There is a god in the sky

Chapter 321 The Crown Prince's Residence (Part 2)

Shen Lan bumped into the Crown Prince and his entourage as she went out.

With a pillar of support, the Crown Prince no longer cared about Shen Lan, only adding a special instruction: "My promise still stands, I am ready to serve you anytime."

Shen Lan stepped back to the side of the road and bowed.

Tong Shanzhang asked with great interest, "I have seen you before; you have been to the academy."

"Yes, I previously visited the Marquis of Pingyang's heir at the academy with Lord Xiao."

"Fu Qingyan is a really good kid. He's quick to learn and hardworking. I heard he has his own teacher, a woman. Could it be you?"

Shen Lan replied modestly, "I can't be considered a teacher; I only supervised the prince's studies."

Headmaster Tong was very amiable.

"There are already few women who are literate, and even fewer who can understand them. I have never seen a woman like you who has even dabbled in the imperial examination questions before. Come in and have a cup of tea with me."

The Crown Prince also looked at Shen Lan in surprise.

He thought Shen Lan was just a young and somewhat beautiful coroner.

The first female coroner of the Daxi Dynasty was personally appointed by the emperor, so she was naturally different.

According to her maternal grandfather, she was actually a learned and talented scholar.

Of all professions, only studying is noble. Why would a scholar become a coroner?

The Crown Prince also became interested and instructed the young eunuch leading the way, "Take the coroner Shen downstairs to change and wash up, then come back to have tea with me and my maternal grandfather."

Shen Lan naturally declined, saying, "Thank you for your kindness, Headmaster Tong, but I have official duties to attend to and cannot stay any longer."

The crown prince crossed his arms and looked at her with interest. "You certainly have backbone. Do you think I'm not worthy of inviting you for a cup of tea?"

Four guards stood around Shen Lan, blocking her way.

This is not an invitation, it is a threat.

Having no other choice, Shen Lan could only follow the little eunuch to wash up and change.

The dresses brought by the palace maids were exquisite; they were the best and most beautiful clothes Shen Lan had ever worn in her life.

She declined the palace maid's offer to dress her up, simply tied her hair into two buns with a hair ribbon, and then carried her trunk to the appointment.

“Miss Shen, you can’t take this box with you. I’ll keep it for you and return it when you leave.”

The palace maid pressed down on the box and smiled at Shen Lanyan: "Miss Shen has such a beautiful face, just the type the Crown Prince likes."

The palace maid's hint was obvious enough, but Shen Lan only felt disgusted.

"The Crown Prince's preferences are none of my business!"

"Why be so persistent, Miss Shen? It's too hard for a woman to drift through life. What's wrong with finding a powerful man to rely on? Do you really want to spend your whole life in the public eye as a lowly coroner?"

Shen Lan saw malice in her eyes, slapped her away, picked up her suitcase, and walked out.

"You call an eighth-rank coroner appointed by the Emperor himself lowly, then what are you? How dare you show such contempt for the Emperor! Does your Crown Prince know about this?"

The palace maid panicked and retreated repeatedly, forcing a smile as she said, "Miss Shen has misunderstood me. I only wanted to help you."

"No need."

The palace maid gritted her teeth in resentment and could only watch helplessly as Shen Lan walked out.

Shen Lan's suitcase was eventually confiscated.

Her toolbox was full of knives and hammers, so it wasn't really suitable for her to bring it in.

When she entered, she saw the Crown Prince and Headmaster Tong sitting face to face playing chess, so she stood respectfully to the side and did not approach them.

"Does Miss Shen know how to brew tea?" Master Tong asked.

"No," Shen Lan refused bluntly.

"Oh, it seems Xiao Ji didn't teach you. He's quite the tea brewer."

After placing the last piece, Tong Shanzhang stopped, saying, "Your chess skills haven't improved at all in years, which shows you haven't been studying properly."

The prince replied guiltily, "I've been too busy to concentrate on my studies, and I've disappointed my grandfather."

"Hmph, those are all excuses!"

Tong Shanzhang sat down to brew tea, pointed at Shen Lan and said, "Girl, come here. It's more interesting to talk to you than to him."

Shen Lan didn't know his intentions, but since he was already there, she might as well try to find out what he was up to.

The headmaster of an academy wouldn't just have a random chat with himself for no reason.

Shen Lan sat down opposite him. Upon seeing this, the Crown Prince was so angry that his face twisted. He pointed at her and laughed loudly, "An eighth-rank coroner, a woman, dares to disregard me. Who gave you the guts?"

Shen Lan thought the Crown Prince was a bit childish and greasy, and focused intently on watching Headmaster Tong brew tea.

Xiao Ji knew that she didn't like adding anything complicated to her tea, so he would specially brew her light tea.

But Tong Shanzhang was unaware of this, and it was impossible for him to accommodate her.

When a bowl of tea was placed in front of her, she only picked it up and took a small sip.

"I don't like it. It seems that young people don't really like this kind of tea. It was my oversight."

"It's alright, I just have a question for you."

"Please speak, Headmaster." Shen Lan put down her teacup.

"Where did you go after you left the academy that day?"

Shen Lan suddenly looked up and found that Tong Shanzhang's eyes had changed.

His amiable demeanor just now was nothing but a facade; this is his true nature, isn't it?

"What does 'headmaster' mean? We left the academy and went down the mountain, but we got lost on the way and ended up going around in circles."

"Really? You haven't been to places you shouldn't have gone, or seen things you shouldn't have seen?"

Shen Lan remained calm and composed. "You mean... Oh, right, we went to the side of a valley and saw what looked like a wooden house on the other side, but it seemed to be abandoned. Was that something we shouldn't have looked at?"

Headmaster Tong stared intently at Shen Lan.

Let alone a young girl, even high-ranking officials in the court rarely dared to put on airs in front of him.

The girl in front of me is either not lying, or that's just her nature.

"Haha... I really do know that wooden house. It used to be a place where hunters would rest in the mountains. Later, few people went to the west, so the house was abandoned."

"The headmaster even knows this? Does he know every single place on the mountain?"

"After all, I've lived in the mountains for many years."

Shen Lan countered with a question: "I heard that Headmaster Tong likes porcelain, so he must also know how to make porcelain, right?"

The Crown Prince, displeased with their nonchalant conversation, preemptively said, "Of course my maternal grandfather knows how to make porcelain. Twenty years ago, the Nine Dragon Plate that shocked everyone at the state banquet was made by my maternal grandfather."

Shen Lan was taken aback. "I never expected the headmaster to have such skills. I admire him. I wonder if the headmaster has been making porcelain in recent years? I would like to see it."

Tong Shanzhang glanced at her indifferently, "It's not burned anymore, it's just an inanimate object, abandoned for many years."

"I see. So what does the headmaster like now? Reclaiming wasteland for farming or writing books and biographies?"

Clearing land for farming and writing books and biographies are two completely different lives, and the person in front of me has nothing to do with the former in terms of identity or status.

The Crown Prince only caught her question, but Headmaster Tong knew she was mocking him.

He's so old, yet he was mocked to his face by a young girl.