“Ning An?”

Seeing who it was, Ning Jin’s hand trembled. The spot where she had been struck by the other girl’s whip throbbed faintly.

“You dare to hit me? You actually dare to hit me with the ice-crystal whip? Don’t you know how powerful it is?”

After the pain came a question fueled by shame and anger.

“I know…”

Ning An coiled her whip back around her waist with a calm and unruffled air.

“You…”

A fire of rage burned in Ning Jin’s chest. The other girl was so blunt that she was at a loss for words, panting heavily.

The students from the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion who had been watching the spectacle silently dispersed. When gods fight, little devils like them didn’t want to get caught in the crossfire.

Seeing the crowd of sycophants who usually surrounded her scatter faster than mice, the fire in Ning Jin’s heart burned even hotter.

“What?”

Ning Shengsheng took a step forward, her haughty demeanor forcing Ning Jin to take a step back. “Third Sister, still not leaving?”

“If that’s the case, how about I go and repeat what you just said to Older Brother right now?”

“What she, Ning An, fancies, I can hit…”

“You, you, you, how could you…” Ning Jin clenched her sleeves, her teeth grinding together.

“Me, me, me?”

Ning Shengsheng mimicked her tone with a grin.

Ning Jin was about to die of anger. She thought to herself, Ning An is truly detestable! In the past, she had also run rampant in the palace, but she had been straightforward and quite easy to fool. Now, her arrogance was not just haughty, but it also left a suffocating feeling in one’s chest.

“You’re defending a discarded son from another country! I’m going to tell Master Pei!” Ning Jin made a move to leave.

Ning Shengsheng grabbed her arm. “How old are you? All you know is how to tattle. Have you no shame?”

“Ning An, you—”

Ning Jin was so angry her chest hurt. She wished she could pounce on the smiling girl and bite her to death.

Just then, a gentle breeze swept past them. A man in a simple indigo robe walked past them, and after stopping, he turned to look at Ning Shengsheng.

“You two princesses, why are you making a scene in front of the academy?”

The man had a handsome face and a refined, elegant demeanor. His robes carried a fragrant scent, and his voice was as gentle as a spring breeze.

It was Pei Yuan!

Ning Shengsheng’s expression froze for a moment. From anyone else’s perspective, this stunned look on Ning Shengsheng’s face meant she was captivated by Master Pei.

Including Xue Chen. That’s what he thought too.

Standing under the eaves, Xue Chen’s lashes drooped slightly, and a mocking curve touched his lips. His cold eyes were filled with disdain.

To Ning An, who was so shallow as to only love beautiful faces, anyone would do.

“Master Pei, it was Ning An who was standing up for a weak country’s hostage prince and bullying me! She even hit me with her whip!”

For once, Ning Jin used her head and played the victim, crying and sniffling as she tattled.

“It was clearly you who was insulting someone first. This princess was not standing up for Xue Chen, but rather defending the honor of the imperial family.”

She curved her lips into a smile and looked straight into Pei Yuan’s eyes. “Master Pei, I wasn’t wrong, was I?”

Pei Yuan nodded, glanced at Ning Jin, and said in a calm and unhurried tone, “Princess Ning An is right.”

“Third Princess, I had Xue Chen stand here as punishment because he was late. Taking pleasure in others’ misfortune is not the act of a gentleman.”

“You… I…” Ning Jin shot a glare at Xue Chen and ran back to the academy in a huff.

Pei Yuan: “Princess, you didn’t come to the academy this morning.”

Ugh…

“Hehehehe…” She gave a dry laugh and lied without batting an eye. “My apologies, I had an upset stomach last night.”

“I’m all better now. Master Pei, I’ll go in first.”

She scurried inside. The gentleness in Pei Yuan’s eyes faded. He watched Ning Shengsheng’s departing figure for a moment, then turned to Xue Chen and said, “You may go in. Remember not to be late in the future.” His tone was distant and polite.

Xue Chen pressed his left hand against his reopened wound and grunted in pain. He followed behind Pei Yuan. Even if Master Pei wasn’t particularly warm towards him, he was still treated decently. Others treated him with varying degrees of contempt and disdain. At least he didn’t.

…

The Heavenly Mystery Pavilion not only taught the imperial relatives the art of strategy, but also imparted cultivation techniques. In the entire academy, only Ning Shengsheng and Xue Chen had yet to open their apertures. Even Ning Jin had successfully induced spiritual energy into her aperture last month.

Pei Yuan was at the front, his gentle voice weaving through the lesson. The students listened, enthralled.

Ning Shengsheng, who couldn’t understand a thing, was growing drowsy. She had deliberately avoided looking at Xue Chen to prevent the system from judging her as violating her character rules. She didn’t know how his injuries were.

She had to find a way to get some spiritual medicine to Xue Chen. But who could she send? She couldn’t send her own people, and the others in the palace were not friendly to Xue Chen.

As she thought, Ning Shengsheng truly fell asleep. In her dream, she had ordered fried chicken takeout and was happily binge-watching a show while eating. A cool breeze from a fan was a welcome relief in the sweltering summer.

Hm? Someone suddenly snatched her chicken leg!

“My chicken leg!”

Ning Shengsheng shot awake to the sound of explosive laughter. The scent of pine wood filled her nostrils. She slowly looked up. Pei Yuan was smiling faintly, his eyes fixed on her.

“Princess Ning An, did you have a good dream?”

Cough… She couldn’t help but nod. How could it not be a good dream? It was the lazy life she had always dreamed of. She had only just started living it when she transmigrated.

“Since my lesson is so boring, why don’t you stand at the back to wake yourself up, Princess.”

Pei Yuan flicked his sleeve and walked away.

Ning Shengsheng rubbed her nose and got up to walk to the back. Ning Jin gloated and muttered, “Serves you right.” She couldn’t be bothered with the childish girl.

She picked up her book and walked to the corner, discovering that Xue Chen’s seat was right in front of hers. Well, it made sense. Allowing him to come to the academy was just a formality due to palace rules. They wouldn’t have given him a good seat.

She craned her neck and saw that he was listening to the lesson with extreme concentration, his textbook filled with dense notes. She felt even more guilty about what had happened last night. Although she had to harm him because of the system, seeing his pitiful state, she couldn’t help but feel sorry for him and wanted to find a way to compensate him.

Xue Chen felt the scorching gaze behind him and clenched his fist. His thin back straightened unnaturally.

Ning Shengsheng held her textbook and thought for a long time, finally coming up with a not-so-good idea.

An hour later, as class was about to end, Pei Yuan announced, “There have been recent sightings of an evil spirit in Yongle Town, and several commoners have been injured.”

“You are all at the Earth Aperture realm. I have discussed this with His Majesty and have decided to let you go out for some practical experience. This will be your test for this term. Whoever catches the evil spirit first will be the winner.”

The crowd erupted. Someone asked, “Master Pei, will there be a reward for the winner? Is catching an evil spirit dangerous?”

“Yongle Town is fifty kilometers from the imperial city. The casualties are not high, so it should be a minor evil spirit. You can form your own teams. The team that catches the evil spirit will be granted access to the Frigid Spirit Pool, as well as a heaven-grade magical artifact from His Majesty.”

“The Frigid Spirit Pool? We can actually enter the Frigid Spirit Pool?”

The students were in a heated discussion. “The spiritual energy in our Great Ning is thin now. I heard the spiritual energy in the Frigid Spirit Pool is as thick as liquid.”

“If we could soak in there for a day, it would be equivalent to a year of cultivation outside. His Majesty is being too generous this time.”

As everyone was excitedly discussing, Ning Jin stood up and asked, “Master Pei, those who have not reached the Earth Aperture realm cannot participate, right?”

As she spoke, she shot a vicious glare at Xue Chen and Ning Shengsheng.