Chapter 187 Making a Wedding Dress for Li Nanke
Xue Ting's face turned pale, and beads of sweat dripped down her forehead.
She couldn't even recite the first chapter of the Admonitions for Women!
Empress Xue frowned. "What are you standing there for? Hurry up and memorize it."
Xue Ting pouted and stammered as she spoke.
"Women are inherently inferior; three days after giving birth to a girl, she is placed under the bed and played with by tiles and bricks... placed under the bed... um, played with by tiles and bricks."
Hmm... to make bricks and tiles....."
She stammered and hesitated, racking her brains to think of what to say next. When she looked up, she saw Empress Xue frowning, glaring at her with a gloomy expression, looking at her with disappointment.
Xue Ting trembled with fright, her mind went completely blank, and she couldn't think of a single word.
Being so young, she burst into tears.
"Waaaah, Auntie, I... I forgot what happened next!"
Empress Xue was so angry that her lips trembled. She wished she could jump up, crack open Xue Ting's head, and pour all the "Admonitions for Women" directly into her brain.
She had already told her brother and sister-in-law about the upcoming exam on the "Admonitions for Women." That idiot, has she still not memorized it?
Now look what's happened! She's completely disgraced the Xue family!
Empress Xue's temples throbbed with pain, and she suppressed her anger, growling in a low voice.
"Shut up, stop crying, aren't you embarrassed enough?"
Xue Ting had never seen Empress Xue speak so sternly before. She was so frightened that her face turned pale, and she forced back her tears, only sniffling softly.
Consort Wang smiled and smoothed things over.
"Your Majesty, please calm down. Miss Xue must have been too nervous to remember that children are always a little nervous in such situations."
Empress Xue glanced at her unhappily and gritted her teeth.
"Is the Imperial Concubine implying that my Xue family's daughter is unsophisticated and inexperienced in grand occasions?"
Consort Wang gave an awkward smile.
"That's not what I meant. I misspoke."
Empress Xue snorted coldly, cursing Consort Wang inwardly: "You shameless crocodile, you're just wailing and pretending to be kind!"
However, he had to make excuses for Xue Ting.
"Alright, I know you were upset after being beaten today, and you were so nervous that you forgot for a moment. I'll let you off this time, but you're not allowed to write nonsense out of spite next time."
The hall was quiet. The little girls present were all clever and shrewd, and for a moment, their gazes toward Xue Ting were somewhat subtle.
This is a princess's companion selection; who would abandon the answers they already know to write and instead write random nonsense?
If you write something carelessly, there's only one reason: it's not that you forgot, it's that you simply don't know how!
It's unbelievable that the young lady from the prestigious Duke Xue's mansion, who is usually so arrogant that she seems to want to trample everyone under her feet, is actually quite incompetent.
The young girls, being too young to hide their feelings, looked at Xue Ting with a hint of disdain.
Xue Ting was greatly provoked and pointed at the group of girls, shrilly: "You are not allowed to look at me like that. My aunt is the Empress."
you......"
Empress Xue's expression changed drastically. Fearing that she might say something dissenting, she raised her hand and slapped her.
"Enough!"
Xue Ting was knocked to the ground by the slap, and five bright red finger marks instantly appeared on her fair face.
She cried uncontrollably, "Aunt, don't you love Ting'er anymore?"
Empress Xue was so angry that her chest trembled. "Where did all the manners you learned go? Guards, take her away and let her calm down."
"aunt!"
The palace maids stepped forward and dragged and carried the crying Xue Ting out of the room.
The hall quieted down, and Empress Xue took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down.
wrong!
She clearly had Xue Shu's answer sheet replaced, but Xue Shu's paper tube still contains her own writing. So where did the copy of the "Admonitions for Women" that she ordered someone to transcribe go?
Could it be...?
Empress Xue disregarded her decorum and personally rose to open Li Nanke's paper tube.
Take out two pieces of paper, which are filled with the contents of the first volume of the Admonitions for Women.
The font is the prescribed small regular script with delicate and neat characters.
After Empress Xue saw the words clearly, her pupils contracted slightly, and her hand holding the paper tightened instantly, with the veins on the back of her hand bulging slightly.
This is a copy of the "Admonitions for Women" that she ordered someone to transcribe. She clearly had it placed in Xue Ting's paper tube, so how did it end up belonging to Li Nanke?
Who did this?
Empress Xue held the paper tightly, her expression constantly shifting.
Consort Wang peeked out and looked surprised.
"Her calligraphy is so neat and beautiful; no wonder Miss Li was ranked first by the lecturers."
Empress Xue snapped out of her daze, her hand gripping the paper tightened slightly, and the next moment she slammed the paper heavily to the ground.
"Li Nanke, did you really write this 'Admonitions for Women'?"
Li Nanke stepped forward, picked up the paper from the ground, glanced at it, and looked surprised.
This is not the "Admonitions for Women" written by Wang Tongyun at all!
The answer sheet in her paper tube had been switched!
But who will help her get a better answer sheet?
She held the paper, her eyes darting around, looking at Empress Xue with a puzzled expression.
"Your Majesty, I did not write this set of precepts for women!"
An uproar erupted in the hall, and all eyes turned to Li Nanke.
Empress Xue was stunned when Li Nanke admitted that she hadn't written the characters.
Consort Wang chuckled, "You took it out of your paper tube, so who else could have written it if not you? You child, were you so frightened just now that you can't even recognize your own words?"
Li Nanke blinked.
"I don't know what happened either, but this is definitely not what I wrote. Did someone switch my answer sheet?"
She knelt down respectfully, "I beg Your Majesty to send someone to investigate who switched my answer sheet?"
Empress Xue's expression froze.
Now that things have come to this, it can be confirmed that Li Nanke's answer sheet was indeed switched.
But if someone were to investigate, it might uncover more than just the initial investigation; it would also reveal that she had tried to switch Xue Ting's exam paper.
After all, the paper in front of her was copied by someone from her palace!
Consort Wang rolled her eyes and said, "I also feel that this matter is a bit strange. Just now, Miss Xue said with certainty that she would definitely get first place."
Now that Miss Li says the answer sheet isn't the one she wrote, could it be that someone secretly switched the answer sheets?
"Your Majesty, for the sake of fairness, I believe this matter should be reported to His Majesty and investigated."
Where did this paper come from? Where did the ink come from? Even the incense on the paper is a clue. As long as we investigate, we can always find out the truth.
Empress Xue's heart skipped a beat, and a dark glint flashed in her eyes as she looked at Consort Wang.
This bastard is unusually proactive today. Could it be that she knows about my secret switching of the answer sheets?
Did he want to take this opportunity to report it to His Majesty and make himself lose face in front of His Majesty?
Empress Xue, her mind in turmoil, made a quick decision: this matter must not be investigated.
We can only insist that this is Li Nanke's answer!
It's hateful that what she painstakingly prepared for her niece ended up benefiting Li Nanke!
Unfortunately, she couldn't reveal any of this and could only swallow this bitter pill in silence!
Empress Xue was so angry she felt like vomiting blood, but she had to hold back, taking a deep breath and forcing a smile.
"Children's characters haven't fully developed yet, so their writing is naturally similar. I imagine even Miss Li herself wouldn't be able to tell the difference."
Judging from the strength of the brushstrokes, the writing didn't show through the paper; it was clearly written by a child with good wrist strength.
She reached out to help Li Nanke up, patting her hand with a smile.
"In my opinion, this 'Admonitions for Women' was written by you. Good child, take another good look at it."
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