Su Xian came to her senses at that moment.
"Lianxin, find a discreet person to go and sound out the steward," she said.
"See how the physician he summoned today came to be here."
"Try to ask for as many details as possible," Su Xian instructed.
"Yes, ma'am. I'll go myself," Lianxin replied, reading the gravity of the situation from her mistress's expression.
"No, you can't go!" Duoduo shook her head. "Send an old maid or a young servant girl instead."
Lianxin understood. "Yes, ma'am. I see."
Duoduo nodded. "Mother, I need to head to the Imperial Academy now."
"Alright, go quickly. You don't want to be late," Su Xian said, noticing the time was running late as she stood up.
Duoduo jumped down from her chair and hurried away.
Because of yesterday's incident, the carriage driver today had an extra companion, and the carriage itself had been replaced with a specially made one they had prepared when entering the capital.
This carriage was both spacious and smooth, and Duoduo liked it very much.
The carriage stopped outside the palace.
Qingliu and Lüdou followed behind Duoduo as they entered the palace together.
Walking along, Duoduo observed Qingliu. She noticed that Qingliu kept her head down, her eyes fixed straight ahead, without the slightest hint of being a first-time visitor to the palace.
Duoduo remembered that when she and Lüdou first entered the palace, they couldn't help sneaking glances around.
Headmistress Li had warned them several times before they managed to restrain themselves a little.
"Qingliu, have you been to the palace before?" Duoduo asked casually.
Qingliu quickly stepped forward to walk beside Duoduo.
"Replying to the Princess, I have never entered the palace. It's just that yesterday, Headmistress Li instructed me on the proper conduct."
"Oh," Duoduo said, nodding.
Qingliu stepped back and walked side by side with Lüdou.
The three walked in silence until they were almost at the gates of the Imperial Academy.
Duoduo turned around. "Lüdou, wait outside with Qingliu."
As she spoke, Duoduo gave Lüdou a meaningful glance, and Lüdou nodded.
Duoduo stepped into the Academy, while Lüdou led Qingliu to a corridor to chat.
As soon as Duoduo entered the classroom, she noticed that Xiao Yunming and Song Shuyu had not arrived yet.
Xiao Yun'an sat in his seat alone, his face dark and brooding.
Duoduo saw that when Xiao Yun'an noticed her enter, he glared at her with venom.
But Duoduo wasn't frightened at all. She walked in openly and fearlessly.
In the circumstances of yesterday, Duoduo's first instinctive thought about the attacker's identity was that he was someone from Prince Ling's faction.
That was why she had deliberately boarded the carriage of Prince Ling's household.
At the time, she had intended to use Xiao Yun'an's status as the heir to drive the attackers away.
But she had not guessed that the attackers would be someone else entirely.
In the end, what happened to Xiao Yunming was not her fault—she hadn't asked him to leave.
Even if someone had to be blamed, it could only be Xiao Yunming's own bad luck!
In the past, the one who would have gotten off the carriage would have been Song Shuyu.
So it seemed that Song Shuyu had some luck on his side after all.
If yesterday's victim had been Song Shuyu, perhaps none of the subsequent events would have happened.
Duoduo sat down in her seat.
She had just placed her book case on the floor when Xiao Yunshi beside her leaned in.
"I heard you ran into some thugs yesterday?" Xiao Yunshi said with a nosy look.
Duoduo glanced at him. "Where did you hear that?"
Xiao Yunshi paused, then laughed boldly. "It's all over the capital, isn't it?"
Duoduo shot him another look. "Then why are you still asking me?"
Seeing Duoduo looking at him as if he were an idiot, Xiao Yunshi let out a "hmph."
"I'm just concerned because we're classmates."
Duoduo pressed her lips together. "Then thank you very much."
She took out yesterday's assignments and placed them on the desk, as the Grand Tutor would be checking them later.
Seeing that Duoduo only offered a brief thanks before falling silent, Xiao Yunshi's eyes darted around, and he stubbornly leaned in again.
"Changle, let me have a look at the jade pendant that Imperial Grandfather rewarded you with."
Duoduo shot him a sidelong glance and pretended not to hear.
From not far ahead, Xiao Yunchuan let out a sarcastic laugh.
"Some people have no shame, trying to trick a child into giving them things!"
Xiao Yunshi's face instantly reddened. He stood up to defend himself.
"Xiao Yunchuan, you're talking nonsense!"
"When did I ever try to trick Changle out of anything? I was just curious and wanted to see it!"
"I'm not like some people who try to exchange their own worthless jade for Imperial Grandfather's pendant!"
Hearing Xiao Yunshi attacking him, Xiao Yunchuan grew annoyed.
"Oh? I at least offered a jade pendant in return. What about you? You want to get something for nothing!"
Seeing the two about to clash again, Duoduo sighed in exasperation and buried her face in her hands, covering her ears.
These boys were utterly tiresome.
If they had any real courage, they would go outside and settle it with a fight. Instead, they bickered all day like old women at the market!
So annoying!
Duoduo was getting irritated.
The quarrel between Xiao Yunshi and Xiao Yunchuan soon escalated into a row between two factions.
The classroom turned as loud as a market square.
"Bang!"
A sudden loud noise brought the whole room to an abrupt silence.
Even though Duoduo had her ears covered, she was startled.
She turned her head and looked at Xiao Che on her right.
His desk had toppled to the floor, and Xiao Che stood with his arms crossed, sneering at the warring factions.
"So noisy!"
"Want to fight? Go outside!"
"Want a jade pendant? Go ask the emperor yourself!"
"If you can't manage that, kneel down and beg me—I'll go get one for you!"
Xiao Che's impatient voice cut through the quiet room with unusual clarity.
The companions of Xiao Yunchuan and Xiao Yunshi quickly pulled the two back to their seats.
Duoduo breathed a sigh of relief.
Finally, some peace.
"As for you—the early bird catches the worm! You'd better watch yourself!"
Duoduo turned her head curiously and saw Xiao Che looking at her with disdain.
The classmate sitting in front of Xiao Che helped set his desk upright again.
Without even a word of thanks, Xiao Che lay back down and closed his eyes.
Duoduo stared at the back of his head, where his hair was tied up, and muttered under her breath:
Mind your own business!
It wasn't as if she wanted to stand out—trouble came looking for her.
Was it wrong for her to fight back?
If she hadn't defended herself, she would have been the one to suffer. Who would have pitied her then?
Easy for him to say, sitting there without any pain!
No wonder he was destined to die young!
Hmph, serves him right!
After muttering to herself, Duoduo turned her head back to look at her textbook.
She decided to find a way to change seats.
She had her eye on the far-left corner.
She needed to think of a way to move to that inconspicuous corner.
Being sandwiched between Xiao Yunshi and Xiao Che was far too troublesome.
No wonder no one had taken that seat in the first place.
What Duoduo didn't notice was that Xiao Che, who seemed to be sleeping on his desk, wasn't asleep at all.
