Bright and Auspicious

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Shen Zhaoning was notorious in the capital as a little hellion.

Picking fights was part of her daily routine.

Skipping class and scaling walls came naturally.

The pile of complaints at the prefectural office was taller than a person, and half of them were thanks to her.

Her father, Grand Secretary Shen, was so furious he nearly coughed up three pints of blood. At last, he couldn't take it anymore. He submitted a memorial and shoved her into the Imperial College.

"Either mend your ways at the Imperial College, or I'll disown you!"

Shen Zhaoning entered the Imperial College with her bundle over her shoulder, thinking it was just a new place to sleep.

That was until she saw the Imperial College's top student, Xie Huaijin.

Xie Huaijin, son of the Grand Tutor, could compose poetry at three and write essays at five. At fifteen, he passed all three levels of the imperial examination in succession. He was the dream man of every young lady in the capital.

This young master Xie was refined and otherworldly, with eyes as cool and clear as a deep pool. When he looked at someone, it was as if he were looking at an ant.

On her first day of studying the classics, Shen Zhaoning fell asleep at her desk and slept through the whole class. The teacher called on her.

She staggered to her feet, still half asleep. Seeing the back of Xie Huaijin's head in the row ahead, she blurted out, "Xie Huaijin knows the answer. Let him answer for me."

The whole class burst out laughing.

Xie Huaijin slowly turned around. His beautiful eyes regarded her coolly, and his thin lips parted. "I cannot answer Miss Shen's question."

"Why not?"

"Because I am not foolish enough to not know what 'The Master said: Is it not a pleasure to study and practice what you have learned?' means."

Shen Zhaoning: "..."

Great. Now they were enemies.

From then on, the Imperial College's atmosphere changed.

During class, Shen Zhaoning brought a cricket into the classroom, and it hopped into Xie Huaijin's inkstone.

She braided the teacher's beard, and Xie Huaijin got punished along with her.

She got caught passing a note during an exam. It said, "What's the answer to question five?" The person sitting across from her was Xie Huaijin.

The teacher was furious. "Who was passing notes?"

The whole class looked at Shen Zhaoning.

Shen Zhaoning kept a straight face. "Xie Huaijin passed it to me first."

Xie Huaijin's face darkened.

Everyone thought Xie Huaijin hated Shen Zhaoning to the core.

After all, he looked at her as if she were a hopeless lump of mud. He never spoke more than three words to her, and couldn't even be bothered to call her by name, just saying "you."

Until the day of the palace banquet, when the princess publicly humiliated Shen Zhaoning, calling her "the Imperial College's disgrace and the capital's laughingstock."

Shen Zhaoning smiled as if she didn't care and said nothing.

Xie Huaijin set down his wine cup and spoke in front of the entire court.

"The princess is mistaken. In last month's Imperial College assessment, Shen Zhaoning ranked first in archery and horsemanship.

When it comes to riding and shooting, even the guards by the princess's side cannot match her."

The hall fell silent.

The princess's face flushed crimson.

Shen Zhaoning stared blankly at Xie Huaijin. He lifted his wine cup with an expressionless face, but the tips of his ears were turning red.

Only later did she learn that while this young master Xie seemed to despise her, behind her back...

Whenever she skipped class, he quietly followed, worried she might get into trouble.

When she got into a fight, he reported it to Grand Secretary Shen, not to get her in trouble, but because he was afraid she'd lose next time.

When she came last in an exam, he recopied his notes and slipped them into her room through a crack in the door. The handwriting was neat and orderly, and he didn't even dare to sign his name.

Holding that notebook, Shen Zhaoning looked at it for a long time, then suddenly smiled.

So the ice-cold man's heart was warm after all.

Theme: Xie Huaijin's ears turned red.