Chapter 153: Fearing Yan Ning Might Be Kicked Aside

Yan Ning was somewhat surprised to see him approach.

She smiled and said, "How is it going? Are the students at the Imperial Academy doing alright?"

Yun Shu shook his head: "They look down on me a bit, so I just treat it as teaching the air. If they can learn, they learn; if they can't, I can cultivate the next batch of students who pass the science exams."

Yan Ning nodded: "That is fine too. If they aren't willing to learn, there are plenty of others who are. Most of the people at the Imperial Academy are children of bureaucrats or royalty; it's normal for them to be unruly."

Yun Shu began to scheme in his heart: what if he made the test questions extremely, extremely difficult...

Forget it, let fate decide.

Yan Ning was also somewhat dissatisfied with this.

Yun Shu was, after all, chosen by her and her father to go to the Imperial Academy. For these people to show him absolutely no respect—did they think she and her father were soft-tempered and easy to bully?

Yan Ning was annoyed, so she said: "In the future, if anyone talks back, expel them directly. If they are dissatisfied, tell them to come find me."

Yun Shu gave an affirmative response.

Afterward, he took the steamship out of his sleeve and said to Yan Ning: "Your Highness, the steamship is finished."

Yan Ning's eyes lit up.

She saw a palm-sized iron boat that looked small and cute.

It actually contained a steam engine inside?

Yun Shu explained: "This is a relatively small steam engine, but although the sparrow is small, it has all the vital organs; it can make the boat move automatically."

As he spoke, Yun Shu lit the steam engine and placed the boat into the Dayan Lake in the Imperial Garden.

The boat sailed on the lake surface, moving quite fast.

It was just that...

The boat ran quite far, and once the fuel was used up, it wasn't easy to retrieve.

In the end, it took palace servants sitting in a small boat to bring the steamship back.

The few of them were quite shocked that it could actually make a boat move on its own.

Yan Ning wiped the water off it and said to Yun Shu: "Bring it to court tomorrow to show them; it will surely amaze everyone."

Yun Shu walked forward while holding the steamship.

As they walked, Yan Ning asked: "Can you teach Chemistry?"

Yun Shu didn't know why she had suddenly thought of cultivating talent in the field of Chemistry.

However, he still said: "I can teach it. I can study the materials myself first, and then go teach them."

Yan Ning was pleased; it is truly great to have a top student.

Yun Shu was an Official of the Eighth Rank at the Imperial Academy, so logically he did not need to attend the morning court, yet everyone saw Yun Shu arrive again today.

This time, he didn't bring a box.

At today's morning court, the ministers had nothing of great importance to discuss.

Yan Ning spoke directly: "I have something to report."

"Yun Shu—"

Hearing Yan Ning call out, Yun Shu hurried forward.

The ministers skillfully dispersed, clearing a space for them.

Yan Ning had a worker bring a large wooden basin filled with clear water.

Yun Shu tinkered with it, and they saw smoke and fire rising from the steamship as it sailed steadily through the water.

Yan Ning said: "This steamship is perfect for long-distance voyages. If we build enough of them, we can form a fleet to go out to sea."

The Minister of Revenue's eyelid twitched; why was the Crown Princess still obsessed with going out to sea?

That was all cold, hard silver!

If various taxes were collected as they had been in the past, it would be perfectly fine.

The problem was that they had reduced and exempted harsh taxes and levies, so grain wasn't being collected, yet they were still spending money so lavishly.

The Minister of Revenue had grievances he couldn't voice.

Yan Ning noticed the Minister of Revenue's smile, which looked worse than crying, and she immediately knew what he was thinking.

"Rest assured, I have no plans to go to sea in the next two years; I was just speaking off the cuff."

The Minister of Revenue let out a long sigh of relief.

Afterward, he glared at the Minister of Personnel.

If it weren't for his good son tinkering with the steam train and steamship, would the Crown Princess have so many strange and bizarre ideas?

The Minister of Personnel was glared at for no reason, so he glared back.

Yun Shu had made the steamship, and Yan Ze praised him again; that wasn't all, he rewarded him with five hundred taels.

They had originally been prepared to end the court session.

However, since Yun Shu had come today, Yan Ze remembered another matter.

"I hear that many students at the Imperial Academy are dissatisfied with my arrangements. Since that is the case, there is no need to occupy spots at the Imperial Academy; why not let excellent students from the Prefecture Schools everywhere come in to study instead?"

Yun Shu looked at Yan Ze with some surprise.

Was he being this direct?

But then again, this person was someone who would dismiss officials at the drop of a hat; it would be a wonder if he could tolerate those playboys at the Imperial Academy.

After court, the civil and military officials did not disperse, but instead asked: "What is the situation? What happened to the Imperial Academy?"

Most of the ministers were confused.

Their own children were studying at the Imperial Academy.

A group of people became somewhat anxious.

At this moment, someone said: "The Imperial Academy is now divided into a Liberal Arts Class and a Science Class. The Liberal Arts Class studies what they studied before, while the Science Class currently only has Mathematics and Physics. What His Majesty mentioned should be the people in the Science Class."

The son of the Vice Minister of the Ministry of War is in the Science Class, and he hurriedly asked, "What is wrong with the Science Class?"

"I heard that quite a few people in the Science Class refuse to submit to Yun Shu; the exam papers for the entrance test were basically all blank, just because they think Yun Shu is too young and not qualified to be a Doctor."

The noisy voices suddenly quieted down.

Good heavens, that is a talent personally selected by His Majesty and the Crown Princess, and a genius who created the Steam Train and the Steamship.

Just because of being young, they are deliberately finding fault?

Those whose children are in the Imperial Academy's Science Class felt their hearts sink by half.

When they get back, they will be served with family discipline!

On the other side, Yan Ze pulled Yan Ning along as they walked in a hurry.

Walking to a place with no one around, he said with some excitement: "The trading partner has refreshed! It is from the World of Cultivation!"

Yan Ning immediately thought of that Golden Horse and hurriedly asked: "Are there any Beast Taming Pills?"

Yan Ze said hurriedly: "Yes, there are, but the things the young girl we are trading with this time wants are a bit special."

Yan Ning frowned: "Then can we still manage to trade for them?"

Yan Ze said: "We can, she likes reading storybooks, the more exciting the better, and she said she wants to see the best storybooks we have here."

Yan Ning remembered the storybooks she had stayed up late to binge-read, and she said hurriedly: "I have them, a very thick stack of them!"

Yan Ze watched her take out a stack of books and tapped her on the head: "You stayed up late reading so many storybooks again."

Yan Ning sighed: "Government affairs are busy, I can only read them secretly at night."

She also took out all the storybooks collected in the warehouse and said to her father: "Father, I have more here, you give them all to her; if it's not enough, there are new ones at the bookstore."

Yan Ze put all these storybooks into the trading box and traded with the other side for a bottle of Beast Taming Pills, plus one copy of the Beast Taming Pill Manual.

Yan Ze also traded for some flowers and plants from the World of Cultivation; it is said that placing them in the room can refresh the mind during the day and has a sleep-inducing effect at night.

Seeing Yan Ning run off in a flash, Yan Ze found a few flower beds and used the Spirit Soil to plant all the flowers.

On the other side, Yan Ning arrived at the side of the Golden Horse.

The Golden Horse had already been groomed, and its fur looked very soft.

Yan Ning wanted to get closer, but the horse trainer immediately knelt before her, "His Highness, this horse has a fierce temperament; if you get close, I am afraid it will hurt His Highness."

Yan Ning waved her hand: "You get up first, I know what I am doing."

The horse trainer stood trembling on the side, terrified that Yan Ning would be kicked away.