noffsinger Chapter 18 Not Surprising
Chapter 18 Not Surprising
"Your Majesty, you must not!" Grand Commandant Wen wanted to continue persuading him.
"Grand Commandant Wen, how dare you question the Emperor's decision?" Zheng Yuxiang immediately spoke up to stop Grand Commandant Wen, mocking him from the side.
Commander Wen glared at Zheng Yuxiang and then left.
After the court session, Zheng Luoqi walked up to Zheng Yuxiang and walked alongside him, asking in confusion, "Why did Father send Meng Yunxi? Was he someone Father arranged? If so, why did you have Scholar Ji recommend him? I remember Scholar Ji is a neutral party, right? How did you persuade him?"
“The Emperor is so wary of us, he certainly won’t use our people easily. Since he won’t use us, he also won’t use Wen Taiwei’s people. Scholar Ji is different; he’s a neutral party. We can use him to send people to the Emperor. The Emperor is a very suspicious person, and he’ll probably investigate Meng Yunxi’s background when he gets back to see if he can use him. Don’t worry, I’ve handled Meng Yunxi’s background very cleanly; the Emperor won’t find anything out,” Zheng Yuxiang said thoughtfully.
Soon after, Meng Yunxi received an imperial edict to go to Jinzhou to provide disaster relief. Wen Yichuan, the son of Grand Commandant Wen, and Fan Huai'an, an imperial censor of the Censorate, also received the edict at the same time.
Zheng Yuxiang was not surprised to hear this news. First of all, Meng Yunxi was still young and inexperienced, so it was impossible to send him alone. The emperor also wanted to cultivate his own power, so he had to send a reliable person to keep an eye on him. Wen was there, but he was missing an escort. Although Wen Yichuan was a member of the Wen family and had good martial arts skills, he had not yet entered the court, so he could be used for the time being.
...........................
After returning to the Chen family mansion, Chen Xianlin was sent by Chen Tongyu to the women's academy in the capital, namely Baitong Academy. Baitong Academy recruited noble ladies from prominent families, while the Imperial Academy recruited sons of ministers. Baitong Academy taught women the Eight Arts: poetry, wine, flowers, tea, zither, chess, calligraphy, and painting. The Imperial Academy taught men the Six Arts: rites, music, archery, charioteering, calligraphy, and mathematics.
Baitong Academy is divided into classes A, B, C, and D. As the leading ladies of the capital, Chen Ruoyao and Lin Wanwan are top-notch in everything, so they are both in class A. Chen Xianlin, on the other hand, was assigned to class D on her first day at the academy and had not yet taken any exams.
Furthermore, there is an annual assessment by the college, after which classes are reassigned.
On Chen Xianlin's first day at the academy, the carriage was already waiting for her at the mansion. Chen Ruoyao was also waiting for her. After waiting for a while, Chen Ruoyao became impatient. When she finally saw Chen Xianlin, she glanced at her unhappily and said sarcastically, "I don't know what you've been preparing for. You've been preparing for so long. It's almost time to be late. If Father hadn't asked me to take you to the academy, you would have walked by yourself today."
Chen Xianlin wasn't annoyed by Chen Ruoyao's words, since she had indeed gotten up late that day, and she didn't argue with Chen Ruoyao.
Chen Ruoyao became even angrier when she saw that Chen Xianlin was ignoring her. She snorted, turned her head away, closed her eyes, and stopped paying attention to Chen Xianlin.
He remained silent the whole way until they arrived at the academy gate.
The academy's steward handed two plaques to Chen Xianlin and Chen Ruoyao, who then took the plaques and went inside.
The academy's steward took out two tokens and handed them to Chen Xianlin and Chen Ruoyao. Chen Xianlin took the tokens and went inside with Chen Ruoyao.
As soon as Chen Xianlin and Chen Ruoyao stepped inside, they attracted curious glances from the women around them.
Everyone was curious about the daughter of Imperial Censor Chen, who had been sent away because she had caused her mother's death, but had recently been sent back.
Chen Ruoyao ignored these people and left without waiting for Chen Xianlin after getting off the carriage, leaving Chen Xianlin standing there. After asking around, Chen Xianlin finally found her class, Dingzi Class.
When Chen Xianlin arrived at her class, she found the classroom full of women, all looking in her direction. Chen Xianlin looked back at them as well.
The female teacher on the stage said in a deep voice, "Late? If you're late, stand outside and listen. Come in half an hour later."
Chen Xianlin inwardly groaned, what a disastrous start! She was punished on the very first day, what terrible luck! Helpless, she walked out the door.
Just then, a flurry of footsteps sounded, and a woman in school uniform rushed over. She looked panicked and kept muttering, "Oh no, oh no, oh no, I'm late again, I'm going to be punished again!" She was panting heavily as she spoke, looking extremely disheveled.
Chen Xianlin looked closely and realized that the woman looked somewhat familiar. Thinking back, she remembered seeing her at a banquet at the Chen residence a few days ago, but couldn't recall which young lady she was.
A moment later, the girl walked out dejectedly, found a spot to stand, and then noticed there were other people outside. Her eyes lit up, and she exclaimed excitedly, "You're late too? Great, finally I'm not the only one who's late!" Then, she gave a bright smile and asked, "My name is Wen Nanwan, what's yours?"
"Chen Xianlin," Chen Xianlin replied with a smile.
"Oh, so you're Chen Xianlin, the daughter of Imperial Censor Chen who's been making headlines in the capital and just returned," Wen Nanwan said, realizing what she meant.
Through Wen Nanwan's words, Chen Xianlin learned a lot about things inside the academy. Chen Xianlin learned that the academy holds three small exams and one big exam almost every year.
You will only be assigned a room after the annual major exams. Of course, there will be an entrance test when you first enroll, and after the test, you will be assigned a room. If you want to change rooms again, you will have to wait until the major exams at the end of the year.
When it was time for her to rest, Wen Nanwan took Chen Xianlin to the nearest teahouse, Fengyaju, for a meal.
Wen Nanwan excitedly pulled Chen Xianlin into Fengyaju, and after choosing a seat by the window, she said impatiently, "You have no idea how delicious the mung bean cakes at Fengyaju are! One bite and you'll find them crispy on the outside and soft and chewy on the inside. They're so fragrant! You have to try them. They're Fengyaju's signature dish!"
Seeing Wen Nanwan's greedy look, Chen Xianlin nodded and smiled, "Since you recommend it so much, I'm curious whether this mung bean cake is really as delicious as you say?"
As soon as Chen Xianlin sat down, she heard a male voice beside her: "Oh, who is this? Look, isn't this our Miss Wen? What brings you to this elegant restaurant today?"
"How could I run into you here! Fan Cong'an, it would have been better if you hadn't said anything, because once you open your mouth you're a downer. Shut your mouth, no one will think you're mute if you don't speak!" Wen Nanwan retorted irritably, clearly having no good feelings towards this man.
Fan Cong'an was the son of Fan, the Censor of the Censorate.
Fan Cong'an was furious when he saw the look of disgust on Wen Nanwan's face.
He was clearly a hundred times better than this woman, so why did she always treat him so coldly, as if he owed her tens of thousands of taels of silver?
However, since Wen Nanwan was the daughter of the dignified Grand Commandant Wen, Fan Cong'an dared not directly retort even if he was angry. He could only smile and say, "Miss Wen is so witty. This teahouse is naturally a place where you can come and go as you please. I was just asking casually and had no other intention. I hope Miss Wen will not take it to heart!"