When Shen Qingchen opened her eyes, it was just getting light. The faint morning light shone into the room, illuminating Song Yue's elegant and simple study.
A high bed, soft pillows, silk quilts, gauze curtains... Qingchen sat up, took a moment to calm herself, and then remembered that she had fallen asleep in her teacher's study last night.
She pulled back the covers, still wearing the same clothes she'd worn the night before. She let out a soft sigh, but couldn't recall how she'd ended up in her teacher's bed. She'd slept soundly all night, even taking off her boots, which were neatly arranged beside the bed.
Just then, Steward Li knocked on the door from the outside, "Is Young Master Shen awake?"
"Manager Li, I'm up." She put on her boots and went to open the door. "Is the teacher up yet?"
"Lord Song has already gone to his office in the Grand Secretariat and instructed us to wake the young master at this time. The carriage has been prepared as instructed by the lord. After the young master has eaten, he can take the carriage directly to the Hanlin Academy." Behind Steward Li were two maids who brought in toiletries and breakfast.
Qingchen nodded, then suddenly remembered that the list Song Yue had given her last night wasn't finished, so she went to his desk to complete it. To her surprise, Song Yue's desk was already neatly organized; the cleaned pens hung on a pen rack, and even the water in the pen washer had been emptied. The memorials were nowhere to be found; only the list Shen Qingchen had written last night remained, which he had already completed.
His handwriting was neat and elegant, and when arranged together, it exuded a distinguished air, just like the man himself.
After washing up, Qingchen ate some of the food that Song Yue had prepared for her. She had written too much last night, and her right hand, which was holding chopsticks, was a little weak. She couldn't help but think of how busy he was and how he hadn't even had time to eat. "Teacher, you must have gone to bed later than me last night. Why are you up so early today?"
"The master often does this, he's probably used to it. We servants see it, but we can't say anything, we just serve him well. Oh, by the way, the master also instructed that the pen the young master used last night be given to him so that he can take it home and use it to write from now on."
"..."
"The master also said that he asked the young master to concentrate on the lecture today and not to be distracted. When he has time, he will go to the Zhenfu Division to handle the matter of Miss Mingxiang."
Qingchen nodded, then suddenly remembered something and turned to Steward Li, saying, "My teacher is busy with official duties and has no time to attend to other matters. Therefore, please do not tell my teacher about what happened to Lord Zhou last night."
Manager Li replied, "As you wish, young master."
Today, the junior officials are having a class on official document writing.
The junior officials were civil servants, and writing official documents was an essential skill for them.
With numerous state affairs and the emperor neglecting state affairs, many edicts issued in the emperor's name had to be drafted by cabinet ministers. Although the cabinet had the workaholic Song Yue, it was still too busy. Therefore, many general documents were handed over to the Hanlin Academy for drafting. The quality of the official documents written by the junior officials became an important basis for whether they could remain in the Hanlin Academy.
The Ming Dynasty had a wide variety of official document formats, including imperial edicts, memorials, divination tablets, decrees, official letters, official documents, and imperial edicts, totaling nearly a hundred types. Today's lesson focused on practicing with memorials, specifically the ones Shen Qingchen had spent the entire night at Song Yue's house reviewing.
There were over a hundred memorials, each concerning different matters, written by several different people. Shen Qingchen had spent the whole night studying them and was already very familiar with the format of this type of official document. Today, he wrote them with great ease... except that the jade pen was still a bit heavy.
While most people were just drafting their essays and about to put pen to paper, she had already finished writing, and even proofread it three times, word by word. Only after confirming that there were no errors did she present it to her teacher. When it came time for the evaluation at the end of class, Qingchen unsurprisingly received the best score. Even her teacher was secretly surprised by her writing, and asked her how she had mastered it.
After all, the Four Books and Five Classics are readily available for reading, but memorials to the emperor are not so easy to come by.
Xu Silin turned to look at her, his unruly eyes revealing a hint of surprise and admiration. After a while, his gaze shifted from her face to the jade pen in her hand.
He frowned slightly, for some reason, that jade pen, as translucent as her cheek, didn't appeal to him. He felt a little uncomfortable looking at it, thinking to himself, "Gu Shaoheng is showing off his treasure again, and Shen Qingchen actually accepted it!"
Faced with the teacher's question, Qingchen dared not say that he had read over a hundred documents at the Grand Secretary's house, and that he not only knew how many memorials Xu Yan had suppressed, but also that a certain official could not eat meat for the next seven days... In the end, he only vaguely said that his mind was clear today.
After class, Gu Shaoheng had an upset stomach and went to the toilet to relieve himself, while Shen Qingchen continued drawing her unfinished comic.
Outside the lattice window, the locust tree was in bloom, with clusters of white flowers hanging down and swaying gently in the wind, their tiny stamens adding to the ancient elegance of the Hanlin Academy.
Qingchen casually painted these flowers into the painting.
Luo Yuanhao took a copy of "Cai Gen Tan" and approached Xu Silin. "Brother Xu, have you read this book? There are many parts that I don't quite understand. I would like to ask you for your guidance."
"Cai Gen Tan" is actually a book that Sun Siwu asked Shen Qingchen about last time. This book has recently become quite popular among scholars in the capital. When they meet, they all have to talk about it to avoid being out of touch.
Ever since he was scolded by Xu Silin for digging up the bamboo slips, Luo Yuanhao had been looking for an opportunity to flatter him back. But flattering him well wasn't easy. After all, Xu Silin was the son of a top official, with an incredibly powerful background, superior to others in every way, and lacking nothing.
Luo Yuanhao racked his brains to figure out what he lacked. As the last in the class, he must lack this kind of academic superiority!
So he went out of his way to buy this book, hoping to use it to curry favor. No matter how Xu Silin explained himself, he nodded vigorously, treating him like a saint.
Xu Silin glanced at the book, thinking to himself that he was last place, not first, and immediately saw through Luo Yuanhao's motives. He pursed his lips, gestured for him to get lost, and ignored him.
However, the word "first" quickly flashed through his mind again. He glanced back at Shen Qingchen and saw her quietly writing something on her desk. The sunlight slanted down on her, and her pale cheeks and slightly red lips gave her a serene and beautiful look.
Just as Luo Yuanhao was about to leave in frustration, the book in his hand was snatched away.
Luo Yuanhao stared blankly as Xu Silin took his book and turned to walk towards Shen Qingchen.
His back was very straight, and his tall body was wrapped in a well-fitting blue robe, making him look like a jade tree standing in the wind.
Shen Qingchen was drawing intently when she suddenly felt someone stand in front of her desk, blocking some of the sunlight filtering through the lattice screen. She looked up and saw a pair of aloof and unrestrained eyebrows, starry eyes staring straight at her.
"But is something the matter?"
After Shen Qingchen finished asking, she saw him place the book on her desk and push it forward with his fingers. His nails were very short and clean.
She glanced at the book title, then looked back at his face. "This is..."
He casually pulled up a chair and sat down opposite her, looking at her calmly and saying, "May I ask you for your knowledge?"
It was a bit noisy inside, and Shen Qingchen didn't quite hear her, so she asked again, "What did you say?"
He frowned, glanced at the others, and whispered, "May I ask for your knowledge? This book... I can't understand it."
Qingchen was stunned for a moment.
From the very first day he became a junior official, he, who ranked last, was very disdainful of himself and often boasted that he was naturally gifted and passed the imperial examination with little effort, unlike her, who studied hard every day but still failed to make it into the top rank.
A few days ago, during the policy discussion, he put in a lot of effort to refute her, picking out flaws in her policy argument point by point, saying that she was soft-hearted and had a woman's kindness, and in short, he was unwilling to be at a disadvantage.
This person comes from a good family, is born well, and is very talented. He has probably never admitted defeat in front of anyone since birth. Today, however, he actually admits that he doesn't understand it.
What's wrong with him?
Seeing that Qingchen remained silent, Xu Silin pursed his lips. "You're unwilling? Didn't you say that you cherish the connection with each of us? Sun Siwu consults you every day, so why are you unwilling when it comes to me?"
Shen Qingchen shook his head. "No, I was just lost in thought for a moment."
He blinked his short, thick, straight eyelashes and said, "Hmm."
She took the book from his palm, opened it, and saw that it was clean and new, without any handwriting, clearly unread. She immediately thought that he probably wasn't genuinely asking for advice, but rather plotting some new way to tease her. Sigh, old habits die hard.
However, Qingchen still patiently asked, "Which question do you want to ask?"
Xu Silin hadn't actually read the book, but on a whim, he walked up to Shen Qingchen. He didn't really intend to ask for advice; he just wanted to say a few words.
He glanced at the book casually, saw a sentence or two, and thought the meaning wasn't too difficult to understand; asking would only make him seem superficial. Just as he was hesitating, he saw the comic Shen Qingchen had just drawn, and he simply changed the subject, "What are you drawing?"
Seeing his expression, Qingchen closed the book "Cai Gen Tan" and thought to himself that he really hadn't come to ask for advice.
"It's nothing, just some short stories I drew for my cousin to use when he's teaching. It's something for kids."
He raised an eyebrow, snatched the painting from her hand, and examined it. "Strange, I've never seen anyone paint like this before. How come this woman's eyes are so big? Is she a demon?"
Qingchen felt a throbbing sensation on his forehead. "...No, it's just that I exaggerated it a bit."
"Oh," he replied, then suddenly looked up at her, his eyes fixed on her without blinking.
Qingchen was puzzled by his gaze and frowned slightly.
Xu Silin suddenly raised his hand, cupped Qingchen's chin, and gently lifted her face. "Why does she look a bit like you?"
Qingchen was suddenly startled.
Just then, a familiar voice rang out from the classroom door, a calm and emotionless tone, "Shen Qingchen, come out here."
It was Song Yue!
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