Chapter – 54
Unexpectedly, the Crown Princess took over the morning study session the very next day, checking everyone’s weekend assignments.
Including Jiang Jian, about half the class had planned to rely on cramming during morning study—but they were caught off guard. Most could barely write a few phrases before getting stuck, left to stare helplessly at their papers.
The Crown Princess didn’t even need to check their answers; whoever stopped writing was sent straight into the hallway.
Jiang Jian sat next to the class prodigy, who deliberately made it easy to peek at his work. Even so, Jiang Jian couldn’t escape the Crown Princess’s sharp eyes. Both the peeker and the “accomplice,” Luo Shuxin, got kicked out.
By the end, only about twenty students remained in the classroom, while the hallway was packed—a clear testament to how neglected Chinese class had been.
But standing in the hallway all morning wasn’t enough. The Crown Princess also assigned them to copy two classical Chinese texts twenty times each, due by the end of self-study that evening.
She said calmly, “I know Chinese class might feel like a mosquito bite or a stray grain of rice to those of you who focus on physics, chemistry, and biology. Some students even do homework for other subjects during Chinese class. So today, let’s switch things up. If you can’t finish copying, feel free to work on it during math or science classes. I won’t ask how you make time—just hand it in by tonight’s self-study. Otherwise… tsk, don’t blame me for being ruthless~”
She had said it offhand, expressing her frustration at how Chinese was overlooked. But someone actually took her up on it—choosing to copy during physics class, and getting caught by the Crown Prince himself.
Li Zhao held up the copybook with two fingers, shaking his head. “Copying Chinese homework during physics class… what were you thinking?”
The student was shameless. “To be honest, Teacher Li, your wife told me to. You can ask her if you don’t believe me!”
Li Zhao: “?”
He glanced at the other students, and the little troublemakers, eager to stir things up, all nodded in agreement.
Li Zhao: “…Fine, go ahead and copy then.”
He wasn’t just saying it—after hearing it was his wife’s arrangement, he actually set aside half the class for them to copy classical texts.
What started as playful teasing from the students ended up backfiring, leaving them to face the “cold, hard truth” of being unexpectedly fed a mouthful of dog food.
After class, Jiang Jian and Luo Shuxin headed to the Crown Princess’s office. As desk mates, they’d copied the texts together and finished around the same time, so they went together to hand in their twenty copies.
Jiang Jian walked ahead. Seeing the Chinese faculty office door closed, he didn’t think much of it and pushed it open while calling out, “Teacher Dai!”
And there they were—the Crown Princess and the Crown Prince, caught in a moment of intimacy. Probably a result of the earlier teasing, the Crown Prince had come to “demand an explanation” and ended up with his hands on either side of his wife, trapping her between him and the desk.
When the door opened, the office was empty except for them. They were kissing.
Jiang Jian froze mid-step.
Luo Shuxin reacted faster. Grabbing Jiang Jian’s hand, he pulled the door shut again.
Jiang Jian looked back at him.
Luo Shuxin said expressionlessly, “Run. Now.”
Jiang Jian: “!!!”
Good point!
He grabbed Luo Shuxin and took off.
In truth, it wasn’t really inappropriate—they were a married couple, and besides, no one else was in the office. The Crown Prince had probably just been teasing, and the mood had taken over.
But sixteen- or seventeen-year-olds are still innocent at heart—especially someone like Jiang Jian, who might seem like a troublemaker skipping class or sneaking over walls, but deep down was still a pure-hearted kid when it came to certain matters.
Now, he ran as if ghosts were chasing him—even faster than he’d fled in the escape room.
When they finally stopped, Jiang Jian’s face was flushed pink, his ears burning bright red.
He tried to act casual as he blended back into the crowd and returned to his seat.
As if, by saying nothing, no one would notice the chaos boiling inside him.
A battle raged in his mind. One side scolded, You should’ve chopped off that hand of yours! Would knocking have killed you? Would it?! Would it?!
The other side reasoned, It’s fine. The Crown Princess must be embarrassed too—she won’t come asking. And if she does, just insist it never happened. We never even went upstairs!
Luo Shuxin glanced at the dazed Jiang Jian a couple of times, slightly taken aback by how innocent his desk mate was.
The tips of Jiang Jian’s ears were practically dripping red. His fair skin only made the blush more obvious.
Luo Shuxin couldn’t help saying, “Haven’t you seen people kissing on TV befo—”
Before the word “kiss” could escape, Jiang Jian clapped a hand over his mouth.
Several nearby classmates saw Jiang Jian’s sudden outburst at the class prodigy. But everyone was just there for the show, and some even started teasing:
“Is the school heartthrob competition finally kicking off?”
“Couldn’t settle it with charm, so now we’re resorting to brute force?”
“…”
Jiang Jian thought to himself, Watching something on TV is nothing like seeing your own homeroom teacher kissing her husband in the office!
But with so many people watching, he couldn’t exactly say it out loud.
He and Luo Shuxin locked eyes, trying to communicate telepathically—clearly without success.
…Though he did unexpectedly notice, once again, just how unfairly attractive his desk mate was.
He’d known Luo Shuxin was good-looking from the first glance, but after spending time together lately, appearances had sort of faded into the background.
Now, looking closely again, Jiang Jian felt almost wounded by the striking beauty before him.
He let go and looked away. After two seconds, he felt that was too cowardly, so he turned back and bared his teeth at Luo Shuxin like a bristling kitten.
Luo Shuxin couldn’t help it—he smiled faintly, a shallow, subtle curve.
But his features came alive when he smiled, like an ink-wash painting suddenly breathing.
Jiang Jian’s defiance melted. Miserable, he slumped onto the desk.
Second period was still physics. Li Zhao clearly had much better mental fortitude than Jiang Jian—he carried on as usual, even calling on the distracted Jiang Jian to answer a question.
At times like these, Jiang Jian was saved by his prodigy desk mate.
Watching their interaction, Li Zhao shook his head. These two really were close—no wonder they went everywhere together.
