As a result, Jiang Qingqing spent almost the entire calligraphy class feeling disgusted with Jiang Chen's behavior in her heart. She had even thought of the precise angle from which to reprimand him.

She was waiting for the moment when the bell rang, then she turned around and said something lightly to the emperor's uncle.

"Uncle, please help me clean up the table. I'm going to catch someone!"

Xiao Linting was just about to ask her why she looked so uneasy in the afternoon when he heard the little girl's back hurriedly leaving, followed by these words.

His handsome sword-like eyebrows couldn't help but frown slightly.

He resigned himself to helping Jiang Qingqing put away the pens and papers on her desk until he had almost finished cleaning up and most of the students in the room had left.

Then I heard him softly call the hidden guard's name.

"Which direction did the princess go?"

He lowered his eyes and looked at the rice paper on the table.

The dark and gorgeous clothes he wore today made the young man look as calm as ever. His black hair was tied up high in a jade crown, giving him the noble demeanor of a young man from Kyoto.

"General, Princess Dunming asked the palace maid who was cleaning at noon and headed towards the horse training ground."

The hidden guards were Xiao Linting's subordinates when he fought on the battlefield. Since they were granted the status of princes of a different surname by the current emperor, they have taken away half of the Xiao family's military power.

Although the main branch of the Xiao family is still guarding the border, the young head of the Xiao family, Xiao Linting, is "detained" in Kyoto.

Your Majesty's behavior is self-evident.

Xiao Linting put the inkstone into the box, and as the box was closed softly, he began to speak.

"Go check what the reason is for Mr. Xu, who is teaching arithmetic today. It's ridiculous for an official from the Ministry of Works to come to the Imperial College to teach."

Xiao Linting's voice has completely passed the voice change period, and there is an undeniable command in his clear voice.

The hermit saluted with his fists, and in a breath he disappeared from the huge side hall.

Here——

Jiang Qingqing walked out of the side hall angrily, asked who had seen Jiang Chen's whereabouts at noon, and then went straight to the horse training ground.

Sure enough, when they were still some distance away from the training ground, Jiang Qingqing saw a horse in the large and spacious field with a man riding on it and another person holding the reins in front of the horse.

He looked relaxed and comfortable, without any sense of guilt about skipping classes.

The palace servant who was guarding the horse stable saw the little princess coming and realized that there was no one around her, so he hurriedly chased after her and asked her why she was alone.

Jiang Qingqing didn't have time to deal with this group of people. She asked someone to bring the pony that the emperor's uncle had chosen for her last time. She stepped on the stirrups and easily climbed onto the horse's back. She snatched the reins from the palace servant and chased straight in the direction of the horse.

Seeing the distance getting closer, Jiang Qingqing simply shouted.

"Jiang Chen! How dare you skip calligraphy class? Do you think I'm an idiot? Or do you think your life is hopeless and you're planning to take advantage of the situation?"

This powerful scolding was mixed with the baby voice of a five-year-old girl, and sounded fierce and aggressive.

When Jiang Chen came to his senses, he saw Jiang Qingqing riding a pony and catching up with him.

He was just about to ask Lord Xu to stop, but when Lord Xu saw Jiang Qingqing coming over to accuse him, he looked panicked and actually threw the reins to Jiang Chen and ran to the side.

Jiang Chen: We agreed to skip class together and talk about arithmetic problems. Why did you run away?

Before I could figure out Lord Xu's psychological trajectory, Jiang Qingqing caught up with me.

She was riding a pony and was slightly shorter than Jiang Chen. She looked up at Jiang Chen on horseback and said angrily, "Why did you skip class?"

"I didn't skip class. Lord Xu asked me to ask for leave from the calligraphy teacher in the afternoon. I want to learn about arithmetic from Lord Xu." Jiang Chen was a little confused.

In his mind, taking a leave of absence from class did not involve classroom rules.

When Jiang Qingqing heard the word "Lord Xu", she looked around and saw a lonely middle-aged man standing ten steps away.

"Master Xu, why don't you tell me why you took the Third Prince to skip class!?"

"I didn't..." Jiang Chen felt scared when he heard the word "skipping class", but he still wanted to fight for a chance for himself.

He thought he didn't skip class.

"Not yet. This afternoon, the calligraphy teacher asked me where the Third Prince had been. I took your face into consideration and said that you were sick. But the calligraphy teacher didn't even know that you had taken leave in the afternoon, Master Xu! What is the procedure for taking leave that you mentioned?!"

Jiang Qingqing looked at Lord Xu who was not far away with a warning in her eyes. Her face, which should have been sweet, deliberately became gloomy due to her slight anger.

Lord Xu took a step back guiltily. All he could see was him raising his hand and waving it, but he couldn't hear what he was saying.

Although Jiang Chen was confused this time, he could still understand the situation.

Jiang Chen immediately looked at Jiang Qingqing in shock and exclaimed, "I actually skipped class?!"

What I said...

Jiang Qingqing, who was still angry, was also amused by him and started laughing. She sneered, turned her head to look at Jiang Chen, and said, "Do you know who he is? You just follow him without worry. He is a substitute math teacher who doesn't even teach the key points in a class. And you still think you have learned a lot?"

"What did you learn? Did you learn how to calculate one plus one, or did you learn that life is short and that studying is not worthwhile?"

She yelled a lot of words, scolding Jiang Chen who was completely stunned.

Lord Xu, who was standing by, noticed that the atmosphere was not right and wondered how a five-year-old girl could possibly calm the Third Prince. But when he saw the scene in front of him, Lord Xu was dazed for a few seconds.

Jiang Chen scratched his head.

"Master Xu said that arithmetic is not just about applying formulas blindly. There are also some flexible algorithms. I came here with half belief and half doubt."

Jiang Qingqing looked at Lord Xu and listened to Jiang Chen's excuses. She became curious.

She rode her pony leisurely up to Lord Xu. It couldn't be said that she was looking at him straight in the eye, but Jiang Qingqing looked at the malicious man in front of her with an extremely cold and vigilant expression.

"May I ask what position Lord Xu holds in the court?"

"I...I am the Langzhong of the Ministry of Works, Director of the Water Conservancy Department. Slow...slow..."

He struggled for a long time but couldn't come up with a name. Jiang Qingqing was sitting on the horse, watching him hesitating, and suddenly an idea came to her mind.

Xu...The queen's surname is also Xu.

"Are you from the Queen's family?" Jiang Qingqing suddenly asked.

Jiang Chen was listening to this, feeling somewhat bewildered. He gently tugged at his sister's clothes and whispered, "What relationship could this man have with our mother?"

Unexpectedly, as soon as Jiang Chen finished speaking, Lord Xu from the Water Purification Department of the Ministry of Works actually nodded in response to Jiang Qingqing's words.

When he nodded at this moment, the meaning became visibly more complicated.