The Marquis Mansion’s Elite Class

Xu Wan raised her eyebrows and said, "When it gets cold, I'll have someone replace it with a heated one to keep it warm."

"Alright," Zong Jincheng replied casually.

In the small courtyard, Cui Zhi had already prepared the meal. A small table was filled with dishes that the little demon king loved, a variety of them.

Zong Jincheng glanced at the table and immediately confirmed his suspicion.

As expected, she wanted to trick him into saying something. Why else would she suddenly be so nice to him?

Hmph, bad woman. She never thinks of him when there's something good, and whenever she's nice to him, it's always for something else.

Mean.

Seeing the little demon king's expression change, Xu Wan asked in surprise, "What's wrong? All your favorite dishes are here. Why the long face?"

The little demon king retorted angrily, "Nothing's given without ulterior motives."

He didn't say the next part, though, as it wasn't very pleasant.

Xu Wan smiled and said, "How is that giving without ulterior motives? We're rebuilding our broken mother-son relationship."

The little demon king pouted and muttered softly, "What broken mother-son relationship? Whose is broken with you…"

"What are you mumbling about?" Xu Wan asked.

The little demon king snorted and picked up his chopsticks to start eating. Why not eat? She had already prepared the food.

But trying to get information out of him? Not a chance. He wouldn't tell the truth.

Xu Wan couldn't help but remind him, "Aren't you going to eat any of the dishes? There's your favorite roast goose here."

Zong Jincheng firmly refused, "No, I won't eat out of your generosity."

Don't think you can manipulate me.

Xu Wan raised an eyebrow and said, "Kid, you have a real problem with me, don't you?"

"Hmph," the little demon king shot her another glare.

Xu Wan called out to him, "Come on, don't eat. Let's have a proper talk, mother and son."

The little demon king snapped back, "Talk about what? About how you're trying to trick me into saying something?"

Xu Wan was amazed, "You could tell?"

Zong Jincheng glanced at the elaborate spread on the table and said coldly, "Isn't it obvious? Don't tell me you think I'm as clueless as you."

Xu Wan: "!!!"

Who are you calling clueless?

Little brat, my sense of maternal love doesn't last more than three days before it runs out!

Seeing Xu Wan's expression change, the little demon king felt even more wronged. He angrily accused, "It was you who wanted to scheme against me, and you have the audacity to be angry with me? That's so unfair."

The little boy’s sudden outburst left Xu Wan stunned.

This little devil…

He’s really different lately. He’s started using soft tactics on her, which isn’t like him at all. He’s no longer lashing out at her with his usual thorns. And that’s because…

Realizing why a bristling porcupine would suddenly retract its quills, Xu Wan felt her heart soften.

She opened her mouth, and after a while, she finally said, "Let's call a truce. We’ll try to be a proper mother and son from now on."

Xu Wan thought he would be pleased to hear that.

But ​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‍instead, the little boy immediately threw a tantrum. He slammed his chopsticks on the bowl and stood up, yelling, "You're lying to me!"

"When have I ever lied to you?" Xu Wan protested, feeling wronged. "I haven't even done anything yet. How can you be sure I'm lying?"

The little demon king accused, "You clearly said that as long as I agreed to go to school with my brother, we could consider it a temporary truce. That was the truce, wasn't it? But now you're talking about truces again. That means you never really called a truce in the first place, right?"

Xu Wan: "…"

People with good memories don’t even need to flip through books during arguments. They can repeat your words verbatim.

Xu Wan rubbed her temples and said, "It's not the same thing."

"How is it not the same thing?"

"How is it the same thing?" Xu Wan, now annoyed, began to count off their issues. "And then you had Zong Wenxiu bring that poisoned lychee to harm me. Was that part of the truce?"

Zong Jincheng argued firmly, "I never said I was going to uphold the truce!"

Xu Wan seized on the language loophole and retorted immediately, "Well, there you go. It's your problem, not mine."

The little demon king: "…"

Ugh, why can’t I win an argument with her?

Mean, she’s so unfair!

Xu Wan coughed and said, "So today, we call a complete truce. We both respect it. Deal?"

Zong Jincheng wanted to say yes.

But he was afraid that if he did, she might think he was scared.

So he stubbornly lifted his chin and said proudly, "Fine, but you asked first."

Xu Wan rolled her eyes inwardly. So arrogant.

She said, "Yes, yes, I was the one who asked for peace. It’s the great young master Zong who’s generous enough to want to reconcile and build a harmonious mother-son relationship."@@novelbin@@

The little demon king snorted and said, "I’ll think about it."

Xu Wan: "…"

This little bit of maternal love I have just doesn’t seem to stick at all.

They both sat down to continue eating. Xu Wan didn’t say anything more and didn’t try to trick him into talking, as if all his suspicions were just his overactive imagination.

After a while, he finally spoke up halfway through the meal. "I promised His Highness that I wouldn’t tell anyone, not even you. A man of integrity keeps his word, right?"

Xu Wan paused for a moment and then smiled. "Yes, you keep your promises if you’ve made them to His Highness."

After the prince left, she had gone upstairs to check. The ink, brush, paper, and inkstone were all untouched. As he said, they had just been chatting.

Although it definitely wasn’t about what Jin Cheng had exaggerated, it also wasn't something you'd find in ordinary books. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have skipped the usual reading and writing altogether.

Xu Wan didn’t know what the prince had been teaching Jin Cheng, but based on her understanding of the prince’s character, she knew he had no ill intentions toward Jin Cheng. On the contrary, he might even help her in teaching the boy.

Having figured this out, Xu Wan stopped worrying about it and decided to let it remain Jin Cheng’s secret weapon.

In early August, it was time for the monthly exam at Qingbo Academy.

Zong Jincheng and Zong Wenxiu went to the Child Prodigy Class as scheduled to take the exam. Unfortunately, both of them failed again.

The gap was too big, and it was hard to catch up in just one or two months.

However, unlike the little demon king's prediction of coming in last place, Zong Wenxiu had some good news. This time, he ranked 123rd, and with the next exam, he would make it into the Child Prodigy Class rankings.

With the Mid-Autumn Festival approaching, the Marquis Manor was once again decorated with beautiful lanterns. Old Marquis held the invitation for the royal banquet and took the family on a carriage ride toward the palace.

Since He Zheng had been studying at the Marquis Manor, he also joined them to go to the palace, though this time his seating arrangement would be different.

Old Marchioness pulled Xu Wan into the same carriage with her, regaling her with gossip about the palace. The two of them laughed pleasantly from time to time in the carriage.

Meanwhile, the other carriage was painfully awkward, with complete silence among the four people inside.

Zong Jincheng had a black face, muttering to himself. Rotten woman. She said last month that she would stick with me in the future, and now she’s abandoning me again.

The old general, feigning sleep with his eyes closed, suddenly opened them and looked at him.

This boy… is he missing Xu Wan?

Zong Jincheng’s heart skipped a beat when he was caught looking. He hurriedly glanced at his brother and He Zheng, both of whom seemed unbothered. So, Grandfather probably didn’t hear his muttering; it must have been a coincidence.