The Marquis Mansion’s Elite Class

Zong Wenxiu, who had just fallen asleep, was abruptly awakened: "..."

He opened his eyes and glared at the dark ceiling, letting out a silent sigh.

Zong Wenxiu felt that his younger brother didn’t need to worry about Teacher Pan affecting him. With the boy’s boundless energy and curiosity, it was the person sharing the bed who seemed to be suffering the most.

The little troublemaker was still chattering beside him: "Do you think we’ll have to sleep with Teacher Pan starting tomorrow? That’s terrifying. I’m not close to him at all. I’d rather sleep with you. Hey, what if I discuss it with Xu Wan? I could sleep with you this month and with Teacher Pan next month."

Zong Wenxiu: "..."

Sleeping with you for a month? I’m not sure I can handle that.

"Brother, why aren’t you saying anything?" the little troublemaker asked again.

Zong Wenxiu turned to his side and replied, "That wouldn’t work. Sleeping with me won’t help you much. Sleeping with Teacher Pan is how you’ll learn something."

The little troublemaker pouted, utterly confused. "Sleeping is just sleeping. What’s there to learn? Isn’t studying all day enough?"

Zong Wenxiu chuckled. "Of course it’s different. Like now, you’ve been talking to me for so long, but you haven’t gained any academic knowledge. But with Teacher Pan, it’s different. If you discuss imperial exam topics with him, like flood control of the Yellow River or the appointment of officials, he’d be able to explain it all in detail."

"Really? The imperial exam questions are that detailed?" The little troublemaker perked up.

"Of course. Although the child prodigy exam is meant to select gifted children, the examiners still consider their young age and reduce the difficulty of analytical questions, focusing more on listening, reading, memorization, and writing. But the imperial exam is different—it gives you one question and expects you to analyze and argue your point."

The little troublemaker nodded half-understandingly. "So we still have a lot to learn, huh?"

"Yes, the child prodigy exam is in half a year, but the imperial exam is three years away."

The little troublemaker complained, "That’s so inconvenient. I wish the imperial exam was held every year."

"Even if it were, we wouldn’t pass..."

The little troublemaker was surprised, then suddenly blurted out, "Hmph, Qin Ye definitely wouldn’t pass either!"

Zong Wenxiu couldn’t help but laugh. "You might be right about that. Even if Qin Ye gets first place in the child prodigy exam, he might not pass the imperial exam. The imperial exam is open to students from age ten to their seventies or eighties. The competition is fierce—it’s extremely difficult."

Especially for the top three.

Those are the top three scholars in the entire country.

It’s something Zong Wenxiu wouldn’t dare dream of in his lifetime.

But Xu Wan’s goal was to nurture his younger brother into one of the top three, and he, too, benefited from the same high-quality education.

His mother had told him to always be grateful for Xu Wan’s kindness.

He remembered that clearly.

The little troublemaker rolled over onto his back and muttered, "When will I ever be able to defeat Qin Ye..."

Zong Wenxiu thought it might take a year or two, maybe seven or eight, or perhaps never.

But the truth would only discourage his brother, so he chose not to say it.

"Keep working hard. If people can conquer the heavens, surely they can conquer others," Zong Wenxiu said.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

The little troublemaker clenched his fist. "Yes, I will definitely defeat Qin Ye. I will!"

After mumbling for most of the night, the energetic Zong Jincheng finally fell asleep.

But with the arrival of early summer and an extra person in the bed, the temperature rose, and the restless little troublemaker started kicking off the blanket repeatedly.

After covering him for the fifth time, Zong Wenxiu felt like sewing the blanket onto him.

He thought his brother would be better off sleeping in his clothes, really...

The next morning.

Zong Jincheng sprang up from the bed, ready to shout "Defeat Qin Ye!" again, but then he noticed someone else lying beside him and remembered he had slept with his brother last night.

But it was strange—his brother was still asleep. Usually, by this time, Zong Wenxiu would already be having breakfast in the front hall.

Zong Jincheng looked closely and noticed dark circles under his brother’s eyes, just like his own after a sleepless night.

Huh?

What had his brother been doing all night?

Zong Jincheng stroked his chin, then suddenly remembered what his brother had done before bed. His eyes widened in realization!

His brother must have been secretly studying all night again!

How outrageous!

This was taking competition to a whole new level!

Zong Jincheng was both furious and heartbroken. He wanted to shove Zong Wenxiu awake, but then he remembered how gently his brother had spoken to him last night. His arm hesitated, unable to bring itself to push.

Hmph, so annoying.

Zong Jincheng’s face turned red with anger, but he still carefully climbed out of bed and called Shunzi to go wash up outside.

Outside the study, Xu Wan was giving instructions to the three private tutors.

Inside, Baili Xi was already seated.

Seeing only Zong Jincheng arrive, he was surprised and asked, "Jincheng, where’s Wenxiu?"

Baili Xi had heard about Xu Wan’s decision early that morning. Though he found it a bit odd, he thought it made sense. Zong Zhao’s wife had certainly put a lot of effort into educating the boy.

Zong Jincheng, still fuming, replied with a scowl, "He studied all night and hasn’t woken up yet."

Baili Xi: "?"

"Didn’t he sleep with you last night? How come he studied all night, and you look so energetic?"

Zong Jincheng was even more indignant. "Because he was studying silently!"

Baili Xi: "..."

This kid really doesn’t need to push himself that hard.

Just then, hurried footsteps were heard outside, along with Zong Wenxiu’s voice full of apologies: "I’m so sorry, Madam, sorry to all the teachers, sorry, Mr. Baili... I... I’m late... I’m truly sorry!"

Xu Wan finished giving instructions and let the three tutors into the classroom. She walked over to Zong Wenxiu and asked gently, "What happened?"

Zong Wenxiu stood at the study door, feeling utterly ashamed. "I overslept..."

Xu Wan turned to Zong Jincheng. "Weren’t you sleeping together? Why didn’t you wake him up?"

Zong Jincheng replied, "He didn’t sleep well, so I let him sleep a bit longer. Can’t you see how bad he looks?"

Xu Wan frowned. Indeed, Zong Wenxiu’s dark circles were quite noticeable. She glanced at Zong Jincheng, who seemed perfectly fine, and asked, "Did you keep him up all night?"

Zong Jincheng: "!!!"

How did this huge blame suddenly fall on me!

"No, I didn’t! Who would keep him up?"

Zong Wenxiu remained silent, but Xu Wan thought back to her days taking care of the children at the orphanage and guessed, "How many times did you cover him with the blanket last night?"

Zong Wenxiu looked up in surprise.

He hadn’t expected Xu Wan to guess so accurately.

"Eight times," he admitted, then lowered his head again.

Xu Wan turned to Zong Jincheng and said, "Understand now, you little rascal?"