……
Afterward, Dantai Ji held Cui Huaiyin around the waist from behind, his eyes full of tenderness as he kissed her brows and eyes.
Cui Huaiyin was still panting. Nestled in Dantai Ji’s arms, she could barely even lift a hand to push him away.
All she could do was let Dantai Ji kiss her.
Seeing her like this, Dantai Ji chuckled and said hoarsely, “Don’t be afraid. I won’t touch you again.”
Cui Huaiyin glared at him, pretending she hadn’t heard a word.
Dantai Ji rubbed the tip of his nose against her soft hair. “Did Yaoyao have any trouble settling in at Wenchang Academy today?”
The moment her daughter was mentioned, Cui Huaiyin perked up. She lifted her head and said to Dantai Ji, “Yaoyao was praised by the Grand Tutor today.”
Dantai Ji raised his brows. “Really?”
“Of course. If you don’t believe me, go ask him yourself.”
Looking at Cui Huaiyin’s utterly serious expression, Dantai Ji couldn’t help laughing. He lowered his head and kissed her bright red lips again.
“Very well. Tomorrow, I’ll summon the Grand Tutor and ask him whether Yaoyao is truly as clever as you claim.”
Cui Huaiyin rolled over and tucked her head beneath the covers. “My daughter could never be anything less than excellent!”
Dantai Ji slipped an arm around her waist and drew closer.
“Of course. A daughter born of the two of us could never be anything less.”
Feeling the change behind her, Cui Huaiyin’s eyes widened. “You!”
“Be good. Just one last time……”
……
The next day.
Rongyao was once again pulled out of bed early in the morning.
Fortunately, she had gone to sleep early the night before, so getting up early was no trouble.
After gathering her things, Rongyao once again went to Wenchang Academy with her mother, holding her hand all the way there.
The Grand Tutor had assigned them lessons the day before: memorizing passages and practicing calligraphy.
The book was called The Young Learner’s Treasury. It was very, very long, and Rongyao had never seen it before. Fortunately, she was clever. She had read through it several times before bed and committed it all to memory. She had reviewed it once more after getting up that morning, so she certainly wouldn’t forget it.
As for calligraphy, she had practiced for a long time after her meal the previous day and had managed to write several neat characters!
The Grand Tutor would surely praise her when he saw them!
Rongyao arrived at Wenchang Academy full of excitement. After saying goodbye to her mother, she entered the academy and found her seat.
She took out the characters she had practiced the day before and laid them across the desk. Then she picked up her brush, dipped it in ink, and began practicing again.
If she wrote a few more good characters, the Grand Tutor would certainly praise her a few more times.
She had to surpass Princess Shengping not only in memorization, but in calligraphy as well!
She diligently filled two sheets of paper before the Grand Tutor finally arrived.
With his hands clasped behind his back, he entered the room at an unhurried pace.
The students bowed to him, then sat upright in their places, their backs perfectly straight.
The Grand Tutor said little. After sweeping his gaze over the room, he began checking their assignments.
He started with the oldest student, the Heir of Prince Rui, followed by the Heir of Prince Guang……
The two heirs were both nervous, but in the end, each managed to complete the task the Grand Tutor had assigned the previous day.
Soon, it was Princess Shengping Tantai Yu’s turn.
Princess Shengping rose with perfect posture and answered every question the Grand Tutor put to her without the slightest mistake.
The Grand Tutor set down his book and nodded with satisfaction. “Princess Shengping is indeed exceptionally clever. Very good! Very good! In just half a day, you have mastered the entire first volume of Poems of a Thousand Families. You’ve improved tremendously since yesterday.”
Shengping lifted her chin slightly and smiled. “Grand Tutor, I haven’t merely memorized the first volume of Poems of a Thousand Families. I’ve also memorized quite a few poems from the second volume.”
The Grand Tutor looked up in surprise. “Truly?”
“Indeed.”
The Grand Tutor picked up the book from the desk again and said eagerly, “Then I shall test you on the first ten poems of the second volume.”
Shengping’s smile stiffened slightly. She lowered her head and said, “I’ve only memorized five of them.”
Grand Tutor: “That is already excellent. Then I’ll question you on those first five.”
Shengping’s expression still did not relax much. She could only nod bravely.
The Grand Tutor opened the book and selected a poem. “It is getting late, so I shall not make things difficult for you, Princess Shengping. Recite the fifth poem of the second volume.”
Shengping’s expression changed. She began, “Tall among a thousand peaks, the precious torches stand in solemn ranks; the Vermilion Gate, the Vermilion Gate……”
She stopped for a long while, unable to continue.
The Grand Tutor waited patiently. He neither interrupted nor scolded her, though a trace of disappointment flashed through his eyes.
“Princess Shengping, it is good to be eager to study. But if you have not fully mastered something, you should not exaggerate your accomplishments before others. Otherwise, you will only embarrass yourself.”
Princess Shengping Tantai Yu’s face turned crimson. Clutching the book tightly, she lowered her head and said, “This student understands. I will not do so again.”
“Sit down.”
Shengping returned to her seat and lowered her head, her fingers digging into her palms.
The Grand Tutor no longer looked at the embarrassed Princess Shengping. Instead, he turned his attention to Princess Fuxi.
“Princess Fuxi, did you complete everything I assigned yesterday?”
Rongyao hurriedly stood up. She first handed the calligraphy copybooks she had written the day before to the Grand Tutor, then stood quietly at the side.
The Grand Tutor looked at the large characters on the desk. They were still far from worthy of praise, but as he continued turning the pages, his brows gradually relaxed.
This child must have worked extremely hard. Each page was better than the last.
As he examined them, he nodded and said, “Not bad. But this is still far from enough. From now on, you must practice every day and never grow complacent.”
Rongyao’s eyes lit up, and she nodded. “Fuxi understands!”
The Grand Tutor stroked his beard with satisfaction, then asked in a deliberately stern tone, “Have you memorized the first chapter of The Young Learner’s Treasury?”
Rongyao immediately closed the book and nodded. “This student has committed the entire book to memory.”
The Grand Tutor sat down in a high-backed chair nearby. “Then recite it for everyone.”
Without the slightest hesitation, Rongyao began:
“When chaos first opened, Heaven and Earth were established. The light and pure qi rose and floated above to become Heaven; the heavy and turbid qi sank and congealed below to become Earth…… The Ji constellation delights in wind, while the Bi constellation delights in rain, just as common people differ in their wishes and desires. The tiger follows the wind, and the dragon follows the clouds, just as ruler and ministers meet in harmony. When rain and sunshine arrive at the proper times, it is an auspicious sign; when Heaven and Earth unite in harmony, it is called a prosperous age.”
The first chapter of The Young Learner’s Treasury, “The Heavens,” began with “When chaos first opened, Heaven and Earth were established” and ended with “When Heaven and Earth unite in harmony, it is called a prosperous age.”
The Grand Tutor was thoroughly pleased.
He had never expected Princess Fuxi to memorize the entire lengthy chapter in half a day. When he himself had been young, it had taken him a full day to master the first chapter of the first volume, “The Heavens.”
Even if Princess Fuxi had not managed to memorize the whole chapter, he would not have blamed her. Yet she had far exceeded his expectations. Princess Fuxi was much more intelligent than he had imagined.
When he heard Rongyao recite the final sentence of “The Heavens”—“When Heaven and Earth unite in harmony, it is called a prosperous age”—the Grand Tutor smiled and rose to his feet, ready to lavish her with praise.
Who could have expected that after finishing the final sentence of “The Heavens,” Princess Fuxi would show no intention of stopping?
She continued reciting:
“The Yellow Emperor marked out the land, thereby beginning the division of capitals and cities. Yu the Great controlled the floods, thereby first establishing the mountains and rivers. The rivers and mountains of the universe remain unchanged, while the names by which they are known have differed throughout the ages……”
The Grand Tutor’s eyes flew wide open. The longer he listened, the wider they grew.
This was……the second chapter of The Young Learner’s Treasury, “Geography”!
Princess Fuxi had actually memorized both the first chapter, “The Heavens,” and the second chapter, “Geography,” in only half a day!
What a prodigy! What a prodigy!
What the Grand Tutor had not expected was that this was only the beginning.
By the time Rongyao had recited the final lines of the second chapter—“When no one picks up what has been dropped in the streets, it is because those in power govern well; when the seas are calm and the waves still, it is because the Middle Kingdom has a sage”—she had yet to stop. Instead, she began reciting the third chapter, “The Seasons”!
“One firecracker heralds the end of the old year, while a thousand households hang new peach-wood charms upon their gates. ‘The beginning of the year’ refers to the first day of the New Year; ‘the Day of Man’ refers to the auspicious seventh day. On New Year’s Day, one offers the ruler a Pepper Blossom Ode to wish him a long life; on New Year’s Day, one serves others Tusu wine to ward off plague. The new year is called the King’s Spring, while the past year is called the Guest Year…”
“Praying in spring and giving thanks in autumn are the farmer’s customary observances; retiring at night and rising before dawn are the duties of the diligent. The bloom of youth does not return, so we must cherish every moment; as the sun and moon hasten onward, men of resolve should rise early and await the dawn.”
Immediately afterward came the fifth chapter, “The Court,” the sixth, “Civil Officials,” and the seventh, “Military Offices”!
All seven chapters of the first volume of The Juvenile’s Treasury of Learning had been recited by Rongyao without missing a single word.
At first, the Grand Tutor was shocked. Then he was overcome by indescribable astonishment. By the end, he had even taken out a book, opened it to the proper page, and listened while following along line by line.
After reciting the entire first volume—seven chapters in all—Rongyao finally stopped.
Even without a single stumble, reciting all seven chapters fluently had taken her more than half an hour.
Once Rongyao fell silent, the room was utterly still.
It was quiet enough to hear a needle drop.
The Grand Tutor breathed heavily with excitement, his eyes fixed on Rongyao with an eagerness he had never shown before.
“You… Princess Fuxi, you actually memorized all of that! I told you to recite one chapter, not an entire volume! You memorized every single one. You—you… Did you truly memorize all this yesterday?”
Rongyao blinked. “Yes.”
The Grand Tutor’s eyes widened. He clutched his chest in agitation and looked at Rongyao with an expression that defied description.
Yesterday, he had assumed that Princess Fuxi’s ability to recite those books was entirely due to the excellence of her elders’ instruction. Although Princess Fuxi had spent her childhood outside the palace, she had an uncle who was this year’s second-ranked candidate in the palace examination. He was clearly a man of great learning and, in answering Princess Fuxi’s requests, likely held her to exceptionally high standards.
The Grand Tutor had thought that Princess Fuxi’s aptitude for study was simply the result of being influenced by that newly appointed second-ranked scholar.
But today, Princess Fuxi had recited the entire first volume of The Juvenile’s Treasury of Learning with such ease! Seven full chapters. For an ordinary person, memorizing even one chapter would take an entire day.
Yet Princess Fuxi had mastered the whole volume in less than half a day!
There were so many characters! Just looking at them was enough to make an old man’s eyes swim.
If Princess Fuxi had been his own grandson, he would have been willing to die on the spot, content beyond measure.
The Grand Tutor steadied his breathing. He had countless things he wanted to say, but in the end, he uttered only one sentence:
“Fuxi is a prodigy indeed.”
It was not only the Grand Tutor who was stunned. The several heirs and princesses attending his lesson were equally astounded.
The Heir of Prince Guang said, “That was so many characters! Princess Fuxi, how did you manage to remember them all so clearly? I memorize one sentence only to forget the next. There’s no way I could keep all that in my head.”
The Heir of Prince Rui said, “I—I haven’t even finished memorizing the first chapter of The Juvenile’s Treasury of Learning. If Father learns that Princess Fuxi has memorized the entire first volume, he’ll certainly force me to study for another half an hour every day.”
Prince Rui’s Second Son said, “S-so amazing. Princess Fuxi is even more impressive than Princess Shengping.”
Meanwhile, Princess Shengping, Tantai Yu, stared at Rongyao with a deathly pale face.
She was truly that clever!
