Chapter 27, Chapter 5: The Heir Apparent's Wife
Xu Qingzhou hadn't reacted by the time Yu Wanwan was gone.
Xu Mingche hesitated for a few seconds, then whispered a reminder in his ear.
"Brother...you had already come of age and received your courtesy name before your wife married you..."
so……
Even if she wanted to, she couldn't turn back time and go back to get it for him again.
Xu Qingzhou remained silent, glancing at Xu Mingche with a lingering look.
"You have to say it?!"
Damn it, I forgot about that.
The young master's courtesy name was personally given to him by the Marquis.
Help.
A clear boat can cross rivers and seas, sailing steadily and reaching far.
These two simple words encapsulate the expectations that Marquis Chengqing has for his heir.
Xu Qingzhou snorted and swaggered away.
Xu Mingche touched his nose, coughed lightly, and swallowed the laughter in his throat.
This guy seems a little different.
Marquis Chengqing has always been decisive and efficient in his work.
That very evening, someone carried a box of books to Chengrui Pavilion, where the Crown Prince was staying.
Xu Qingzhou looked on in despair as he watched the servants carrying books in and out.
"Are we really going to plagiarize?"
"Young Master, the Marquis said he will come to conduct random checks from time to time, so please don't make things difficult for us servants!"
Yu Wanwan walked over slowly, fanning herself with a fan.
"What? Does Your Highness think that what you did shouldn't be punished?"
Xu Qingzhou feels a chill run down his spine whenever he sees her now.
He pursed his lips and remained silent.
It deserves punishment, but this punishment is far too cruel.
It was even more terrifying than when he was preparing for the college entrance exam!
Yu Wanwan walked to the table, picked up a book, and dusted it off.
"Or do you mean I have to go to Zuixianlou and invite that Miss Xiaotang here before the young master will obediently copy the book?"
“…” Xu Qingzhou took a breath.
Why bring her up out of the blue?
Yu Wanwan smiled, feigning surprise.
"Isn't she the young master's sweetheart?"
"..."
Xu Qingzhou felt very aggrieved.
He didn't do the thing, but he's the one who has to take the blame.
After holding it in for a long time, he finally managed to utter a sentence.
"That's not true now!"
Afraid that Yu Wanwan would say something provocative again, he picked up his pen, pretended to start copying from a book, and stared at her blankly.
"I'm about to start copying the book, so I hope the Crown Princess won't disturb me."
Yu Wanwan glanced at him before smiling and responding.
"OK."
She not only left, but also took all the servants and young men with her.
Upon reaching the study door, Yu Wanwan seemed to remember something, took two steps back, and looked back at him.
"By the way, I'm going to check on the young master's progress in copying the book first thing tomorrow morning, so don't slack off!"
"..."
Once the study door was closed, leaving him alone, Xu Qingzhou rubbed his hair.
After a long period of silent frustration, he finally let out a breath, somewhat awkwardly picked up the brush, and began to copy the original owner's memories.
His penmanship is beautiful, but he has hardly ever used a calligraphy brush.
When I first put pen to paper, I didn't control the pressure well, and the ink smudged on the paper.
Xu Qingzhou remained silent for a few seconds, then removed the paper, replaced it with a new one, and started all over again.
Fortunately, he was smart enough, and with the original owner's memories and instincts to support him, he wasted dozens of sheets of paper until the handwriting was finally legible.
Xu Qingzhou breathed a sigh of relief, carefully hiding all the papers with ugly and distorted handwriting, before settling down to begin copying the book.
Even if Yu Wanwan hadn't suggested this method, Xu Qingzhou would still have studied hard.
His mission in this world is not only to protect his original wife, but also to preserve the original owner's position as the heir apparent.
To retain his position as heir apparent, he must pass the imperial examination and obtain an official position.
Moreover, his ranking cannot be too much lower than Xu Mingche's.
As far as he knew, Xu Mingche's grades were not bad; otherwise, in the story, after the original owner was abandoned by Marquis Chengqing, even if he accidentally took over the position of heir, he would not have been able to support it.
Fortunately, the original owner was not just a pretty face; she had real substance.
Many things he couldn't understand, he could quickly comprehend and master simply by recalling the original owner's memories.
With only four months until the provincial examination, he had to integrate and master what the original owner knew, making it his own, and also learn new knowledge. The pressure was immense.
In a sense, Yu Wanwan's actions actually helped him.
Daoguo was also puzzled.
【Wanwan, why are you helping the male lead?】
Yu Wanwan lay on the chaise longue, flipping through a folk travelogue.
Huh? When did I help him?
Isn't this just messing with him?
[...Is this a prank on him?]
Despite Xu Qingzhou's previous resistance, what he actually needs most right now is a quiet space like this to study.
The punishment she proposed to Marquis Chengqing was exactly what Xu Qingzhou wanted.
Yu Wanwan smiled.
Silly girl.
It's true that he needs time, and it's also true that he needs to master this knowledge he's never encountered before as soon as possible.
However, it is also true that the learning process can be extremely painful and agonizing.
In particular, Yu Wanwan subtly increased the difficulty for him.
If he studied according to his original plan, it would be tiring, but with a good balance of work and rest, it wouldn't be too tiring.
But now, with the difficulty Yu Wanwan has given him, it feels like a knife is hanging over his head, ready to fall at any moment.
Learning in this state...
Yu Wanwan chuckled softly again.
It's so much fun!
[...]
As expected, Yu Wanwan is still the same Yu Wanwan, someone you can't afford to mess with!
"Is Miss in a good mood today?"
Tinglan came in carrying her clothes, tidied them up one by one, and put them into the wardrobe.
Yu Wanwan's expression remained unchanged, and she nodded and hummed in agreement.
"This travelogue is quite interesting."
"If Miss likes it, I'll have someone find some more for her tomorrow."
Xueya brought in the bird's nest soup and looked at Tinglan with disapproval.
"Tinglan, how many times have I told you? Now we should start calling you Madam."
Tinglan stuck out her tongue.
"Oh, I was just calling a lady privately, it's no big deal!"
Xueya shook her head again, her brows slightly furrowed.
"Now that you, Madam, are sitting in the position of the Crown Prince's consort, how many people are watching you? If someone hears this and reports it to the Lady of the Marquis, what do you expect her to think?"
Tinglan knew Xueya was right, but she was still unconvinced and muttered under her breath, biting her lip.
"With the young master's attitude, who treats the young lady like a wife?"
"Tinglan!"
Xueya's tone became more forceful, tinged with anger.
Tinglan shivered, then stubbornly turned her head away without saying a word.
"alright."
Yu Wanwan spoke calmly, interrupting the argument between the two.
She got off the bed and, with Xueya's help, sat down at the table, taking a spoonful of bird's nest.
"It's just a title, what's the big deal?"
Xueya sighed.
"Madam, I'm afraid the walls may be overheard."
Yu Wanwan smiled.
"Then cut your ear to pieces."
Xueya's pupils contracted slightly, and Yu Wanwan lifted her eyelids to look over.
"Do you understand?"
Tinglan remained carefree, beaming with joy because Yu Wanwan had spoken up for her.
Xueya glanced at her helplessly and respectfully curtsied.
"Xueya understands."
Yu Wanwan nodded and said nothing more.
Xu Qingzhou stayed in the study for more than half a month.
She said she was coming to check up that day, and the next day she actually showed up in the study right on time.
Xu Qingzhou had just gotten used to using the brush, so progress wasn't very fast.
He had initially thought that she was probably just checking the progress notes when she inspected these things.
Unexpectedly, just by flipping through the pages, Yu Wanwan accurately pointed out several mistakes to him.
Xu Qingzhou didn't believe it and flipped through the book several times to compare the two, before realizing that she wasn't just pointing randomly.
This greatly surprised Xu Qingzhou.
"You know all of these?"
Yu Wanwan nodded casually, with an air of nonchalance.
"What's so difficult about that?"
"..."
That's way too difficult!
It's even harder than the college entrance exam!
At least in modern times, high school students are divided into arts and sciences tracks, and in college they study different majors.
But these things contain all sorts of things.
Poetry, songs, astronomy, geography, metaphysics, and fortune telling—it has it all!
The imperial examinations were also not divided into subjects; all of these things were tested, and candidates could only find out in advance who the invigilator was and guess the focus of the examination based on his preferences.
This is what's known as "predicting exam questions."
In reality, nobody knows what questions will actually appear on the exam paper.
Before encountering the system, Xu Qingzhou was just an ordinary person who had unlocked his talent for business.
If it weren't for the original owner's memories keeping him going, he wouldn't know if he could have survived the scientific expedition.
But now, the original owner's wife, a noble lady from the Earl's mansion, actually knows these things?
What happened to the ancient world where women were believed to be virtuous because they were uneducated?
What happened to the saying that ancient women only learned the Three Obediences and Four Virtues?
Yu Wanwan scoffed and placed the manuscript he had copied on the table.
There is a saying: "A man's virtue is his talent, while a woman's lack of talent is her virtue." Is this true? Even the auspicious unicorn cannot catch a mouse, and the beautiful phoenix cannot seize a rabbit.
She leaned lazily against the desk, her eyes smiling, but the smile wasn't as gentle as usual; instead, it carried a hint of playfulness.
"Is a woman's virtue simply that she lacks talent? How laughable."
Xu Qingzhou was stunned, only then realizing that he had unconsciously said those words.
He felt a little embarrassed and uncomfortable.
"I did not mean that……"
He knew, of course, how ridiculous that statement was, and he never believed that women were inferior to men.
In the business world, he has met many strong women, all of whom are powerful and confident.
He never dared to underestimate women.
However, in the world he lives in, this phrase has been overused.
Especially when talking about the ancient world.
And surprisingly, he didn't think there was anything wrong with it; this was the first thing that came to his mind.
Xu Qingzhou pursed his lips, lowered his eyes, and began to reflect.
He is now in ancient times, and even though it is not the same world as the one he lives in, everything presented to him is real.
How could he subconsciously apply what he sees on the modern internet to them? That kind of mentality is unacceptable.
Yu Wanwan didn't intend to argue with him, so she casually hummed in agreement and left the study.
But from that day on, Xu Qingzhou noticed that she appeared in the study every morning without fail, rain or shine.
At first, it was just a simple check on his copying progress, but gradually, we started asking questions.
Her questions were not limited to the content of the book, but were based on contemporary events, requiring him to answer by combining the knowledge recorded in the book with reality.
Moreover, the questions became more and more profound and more and more tricky with each passing question.
Initially, Xu Qingzhou was able to rely on his good memory and the original owner's knowledge to answer questions fluently. However, gradually, his lack of understanding of the national conditions and the times made him struggle. Many things that were clearly correct according to his understanding became unrealistic, grandiose, and laughable when combined with reality.
Defeated once again by her tricky questions, Xu Qingzhou was filled with frustration.
Yu Wanwan looked at him meaningfully, a smile playing on her lips.
"A woman's virtue lies in her lack of talent? Tsk."
The author says: "There is a saying: 'A man's virtue is his talent, and a woman's lack of talent is her virtue.' Is this true? Even the auspicious unicorn cannot catch a mouse, and the beautiful phoenix cannot seize a rabbit."
This sentence comes from the preface to the "Women's Wisdom" section of the Complete Collection of Wisdom, and expresses Feng Menglong's doubt and criticism of the view that "a woman's virtue lies in her lack of talent".
As for the origin of the saying "A woman's virtue lies in her lack of talent," I looked it up but couldn't find it; there are all sorts of different versions online.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
