Chapter 37
"..."
The bell of the Dongxu Mansion rang out heavily, and the sound of students reciting aloud filled the study. The Bearded Doctor, carrying a scroll in his hands, strolled into the lecture hall with scholarly steps. He carefully placed the scroll on the table, stroked his beard, and coughed lightly. The study immediately fell silent. When the scholars saw that the Doctor had arrived, they all stood up from in front of the low table and bowed.
With a wave of his hand, the Doctor gestured for all the scholars to sit down. He stroked the scrolls on the table as if they were precious treasures, then suddenly burst into tears, his voice trembling, "You are truly fortunate people, blessed people! Look at these, look at these! Do you know what these are?"
"Doctor, isn't it just a case file?"
"Ah, it seems to be the assignment we submitted the day before yesterday. Wasn't it supposed to be sent to the palace to await the Emperor's approval when he had time?"
"That's right!" The Doctor slammed his fist on the table in excitement. "The very assignments you submitted to the Emperor received Emperor approval in just one day! In just one day! This is unheard of! A fairy tale! A world-shaking event!"
"Huh? The Emperor actually took the time to approve our assignments ahead of schedule?"
"Yes, I heard that some of the assignments submitted by the Confucian scholars from the upper realm still haven't been approved."
"Didn't we hear that the Emperor has been away from the palace for the past few days and only returned the day before yesterday? And he immediately started reviewing our assignments overnight? Doesn't that mean there must be someone among us whom he values?"
"That's wonderful! If we can gain the Emperor's favor, passing the examination and entering the court will be a piece of cake. Right, Academy Student Zhu? Why are you hiding your head, Academy Student Zhu?"
"... Shh." Holding up his textbook, Zhu Bafu covered his head with the Wide Sleeves of his Indigo School Uniform, squatted down, and tried to sneak out through the back door along the wall, but his classmate was a bookworm who didn't know how to help others.
"Academy Student Zhu, where are you trying to sneak off to?"
Lowering his voice, Zhu Bafu raised an eyebrow and winked at him, "Everyone has to relieve themselves sometimes, I need to go outside to use the restroom."
"Let's go later. The Emperor's assignments have all been reviewed and approved. No matter how urgent things are, as His Majesty, I must be patient."
"..." How could she possibly tolerate it? Leaving aside the possibility of her clan being wiped out for submitting that assignment, being reprimanded by the Doctor for mocking the Emperor was inevitable. She could only wait and see.
At least... if she were lucky enough to run into the Young Master, she might still have a chance to survive. With the Young Master pleading on her behalf, she could probably fool both the Doctor and His Your Majesty.
"So, today we'll focus on the Emperor's reply to you all." The Doctor flipped through the file, his face beaming with pride. "The top-ranked Academy Student, the one whom the Emperor specifically praised and favored, is— Zhu Bafu, the academy Academy Student Zhu. 'Heroes don't ask about their origins,' and his matching line was... 'A rogue doesn't care about age?!'"
"..." Her small body, which was leaning against the wall preparing to Escaping to the Restroom, suddenly froze at the back door, her face twitching. She never expected that Your Majesty bastard His Majesty would actually choose her, this worthless couplet, as the first one. Obviously, the Doctor also didn't expect his lovely Emperor to have such strange tastes. Trembling, he held the assignment sheet that had been approved with the words "Excellent Couplet, Award!" and looked at Zhu Bafu with tears in his eyes.
Please don't look at her like that, okay? She's really upset too...
It felt like she'd let out a silent fart in public, intending to whistle and pretend she knew nothing, only to be grabbed by His Your Majesty, who clapped and exclaimed, "That was a wonderful fart! I love it! I adore it!" How embarrassing!
"Zhu... Academy Student Zhu ..."
"... yes."
"Come and get your homework."
"... yes."
"Punishment: Copy the 'Book of Rites' fifty times!"
"..." T___T She will probably become the first student in the Dongxu Mansion to be praised by His Your Majesty and then punished by copying textbooks.
She dejectedly took back her homework sheet, patted her chest to calm herself down, and thankfully it was just a punishment of copying the text; nothing more serious had happened. Was this the surprise His Your Majesty had promised as a reward? Tch, just like that lazy bum would do something like that. Oh well, she decided not to bother with him.
She thought that replying to His Your Majesty's question so rudely would definitely get her a good scolding; after all, heroes come from all walks of life.
In the past, she would have thought, like all Confucian scholars, that His Your Majesty was eager for talent. But now it seemed as if he was secretly complaining that ancestral rules, regulations, blood ties, the imperial family, and the great lineage all meant that heroes had to be judged by their origins, and that their place of origin had to be a place of impeccable lineage.
His Your Majesty... is quite pitiful, having to resort to setting exam questions to vent his dissatisfaction.
However, compared to her classmates, she was much more pitiful, having to copy her lessons fifty times and enduring the disdain of the Doctor and ridicule from her classmates.
Sitting upright, Zhu Bafu resignedly copied the "Book of Rites" word by word. He had only finished a few words when he suddenly heard a group of hurried footsteps outside the window. He turned his head slightly and saw that it was the Eunuch had accompanied the three Noble Consort concubines to the academy that day.
Oh no! Her scalp tingled, and her intuition told her she was in deep trouble, in really deep trouble!
Author's Note:
Hahaha, the Young Master is a little bit wicked again~
Thank you to Xiao H, A Zheng, and Wei Kou for replying, and also to Xiao Si, Shuzi Jun, Shisi, Qingyang, Erhu ~ Mwah!
My internet connection is still terrible today, I don't know if it will be back to normal in a couple of days QAQ I'll update while I still have internet!
Chapter 38 (Thirty-Seven)
"Where is Zhu Bafu, the Academy Student?" With a flick of his whisk, the eunuch scanned the group of scholars in the study.
Sure enough, the next instant, all the sharp eyes in the room were fixed on her. She had no choice but to put down her brush, stand up, and bow to the eunuch. "This junior is Zhu Bafu. May I ask what advice you have for me, sir?"
"Oh? You are Zhu Bafu new Academy Student admitted to the Dongxu Mansion Academy this year?"
"... It is indeed I." Sure enough, this blasphemous second line, "A rogue is not bound by age," won't easily escape the accusation of harassing the Your Lordship.