"Princess, Yihuan will perform for you."
After saying this, Song Yihuan took a deep breath and started reciting in front of the Princess of Ning.
"...She has planted all kinds of good roots with immeasurable thousands of Buddhas. After hearing these verses, even those who have a moment of pure faith..."
The more the Princess of Ning listened, the brighter the light in her eyes became.
This girl truly had a photographic memory and recited it without a single mistake!
Before long, Song Yihuan had finished reciting the content of the page she had read. Song Yixuan clapped his hands and laughed, "Fourth sister is so amazing!"
The Princess of Ning got interested and decided to test her further. She smiled and said, "Girl Yihuan, try to recite this entire Buddhist scripture after just one look. Can you do it?"
Song Yihuan took the scripture with both hands, lowered her eyes, and replied, "Yihuan won't disappoint the princess."
The Princess of Ning leaned against the cushion behind her and listened to Song Yihuan recite the scripture in front of her in a relaxed manner.
...
The Imperial College.
Hearing that Ji Lingchuan had arrived, the dean of the college personally went out to greet him.
"The arrival of the heir is an honor. I'm sorry I didn't greet you properly," the dean said.
Ji Lingchuan showed the token given to him by the emperor and stated his purpose, "I've heard that the heir's wife excelled in all aspects during her time at the Imperial College. I'd like to see all the things she wrote in the past. Could you please make it convenient for me?"
The dean stroked his beard and smiled, "The heir once made great contributions to the riding and archery courses at the Imperial College. How could the college not fulfill such a small request? Follow me."
All the scrolls written by students over the years at the Imperial College were carefully stored in the library.
In the State of Yu, the legitimate children of noble families and prominent officials had to receive education at the Imperial College when they reached a certain age. Ji Lingchuan was an exception. He was taught by the great scholar Qi and had once been invited by the Imperial College to teach riding and archery as well as policy theory courses.
He had been a serious and cold - tempered person since childhood. Even as a young man, he always had a straight face and was extremely strict in class. At just a teenager, he looked like an old scholar who had been teaching at the Imperial College for years, making people respect and keep their distance from him.
When he taught at the Imperial College, he had never seen Song Nanxin and knew nothing about this legitimate daughter of the Marquis of Ding'an's Mansion.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have seen her for the first time until he returned triumphantly from the border to the capital.
When they arrived at the door of the library, the dean said something to the guard and then turned to Ji Lingchuan with a smile, "The scrolls are inside. The heir's wife entered the college in the sixteenth year of Jinghong and was assigned to Class Three. If the heir follows the guard, you can find them."
Ji Lingchuan thanked the dean and then followed the guard into the library.
The light instantly became dim. Only the lantern in the guard's hand provided illumination.
The first to third floors of the library stored all kinds of ancient books. The fourth floor and above were for students' materials. Ji Lingchuan followed the guard and climbed the stairs step by step until they reached the fourth floor.
The guard was very familiar with the internal structure and quickly found the place where the materials of students who entered in the sixteenth year of Jinghong were stored. Ji Lingchuan looked up at the neatly arranged wooden boxes on the cabinet, and his heart couldn't help but beat faster.
The guard stopped, raised the lantern, and said, "Found it. It's right here."
On the top layer of the cabinet, he found the box labeled "Song Nanxin, Class Three student of the Imperial College in the sixteenth year of Jinghong". Ji Lingchuan took a deep breath and took the whole thing down.
However, as soon as he picked up the box with both hands, he immediately noticed something was wrong.
The box was extremely light, which meant it was empty.
He immediately squatted down, placed the box on the ground, and opened it on the spot. The guard also noticed something was wrong and came forward with the lantern. Sure enough, the box was empty. There was nothing left inside.
Ji Lingchuan looked up at the guard with sharp eyes like lightning, "What's going on? Where are the things in the box?"
The guard immediately broke out in a cold sweat. "I, I don't know either!"
Suddenly remembering something, the guard said, "The library records all those who come to retrieve materials to prevent items from being lost. I'm not the only guard at the Imperial College. Maybe when the things were taken away, another guard was on duty. Please allow me to look through the register carefully."
Ji Lingchuan's gaze was solemn. "Thank you."
Back at the bottom floor of the library, the guard took out the register of the past few months, sat by the window, and began to look through it carefully.
Ji Lingchuan waited patiently beside him. Although his face showed no expression, his heart was in a mess.
He didn't expect the clue that was about to be obtained to be broken like this. Who had come to the Imperial College and taken away all of Song Nanxin's materials when she entered the college? And what was their intention?
"Found it, found it!" the guard suddenly said. Ji Lingchuan looked at him, and the guard pointed to the name in the register and said,
"In May of the third year of Yuanchu, Song Nanxin came to the Imperial College and took away all the items from when she entered the college. Look, Your Highness, there's also the approval of the assistant dean here."
The Imperial College of the State of Yu clearly stipulated that students' document materials could only be retrieved and taken out of the college under three circumstances.
The first was with the emperor's permission and holding the emperor's token as proof; the second was when a student obtained an official position in the imperial examination and needed to take up a post outside the capital, in which case the materials would be transferred by the Ministry of Personnel; the third was that after the student explained the purpose and had a respected person as a guarantor, the materials could be taken away.
May of the third year of Yuanchu.
Ji Lingchuan squinted slightly. Wasn't that just a month before he returned in triumph?
Why did Song Nanxin come to the Imperial College to take away these things a month ago?
"Your Highness, is there anything else I can do for you?" After finding out the reason, the guard asked him carefully.
Ji Lingchuan came back to his senses, nodded, and said, "Thank you for your trouble today. Goodbye."
When he walked out of the Imperial College, Ji Lingchuan's face looked even colder than before. He looked at the sky and found that it was still early, so he turned around and walked towards the back mountain of the Imperial College.
The back mountain of the Imperial College was extremely large and connected to Mang Mountain. However, usually only a small area was open for students to experience agriculture such as tea - picking and flower - planting, as well as for hunting, training, and punishment.
The dilapidated temple was located at the junction of the back mountain of the Imperial College and Mang Mountain. Its location was extremely hidden, covered by dense branches and thick vines. If one didn't look carefully, they would never find it.
And because no one had visited for a long time, there were many dead branches lying on the original path to the dilapidated temple.
Ji Lingchuan stepped on the rotten leaves on the ground, cleared a path with the sword at his waist, and lifted the hanging vines. Finally, he saw the familiar dilapidated temple again.
It was exactly the same as in his memory.
Ji Lingchuan took a deep breath and stepped forward.