Chapter 36 Instant Noodles

Xia Yunheng entered the palace and was led to the back garden by the young eunuch.

In the past, the back garden was full of flowers, each one more gorgeous than the other, competing for beauty. Now, no matter how valuable the flowers are, they are all dead and fallen.

In the pavilion, Xia Yunheng felt that the lonely figure of Ming Huang was even more desolate than a dead tree.

Xia Yunheng said, "Uncle."

The emperor turned around and saw that it was his naughty nephew. He forced a smile and said, "Yun Heng is here."

Xia Yunheng stepped forward and saluted, "Your Highness, long live the emperor."

"Hoo~" The emperor was amused and came down from the pavilion to punch the brat. "You have never properly saluted your uncle since you were a child. It seems that you have learned a lot from your eldest cousin."

He knew that his eldest sister had transferred her nephew to another school. Now the brat had lost his childishness, his eyes were determined, and his thin body had become much stronger. During the drought, everyone was in danger and most of them were not getting enough food, but he had gained weight.

Xia Yunheng was hit hard, "Uncle, please stop making fun of me. Just be thankful that your nephew doesn't have to take the imperial examination, otherwise I would be mentally tortured by my eldest cousin."

My classmates have been memorizing that crappy secret book for quite some time. They are questioned by my cousin every day. I guess they can't sleep at night, as if all their energy has been sucked out.

The emperor smiled faintly but said nothing. He knew that the bankrupt academy opposite the Imperial College had been taken over by the prince consort's niece. For this reason, the eldest sister even threatened that anyone who dared to touch that girl would be chopped to death.

The emperor asked curiously, "How does your eldest cousin destroy people mentally?"

Xia Yunheng got into the role in a second, straightened his body, and imitated his elder cousin's daily morning scolding, "Open your eyes and start competing!
It's tiring, but the imperial examination is boring.

If you don't fight for it, you're living in vain.

It’s a last-ditch fight, and we’ll do it without regrets.”

Classmates must drink a big bowl of chicken soup every morning. Even Gu Jiajing was affected by the atmosphere. He ignored people when they talked to him and closed his eyes to concentrate on memorizing. He was the only idle person in the class, so boring.

The emperor was shocked. He did not expect that Master Song was such a strict master! The drought was severe, and the sorrow of the whole day was greatly relieved by the fun of the little brat today.

Seeing his uncle's brows relaxed, Xia Yunheng asked about the situation in Lin'an.

The emperor's smile froze on his face, and then he smiled bitterly, "Is this the reason you came to the palace?"

That's right. Xia Yunheng is studying in the capital and his mother entrusted him to his uncle, the emperor. Due to the natural disasters, his uncle strictly forbade him to leave the capital last month.

Seeing his uncle's gloomy face, Xia Yunheng hugged the emperor's shoulders and acted like a spoiled child as usual, "Uncle, can you let me go back to Lin'an to take a look?"

The emperor withdrew his thought, thinking that the brat was steady just now.

Finally, the emperor was fed up with being tortured. Yun Heng had also grown up, and it was time for him to take on his responsibilities. He told the emperor the truth, "Your mother is fine. The palace was attacked by thieves and all the food was stolen. Yesterday, I ordered the imperial guards to deliver food to Lin'an."

How dare they rob the palace? Xia Yunheng let go of his hand and said, "Uncle, I want to go back and take a look."

In the past, the brat didn't have an elder sister in his heart. It was rare for him to be so sincere. The emperor nodded with satisfaction and said, "Go if you want to."

Xia Yunheng happily hugged his uncle again, "Thank you, uncle!"

"You are so old and still act like a spoiled child," the emperor said, pushing the man away in disgust. The old eunuch behind him laughed, "Your Majesty, Prince Yunheng is still a child."

Xia Yunheng was worried about his mother and had already run away. He felt lucky that his uncle did not mention Lu Jie's matter just now, so he escaped danger.

Qingyun Academy
Song Yanjin didn't see Xia Yunheng during the whole morning of classes and was worried that something had happened to him. He waited for the people from the princess's mansion to come to the cafeteria to get food. After asking, he learned that he had returned to Lin'an, and he felt relieved.

Three days of minor exams and five days of major exams have been arranged, but seeing that everyone is not in good spirits recently, Song Yanjin arranged for the kitchen to cook some sweet soup every afternoon and bring it to the school.

Gongye Zhiqian held the soup with shaking hands and cried with joy. He had been chewing tree roots for three days in a row...

Illegitimate sons like them were not valued at home and could not even drink rice soup for three meals a day.

Gu Jiajing didn't like sweets, so she didn't go over to get it. She was holding Master Song's self-proclaimed secret book and trying hard to memorize it. Now he had memorized to the last page. If Master Song dared to ask any more questions, he would just throw the book in her face and recite loudly in her ear.

Who is Song Yanjin? How could he give him a chance!

Song Yanjin was marking test papers in the lecture hall. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed that Su Youli, Gongye Zhiqian, Yin Guanshu, Zhuang Yunzheng, and Du Xiufeng all looked very bad. Could it be that they went to school hungry?
The pressure of schoolwork is too great and I can’t go without enough food.

Song Yanjin held the brush in his hand with confidence and raised his voice, "Everyone, please note that the Autumn Examination will be held in the 15th. Time is tight, so everyone should eat three meals a day in the academy cafeteria."

"Wow~" Ye Shiran cried and lay on the table wailing. His only free time was taken away from him!
Gongye Zhiqian, Yin Guanshu and others were so moved that they almost knelt down in front of Master Song. Now they could recite the lessons with peace of mind.

Song Yanjin inadvertently paid attention to Ye Shiran's behavior. This boy has the same personality as Xia Yunheng, both of them love to play.

However, the articles written by this boy are now much more steady, and the language and viewpoints in them all have the style of her own secret manuals. Song Yanjin's mouth curled up slightly, feeling complacent. It seems that a month of recitation was still useful.

Tsk~ If the examiner were to mark the test papers of the students from her Qingyun Academy, would she think they cheated because there were so many similarities?
Song Yanjin was so scared that he spread out more than a dozen test papers on the table and looked at them. They were completely similar, but their personal opinions were different. It was impossible for the examiner to mark all the test papers of the students of Qingyun Academy by himself. He comforted himself and felt relieved.

Xia Yunheng still hadn't returned by dinner time, and Song Yanjin couldn't help but start to worry. This young boy left without saying a word, which was really frustrating.

After the meal, Song Yanjin did not let the two chefs go back to rest. The provincial examination would last for three days in the Imperial College. In order to ensure that these students had enough food, she prepared modern instant noodles and easy-to-store dry food for them to bring in.

As one of the first batch of students who traveled to ancient times, Song Yanjin was of course favored.

Cui Yuanshang and Bai Zhu helped. The two chefs were strong, so the task of kneading the dough was assigned to them.

In the entire academy, only the cafeteria was brightly lit with candles. Qingmu, who was too hot to sleep, and the cleaning ladies all came to join in the fun. Old Su had been waiting for Principal Song in the teacher's rest area for a long time, so he went to find a more lively place.

"Oh~ They're all busy in the cafeteria."

Bai Zhu and Cui Yuanchang worked together, one holding the chopsticks while the other adjusted the curve of the noodles and cut them into palm-sized squares.

There were two large pots, one for steaming and one for frying. Old Su watched from beginning to end with great curiosity. He walked to Song Yanjin who was frying noodles by the pot and asked, "What kind of exotic food is Little Principal Song making?"

Song Yanjin smiled as he took the fried and cooled noodles, broke off a small piece and handed it to Mr. Su, "Try it, Mr. Su. This noodles is delicious when soaked in water, but it can also be eaten dry, so it's called instant noodles. I'm going to make some for the students to bring to the Imperial Academy."

Mr. Su took it, smelled its crispy and delicious fragrance, put it in his mouth without hesitation, and chewed it until it was crunchy.

(End of this chapter)