The Rebirth of the Vengeful Empress from a Military Family

Chapter IX: Scholar Pei

Volume I: The Spring Breeze is Only a Stranger

Chapter IX: Scholar Pei (裴秀才)

A young man enters the classroom. Clothed in a blue-green robe, the man appears to still be in his early twenties, with straight brows and slightly fragile figure, despite which he still looks the part of a gentleman. After walking in, he commends, "Well spoken. A heart that loves possesses dignity and deserves neither dismissal nor derision. The Hall of Extensive Writings may educate by means of instructing books, but it also preaches the diligent practice of virtue."

All of the students fall into silence.

Shen Miao keeps a close eye on the young man.

The professor who teaches the Six Letters of Calligraphy and the Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art in the Hall of Extensive Writings, Pei Lang, has both ability and integrity. Out of all the scholars recruited by the Hall of Extensive Writings, he is the only one who has only passed the first level of the Imperial Examinations. Mild-tempered and patient, Scholar Pei is the most worthy of the students' respect when compared to the other stern professors of the Hall of Extensive Writings. Even someone like Shen Miao, who has never understood the lessons and had always fallen behind her classmates, had never been scolded by Scholar Pei. Instead, he had patiently explained to her over and over again.

[T/N: Pei Lang is called the Shū Shù Xiān Shēng (书数先生), which basically means Teacher of Shū Shù. Shū (书) means 'book' or 'letter' while Shù (数) means 'number' or 'count'. Shū Shù (书数) refers to the study of the Six Letters of Calligraphy (basically the six types of Chinese characters: Pictographs, Simple Ideographs, Compound Ideographs, Phonetic Semantic Compounds, Loan Characters, and Transfer Characters) and the Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art (an anonymously written Ancient Chinese arithmetic book that contains solutions and explanations for almost 250 mathematical application problems divided across nine chapters ). These two are part of the Six Arts of Confucianism, which forms the basis of Ancient Chinese Education: Rites, Music, Archery, Chariotry, Calligraphy, and Mathematics.

Basically, Pei Lang's a calligraphy and math teacher.]

If this had only been the case, then this young man is indeed an excellent teacher. His integrity, talents, and knowledge exceeds that of a thousand others. Regrettably, Shen Miao knows a different side of him.

As a prince, Fu Xiu Yi had relied on this adviser the most. After Fu Xiu Yi ascended the throne, he awarded him the title of State Preceptor, the Teacher of the State. State Preceptor Pei Lang felt incredibly triumphant. He had reached a position where he stood above the heads of multitudes and only beneath one person, the Emperor.

He had truly fulfilled his role of State Preceptor well. Shen Miao had believed him to be a wise and morally upstanding individual. However, when the time to abolish Fu Ming's title as Crown Prince had ultimately arrived, he had said nothing.

The friendship between Shen Miao and Pei Lang, all things considered, had been good. At that time, Shen Miao had volunteered to go to the Qin Empire to become its hostage because it had precisely been Pei Lang who had proposed it. He had convinced her, "All is for the sake of Ming Qi. If Your Highness goes through with this, Your Highness will solve the dilemma that has plagued His Imperial Majesty the Emperor to the point of exhaustion. In the future, all corners of the empire will bask in the blessings brought by Your Highness' protection, and everyone in the world will be grateful to Your Highness for the kindness that Your Highness has shown."

Although in reality, upon Shen Miao's return to Ming Qi five years later, Lady Mei had already entered the Inner Palace, and Pei Lang's subordinates, who had once been respectful to Shen Miao, had begun to guard against her instead.