Chapter 48: Entering the Imperial Academy

The next morning, Wei Qing, the leader of the Feathered Forest Guard, was responsible for leading the team to escort the three Princesses to report to the Imperial Academy.

Inside the Jiaofang Hall, with Zhuqing's help, Liu Li put on her clothes, and Qiao also helped her style a single bun. Liu Li specifically chose a light-colored outfit to match her handmade hot-stamped "LV" bag.

Zhuqing looked at the cloth bag the Princess was carrying cross-body and asked curiously: "Princess, carrying this, do you intend to bring something?"

Liu Li stretched out her small hand and patted the bag: "This is called a schoolbag; of course, it's for carrying books, pens, and things like that."

"But this servant heard that everything is available in the newly built Imperial Academy, and there is no need for the Princess to bring anything else," Zhuqing said. "Two days ago, the Emperor already ordered people to move all the bamboo slips from the Shiqu Pavilion to the library of the Imperial Academy."

"Uh..." Liu Li blinked her eyes, only then remembering that this was the Western Han, and she didn't need to bring any so-called "stationery."

Qiao was very clever and said: "The Princess can bring some food. It's not like the Weiyang Palace at the Imperial Academy, and neither this servant nor Zhuqing can go with you. What will you do if you get hungry?"

"Good idea!" Liu Li's eyes lit up: "I'll bring some small snacks, and when the time comes, I'll share them with everyone to get on good terms with those second-generation officials!"

The children qualified to study at the Imperial Academy were basically children whose fathers remained in Chang'an as officials. These second-generation officials would all inherit their family titles in the future. If she could get on good terms with them, it would also be beneficial for her future development and situation.

Liu Li asked Qiao to help her get some candied fruit, and she also opened the snack box in her room and took two boxes of chocolate to put in her bag, to share with the new classmates she was about to meet.

When Liu Li had everything ready and walked out of the room with her bulging bag, she happened to run into Liu Che coming over. In front of the maids, Liu Li changed her address: "Mother."

Seeing Liu Li come out, Liu Che stopped and raised an eyebrow: "Wei Qing has already come to pick you up; hurry and go." As he spoke, his gaze fell on the bag Liu Li was carrying. "What is that you're carrying?"

Liu Li patted her bag with her small hand and tilted her small chin slightly: "Things I'll need at the Imperial Academy."

Liu Che scoffed and patted her smooth little forehead: "Alright, enough talk, hurry and go."

Liu Li reached out and took Liu Che's hand, and the father and daughter walked together toward the main entrance of the Jiaofang Hall. She asked quietly: "Where is Mother? It's my first day of school; why didn't Mother come to see me off?"

"There is an early court session today; she went to court early this morning."

"Alright."

The two walked all the way, and from a distance, Liu Li saw a two-horse carriage parked in front of the main hall of the Jiaofang Hall. There were four guards on both sides of the carriage, and at the very front of the carriage stood Wei Qing, his posture straight.

Wei Qing was ordered to escort the three Princesses to the Imperial Academy. He first went to the Pixiang Hall to pick up his two nieces, and then came to the Jiaofang Hall to prepare to pick up the Princess of Jianling.

The carriage stopped in front of the Jiaofang Hall. Wei Qing got off the carriage and waited quietly for the Princess of Jianling to come out. In the carriage behind, Princess Ling pushed open the carriage door and asked in a low voice: "Uncle, when can we leave?"

Wei Qing turned back to look at his little niece and said in a low voice: "We will depart once we have picked up the Princess of Jianling."

"We have been waiting for a long time," Liu Ling complained.

There was no helping it even if they had waited a long time; after all, Liu Li was the legitimate Princess, and they couldn't depart until she arrived.

Wei Qing comforted her: "It's alright, wait a little longer." As he spoke, Wei Qing looked up and saw the "Empress" in a red skirt, holding the little Princess, walking slowly toward them at the end of the corridor.

The morning sun shone obliquely, casting shadows of the corridor pillars on the ground, and also making "her" figure flicker in and out of the light. As "she" walked closer, "her" appearance became clearer.

Those brows and eyes appeared so gentle at this moment, yet Wei Qing couldn't help but recall the various events in the forest of the Shanglin Park that day: "her" spirited and unrestrained expression on horseback, "her" sharpness when drawing a bow to shoot a tiger, "her" resilience and ruthlessness when facing the wolf pack...

Wei Qing couldn't understand how a woman, a woman who had been pampered since childhood,

could be so contradictory yet so natural. The "Empress" in the forest made Wei Qing feel as if he had seen the bright and peerless Wengzhu of Tangyi Marquis again.

Liu Che walked over holding his daughter's hand, but seeing Wei Qing's dazed expression, he couldn't help but remind him: "Commander Wei, why are you still standing there in a daze?"

Wei Qing suddenly came back to his senses, but caught the "Empress" eye-to-eye unexpectedly. He felt his face burn, hurriedly lowered his eyes, paused, and bowed his head: "Greetings, Xiaojun."

"Mm, the Princess of Jianling is here; take her to the carriage." Liu Che didn't take Wei Qing's actions to heart, raised his hand to send Liu Li to him, and then urged: "The Princess is entrusted to you."

Wei Qing: "As you command. Princess, please this way."

Liu Li followed Wei Qing to the carriage. She turned her head and waved at Liu Che: "Goodbye, Mother."

Liu Che caught a glimpse of Liu Li's unique way of saying goodbye, and his lips were full of smiles: "Go, you must study hard." Liu Che had high hopes for Liu Li.

Liu Li twitched the corner of her mouth.

This carriage was taller than Liu Li, and she had to use the stairs to climb up. A guard at the side stepped forward voluntarily, knelt down in front of the carriage with his head lowered: "Please board the carriage, Princess."

"Uh..." Liu Li was stunned.

Liu Li thought for a moment and turned to look at Wei Qing: "Commander Wei, could I trouble you to carry me onto the carriage?"

It was perfectly normal for a master to step on a servant's back to board a carriage. When Wei Qing was a horse slave at the Pingyang Marquis Mansion, he had often lain on the ground to let the masters step on him to board.

Now, seeing that the Princess of Jianling was unwilling to do so, Wei Qing felt surprised, but he followed her request and said to her: "Princess, excuse me."

Then he reached out, picked up the little Princess, and placed her on the carriage, opening the carriage door: "Princess of Jianling, please sit tight, and we will depart."

Liu Li glanced at the sisters Liu Yue and Liu Ling inside the carriage, walked in, and sat in the seat facing the door: "Alright, we can depart."

Wei Qing closed the carriage door and then jumped onto the carriage. His peripheral vision swept over the "Empress" standing at the side, suppressed the restless heart in his chest, and drove the carriage away with a whip.

Inside the carriage, none of the three girls spoke first. Liu Li tilted her head, supporting it with her hand, and looked back and forth at the sisters Liu Yue and Liu Ling.

Bored, she could only stare at the two of them.

In terms of looks, Liu Yue seemed to be better looking than Liu Ling. Her eyes were very beautiful; according to modern classification, Liu Yue had peach blossom eyes, carrying a natural charm. When she grew up, she would definitely be a great beauty.

"Why do you keep staring at my sister?" Liu Ling couldn't help but speak, glaring at Liu Li with her large, round eyes.

Liu Li shifted her gaze to Liu Ling: "Your sister is good-looking."

Liu Ling: "..." For a moment, she didn't know what to say!

Liu Ling's eyes were like Wei Zifu's, almond-shaped like water, and a bit naive. It was just that this personality was somewhat like Liu Che's.

Thinking of this, Liu Li subconsciously touched her own eyes. She had looked in the mirror before; her eyes inherited A Jiao's, with the corners tilted up, definitely phoenix eyes.

So... whose peach blossom eyes did Liu Yue inherit?

The Imperial Academy was inside Chang'an City. After leaving the Weiyang Palace, the carriage traveled for about fifteen minutes before the pavilions of the Imperial Academy could be seen.

Because Liu Che attached great importance to it, the scale of the Imperial Academy was quite grand. It took several months and over a hundred craftsmen to build the Imperial Academy before them.

At this time, the Imperial Academy was filled with carriages; they were all cars sent by marquises to report for their children. Everyone saw the carriage belonging to the Weiyang Palace coming from afar and took the initiative to avoid it.

Wei Qing drove the horse all the way to the gate of the Imperial Academy before stopping. After parking the carriage steadily, he opened the carriage door: "Princess of Jianling, Princess Yue, Princess Ling, please disembark."

Two guards knelt on both sides of the carriage. The first to come out was Liu Ling, who lifted her skirt and carefully stepped on the guard's back to stand on the ground, while Liu Yue disembarked from the other side.

Liu Li, who came out last, saw this, squatted carefully by the carriage, and jumped down directly. Such an action

was seen by others as truly ungraceful.

Wei Qing saw Liu Li's action but didn't say anything, instead lowering his head to the three Princesses: "Three Princesses, please go inside."

Liu Li nodded and turned to look at the gate of the Imperial Academy. Two strings of red lanterns hung on the gate, and there were two ornaments resembling cranes at the entrance, as well as two guards standing straight on duty. The entire Imperial Academy appeared exceptionally solemn, making people afraid to speak easily.

Following Wei Qing into the academy, Liu Li was also quietly observing the people around her. Among the students sent to the Imperial Academy, there were mostly boys, and only occasionally could one see a girl following her mother, looking somewhat reluctant.

However, the ages of these students seemed to be around ten years old, and Liu Li didn't see anyone of her own age.

It wasn't until they reached the courtyard gathered at the very back that Wei Qing stopped: "Three Princesses, this subject can only escort you to this point."

Liu Ling grabbed Wei Qing's sleeve tightly: "Uncle, take me back to the Weiyang Palace, I don't want to be here."

Her voice attracted the attention of others, and Wei Qing didn't know how to persuade her. In the end, it was Liu Yue who stepped forward, forcibly held her sister's hand, and whispered something in her ear, which made Liu Ling obediently listen.

Liu Li glanced at the two sisters and turned to step into the courtyard.

There were already quite a few children here. Those who were familiar or of similar age spontaneously walked together and introduced themselves as children of so-and-so's family.

In short, in no time at all, these children were already in groups of three or five, all getting acquainted.

Liu Li stepped into the backyard with her bag on her back. The few boys closest to the courtyard gate saw Liu Li first. Although they were children of marquis families, they had never seen a Princess, so they didn't know who this little girl who suddenly appeared was.

"Why is there a little kid coming to take classes with us?" A young boy stared at Liu Li and spoke: "Which family's young lady are you? How old are you this year?"

The students in this courtyard were almost all eight or nine years old. Liu Li, a little girl of six, stood in front of them like a little dwarf.

Liu Li thought that she was here to build favorability with these second-generation officials, so she had to take a down-to-earth route. If she revealed her identity too early, it would create a sense of distance from everyone.

She rolled her eyes and said in a crisp voice: "I am from the Tangyi Marquis Mansion, and I am six years old this year." Saying she was from the Tangyi Marquis Mansion wasn't wrong, after all, this was the Empress's maiden home.

The crisp voice immediately attracted more attention, and more people saw Liu Li. Everyone gathered around, asking Liu Li one after another why she was coming to school at six years old.

Liu Li also wanted to ask Liu Che why he had sent her to study at only six years old, when everyone else started studying at eight!

"You're lying, you're not from the Tangyi Marquis Mansion at all!" Another crisp voice came from the crowd. Everyone gave way, and a young girl in a peach-red skirt walked out. She raised her willow brows and glared at Liu Li: "Whose family are you really from?"

Liu Li: "Uh." The girl before her looked somewhat familiar, but Liu Li was sure she didn't know her. But she was also very sure she wasn't from the Tangyi Marquis Mansion, which meant she was very familiar with the Tangyi Marquis Mansion.

"How do you know I'm not?" Liu Li blinked and asked back.

The girl scolded proudly: "Because I am the one from the Tangyi Marquis Mansion. My grandfather is the Tangyi Marquis, my grandmother is the Emperor's own aunt, and the current Empress is my own aunt."

The girl stated her identity, which also attracted everyone's attention. The current Emperor favored Empress Chen exclusively, and the Chen family, as imperial relatives, naturally had face.

Hearing the girl say this, Liu Li also knew who she was. Although she hadn't met her before, it didn't prevent her from calling out: "So it's cousin."

Girl: "??"

She frowned: "Don't go around recognizing relatives. Who is your cousin? You still haven't made it clear who you are, why are you pretending to be from the Tangyi Marquis Mansion?"

Liu Li had originally wanted to hide her identity to get on good terms with everyone and then reveal it, but she hadn't expected her lie to be exposed before she even started. She had to say: "Since you say the current Empress is your own aunt, then who else can call you cousin

?"

Liu Li felt that her hint was obvious enough, but who knew the girl would scoff upon hearing this: "Don't tell me you want to pretend to be the Princess again?"

"Uh, how am I not?" Liu Li felt that this cousin seemed a bit unintelligent.

"Impossible, isn't Princess Li a fool?" The girl blurted out.

As soon as the words fell, the students in the entire courtyard stopped talking. The looks they cast at the girl were filled with confusion. Was this person really from the Tangyi Marquis Mansion? How could she not know that the Princess of Jianling was protected by a Goddess?

She actually dared to say the Princess of Jianling was a fool!

Liu Yue and Liu Ling, who walked in from behind, happened to hear this sentence, and the corners of Liu Yue's lips lifted slightly.

After the girl finished speaking, she realized she had said the wrong thing. She subconsciously looked at Liu Li, but met her meaningful gaze.

Fortunately, at this moment, the head of the Imperial Academy, Dong Zhongshu, arrived with a group of people. The students temporarily put aside what had just happened and bowed to Dong Zhongshu to pay their respects.

Liu Li stood behind the crowd and could only vaguely see the color of Dong Zhongshu's clothes, which was black; she couldn't see anything else. Out of curiosity about this thinker, politician, and educator, Liu Li relied on her small stature to slowly squeeze to the front, finally seeing his true face.

It could be said that Dong Zhongshu was the initiating mentor of the imperial theological system in China. The ideas he proposed influenced China for more than two thousand years, including the modern era.

The Dong Zhongshu before her had a long beard and looked to be in his fifties. His head was wrapped in a cloth, and he seemed to have the unique temperament of a Confucian scholar. At first glance, he was a great Confucian scholar, and to Liu Li, he felt very much like a professor from the history department.

Someone behind her pushed Liu Li, and Liu Li stumbled and stood outside the crowd, the scene very abrupt.

Dong Zhongshu looked at the little girl before him and recognized her at a glance: "Princess of Jianling?"

Liu Li took a deep breath, put on an awkward but polite smile, and bowed to Dong Zhongshu: "Greetings, Master Dong."

Dong Zhongshu accepted Liu Li's salute and also raised his hand to bow back to Liu Li: "Greetings, Princess of Jianling."

So she really was the Princess of Jianling! The students looked at Liu Li in surprise.

The first day was just for everyone to report and confirm the number of people. As for the teaching methods later, Master Dong would still need to adjust them.

There were more than thirty students in total. Except for the three Princesses who were under eight years old, the ages of the other students were between eight and fifteen. Dong Zhongshu called all the students to his side and asked them one by one about their identities and their previous learning situations at home.

Looking at such a scene, Liu Li only felt a tingling sensation on her scalp. Wasn't this the scene of the first day of school in the past, where you had to introduce yourself after entering the classroom?

A socially anxious person shivering!

However, after such an introduction, Liu Li had almost recognized the second-generation officials here. For example, Cao Xiang, the son of the Pingyang Princess, and Sang Qian, the son of Sang Hongyang, were also in this batch of students.

After Dong Zhongshu and the other doctors left, everyone began to discuss again. Cao Xiang ran over directly from his seat and stood next to Liu Yue, attempting to talk to her.

Liu Li took a rough look at the situation in the entire class and was just about to find that cousin from the Tangyi Marquis Mansion to have a good chat when a sound suddenly came to her mind: 【Ding.】

Liu Li's expression paused, and she hurriedly closed her eyes.

She only heard: 【The History Check-in System version 2.0 upgrade is complete, please choose the upgrade reward.】

Immediately after, three boxes appeared before Liu Li, which were 【Shiji】, 【Encyclopedia】, and 【Biography】.

"What is this reward?" Liu Li looked at the three boxes before her somewhat uncertainly. Was this the upgrade reward for 10,000 points?

【Please choose a reward, one of three.】

It was actually one of three; what a huge loss!

"You'd better explain clearly the specific uses of these three things." Liu Li said silently in her heart.

【The host can touch them to view their specific uses.】

Liu Li opened the first box in her mind.

The three boxes represented three skills. If she chose Shiji, then she could query historical events she didn't know in the future from Shiji, better ensuring the completion of events.

If she possessed the Encyclopedia skill, it would be equivalent to possessing something like Baidu. If she encountered common knowledge she hadn't been involved in, she could find it in the Encyclopedia.

If she possessed the Biography skill, then for every historical celebrity she met in the future, she could receive a detailed account of that person's life experience in history, making it easy for her to cater to their preferences and build favorability.

"Can I only choose one of three?" After reading the skill introduction, Liu Li wanted them all; wasn't this simply a cheat among cheats?

【The host can only choose one, please choose.】

After hesitating for a long time, Liu Li gritted her teeth and chose the Encyclopedia skill. Since the history of this space-time would be created by her, she shouldn't be limited to the history of the real world, so the so-called Shiji and Biography were useless to her.

The Encyclopedia was more practical.

The system had been offline for a long time, and now it was finally updated. Liu Li glanced at the unlocked favorability values and was suddenly stunned.

Good heavens, why had everyone's favorability value toward her increased while the system was offline?!

Liu Che's current favorability toward her: 40.

Wei Qing's favorability toward her: 10.

Dou Taizhu Liu Piao's favorability toward her: 100.

Sang Hongyang's favorability toward her: 70.

Dong Zhongshu's favorability toward her: 30.

Even Huo Qubing's favorability toward her had become 30!

Liu Li wasn't surprised that others had increased their favorability, but why had Huo Qubing's favorability toward her also increased? Except for the contact in Shanglin Park before, she had no other contact with Huo Qubing.

However, in the end, this could be considered a good thing. The higher their favorability toward her, the more points she could redeem.

It was just that Liu Che's favorability value really left her speechless. Master Dong, whom she had just met today, already had a favorability of 30; why was Liu Che, as her father, increasing his favorability so slowly!

Liu Li was still planning to explore other functions of the system when a voice calling her suddenly came to her ears: "Cousin Liu Li."

Liu Li opened her eyes and looked at her, the corners of her eyes tilted up but there was no smile in her eyes: "What's the matter, cousin?"

"Just now... just now I really shouldn't have." Chen Yu gently held Liu Li's arm and explained: "Actually, cousin just arrived in Chang'an from Tangyi and didn't know about your situation, so I said that. It's all cousin's fault, please forgive cousin's recklessness."

During the time of Emperor Jing, if marquises had no official position in Chang'an, they could not stay in Chang'an. At that time, A Jiao's father, the Tangyi Marquis Chen Wu, was like this, so A Jiao had lived in the Tangyi area since she was very young.

As the Eldest Princess, Liu Piao missed her mother and had to travel thousands of miles from Tangyi to Chang'an, which was truly inconvenient. Emperor Jing of Han specifically changed the rules for his sister, allowing marquises to live in Chang'an.

Thus, there was one more Tangyi Marquis Mansion in Chang'an City. Saying it was the Tangyi Marquis Mansion, it should actually be called the Princess Mansion of Guantao.

Chen Wu was unwilling to come to Chang'an and had lived in Tangyi for many years. Chen Yu was the illegitimate daughter of A Jiao's eldest brother, Chen Xu, and only because of the Emperor's establishment of the Imperial Academy this time was she able to come to Chang'an from Tangyi.

Liu Piao knew Liu Li was going to the Imperial Academy and was afraid that Liu Li would be bullied because she was young, so she let Chen Yu come to be with Liu Li. It was just that Liu Piao forgot to synchronize the news of the Weiyang Palace with Chen Yu, which led to Chen Yu's memory of Liu Li still remaining in the past.

Coupled with that inexplicable jealousy Chen Yu felt toward Liu Li, it led to the scene just now. ===== CHAPTER 49 =====