why can’t the Upper Study reform its system again? Go to school for five days, then rest for two. Wouldn’t that be better for children’s physical and mental health?”

She spoke in a muddled murmur. Jinkui vaguely understood the gist and knew the princess was complaining again that there were too many school days. She could only smile and comfort her. “The Upper Study has a day off every ten days. That is already much easier than the students outside at the Imperial Academy… Your Highness, don’t complain anymore. Hurry and get up. Her Majesty the Empress seems to have something to say to you.”

The Imperial Academy was Tiancheng’s highest institution of learning. Those it trained were all future pillars of the court and the country, and they only had one day off on the first and fifteenth of every month.

Beauty came from comparison. While sympathizing with ancient university students, Ming Tan climbed up like a wandering ghost and let Jinkui attend to her all the way to the dining table.

The empress had already had breakfast laid out early. Seeing her daughter walk over with drooping eyelids, swaying every few steps, she reached out, pulled her to her side, curled her knuckles, and tapped Ming Tan on the head. “What time did you rest last night?”

Ming Tan was so sleepy her voice came out muffled. “Two quarters into the chou hour, I think.”

—She actually had the heart to let an eight-year-old child! Sleep at one-thirty in the morning! Lin Shurong, you have no heart!

The empress sighed, pushed her into her seat, and said with heartache, “How about… Mother Empress speaks to your father emperor and asks him to reduce some of your Upper Study assignments?”

Ming Tan, who was rubbing her eyes and yawning, froze. She lowered her hand and shook her head at the empress with an extremely serious face. “In ancient times, Duke Ping of Jin wished to study at seventy and read by candlelight at night; there was also Kuang Heng, who chiseled through a wall to borrow his neighbor’s light… Compared with these predecessors, Tan’er has merely stayed up for a few nights. How would I dare say I am tired?”

“But if you ruin your health by staying up…”

“Mother Empress, don’t worry. Tan’er’s study companion is someone who knows proper limits.” Ming Tan curled her lips and said unwillingly, “Last night’s situation was, after all, very rare. Although that Lin Shurong loves assigning Tan’er coursework, it usually is not too much… On normal days, I can finish all of it before around the hai hour.”

If Teacher Lin had not tested her recitation yesterday, and Ming Tan had not gotten stuck five lines in a row, she would not have been punished so miserably…

—Wait, no! Her thoughts were becoming improper. How could she be finding excuses for that great demon king Lin Shurong!

Ming Tan had only just fiercely “pah”-ed at herself several times in her heart when she heard the empress say from the side, “Speaking of that study companion of yours… Eunuch Sheng by His Majesty’s side came earlier and said Chancellor Lin requested leave for Miss Lin last night. She will not come accompany you in your studies today.”

Hm? Miss Lin requested leave?

Whoa!

Good luck has come, that good luck has come!

Ming Tan’s eyes lit up. She was so wildly delighted she nearly sprang out of her chair on the spot. “There’s actually such a good thing—”

In that case, did that mean there would be no homework today, and she also would not have to be pressed by Lin Shurong into overtime tutoring? Yay!

Chancellor Lin, forever a god!

The empress looked helplessly at her daughter’s utterly childish appearance and shook her head with a faint smile.

Even if she quoted classics and praised studious ancient people in every possible way… the moment she heard she did not need to do homework, she still bounced three feet high all the same.

In the end, she was still just a little girl.

The days without Lin Shurong could be summed up by Ming Tan in four words: exceptionally comfortable.

Teacher Qin’s lesson progress was still on The Analects. Ming Tan had knowledge from her previous life as a foundation, and with Lin Shurong’s guidance on top of that, learning it was almost effortless. It was simply not on the same level as Spring and Autumn Annals.

As for the siblings Ming Xuan and Ming Xiao, ever since she had dealt with them once, they had restrained themselves somewhat and had not dared come before Ming Tan again to seek a scolding. Meanwhile, the Fifth Prince Ming Yao, born of Noble Consort Wan, was as gentle and tactful as his mother consort. Today, he had even specially asked his study companion to grind a block of ink for Ming Tan.

Aside from these three people…

After Ming Tan finished the final stroke, she tossed the wolf-hair brush onto the rack, turned her head slightly, and glanced toward the most inconspicuous corner of the classroom.

There sat a slender young girl quietly.

—This person was the Third Princess, Ming Zhao, born of Noble Lady Ying.

The court and the inner palace used the palace walls as a mirror, reflecting each other. Their strict systems and hierarchies were displayed on their bodies to the fullest extent. Even the principles of the strong devouring the weak and lifting up the high while trampling the low… were almost exactly the same.

In the court, there were political struggles; in the inner palace, there were palace struggles. There were victors like Chancellor Lin, and there were also losers like the Third Princess Ming Zhao, who had possessed nothing from the very beginning.

Her mother consort, Noble Lady Ying, was the daughter of an assistant manager of the Taipu Temple horse farm. Her birth was lowly, yet unfortunately, she happened to have a beautiful face that brought disaster. Ever since entering the palace, she had suffered cold treatment and oppression.

Although her daughter Ming Zhao was honored as a princess, because of Noble Lady Ying, she had grown up without enough food or warm clothing. She was harshly treated by servants, and had not even seen her father emperor more than a few times.

Thus, even though Ming Zhao was already ten years old and had entered the Upper Study, no one had managed to remember—

Her Highness the Third Princess’s study companion had still not been chosen to this day.

“…”

Ming Tan withdrew her gaze and lowered her eyes.

Her mother consort’s rank was too low, and she herself was not favored by their father emperor… Life in the palace for this third imperial sister of hers had perhaps always been extremely difficult.

…

After school, Ming Tan’s eyes darted around. She deliberately packed her things more slowly, waiting until the classroom was completely empty before finally grabbing her book chest and just happening to block Teacher Qin at the door of the Upper Study.

“Teacher, please stay.” She shouted with full confidence, “I need to properly reason with you!”

Teacher Qin stopped. A barely perceptible smile actually appeared on his usually stern face. He raised a hand and stroked his clear beard. “What matter does the Ninth Princess have?”

“Teacher, don’t pretend not to know!”

Ming Tan puffed out her cheeks, looking exactly like a pufferfish that had become a spirit. With her hands tucked into her sleeves, she complained loudly to Teacher Qin. “The Classic Spring and Autumn Annals is deep and unfathomable, obscure and difficult to understand, and it even requires the ‘Three Commentaries’ as support in order to study it—specializing in one Classic feels like specializing in three Classics. It is truly unsuitable for a wooden head like mine!”

“Besides, I am only eight years old this year, still in the enlightenment stage. How could I learn such profound texts? …May Teacher please think it over more and switch me to an easier Classic to specialize in!”

After patiently listening to Ming Tan’s long-winded complaint, Teacher Qin did not grow angry. Instead, he clasped both hands behind his back, leisurely glanced at her, and abruptly spoke in a way that had nothing to do with her request.

“In Zuo Tradition, the tenth year of Duke Zhao, what did Yan Zi say to Huan Zi?”

Ming Tan froze. Before her brain could react, her mouth answered by reflex, “All beings with blood and qi must have a heart that contends…”

“Mm, not bad. It is precisely this line.”

Teacher Qin nodded in satisfaction, stepped sideways over the threshold, and laughed loudly. “The Ninth Princess truly is a talent who can remember after one look. Aren’t you learning quite well!”

“…” Ming Tan’s eyes widened. “?!”

Damn it! She had been tricked!

She stood in place, staring blankly as Teacher Qin’s figure quickly disappeared outside the hall. The veins on her forehead throbbed, and her expression gradually twisted.

Lin—Shu—rong—!

Ming Tan clenched her fists and silently cursed in her heart.

It was all because of her recitation checks!

But things had already reached this point. Ming Tan had missed her final chance to rebuild her great cause of slacking off. She could only bottle up a bellyful of anger and walk dejectedly out of the hall.

Below the long steps of the Upper Study was an exceptionally elegant courtyard. Pines, cypresses, bamboo groves, and other evergreen plants grew within it, along with a few jade-green shrubs half as tall as a person. It carried quite the air of a gentleman’s refinement.

Ming Tan’s face was written all over with gloom. Dragging her book chest, she was just about to kick an eyesore pebble by her foot far away when she suddenly heard a faint sound of crying.

She immediately stopped in place and pricked up her ears to listen carefully—

Sure enough, another voice soon came from behind the dense cypress grove, carrying thick malice as it mocked wantonly, “…Your mother consort, Noble Lady Ying, is merely the daughter of an assistant manager at the horse farm! From the very roots of her family, they were lowly servants who waited on beasts. Did she really think that once she entered the palace, she could fly onto the branch and become a phoenix? Bah!”

“No… You’re not allowed to speak of my mother consort like that…”

“Not allowed? Hmph, what is there that I, the dignified Fourth Princess, cannot do? Ming Zhao, you really are just like your mother consort. Both of you are useless things that can’t be propped up against a wall!”

…Ming Zhao?

The person Ming Xiao was cursing so wantonly was actually their third imperial sister?

Hearing this, Ming Tan raised her brows slightly. Her lips lifted, revealing an ice-cold smile.

She casually threw down her book chest. Evil courage surged up from her guts. She grabbed the cumbersome hem of her skirt in one hand, lifted her foot, and charged toward the direction of the voices!

The sudden sound of footsteps startled both people behind the trees.

Ming Xiao had her back to the grove and had not yet turned around. From the corner of her eye, she had only just glimpsed a flash of snow-white skirt gauze when the newcomer kicked her straight into the nearby shrubbery, branches crisscrossing everywhere!

“Aaaaaah!”

With a loud crash, Ming Xiao was caught completely off guard. Her entire body fell backward, and she landed flat on her back, seeing stars. All she knew was to wave her hands wildly and scream. For a long while, she could not even crawl up.

Ming Tan withdrew her leg, let down her skirt, and with one hand hauled up Ming Zhao, who had been half-kneeling on the ground and was already staring dumbly. With the other hand, she lifted her fingertips and pointed at Ming Xiao, who was still rolling on the ground and crying out in pain. Raising her chin, she stood there leisurely and began cursing.

“Ming Xiao! You are so bold! Not only do you disrespect your elders and insult Noble Lady Ying, you even dare offend a superior from below and openly bully Third Imperial Sister here?”

Ming Xiao screamed again and again in the shrubs, though who knew whether it was from pain or fright. How could she still have the energy to compete with Ming Tan in a war of words?

The latter opened fire like a string of firecrackers and scolded to her heart’s content. Not only did she have no intention of pulling Ming Xiao up, she even deliberately dragged out her voice, making herself as infuriating as possible, and took advantage of the moment to kick her while she was down.

“I never expected you to be someone so ignorant of rites and righteousness! In my view, calling you a beast last time was too light. It should be changed to—worse than a beast!”