Chapter 39

In just a short time, equivalent to the burning of an incense stick, Shen Ningning had given away all the sachets she made.

She happily returned to the private school with the two schoolboys and Lu Shaoyuan.

"Why did you give away sachets for free, and use the county magistrate's name to do good?" Lu Shaoyuan couldn't help but ask her.

Shen Ningning tilted her head, her moist eyes shining even brighter in the night.

"Because the county magistrate has been very kind to me. The fact that I can attend school is thanks to him."

"I heard he's been slandered, so I wanted to do something to remind everyone of his kindness. Maybe it will help him a bit!"

Lu Shaoyuan listened silently, not saying a word.

After returning to the private school, he watched Shen Ningning enter her room before he, reassured, turned and went back to his own.

He also resided in the special rooms of the east courtyard, which was segregated by gender.

The reason he watched Shen Ningning enter her room before leaving was that he felt the young girl was too excited.

He was worried she might suddenly come up with another idea, rush out, and break the private school's rules.

Lan Qian, hiding behind the door frame, watched their returning figures with anger boiling inside her.

"She's returning this late! I'm going to tell Master Huang!"

She said and was about to leave, but before going, she checked the time. It wasn’t past the Hour of the Dog yet, so Lan Qian confidently ran towards Master Huang's courtyard.

"Master Huang!" Lan Qian burst into his room, "Aren’t you going to do something? Shen Ningning is getting more outrageous. She even went to the street to sell things!"

Master Huang, correcting scrolls, looked up, "She went to sell things?"

Lan Qian nodded, "Yes! And she didn’t just go by herself, she dragged Brother Shaoyuan along."

"Master, if you don’t take action against her, who knows what she might do next to corrupt the school’s morals!"

"If everyone starts selling things instead of studying, what will our parents think if they find out? Won’t they blame the private school?"

Master Huang fell silent for a moment.

He said, "Don’t worry for now. I’ll look into this matter before making any decisions. It’s late, you should go back."

Before leaving, Lan Qian emphasized, "Master, you must punish her, or I won’t accept it!"

After she left.

Master Huang picked up Shen Ningning's scrolls.

All her answers were perfect, and her handwriting was neat and proper.

To say that she could lead Lu Shaoyuan astray seemed impossible.

However, if Lan Qian used this as a reason to make a fuss, the parents of these students coming to the private school could also cause him a headache.

What should she do?

Shen Ningning, after a busy day and shouting a few times in the streets, returned to her room feeling parched.

She blew out the lamp and drew the curtains in the outer room to prevent Lan Qian from peeking in again.

Then, she entered the fairyland.

First, she sat under the orange tree, cutting and enjoying several juicy and sweet oranges!

Finally, she went to the edge of the spiritual spring to splash water on her face.

It was instantly refreshing!

But then, her stomach began to growl.

"Hmm… I'm a bit hungry. Suddenly, I really want to eat Grandma’s cooking," the young girl mused, sitting on the threshold, her big eyes watery and pitiful.

Suddenly.

She thought, if next time she asked Grandma to prepare the food in advance, she could store it in the fairyland.

Wouldn't that mean she could bring it to the private school to eat whenever she wanted?

Next time she went home, she decided to give it a try!

She slept soundly through the night until morning.

The entire day, Shen Ningning was focused on listening and studying in class.

Master Huang wanted to talk to her but didn’t know how to start.

Finally, when the school day was about to end and Shen Ningning was packing up her books to go home.

Lan Qian watched her intently.

Master Huang intended to speak and ask her to stay for a talk.

Just then, a schoolboy ran over, "Master Huang! The county magistrate is here at our private school!"

"What?!" Master Huang was pleasantly surprised and quickly instructed the schoolboy to call the other teachers to welcome him.

Indeed, Magistrate Fu Yuan Song had come in person.

Hearing the news, Shen Ningning ran to the doorway and saw the kindly old man standing at the entrance of the school, talking with the teachers.

"Grandfather Fu!" the young girl called out joyfully and ran over.

Fu Yuan Song immediately scooped Shen Ningning up, "Ningning, how is your schooling going here? Everything smooth?"

The little one, with a round face beaming with happiness, replied, "Smoothly! The teachers take good care of me."

Master Huang quickly added, "Student Shen is intelligent and diligent. She grasps many concepts quickly, truly a worry-free student."

Magistrate Fu Yuan Song nodded with satisfaction, "She's young. If there's anything she doesn't understand, you must take extra care of her."

"Yes!" All the teachers bowed and responded in unison.

Then, Fu Yuan Song turned to Shen Ningning with a smile, "Let's go, this time your grandfather will take you home."

Watching them board the carriage, Lu Shaoyuan also emerged from inside the school.

It seemed that the good deed Shen Ningning had done in the name of Magistrate Fu had its effect.

Lu Shaoyuan, for some reason, felt a bit of happiness for her.

Master Huang returned to the private school.

Lan Qian was still waiting at the door of his room.

"Master, did you or did you not talk to Shen Ningning? If she continues to sell things, she shouldn’t be allowed to study here, to prevent a bad influence on others!"

Her tone was so arrogant and unreasonable that it instantly angered Master Huang.

"Student Lan!" Master Huang barked, "If you have spare energy, you should spend it on studying, not meddling in others' affairs!"

"In this recent exam, both Student Shen and Student Lu got every question right. You, on the other hand, could almost be described as ‘losing on all fronts’!"

"I hope you focus on your studies and stop fixating on targeting others."

With that, Master Huang swept into his room, leaving Lan Qian outside.

Feeling humiliated, Lan Qian ran away in tears.

What did she do wrong?

Why was Master Huang so harsh on her?

Now, even Lu Shaoyuan wasn't paying much attention to her.

It was all Shen Ningning's fault!

She was determined to find an opportunity to expose Shen Ningning's background and let everyone know she was just a poor, helpless orphan!

Sitting in the carriage on the way back, Magistrate Fu Yuan Song informed Shen Ningning of the outcome.

It turned out that when the young girl was giving away sachets for free the previous night, an undercover official from the court was among the crowd.

He was impressed by such a young child willing to help Magistrate Fu do good deeds.

This made him suspect there was something amiss in the case, leading to a thorough investigation.

Finally, Magistrate Fu's innocence was restored.

Shen Ningning was overjoyed upon hearing this.

"I'm glad I could help Grandfather Fu!"

Fu Yuan Song stroked his beard and laughed heartily, "Ningning, you've saved me again. If there's anything you want, don't hesitate to tell me."

The young girl, with clear and bright eyes, pondered for a moment, "I don’t want anything, but I do have a question for Grandfather Fu."

"Go ahead."

"Is Mo Lingwei the name of the crown prince?"

Shen Ningning's tone was soft and sweet, filled with a desire for knowledge.

However, upon hearing her question, Fu Yuan Song's smile instantly froze.

"You've made it through the PK round! As a reward, we'll start another round of PK when we get back... ahem, everyone, bring out your votes, and I'll bring out Prince Mo!"