The Marquis Mansion’s Elite Class

Xu Wan’s thoughts were wandering all over the place. Zong Jincheng, the little demon king, squirmed uncomfortably under her gaze and quickly snapped, “Eat up, it’s going to get cold.”

Xu Wan picked up her spoon again.

After finishing the bowl of congee, the maids outside brought in some medicinal soup. The temperature was just right. Zong Jincheng took the bowl and handed it to her, also handing her a fresh spoon.

The bowl wasn’t too heavy, and Xu Wan picked it up and chugged the medicine down in one go, much to everyone’s surprise.

Zong Jincheng was shocked: “You… drank it that fast?”

Xu Wan grabbed a candied date from the tray and popped it into her mouth, replying as she chewed, “What else? Would I be stupid enough to drink it with a spoon?”

Zong ​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​‍Jincheng: “???”

“Why do I have to use a spoon when I drink medicine?”

Xu Wan raised an eyebrow. “If you had the guts to just chug it like I did, you wouldn’t need a spoon either. That way, you wouldn’t have to eat a candied date after every sip and save a lot of effort.”

“Hmph, a few candied dates and you’re being stingy about them. So cheap.” Zong Jincheng said this, but he didn’t move the tray of candied dates.

Xu Wan found this even stranger.

After her remark, shouldn’t the little demon king have immediately taken away the candied dates?

Was he feeling guilty? But her fever had nothing to do with him. Why was he acting like this?

Xu Wan couldn’t figure it out, so she just came out and asked, “Why are you acting so strange today?”

It was unnerving to see this rebel suddenly showing filial piety.

Zong Jincheng, hearing her accuse him of acting strangely, immediately glared at her. “Who’s acting strange? I’ve always been a dutiful son. I even washed Grandfather’s feet once. Don’t you remember that?”

Xu Wan blinked.

Of course, she remembered that incident. But she wasn’t on the same page as Old Marquis. After all, she was still on the little demon king’s grudge list…

Hmm?

Could it be that she had been taken off the list without realizing it?

Xu Wan decided to test the waters. “Dutiful son, how about calling me ‘mother’?”

Zong Jincheng’s eyes widened in shock. He turned his head and glared at her again.

Idiot, who could say that with a straight face?

“Not calling!” He flatly refused.

Xu Wan pressed on. “Just call me once, would you? Maybe I’ll be in a better mood and pick on you less in the future.”

Zong Jincheng: “No way.”

If he agreed, others might think he was only doing it to avoid being teased. A young master’s pride was paramount; he absolutely could not give in.

“Come on, call me. I promise I won’t laugh.”

“No, no, you talk too much.” The little demon king, embarrassed, was growing more irritable by the second.

Xu Wan couldn’t help but giggle. Fine, she hadn’t really expected him to call her anyway. It was just that teasing this kid was oddly entertaining.

After finishing the candied dates, Zong Jincheng put the tray back on the table. Xu Wan turned to him and said, “You must have just finished your studies, right? I’m fine now, you can go eat.”

Zong Jincheng turned and glared at her again. “You’re kicking me out after using me. Classic.”

Xu Wan: “???”

Didn’t this young master need to eat?

Before she could explain, the little brat huffed and turned to leave.

Xu Wan felt even more wronged than Dou E.

This little brat had absolutely no understanding of a mother’s heart.

But after bantering with Zong Jincheng for a bit, Xu Wan felt much better. Cui Zhi came in and informed her of Old Marquis’s punishment for He Zheng. It was only then that Xu Wan remembered she had said she would invite Madam He to Marquis Manor today.

“You haven’t notified Madam He yet, have you?”

Cui Zhi replied, “No, madam. Since you had a fever, I didn’t send anyone.”

Xu Wan thought to herself, that made sense. Otherwise, Madam He would have been here already to check on her. However, this matter couldn’t be delayed, especially since Old Marquis had just disciplined He Zheng…

“Go to the Minister’s Mansion and invite Madam He over.”

“Yes, madam.”

In the afternoon, upon hearing that Xu Wan was unwell, Madam He immediately brought some tonic remedies to visit her. Only when she arrived did she learn that the source of the trouble was her own son, and that the people from Marquis Manor had not mentioned this when they went to the Minister’s Mansion, out of respect for He Zheng’s father.

Feeling moved, Madam He burst into tears, holding Xu Wan’s hand for a long time. Finally, she made a bold statement: “Feel free to discipline him however you like. As long as he doesn’t die, you can train him however you want.”

Xu Wan: “……”

Alright, another get-out-of-jail-free card received.

By evening, Old Marquis’s punishment had ended. He Zheng, who had spent the entire day kneeling in the Zong Family Ancestral Hall, was helped back to his room.

Xu Wan thought about it and decided not to visit him. Old Marquis had already punished He Zheng, and going there would feel like undermining Old Marquis’s authority. She had already said what needed to be said; the rest was up to the boy to change or not.

Fortunately, from that day on, He Zheng’s studies began to get back on track. He no longer entertained wild ideas and instead focused on learning from Cheng Zhidong, occasionally using sleepless nights to ask a few questions about academics.

As for Cheng Zhidong himself, having narrowly escaped being burned alive with the little brat, he was now accommodating He Zheng’s study requests without hesitation. Whether it was waking up half an hour earlier or staying up late to discuss lessons, he was ready to oblige.

In short: survival was the top priority.

Time flew by, and before they knew it, the end of the month was here.

This was the day Crown Prince had agreed to meet Zong Jincheng in the large study on the second floor.

Early in the morning, Zong Jincheng jumped out of bed, bustling around noisily as he washed up. He then quickly put on a luxurious purple robe and even had Shunzi style his hair to look presentable.

Pan Hongzhi, woken up by the commotion, blinked groggily: “?”@@novelbin@@

This kid getting up before the rooster… If it weren’t for knowing he was going to meet Crown Prince, one would have thought he was going to see his fiancée. He was practically a peacock strutting around.

Zong Jincheng was still going on about his outfit: “Change into the shoes Grandmother bought me, the purple ones. Ah… Maybe the black ones? Black makes me look more serious.”

Shunzi: “……”

Young master, even if you wore Old Marquis’s clothes, you still wouldn’t look serious.

“Actually, maybe purple again. The Crown Prince likes how cute I look. Purple is cute, let’s wear purple.”

Zong Jincheng kicked off the black boots and put on the purple ones, which had a small silver chain dangling on the side. The chain sparkled brightly under the sun, making him look downright adorable.

After dressing up for a while, Zong Jincheng turned around in front of the mirror, looking quite pleased with himself. “As expected, I’m the cutest in the world!”

Pan Hongzhi just groggily went back to bed.

The confidence is deafening…

Still, despite today being a day off from classes, Pan Hongzhi obediently got up and went to the large study, just in case Zong Jincheng or Crown Prince needed him.

Crown Prince arrived right on time.

The entire family was gathered at the entrance of Marquis Manor to welcome him. Crown Prince let them rise and casually said, “There’s no need to come out to greet me in the future. Just have someone guide me to see Jincheng.”

“But that would be disrespectful to Your Highness…” Old Marquis thought, after all, we can’t just stay at home and not come out to greet you, right?

You might be fine with it if you were an ordinary official, but you’re the Crown Prince, the future sovereign. We’d be risking our necks if we did that.

Crown Prince waved his hand. “This is an order. Just follow it.”

“Yes.” Old Marquis happily complied.

As a military man, he wasn’t fond of small talk anyway. Now that Crown Prince had directly issued an order, it saved him from any unnecessary courtesies, and everyone was happy.