Nanny Qi’s hand paused as she was drinking tea, and she lifted her eyelids in surprise to glance at Lian Hua.

The others could not help but straighten their chests and listen seriously with solemn faces, deeply respecting the words Lian Hua had just said.

Lian Hua slightly lowered her head and swept her gaze over everyone, very satisfied with their reaction, and then raised her head to continue, "Since His Majesty works so hard, what we at Canglan Court can do is to put all our efforts into making His Majesty a bit more at ease. The first thing is that we need to understand reason, know what should and shouldn’t be done, and contribute our modest efforts to not add to His Majesty’s troubles! "

As Nanny Qi listened, she nodded in agreement. It made sense, but she felt something was off toward the end. How could such a grand opening conclude with "not adding trouble"? Was this scope not too limited?

She couldn’t help but look at Lian Hua, who stood there with her hands behind her back looking quite confident, and thought to herself: Indeed, "not adding trouble" is the greatest help a young girl could offer to the Emperor. It’s faultless coming from a young girl, certainly better than those imposing sermons.

She could not help but shake her head and chuckle. Ah... a young girl is indeed a young girl. The admiration she held momentarily faded, and it really didn’t take long for people to reveal their true selves. Let’s see what she plans to do next.

The others seemed to understand but couldn’t fully grasp it, yet they felt that what Lian Hua said made a lot of sense.

Lian Hua paused, giving everyone time to digest, and when she felt it was appropriate, she spoke gravely, "And the best way to understand reason is through reading! His Majesty often teaches me at night that reading enlightens wisdom, reason, and virtue. I have found this to be absolutely true; following His Majesty’s teachings and reading has indeed broadened my horizons significantly.

I no longer just focus on the little plot of Canglan Court, but my mind has also become much clearer, no longer just focusing on daily meals, and I have begun to think about educating you all. "

Everyone reacted differently to these words.

Nanny Qi understood then. The young girl definitely had her own schemes; she was preparing a trap, but it was unclear what it was about... Well, better to focus on her tea.

Xiao Qing frowned in contemplation. She felt there was something incorrect about what her master said. Her master’s vision had always been broad; she had never just focused on that small portion of Canglan Court but had always included the entire Imperial Garden in her view...

Meanwhile, Xiao Linzi kept nodding, strongly agreeing with the master. The master was right, logical, and reading was indeed excellent.

Xiao Jizi’s eyes twitched slightly. That analogy from the master was really hard to comment on... Was this the start of deception? A fool had gotten a Book of Poetry; could it be what the master was hinting at?

Indeed, Lian Hua then said, "Ahem, therefore, the standard of reading in Canglan Court needs to be raised. Look, Xiao Qing is doing very well. She had not studied before, but under my guidance, she has started to read and recognizes quite a few characters, taking a leading role. Very good. But!"

As Lian Hua spoke, her gaze swept around and finally settled on Xiao Linzi.

Xiao Linzi listened and nodded, aware that Xiao Qing was learning to read and write, which was widely witnessed. It was good.

But upon hearing the word "But," he looked up to see Lian Hua staring at him, feeling uneasy, and stammered, "Master, master, but what?"

Lian Hua smiled slightly, having led up to her point, "But, Xiao Linzi, why are you so slow that you don’t read at all? Is that appropriate?"

Xiao Linzi shook his head, "Not appropriate..."

But he had been following Brother Ji’s advice in counting pebbles...

Lian Hua moved closer to him and praised, "Not bad, your sensibility is good. I tell you, Lookout Wang Min is not clever, his brain doesn’t work well, just because he reads too little. See the Book of Poetry I gave you?"

As she spoke, she pointed to the Book of Poetry in Xiao Linzi’s hand.

Xiao Linzi lowered his head and looked as if he half understood, his master demanded from him...

Lian Hua patted Xiao Linzi’s shoulder, speaking with great righteousness, "Exactly, you must memorize this collection of poems verbatim. As the saying goes, ’reading enlightens and gives insight into the world,’ this is what your master expects of you and it is your education!"

After saying this, she felt it was too much to ask and, feeling a bit embarrassed, added, "If you don’t understand something, come and find me, and I will teach you."

Xiao Linzi scratched his head and uttered an "Oh," always feeling it strange and couldn’t understand what memorizing poems had to do with world peace, yet he felt that what his master said made sense as he listened.

The others suddenly realized and followed suit, also exclaiming, "Oh..."

Well, turning such a big corner, it turns out the intent was to have Xiao Linzi memorize poems. However, it still felt like something was missing.

Like Xiao Jizi, who was quick to react, he understood what was missing.

His Majesty had pulled a big bluff, gave a long moral speech, and in the end, had Xiao Linzi memorize poems. What did that have to do with the second line of defense?

When His Majesty arrived, Xiao Linzi still wouldn’t know what to say to remind his master, would he?

Should he just improvise a plan?

Actually, His Majesty also feared that the master knew that he knew, so whatever Xiao Linzi said didn’t really matter—His Majesty would definitely cooperate.

Before he could make up his mind, Lian Hua cleared her throat, trying hard to control the urge to giggle, and spoke again, "All right, the problem is solved. From now on, when His Majesty arrives, Xiao Linzi, you just recite the poems loudly, starting from the first one. Enough of that, go back and memorize the first poem, hoping you can recite one when His Majesty comes today. The responsibility is great and the journey is long, the master’s significant matters rely on your reminder. Off you go."

With that, she quickly ushered him out.

"Yes." Xiao Linzi, holding the book of poetry, walked out somewhat confused.

Memorizing poetry? It should not be difficult, although he didn’t understand why his master had said so much, but he knew what he had to do, one was to memorize this Book of Poetry completely, and the other was to recite it whenever His Majesty came.

As he watched Xiao Linzi’s departing figure, Lian Hua felt a total sense of relief, utterly perfect, and laughed!

Indeed, the brilliant idea she thought of was to have Xiao Linzi recite poetry to remind her!

Ahem, she was recently learning poetry, right? When His Majesty came, how wonderful it would be for Xiao Linzi to recite poetry, such a great idea!

His Majesty, hearing Xiao Linzi recite poetry, could never guess that it was a secret signal meant to remind her. He would rather think that under her leadership, the study atmosphere at Canglan Court was strong and that she had encouraged Xiao Linzi to be diligent in his studies.

What a perfect method to achieve two goals at once, not only to remind her of His Majesty’s arrival, to hold the last line of defense, but also to make His Majesty feel she was diligent. Ha, brilliant!

She couldn’t help admiring herself, so clever.

Only, the greatest difficulty in this matter was to have Xiao Linzi memorize the poetry...

As far as Lian Hua was concerned, reading and memorizing were extremely difficult tasks. The Book of Poetry was a gift from His Majesty, and she had spent a long time trying to memorize it, only to find it painfully difficult and easy to forget.

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