Chapter 5

# Chapter 5

The crown prince first visited Lanyi Academy at the end of the month.

That day, the entire place looked scrubbed by rain. The flagstones shone brightly enough to reflect faces, the flowers had been rearranged three times, and even Matron Qi’s ruler was new.

Crown Prince Xiao Cheng’an was twenty. In pale robes, with a warm smile, he looked less imposing than the rumors suggested.

He resembled someone whom everyone had pushed to the front and who, after standing there too long, had learned never to move without permission.

The empress did not come. She sent Court Lady Song in her place.

Court Lady Song was in her thirties, with narrow eyes and a slow way of speaking. Her smile was faint. From her seat in the corridor, she examined every girl as if inspecting merchandise.

We displayed our talents one by one.

Qin Zhaomian played the zither. Her music was steady, and so were her hands. The crown prince nodded. Court Lady Song made a mark in the register.

Qi Tang demonstrated archery. The academy usually forbade it, but Jiang Yanbai had altered the program at the last moment, saying a crown princess need not be limited to music and chess and could display the traditions of her house.

Qi Tang’s arrow pierced the center of the target.

For an instant, her eyes shone.

Court Lady Song frowned. “Too much killing intent for a woman.”

The light went out.

When my turn came, I brought out an abacus.

Matron Qi closed her eyes.

“What will you calculate, Miss Xu?” the crown prince asked.

“How much Your Highness’s visit cost Lanyi Academy.”

The courtyard fell silent. Behind the crown prince, Jiang Yanbai’s brow twitched.

I lowered my head and worked the beads.

“Twenty-six taels to replace the corridor flowers, eight to wash the paving stones, twelve for incense powder, and one hundred forty for new clothes for the students. Your Highness’s visit has cost Lanyi Academy an additional one hundred eighty-six taels.”

The crown prince blinked. “That much?”

“If Your Highness came every day, the academy would soon go bankrupt.”

Qi Tang coughed.

The crown prince laughed-not politely, but because he genuinely found it absurd.

Court Lady Song did not.

“Miss Xu, you may not fool around in the crown prince’s presence.”

I bowed. “Court Lady, I am not fooling around. A future crown princess will manage the Eastern Palace household. If she cannot keep the accounts straight, there will be a deficit.”

Court Lady Song turned to Jiang Yanbai.

He lowered his head. “Miss Xu’s presentation falls under palace accounting.”

He had shielded me with a single sentence.

The crown prince glanced at him, then at me. “Did you enter the academy to become crown princess, Miss Xu?”

“No.”

Matron Qi went pale.

“My family sent me here,” I continued.

After a pause, he asked, “Then what do you want?”

“A refund.”

Even the young eunuch at his side lowered his head.

Xiao Cheng’an was quiet for a moment. “What will you do with it?”

“Redeem an apothecary and support my father.”

“You don’t want to marry?”

“I might. I might not. It depends on the man’s income and temper.”

The crown prince laughed again.

Court Lady Song did not. She wrote a very long note in the register.

That afternoon, Matron Qi ordered me to copy the palace rules thirty times.

Jiang Yanbai summoned me to the accounts office. I assumed he meant to scold me.

Instead, he handed me a sheet of paper.

It contained Lanyi Academy’s official tuition regulations.

Two hundred taels per student.

Courtesy gifts were voluntary.

After enrollment, nothing could be refunded without an edict from the empress.

I finished reading. “Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For giving me a knife.”

Jiang Yanbai frowned. “These are regulations, not a knife.”

“A clearly written rule cuts just as well.”

He watched me. “If you make a public scandal of this, every girl in the academy will be implicated.”

I folded the paper. “Tutor, why do you always assume that if everyone stays quiet, no one is being harmed?”

He did not answer.

“The crown prince asked me what I wanted today,” I said. “At least he knows how to ask.”

“He has asked too little,” Jiang Yanbai murmured.

It sounded as though he was speaking to himself.