Her guards

Chapter 37 Come and see
"Why did you become a bodyguard?"

This was probably the longest time Ling Yu's eyes had been away from the book; he hadn't looked at the book since he started talking to the boy.

Mo Zheng said, "I just want to make a living."

Ling Yu frowned: "Is your cousin unwilling to support you?"

He put his hand on his waist, as if searching for something.

Mo Zheng laughed and reached out to press his hand down: "Senior brother, why are you still like this? I do like reading, but if I have to rely on someone to support me to read, then I might as well not read at all."

Back then, Lingyu always saw that child hiding under the window listening to the lessons and writing on the ground with a twig. He listened attentively and wrote neatly, and he was very quiet. So Lingyu invited him inside to listen to the lessons and read.

The child shook his head. "My family has no money."

Schools charge tuition fees, and writing implements like pens, ink, paper, and inkstones also cost money.

For Ling Yu, a wealthy young master, studying was the most important thing; money was not important. He took off his money pouch and handed it to the child.

The child stepped back, looking surprised. "How can you use other people's money to study? It's a disgrace to education!"

Ling Yu, a rich young master in his teens, didn't understand this sentence, but Ling Yu, who was still a rich young master at twenty, could understand it.

Not everyone is like him, born to study.

Most people are born to live.

“I’m not here to pay for your education,” he said. “Aren’t you a guard? I’ll hire you as a guard.”

He looked down at the boy's hand that was pressing down on his.

The boy's hands looked fair and soft to the touch, but you could feel the roughness in his fingertips. This was probably the result of the hardships he had endured for survival. These hands couldn't just be used for writing and turning pages.

Mo Zheng smiled again, gently patted Ling Yu's slender and smooth hand, and withdrew it.

“In the capital, right under the emperor’s nose, what do you, a scholar of the Five Classics, need guards for?” she said, then smiled. “This young lady has been kind to me, and I am repaying that kindness by protecting her for a while.”

Ling Yu responded with an "oh," glanced at him, and asked with a shifty look in her eyes, "How well does this young lady know?"

Mo Zheng touched her chin with her fingers: "Hmm..."

……

.......
"Ladies, you've worked hard."

The written characters were collected one by one by the palace maids, and the instructor standing in front said solemnly.

"Next, we will test your understanding of the scriptures."

As they spoke, the five teachers entered the hall, holding up sheets of paper, each with a passage of scripture written on it.

"These are from the Five Classics. Ladies, please choose the questions you wish to answer."

The women in the hall all looked at the papers in the instructors' hands, nervously deliberating and repeatedly choosing the ones they were good at.

Yang Luo didn't actually need to look; she already knew which one Yang Hui had chosen. Thinking of this, she glanced at Yang Hui, only to see that she hadn't looked up but had already spread out the paper and picked up her pen to write...

Huh? Doesn't she need to choose? How come she seems to have known what she was going to write all along?
Noticing the gaze, Yang Hui looked over warily and used her sleeve to cover her papers.

“Miss Fuzhou, write your own,” she said softly.

Yang Luo smiled and said, "Miss Yang, you're overthinking it." Then she looked away.

She had already copied it, and she copied it better and more skillfully.

As each girl chose what to write, the noise gradually subsided, and the girls either pondered or picked up their pens to write.

The princesses ahead also need to write.

Princess Heping, as always, wrote steadily, while Princess Wuyang gritted her teeth in resentment, Princess Nangong looked distressed and resentful, and Princess Shengping had tears in her eyes, saying, "I don't understand these things."

An instructor handed over a scroll: "Princess, just copy one article."

Princess Shengping rubbed her wrist reluctantly, saying, "Being a princess is too hard."

……

.......
Passing through the covered corridor, we arrived at a palace with the words "Cold Smoke" written on it in a flamboyant style.

This is where the students of the Chinese Academy attend classes.

However, since it was not class time, the students were either in their residences or in the library, so the place seemed quite empty, with only seven or eight people talking loudly.

Ling Yu stood in front of the palace gate and coughed softly.

The people inside the hall looked over, the murmurs ceased, and the two who were sitting stood up.

"Third Senior Brother." They bowed respectfully.

Although these people ranged in age from young to old, age was not the determining factor within the sect.

The headmaster, Wang Zaitian, had taken in six disciples. Ling Yu had been studying under Wang Zaitian since childhood and was the third in the sect. Ling Yu nodded and walked in, looking at two men in their thirties: "Fifth Junior Brother, Sixth Junior Brother, are you here today to judge the selection of the princess's companions on behalf of our teacher?"

The two disciples nodded.

As the head of the Imperial Academy, Wang Zaitian only teaches once a month, so he doesn't concern himself with these trivial matters.

Of the other six disciples, they were either officials or teachers, leaving only the three of them in the Imperial Academy. Ling Yu was a bookworm, so naturally no one could get him to do anything.

"What are your orders, Third Senior Brother?" the two asked.

Ling Yu sat down on a futon nearby: "I had nothing to do, so I came to take a look."

"Nothing to do?" The two disciples exchanged a surprised glance. Did Ling Yu ever have anything to do? Didn't Ling Yu claim that he spent all his time reading?
Ling Yu didn't explain further, and a boy stood silently behind him.

Only then did the people inside notice him. They saw that the boy had his head lowered, and they could only see his small, thin face.

Are you a student?

There are many students at the National Academy, and it's impossible for them to know everyone.

However, what kind of student could follow Ling Yu, who always keeps to himself?
……

.......
A loud drumbeat shattered the silence of the room, igniting a cacophony of noise.

"Wow, how did it go so fast!"

"I haven't finished writing yet."

The instructors simply said, "Don't worry, ladies, we'll take as many as we can." They then went around collecting the papers one by one.

Some people were reluctant to hand it in, but fearing that the watchful palace maids would record it as a sign of poor character, they had no choice but to hand it in.

Yang Luo looked at the article that filled a whole page and let out a soft sigh.

After recalling the events of the past few days, she wrote out the best piece she had ever written in her previous life.

"You've written quite a bit," Yang Hui remarked, glancing over from the side.

Yang Luo glanced at her, then raised her sleeve to cover herself.

Yang Hui looked embarrassed and annoyed: "Who wants to see yours?" She unfolded her test paper with both hands and handed it to the teacher who came over.

Yang Luo then handed it in as well.

The instructors collected them quickly.

"Ladies, you've worked hard," the palace maid said with a smile. "Please take a rest."

Palace maids filed in, bringing snacks and tea, as well as chessboards, pitch-pot games, shuttlecocks, and other utensils.

"Everyone can have fun."

While it was supposed to be amusement, it was also a time for the palace women to begin observing the women's speech, behavior, temperament, and personality.

The women in the hall did not relax; they began to show off.

Yang Luo wasn't worried. She wasn't someone who had just come from the countryside. She had been nurtured in the Ding'an Duke's Mansion for five years and was already a standard young lady from a prominent family. Moreover, these were all supplementary candidates to be selected by the National Academy. The most crucial factor was still the National Academy's judgment.

Her gaze followed the teachers who walked out holding their answer sheets, and she clasped her hands together in front of her.

She didn't know what the outcome would be, but she did her best.

The rest is up to luck.

Hopefully, she'll have better luck this time.

……

……

Inside the Hanyan Hall, the instructors placed two stacks of scrolls on the table.

Besides his two disciples, Ling Yu also sat down.

He sat down, and the two disciples politely gestured, "Please review, senior brother."

Ling Yu didn't stand on ceremony and reached out to take the calligraphy scroll first.

However, instead of looking down to flip through it, he turned and handed it to the boy behind him: "Take a look."

The two disciples looked at the young man in surprise again.

Is he supposed to make the judgment?

I can't guarantee when I'll be out of town, so please don't wait up for the next few days.

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(End of this chapter)