"Grand Preceptor Cui, is this not a little excessive...?"
Yun Shu attempted to bargain, but Grand Preceptor Cui had already flung his sleeve and turned away in anger.
"If Your Highness is unwilling to be this old servant's student, then by all means petition His Majesty directly!"
There it was—threatening her with that cheap royal father of hers!
Swallowing her frustration, Yun Shu fell silent.
While the day's lesson had yet to begin, she leaned her elbow on the desk, pretending to lower her head and read. Under cover of that pose, she closed her eyes, and her consciousness quickly sank into the villa space. Inside, she grabbed her phone and searched for the total character count of The Doctrine of the Mean.
Good news: as far as books go, it wasn't that long.
Bad news: it had 3,568 characters.
Copied ten times, that would be 35,680 characters!
Which meant she had to copy about 12,000 characters per day. In calligraphy with a brush.
"Grandpa Cui is a demon!!!"
Within the villa, Yun Shu clutched her head and let out a silent scream of despair.
…
Because she had that mountain of copying on her mind, Yun Shu found herself far less interested in the budding gossip between the novel's original male and female leads.
She somehow endured the day until class finally ended around the you hour. As Grand Preceptor Cui left through the front door, the Sixth Prince immediately bounded over with an utter lack of tact.
"Fifth Sister, you promised today we would eat that fried chicken!"
"Postpone it three days," Yun Shu replied weakly as she stood. "I must return and begin copying."
"Wait—no, don't!" Watching the fried chicken slip away before his eyes, Yun Chu Huan quickly blocked her path. "It's only copying, is it not? Just let Zi Ming do it for you!"
Li Zi Ming, who had just been packing his books: "...?"
Poor Li Zi Ming looked up in confusion, only to meet the Sixth Prince's meaningful gaze. He quickly nodded in forced agreement.
"Yes yes, it's only copying. When His Highness the Sixth Prince was punished in the past, I helped with the writing!"
"Exactly! Zi Ming is quite skilled at imitating others' handwriting!"
Yun Chu Huan enthusiastically pitched his friend's talents.
"With Zi Ming's help, what's ten copies of The Doctrine of the Mean? Even twenty or thirty wouldn't be a problem!"
"Well then... I shall trouble you?"
Yun Shu hadn't expected that her casual mention of fried chicken this morning would bring her such a blessing. Revived with energy, she led the group out of the study hall.
Outside, seeing Ting Xue and the others waiting, Yun Shu waved her hand with a grand flourish and commanded:
"Go to the Imperial Kitchen and ask for three—no, five chickens!"
"Your Highness, would five not be too many?"
Cen Yiyi followed behind her and spoke cautiously.
"We may not be able to finish them all…"
"Finish them? My palace is still filled with people!"
This little dumpling-faced girl was so adorably small, barely reaching Yun Shu's shoulder. Yun Shu easily draped an arm over her like she was a pet.
"And besides, though every part of fried chicken can be eaten, the drumsticks and wings are my favorites. Five chickens means only ten of each. That's not too much!"
"Oh…"
Cen Yiyi obediently nodded, saying no more.
The Sixth Prince, however, turned to his young eunuch with excitement.
"Xiao Anzi, you go as well! Bring back two more chickens!"
"Yes, Your Highness!"
Xiao Anzi answered immediately and hurried off with Ting Xue.
…
The journey from the study hall to the Imperial Kitchen, and then circling back to Fengyang Palace, naturally took much longer than heading directly home. Yun Shu, unwilling to waste time, ordered her brush, ink, and paper prepared as soon as she returned.
Although she had already secured Li Zi Ming's help, one couldn't imitate handwriting without a reference.
Yun Shu sat properly at her desk. After copying thirty characters with great effort, she gave up.
"No, this won't do. It's far too difficult!"
Just from Grand Preceptor Cui's stern face earlier, she could already imagine what would happen if she submitted a page full of chicken scratch. The old man would certainly explode in rage—and likely demand another ten copies!
Brushes were so soft. And she had never practiced in her previous life. Just writing thirty halfway-decent characters had already made her hand ache.
She had to copy over 3,000? That would surely end her.
Throwing down the brush in defeat, Yun Shu slumped against the back of her chair like a salted fish that had lost all hope.
"I must find another way…"
"If Fifth Sister truly doesn't wish to copy them, just let someone else do all ten," Yun Chu Huan offered helpfully nearby.
"Grand Preceptor Cui has never seen your handwriting anyway."
"But he will, eventually."
Cen Yiyi mustered her courage and spoke softly.
"If he finds out, the Grand Preceptor will be furious."
"What other clever idea do you have then?"
Yun Chu Huan rolled his eyes at her, and Cen Yiyi immediately shrank into herself like a frightened quail, going silent.
Yet Yun Chu Huan, having said that, suddenly remembered they still hadn't received their chicken. He paused, then kicked Li Zi Ming lightly.
"Go take a look. Didn't my Fifth Sister already write a few dozen characters? Can you mimic the handwriting from that?"
"Th—that's not nearly enough!"
Faced with yet another impossible task, Li Zi Ming wore a bitter expression.
"I really cannot manage it!"
"Useless!"
Yun Chu Huan glared at him.
"She's written all the strokes—horizontal, vertical, hook. What more do you need?"
"No need. I've thought of a way."
Yun Shu's mind remained entirely unaffected by the bickering around her. She suddenly sat up straight, and when the others looked at her in curiosity, she lifted her chin and smiled with a hint of mystery.
…
One incense stick later.
Outside the small kitchen in the rear courtyard of Fengyang Palace.
Yun Chu Huan stared curiously and somewhat bewildered at the seven fat roosters flapping about.
"Fifth Sister… are you certain that plucking the tail feathers of these creatures will help?"
"I've never heard of writing becoming easier just because the brush is made from chicken feathers."
"Well, won't we know after we try it?"
Yun Shu raised her chin, ready to instruct one of her eunuchs to begin. But before she could speak, Yun Chu Huan jumped in excitedly.
"Wait, Fifth Sister! Since none of us have anything to do, why don't we compete?"
Yun Shu arched a brow. "Compete in what?"
"Let's see who can pluck the most tail feathers!"
Yun 'Menace' Chu Huan had already rolled up his sleeves and was shouting to the nearby eunuchs.
"I've never seen a live chicken up close before! You lot, hurry up and untie the strings on their legs! Let them run free!"