After my father was sent to marry into the princess's household, I became the darling of the en

Throughout the journey, the carriage jolted so badly that Shen Jingque felt like her internal organs were fighting.

When she finally arrived at the academy gate, she jumped off the carriage and rushed inside.

Then I bumped right into someone.

Wang Jichuan emerged from around the corner carrying a box of books, and the two nearly bumped forehead to forehead.

What a small world!

Shen Jingque grinned as she got up, and her expression hardened when she saw him.

They are all ready to fight.

But Wang Jichuan's face turned deathly pale instantly, his eyes filled with terror.

As if he had seen some monstrous flood, he grabbed the book box and turned to run away.

He almost lost one of his shoes.

Shen Jingque stood frozen in place, her hand still outstretched.

"...I haven't said anything yet." She scratched her head.

baffling.

It seems that his family's debt crisis caused quite a stir recently.

Again--

People can't teach people, but experience can teach people in one go.

Forget it, I don't have time to deal with this unlucky guy, class is more important.

Shen Jingque quickly entered the classroom, subconsciously glancing at the back row.

Shen Tingyun did come today.

Her hair was neatly combed, and although her face was still a little pale, she looked no different from usual.

Just as Shen Jingque was about to look away, she happened to see the other person raise their head.

The moment their eyes met, she looked away as if she had been burned, and frantically flipped through the book in front of her with her head down.

Shen Jingque raised her eyebrows.

Tsk! Is she really that scary, one or two of them?

It's so weird.

Shen Jingque frowned slightly, sat down next to He Lanqing, and nudged her deskmate with her elbow.

"Qingqing, what's wrong with my sister? She's looking at me like I'm a ghost."

He Lanqing leaned closer, her voice very low.

"I...don't know either."

"No... but she's been like this ever since she arrived today. She ignores everyone who talks to her."

"And Wang Jichuan," Shen Jingque said, pointing her chin toward the doorway.

"I ran into him at the door just now. The kid turned and ran as soon as he saw me. Have you ever seen a mouse hide from a cat? I saw it today."

He Lanqing chuckled softly, "After the Wang family's incident, he couldn't hold his head up in the academy... I heard that even those people his uncle used to curry favor with... all turned their backs on him."

"Serves you right."

Shen Jingque offered a two-word evaluation without any emotion.

At that moment, a commotion suddenly broke out outside the school.

A rapid sound of horses' hooves approached, accompanied by a sweet, charming voice.

"Ahhh! Get out of the way... I can't control it... Hey you in front, don't just stand there, run!"

Shen Jingque suddenly stood up, rushed to the window and peeked out, almost bursting out laughing.

A chestnut-colored foal frolicked and skipped in from under the academy's archway.

Xu Wanying was stuck to the horse's neck like a pancake, her hands gripping the horse's mane tightly, and her legs squeezing the horse's belly tightly.

The little red horse shook its head in disdain and headed straight for the school.

The students on the road seemed to have been acupunctured and then released; they were stunned for a moment, and then scattered to both sides in a rush.

Xu Wanying finally lost her grip due to the bumpy ride and was thrown off.

"Tian Jiu!" Shen Jingque shouted out the window.

As soon as he finished speaking, a black figure silently swooped down from the roof of the school and landed precisely on the horse's back.

With one hand holding the reins, he scooped up Xu Wanying, who had been flying like a cannonball, with the other.

To be precise, he grabbed her by the back of her clothes.

Xu Wanying: "..."

Tianjiu quickly regained control of the horse.

A crowd gathered at the school gate, all watching the scene with amusement and amusement.

Xu Wanying was suspended in mid-air. She tried to kick her legs, but found that her toes could not reach the ground. She immediately started yelling in a fit of anger.

"Put me down!! I'm not a punching bag! Don't lift me up like that!"

Tian Jiu put her down expressionlessly.

Xu Wanying landed on both feet, staggered a couple of steps before regaining her balance, then turned and grinned at Tian Jiu.

"Could you be a little gentler next time!"

Tian Jiu scratched his head, looking completely bewildered.

Shen Jingque was laughing so hard she could barely stand, leaning against the doorframe.

She ran out of the school in a few quick steps, her gaze passing over Xu Wanying and landing directly on the chestnut pony.

The pony was entirely red, its mane gleaming like satin in the morning light, and its large, dark eyes, glistening with moisture, surveyed the surrounding crowd.

Shen Jingque walked over and carefully reached out to touch the horse's nose.

Wow, that's so cool!

Little Horse snorted and nudged her palm with its soft nose.

Xu Wanying patted the dust off her clothes and walked over, feeling a little embarrassed by the praise, and chuckled.

"My dad had it sent from the Northwest, saying it was for me to practice riding, but... I'm not very good at controlling this big guy yet."

"I saw it." Shen Jingque smiled maliciously. "Half the academy saw it."

Xu Wanying bared her teeth.

Don't repeat something so embarrassing!

Before Shen Jingque could finish speaking, a loud cough came from behind the crowd.

Master Cen walked over with a livid face, his white beard twitching with anger. He held a ruler in his hand, his gaze sweeping back and forth between the horse and Xu Wanying.

"A sacred place for academies! How dare they charge around on horseback! What kind of behavior is this!"

Xu Wanying shrank her neck and frantically signaled to Shen Jingque with her eyes.

Upon receiving the distress signal, Shen Jingque's eyes lit up, and she immediately stepped forward and obediently bowed.

"Master, please calm your anger. I have something to report."

Master Cen glared at her: "What kind of twisted logic are you going to spout now?"

"How could a student dare?"

Shen Jingque spoke sincerely, "I was just recalling the Six Arts of Zhou that Master Wang taught last month—rites, music, archery, charioteering, calligraphy, and mathematics. Among them, 'charioteering' refers to the art of driving chariots and horses."

Confucius said that the Six Arts are the foundation for a gentleman's self-cultivation, and none of them can be lacking.

Master Cen snorted, "So what?"

She gestured towards the little red horse: "Xu Wanying is simply putting the ways of the sages into practice. Isn't this thirst for knowledge commendable?"

Shen Jingque became more and more enthusiastic as she spoke, spreading her hands out with great expression.

"Moreover, Confucius said, 'When the father is alive, observe his will; when the father is dead, observe his conduct.'"

Xu Wanying's father was stationed abroad to defend the country. As the daughter of a military family, she learned horsemanship in accordance with her father's will.

Isn't this precisely the principle of filial piety and brotherly love that Master Confucius taught us on a daily basis?

Xu Wanying listened in stunned silence, looking at Shen Jingque with admiration.

Shen Jingque caught her gaze and smiled smugly.

She's not really ignorant or incompetent!

Okay, actually no, she checked it on-site.

She recently discovered that although this housekeeper system 001 is quite useless, it's still useful as a dumpling.

The panel in front of him now displayed the very set of fallacies and heresies he had just mentioned.

System 001 even suggested:

Should we expand on the content of the Book of Rites? I will explain it to you in the most direct, straightforward, objective, truthful, concise, and incisive way...

Shen Jingque: TD

Master Cen was speechless, his face turning red with anger: "You...you're just making excuses! 'Yu' means 'driving a chariot,' not 'crashing around the school!'"

He slammed his ruler against a pillar: "The academy has its rules! You two, go outside and stand there as punishment! Stand there until get out of class is over!"

Oh no, I'm going to be punished by standing in the corner.

Shen Jingque and Xu Wanying exchanged a glance, then silently walked down to the corridor and stood there, looking obedient and resigned.

The servants from General Dingyuan's mansion arrived at that moment, "Miss...you..."

Before he could finish speaking, he saw Xu Wanying standing as punishment under the eaves, so he immediately shut up and silently led the horse away.

Master Cen snorted coldly and turned to enter the school.

He had barely left when the two of them exchanged a glance.

Xu Wanying mouthed the question silently: "Slip away?"

Shen Jingque nodded silently in response: Let's go!

The two tiptoed to the place in the front yard where the horses were tied up.

The foal was nibbling on the tender shoots of the lawn when it heard footsteps. It looked up and stared at them with its big, dark eyes.

Shen Jingque took out half a piece of osmanthus cake from her sleeve and handed it over.

The little horse came closer, sniffed it, stuck out its tongue, and licked it away, its mouth full of crumbs.

"What's its name?"

"I haven't named it yet. The instructor told me to name it myself." Xu Wanying stroked the horse's mane. "I want to name it Red Hare."

"You're really not modest."

"Then what should I call it?"

Shen Jingque tilted her head and thought for a moment: "How about calling it Wind and Fire Wheels? It runs so fast, it's like it's riding on wind and fire wheels."

Xu Wanying held up one finger and pointed it at her own nose: "Then I'm Nezha?"

"Hahahaha! Not bad, from now on I'll call you Xu Nazhua!"

As the two were laughing and joking, Xiao Ma suddenly sneezed loudly.

"puff--"

Warm saliva and crumbs of osmanthus cake sprayed precisely onto their faces.

Shen Jingque and Xu Wanying stood frozen in place, their faces glistening with tears, as they slowly looked at each other.

"……Well."

Shen Jingque reached up and wiped a stream of clear, sticky liquid off her face.

"Let's just call it Spray Spray."