With such fierce intensity in her declaration about bandaging, it seemed the next moment she might “wrap” the young commander’s hand only to “stab” it with a knife…

Seeing Commander Shen’s hand freeze at his side and Miss Pei’s face beneath her veil turn pale, the atmosphere in the corridor instantly grew tense—

The last time Mu Xinhong had witnessed such a confrontational scene was on the battlefield when he faced twelve opponents at once.

Hearing the approaching voice behind her, Pei Xueqing stepped aside and lowered her head, her eyes beneath the veil gazing down uneasily.

Jiang Zhiyi glared at Mu Xinhong, who was firmly guarding Yuan Ce.

Mu Xinhong considered all thirty-six stratagems, gave Yuan Ce a “you’re on your own” look, and silently retreated behind Yuan Ce.

Yuan Ce: “…”

Jiang Zhiyi stepped forward, her boot toe raised, positioning herself on the very tile where Pei Xueqing had stood, and looked directly at Yuan Ce, giving a slight lift of her chin: “What does Commander Shen think?”

Yuan Ce looked at the person before him and sighed almost imperceptibly: “Thank you for your concern, young master Jiang and Miss Pei. It’s just a small wound. I can handle it myself without troubling either of you.”

“?” Jiang Zhiyi’s face cooled as she looked him up and down. “I wondered what Commander Shen was doing instead of having lunch…”

Mu Xinhong was about to explain that it was because he had come to report military affairs, which was why the Commander—

Jiang Zhiyi: “So you’ve been practicing how to carry water!”

Yuan Ce: “…”

“You’ve practiced quite effectively; the water is carried so evenly.” Jiang Zhiyi looked at him with a straight face. “But I detest people who carry water. I—the princess—now command you to trouble me instead.”

After enunciating each word distinctly, Jiang Zhiyi grabbed Yuan Ce’s hand and, right in front of the other two, dragged him away.

Watching helplessly as the Commander was pulled away without resistance, Mu Xinhong gaped in astonishment and remarked “such strength” before remembering there was still someone beside him. He quickly cupped his hands to Pei Xueqing and apologized: “Miss Pei, please excuse us. Farewell.”

Pei Xueqing nodded with trembling lashes, watching the young man and woman receding into the distance at the end of the corridor, her flickering gaze gradually dimming.

At the end of the corridor, Jiang Zhiyi dragged Yuan Ce impetuously around the corner, and seeing an empty small bamboo grove, she released his hand and turned around.

The warm, soft sensation disappeared from his fingertips as Yuan Ce looked down and rubbed his now-empty hand.

When he looked up again, Jiang Zhiyi already wore a face of accusation: “Explain, what’s going on between you and this Miss Pei?”

Yuan Ce raised an eyebrow slightly: “I thought you would first ask where I was injured.”

“…”

“Oh,” she had forgotten, ” where are you hurt?”

“Where were you just grabbing?”

“What?” Jiang Zhiyi’s expression changed instantly, and she immediately lifted his hand. Seeing a red-tinged wound on the second joint of his middle finger, she exclaimed “Ah!” in alarm.

His hand was so large that she had only grabbed three of his fingers, and it seemed she had gripped exactly on this cut… how painful that must have been!

“Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”

“The princess commanded—how dare I disobey?”

“I only spoke that way in the heat of the moment…” Jiang Zhiyi quickly pulled his hand and walked toward an octagonal pavilion ahead, this time carefully avoiding his wound. “Come quickly, let me take a look.”

Yuan Ce was pulled into the pavilion and pressed by his shoulders to sit on a long bench.

Jiang Zhiyi sat beside him, holding his finger and examining it from different angles, full of concern: “It looks like it might be bleeding a bit, did I aggravate it just now…”

Looking up, she saw Yuan Ce casually resting his hand, appearing completely detached as he gazed at the top of her head, not even glancing once at his finger.

“What’s wrong, are you not on good terms with this finger of yours?” Jiang Zhiyi asked in astonishment. “It’s bleeding, doesn’t it hurt?”

Yuan Ce looked as if he’d heard something amusing: “This little cut, at three years old—”

“Hmm?” Jiang Zhiyi was startled. “What about three years old?”

Yuan Ce’s gaze flickered slightly: “I meant I’ve suffered far worse injuries over the past three years. Would this even count as painful?”

“You may not feel the pain, but my heart aches…!” Jiang Zhiyi took out her own embroidered handkerchief and gently pressed it against the bleeding cut, involuntarily hissing “ouch” through her teeth.

Yuan Ce leaned lazily against the pavilion pillar, his lips curving slightly: “No need to suffer by proxy like this. If you had this wound, you wouldn’t feel pain either—you’d have already fainted.”

“…”

Jiang Zhiyi glared at him and continued to lower her head: “Such a thin cut, yet strangely deep. What injured you?”

Halfway through her sentence, Jiang Zhiyi suddenly paused as her mind flashed to the moment her lips brushed his jaw and he released that arrow.

Like the vibration of a bowstring, they both froze simultaneously, falling into silent gazes before quickly looking away in opposite directions.

A wave of heat suddenly rose in the cold air.

Jiang Zhiyi stared at her boot tips, her face flushed: “Well, even a small wound is still a wound. Perhaps we should bandage it after all…”

Yuan Ce stared at the bamboo grove: “…As you wish.”

“The inner lining of my handkerchief is clean, but it needs to be torn, and I can’t tear it…” Jiang Zhiyi passed the handkerchief to him with lowered eyes.

Yuan Ce accepted it without looking directly, tore off a strip, and continued gazing at the scenery of the bamboo grove as he handed it back to her.

Jiang Zhiyi slowly wrapped the strip around his finger, one circle after another.

Once the wound was covered, her flushed face gradually calmed.

Holding the remaining ends of the strip, Jiang Zhiyi contemplated for a moment, made a few attempts, and tied a knot: “…There, take a look.”

Yuan Ce turned his head back: “…”

Jiang Zhiyi blinked: “What—what’s wrong?”

A finger wrapped twice its thickness, with a protruding butterfly knot visible from twenty paces away, and she asked what was wrong.

Yuan Ce: “So this is your basic medical knowledge?”

“…”

“Isn’t bandaging just about wrapping it well and tying it up? What did I do wrong? If you’re so critical, why not let the ‘medically knowledgeable’ Miss Pei help you instead!”

Jiang Zhiyi pouted unhappily, then remembered what she’d almost let him evade: “You still haven’t told me what’s going on between you and that Miss Pei. Why was she talking to you and showing such concern?”

They merely encountered each other in the corridor; she greeted him, he raised his hand in a salute, and that’s when someone noticed his cut.

Yuan Ce answered truthfully.

“Then why did she refer to herself by her name in front of you?”

“Is that so unusual?” Yuan Ce blinked. “About half the young noble ladies I’ve encountered in Chang’an lately do the same.”

“…”

Fine then! If he hadn’t slipped up today, she would never have known there were thousands of Pei Xueqings in Chang’an!

Jiang Zhiyi stood up and stamped her foot: “All these young ladies who refer to themselves by their names in front of you-you’re not allowed to speak with any of them anymore, or you’ll suffer the consequences!”

Students who had finished their meals began returning to the classroom. As it was inappropriate for them to walk side by side in public, Jiang Zhiyi told Yuan Ce to wait in the pavilion for Gu Yu to bring the food box, eat his lunch, and then return. She went back to the Tian Hall first.

Afternoon came the first afternoon class. The classroom was filled with a drowsy atmosphere, but when the teacher entered, Jiang Zhiyi noticed that half of the dozing young aristocrats in the front rows suddenly became alert.

The white-haired old teacher walked to the podium, struck his ruler, and the remaining half woke up as well.

Jiang Zhiyi remembered that during yesterday’s afternoon class with the young teacher, almost everyone in the hall had fallen asleep. Seeing this older teacher’s stern appearance, she thought he must be a formidable character like Instructor Feng, someone others feared.

However, Jiang Zhiyi had little to fear. Sitting in the last row, she occasionally glanced toward Yuan Ce on her right while mostly preoccupied with her thoughts.

She had wrongly assumed he was still that disliked young libertine from before, forgetting how prominent he had become now—a prized catch in the circle of noble young ladies in the capital.

She currently had no official status or title, so she could hardly blame those noble young ladies for showing interest in him. Perhaps she should arrange a banquet soon to subtly hint that this “prize” was already “claimed”?

On the podium, the teacher began the lesson. Jiang Zhiyi occasionally listened with half an ear, but spent most of her time concentrating on how to organize her banquet.

After some time had passed, she suddenly heard “Young Master Jiang.”

Jiang Zhiyi looked up to meet the sharp gaze of the old teacher on the podium.

“Please answer this question.”

Jiang Zhiyi was startled, noticing students in the front rows turning back to look at her, seemingly surprised that the old teacher had called on her.

After her initial surprise, Jiang Zhiyi understood why this teacher had such an impact when he entered earlier.

Even her Imperial Uncle couldn’t easily bear a great scholar who feared no power or nobility.

Jiang Zhiyi opened her mouth—

What was the question again?

Though seeing through her inattention, the old teacher didn’t embarrass her and repeated: “If you were a court official at this time, would you advocate for war or peace?”

It was a binary choice, so she could just guess randomly.

Jiang Zhiyi was about to speak—

“And what is your reasoning?”

“…”

Jiang Zhiyi gently closed her eyes.

She wasn’t like the young masters in the hall who feared being struck with the ruler, and she knew this old teacher probably wouldn’t punish her. But in front of all these privileged young men, if she appeared more ignorant than they were, it would be too embarrassing.

If word of this got out, forget about holding a banquet—her future wedding banquet might as well be canceled too!

She might as well never show her face in public again!

Jiang Zhiyi raised her sleeve to cover her forehead and secretly glanced to her right.

She saw Yuan Ce put down his brush, tear off a piece of written paper from his desk, and fold it in his palm.

“Teacher, please allow me to think—” Jiang Zhiyi stalled for time, hoping the note would quickly be tossed to her. Just as she was getting anxious, something flashed in her peripheral vision.

Jiang Zhiyi turned to see the person in front of her casually raising a book with something written in the blank space.

Jiang Zhiyi quickly scanned it, feeling immensely relieved: “I advocate for peace.”

To her right, Yuan Ce paused with the note he was about to throw, following Jiang Zhiyi’s line of sight toward the diagonal front.

Jiang Zhiyi cleared her throat, recalling the reminder from those few large characters, and continued: “The Northwestern tribes have united to wage war. If we engage them, our army will suffer heavy losses. Looking at previous dynasties, Master Lu Shiqing, the Vice Director of the Secretariat, once set a precedent of subduing the enemy without fighting when the Tibetans and Nanzhao joined forces. If peace talks can break apart the alliance between the Northwestern tribes, why should we fight this battle?”

The old teacher stroked his long beard, nodding with moderate satisfaction: “There is no definitive answer to this question. Advocating for war or peace is merely expressing different views. Young Master Jiang’s reference to the previous dynasty’s war with Tibet and Nanzhao is relevant. Well then, today’s class ends here.”

Jiang Zhiyi sighed in relief for having saved face.

As soon as the old teacher left the classroom, the young aristocrats in the front rows turned around: “Young Master Jiang is truly knowledgeable about both past and present, we’re deeply impressed!”

“If I had even half of Young Master Jiang’s ability to cite classics and historical references, I wouldn’t keep getting hit with the ruler!”

“…”

Could they all just be quiet! The truly knowledgeable person who could cite classics and historical references was sitting in front of her.

Jiang Zhiyi gestured for everyone to stop, then awkwardly glanced toward the student in front of her.

Pei Zisong seemed to sense something and half-turned his head, speaking to her in a low voice: “Young Master Jiang deserves the praise. I merely wrote a few words as a hint. If Young Master Jiang wasn’t familiar with this historical fact, you couldn’t have understood it, and if you didn’t truly support peace, you couldn’t have answered.”

…That reasoning did make sense.

Worthy of being the Prime Minister’s son, he even offered praise with appropriate measure, not making the listener feel awkward, unlike those obvious flatterers with their exaggerated compliments.

Jiang Zhiyi slowly nodded, acknowledging her learning.

“Of course, peace is precious!” Advocating for peace was undoubtedly the right choice—if war broke out, wouldn’t Brother A-Ce have to suffer at the frontier again, separated from her?

After Jiang Zhiyi finished speaking with a smile, she felt a gaze from her right fall upon her face. She turned her head, gave Yuan Ce a knowing smile, and lightly winked her right eye.

Yuan Ce glanced at the eloquent Pei Zisong, then turned away expressionlessly. In a corner where no one could see, he tore the note with the words “advocate for war” written on it into two halves.