Pei Zhiyan looked at her for a while, then smiled slightly: “There’s nothing much for you to do in my residence. From now on, you can come to the study to read books. You must finish at least one book every two months.” Under Ren Yaoqi’s surprised gaze, he leisurely added another sentence: “I’ll check on you from time to time. If I find you’re not reading seriously, I’ll make you do something else.”

When Ren Yaoqi first heard about this strange “assignment,” she was extremely surprised, thinking: This person had Eunuch Lu transfer her over just to have her read books in his study? However, being surprised and puzzled was one thing – fearing that Pei Zhiyan might change his mind, Ren Yaoqi immediately agreed.

From then on, she would arrive at the study punctually at the hour of Mao each day to read, take one hour at noon for meals and rest, then continue reading in the study until the hour of you. After returning for dinner, she would continue reading by lamplight in her room for another hour. She didn’t dare slack off – compared to “doing something else,” she much preferred spending her days in the study with books as companions.

When she was in the study, Pei Zhiyan would sometimes be there too, though most of the time he would be lying on the soft couch reading or sitting at his desk writing. Ren Yaoqi never took the initiative to approach him; she would just sit quietly at the qin table by the west wall. Pei Zhiyan paid her no mind either, never again asking her to grind ink or do tasks like serving tea and water.

Pei Zhiyan never interfered with which books she chose to read – any book in his study was available for her selection. Ren Yaoqi felt her presence in the Pei household was quite minimal. Each day, she only encountered a few people in the study and her small courtyard, and gradually, Ren Yaoqi became much more at ease in the Pei residence. During her time at the Pei household, she had also secretly inquired and learned that this Lord Pei had been deeply devoted to his deceased wife, never having concubines or chamber maids, and had no plans to remarry after his wife’s death. She thought perhaps Pei Zhiyan’s decision to bring her back was truly just a momentary whim.

Through her time interacting with him, Ren Yaoqi discovered that Pei Zhiyan was indeed a very laid-back and casual person. For instance, if he could lie down, he would never sit; if he could sit, he would never stand. His favorite way to read was reclining on the soft couch in his study. If it were possible to write while lying down, Ren Yaoqi believed he would never move to his desk to write. Pei Zhiyan completely lacked the scholarly discipline of “standing like a pine, sitting like a bell.”

Ren Yaoqi had once curiously tried sitting on his soft couch secretly, only to discover that while Pei Zhiyan’s couch was somewhat firmer than ordinary couches, it was extremely comfortable. However, she only secretly sat on it that once. Apart from the books in his study, she never touched any of Pei Zhiyan’s belongings. Though the drawers and boxes in his study weren’t locked, Ren Yaoqi never sneaked a look when he wasn’t there. When she was at home, her favorite thing to do was rummage through her father’s drawers and boxes – once she had discovered a beautifully illustrated book of erotic pictures.

She thought someone with such a lazy disposition wouldn’t follow through on checking her reading – it was probably just casual talk. So while she still went to the study to read every day regardless of wind, frost, rain, or snow, she didn’t take Pei Zhiyan’s words seriously. That is, until after she had been reading in the study continuously for two months, when Pei Zhiyan called her over to his side.

“What books have you read these past two months?” Pei Zhiyan was still leaning against his soft couch, asking this question with lowered eyelids in a casual manner.

“‘Journey to the West Records,’ ‘Taiping Annals,’ and ‘Collected Works on Statecraft,'” Ren Yaoqi replied in a low voice.

Having read three books in two months, Ren Yaoqi felt she had worked quite hard. After all, Pei Zhiyan had initially only required her to read one book every two months, so she felt no guilt when answering.

Pei Zhiyan didn’t even lift his head: “In ‘Journey to the West Records,’ ninth chapter, eight women of different appearances appeared. What was the name of the one in red clothes, where did she live, and how old was she?”

Upon hearing this, Ren Yaoqi stared at Pei Zhiyan in stunned silence.

After not hearing her answer for a long time, Pei Zhiyan glanced at her and said leisurely, “Can’t answer? Then…”

Frightened into alertness, Ren Yaoqi immediately interrupted: “Wait! That girl seemed to be called Qin Jiuniang, she lived in… lived in Rice Field Village, and her age was…” Ren Yaoqi frowned and thought for a long time. She considered her memory quite good, yet still couldn’t recall the book mentioning that red-clothed girl’s age.

That collection of records was just a travel journal, with each Yao Yao You Qi – Chapter being quite short. The ninth chapter, Pei Zhiyan mentioned, was only four pages long, and most characters were mentioned in just a sentence or two. That Ren Yaoqi could roughly remember the name already showed good memory.

Ren Yaoqi was still quite young at the time, and Pei Zhiyan seemed to be deliberately trying to make things difficult for her, so when she spoke, she couldn’t help feeling somewhat indignant. Though she maintained a respectful tone due to her circumstances: “I really don’t remember the book mentioning that red-clothed girl’s age. Please enlighten me, sir.”

Pei Zhiyan studied her for a while, then suddenly smiled, using an instructive tone: “Didn’t the book mention that she was born in the year when Xingyuan Prefecture was suffering from disaster?”

Ren Yaoqi frowned and thought – it did seem like such a sentence was mentioned, so she nodded: “It was indeed mentioned.”

Pei Zhiyan asked further: “The book stated at the beginning that Scholar Zhang departed from the capital in the third year of Qinglong, and it took him exactly two years to reach Qingyuan Prefecture in Li Prefecture. So what year would it have been when he passed through Rice Field Village, which is located in Li Prefecture?”

Ren Yaoqi paused, saying somewhat hesitantly: “The fifth year of Qinglong, but…”

Pei Zhiyan ignored her protest and continued: “Since Qin Jiuniang was at an age where she would blush upon seeing adult men, yet wasn’t married, her age should be between ten and twenty years old. The year she was born would be sometime between the fifteenth and twenty-fifth years of Zhengqing. During this period, Li Prefecture only experienced one drought disaster in the twentieth year of Zhengqing. Now tell me again, how old was this Qin Jiuniang?”

Cold sweat broke out on Ren Yaoqi’s forehead as she said with some difficulty: “Sixteen years old.”

Pei Zhiyan finally nodded with satisfaction: “Correct, sixteen years old. Do you still insist the book didn’t mention this girl’s age?”

Ren Yaoqi: “…”

Pei Zhiyan looked at her from his couch with amusement: “Aren’t you going to admit your mistake?”

Ren Yaoqi lowered her head: “I wouldn’t dare…”

Pei Zhiyan said, “You think that because you have a good memory, reading is easy. If it were truly that simple, then the imperial examinations might as well test memory instead of appointing top scholars. When reading, you need to think and contemplate, to understand how to draw inferences from one example to others, not simply memorize the book’s contents. Reading is not about quantity but quality. Some people read books their entire lives, yet never comprehend reason – they might as well not waste the time and just enjoy themselves instead. If you only read one book in your lifetime but can derive wisdom from it, that would be an excellent achievement.”

As Ren Yaoqi listened, her expression gradually became serious. Only now did she understand that Pei Zhiyan was correcting her reading method. Previously, worried that Pei Zhiyan might think she was slacking, she had read several extra books naturally without much care, only to be discovered by Pei Zhiyan, who then posed such a tricky question to test her.

This time, Ren Yaoqi sincerely bowed her head respectfully: “Yes, sir. I understand my mistake.”

Pei Zhiyan looked up and asked: “What was your mistake?”

Ren Yaoqi said earnestly, “Trying to bite off more than I could chew. Sir’s original instruction to read one book every two months was already asking me to skim through hastily.”

This time, Pei Zhiyan was finally satisfied, so he lay back down to read his book, continuing in his casual tone: “A teachable child! Read ‘Journey to the West Records,’ ‘Taiping Annals,’ and ‘Collected Works on Statecraft’ three more times from the beginning. I’ll test you again after three months.”

Ren Yaoqi bowed in acknowledgment and was about to return to the qin table to read when Pei Zhiyan spoke again: “However, you haven’t satisfied me today, so…”

Upon hearing this, Ren Yaoqi couldn’t help but stiffen slightly.

Pei Zhiyan paused, seemingly thinking for a moment before continuing: “So you’re punished to clean the study for three months.”

Ren Yaoqi breathed a sigh of relief, almost joyfully accepting the punishment.

From then on, Pei Zhiyan inexplicably became her true teacher. He let her choose her books to read for two years, testing her every two months. Good answers brought no rewards, while inability to answer resulted in punishment, doing various chores – Ren Yaoqi had even been made to weed the garden.

After two years of this free-range approach, while still letting her choose books to read, Pei Zhiyan also began assigning specific reading materials. However, Ren Yaoqi initially only enjoyed reading travel journals, unofficial histories, and urban tales – she wasn’t very interested in other books. Once, when Pei Zhiyan assigned her to read “Records of Distinguished Ministers’ Economic Policies,” she really couldn’t get through it, so her answers during testing were quite off-topic. Pei Zhiyan was dissatisfied, and she unconsciously retorted: “I’m not taking the imperial examinations – why should I read these things?”

Pei Zhiyan didn’t get angry, merely waved his hand lazily and punished her with empty chamber pots…

One sentence from Pei Zhiyan made Ren Yaoqi surrender completely: “I am the teacher, you are the student. Academic matters are naturally my decision. If you don’t like this mode of interaction, we can change to another?”

Ren Yaoqi decided she should go properly read “Records of Distinguished Ministers’ Economic Policies”…