Song Shuyu watched as the calligraphy she had painstakingly written was ruined in an instant.
Remembering that she still had texts left to memorize, Song Shuyu completely broke down.
"Waaah!" Song Shuyu burst into loud sobs.
Chunxiao hurriedly closed the window. "Princess, it's alright. This servant sees that another sheet of your calligraphy is also written very well. How about you submit that one?"
Hearing Chunxiao speak, Song Shuyu grabbed the paperweight at hand and hurled it right at her.
"It's all your fault! I was writing perfectly fine."
"If it weren't for you, it wouldn't have turned out like this!"
"Give me back my calligraphy!" Song Shuyu pointed her finger at Chunxiao, her face full of fury.
"Ah!" Chunxiao clutched the spot where she was hit and fell to her knees.
"Spare my life, Princess! Spare my life! This servant was wrong!"
Clattering and crashing, Song Shuyu smashed everything on the table onto Chunxiao's head.
Chunxiao lay prone on the ground, not daring to move an inch.
After venting her anger, Song Shuyu finally felt a bit better.
"Get up and clean this mess up!"
Song Shuyu ordered haughtily.
Chunxiao, still on the floor, carefully picked up all the scattered items and placed them back on the table.
Fortunately, the inkstone was too heavy for Song Shuyu to lift.
Otherwise, Chunxiao figured her little life would have been forfeit.
"Alright, I was in the wrong just now. Go out and clean yourself up."
"You don't need to keep the night watch tonight. Go and rest."
Having finished her tantrum, Song Shuyu remembered she needed to win over people's hearts.
"Yes." Chunxiao kept her head down and quickly walked out.
Song Shuyu tilted her head back, and her tears flowed like water from an opened floodgate.
Why was it so hard?
She didn't like studying!
She didn't like writing!
She wanted to go back to...
Song Shuyu's crying softened a bit.
No!
Grandmother had said that she absolutely must stay by the Prince of Ling's side.
Otherwise, she wouldn't acknowledge her as a granddaughter anymore.
Once the Prince of Ling ascended to the Emperor's throne, she would be the most noble princess in the world!
However, before becoming a princess, she had to complete her schoolwork.
Still crying, Song Shuyu sorted through the calligraphy she had just written, barely managing to find a sheet that wasn't too ugly.
"For my first time writing like this, I'm already doing great!" Song Shuyu cheered herself on.
Having comforted herself, Song Shuyu picked up her book and began to memorize the text.
The moment she opened the book, Song Shuyu was dumbfounded.
She didn't recognize two-thirds of the characters in the book.
"What was this character called again? Hu? Or Xi?"
Song Shuyu glared at the book on the table. The words began to blur and drift apart as her eyelids grew heavy.
Feeling drowsy, Song Shuyu lay her head on the table, planning to sleep for a little while before getting up to memorize the book.
But once asleep, Song Shuyu slept right through to the next morning.
"Knock, knock, knock! Princess, are you awake?"
Seeing that it was getting late, Chunxiao knocked on the door softly to ask.
Song Shuyu jolted awake. She looked around, a bit dazed.
"Princess, are you awake?" Outside the door, Chunxiao asked again.
If it weren't almost time to enter the palace for school, Chunxiao wouldn't have dared to ask a second time.
Last night, when she went out to clean herself up, she realized her forehead had been cut open.
She had gone to the kitchen to find some plant ashes to smear on the wound, and feeling dizzy, she returned to her room and fell asleep.
The other maids, knowing Song Shuyu's violent temper, didn't dare to enter the room carelessly.
This resulted in Song Shuyu sleeping slumped over the table for the entire night.
Fortunately, it was summer and the weather was warm.
"Come in!"
Song Shuyu let out a big yawn.
Chunxiao carefully pushed the door open and walked in, carrying a washbasin.
"Princess, the carriage is already waiting outside the manor gates."
Chunxiao set down the basin and, keeping her head lowered, came before Song Shuyu.
Since Song Shuyu had slept well, her mood naturally improved.
"Mhm." She hopped down from the chair to wash up and eat breakfast.
Until she left the house, she never even noticed the wound on Chunxiao's head.
In the carriage, Song Shuyu heard Xiao Yunning quietly asking Xiao Yunan about the characters in yesterday's text.
Song Shuyu broke into a smile.
So, she wasn't the only one who didn't know how to read them!
Seeing Song Shuyu's smile, Xiao Yunning got very angry.
"What right do you have to mock me? Country bumpkin!"
Song Shuyu shook her head. "You're a country bumpkin too!"
"I am not! I am the legitimate daughter of the Ling Prince's Manor! I am Princess Anning!"
"You're the country bumpkin, a wild seed! A little tramp!"
Xiao Yunning had been tortured to the point of breaking down by her homework yesterday.
She had spent the whole night trying to memorize her text, but still couldn't get it down.
After waking up this morning, Xiao Yunning realized she had forgotten the parts she managed to memorize yesterday.
Since she hadn't slept well last night to begin with, Xiao Yunning's temper was already highly irritable.
Now, seeing Song Shuyu acting like this, she completely lost control.
Anyway, it was just the few of them in the carriage today.
Xiao Yunning just let it all out.
Hearing Xiao Yunning insult her, Song Shuyu immediately refused to take it lying down.
"You're the wild seed! You're the little tramp!"
"Slap!"
A fierce slap landed heavily on Song Shuyu's face.
Xiao Yunan pulled his hand back.
"If you dare speak nonsense again, I'll smash your mouth to pieces!" Xiao Yunan stared at Song Shuyu gloomily.
Song Shuyu was terrified by Xiao Yunan's expression.
Clutching her face, she didn't even dare to cry out loud.
Smug, Xiao Yunning made a face at Song Shuyu.
"Blegh, I have a brother, and you don't!"
Xiao Yunan gave Xiao Yunning a tug. "Enough, you should speak less too."
"Hurry up and memorize your book, or beware of the Grand Tutor's spot checks later!"
Hearing this, Xiao Yunning instantly wilted.
"Brother, why do you think Imperial Grandfather wants me to go study?"
"Isn't it said that a woman's virtue lies in her lack of talent?"
"I don't like studying, and I don't like writing!"
Looking at the book in her hands, Song Shuyu felt her head throb with a massive headache.
Xiao Yunan also didn't understand the reason behind their Imperial Grandfather's actions.
However, his father had told him that their Imperial Grandfather never did anything without a purpose.
There must definitely be something more to this.
His father had urged him that he absolutely must stand out among these people and make their Imperial Grandfather look at him with new respect.
Last night, Xiao Yunan had studied until very late.
He closed his eyes, preparing to take a short nap.
Seeing her brother sleeping, Xiao Yunning simply tossed her textbook aside and closed her eyes to sleep as well.
Song Shuyu's tears flowed down silently.
She didn't have a brother, but she had a younger sister.
Little sister...
At the Pingyang Prince's Manor, Duoduo was cheerfully bidding farewell to her parents.
"Father, Mother, don't worry, I can do it by myself!"
Duoduo handed her book box to Lüdou behind her and climbed into the carriage with Nanny Li.
Su Xian looked worriedly in the direction the carriage was leaving. "My Prince, is it really okay that we aren't seeing her off?"
Xiao Yi gently patted the back of Su Xian's hand.
"Even if we did see her off, we could only take her as far as the palace gates."
"The rest of the path is one Duoduo must walk on her own."
"It's better to let go right from the start."
"Don't worry, Duoduo is not as fragile as you imagine."
