Chapter 312: Doubt

Ji Qingqing composed her expression, a shy smile curling at the corners of her lips.

"Thanks to Brother Crown Prince's help, Ji Yuntang was able to sign up this time. After the Canglang Poetry Talk ends, I will personally visit him to thank him."

The mere thought of Luo Jingshen made Ji Qingqing's heart bubble with happiness.

The last time Luo Jingshen injured his leg, he recuperated at home for over half a month.

Ji Qingqing had personally made chicken soup with ginseng and visited him.

It was precisely because of this that her relationship with Luo Jingshen had grown closer.

This made her even more convinced that Luo Jingshen cared for her.

And indeed, when Ji Qingqing casually mentioned in front of Luo Jingshen,

"If only eldest sister could also participate in the Canglang Poetry Talk!"

"Unfortunately, the Poetry Talk doesn't allow women to sign up."

Luo Jingshen immediately said, "I will arrange this."

He, too, harbored a deep hatred for Ji Yuntang and wished for her to lose face and be humiliated.

Luo Jingshen had previously visited the Duke Rong's residence and the Prime Minister's mansion multiple times, attempting to win over Xie Jinrong and Hua Jingan, but both old foxes had dismissed him with a few words.

Now that Ji Yuntang had formed a connection with the Duke Rong's mansion and saved Prime Minister Hua's daughter and grandson, it was equivalent to gaining two powerful allies for Luo Junhe.

Even though Luo Jingshen was the Crown Prince, he grew uneasy and anxious.

He firmly believed that all of this was Ji Yuntang's fault.

Had it not been for her meddling, the situation would still be bright and favorable for him.

But now, many influential people were subtly siding with the Night Prince's mansion.

If it weren't for the fact that Luo Junhe was still bedridden and unable to move, he would have long since devised a plan to kill Ji Yuntang and eliminate the threat.

Unfortunately, the Empress and Luo Qingge had always protected Ji Yuntang, causing him to hesitate every time he wanted to act.

His biggest support now was the Empress and the Grand Tutor's mansion.

He feared that if the assassin he dispatched failed to kill Ji Yuntang in a single attempt, the Empress might fall out with him because of it.

Although she was his biological mother, Luo Jingshen had always felt a rift between him and the Empress.

If she truly cared about him and acted in his best interest, she would have long won Ji Yuntang over to his side.

But the Empress didn't do that; instead, she treated Ji Yuntang like her own daughter.

This made Luo Jingshen very unhappy, feeling that the Empress and Luo Qingge were traitors.

They didn't protect him the way Consort Chu protected Luo Feizhou; instead, they constantly lectured him about principles of personal conduct and caring for the world.

This irritated Luo Jingshen immensely.

Since ancient times, what emperor who ascended the throne was not ruthless and selfish?

Every man for himself; heaven and earth will destroy the one who is not selfish. What fault is there in being a little selfish?

If he ascended the throne, wouldn't the Empress and Luo Qingge share in his reflected glory?

Thinking of this, a dark gleam appeared in Luo Jingshen's eyes.

For today's Canglang Poetry Talk, as one of the judges, he naturally attended as well.

Now that the incense was more than half burned, Luo Jingshen curled his lips, though a cold light glinted in his eyes.

He wanted to crush Ji Yuntang step by step.

He wanted the Empress and Luo Qingge to see what a useless person it was they valued.

That way, they would redirect their efforts to him and help him wholeheartedly.

As Ji Yuntang was working on the test, she felt several gazes fall upon her.

One was warm as spring, while the others were filled with malicious intent, as if trying to bore holes through her.

In other words, if looks could kill, she would have been killed a thousand times over by now.

Ji Yuntang ignored them. She had finished answering in less than fifteen minutes.

Now, bored silly, she sat there dozing.

Ji Zihang looked at Ji Yuntang, undisguised disdain in his eyes.

Why was she dozing in such a solemn and serious competition?

Was she unable to solve the questions, or didn't she even understand the questions?

Right, with Ji Yuntang's limited knowledge, did she even know what Qinchuan was?

She probably hadn't even heard of the place.

He truly didn't know why she had come to humiliate herself.

Compared to Ji Zihang's disdain, Ji Qingqing felt that this time was a sure win.

She simply hadn't seen Ji Yuntang writing any answers.

While others were hunched over their papers solving problems, she was resting her chin on her hand and dozing.

If that wasn't proof she couldn't solve the questions, what was?

Ji Qingqing was extremely excited just thinking about Ji Yuntang's answer sheet having zero points.

For just one tael of silver, she was getting a great deal to see Ji Yuntang lose face in such a public setting.

She didn't believe that after today, any nobles or aristocrats would still be willing to associate with Ji Yuntang.

The incense slowly burned down until the last ash fell into the incense burner. The invigilator's voice suddenly rang out:

"Time's up! All candidates, stop answering and begin submitting your answer sheets."

With that, a row of men in blue flying-fish uniforms came forward to collect the answer sheets.

Jiang Yunhang handed in his answer sheet, turned to look at Ji Yuntang, and asked her indirectly.

"Princess Ye, did you figure out the answer just now?"

"Yes, 31.5 million."

Jiang Yunhang's eyes lit up. "Me too."

"I used the mental abacus method the master taught me and calculated it three times before getting the same answer as you. How did you manage to work it out so quickly?"

"I have my ways."

In this dynasty, calculations were primarily done with an abacus.

Mental abacus arithmetic involved memorizing the abacus's calculations and formulas, then using patterns and computational skills to derive the answer.

Ji Yuntang found this method too cumbersome. How could it compare to the modern multiplication tables?

With the multiplication table memorized, such arithmetic problems were nothing in her eyes.

On the judges' panel, Luo Jingshen held Ji Yuntang's test paper, which was marked with full scores, his eyes wide in shock!

Ten judges would take turns scoring the students' papers, ultimately calculating an average.

When his turn came, Ji Yuntang's paper already had five bright red perfect scores of 100.

Luo Jingshen exclaimed, astonished, "Headmaster Cheng, was Ji Yuntang's paper graded wrong?"

Cheng Rushan paused his writing and looked up from the papers.

"May I ask, Your Highness, what makes you say that?"

Luo Jingshen pointed at the vertical notation on Ji Yuntang's answer sheet, along with the multiplication and division symbols, and said:

"This symbol, and this one, and this algorithm—I've never seen anything like these before."

"How can you give her a perfect score for something you've never seen? That's hardly fair to the other students!"

Cheng Rushan furrowed his brow slightly. "Your Highness, although I have taught at the Royal Academy for twenty years, I have always believed that our country's mathematics is profound and extensive, and its problem-solving approaches aren't limited to just mental abacus arithmetic."

"While I have never seen Miss Ji's method before, after discussing it with Director Mei, we agreed that her approach is remarkably ingenious."

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