Chapter 157: Zhou Gong enters the dream, roast duck is everywhere
The next morning, Xiao Qinggu got out of bed early, washed and dressed, and desperately greeted Baili Pu.
It was already April, and in two days it would be Qingming Festival. Bailipu did not give Xiao Qinggu any time to prepare for the ancestral worship and arrived early in the morning.
"Your humble servant greets Her Royal Highness the Princess."
There was a faint dark blue in Xiao Qinggu's eyes. He was wearing simple clothes and bent down to return the greeting to Baili Pu.
"Sir, there is no need to be so polite. It is a great honor for me to receive your teachings."
Baili Pu came here on the imperial edict, so Xiao Qinggu secretly lowered her posture and called him "Sir", which was not an exaggeration, not to mention that she had indeed received teachings from Baili Pu in her childhood.
But not long after, she skipped school.
But now, Xiao Qinggu couldn't escape at all.
Bailipu accepted the honorific calmly. Servants appeared one after another behind him, and the books in their arms were taller than their heads.
Xiao Qinggu: “…” Any book she picked up was as thick as a brick. What do you want to do? Sir, can’t you bear to see her become king?
Xiao Qinggu invited Baili Pu to sit down and have tea. The two waited for a while, and finally a servant came over sweating to report.
"Your Highness, my Lord, all one hundred and sixty-three books have been placed in your Highness's study."
"......?" The pastries in Xiao Qinggu's hands fell to the ground.
This isn't an assessment at all; it's clearly an attempt to kill her!
Bailipu smiled and asked people to leave.
Xiao Qinggu bravely asked, "Sir, where do we start?"
Emperor Chengming saw the result that Shang Yuwan and the others wanted at that time, and did not make any obstacles in their way. Instead, he went with the flow and left room for the little girl Xiao Qinggu. The imperial edict did not directly order Baili Pu to give Xiao Qinggu three tests. Instead, Baili Pu would be Xiao Qinggu's teacher for a period of time, and after teaching her, he would give her three tests before the coming-of-age ceremony, with no restrictions on the form or method.
If Xiao Qinggu didn't give Bailipu three satisfactory answers before the coming-of-age ceremony, the matter of crowning him king would be dropped. If so, no matter how much Bailipu resisted, he would not be able to stop Xiao Qinggu from being crowned king and participating in politics.
"In two days it will be Qingming Festival, the day for ancestral worship. I will not trouble Your Highness." Baili Pu smiled kindly, a rare gesture. "Your Highness, please do not worry about the ancestral worship. Please spend the next two days at home reading."
Xiao Qinggu's heart was beating fast, she was sure that Bailipu would have no good intentions behind this.
"Once the ancestral worship ceremony is over, I will come to check on Her Highness the Princess's homework."
Xiao Qinggu: "......"
What he meant was that he wanted her to finish reading all the books within two days, and then after Qingming Festival, he would come to her house to conduct random inspections?!
One hundred and sixty-three books?! Books as thick as bricks?!
It would be better to just smash her to death.
After Bailipu finished his instructions, he left with a smile.
Xiao Qinggu went to the study room with her hands and feet clumsily, and when she opened the door, she saw that the books that had just been moved into the study room had piled up into a small mountain. When Xiao Qinggu saw this scene, she fainted on the ground in the next second, and the maids hurried to help her.
"Book of the Shang Army", "Han Feizi", "Guoyu", "Strategies of the Warring States", "Wenxuan", "Collection of Commentaries on the Four Books", "The Art of War", "The Art of War by Wu Zi", "Laws of Dayu", "General Principles of the Military Classics"... It's a full pile, and there are several annotations among them.
Xiao Qinggu was helped up by the maid and stood shakily. She knocked her head, took another look, and immediately turned her back.
"Go ask the kitchen to prepare more breakfast. This princess wants to eat more!"
Eat first, only when you are full will you have the energy to watch!
After an incense stick of time, Xiao Qinggu was full. Not long after she returned to the study, her eyelids began to droop. She covered her head with a book and fell asleep on the desk.
Seeing this, the maids did not dare to dissuade him. After all, they had just arrived and were not sure about Xiao Qinggu's temper.
The female guests who were sent to sneak into the princess's mansion looked at each other in confusion: "..."
Is the princess reading a book with Zhou Gong in her dream?
I don’t know how long it took, but I heard the sound of light footsteps. Xiao Qinggu, who was still sleeping on his stomach, didn’t react at all.
Shang Yuwan looked at her like this, smiled, sighed helplessly, gently took the food box from Twelve's hand, opened the lid, and the aroma of roast duck instantly penetrated Xiao Qinggu's nose.
Xiao Qinggu's eyes were still closed, but her nose twitched twice. She followed the fragrance and her lips touched the edge of the porcelain plate.
When I opened my eyes, I saw roast duck everywhere.
"Um?"
Xiao Qinggu sensed something was wrong and looked up to see Shang Yuwan looking at him with a smile.
"Sister-in-law...Shang Yuwan? Why are you here?"
Xiao Qinggu was a little confused at first, as if he had just woken up, but then he looked surprised, as if he saw reinforcements, and waved away the maid.
After everyone had left, Shang Yuwan put her book aside and pushed the roast duck over to Xiao Qinggu. Twelve took the remaining food from the lunch box and placed it on the desk, then stood behind Shang Yuwan, carrying the empty lunch box.
"Of course I have to come, otherwise what will you do after Qingming Festival?"
Xiao Qinggu stuffed two pieces of duck meat into his mouth and chuckled twice.
"You are the best."
Faced with Xiao Qinggu's flattery and coquettishness, Shang Yuwan's smile finally changed.
"So after you had breakfast you slept from morning till noon, huh?"
Xiao Qinggu: "......"
Huh?
Didn't her sister-in-law come to help her? What's with this murderous aura?
Xiao Qinggu turned his head away guiltily, not wanting to meet Shang Yuwan's gaze, his cheeks puffing up.
Shang Yuwan curled his lips and said, "Okay, after you finish eating, go read a book. If you don't understand something, ask me. I'll stay at your place for the next two days. Is that okay?"
Xiao Qinggu cheered up, turned around and nodded repeatedly.
“Sure, sure!”
In the eyes of those people, Shang Yuwan is the person of Prince Qi Xiao Qingxu. Now she has swaggered into the princess's mansion. There must be a lot of people following her, just to see what they are going to do.
Being secretive would only draw attention, so it would be better to stay here openly. If anyone asked, just say it was Prince Qi's idea. If Baili Pu tried to stop us, just pull out the gift-givers' list and go through it; his attention would naturally shift elsewhere.
Shang Yuwan teased her, "Aren't you afraid that you won't get their support in the future?"
Those people's official positions were neither high nor low. If you angered them, what difference would that make you a hindrance to your future path?
Xiao Qinggu tilted his head. "Giving gifts privately is bribery and flattery, and it's definitely not what an official should do. I've been lenient by not reporting all their names to the Emperor."
If you report it directly, Emperor Chengming will not let the person go until he has been dragged out and searched thoroughly.
Shang Yuwan said: "Not necessarily, some of them may be doing this to avoid angering you."
Xiao Qinggu was stunned for a moment, "Don't make me angry?"
Shang Yuwan looked at her without saying anything, and Xiao Qinggu reacted on her own.
She hadn't returned to the capital for years, and her current reputation was even higher than that of the current crown prince. Those lesser officials were unaware of her true nature, only thinking she was ambitious and unbridled, yet she had the emperor's favoritism and protection.
Even though the possibility of the princess being crowned a king and participating in politics was small, they couldn't help but think, observing Emperor Chengming's attitude, what if the princess ascended to that throne in the future...
Few officials are without cunning minds, let alone those who are subordinate to others. They all read the cues and observe the situation. Even if they don't have the merit of following the emperor in the future, they still want a stable official career.
Xiao Qinggu pondered for a moment, then nodded in sudden realization.
Because they didn't have much time to prepare, after Xiao Qinggu finished lunch, Shang Yuwan took her to read. Twelve also became interested and snuggled in a corner, holding a copy of "Wu Jing Zong Yao" and reading it fascinatedly.
As they expected, Baili Pu learned at home that Shang Yuwan had gone to the princess's mansion. She was immediately furious, but her attention was immediately diverted by the list of gift givers that Yuan Ji brought.
Forget it, there are only two or three little girls together. How can they possibly master all those books in two days?
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