"Ugh, what a silver tongue!"
From across the library, Ice Empress gave Xu Lanqing a disdainful look, then turned to Snow Empress and said,
"Snow Maiden, look at how cocky he is. We need to teach him a proper lesson, or who knows what he'll be like later?"
"He's still just a child." Snow Empress pondered for a moment.
"You're just spoiling him."
Ice Empress rolled her eyes and continued to make her point:
"I'm telling you, that's all the more reason to be strict with him... to teach him a lesson. What if he grows up crooked?"
Snow Empress said nothing. She gazed without blinking at Xu Lanqing's profile, its edges gilded by the sunlight. Pressing her fingertip to her lips, she nodded thoughtfully.
Xu Lanqing, leaning back in his chair, shivered. For some reason, a chill seemed to brush down his spine. Why was the sunlight so cold?
He instinctively looked back, but saw no sign of Snow Empress or the others.
"What's wrong?" Ju Zi asked curiously as she slid in her bookmark and closed her book.
"Nothing." Xu Lanqing turned back around.
"How have you been at the academy these past few days? Is everything going well?"
"The teachers and students have all been very welcoming. They've treated me well and helped me a lot."
Xu Lanqing gave her a once-over.
Today, she wore a pink dress that made her rosy, dewy skin look even more radiant. She was so adorable it was almost criminal.
She was clearly treated like the darling of the whole group.
Xu Lanqing's gaze lingered on the cover of the book before her. "Do you like reading books about military affairs?"
Ju Zi tidied her hair, which the breeze had left a little tousled, and replied calmly,
"I wouldn't say I