CHAPTER 190: CHAPTER 160: STUDIOUS HARDSHIP

"Why... is everyone looking at me?"

In the tavern room, Chai Chai asked in a bewildered and anxious whisper, her knees still holding a bamboo basket filled with spinach, yams, and water shield.

"Phew..."

Li Ang slowly exhaled, digesting the fact that his maid was actually a genius. After considering his words, he said, "Cui Qiao, do you want to... take the Academic Palace exam?"

"The Academic Palace exam? Who? Me?" Chai Chai instinctively shrank her head and quickly waved her hands. "No, I can’t. I haven’t read much. Uh, well, I’ve read a little, but they were all just miscellaneous books."

"Trying doesn’t hurt." Sitting next to Chai Chai, Li Leqing gently patted her knee and turned to speak softly to Sui Yi, "Senior Sister Sui, I remember there have been similar cases in the Academic Palace before, haven’t there? When they reach a certain age, their Spirit Vein matures, and they suddenly show a learning talent far beyond ordinary people."

"Yes." Sui Yi nodded. "In the history of the Academic Palace, there were several Doctors who had mediocre talents in their youth. Some were even slower thinkers than ordinary people and were suspected of having innate intellectual deficiencies. They were often bullied by their peers in their hometowns. It wasn’t until their Spirit Veins matured that they returned to normal and grew into geniuses. It’s similar to the concept of ’sudden enlightenment’ in Zen."

"Mhm." Ren Xin also nodded in agreement, adding, "Although there isn’t much evidence to support the association between the number of Spirit Veins and intelligence, there are indeed numerous cases."

"Twelve Spirit Veins... all of Chang’an City might not produce one in a year." Li Leqing spoke gently to Chai Chai, "Why not take the exam and give it a try?"

"This..." Chai Chai shrank her neck again. During her year in Chang’an, she had seen how much the Yu Country relied on and revered the Academic Palace; it needed no further description. Any student of the right age dreamed of entering the Academic Palace, and any parent regarded sending their child to the Academic Palace as a matter of great pride and glory.

"Shall I... try it out?" Chai Chai hesitated and asked, "But is there enough time? I remember, uh, Eldest Son read a lot of books last year."

"Leave that to me." Seeing Chai Chai agree, Li Leqing confidently said, "The questions in the initial exam of the Academic Palace are quite simple, and for the re-exam and final exam, there are ways besides answering papers."

The initial exam... simple? For the average student, it was difficult. But Li Leqing was Princess Guanghua, and most of the Academic Palace Doctors responsible for setting the papers for the initial exam also served as teachers in the Imperial Palace, occasionally teaching the princes and princesses. From her perspective, with the exam setters and markers being her own teachers, it indeed posed no difficulty.

Li Leqing, full of confidence, immediately stood up and said to Li Ang, "Risheng, I might need to come over to your house quite often over the next month or two. Time is pressing, and if Cui Qiao wants to succeed, she’ll have to work harder than others."

Upon hearing the word "hard work," Chai Chai immediately leaned back, her facial muscles tensed slightly, and she slanted her eyes towards Li Ang, her gaze conveying a strong will to survive.

"Alright." It took Li Ang less than half a second of hesitation before nodding in agreement with Li Leqing’s plan. He didn’t really want to push Chai Chai into arduous competition, but... the Zhao Ming Organization was no easy opponent. Moreover, countless Mutated Objects hidden in the dark side of the world could pose a danger to ordinary people. Only by becoming a Cultivator and getting stronger could one live safely in this world.

After the matter was settled, Li Leqing hurried back to the Imperial Palace with her maid and guard, meticulously selecting teaching aids for Chai Chai. Ren Xin and Sui Yi then filled in Chai Chai’s specific information on the document records, waiting to return to the Academic Palace in the evening to report.

In the days that followed, Li Leqing brought teaching materials every day to Golden City Square to intensely tutor Chai Chai, causing her no small amount of suffering.

In the courtyard, Li Leqing held a bamboo teaching stick and tapped on the blackboard, asking her sole student, Chai Cuiqiao, "Kongzi’s seventy-two disciples spread his teachings across the various countries. They were..."

"Er..." Chai Chai shifted uneasily in her seat. "Kong Bu’s followers?"

"Hmm? What is that?" Li Leqing blinked in confusion. "I was asking for their names and courtesy names."

"Oh, oh. Yan Hui, titled Ziyuan. Min Sun, titled Ziqian. Ran Geng, titled Bo Niu..." Chai Chai stumbled through her recitation, managing to list all seventy-two sages. Afterwards, Li Leqing tested her on excerpts from *Poetry*, the *Rituals of Zhou*, and the *Spring and Autumn Annals*, and Chai Chai could answer most questions correctly.

"Great!" Li Leqing clapped, still holding the teaching stick. She took a piece of milk candy wrapped in wax paper from a fine celadon dish nearby and handed it to Chai Cuiqiao.

Chai Chai chewed on the sweet, non-cloying milk candy, and the troubled expression on her face eased considerably.

"Next is poetry and prose. Remember what I’ve mentioned before? For poetry, you can use beautiful phrases, but when writing prose, you should ponder the examiner’s intent." Li Leqing placed a stack of exam papers on the table in front of Chai Chai and softly encouraged, "Don’t be afraid of making mistakes. There is still time; take it slow. I believe in you. Here, have another piece of candy."

"Okay." Chai Chai took the milk candy from Li Leqing and began to write vigorously while chewing, holding the brush tightly.

Seeing her absorbed in the exam papers, Li Leqing silently stepped back to stand beside Li Ang. The two of them watched Chai Chai’s hard-working figure with satisfaction.

"Cui Qiao is actually not stupid at all," Li Leqing whispered. "I feel she’s much smarter than all my brothers and sisters. It’s just that she doesn’t need to think or use her brain for her usual tasks, so she appears lazy."

"Mhm, it’s my fault. I hadn’t really thought about her Spiritual Vein Talent before and just hoped she could be happy and safe. That was enough for me." Li Ang nodded, also speaking softly, "Thank you for your trouble, Princess."

"Just call me Le Ling. Don’t make me say it again." Li Leqing gestured with her hand, gazing at Chai Chai’s back. She spoke wistfully, "Actually, I quite envy Cui Qiao. Living carefree, only for herself. Although the palace is nice, one always has to be cautious. Even wanting to take risks isn’t allowed—other innocent people would be punished."

Li Leqing’s tone sounded somewhat desolate. Her health had been frail from a young age. Emperor Yu and Empress Xue were extremely worried about her and had assigned many maids and servants to protect her. Even if she was playing by herself and bumped or scraped somewhere, the servants would be punished for it.

"Pri—cough, Le Ling, you have a kind heart. That’s very good." Li Ang nodded. While all were daughters of the Li Imperial Family, the reputations of some other princesses were not so good. There were often rumors of their arrogance, tyranny, and bullying of their husbands’ families.

"Thank you. Would you like a candy?" Li Leqing smiled faintly, offering Li Ang a piece of milk candy. She recalled fondly, "I used to like playing with my younger brothers and sisters. Some of them really enjoyed running and jumping, which I couldn’t keep up with, so I devised a method. Whenever they did something right, I would give them candy. If they did something wrong, they wouldn’t get any. They had to explain their mistake and sincerely reflect on it before they could receive a candy. Over time, whenever they faced a situation, they would first consider for themselves what was right and what was wrong. If they did the right thing, they could feel happy and joyful even without receiving candy."

Pavlov’s classical conditioning theory? Behavior correction from behavioral psychology? Li Ang mused in astonishment while watching the smiling Li Leqing and chewing the milk candy. Hmm? Why did something feel a little off?