Duan Shaoguang couldn't help but move to stand beside Song Yan, his eyes lighting up as he watched her make her first stroke.
Characters reveal the person.
Though Song Yan was only a girl, even just four years old, the sharpness in her brushwork already showed hints of poise.
Duan Shaoguang couldn't resist asking, "What's your name?"
"Student is called Song Yan."
Upon hearing the name Song Yan, Shen Jingxian immediately looked up, thinking to herself, who is Song Yan, Song what Yan, what Yan Song?
Then she realized that Song Yan was the younger sister in front of her.
At this moment, Shen Jingxian fully grasped the meaning of the phrase "destined by heaven."
"How long have you been practicing calligraphy?"
Faced with the instructor's inquiry, Song Yan respectfully responded without arrogance, "Before coming to school, I practiced at home a bit, copying from calligraphy handbooks."
Hearing this, Duan Shaoguang was astonished. He had originally thought that for a four-year-old to write like this must've taken at least a year of practice, yet was surprised to learn the girl had only practiced casually before coming.
This is a genius!
Duan Shaoguang couldn't help but praise, "Your writing carries the same poise as your personality."
Shen Jingxian shivered upon hearing this statement.
It was just like in the book.
She looked at her own writing again, and because she was not used to holding a brush, the strokes varied between thick and thin, and the characters were all crooked and shapeless.
Well, unlike her personality, her writing wasn't round at all!
After praising Song Yan, Duan Shaoguang's eyes landed on Shen Jingxian, who was looking at him with bright and innocent eyes, her chubby little cheeks looking very pinchable.
Thinking of this, Duan Shaoguang couldn't resist, and reached out to pinch her cheeks.
Suddenly finding her cheeks pinched, question marks floated above Shen Jingxian's head. Why wasn't the instructor looking at her writing, but pinching her face instead?
"Hu Zhi? (Instructor?)"
Shen Jingxian's babyish voice snapped Duan Shaoguang back to reality. He coughed to cover his embarrassment, glanced at Shen Jingxian's writing, and couldn't suppress a slight smile, though he quickly hid it.
"Princess Yi Fen's writing is as bright as she is."
Shen Jingxian widened her eyes.
So this is how scholars speak, so tactful.
That day, Shen Jingxian learned a new phrase.
How to politely say someone's writing is ugly.
Low emotional intelligence: Your writing is ugly.
High emotional intelligence: Your writing is very bright.
However, this made Shen Jingxian breathe a sigh of relief. The plot had deviated from the original book, which might mean she could change her fate too?
Just as Shen Jingxian relaxed, Duan Shaoguang suddenly placed Song Yan's writing in front of her, saying, "Princess, you might learn from Second Miss Song's placement of her strokes."
Duan Shaoguang initially thought the two girls of the same age could play together, have common topics, and improve faster, hence handing over Song Yan's paper to Shen Jingxian, hoping she would seize this chance to make her first friend here.
Unexpectedly, Shen Jingxian's expression suddenly turned serious.
Finding the situation amusing, Duan Shaoguang asked, "What's wrong?"
In Shen Jingxian's eyes, anything related to Song Yan was a bomb, ready to explode at any moment, not to mention this piece of xuan paper was clearly marked as problematic. There was no way Shen Jingxian would be willing to take it.
She felt that just touching it would lead to a catastrophic event. She refused to fall for it.
She needed to find a way to gloss over it.
Shen Jingxian blinked, looking nervously at the xuan paper in Duan Shaoguang's hand, saying, "This writing is so beautiful, I'm afraid to touch it, in case I ruin it."
Duan Shaoguang was charmed by Shen Jingxian's innocent and adorable thought, never imagining such a pure child could exist in the savage Imperial Palace; he couldn't help but want to protect her purity for a little longer.
Thinking this, Duan Shaoguang continued to softly coax, "You won't ruin it. The Princess should view it up close, so you can write such beautiful characters in the future too."
Sitting ahead of Shen Jingxian, Song Yan, for some reason, despite the instructor praising her writing, felt inexplicably uneasy.
Perhaps it was because Shen Jingxian was sitting behind her.
Shen Jingxian wasn't feeling any better either. She couldn't find a reason to refuse, so she could only nervously reach out to touch it lightly.
Unexpectedly, as she reached out, her sleeve accidentally knocked over the ink bottle on the table, spilling all the ink onto Song Yan's xuan paper, smearing the writing.
Remarkably similar to the incident in the original text where Shen Jingxian tore up Song Yan's writing.
Shen Jingxian was stupefied.
This, does this also work?! Is this the power of the plot??!
Shen Jingxian turned to look at Song Yan, and Song Yan also happened to look over, her eyes brimming with undisguised disdain.
Shen Jingxian felt doomed; she seemingly couldn't escape the plot, had angered the heroine, and in the future, she would bring the country to ruin, and her father and mother would perish because of her.
Recalling the Empress's doting smile could one day be buried by bloodstains, thinking of how the Emperor, who provided her with everything, would someday give up his kingdom for her, Shen Jingxian's nose tingled, and large tears dropped down.
"I'm sorry…"
Sorry to Father Emperor and Mother Empress.
Although Shen Jingxian didn't cry out loud, sometimes, silent weeping tugged at the heartstrings even more.
Duan Shaoguang, having dealt with kindergarten, oops, primary school for so long, had seen crying students, but none cried so heartbreakingly as Shen Jingxian did.
He still held Song Yan's writing, feeling a bit embarrassed.
The kids in front noticed Shen Jingxian crying and gathered around her.
Since the moment she entered the classroom, they found her adorable, and she was even cuter up close now!
Such a cute girl was made to cry by the instructor!
Duan Shaoguang inexplicably felt looked down upon by this group of little brats.
"What's your name? Don't cry, I'll give you some candy. My sister made this candy, it's very tasty!"
"I'll give you a flower crown, don't cry."
Some even helped wipe Shen Jingxian's tears with a handkerchief.
Shen Jingxian was touched, but her tears just wouldn't stop!!!
"Tha... hiccup, thank you all."
Some kids sitting close to Shen Jingxian and Song Yan knew what happened and tried persuading Song Yan, "Song Yan! She already apologized, you should forgive her, she didn't mean it!"
"Yeah, Song Yan, you can't bully others just because your writing is good!"
"She's so pitiful, being bullied by Song Yan."
"But… she's the Princess, I've seen her before. My mother said the Princess is very powerful, we all have to listen to her."
"Why does the Princess, who is so powerful, get bullied?"
"Could it be because Song Yan is fierce?"
Seeing the incident between Song Yan and Shen Jingxian escalating from Shen Jingxian crying to Song Yan bullying, Duan Shaoguang couldn't help but start educating the kids.
Today's extra lesson! Do not spread rumors! Rumors stop with the wise!
Shen Jingxian was utterly confused, not understanding how things turned out like this.
And Song Yan's impression of Shen Jingxian turned from a fox spirit to a cunning tea spirit from childhood!
After class, the Empress came to pick up Shen Jingxian and astutely noticed her daughter's face was more swollen than usual, so she questioned Duan Shaoguang.
Duan Shaoguang's gaze flickered. How could he explain that because he pinched the Princess's face, other students, using it as a comforting excuse, followed suit and started pinching the Princess's cheeks too?