The door to the dean’s office was knocked, and the secretary delivered the final batch of application essays.

There weren’t many people submitting application essays at this late hour—most were last-minute decisions to join the excitement. The secretary had already screened them once, placing the rejected ones to one side and the passable ones to another. Now there was a large pile of rejected essays and only one letter in the passable pile, which was now brought to Rong Pu for final review.

Rong Pu picked up that essay and immediately saw the familiar name he had just heard mentioned.

Reading the content, it was indeed a well-written piece, displaying the rare vision and spirit seldom found in women’s writing. Most importantly, the central topic was reforming the imperial examinations and the Imperial Academy, reforming the court official system, incorporating women into the talent selection process, and suggestions for how to cultivate and select female talent over the next thirty years.

It was pertinent, practical, and perfectly aligned with the Crown Princess’s current thinking.

It could be said with certainty that this essay, when it reached Tie Ci, would definitely be selected.

But now, knowing what had happened yesterday afternoon and evening, in Rong Pu’s view, this woman appeared to have deep scheming and opportunistic tendencies.

First, she approached the Crown Princess to probe her thoughts and curry favor with those in power.

Then she quietly approached Murong Yi with complex motives.

Regardless of her motivations or purposes, such a person could not be sent to Tie Ci’s side.

He said nothing and set the essay aside, placing it right in the pile of rejected ones.

The secretary was momentarily stunned but said nothing and withdrew, shaking his head at the clerk who was waiting for the final news to make announcements.

Moments later, the bell rang. Rong Pu and the eldest mountain chief of Mingquan Academy walked together in front, followed by the teachers and scholars in their wide robes and flowing sleeves, their expressions solemn as they filed out in order.

Wherever they passed, students dressed in various colored robes lined both sides, bowing deeply.

The essay competition review was concluded, and the grand competition officially began.

—

The four doors of the Lecture Hall were wide open, with students sitting on the floor. Rush mats extended from the hall all the way down to the plaza below.

When Tie Ci arrived, Rong Pu was speaking on the platform. His pace was unhurried, his wide sleeves flowing in the wind, naturally displaying an elegant and graceful demeanor. The women below all watched him with burning gazes, but his eyes fell on the distance. Seeing Tie Ci approaching from afar, his eyes brightened. “…The essay competition does not seek to rank high and low, but values talent and virtue above all. I hope everyone will hold fast to their original intentions. If anyone has severe bias in their talents—for instance, if they’re poor at classical interpretation but extremely strong in poetry and rhyme—they can also be included in the selection list. Even being extremely good at fighting is acceptable…” Seeing Tie Ci enter, his eyes curved with a smile. “This is to pay respect to Her Highness the Crown Princess.”

Everyone burst into laughter.

Everyone knew the Crown Princess wasn’t skilled at classical studies. While she received three excellence marks in other subjects, she scored poorly in classical interpretation and had even been made to stand outside the classroom as punishment.

As for fighting, she had never lost. Single-handedly battling packs of wolves, slapping faces with dead snakes—she had literally fought her way to becoming the school’s top bully.

Murong Yi let out a soft snicker beside Tie Ci.

This was just like Rong Cha Cha, never missing an opportunity to curry favor with Tie Ci and disgust him.

Tie Ci gestured to Rong Pu, indicating not to disturb others, and chose a corner to sit down.

Looking up, she saw that all the prominent figures from the three great academies had assembled, and Yueli had many familiar faces, including Shen Mi, though he sat quite far away.

Shen Mi had achieved second class, tenth place in the palace examination and should have entered the Hanlin Academy as a compiler. However, he petitioned His Majesty requesting to return to Yueli Academy as a professor.

His willingness to abandon his career prospects to become a teacher was unprecedented in the court and had caused quite a stir at the time.

His Majesty was quite pleased and, after consulting with the senior ministers, still granted Shen Mi the seventh-rank Hanlin compiler title. The Hanlin Academy reserved a position for him, allowing him to enter the academy with his rank to serve as Rong Pu’s deputy.

When this appointment was announced, Tie Ci was already on her way to Yannan and said nothing when she saw it in the court gazette. Scholars were one of the nation’s most important forces, and academies, as reserves for future talent, definitely needed to be kept under control. But keeping someone like Rong Pu at the academy would be wasteful—he would eventually return to join the cabinet. It was appropriate to cultivate a second tier of successors at the academy early.

But looking now, it seemed Shen Mi and Rong Pu didn’t have a very good relationship?

Several students nearby were whispering to each other.

“Director Shen also came today.”

“Doesn’t he always oppose Dean Rong? I hope he won’t keep contradicting him again today.”

“Speaking of which, aren’t both of these gentlemen part of the Crown Princess’s direct line? How could their relationship be poor?”

“It’s precisely because they’re both part of the direct line and trusted confidants that they compete to perform before the Crown Princess, which makes their relationship poor! Director Shen came to the academy supposedly to seize power, so naturally Dean Rong isn’t pleased.”

“Hey, could this be called competing for favor?”

“By the way, have you heard? They say the Crown Princess’s accompanying officials have all returned to the capital, but the Crown Princess herself hasn’t been seen. Some say the Crown Princess is up to her old tricks again, having left the southern tour group for a private incognito visit.”

“Ah, she wouldn’t come here, would she?”

“I think it’s possible. Such a grand event, and the academy is considered her direct line…”

“If the Crown Princess really comes, that would be wonderful! My trip wouldn’t be in vain!”

“I don’t think it’s likely. Haiyou isn’t on the way.”

“That’s not necessarily true…”

The topic had already diverged, and a group of students excitedly joined the discussion, none bothering to look up at the two people who had just sat down.

Tie Ci’s gaze swept around the circle. Among the students waiting for the competition, she saw quite a few women, but she didn’t see Jian Xi.

She was somewhat surprised, though not entirely so.

If it had been yesterday, she might have inquired about it, but at this moment, she said nothing.

She sat in the corner, listening to the teachers above asking questions. Fang Huai’an was the third to go on stage, his demeanor solemn, clearly well-liked by those scholars. His performance during the questioning was indeed excellent, though he was somewhat weak in arithmetic.

Mathematics was a subject only offered at Yueli Academy. Ever since the legend of the Crown Princess’s excellence in mathematics spread, academies like Celu and Mingquan began offering it, so it was natural they couldn’t keep up immediately.

But even so, when the twins took the stage, Tie Ci couldn’t help thinking that they truly deserved to be called legendary hexagonal warriors—their mathematics was also quite remarkable.

Mingquan was located in the most prosperous Central Province, where commercial ports clustered and great merchants gathered. The Chu family was no exception, being major salt merchants there. Children from merchant families naturally acquired mathematical skills as essential abilities.

Interestingly, the hexagonal warriors’ relatively weaker subject was also classical interpretation. When the second son, Bai Xing Chu, was being tested on a passage from the Great Learning, he actually recited it wrong. The Mingquan scholar who thought he had made the question easy glared at him with disappointment, and Bai Xing Chu still said with a bitter face: “Master Niu, this passage is too convoluted. Why couldn’t the Yellow Sage speak properly…”

The audience burst into laughter.

This comment was somewhat blasphemous, but coming from the twins’ second son with his naturally baby-faced and innocent expression, it only made people laugh.

Many people thought of how the Crown Princess had once dared to question even the Five Classics commentaries in classical interpretation class, literally arguing her teacher into silence.

Tie Ci naturally thought of this too and couldn’t help taking another look at the twins.

The examiners above were scoring. She noticed that indeed, whoever Rong Pu scored highly, Shen Mi would certainly score lower, and whoever Rong Pu scored poorly, Shen Mi would instead offer gentle encouragement. The two had no eye contact throughout, their discord quite obvious.

This inevitably drew frequent attention from the examiners on stage and the local education officials.

Tie Ci also slightly furrowed her brow.

—

Jian Xi wandered along the road outside the Lecture Hall.

Not receiving notification that she could participate meant her application hadn’t passed.

She was somewhat puzzled. Her coursework was quite solid, her essays were often posted on walls by teachers for classmates to read, and she had never encountered a situation where her essays didn’t pass.

Perhaps this time, with so many talented people gathered, her essay simply didn’t catch the eye of Yueli’s dean.

Feeling inevitably disappointed, she wanted to go in to study and observe but couldn’t muster the energy. After wandering for a while, she decided to go back.

Just as she was about to turn around, her head suddenly hurt. She touched it and a fruit rolled down from the top of her head.

Jian Xi looked up and saw a pair of white boots swaying in the tree.

A face emerged from the dense shade, asking her: “If you want to go in, why don’t you go in?”

Jian Xi quickly raised her hand to shield her eyes.

Too dazzling.

The other person had a face like ice and snow, with deep-set features and a head of silver hair that was simply radiant under the morning sun.

Jian Xi had never seen such beautiful and unique long hair. Her thoughts suddenly wandered, wondering if seeing such a patch of white in the middle of the night would make one think they’d seen a ghost.

After thinking about it, no—ghosts weren’t this beautiful.

This silver hair flowed like silk, magnificent and splendid, like a gift from heaven.

The woman above seemed to notice her silver hair only then, fumbling around in the tree to retrieve a black wig and put it on.

Only then did Jian Xi recognize this person she’d met once before—the chivalrous woman who had knocked down the lecher with one punch.

The chivalrous woman slid down from the tree in a flash and asked her: “Why aren’t you going in?”

Jian Xi forced a smile and shook her head.

The chivalrous woman didn’t press further and pulled her along, saying: “Come on, let’s go see the excitement. Since we’re already here!”

Jian Xi found herself being pulled along involuntarily. People’s attention was all on the stage, so no one noticed two women quietly slipping in and sitting at the very back.

The chivalrous woman pulled out two white papers with some crystalline liquid flowing on them, emanating a subtle fragrance. She gave one to Jian Xi and said: “The sun is harsh outdoors. Let’s not let our delicate skin get sunburned—might as well do face masks.”

Jian Xi couldn’t understand her strange way of speaking and wanted to refuse, but the face mask was already slapped onto her face. The cool liquid soaked her face, nearly making her suffocate.

Someone on stage turned to look at the audience at that moment, scanning the crowd before looking away again.

Tie Ci’s attention was all on the stage because Li Yun Cheng had come up.

Tie Ci hadn’t expected this person to participate in the essay competition either. He wasn’t enrolled in any of the three great academies, but considering this fellow’s obsessive dedication to reading, it was natural he wouldn’t want to miss such a grand event.

Li Yun Cheng indeed lived up to being the most scholarly among the noble family’s scions. He was solid in classics, history, philosophy, and literature, capable in poetry and rhyme, proficient in mathematical calculations, and especially impressive in practical economics after having traveled with her to Yannan. His answers were very realistic and insightful. The teachers on stage nodded frequently, and people below continuously applauded and cheered. One area seemed particularly boisterous. Looking over, Tie Ci saw the delicate Li family branch miss whom she had once thrown out, sitting in the center of the crowd.

This young lady was obviously very proud of the Li family’s main branch young master’s talent, personally clapping and having her maids applaud vigorously as well. The numerous accessories on her wrists clinked and clanked loudly, very ostentatious.

Miss Li was showing off while looking around proudly. Unexpectedly, her gaze turned and she saw Tie Ci. Tie Ci smiled and nodded to her. Miss Li recognized her and her expression immediately changed.

Looking again at her distant cousin who was conversing and laughing with the great scholars on stage, her courage returned, and she gave Tie Ci a cold smile.

Tie Ci responded with a warm smile. Miss Li’s expression looked even worse. She turned away and said to her maid beside her: “There are actually such affected people in this world!”

Tie Ci: “…”

Someone come here and bring Miss Li a mirror!

Perhaps it was her presence that dampened Miss Li’s spirits, as she remained quiet for quite a while. Until Qi You took the stage.

This prominent figure from Yueli Academy clearly had very high popularity. As soon as he appeared, there was a cheer from below. Qi You also acted differently from others, continuously smiling and waving, accepting all the handkerchiefs the young ladies threw to him, enjoying himself thoroughly.

Tie Ci remembered her master saying there was a natural talent called “social butterfly syndrome”—this person must be a paragon of this type.

Today Qi You had changed from his previous slovenly appearance. His long hair was tied up high, and he was dressed neatly. He wasn’t wearing Yueli’s uniform but instead wore all black. He was tall and lean, with sharp lines in his profile. Looking at his back, Tie Ci inexplicably found him familiar.

It wasn’t until Murong Yi beside her curled his lips and commented “crude imitation” that she realized this outfit and style resembled Murong Yi’s.

It seemed he really was Murong Yi’s devoted fan.

When Qi You took the stage, Miss Li straightened up and looked at Tie Ci with a proud expression, leaving Tie Ci baffled. She wondered: Could this be your father?