Chapter 54
She was just about to get out of the sedan chair, and Lu Dieqing had fully expected her little doll to give her some reluctant parting words.
Words of earnest and gentle instruction, just like her mother had said to her.
But she had never expected that the last thing Xinxin would instruct her with was such a sentence.
—Me or the Crown Princess, you can only choose one to sleep with.
Today in the sedan chair, Lu Dieqing had chosen to tell Xinxin about some of the things that had happened these past few days. At first, Xinxin had just listened quietly and hadn’t said anything, so she had thought the other wasn’t unhappy about anything.
She had never expected…
“Xinxin, you don’t like the Crown Princess?”
Lu Dieqing asked cautiously, caring so much for her little doll.
Hearing those words just now, she didn’t even care about getting out of the sedan chair. Her first reaction was to coax her little doll first.
The wooden doll was silent, as if it were being proud and sulky because Lu Dieqing had agreed to go “warm the bed” for the Crown Princess.
Zheng Xuening didn’t say anything after she had spoken.
She couldn’t possibly say that she didn’t like herself, could she?
That wouldn’t do.
If she dug too many pits, perhaps one day, she would fall into one herself.
So she couldn’t speak in absolutes.
Lu Dieqing didn’t get a reply and was worried that the little doll was unhappy. As she got out of the sedan chair, she comforted it in a small voice.
“Xinxin, the Crown Princess is a very good person. I think, if you two get to know each other, you will definitely become friends too. She doesn’t use her power to pressure people, and no matter what happens, she always thinks of me. You are my Xinxin, and she will treat you just as well.”
Zheng Xuening was silent.
She now had a feeling that Lu Dieqing was like a stepmother trying to remarry, taking her, the stepchild, with her to marry that person called “the Crown Princess,” and before remarrying, she was doing her best to paint a pretty picture to comfort her.
The little girl was naive and innocent; it wasn’t as if she didn’t know.
Now, seeing her step into the gates of the Caiyun Academy, yet still being distracted by her, Zheng Xuening finally relented.
“Alright. I’ll take a step back. When she’s here, I won’t speak.”
Hearing this, a trace of sadness flashed in Lu Dieqing’s eyes.
She began to reflect on herself. Had she been too neglectful of Xinxin’s thoughts?
Had she become too reliant on others’ power and lost her own spirit?
So was Xinxin angry?
In that instant, the step Lu Dieqing had taken was retracted. When she saw the plaque of the Caiyun Academy, a sense of awe and unfamiliarity arose in her heart.
—This place does not belong to me.
Even if she could come here, and even enter it and become a member of the academy because of the Crown Princess, did she really belong here?
The little girl suddenly couldn’t take that step.
Zheng Xuening poked her wooden head out of her sleeve, glanced at the unmoving ground, and asked in her mind, “Why aren’t you moving?”
Lu Dieqing was just about to open her mouth when she heard a few noisy voices from behind.
Then, someone walked towards her.
“Who is this? Why does she look so unfamiliar?”
Most of the people who could enter the Caiyun Academy were the descendants of high-ranking ministers of the Chaoying Kingdom, or members of the royal family.
In short, this was a school that only the children of the nobility could enter. Ordinary people simply couldn’t come here.
But there were only so many people in the capital. They would see each other sooner or later. Even if they didn’t get along, they were familiar with each other.
Basically, just by looking at a back, they could determine who it was.
However, when Lu Dieqing stood there, she looked particularly unfamiliar, which made the few students who had just come over wonder who she was.
Now that they were close and could see the girl’s face, the three who had come together were all silent for a moment, a look of deep amazement on their faces. A moment later, the three became excited and asked Lu Dieqing all at once.
“Which family are you from? What is your rank?”
“How come we’ve never seen you before?”
“Is this your first time at the Caiyun Academy? Come with us.”
Among the three, there were two women and one man. They all looked to be about the same age as Lu Dieqing, but compared to her reserved quietness and restraint, the three of them were very relaxed in their movements. It was clear that they were of noble birth and had grown up without having to read people’s expressions.
And all three of them were wearing the clothes of the Caiyun Academy, with a cloud logo embroidered on their cuffs.
Lu Dieqing’s cuffs were a light pink, while theirs were a light blue.
This was a way to distinguish the students according to the year they had entered the Caiyun Academy.
Newcomers were light pink. If they passed the academy’s exams, they would be upgraded to light blue, then silver, until they could successfully graduate from the Caiyun Academy, and the color of their cuffs would become gold.
In the Chaoying Kingdom, there was no great difference between men and women; they were only compared by family background and ability.
So, a woman who graduated from the Caiyun Academy, if she was willing, could directly enter the court as an official in the Chaoying Kingdom.
There were not a few female officials at court, but most of them were from the Caiyun Academy, and had the backing of a noble family. Those from commoner backgrounds were very few.
Before coming, Lu Dieqing had also heard her mother briefly talk about the situation at the Caiyun Academy. Now, seeing the color of the cuffs of the person speaking to her, she understood that these were all senior students from wealthy or noble families.
When others smiled at her, Lu Dieqing would also smile back.
She pressed her lips together and smiled at the three who were waiting at the side, her expression gentle.
“Just call me Lu Dieqing. I… I am from the Shan Kingdom.”
When she said the last sentence, Lu Dieqing’s voice grew quieter, a little lacking in confidence.
But she didn’t want to deceive these people who had taken the initiative to show her kindness.
Moreover, although she was born in the Chaoying Kingdom, her homeland was indeed the Shan Kingdom. This was something carved into her bones that she would not forget.
After saying this, Lu Dieqing was actually prepared to be shunned or ridiculed.
In the past, in the palace, she had encountered many palace staff who had ridiculed her for this. She had long been accustomed to it.
However, the three students, after hearing her answer, actually burst out laughing.
“How rare, how rare. We finally have a student who isn’t from our Chaoying Kingdom.”
“We’ve suggested to the teachers before that we should be all-embracing and accommodate all students, even those from the common folk or other subordinate states, and give them a chance. To have Miss Lu here today, it seems the teachers are not so pedantic after all.”
“I’m Zuo Xiaoya, and this is my twin sister, Zuo Manzhi,” said one of the girls with a round face and a very kind smile.
At the side, Zuo Manzhi was a little thinner. You could see the resemblance in her features, but her aura was a little colder, not as friendly.
Seeing her twin sister Zuo Xiaoya introduce her like this, she looked up and gave Lu Dieqing a polite smile.
When she smiled like this, she looked exactly like Zuo Xiaoya, like twin sisters.
“I’m the youngest of the Gu family, Gu Shuyuan,” said the remaining young man, also enthusiastically.
These people surrounded Lu Dieqing, and even after knowing that she was a hostage from the Shan Kingdom, they did not show any discrimination.
This caught Lu Dieqing off guard, and she was both moved and surprised.
The wooden doll slowly spoke in Lu Dieqing’s mind.
“In the vast Chaoying Kingdom, if everyone were like that wicked servant Matron Li, who would take out their anger on others and discriminate based on status, then this Chaoying Kingdom would have long since fallen.”
This was also the reason why she was at ease sending this little crybaby to the academy.
The higher one’s status, the more they cared about face.
Those ministers who had held power at court for a long time, after being immersed in officialdom for many years, might lose their original heart and become slick, worldly, and even unscrupulous.
But the people who could enter the Caiyun Academy, whether in terms of character or talent, would not be at the bottom.
They would be willing to tolerate some things with kindness.
If Lu Dieqing could graduate from the Caiyun Academy, she would be able to make many like-minded friends in the future and would not lack connections.
In the future, no matter what she did, there would be many things supporting her from behind.
Her little crybaby didn’t have to go back to the Shan Kingdom.
Staying here, she could have an even better world.
awwwhh