The Residence of the Princess.
Shen Heqing casually took out a topic for a political essay and handed it to Yan Mingli, asking him to write an essay on the spot according to the topic.
Yan Mingli slowly took the topic, his whole demeanor showing resistance. When he saw the topic, his face was full of bitterness. He just gave up and said, "I don't know how to do this."
"If I were good at this, I wouldn't have failed to pass the scholar examination."
At first, the Prince of Rui had high hopes for Yan Mingli and specially invited Li Xingzhi to teach him. Even though Li Xingzhi supervised him day and night, Yan Mingli still made no progress. He seemed to be born unsuited for reading, always half a beat slower.
Shen Heqing knew that Yan Mingli was poor at studying, but he didn't expect him to be this bad. He took back the topic and replaced it with an easier one.
Seeing that Yan Mingli still looked bitter, Shen Heqing silently retrieved the topic. He took out an essay he had written himself and asked Yan Mingli to copy it.
Thanks to Li Xingzhi's day - and - night supervision, Yan Mingli had beautiful handwriting. He nervously copied it, but made many mistakes due to his nervousness.
Shen Heqing glanced at it. Amid Yan Mingli's nervousness, instead of being strict, he gently patted Yan Mingli on the shoulder and said, "Your handwriting is quite good, but you just haven't read enough books. Take these two books. I copied them myself, and there are my annotations on them. You can read them in your spare time."
"I know you're not good at studying. I'm not deliberately making things difficult for you. It's just that Baozhu and Qiuqiu are still young and like to imitate the people around them. If you don't study, they might learn from you and become lazy."
Having seen Shen Heqing being strict with Shen Baozhu and the Fourth Prince, Yan Mingli thought he would be scolded. Unexpectedly, Shen Heqing not only didn't scold him but was so gentle.
Yan Mingli was extremely excited and listened carefully to every word Shen Heqing said. When Shen Heqing said the last sentence, he was completely convinced and said shamefacedly, "I've been too lazy."
Shen Heqing still said gently, "It doesn't matter. You can get up half an hour earlier to study from now on. I don't expect you to achieve great success in learning. As long as Baozhu and Qiuqiu can take you as an example."
"Put the books back first."
Yan Mingli's room was just next door. He went back with the books in high spirits and was determined to get up half an hour earlier to study!
Watching Yan Mingli's back, Shen Minghua picked up the paper Yan Mingli had copied and wondered, "The handwriting is better than mine, but there are too many copying mistakes. He's so careless. Brother Heqing, are you just going to let him off like this?"
Shen Heqing didn't answer. He carefully selected four books from the bookshelf behind him and placed them on the desk.
When Yan Mingli came back after putting away the books, Shen Heqing, using the excuse that the room was too small, asked him to come to his study to read.
Yan Mingli almost exclaimed and completely forgot about Shen Heqing's strictness. "Really? Okay, I promise I won't touch anything randomly."
Regarding Yan Mingli's promise, Shen Heqing just smiled and said, "It doesn't matter. When you're free, you can look through the books on the table. These four books are the ones I've been reading recently."
After solving the problem of Yan Mingli's dislike of studying, Shen Heqing and Shen Baozhu got on the little phoenix.
The last time Shen Baozhu and the Princess Jingning left, they did it quietly.
But this time, except for Qiuqiu who had gone home, everyone else was watching in the yard.
Chen Miaochun and Chen Ruxia had been busy for several days before they finally found out from the old Marquis Yong'an where that sum of money was. Chen Miaochun felt that she had neglected Yan Mingli for a long time, so she deliberately set aside the next few days and planned to spend some time alone with him.
She walked up to Yan Mingli and asked, "I'm free these days. What about you?"
"Really? Then let's study together!" Yan Mingli replied without hesitation.
Chen Miaochun took a few steps back and looked at Yan Mingli in surprise. "Are you possessed by a ghost?"
Rarely were those people in the poetry club all busy, so she could have a few easy days. She would never study, absolutely not, unless Shen Heqing was at home.
Seeing that Chen Miaochun was not willing, Yan Mingli quickly changed his words. "I'm free too. Then let's take the Fourth Prince out for a stroll and buy you some clothes and accessories by the way."
As long as it wasn't studying, Chen Miaochun thought it was okay. Moreover, she quite liked the Fourth Prince, so she nodded in agreement.
Xu Yutang was standing with Chen Ruxia. She whispered, "Ruxia, the Prime Minister Sima sent a message saying that his daughter is about to return to the capital. What do you think I should give her as a gift?"
It took Chen Ruxia a while to react. The Prime Minister Sima's daughter was Xu Yutang's new step - mother. "I remember you can embroider. Embroider two handkerchiefs or round fans by hand."
"Wait, I have a jade pendant of good quality. You take the jade pendant and add a tassel to it. It'll be precious and show your sincerity. How about that?"
Xu Yutang didn't know much about these things, so she just listened to whatever Chen Ruxia said.
In the corner, Shen Haiyan said to Shen Minghua, "Shen Heqing is so cunning. He saw that Yan Mingli responds better to kindness than harshness, so he coaxed Yan Mingli into studying without ruining his position in Yan Mingli's heart."
Shen Minghua admired Shen Heqing very much. He thought Shen Haiyan was overthinking and changed the topic. "Where do you think the old hag hid the imperial edict and the secret letter? If I set the old mansion on fire, will the imperial edict and the secret letter be burned?"
Shen Haiyan was shocked. He had even forgotten about this. If Shen Heqing had left now, who would try to get information from the old hag?
He subconsciously looked up. The sky was dotted with stars, and there was no sign of the little phoenix.
...
In the Kingdom of Xiangyun.
The military advisor placed a booklet in front of General Mu and said proudly, "Take a look. What is this!"
General Mu picked up the booklet, flipped through a few pages casually, and seeing the dates written on it, he stuffed it into the hands of the Princess Jingning. "I'm too lazy to read. Lanyue, help me take a look."
The Princess Jingning carefully read it through. It was the ledger of the treasury of the Kingdom of Xiangyun. There were all kinds of things in it, such as the tribute tea, precious porcelain, and even the toys of children from the common people in Dayong. These things had different prices, but they all ended up in the treasury of the Kingdom of Xiangyun.
"General, you'll never guess what this is!" The military advisor said confidently and let General Mu guess several times. "This is the real ledger of the things Shen Yunfeng sold!"
At the mention of Shen Yunfeng, General Mu became a bit interested. "The real ledger? Is there a fake one? Can I kill Shen Yunfeng now with this ledger?"
The military advisor was choked by General Mu's words. He said unhappily, "What do you think? If you kill Shen Yunfeng now, Xiang Yunrou will fight you, and then the people of the Kingdom of Xiangyun will cause trouble."
"Now Xiang Yunrou is helping us keep Shen Yunfeng in check. You should give her some face and let Shen Yunfeng live a few more days."
"The fake ledger is the one I got before. There's not much difference between the two ledgers, except that the amounts and items are a bit off."
"For example, the tribute tea is not in the fake ledger because a small official took it to give as a gift."
"To put it simply, the small official and Shen Yunfeng reached an agreement to falsely report the prices of the items, make a profit from the price difference, and split it between them."