Four, separation from the non.

There is only one thing: her handwriting is becoming increasingly similar to that of the Crown Prince, to the point that even the Grand Tutor can no longer distinguish between them. The characters learned in the beginning are difficult to change; throughout her life, Qing Tong's writing will resemble that of the Crown Prince remarkably.

Qing Tong pushed the door open and entered, finding the room full of princes quietly reading their books, with only a few younger ones stealing glances at her from the corners of their eyes. Qing Tong let out a sigh; she had long heard of the strictness of Master Sun, and seeing it in person today confirmed her expectations. It was no easy task to keep a room full of golden branches and jade leaves silent! Just as she was pondering this, a sudden sharp command rang out beside her: "Get out!" The voice was like thunder.

The Crown Prince's ears were still bright red, looking quite ridiculous. Upon seeing Qing Tong, he merely lifted his head and snorted coldly through his nose, seemingly looking down on her. Qing Tong rolled her eyes, pretended to tug at her own ears, and let out a few fake yelps, causing the other princes in the classroom to burst into laughter. The redness on the Crown Prince's ears spread further, his anger resembling that of a fighting rooster. Three of his companions behind him glared angrily at Qing Tong, while only Li Fei could smile helplessly.

This basket of charcoal is quite heavy for a girl under ten years old. Qing Tong walked slowly, taking breaks, and it took her over an hour to return to Gan Zhi Palace. Sweat soaked her clothes, which had been half-dried by her body heat. Wang Chongrong and Granny Ding were waiting outside the door from a distance and rushed over to help Qing Tong, who was carrying a large basket.

On the second day, Qing Tong got up for school as usual. She was quite resilient, her body much sturdier than Li Fei had imagined. Although she had a bit of a headache and a stuffy nose from wearing wet clothes all day yesterday, after drinking a bowl of warm water and getting a good night's sleep, she felt better. This slight chill did not bring her down.

Qing Tong was taken aback, and upon raising her head, she saw the Grand Tutor glaring at her, shouting loudly about her wrinkled clothes: "If your attire is not proper, your writing will not be effective. What use is my teaching to you! Get out!"

Qingtong did not know why she felt shy upon hearing him speak, unable to utter a word, only lowering her head to thank him as she accepted it, and then Li Fei left. Qingtong carefully placed the small hand stove on her desk and walked over to the stove to take a look. She saw the young eunuch coming over to dump the red-hot coals from the three stoves into a large basket lined with yellow earth. As the eunuch was about to carry it away, Qingtong hurriedly stopped him and asked, "Where are you taking these coals?" The eunuch replied, "Throwing them away!"

The young eunuchs in the Imperial Academy exclaimed in surprise, while the Ninth Prince merely sneered as he watched the Crown Prince empty a pot of water, then turned and walked away.

Qing Tong gazed at Li Fei's back for a while, her mind filled with thoughts of this handsome young man, who was as graceful as a jade tree in the wind. She sat in the snow, completely soaked, yet did not feel cold; instead, she felt somewhat warm

Fortunately, after they had been fussing for half a day, the water that splashed onto her was only hot water rather than boiling water, so Qing Tong was not scalded. However, her clothes were completely soaked, and her hair was disheveled like a haystack, making her look extremely disheveled. She was very tired, sitting on the ground just gasping for breath, and after a long while, she had no strength to get up.

She sat for a moment before struggling to get up, feeling sore all over her body, estimating that she had been bruised in over a dozen places. She straightened her collar, let her hair down, and roughly combed it with her hands before slowly dragging her weary body to the front door.

In this bitterly cold weather, the steward of the charcoal room has not delivered charcoal to the Gan Zhi Palace for over ten days. Wang Chongrong can only take out a few pieces of the charcoal she had previously saved each day to warm up the Qing Tong room, and then she puts the remaining red charcoal into the hand stove and places it in Ding Momo's bed to warm her feet. Ding Momo, being elderly, cannot endure the cold. As for Qing Tong, she is allowed to share a bed with Hua Jian to keep warm, while Wang Chongrong herself has to endure the cold.

"Clothes may be improper, but the heart is righteous; words may not reach others, yet one can still attain understanding! If the gentleman has not experienced it himself, to say that teaching me is useless, is that not to retreat in the face of difficulty?" Qing Tong did not follow the advice to leave; instead, she looked up and met the Grand Tutor's gaze, clearly stating her thoughts.

"I am sorry..." After a brief silence, the voice remained gentle, "I can indeed try harder."

Wang Chongrong quickly stopped her, preparing to drag out a crying tone, and said with a smile: "Mother, that's enough. Qing Tong, hurry and take the charcoal inside. Today, Mother is roasting sweet potatoes for you to eat!" Qing Tong cheered and ran inside with the basket, her strength seeming to have doubled.

Li Fei knew that this girl was very stubborn. He thought she was unwilling to listen to him, so he handed her his hand warmer: "It will be better to warm up on your way back. Remember to have the palace servants bring you one tomorrow. Although there is a fire in the room, my hands still feel a bit cold while writing."

The Grand Tutor paused for a moment, then coldly said: "You are the Seventeenth Princess. The Chief Eunuch informed me about you yesterday. Considering that today is your first day of school, I will let it pass this time. However, you must not be late again. Come in!"

"I am sorry..." A gentle voice suddenly came from above Qing Tong's head. She looked up and saw the prince's companion, Li Fei, reaching out his hand to help her up. He stood against the light, his tall shadow enveloping Qing Tong, taking the place of the sun. He smiled gently, extending his left hand in front of Qing Tong, waiting for her to lean on it.

Wang Chongrong turned around and gently said: "Mother, do not speak of Qing Tong's pity any longer. Such matters are bound to occur in the future. If Qing Tong's clothing, food, housing, and transportation are all inferior to others, should we still pity her? I want her to feel that as long as she finds joy in what she does, there is nothing to be pitied!"

Qing Tong excitedly replied: "Mother! Look at how good this charcoal is, it burns with a fragrant smell! The people at the academy were going to throw it away, so I brought it back. Mother, you don't have to hold back, you can burn some in your own room tonight, and I will bring charcoal back every day from now on!"

The Grand Tutor has already begun his lecture, and his serious voice fills the room. Qing Tong, waiting outside for a moment of opportunity, quickly called out loudly: "Grand Tutor, the student requests to enter!"

With her green eyes pursed, she asked nervously, "Please don't throw it away, can you give it to me?"

Qing Tong pushed his hand aside and said with a hint of bitterness: "What does the young master have to apologize for? Just now, your hand touched the copper kettle; you must have known it wouldn't burn me to death! When your master hit me, although you didn't exert yourself to persuade him, you still intervened a bit. Even though you believed I definitely couldn't defeat those few, you still didn't join them in attacking me, did you? For my sake, is it worth it for you to go against your master's wishes and dampen his spirits? I should actually be thanking this young master!"

Wang Chongrong frowned and said, "Qingtong, what are you taking that is not related to attending class properly?"

He has a tall and slender figure, a handsome face, and a pair of eyes that resemble two pools of spring water, radiating a gentle light

They burned inferior black coal in their room, and when it was first lit, the smoke was so thick that one could hardly enter the room. Ding Momo held the hand stove all night while sleeping, and her nostrils were always black, which made Qing Tong and Hua Jian laugh at her.

"Let me help you up," Li Fei said, extending his hand. The edges of his fingers glimmered in the sunlight, and his nails were full and translucent. Qing Tong looked at it and, for some reason, felt her face flush, embarrassed to touch that hand. She suddenly regretted her earlier sharp and harsh words, lowered her head, and said sullenly, "No need, I... I can get up by myself"

Of course! The young eunuch looked at her curiously, "Is the princess going to play with it? It has been carefully styled!"

After school that day, the Crown Prince deliberately stepped forward to compare his calligraphy with that of Qing Tong, examining them closely and laughing heartily a few times. Qing Tong lowered her head and remained silent. The Crown Prince finally felt a sense of satisfaction and left with great pride. Qing Tong secretly picked up his calligraphy and began to practice it. She worked diligently, and within two months, her handwriting had become quite neat; in another month, it would be on par with any of the princes.

Qing Tong smiled and agreed, lifting the basket with determination and walking away. She was not looking to play; these were high-quality silver silk charcoal, which burns slowly and produces no smoke. A single furnace of this charcoal can last for two full days. After burning, it leaves only a small half-furnace of pure white ash, unlike the dirty black charcoal typically found. It is truly a pity to discard this furnace of charcoal after only half a day's use.

Today, the Grand Tutor assigned the task of practicing regular script. Although Qing Tong had already learned to write from Wang Chongrong, mastering concepts such as concentrating energy in the dantian, suspending the wrist and lifting the hand, as well as the principles of intention preceding the pen and the head of the silkworm and the tail of the wild goose, she was only accustomed to drawing with a hard twig on the ground. This was her first time handling a soft brush, and it completely refused to obey her commands. The characters she wrote were crooked and uneven, with strokes varying in thickness, worse than those of a five or six-year-old child. The Grand Tutor arranged everyone's practiced characters side by side at the front, and among the beautiful small scripts, Qing Tong's writing truly stood out like a chicken among a flock of swans. The teacher merely cast a faint glance at her, and Qing Tong's face turned redder than the crown prince's ears.

Qingtong was the last to jump off the chair. Li Fei came to her and asked, "Why don't you go back and change into something else? Wearing wet clothes on such a cold day will surely make you catch a cold!" Qingtong smiled at him, unsure of how to explain that she only had one set of clothes.

In the distance, the Crown Prince shouted loudly: "Li Fei! Why aren't you coming over yet?" Li Fei responded with a sound and then said to Qing Tong: "I will go first, you should go back and change your clothes! You might catch a cold."

"Eh?" The Grand Tutor was taken aback for a moment, sizing up Qing Tong for a while, and finally said, "Go in!" Qing Tong let out a sigh of relief and sat down at the empty table. The Grand Tutor no longer looked at her and began to lecture with a book in hand. The room was filled with children; their classes only lasted half a day. Due to the slight delay caused by Qing Tong, they finished school a bit later than usual today. By the time school was over, everyone was hungry, and soon they all left in a hurry. The room was filled with children; their classes only lasted half a day. Due to the slight delay caused by Qing Tong, they finished school a bit later than usual today. By the time school was over, everyone was hungry, and soon they all left in a hurry.

Her green eyes became even redder, and she could no longer control her own face, so she had to bury her head lower and nodded absentmindedly. Li Fei still softly said, "I am sorry..."

Aunt Ding was taken aback, her lips quivering slightly as she trembled and said: "The same golden branches and jade leaves, yet my poor child has to scavenge for things. Oh, my suffering and sensible princess, woe is me... ah..." This cry quivered, rising to a high pitch, and as Aunt Ding took a breath, it was about to transform into a dramatic performance with twists and turns.

It was unknown who shouted, "The Grand Tutor has arrived," but the princes watching the commotion quickly dispersed, with even the Crown Prince rushing in. Only Qing Tong was left sitting on the ground in the snow.