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

In the study of Mingcui Pavilion, Shen Jingque knelt properly on the blue brick floor.

A thin cushion was placed under my knees, but its thickness was negligible. The hard brick seams pressed against my bones, and my legs went from aching to numb.

But she didn't dare to move at all.

Her father was truly angry this time. On the way back in the carriage, no matter how much she tried to charm and coax him, he didn't say a single word to her.

Shen Yan sat behind his desk, with a bamboo ruler beside him.

The usual gentle warmth was gone from his eyes; he looked at Shen Jingque with a cold, icy expression.

Shen Jingque couldn't stand the calm before the storm any longer and decided to apologize first.

"Father, I was wrong."

Shen Yan didn't respond until a while later.

"Oh? Then tell me, what exactly did you do wrong?"

"I shouldn't have fought at the academy."

"Anything else?"

Shen Jingque thought for a moment.

"You shouldn't have slapped Wang Jichuan while riding on top of him."

Shen Yan took a deep breath to suppress the surging emotions in his chest and coldly pressed for an answer.

"Anything else?"

besides?

Shen Jingque scratched her face, racking her brains but still unable to guess the correct answer in Shen Yan's mind.

I simply lowered my head and shut my mouth, pretending to be a quail.

Looking at his daughter's fluffy hair, Shen Yan couldn't bring himself to adopt the cold and stern fatherly demeanor and let out a long sigh.

"If you argue logically and with evidence in class, your father won't punish you."

"Wang Jichuan spoke rudely, and you are naturally angry. This is only human nature."

"If someone stops you on the road and deliberately provokes you, the first thing you should do is turn around and find the teacher, or call the academy's servants over."

Shen Jingque lowered her head even further.

She knew, of course, that she should ask the teacher to resolve the issue, but Wang Jichuan's mouth was just too infuriating at the time.

Instead of seeking a proper solution, you personally engaged him in combat, contributing to the situation spiraling out of control.

Shen Yan paused for a moment, suppressing the anger rising in his heart.

"Qishan Academy is a pure place of learning that all students in the world look up to. If you win today, others will say that the Princess's Mansion is arrogant and that the Princess of Shaoning is bullying others by relying on her power."

"If we lose, the injury will be on your body, but the pain will be in your father's heart."

"Wang Jichuan is a man, taller and heavier than you. Have you considered the consequences if he doesn't know his limits?"

Shen Jingque looked up at him.

Her father's usually gentle eyes were now filled with pain, which stung her heart.

She would rather Shen Yan slam his fist on the table and throw a tantrum than have him reveal his true feelings in such a soft, insidious way.

Looking at the red marks on her face, Shen Yan resisted the urge to touch them and said earnestly:

"Que'er, from the moment His Majesty bestowed upon you the title of County Princess, countless eyes will be watching you. If you do something wrong, others will not say that you are ignorant, but will only say that the Princess's Mansion has no rules and that the children raised there are arrogant and domineering."

Yes, from the very first day she entered the academy, she knew that she represented the face of the Princess's residence.

However, he was still provoked, giving others something to gossip about.

She looked up at her father, her voice tinged with a slightly nasal tone.

"Father, I will never act so impulsively again."

Shen Yan closed his eyes, letting out a sigh as he turned his deep worry and helplessness into a sigh.

When she opened her eyes again, her gaze had returned to its usual calm and gentle state.

"Now that you know you're wrong, will you accept the punishment?"

Shen Jingque stole a glance at the bamboo ruler on the desk, gritted her teeth, and stretched out her hand.

Fine, as long as it appeases Father's anger, I'll hit him as many times as I want.

She tremblingly opened her palms upwards, her fair hands covered in sweat, her face showing a look of resignation.

"Father, if you're going to spank my hand, could you be a little gentler?"

"I still need to copy books, but my hand is too swollen to hold the pen."

Seeing that she was trying hard to suppress her fear, Shen Yan clenched and unclenched the ruler in his hand, but ultimately did not swing it.

"That's enough."

He tossed the ruler aside and waved wearily.

"Go and copy the book. Ten times the 'Standards for Being a Good Student and Child'. Finish copying it all by tomorrow evening, without missing a single word."

Shen Jingque's body went limp, and she almost collapsed to the ground.

More than 10,000 words!

She writes calligraphy slowly to begin with, and it's due tomorrow, so she has to work through the night to finish it!

She got up with a pained expression, dragged out a long "oh," and turned to go to the study.

Naturally, he missed the look of concern and heartache in his father's eyes behind him.

……

That night.

As night deepened, the chirping of insects outside the window continued intermittently.

After copying it once, Shen Jingque shook her sore hands.

Looking at the ink marks on the rice paper that resembled chicken claws scratching out, I was too ashamed to admit that these were my own words.

The first half was still barely recognizable as a character, but the second half had turned into a jumble of symbols, which looked quite like an exorcism.

She pressed her cheek against the pile of papers, frantically calling out to the system that could only play dead in her mind.

"001, you're out working, can't you be kind enough to copy and paste this for me?"

[System 001: Sorry, dear, this system does not provide secretarial services.]

"What use is this broken system to me? Other people's systems can tear apart the Heavenly Dao, or at the very least, they can give me a photographic memory skill."

"Why……"

She sighed again.

Green Calyx was grinding ink beside her, her face full of worry.

"Miss, ten times? Can you finish writing it tonight?"

"I don't know, I'll just copy as much as I can."

Then continue to work hard.

The chirping of insects outside the window was intermittent, and the light from the gauze lamp flickered twice in the night breeze.

Suddenly, the soft sound of a wheelchair rolling over the brick seams could be heard outside the courtyard gate.

The door opened.

Xuan Qi silently pushed Xiao Changgeng in.

When Shen Jingque saw him, she gave a weak smile.

"Big brother, what brings you here?"

She put down her pen, ran to Xiao Changgeng's side, squatted down, and touched his leg.

"How's the rehabilitation going? Master Ji said you can stand up for fifteen minutes now."

Xiao Changgeng did not answer, but looked at her fingers, which were red from being poked by the pen, with concern in his eyes.

"How much did you write?"

Shen Jingque extended one finger.

"Once."

Xiao Changgeng was silent for a moment, then said, "Can't we write it tomorrow?"

Shen Jingque clutched her head and wailed, "No way! It's due tomorrow evening, I have to finish at least half of it today—"

No sooner had he finished speaking than the door creaked open again.

A head popped in. "Little Sparrow?"

Xiao Changqi pushed open the door and entered, meeting Xiao Changgeng's gaze. Both of them were startled at the same time, "Big Brother?"

Xiao Changgeng nodded: "You've come too."

Xiao Changqi produced a food box from somewhere and held it up, saying, "I heard my sister was punished by copying lines, so I brought her some food."

As he spoke, he walked to the desk and flicked the pages that Shen Jingque had copied.

After looking at just two pictures, his expression became indescribable.

"Sparrow, if you hand in this character, won't the teacher faint on the spot?"

Shen Jingque covered her face with her hands and groaned in a muffled voice, "I'm going to faint if I keep copying like this! Writing with a brush is so hard!!!"

The two brothers looked up at each other and made the same decision without prior agreement.

"Bring me paper and pen."

Shen Jingque raised her head, a speck of ink on her forehead, her mind momentarily blank.

"what?"