The Marquis Mansion’s Elite Class

“The heavens are dark, the earth is yellow, the universe is vast and ancient, the sun and moon wax and wane, the stars are arrayed, the seasons change, autumn harvests and winter stores…”

It seemed that the little devil, Zong Jincheng, had found a tiny sense of accomplishment in his smooth recitation, as even after half an hour, his voice could still be heard chanting the "Thousand Character Classic."

“Give up the throne and yield the kingdom, there was Yu and Tang… Ouch, 'Yu wants sugar'? Do fish like sweet things? How can they ask for it when they don’t even have hands?”

Zong Wenxiu: “……”

Good heavens, the meaning I learned wasn’t this.

Shunzi: “……”

Sometimes, teaching Master Jincheng is truly helpless.

“Pfft…” Xu Wan, who had just entered, heard this divine translation and slipped, banging her head against the doorframe with a loud thud.

Oh God! Spare her ears!

What on earth was this translation?!

Cui Zhi, who was holding a food box, was startled and quickly helped Xu Wan up: “Madam! Are you alright?”

Hearing the noise, the little devil finally opened his eyes, which had been closed the entire time. Seeing Xu Wan, he immediately became on full alert and quickly sat up from his half-reclined position on the long bench.

Seeing Xu Wan’s startled appearance, he instinctively felt that something wasn’t right.

Xu Wan, supported by Cui Zhi, walked in and weakly pointed at the little devil: “‘Yu wants sugar’… Only you could come up with that. Why not say the fish comes ashore to grab the sugar itself?”

The little devil crossed his arms and stood confidently, looking like the smartest person in the world: “Fish can’t come ashore to grab sugar, you’re the one who’s stupid, not me.”

Xu Wan: “……”

Fine, if you can’t realize you’re stupid, then at least don’t think everyone else is.

Truly, you are the little devil of chaos.

Xu Wan took a deep breath and silently repeated “one hundred million, one hundred million, one hundred million” three times to calm herself down.

She said: “Shunzi, when you teach Master Jincheng, remember to translate a sentence along with it, so he doesn’t come up with explanations like this in class and make Master Bai blow his beard for three days.”

Zong Jincheng glared at her.

He immediately caught the sarcasm in her words!

He questioned: “Are you afraid that I’m so talented I’m about to win, so you’re deliberately trying to hinder my studies?!”

This woman just wants to withhold my monthly allowance and servants, trapping me in Marquis Manor to slowly torment me. Hmph, I’ve long seen through her!

Xu Wan looked at the immature boy in front of her, who wore everything on his face, and couldn’t help but roll her eyes at the ceiling: “Do you know what it means to judge a gentleman by a petty man’s heart? That’s exactly what you look like right now.”

The little devil narrowed his eyes: “So you admit you’re the petty one.”n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

“Oh, I mean the gentleman is me.”

“???”

“The gentleman is me.” Xu Wan repeated, in case he hadn’t heard clearly.

The little devil: “!!!” Where’s my knife!

The two were about to start arguing again, but Cui Zhi, with her sharp eyes, quickly stepped in to mediate.

She hurriedly opened the food box and placed it on the table in front of the two young masters. It contained Dong's Seven-Flavor Cake, the most popular treat in the capital these days, which could only be bought by lining up before dawn.

Zong Wenxiu, who hadn’t tasted many delicacies, didn’t know the value of the Seven-Flavor Cake, but for the extravagant Zong Jincheng, it was different. This was something he had eaten daily in the past, but since Xu Wan had cut off his servants and money, no one had been there to queue for him, nor did he have the funds to buy it.

“Master Jincheng, Master Wenxiu, this is a Seven-Flavor Cake that Madam specially had someone buy for you. Madam may not be good with words, but she always keeps you two in her heart.”

Zong Wenxiu, who was already grateful to Xu Wan, quickly thanked her: “Thank you, Madam, for your care.”

Cui Zhi smiled and handed him a piece of the cake to taste.

The little devil was still locked in a battle of wills with Xu Wan.

His bright eyes, full of spirit, refused to back down, while Xu Wan’s gaze, though gentle and without aggression, showed no trace of fear. Instead, her calm demeanor gave her the upper hand.

Xu Wan raised an eyebrow: “Boy, aren’t you going to eat the Seven-Flavor Cake?”

She didn’t believe anyone could resist their favorite food and still claim they didn’t like it.

Zong Jincheng turned his head stubbornly: “A gentleman does not eat food handed out in pity.”

Zong Wenxiu, who had just stuffed a piece of Seven-Flavor Cake into his mouth: “……”

There was no pity, really, no pity at all.

Xu Wan snorted and didn’t continue arguing with him. She just glanced at the book on the table in front of Zong Wenxiu, as if casually asking: “Wenxiu, why are you also reading the Thousand Character Classic? Didn’t you just start learning the ‘Meng Qiu’?”

She couldn’t directly expose the private agreement between the two, or the little devil would become defensive. But she also couldn’t let him hold Zong Wenxiu back, or else this little rascal might slack off, dragging Zong Wenxiu down with him.

Zong Wenxiu’s heart skipped a beat when asked.

He instinctively looked at his brother…

What should he do? If he told the truth, his brother would be angry, but if he lied to Madam, how could he repay her for saving his mother?

The little devil, full of resentment, glared at Xu Wan, expecting her to continue provoking him. But perhaps because he had been provoked so much lately, he was too busy being angry to remember to coordinate his story with his half-brother.

Zong Wenxiu, not getting a response from his brother, could only stutter: “R-reviewing…”

The child, clearly not used to lying, was so nervous that his body trembled. He didn’t even dare to look at her, his head sinking lower and lower.

Xu Wan had expected his reaction. She smiled and replied: “Reviewing the old to understand the new—it’s indeed a good habit.”

“Mm-hmm…” Zong Wenxiu mumbled in response, hoping she would quickly move on from the topic.

But as luck would have it, Xu Wan continued: “I just looked at the ‘Meng Qiu’ book. Although it’s a bit thick, it’s a collection of historical anecdotes that are very helpful for building your knowledge. Knowing history allows you to understand the present. You should take it seriously 

nd not just swallow it whole like an illiterate, or come up with something as ridiculous as ‘Yu wants sugar.’”

Suddenly called out, the illiterate Zong Jincheng: “???”

Does she think he can’t understand such obvious sarcasm?

The little devil was about to explode.

But Xu Wan turned to Zong Wenxiu: “I’ve looked into your learning abilities, and you should be able to finish reading ‘Meng Qiu’ within a month. Helping your brother study is hard work, but remember to focus on your own studies as well. Don’t fall behind. I’ll check on your progress in a month.”