The little princess was torn, and the demon emperor patched her up

Chapter 19 You Are Not Human

Xiao Baojing suddenly closed the Analects.

She looked around.

There were a few orange candles lit in the room, which was warm and bright, but she couldn't help feeling goosebumps all over her body. It seemed as if there were something hidden in those dark corners, secretly spying on her.

Xiao Baojing felt as if she had seen a ghost. She quickly put "The Analects" back on the bookshelf and hurriedly hid in her vermilion lacquered box.

The second night.

While Shang was drunk and sleeping in bed, Xiao Baojing tiptoed to take out the copy of "The Analects".

She swallowed nervously and was about to turn to the page from last night, but was surprised to find that the entire book was annotated!
The annotations are very detailed, almost accurate to every word!

Xiao Baojing opened his mouth and turned the pages one by one in disbelief.

The calligraphy is so neat and printed, and there are even personal opinions in the blank spaces on each page!
It's like an old scholar has read this book and written it down carefully.

"If this is a ghost, it must be a cultured ghost. Cultured ghosts generally don't eat people, right?"

Xiao Baojing thought about it and turned to the page about the woman.

Although this old scholar was very capable, she still didn't like his annotation to this sentence.

She sat down at the low table and wrote with a brush under his annotation: "Confucius would never look down on women."

She waited for a moment and saw a line of words jumping out of the book: "You are a woman, women have long hair and little knowledge, I will not bother with you."

Xiao Baojing gritted his teeth.

She continued, "Confucius once said: The wise kings of the Three Dynasties must respect their wives and children in a proper way. A wife is the head of one's family. How dare you not respect her? A son is the successor of one's family. How dare you not respect him? A gentleman should respect everything. It can be seen that Confucius never looked down on women, so he would never say that women are difficult to get along with!"

The other party was silent for a moment, and then slowly replied to her: "A rotten tree cannot be carved."

Xiao Baojing wrote furiously: "You are the one who cannot be carved! Yaoyao in our family can be carved, but you cannot! You are a blockhead!"

The other party must have been irritated, and a few big words suddenly jumped out from the book: "It's insulting, it's insulting, it's insulting!"

This ghost can only curse on paper, but Xiao Baojing is not afraid of him.

She snapped the book shut and moved closer to the candlestick: "I'll burn you to death."

As the flames were about to jump over, "The Analects" suddenly shook violently, and then a young Confucian scholar came out with a "bang".

The young man had a broad face, square mouth, thick eyebrows and big eyes. He wore a black and white robe and a wide belt. He did not wear a Confucian scarf on his head, but instead wore a small crown made of a carp lantern, and the ends of the two fish whiskers flashed with light.

He pointed at Xiao Baojing tremblingly: "You are such a cruel girl!"

Xiao Baojing was curious: "You look young, but why do you speak so elegantly? Do you live in this book? Who are you?"

The young man was obviously proud: "I am a newly-appointed Jinshi in the first year of Zhengyuan, Ji Zhengyan is right."

"You are a newly-minted Jinshi, but you can't even understand the Analects."

Ji Zhengyan was anxious: "It is obvious that you are talking nonsense, misinterpreting the article, and making up stories! If you don't believe me, please ask someone to judge whether you and I are right or wrong!"

Xiao Baojing thought about it and said seriously: "Then let's write down our respective translations and ask the peddler to judge whether they are right or wrong tomorrow."

Ji Zhengyan had no objection.

The two of them finished writing their translations on their own papers. Xiao Baojing then probed, "By the way, you said you were a newly-appointed Jinshi in the first year of Zhengyuan, but now it's already the twentieth year of Zhengyuan, you..."

Xiao Baojing wanted to say something but stopped himself.

Did he become a monster because he died?
In which year did he die?
How did he die?

He looks...

So young.

The young man lowered his head, and the light from the small crown of the carp lantern was dim.

The air around suddenly turned cold.

A cold wind suddenly blew in!

The few orange candles in the room were all blown out.

In the dim and pale moonlight, Xiao Baojing saw Ji Zhengyan's wide robe and belt blown up by the wind, countless cold water stains dripping and spreading from his body, the sundries in the basket were shaking violently, the hibiscus flowers in the yard all bowed their heads, and Yaoyao in the corner huddled up in a ball, hugging the tender buds on her body.

Ji Zhengyan raised his pale face and suddenly stretched out his five dark and sharp fingers, as if he wanted to break Xiao Baojing's neck!
Xiao Baojing: ...!
Did she trigger the keyword? !
She didn't say anything!

At the critical moment, the boy who was sleeping soundly on the bed sneezed lightly.

All sounds are silent.

The tip of Ji Zhengyan's nails stopped just half an inch away from Xiao Baojing.

The next moment, as if a more dangerous and terrifying existence was approaching, Ji Zhengyan quickly shrank back into the book. The hibiscus flowers in the yard were crawling on the ground. The basket of goods had run to the corner of the wall at some point, and he and Yaoyao were huddled together, trembling.

The candle wick jumped. The candles in the room were rekindled, and the bronze mirror was filled with a warm orange-yellow glow.

Xiao Baojing blinked.

If the notes she and Ji Zhengyan wrote had not remained on the paper, she would have thought that what had just happened was a dream.

The young man in a Taoist robe and a flowery hairpin stretched himself and sat up: "It's so cold."

The night wind blew across the low table, blowing the two pieces of paper onto the bed.

Shang Bingjiu picked it up and took a look at it.

——Only women and villains are difficult to raise.

There were two kinds of annotations written on the two pieces of paper respectively.

One piece of writing is beautiful, and the other piece of writing is crooked.

"what."

He sneered softly, crumpled up the piece of paper with beautiful writing on it and swallowed it into his mouth.

He lazily got out of bed, put on his slippers, picked up the "Analects of Confucius" that had fallen on the ground, and put the paper with ugly handwriting in it.

"She has many words, and she is right."

The next day.

Perhaps he had no money for the trip, so the peddler did not rush to Beijing. Instead, he picked up his load of goods and went to the mountains.

Xiao Baojing stood in front of the bookshelf with her skirt lifted up. After hesitating for a long time, she finally took out the copy of "The Analects of Confucius".

She asked softly, "Ji Zhengyan, are you there?"

The books are silent.

Just when Xiao Baojing thought he would never come out again, "The Analects of Confucius" flipped open in her palm, and the young Confucian scholar in wide robes and belt appeared in the room again.

Ji Zhengyan bowed in shame and said, "I was rude last night, please forgive me, young lady."

The carp lamp above his head was bright and warm.

Xiao Baojing waved his hands generously: "It's okay, it's okay! I scolded you for being a blockhead last night, and I was wrong. You are a newly-appointed Jinshi, so you must be very capable. Can you teach me to read?"

She wanted to try to learn all the Four Books and Five Classics before arriving in Yejing.

Then I will teach the peddler, maybe he can pass the imperial examination and bring honor to his family.

"You are eager to learn, so why shouldn't I teach you everything I know?"

Ji Zhengyan shook his head and instructed Xiao Baojing to spread out the writing brush, ink, paper and inkstone on the low desk.

When Xiao Baojing rolled up her sleeves to write, Ji Zhengyan glanced at the red thread mending her wrist and asked, "Are you not a human?"

Xiao Baojing: ...

Why does it feel like I'm scolding her?

This world rejects ghosts and monsters. Many extreme demon hunters will even kill all ghosts, regardless of whether they are good or evil, when they encounter them.

Xiao Baojing pulled up his sleeves to cover the red thread guiltily: "I... I am a puppet."

After a pause, she added: "Although my body is that of a puppet, my soul is the same as that of a human! And I'm already looking for a way to become a human. When I go to Yejing and find the national master for guidance, I will be able to cultivate into a human right away!"

"I have a plan that can make you a human being."

Xiao Baojing opened his eyes wide: "What's the plan?"

"Just do good deeds and accumulate more hidden virtues. With time, you will be able to cultivate to perfection and become a human being."

Xiao Baojing was half-believing and half-doubting.

Yaoyao’s method of cultivation is not suitable for her. I wonder if Ji Zhengyan’s method is suitable?

While he was thinking about it, the sound of a bell was heard outside the yard.

The peddler has returned home.

Ji Zhengyan immediately hid in the book.

Xiao Baojing was busy tidying up the desk. Just as he hid his writing brush, ink, paper and inkstone into the drawer, the peddler pushed the door open and came in.

He leaned over the low table with his hands in his pockets: "I'm so hungry."

Xiao Baojing looked at him with sympathy, guessing that he hadn't earned enough money for food today again.

　Good night, good duck,

　　(End of this chapter)