Chapter 14 Assassin Cultivator: Learning is Fast!
Li Ying was initially very excited about An He's arrival, but when she discovered that Zhao Liangxu was also there, her expression froze.
He gripped the paper tightly in his hand, his previously anxious expression turning into one of disdain: "Eunuch An, why is she here too?"
Anhe did not answer the question directly, but instead bent down and whispered to Li Ying, "Your Majesty is a wise ruler who will be remembered for all time."
“Of course, but what does that have to do with her?” Li Ying stared intently at Zhao Liangxu.
He looked displeased.
Zhao Liangxu's composed demeanor infuriated Li Ying.
Given her current status and situation, why shouldn't she be afraid of me?
"If Your Majesty wishes to be remembered for all time, then your calligraphy and paintings will be preserved for future generations to admire, wouldn't you agree?"
Li Ying raised her head arrogantly and replied, "Of course."
"Then Your Majesty will need to work on your handwriting. Your Majesty's handwriting is still quite immature. Even such a minor detail requires your effort so that future generations will praise Your Majesty for your virtue and talent."
Anhe's words somewhat persuaded Li Ying.
Li Ying glanced at Zhao Liangxu a few times, and he seemed to know why Zhao Liangxu had come.
But he was still indignant, and asked in a slightly gentler tone, "Her? I've seen how much she disliked listening to the teacher's lectures in the school."
Li Ying was highly skeptical.
"Can she teach me?"
Why should I ask her to teach me?
Why do I need her to teach me?
Li Ying's three consecutive questions revealed her utter contempt for Zhao Liangxu.
Zhao Liangxu was not annoyed, but simply gave a polite smile.
"Why doesn't Your Majesty give it a try?"
Anhe beckoned Zhao Liangxu over and placed paper and pen in front of her.
She just haphazardly ground the ink a few times, dipped the brush in it a few times, and then began to write freely.
"Look how casually she writes, how could she possibly write well! What right does she have to teach me!" Li Ying shouted.
But after seeing the words on the paper, he gradually fell silent.
He picked up the paper and looked it over, then frowned and looked at Zhao Liangxu from left to right.
"How is that possible?"
Li Ying was silent for a moment, then suddenly exclaimed "Eh!" and looked at An He with suspicion.
"Her handwriting is just like yours, Eunuch An."
Zhao Liangxu smiled but remained silent.
She may be an ordinary person, but even ordinary people have their own specialties. It's quite a coincidence that her best skill is imitation. Often, talented people have unique insights into a certain field, and although she doesn't quite grasp the essence of such insights, she can still imitate others' movements and stillness to a great extent.
She observed Anhe's writing posture, especially the movements of her hands.
She could almost perfectly discern the different angles at which Anhe wrote, the pressure and coordination of his fingers, and the force exerted on the paper by the pen tip; she was naturally good at this.
Even if Zhao Liangxu cannot create her own unique "xx style" on her own, she can still come very close to that best example.
Li Ying was still puzzled. He glanced at Zhao Liangxu suspiciously and slammed the paper on the table.
"Then tell me how to write it. I refuse to believe that if you can write it, I can't!"
Zhao Liangxu nodded, but did not move.
Why don't you move?
Li Ying spoke urgently.
He wants to learn.
"Since Your Majesty is here to learn, you can't act so arrogantly. You should show basic respect to your teacher."
Zhao Liangxu's arguments were logical and well-founded, causing An He's eyes to twitch.
How come he never noticed before that Zhao Liangxu was so arrogant and dared to make demands of the emperor?
Although Zhao Liangxu often went against him, he just assumed that Zhao Liangxu hadn't lived in this world for very long and didn't understand the rules of hierarchy.
Although he was feared by the people in the capital palace, even more so than Li Ying, he was still just a eunuch to Zhao Liangxu. He thought she had offended him out of ignorance, but he shouldn't have been unaware of the emperor's prestige.
After all, she had said that their world had also had emperors, so they should know the consequences of disobeying the emperor.
In retrospect, she treated everyone equally.
He looks very proper, but he's actually more outspoken than anyone else.
Li Ying was also shocked by Zhao Liangxu's outrageous words; he couldn't believe that Zhao Liangxu would push her luck like this.
He wanted to order someone to drag Zhao Liangxu away, but then he subconsciously looked at An He.
Anhe stroked the duster with his hand and bowed slightly in greeting.
"Your Majesty, this matter is insignificant, isn't it?"
Li Ying remained still, only looking in An He's direction. After thinking for a moment, he pretended to be generous and said, "Fine, since Eunuch An has said so, why shouldn't I give in to you?"
However, it was still extremely difficult for him to squeeze out those two words.
"...Teacher, please teach me."
He spat out a few words through gritted teeth.
Zhao Liangxu was not greedy; it was truly remarkable that she would lower her head and call her "teacher."
Looking at his reluctant expression, where was the arrogant attitude he had shown a few days ago when he wanted to slap her?
Zhao Liangxu's lips curled up slightly; she was indeed taking advantage of the situation.
The "power" in "the fox borrows the tiger's might" is still power.
Zhao Liangxu and Li Ying knelt down together beside the desk. She didn't hide her skills, nor did she have anything to hide. She simply told Li Ying to pay attention to the angle of her wrist and the force she applied.
These are things to pay attention to when practicing calligraphy. What she taught were just a few more steps, such as how much force to apply with your fingers when starting to write, how precise the angle between your hand and the paper should be, how many times to blink when writing a horizontal stroke, and so on.
An He had hoped to take this opportunity to find out how quickly Zhao Liangxu had progressed, but the more he listened, the more something seemed off, and he frowned deeply.
This isn't a skill; it's clearly evil and heretical!
Anhe urgently called a halt to Zhao Liangxu's teaching. At that moment, Zhao Liangxu and Li Ying were immersed in the teaching atmosphere. One was teaching seriously, and the other was learning seriously. The latter would occasionally exclaim in surprise, as if she had opened the door to a new world.
Anhe was in a real bind and was determined not to let Zhao Liangxu say another word.
His brow twitched, and he raised his voice to order the people outside to come in and serve him, while he himself went to invite the old tutor over to end this brief farce.
"Zhao Liangxu, you stay here quietly." An He, considering that there were other people serving her, assumed that Zhao Liangxu wouldn't do anything out of line, so he only gave her a warning before leaving.
Two eunuchs entered from outside the hall, bowed their heads, and walked slowly to Li Ying's side, putting away her writing brush, ink, paper, and inkstone.
Li Ying frowned: "Why did you accept it so easily? I still need to practice calligraphy."
"Your Majesty, Eunuch An instructed me that Your Majesty should continue practicing calligraphy with the Grand Tutor. The paper and brush have been temporarily put away to prevent Your Majesty from continuing to practice calligraphy using the wrong method."
At this moment, Zhao Liangxu shifted her gaze to the side, pretending to be idle.
"Honestly, it's all for nothing that I called you 'teacher'," Li Ying muttered, glancing sideways at Zhao Liangxu.
Now that Anhe is no longer a constraint, Li Ying has started to find fault with Zhao Liangxu in every way.
His eyes darted around, and his arrogant and domineering attitude returned.
"Zhao Liangxu, what use are you to Eunuch An that prevented him from killing you immediately?" Li Ying asked bluntly.
He stood up and circled Zhao Liangxu twice, genuinely curious.
However, he dared not scold or beat Zhao Liangxu at will. He could tell that Anhe was deliberately keeping Zhao Liangxu alive so that she could make a trip to the palace and show her face.
He was still somewhat afraid of Eunuch An.
Zhao Liangxu felt that the young emperor was quite perceptive, and he hit the nail on the head.
Isn't Yu Anhe useful?
As for its use, why should the young emperor know?
Zhao Liangxu got up to pour a cup of tea and pretended to serve Li Ying.
"Naturally, it's because the Dowager Consort and I hit it off immediately. Thanks to the Dowager Consort's influence, Eunuch An won't make things difficult for me."
Li Ying accepted the tea and felt that Zhao Liangxu did know some manners, which pleased her somewhat.
As for receiving the favor from the Dowager Consort, he had heard from the servants below that Zhao Liangxu had been staying in the Dowager Consort's palace these past few days, which was indeed true.
He raised his head and snorted: "You really know how to flatter the emperor. I thought you had changed your personality, but it seems you are still the same as before. Even Consort Chunhua has been flattered by you."
Li Ying found the conversation with Zhao Liangxu somewhat boring, so she pointed to the eunuch beside her and asked him to bring her storybook.
"This... Your Majesty, the Grand Tutor will be here soon." The little eunuch was sweating profusely. If the Grand Tutor and Eunuch An returned and saw His Majesty with a storybook, they would be the ones to suffer.
The serving eunuch put on a pitiful act, begging Li Ying for forgiveness.
Li Ying rolled his eyes, showing no trace of imperial majesty. He was so bored that he couldn't even read a storybook; all he wanted to do was kick the eunuch a few times.
Just then, Li Ying heard the sound of the door opening. Li Ying assumed that An He had returned and, regardless of whether the Grand Tutor had come or not, kept asking An He to bring him the storybook.
The person at the door did not respond, but walked over step by step, their shadow on the screen gradually becoming clearer, and the other side of the screen was eerily quiet.
Li Ying felt inexplicably frightened: "Eunuch An? If you don't want me to read the storybook, then I won't read it."
Li Ying wanted to say something more, but Zhao Liangxu sensed something was wrong.
Although the shadow on the screen resembled the shape of a eunuch's robe, Anhe should not have stood behind the screen in silence under any circumstances.
She didn't see the whisk either.
The excessively quiet outer hall and the silent shadows were almost an open secret.
But this is the royal palace!
The residence of the emperor should be the most heavily guarded.
Li Ying realized what was happening and quickly covered her mouth.
But Zhao Liangxu tugged at his sleeve, signaling him to continue.
If Li Ying remains unusually silent, the other party will immediately launch an attack.
Li Ying had the appearance of a foolish ruler and had never truly experienced such a scene, but he was definitely not a complete idiot, having been chosen by Anhe to be the emperor.
He tried his best to remain calm and continued speaking.
“Eunuch An, I’ve been thinking about it, and you’re right…”
Fortunately, Zhao Liangxu and the others were far enough away from the screen that their shadows were not clearly visible to those on the other side, so they carefully moved toward the inner hall.
"I must humbly learn from the Grand Tutor. Unorthodox methods always have drawbacks. The Grand Tutor is the wisest of all."
“Eunuch An, you are familiar with the Grand Tutor. You said that although the Grand Tutor is old-fashioned, he is indeed very wise… Yes, it would be even better if the Grand Tutor could be more approachable.”
Despite her best efforts to remain calm, Li Ying's voice trembled, her breathing became uneven, and her words were somewhat incoherent.
The shadow on the screen remained motionless, which Zhao Liangxu found strange.
Clearly, the longer it is delayed, the more disadvantageous it will be for him.
In such a situation, shouldn't the other party immediately retaliate?
One of the eunuchs who was serving in the hall was so nervous that he accidentally bumped into the shelf displaying celadon porcelain.
The celadon porcelain fell to the ground, scattering a series of jarring sounds.
Sharp shards of porcelain landed at Zhao Liangxu's feet, tearing her clothes.
At the same time, the sound of swords tearing through cloth could be heard.
The tension that had been building up for so long finally snapped.
The eunuch's shrill, fearful voice echoed outside the palace.
"An assassin!!"
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