Li Wanming's last words were very soft, but to Xiao Jingbai, they were like a spring thunder, rousing him from his daze of twelve years.
Who was Mr. Pei?
He was the youngest imperial examination champion in the Great Sheng Dynasty. At the age of twenty, he had amazed all the court officials in the Hall of Supreme Harmony and was personally selected by the emperor to enter the Imperial Academy.
Yet he had said that Xiao Jingbai's future achievements might not be inferior to his...
What an enormous expectation it was.
Xiao Jingbai got excited. His eyes instantly shone brightly, as if he had been completely ignited.
"Good!" He clenched his fists and secretly made up his mind. "I'm going to take the entrance exam for Chonglin Academy!"
"You're teachable," Li Wanming said with a smile, patting his head. "That's right. This is the good boy. When you are admitted to Chonglin Academy, I will surely teach you all I've learned in my lifetime!"
---
Seven days passed quickly. When Mrs. Kang returned from Guiyuan Temple, she was truly startled by the sight at the gate in the morning light.
The young man under the corridor was dressed in a crow - blue long robe made of tussah silk. His black hair was neatly tied up with a white jade hairpin.
All those gaudy and jangling rings, necklaces, and bead strings that he used to wear were gone. Instead, there was a double - sided carved jade pendant with intertwined orchid patterns around his waist. As he moved, it reflected a gentle blue wave in the early summer light, making him look more gentle, refined, and as gentle as jade.
"Son pays respects to mother," Xiao Jingbai bowed meticulously. His movements were as smooth and beautiful as flowing clouds and running water.
Before Mrs. Kang could respond, his second sentence came. "Mother must be tired from the journey these days. Please go to the west wing to rest first... Son is going to study."
Mrs. Kang staggered half a step. The maid behind her quickly supported her. "Madam, be careful."
Mrs. Kang turned around blankly. Her hand unconsciously tightened on the maid's arm. Her fingertips trembled as she pointed in the direction where Xiao Jingbai had left.
"Did you hear what he just said? He, he... He actually said that he was going to study... He's going to study!"
"Yes," the maid replied with a smile. "Young master has been studying very hard these days."
Li Wanming also smiled and said, "Auntie, you should look at people with new eyes after just three days' absence. Now, Cousin Jingbai is no longer the reckless young man you used to know! He has been extremely serious in his studies these days. Even Mr. Pei praised his great progress."
"Mr. Pei... Right, Mr. Pei!"
Mrs. Kang finally realized this and was so happy that she almost jumped up. "That's right. It's all because Mr. Pei taught so well! Nanny Chen, quickly fetch the chicken - blood stone inkstone from the storeroom, and that mutton - fat jade paperweight... No, no, no. I'll go and choose them myself!"
As she pulled Nanny Chen along, she walked in happily, muttering non - stop. "May the ancestors bless us. May the ancestors bless us! Finally, my son has started to study..." She didn't notice at all Nanny Chen's long face and the resentful look in her eyes.
...
In the west courtyard, Nanny Chen was dabbing at her tears with a handkerchief, and her voice was full of sobs.
"Madam, you don't know how cruel Mr. Pei is! He actually locked young master in the room and let the sunflower moss make young master cry and sneeze. His eyes were all swollen..."
"It doesn't matter," Mrs. Kang sipped her tea slowly and said indifferently. "It's also because Jingbai is too naughty. How could he add sunflower moss to the master's incense burner? He deserves this lesson."
Nanny Chen didn't expect Mrs. Kang, who had always regarded her son as the apple of her eye, to have such an attitude. She was immediately speechless. Then she quickly said in a hurry, "It would be fine if he was just locked up. But he even didn't let young master eat..."
"Really?" This time, Mrs. Kang raised her eyebrows slightly and put down the teacup in her hand. "He made Jingbai go hungry?"
"Exactly!" Nanny Chen said indignantly. "He said that young master was not allowed to eat until he copied the text ten times. Young master has never suffered like this before. He got angry on the spot, but that Mr. Pei even increased it to twenty times! As a result, young master didn't get a bite to eat until evening..."
"I see," Mrs. Kang let out a sigh of relief. "I thought he had been hungry for a long time. It turned out to be just one meal. Jingbai has been too spoiled on weekdays. He should have a strict master to watch over him."
"But, but..." Nanny Chen felt so aggrieved that her face turned red with anxiety. "But he even beat young master!"
"What?" Mrs. Kang's face finally changed. Her fingers on the table edge tightened suddenly. "He beat Jingbai?"
"Yes!" Nanny Chen saw that she had finally hit the nail on the head, and her voice immediately rose an octave. "He beat young master's palm with such a thick ruler. I don't know how many times. Young master's hand was swollen like a steamed bun! It was so swollen that it took three or four days to go down!"
As she spoke, her eyes turned red, and she began to wipe her tears with her sleeve. "Our young master is so precious. He has never suffered such grievances since childhood. Even you are reluctant to move a finger on him, but this Mr. Pei... Madam, it's not that this old servant is talkative. I really feel heart - broken."
After hearing this, Mrs. Kang was silent for a long time. Her gaze fell on the falling flowers fluttering in the wind outside the window.
Nanny Chen was very nervous when she saw Mrs. Kang's unfathomable expression. She was just wondering whether to add fuel to the fire when she heard Mrs. Kang suddenly ask, "Has Jingbai gone out these days?"
"Ah?" Nanny Chen was caught off guard by this question. She was stunned for a moment and then stammered, "No, he hasn't gone out... That Mr. Pei is as fierce as a yaksha, and the schoolwork is piled up like a mountain. Young master doesn't have time to go out."
"Has he caused any trouble?"
"Well... No, he hasn't..." Nanny Chen rolled her eyes and added, "Young master is busy in the study every day. He is so busy that he doesn't even have time to eat. He has lost weight. Where does he have the energy to be naughty..."
Mrs. Kang raised her hand to stop her. "How many pages of calligraphy does Jingbai practice every day?"
Nanny Chen's heart skipped a beat. She vaguely felt something was wrong and stammered, "This... This old servant didn't count carefully... But it seems that there are always twenty pages a day..."
"Twenty pages..." Mrs. Kang repeated in a low voice. Her fingers on the table edge slowly relaxed, and a gratified smile appeared on her lips.
"Jingbai couldn't even write one page a day before. We had to beg, coax, and persuade him to stay in the study for a while. But after Mr. Pei taught him for only seven days, he can already write twenty pages."
She was silent for a moment and then suddenly said softly, "Well punished."
"Madam!" Nanny Chen staggered and almost fell.
"Stop talking," Mrs. Kang interrupted her. "I know you've watched Jingbai grow up since he was a child, so you naturally feel sorry for him. But I'm Jingbai's mother. How could I not feel sorry for him when I see him being beaten? However, if this beating can buy Jingbai a good future, it's definitely worth it..."