"Great, great! Let’s start right now, then," Qian Zhuye said eagerly.

"Um... there’s no need to be in such a hurry. Another day, I’ll draw up a primer for you to look at first."

"Alright. I’ll copy all fifteen of the assignments from the teacher’s punishment for you."

Ye Qianning was delighted to hear this, but also felt a little embarrassed. "That’s twenty-five in total... Can you finish them all today?"

"It’s fine. I’ll just stay after class. It’s not like I haven’t been kept for detention before," Qian Zhuye said chivalrously.

Ye Qianning was touched. ’This little guy is so much better than that old man.’

"You still want to change the writing style?" Sang Zhi was still fixated on this.

"Something like that."

"That’s preposterous. And if the wrong people were to find out, do you realize such talk could lead to disaster?" Sang Zhi was dead serious. To him, changing the script was as momentous as overthrowing a dynasty.

"You’re making a big deal out of nothing. It’s easier on my eyes, so I’ll write however I please."

"You need to remember that disaster stems from a careless tongue."

"The Capital City is so much trouble. It would be easier to just take over a mountain and become a bandit."

Sang Zhi’s face darkened. "You want to be a bandit?"

"If I really became a bandit, I’d haul you up to my mountain stronghold and make you my chieftain’s wife," Ye Qianning joked.

Sang Zhi froze. His dark, little face instantly flushed red. "You’re utterly absurd."

"Who’s being absurd? You’re the one who insisted on arguing with me."

"You...! Hmph." Sang Zhi put away his calligraphy brush, grabbed his rice paper, and stormed out.

"..."

’He’s angry?’

Ye Qianning was speechless again. He was the one who had to be so serious about everything; she wasn’t even mad.

"Miss Xiang, he’s the Eighth Prince, you know," Qian Zhuye said with a TSK.

"So what if he’s the Eighth Prince?"

"You... it’s just... How could you say you’d kidnap him and make him your chieftain’s wife?" Qian Zhuye’s little face was turning red too.

"It was just a joke." Ye Qianning turned to see his little face had also gone red, and the corner of her own mouth twitched.

’It was just the heat of the moment...’

"Still, you can’t just say that... The Eighth Prince is a boy."

"And what’s wrong with him being a boy?"

"There’s no such thing as a male chieftain’s wife..."

"...I can’t explain it to you. Here, just focus on copying." Ye Qianning pushed the rice paper toward him and stood up.

"Where are you going?"

"To eat."

"Didn’t we just eat?"

"I’m still hungry."

Qian Zhuye: "..."

’She eats so much!’

Ye Qianning felt there was no point trying to explain it to them. ’But,’ she thought, ’I can still use the simplified script. In the future, if I need to send secret messages, no one but my own people will be able to read them easily.’

She stretched lazily, walked out of the study hall, then paused and headed toward the back of the building.

Behind the study hall, a small figure was pressing an ear to the wall, listening. When the noise inside died down, he was just about to stand up when a pair of small feet appeared right in front of him.

He looked up numbly, and the sight of a very large, very fat figure looming over him made him fall right on his butt in fright.

Ye Qianning folded her little arms across her chest and looked down at him. ’This kid has been furtively following me all the way from the dining hall. He’s been squatting here listening for a while now.’

"Gao Qi?"

"Wh-what do you want?"

A smile played on Ye Qianning’s lips. ’This kid really is different,’ she thought. ’There’s something wrong with him.’

"What are you looking at?" Gao Qi glared at her as he scrambled up from the ground. He wasn’t much taller than Ye Qianning.

"I hear you’ve been asking around about me. What for? Looking to get revenge for your father?" Ye Qianning eyed his small frame. "If you want revenge, you should bring your family’s guards. You’re too small."

’There’s already something wrong with him,’ she thought. ’If I can’t hold back and end up crippling him, that would be bad.’

Gao Qi stood his ground without answering, his eyes scanning Ye Qianning from head to toe.

Ye Qianning was completely baffled. ’Logically, after what I did to his father, shouldn’t he be trying to fight me to the death?’

’He doesn’t seem angry at all. What is he looking at?’