Without hearing her answer, Fourth Master Jiang smiled faintly, "I told you to pretend to be dumb so that you won't be discovered. Are you pretending to be dumb now? Anyway, let's go to the academy."

…

After entering Bailu Academy, Jiang Rao took every step with extraordinarily freshness.

It’s not because I feel new about entering the academy. But it’s because she is now her father’s adopted son.

Jiang Rao couldn't help but imitate Jiang Ping's gait. After a short while, she looked 70% similar to him, with clear and vigorous steps.

It was just the difference of two or three points, but it made Jiang Ping sigh, "Master... Master, your arm swinging posture is not right, just walk as you normally do. The Fourth Master said that you are weak, so it's okay to walk with smaller steps."

Jiang Rao hung her head.

The arm swing posture is wrong...

She simply put her hands behind her back and walked forward with her round belly stuffed with cloth.

Jiang Jinxing was taken by Mr. Jiang Si to see Yan Nanxun. Not long after, Yan Nanxun sent a servant to take Jiang Rao and Jiang Ping to visit the academy.

The scenery inside the academy is different from that outside. There are no roses and crabapples dotted on the walls, only the rustling bamboo forest.

The green is lush but monotonous, and there are no other colors.

It is indeed a good place to study.

When she thought that it was she who sent Rong Ting to study here, the corners of her lips curled up slightly with a hint of pride.

Curious about where Rong Ting was, Jiang Rao picked up a small wooden stick. Since he was a man now, he didn't need to worry too much about his manners. Jiang Rao squatted and wrote a few words on the ground, "Take me to see His Majesty the Ninth Prince."

Jiang Ping thought to himself that if the Fourth Master knew that you were here to see the Ninth Prince, he would probably regret spending a whole hour putting makeup on you.

…

Si time, after class.

The grandson of Lord Liu and the eldest son of Prime Minister Xie still looked as if they couldn't stand Rong Ting.

The class just now was not Yan Nanxun's class, but the classics taught by another old Confucian scholar who had some conflicts with Yan Nanxun.

There was no chance that the situation like last time where Fourth Master Jiang showed up unexpectedly would happen again. Liu Heguang and Xie Tongyan did not restrain themselves at all. When they came out of the academy, they deliberately bumped into Rong Ting's wheelchair.

But he uttered "Ouch" first.

"You always walk in the middle of the road, blocking other people's way. Don't you have legs? Can't you just walk to the side?"

"I forgot. He is indeed disabled. Both of his legs are useless. He will have to miss the horseback archery class tomorrow."

Rong Ting watched coldly, his face calm,

Anger does not scare.

…

Just then the third prince passed by.

But he glanced at Rong Ting and Liu Xie, hesitated for a moment, and walked away.

Even if he wanted to be on good terms with Rong Ting, Prime Minister Xie and Elder Liu were people he could not afford to offend.

By comparing the two, he knew clearly which side the scale was tilted towards and whether he should help or not.

Liu and Xie thought that the Third Prince would stay to help Rong Ting, but when they saw him leaving in a hurry, as if he was afraid of being involved, they sneered and walked away.

From a distance, one could still hear their sarcastic laughter.

Rong Ting raised his eyes and glanced in the direction where they disappeared, just for a glance.

Many figures similar to Liu Xie flashed before his eyes.

If there were someone like the third prince.

Each has its own filth and ugliness.

His fingers gripping the wheelchair were so tense that they turned white, and a deep disgust and irritation silently climbed up the corners of his delicate and beautiful eyes.

The heart becomes colder and harder.

Until his eyes fell on the moon-white jade ring hanging around his waist, he finally chose to remain silent.

…

During lunch, other students formed their own small circles, gathered in pairs or groups of two or three, but Rong Ting seemed to be deliberately separated, and everyone avoided him as if he were the plague.

He sat alone at the table in the corner, the meal in front of him still the same as a few days ago, with watery soup and no vegetables but no meat.

Rong Ting knew clearly what was going on.

On the day Xu Shanqing came to see the Seventeenth Prince, in order to let people know that he treated his grandsons equally, he pretended to come and take a look at him.

From that day on, the atmosphere in the academy changed.

From his diet and daily life to the two people Liu and Xie who often came to trouble him.

Everything is not going as planned.

Maybe the old fox didn't want him to stay in Bailu Academy anymore.

But life now is much better than when I was a child...

What's more, she had asked for his letter of recommendation from her father.

Even if life became as bad as it was when they were children, he would not let her down.

A familiar sound of footsteps was heard, and Rong Ting's expression changed slightly.

The young man raised his eyes, and they suddenly lit up.

He listened to the familiar footsteps and turned to look back.

But he saw a young master with a chubby figure and ordinary face looking at him.

There was a hint of disappointment on his face.

The footsteps are obviously the same.

The gloomy look gradually turned into displeasure.

…

But the young master quickened his pace and walked towards him. His face was ordinary, but his eyes were as bright as stars, making people unable to look away.

Not only are the footsteps similar, but even the eyes are very similar.

Rong Ting's displeasure almost reached its peak.

Similar to her...

He deserves it.

He moved his finger bones and had an urge to pinch the thin neck of the ugly monster in front of him.

Seeing that Rong Ting really didn't recognize her, the little girl smiled slightly with her ordinary, rough man's face.

Seeing that no one was paying attention to them, he said in a very low voice, "It's me."

Rong Ting was stunned.

Jiang Ping came back with food for Jiang Rao and called Jiang Rao, "Young Master."

Rong Ting frowned deeply.

Jiang Rao signaled Jiang Ping to put the meal down and asked Jiang Ping and Huai Qing to go downstairs to eat together.

Hearing the footsteps of other scholars behind her, she dared not speak.

He pulled Rong Ting's hand over, spread out his fingers, and wrote on his palm.

Fourth Master Jiang was considerate. In addition to her cheeks and neck, he also applied a special yellow mud on her wrists and the back of her hands. The mud had almost the same skin color as her face, a waxy yellow color as if she had been exposed to the sun for many hours.

But her fingertips and palms were white, and the cardamom on her nails had been washed clean, revealing its original bright pink color.

Jiang Rao wrote word by word on Rong Ting's palm.

"My dad helped me dress up as a man"

"I am now his sickly and mute adopted son."

"My name is Jiang Youfu"

Rong Ting suppressed the itch that spread from the palm of his hand to his heart and asked her, "Can't you speak?"

Jiang Rao nodded.

"Okay," he said.

Rong Ting withdrew his hand, his palm fell back under his sleeve, and clenched it tightly, as if to retain the warmth.

The gaze towards Jiang Rao became gentle, completely different from before.

It was as if it wasn’t him who had just called the person ugly in his mind.

Jiang Rao glanced at her own meal, then at Rong Ting's meal, feeling somewhat confused.

Anyway, she was a "boy" at the moment, so it was okay to pull Rong Ting's hand in public. Jiang Rao pulled Rong Ting's drooping hand up again and wrote a few words slowly, "Why do you eat so little?"

“That’s all the kitchen gave us.”

Rong Ting said calmly.

This time he did not take his hand back, but directly spread it on the table. He used to be a man of few words, but today he suddenly became talkative.

Contrary to his usual practice, he asked several questions in succession.

"How did you get into Bailu Academy?"

"Was he brought in by your father?"

"Where did you find men's clothes that fit you?"

After saying that, he waited for Jiang Rao to write on his hand.

Jiang Rao heard someone behind her and dared not speak. She could only hold his hand and write and draw tirelessly.

But after writing a few words on his palm, she refused.

If you keep going on, the food will get cold.

…

While eating, Jiang Rao stared at Rong Ting's meal and felt more and more that something was wrong.

Although the meals of the other scholars were not much better, at least they could fill their stomachs. It didn't look like what was given to him, and it was obviously not enough to eat.

She couldn't guess what happened for a moment, and she was afraid that if she held Rong Ting's hand and wrote or drew, it would delay his meal.

She frowned and put all the meat in her bowl into Rong Ting's bowl, intending to ask again later.

Halfway, the tip of the chopsticks met another pair of chopsticks that were picking up meat from her bowl.

When they looked up, their eyes met. Both of them were doing the same thing and were equally stunned.

Jiang Rao paused and looked at Rong Ting opposite her.

Unlike her bowl which had several pieces of meat, the soup in the bowl in front of him was so clear that you could see the bottom.

The only piece of meat he was going to give her was this.

The young man had a picturesque appearance, broad shoulders, and a body like a bamboo, both beautiful and heroic.

Jiang Rao's heart trembled inexplicably.