Qingchen felt a little embarrassed after she said it, and lowered her head, not knowing what to say.

Song Yue then said, "It's a good thing you're thin."

After a day of hustle and bustle, the capital city returned to tranquility, and the moonlight shone softly on the smooth streets.

The carriage wheels rolled over the stone slabs and soon arrived at Shen Qingchen's home.

She got off the bus carrying the food box and gave Song Yue a polite bow: "Thank you, teacher, for taking me home."

Song Yue also got out of the car and looked around her dilapidated residence in the night. "Is this the house you rented?"

"Yes. My home is rather simple... I'm afraid it's inconvenient to entertain you, teacher. Please forgive me." Her father was afraid of strangers, and Qingchen was also afraid that his unusual behavior would startle Song Yue.

He nodded. "It's alright, go in."

"Farewell, student. Take care, teacher."

Qingchen entered the house under Song Yue's gaze. In the moonlight, her silhouette was long and slender.

Only after the door was gently closed from the inside did the crimson figure step into the carriage and gradually disappear into the night.

At night, Shen Qingchen tossed and turned in bed, unable to fall asleep.

Beloved student, elder brother, beautiful as a flower… the teacher heard all of this clearly, and recalling these words, her face flushed again. She had no idea she could be so shameless.

Later, Qingchen thought of the person she had saved. He turned out to be a third-rank commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, the emperor's personal bodyguard and confidant, commanding tens of thousands of Embroidered Uniform Guards, holding a prestigious position and wielding great power.

When he was in so much pain while removing the arrow, he joked and comforted himself. After the arrowhead was removed, she could feel the sincerity in his thanks. But now he's sent someone to follow her, demanding a fabricated letter. She can't understand why.

He was strong and resolute, yet ruthless and gloomy, with cold eyes that made it impossible for anyone to fathom his inner thoughts.

On this day, a Hanlin Academy scribe, carrying a stack of examination papers, followed Song Yue to the hall and distributed them to the various officials, which were the policy questions they had submitted.

When Song Yue came to class, she seemed to still find the books too hot to handle, so she didn't bring them. Instead, she carried a potted plant at her waist. Shen Qingchen recognized it; it was the purple bamboo that she had broken before—now in a new celadon white plum blossom pot.

He held the small pot in his arms, which looked quite refreshing.

He placed the potted bamboo on the sunlit windowsill, ruffled the overlapping leaves, and then turned to look at them. Qingchen felt as if he was looking in her direction, and unconsciously shifted her gaze elsewhere.

At this moment, the attendant arrived and handed her a test paper. This test paper was not hers; the handwriting was standard official script, but the last character seemed to have broken free of its constraints, flying like a dragon and a phoenix, and the signature was Xu Silin.

Shen Qingchen couldn't help but glance at Xu Silin diagonally in front of her. He had also received his paper and was engrossed in studying it. It took him a while to move his gaze from one column to another, and he looked extremely focused. Qingchen thought the paper looked familiar; it seemed to be hers.

Did Teacher Song give their papers to each other in pairs so they could grade each other's papers?

If that's the case, I'm afraid Xu Silin will find a way to nitpick at her.

After the attendants finished distributing the papers and left, Song Yue said to everyone, "I have read your essays and shown them to the compilers. Their unanimous conclusion is that the best candidate in this essay competition is... Shen Qingchen."

Qingchen was still thinking about Xu Silin when she heard this and was stunned for a moment. She hadn't deliberately written down the political views that Song Yue had mentioned, but she didn't expect to still get first place.

Xu Silin looked up from her scroll, glanced back at her, and his expression was unreadable.

“However, you are the top student in the second division, which is your expected level.” Song Yue looked at her and said rather coldly, “In the future, you should not only maintain this level, but also strive to improve further.”

Shen Qingchen nodded in agreement.

After Song Yue sat down at the lecture table, he said, “While we should certainly take into account the opinions of the editors and compilers, I would also like to hear your thoughts. Now, let’s have a discussion in class, starting with Shen Qingchen’s group.”

"Together in class" means that they looked at each other's papers and then refuted each other's arguments.

Upon hearing this, Xu Silin immediately stood up without saying a word. "What I have in my hand is Shen Qingchen's policy proposal. One of the proposals is about whether grain should be supplied to the common people or the soldiers first during a famine. I think his suggestion is inappropriate..."

He then read her essay aloud, and after finishing, he began to state his own views: "Soldiers are also civilians. If they receive rations to fill their stomachs, they will not only not starve to death, but they can also fight on the battlefield. If it were not for these people to protect our Great Ming territory, the country would cease to exist, and how could the people live in peace and prosperity..."

Inside the solemn hall, he stood ramrod straight, scroll in hand. He first quoted the words of ancient sages, then discussed the realities of the current dynasty, speaking eloquently and logically. His face had lost its former roguish and playful appearance; now it was serious and earnest, with sharp features, and a strong sense of confidence mixed with a hint of unruliness in his eyes. If not told otherwise, one would not guess that he was the last in his class.

As he spoke, he would occasionally glance at Shen Qingchen, his gaze deep and unfathomable, unlike his sharp words.

Lin Mo was puzzled. This second-generation official of the Ming Dynasty had always disdained to study hard, being careless and cynical. Otherwise, with his talent, he would not have been last.

Why is this spoiled brat suddenly putting so much thought into countermeasures?

After Xu Silin finished speaking, Qingchen stood up, organized his thoughts, and calmly said, "Mencius said, 'Yu thought that if there were drowning people in the world, it would be because he himself was drowning; Ji thought that if there were starving people in the world, it would be because he himself was starving.' That's why they were so anxious. When people are hungry, they want to eat their fill, and they have no choice but to rebel. In this situation, the court has to defend against foreign enemies and quell internal strife, making it difficult to continue under attack from both sides. Under such circumstances..."

Sunlight streamed through the window, casting a slanted glow on her face. Her fair complexion was sharply defined, her features delicate and handsome. Each word flowed slowly from her lips, logical and well-reasoned, her voice, though soft, carried considerable weight.

As she spoke, Xu Silin frowned and quickly wrote something. After he finished writing, he stood up to speak again, but Lin Mo stood up and refuted Shen Qingchen's point of view.

Later, others also expressed their opinions, and Song Yue did not stop them. The one-on-one questioning gradually evolved into a debate between two opposing sides. Shen Qingchen and Xu Silin were unable to get a word in edgewise.

In the Ming Dynasty, it wasn't enough for civil officials to just be good writers; they also had to be eloquent. Song Yue brought court debates into the classroom, presumably to give them a taste of practical experience, which shows his dedication.

The class passed quickly. After class, Qingchen was still engrossed in organizing what everyone had said when someone suddenly knocked on her desk.

She looked up and met a pair of dark eyes. It was Xu Silin.

“The Ming Dynasty wasn’t just limited to those few disaster-stricken counties; it encompassed two capitals, thirteen provinces, nine prefectures, and countless other regions. Giving grain to the disaster victims could certainly feed a few counties, but giving it to the soldiers could protect an entire country. When the nest is overturned, no egg remains intact; if the skin is gone, what will the hair cling to? You are too soft-hearted. Sometimes, womanly compassion is not advisable. You should know how to make choices and how to cut your losses to save yourself.” He paused, then continued, “I have no objection to the other two strategies. Although they have minor flaws, they don’t detract from their overall merit. However, your calligraphy is truly quite mediocre.”

Qingchen listened to him in a daze. She thought he was unwilling to give up and wanted to argue again, and was about to say something when she saw him slam her exam paper onto the table, turn around and leave. His tall and slender figure quickly disappeared by the door; he spoke suddenly, and he left just as suddenly.

She looked down at her test paper and saw many small circles and annotations.

The small circles mark the well-written parts, while the small annotations explain the reasons for their shortcomings. The handwriting is neat, showing that he put a lot of effort into it. While others were debating, he was writing something; it turned out he was criticizing her policy proposal.

Shen Qingchen blinked involuntarily. The last-ranked student was given the first batch of assignments... It felt a little strange.

She put the test paper away with her books, planning to review it carefully when she got home that evening.

As Qingchen stepped out of the lecture hall, he saw a person standing with his hands behind his back in the corridor. A gentle breeze lifted his sleeves, casting a long, faint shadow on the ground.

She hesitated for a moment, then walked to his side, holding the book and looking up at him. "Teacher?"

"You're out."

"Is the teacher... waiting for me?"

"How did you feel about today's debate with Xu Silin?" His tone was indifferent, and his gaze was deep and unhurried.

“He spoke very well, with reason and evidence, and his arguments were clear and logical,” Shen Qingchen said honestly. “If I hadn’t been well prepared, I might not have been able to argue with him.”

Song Yue turned around, his gaze sweeping over her handsome face. "If you were to go to court in the future, would you still dare to argue with him like this?"

Xu Silin was the son of Grand Secretary Xu Yan, representing a power that almost no one in the court dared to challenge.

"Think about it carefully." Song Yue left without waiting for her reply.

Shen Qingchen looked at her teacher's retreating figure and asked herself a question.

Does she dare?

Shen Qian was promoted from a seventh-rank official in Shuntian Prefecture to a sixth-rank official in the Ministry of Justice.

The Lin family held a banquet at their residence. Shen Qian knew that Shen Qingchen was on leave and insisted that she attend, so she had no choice but to agree.

Upon arriving at the Lin family's gate, they found Shen Qian already waiting there. His face was full of joy, and he was wearing a new royal blue robe. Tall and elegant, he was dazzlingly handsome and gentle in the sunlight.

"Congratulations, Second Uncle. You look very energetic today," Shen Qingchen said.

He smiled, a faint wrinkle at the corner of his eye almost invisible. "People always feel better when something good happens. Come on in."

Shen Qingchen nodded, stepped inside, and seeing Shen Qian walking with her, she couldn't help but ask, "Isn't Second Uncle waiting for the other guests at the door?"

"I didn't invite any outsiders this time. I just wanted to have a lively time at home, relax a bit, and chat with you all about everyday things."

Shen Qian was easygoing and well-liked, with many friends and colleagues. Promotion banquets in the Ming Dynasty were traditionally social occasions, and there were rules about who to invite and who not to invite. If you didn't invite me today, I certainly wouldn't invite you next time, and relationships would fade over time. This time, however, Shen Qian didn't invite anyone, only his own family, which puzzled Shen Qingchen.

As he ascended the veranda, she asked, "Second Uncle is always seen as a considerate and hospitable person, so why this time..."

"I'm getting old, and it's tiring to always have to socialize like this. Besides, it's not a big deal. It would be noisy and chaotic with too many people, and I'm afraid you wouldn't be used to it."

Shen Qingchen disliked hearing him say he was old and said somewhat unhappily, "Second Uncle is here again." Besides, he wasn't really old; forty in modern times was the prime of a man's life.

He smiled and said, "I won't tell, I won't tell."

As the two were talking, they passed a small pavilion with a stilted roof.

On the round table in the pavilion sat a plate of plums and a pot of tea, and two people sat on a long bench. One of them was very beautiful, with an oval face, delicate cheeks and a small mouth, and bright almond-shaped eyes like ice carvings. She wore a primrose-colored narrow-sleeved gauze blouse with a belt, and a lotus-colored Xiangjiang long skirt. She was leaning against a pavilion pillar reading a book, smiling slightly as she read. Beside her, a maidservant was holding a basket of needles and thread, knitting and sewing.

The woman reading a book suddenly noticed the two people on the veranda. Her eyes flashed, and she carefully sized up Shen Qingchen from head to toe. Then, she walked towards them with a smile, "Brother-in-law, it's not that I don't entertain foreign guests today. May I ask who this young master is...?"

Shen Qian said, "My family is related to his family by kinship. He is my nephew, Shen Qingchen. He is currently a probationary official in the Hanlin Academy." After saying that, he turned to Qingchen and said, "She is your second aunt's cousin, the second daughter of the Marquis of Qing'an, named Xie Huiying."

Xie Huiying said, "So he is my cousin-in-law Lian Zong's nephew. I've heard of him before, but why have I never seen him before?"

"He wasn't there the two times you came, so you didn't meet."

Seeing that she was young, only sixteen or seventeen years old, but because she was Lin's cousin and of a higher generation than herself, Shen Qingchen thought for a moment and called out, "Little Aunt."

Xie Huiying gazed at Shen Qingchen's handsome face. She noticed his neatly trimmed sideburns, fair cheeks, and clear eyes. He wore a plain-colored robe that covered his slightly slender body, and his every move was refined and elegant, making people feel very comfortable.

Upon hearing another soft "Little Aunt," she couldn't help but laugh and said:

"I didn't mean to take advantage of you, but it sounds really nice to call you 'little aunt.' I like it."