CHAPTER 527: CHAPTER 516: TO BE YOUR YOUNG MAN, SACRIFICE IS INEVITABLE (END OF MAIN STORY)

Five years later, at the Imperial College.

Shao Qinghe was led by the newly appointed Master Zhao Wu of the Imperial College to sit by a window.

She took out books from her book basket and spread them open.

"The Mandate of Heaven is called nature, following nature is called the Way, cultivating the Way is called teaching. The Way is such that you cannot deviate from it even for a moment; to deviate is to lose the Way."

Zhao Wu sat in front of her, starting the lesson.

For each statement from the teacher, she, eager to learn and approving, would nod her head. Maintaining this state, until school was dismissed. She slid off the chair.

The scene began to whisper secretly.

"How did she end up here?"

"Miss Jin, you know her?"

"How could I not know her? But isn’t she a five-year-old little girl, shouldn’t she be learning from Mr. Liu instead of running to our place for what?"

Shao Qinghe was the youngest here.

The students around her were all four or five years older than her.

Seeing everyone’s eyes on her, the little girl lifted her chin, the topknot on her head swaying. Her face, with its red lips and white teeth, appeared. Her voice was milky and soft.

"My name is Shao Qinghe, Yangyang with lotus and Zipper-grass vivid, Chengcheng against the reeds reflect. You can call me by my nickname, Ah Yin."

She smiled, showing off her shallow dimples.

"Ahh, she’s so cute! Her name sounds nice too, feels like I’ve heard it before."

"Right, that’s the name of the Commandery Princess from the Prince Huai’an Mansion."

Miss Jin was very tactful: "Is there any chance they’re the same person?"

"Impossible, that little princess is said to be very delicate. The other day, the Crown Prince sent her a gift, and she didn’t even accept it. His Highness rushed out of the palace to cajole her."

"Why wouldn’t she accept it?"

Shao Qinghe obediently replied: "It didn’t match the clothes she wore yesterday."

"Did he manage to pacify her then?"

"...No."

Shao Qinghe was puzzled, unable to comprehend this at five years old: "He sent it again today, but the little princess changed her clothes. Now the colors mismatch again."

The crowd fell silent. They soon came to a realization and were collectively panic-stricken.

Seeing that these people had stopped talking, the little girl was very well-mannered and knew her etiquette.

"From now on..."

They thought Shao Qinghe would at least say something like ’please look after me’.

But what they heard from the little girl was her high-spirited declaration.

"I, the Commandery Princess, have got your backs."

Miss Jin went over.

"Ah Yin, can you understand what you’re hearing?"

"I don’t understand."

"If you don’t understand, why come here?"

She couldn’t comprehend.

"Why would you leap into this pit of fire?"

Shao Qinghe pulled a face.

"I came here on my own accord. And just so you know, I simply love to embrace challenges."

Miss Jin: !!!

But you can’t even walk yet, how have you thought about flying!

Didn’t anyone in your family stop you?

No one did.

Cui Yun and Shen Hua didn’t stop her.

They knew their daughter’s character very well.

If they tried to stop her, she would only get more stubborn, but if they let her come, she would soon lose heart and leave, tail between her legs.

Under Miss Jin’s eyes, filled with both horror and admiration, Shao Qinghe walked away with great swagger.

Liking to embrace challenges?

No, she wasn’t like that.

She just wanted to appear deep and profound.

But she hadn’t anticipated that despite the great reputation of Zhao Wu, why was it that she could not understand a single word of the lesson.

They wouldn’t teach a five-year-old this.

It showed that Zhao Wu’s scholarship really wasn’t up to par.

She was residing at the Marquis Yangling Mansion this month.

She left the palace and hurried back.

Just after getting off the carriage, she saw a young man in white loitering outside the mansion.

Shao Qinghe walked over: "Brother Zhou."

She looked up at him, unable to suppress her schadenfreude: "Did you make my sister Cui Rong angry again?"

Zhou Xi saw that it was her.

"Ah Yin, could you trouble yourself to run an errand and ask your sister to come out to see me, would that be all right?"

Shao Qinghe unhesitatingly stretched out her hand to him.

When asking for favors, it’s fitting to receive some reward.

Zhou Xi gave her five candies.

Shao Qinghe shook her head, her hand still outstretched.

"No, this time I want ten pieces."

Shao Qinghe: "I always have to raise the price a bit."

She has a sweet tooth, but Cui Yun only allows her one piece a day.

No matter how much she begs, Cui Yun, who seems to have the best temper, remains unmoved.

It’s Mama, returning from outside, munching on a string of candied hawthorns, who sees her pitiful look and can’t help but give her one.

She didn’t hurry to find Cui Rong, but snuck back to Sui Courtyard instead.

"Playing the thief?"

Shen Hua, fanning herself, lounged lazily in a red sandalwood chair, her beauty extravagant, her hair elegantly styled.

Her belly slightly protruding.

"Mama."

Shao Qinghe stood up straight.

Shen Hua’s fanning hand stopped; she curled her delicate white finger in a beckoning gesture.

Shao Qinghe walked over hesitantly.

"What good thing have you hidden?"

"None." She wouldn’t admit it.

Shen Hua’s eyes hesitated: "Now, you’re even unwilling to speak the truth to me."

Shao Qinghe hurriedly pulled out the sweets.

"I’ll share half with Mama!"

"No deal."

Shen Hua gently insisted: "I want six pieces."

Shao Qinghe felt heartache.

"Now that Mama has seen, you still have four pieces left. If Daddy finds out, you’ll have none at all. You’re still young, but you should also understand people always need to know when to choose and when to give something up."

Indeed.

After understanding this, Shao Qinghe generously divided them up. She returned to her room and looked around carefully before cautiously hiding them.

After doing all this, she ran out to find Cui Rong.

"Sister!"

Cui Rong was watering the flowers when the little baby came crashing into her.

The young girl now bloomed with bright eyes and white teeth, her appearance alluring, and she stood holding her while scolding: "What mischief are you thinking of now?"

"Brother Zhou wants to see you."

Cui Rong snorted coldly: "Did you blackmail him again?"

Shao Qinghe with an innocent look: "Those words don’t taste good to me!"

"Sister, do you feel sorry for him or do you think I’m taking advantage to do others’ bidding?"

Shao Qinghe held up her little finger.

Without an ounce of self-awareness.

"It’s not me being critical, but you’re making a fuss over every little thing. Sister, you really should learn more from me."

Cui Rong: ...

There’s a feeling of suppression in front of her, just like Shen Hua.

Damn it.

————

Elsewhere, as soon as Shao Qinghe left, Shen Hua stood up and headed straight to the study without hesitation.

The study was well-lit, with occasional sounds of paperwork being shuffled.

Cui Yun stood tall and straight by the window, like a solitary pine, his aura cool and detached, yet clear and refined like a jade tree.

Hearing the noise, he looked up. Upon seeing who it was, his stern and sharp eyebrows softened and spread warmly.

She didn’t hesitate to betray her daughter: "Ah Yin hid some candy."

Cui Yun was not surprised.

"When I returned to the mansion, Mr. Zhou from the Zhou Family arrived to pay his respects."

"Then you better go and find it."

She thought it over; the candy was too delicious. She should have claimed it all: "I’ll keep watch for you."

But she had her own righteousness.

"A little girl should consume less sugar. The other day, she was making a fuss about a toothache; I won’t indulge her."

Cui Yun was pulled along by her.

"I wonder where she could’ve hidden it."

Once inside the room, Shen Hua looked all around.

Cui Yun swiftly scanned the surroundings, stepping towards a location. He reached for the red glazed porcelain willow leaf vase that Shao Qinghe had obtained from Shen Hua the year before.

Out came four pieces of candy.

He had only guessed it, but he never expected to be right.

Mother and daughter hiding things, truly carved from the same mold.

Something crossed his mind, and he couldn’t help but chuckle softly. Seeing Shen Hua coming over, he peeled one and fed it to her.

Shen Hua took it into her mouth, seeming wistful: "She’ll probably fuss when she realizes, won’t she?"

Cui Yun calmly replied: "What I took has nothing to do with you, does it?"

Seeing Shen Hua’s eyes curve with a smile.

He added.

"Being your husband requires some sacrifices."