latelenovela Chapter 11 Class
Chapter 11 Class
Ying Wuyou returned to her courtyard. She felt that the King of Qin was acting a bit strangely, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. Perhaps it was just one of his little quirks, so Ying Wuyou didn't think much of it. Casually placing a box of pills on her dressing table, Cui'er asked, "Princess, what wonderful things did His Majesty bestow upon you? Why did you leave them so casually?" Ying Wuyou replied casually, "They're pills."
"Ah, His Majesty actually gifted the Princess pills? I've heard that His Majesty values these pills very much and has never bestowed them upon anyone else, not even the eldest son! This is the first time the Princess has received them, which shows how much His Majesty truly cherishes her." Hearing Cui'er's words, Ying Wuyou wanted to refute but couldn't find the words, so she could only say to Cui'er, "You mustn't tell anyone about Father's gift of pills. If the ladies in the palace and my brothers and sisters find out, it will cause unnecessary trouble. If anyone asks, just say it's pastries, understand?" Seeing the Princess's serious expression, Cui'er quickly replied, "Don't worry, Princess, I will definitely keep my mouth shut." After saying that, Cui'er picked up the pill box, found a cabinet, and locked it, saying as she locked it, "It's better to lock it up. It wouldn't be good if such an important item were lost."
Watching Cui'er deftly lock the cabinet, Ying Wuyou said, "By the way, Father wants me to go to school tomorrow with my older brothers and sisters. Go and prepare." Cui'er happily replied, "This servant will go and prepare right away. Princess, you've really made it through! This servant is so happy for you." With that, she went off to prepare happily.
Ying Wuyou was also very happy. Although the body inside her was that of a 23-year-old adult who had graduated from university in her previous life, many characters in the Qin Dynasty were traditional characters, and Ying Wuyou did not recognize them all. Moreover, all her future ideas would require a certain level of knowledge. She couldn't just suddenly tell the King of Qin that she knew something without any basis; that would be very unusual. Therefore, the premise of all her plans was literacy. Then, she could say that she had seen it in an ancient book, so that everything would have a source. What a perfect reason!
At this moment, Lan'er entered, accompanied by two old nannies. She greeted Ying Wuyou, saying, "Princess, these are two nannies sent by the Madam. They said they're here to tailor clothes for you." Ying Wuyou nodded and said, "Alright." The two nannies took a ruler that looked like a discipline ruler and measured Ying Wuyou's clothes. They finished measuring in no time, and then Lan'er and her nannies withdrew.
After everyone left, Ying Wuyou remembered that he had always wanted to make a few chairs. In the Qin Dynasty, people had to kneel all the time, and his knees couldn't take it. Besides, once the chairs were made, he could send a few to the King of Qin, which would serve as free publicity—a way to make money! Thinking of this, Ying Wuyou chuckled to himself.
Even the system couldn't stand it anymore and mocked, "[Host, you really haven't seen anything good! A little money makes you grin like an idiot, have you forgotten? You're supposed to be the woman who changes the Qin Dynasty, and you're really interested in this little bit of money?]" Faced with the system's teasing, Ying Wuyou replied, "[You don't know anything. In my previous life, I was just a child from an ordinary family. Although I had enough to eat and wear, I never really ate anything good or wore anything nice. During university, I worked part-time to earn my living expenses. My dream back then was to open a small shop, but I didn't have the capital, and my parents thought opening a shop was shameful, so it never came true. Now, with this identity and this environment, my wish to make money is finally about to be fulfilled. Besides, is making money shameful? Not having money is shameful! And how can you change the Qin Dynasty without money? I'm too lazy to talk to you.]"
Seeing that Ying Wuyou was angry, the system didn't argue with him anymore and went back to sleep. Ying Wuyou ate dinner, took a walk, packed his necessities for school the next day, and then went to sleep as well.
The next day, after getting up early, Ying Wuyou took Cui'er and headed towards the palace school. The palace school was quite a distance from Ying Wuyou's courtyard, and it took him about half an hour to get there. The school was divided into small, medium, and large classes. Those who hadn't yet learned a thousand characters were in the small class, while the medium class had already started learning the Book of Rites and other classics, and the large class had started learning the Four Books and Five Classics.
Ying Wuyou arrived at a moderate pace, neither too early nor too late. Several classmates were already there when she arrived. Ying Wuyou had heard that the palace school not only housed members of the royal family but also children of high-ranking officials. They didn't greet her upon seeing her, as they didn't know her; they simply nodded to each other as a acquaintance. Soon, the other classmates arrived, and Ying Wuyou saw several older brothers and sisters, including the chubby Ying Gaoya and Ying Yunyuan. Ying Wuyou greeted them one by one and exchanged greetings with the others.
The teacher arrived shortly after. His hair was half-white, and a small tuft of white beard adorned his chin; he looked very serious. He entered and immediately began his lesson, regardless of whether the newcomer could keep up. Ying Wuyou listened very attentively throughout the class. Today, he learned five characters: "天 (heaven), 地 (earth), 人 (person), 国 (country), 家 (family)." These characters were simple for Ying Wuyou, but difficult for many children who had never learned to write before. Moreover, calligraphy was truly difficult to write, and it had to be written on bamboo slips. Ying Wuyou thought to himself: [I must make paper as soon as possible!] With these thoughts in mind, Ying Wuyou carefully began to write, holding the calligraphy brush.
The class ended quickly, and after assigning homework, the teacher left. Ying Wuyou followed her classmates to the next class, which was about martial arts. Since the children were all young, they started by practicing basic stances like the horse stance. The morning passed quickly, and after class, Ying Wuyou returned to her courtyard, utterly exhausted. Lan'er brought her some food, but Ying Wuyou only ate a few bites before feeling too full to eat anything else. All she wanted to do was lie down and sleep; her whole body ached.
After a short nap, Ying Wuyou was woken up by Cui'er, who said the instructor was arriving. Ying Wuyou quickly got up, washed up, and went to learn etiquette. The instructor was very strict; if a movement wasn't done perfectly, it had to be repeated until it was perfect. Ying Wuyou felt that afternoon was even more tiring than the morning's horse stance exercises. By the end of the day, Ying Wuyou felt like her bones were about to fall apart.
This reminded Ying Wuyou of the painful memories of her university military training: "Back then, their training was in September, the hottest time of year in the north. Wearing camouflage uniforms, the soles of their shoes were incredibly thin. The school was rebuilding the playground, so they had to train on a large concrete area. The concrete was scorching hot in the sun, and after standing there all day on the first day, my feet were swollen. Someone suggested using sanitary napkins as pads, so a group of us went to the supermarket and bought tons of them. They did help a lot the next day, but as the training went on, my feet swelled up even more. Every day after training, I would soak my feet in the dorm, crying as I did so, filling the whole building with my wailing. We trained for a full two weeks, in 35-degree Celsius heat every day, without a single rain. Ying Wuyou longed for rain every day, but it never rained, not even a cloudy day. Those days were truly painful yet exhilarating to recall."