He Yuqi

She finished the questions with an unprecedentedly serious attitude and at a snail's pace. She checked them twice and realized that it was almost time. Steward Zhang had already reminded everyone to prepare to hand in their papers, so she got up and handed in hers.

When the two supervisors saw her hand in her paper, they quickly stepped forward to take it from her.

Seeing that Zhao Ruxi's exam paper was filled with neat and beautiful handwriting, and the paper was clean and tidy, the two exchanged a glance.

Grand Princess Shangde unusually requested to share the same set of exam questions with the Capital Women's Academy, Consort Jin naturally couldn't help but inquire about the reason behind it.

It was eventually discovered that it was because Zhao Ruxi consistently excelled in her monthly exams, and Shangde wanted to compete with her. After some thought, she agreed to the request.

Therefore, the two stewards were aware of Zhao Ruxi's reputation.

"Miss Zhao very talented. Regardless of the content of this exam paper, just looking at her handwriting, it surpasses that of many men," Steward Tao praised Zhao Ruxi with a smile.

"Steward Tao, you flatter me." Zhao Ruxi bowed Ruxi took her leave.

With that, she lowered her head and left.

Madam Cui frowned upon seeing Steward Tao's attitude.

Zhao Ruxi left the North Academy and headed towards the main gate, but when she was still some distance away from the gate, she heard faint crying coming from behind the trees.

She paused, glancing left and right.

Because it's the annual exam, all classes are taking the test, and everyone is busy handing in their papers. There's not much activity in the academy, and it's quiet everywhere.

Zhao Ruxi thought for a moment and said to the system, "I want to buy Great Strength Pill."

"Really? Ahhh, that's great!" The system made a somersaulting sound in her mind. "Buy it now! You won't regret it, you won't be cheated. After taking the Great Strength Pill, you'll be incredibly strong, able to punch the South Mountain Nursing Home and kick the North Sea Kindergarten."

Zhao Ruxi was speechless.

Where did this broken system learn all this nonsense?

However, she could understand the system's excitement.

After she bought the Agility Pill last time, the system gave her some product names and prices, but she thought they were impractical and didn't buy any of them, planning to save her points to buy Great Strength Pill and messages.

The system was extremely frustrated at the time, but it was left speechless by her and dared not say anything, only hoping that she would buy the information.

As a result, nothing major happened during this period, so she didn't need to buy information. The system just watched her points increase rapidly, but she couldn't bear to spend a single point.

A few days ago, she finally saved up 20,000 points, enough to buy Great Strength Pill. But having learned from her experience buying Agility Pill, she didn't act immediately and decided to save her points for later, lest they be wiped out after buying the Great Strength Pill, making it difficult to buy even a single message.

She was also worried that he would use the points to level up.

The system tried to persuade her for a while, but seeing that she seemed not to hear it, it had no choice but to shut up. However, the various noises it made every day showed that this guy was very unhappy.

Now that she's finally made her move, how could the system not be excited?

She couldn't be bothered with this idiot, so she tapped the light screen, bought the Great Strength Pill, and ate it. After checking herself and finding nothing wrong, she walked towards the sound of crying.

Having taken the Agility Pill, she now moves almost like a martial arts master with light-body skills. She moved behind a tree and stood in front of the man, who didn't even notice her.

"He Yuqi, what are you doing here?" Zhao Ruxi asked softly after seeing who it was.

She tried to soften her voice as much as possible so as not to frighten anyone, but she still startled He Yuqi.

Her crying stopped abruptly, and she began to hiccup.

Zhao Ruxi wanted to go over and pat her back, but remembering that she had just taken Great Strength Pill, she didn't know if she could send someone flying with a single blow, so she didn't dare to move and could only stand there and say, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."

He Yuqi waved her hand, and it took her a while to calm down before she said, "I'm fine."

"Did something happen at home? It's okay, even if you miss this year's exams, it's alright. Your teachers have seen your usual grades and know what's going on."

Although Zhao Ruxi rarely came to the academy, she still knew a little about the academy's situation thanks to Xu Xue's gossip and the information Qingfeng got from chatting with the gatekeeper.

He Yuqi was able to jump from the regular Class Ding to the North Academy Class Ding with her, which was related to her previous foundation and intelligence, but the key was that she worked very hard.

There are many students like Zhang Lu in the academy. Although they come to the academy to learn some knowledge, they come more to make connections.

Although the students of the Beining Women's Academy did not have the same prestigious social standing as those of the Capital Women's Academy in the capital, they were still considered wealthy and influential in the county. Otherwise, their families would not have spent money to send their daughters to school.

According to Xu Xue, Zhang Lu was invited to visit a female classmate's house because they were close friends. The classmate's brother took a liking to her and they got engaged, making Zhang Lu the classmate's sister-in-law. The engagement and betrothal had already been arranged before the new year.

But besides people like Zhang Lu, there are also people like He Yuqi, who have worked very hard since entering the academy, wanting to take the imperial examination and forge a path for themselves.

"I..." He Yuqi wiped away her tears and gave Zhao Ruxi a stiff smile, "I'm fine."

She shook her head. "However, I'm afraid I can no longer continue my studies."

"Why?" Zhao Ruxi thought of Mu Qingqiang, "You're not also getting engaged and planning to go back and get married, are you?"

Zhang Lu hasn't come to the academy since her engagement; Mu Qingqiang is even more worried, as her family is only planning to arrange a marriage for her, and now they won't allow her to come to the academy.

"Yes and no." He Yuqi nodded and then shook her head. "I didn't agree. I'm never going back to that house again."

As if suddenly remembering something, she looked up at Zhao Ruxi and said, "Can I talk to you? I'd like you to give me some advice."

Zhao Ruxi looked around. "This isn't the place to talk. If it's convenient for you, let's leave the academy and go sit in my little courtyard. It's not far across from the academy."

"Okay." He Yuqi nodded.

So the two left the academy, met up with their respective maids, and together boarded Zhao Ruxi's carriage, heading to Green Plantain Courtyard.

After entering the courtyard, tea was served, and everyone was seated, He Yuqi said, "As you probably know, my home is in the east of the city. The reason I don't go home but live in the academy is because my father is extremely sexist. He thinks girls don't need to study and should just stay at home and wait to get married when they reach a certain age."

"My mother used her own savings to support my studies at the academy. I wanted to prove that I was no less capable than my older and younger brothers, so I worked very hard. I moved to the academy so that I wouldn't be distracted by household chores and could focus on my studies without any worries."

Zhao Ruxi nodded. "I know you've worked very hard. I also heard Teacher Cui praise you, saying you're smart and diligent, and if you do well in the year-end exam, you might be able to move up to Class Bing."