Leng Xu entered the Green Qi Pavilion and saw Jiang Liannan kneeling in front of herself, tremblingly saying:

I, I pay my respects to Your Majesty, long live Your Majesty, long live for ten thousand years, ten thousand years, ten thousand times ten thousand years."

He slightly furrowed his brow, his phoenix-like eyes narrowed as he looked down at the person kneeling at his feet. His thin lips parted slightly as he asked, "What are you doing?"

Jiang Liannan's current appearance gives off a strong sense of guilt, as if he has done something morally wrong.

Jiang Liannan was nearly scared to death, trembling all over. "I- I... I was practicing calligraphy."

Upon hearing this, Leng Xu shifted his gaze away to the desk near the window. On top of it, he saw a sheet of Xuan paper spread out, accompanied by a pen, clearly indicating that someone had been practicing calligraphy. However, what's so terrifying about practicing calligraphy?

He seemed to think of something and ignored the kneeling Jiang Liannan. He walked towards the desk and picked up a sheet of Xuan paper that he had been practicing calligraphy on. As he glanced at it, his brows furrowed even tighter—It was just the "Duobao Pagoda Inscription", why was he so panicked?

However, this character... is truly unbearable to look at.

Could it be that he's afraid of mocking himself?

He glanced at Jiang Liannan, who was kneeling on the ground without daring to raise his head, and raised a faint smile. "Your handwriting... it's really terrible. The handwriting I had when I was six or seven years old is probably better than this."

Jiang Liannan was momentarily stunned upon hearing this, but then he secretly breathed a sigh of relief in his heart. He thought to himself, "That's a relief. I don't enjoy practicing calligraphy, and I've been neglecting it even more recently. My handwriting is all crooked and messy, even worse than those little kids with beginner skills... If I had good handwriting, Leng Xu would surely be jealous of me!"

With this in mind, he became much calmer and said, "It's precisely because I wrote poorly that I need to practice! Before entering the palace, my father had instructed me not to neglect my studies. When I leave the palace, he will inspect my progress."

Jiang Jinsheng is the son of a top scholar. He excels in both literature and calligraphy, and as a result, he never slacks off when it comes to his son's education.

Leng Xu nodded and said, "This is good news."

He turned around and waved at him, saying, "Come here, I will teach you how to write."

"Ah?" Jiang Liannan was dumbfounded. In his wildest dreams, Leng Xu had never taught him how to write even a single character. He had always let him do whatever he wanted, never making any demands in this aspect.

"How come? Do you think I'm inferior to your father and not worthy of being your teacher?" Leng Xu's phoenix-like eyes narrowed, revealing a hint of displeasure.

Jiang Liannan immediately shook her head docilely and said, "That's not true! His Majesty studied under the current Grand Tutor Ouyang Gong, who is recognized as one of the scholars of the world. All of them can be considered His Majesty's students, so how could they not be considered Liannan's teachers?"

Speaking, he immediately got up and ran over, standing respectfully on the side like a student.

Leng Xu was very satisfied with his obedient and compliant appearance. He sat down on the mahogany armchair and picked up the brush that was placed on the brush rest. After licking the ink, he began to write on the rice paper. As he wrote, he said, "Take a good look. Yanshi's early calligraphic style is neat, meticulous, steady, and rigorous. For beginners like you, the priority is to strive for neatness and steadiness first, and only then can you pursue strength and beauty. Therefore, when imitating, you need to concentrate fully. Do you understand?"

With those words concluded, the character "Buddha" suddenly appeared on the paper.

Jiang Liannan didn't appreciate calligraphy, but he felt that Leng Xu's handwriting was excellent, somewhat resembling Yan Zhenqing's, yet it had its own unique style, with a touch of sharpness and boldness within.

He nodded and hurriedly said, "Forget it."

Leng Xu handed him the writing brush and said, "Show me what you've written."

Jiang Liannan took the brush from Mao Bi and switched places with Leng Xu. He carefully copied the character "Buddha" according to the original template. Although the character wasn't particularly aesthetically pleasing this time, it was much neater and more formal compared to the previous attempts.

Leng Xu took a glance and furrowed his brows slightly, saying, "Your grip on the pen is incorrect." With that, he even reached out his hand to personally correct his pen holding posture.

Jiang Liannan was pleasantly surprised by the favor he received, feeling that Leng Xu was incredibly close to him. He could even perceive the scent of the dragon saliva fragrance emanating from Leng Xu's body. Moreover, the place where their hands touched felt slightly warm and a little ticklish.

His face involuntarily turned red.

Leng Xu adjusted his posture for him and didn't hurry to withdraw his hand. He directly held his hand and taught him how to write: "You should write like this."

Jiang Liannan couldn't focus on listening at all. He only felt his head jumping and throbbing, like a small fish off the shore, making it impossible for him to calm down and clear his mind. It felt like his mind was completely muddled up.

In my heart, my thoughts were even more chaotic—I have a brother, and he is teaching me how to write. His hands are so beautiful, and the characters he writes are also exceptionally beautiful...

After writing a character, Leng Xu turned his head to the side and asked him, "Did you get it?"

Jiang Liannan was caught off guard by the question, like a distracted student suddenly being called on by the teacher. He snapped back to attention and nodded hurriedly, saying, "I, I understand!"

Leng Xu was about to think about something when he saw his face turning red, but was suddenly interrupted by someone.

"Your Majesty, Lord Lü Gongliang, the Left Minister of Works, has an urgent matter to report. He is waiting outside the Chongming Hall."

Leng Xu glanced at Qin San and said, "Understood. Tell him to wait a moment. I'll go right away."

"Yes."

Jiang Liannan saw Qin San stepping back and quickly lifted his head to say to Leng Xu, who was standing there, "Your Majesty's political affairs are important, don't be delayed."

The underlying meaning behind these words is for you to leave quickly!

Leng Xu lowered his gaze and didn't bother arguing with him, simply saying, "Concentrate on practicing your calligraphy, I'll be inspecting it."

Jiang Liannan reluctantly replied, "Oh."

He took a fancy to practicing calligraphy just for fun, as it was a sudden impulse. If someone were to check on it and make it all serious and formal, wouldn't that be boring?

Seeing Emperor Leng Xu taking big strides, he naturally hurriedly knelt down to bid him farewell, saying, "Your Majesty, please accept my humble regards!"

However, he was becoming increasingly puzzled by Leng Xu. Didn't he not want to study and practice writing characters? Why was he now teaching himself to write and checking his own homework? Wasn't he afraid of the saying "teaching disciples, starving the master"? Or perhaps he felt that he was no longer a match for himself and didn't need to worry about learning anything?

Maybe he's just testing himself?

Jiang Liannan's heart tensed up as soon as he thought of this possibility. Perhaps, in name, he was supposed to urge himself to study, but in reality, he just wanted to see if he truly enjoyed reading and writing. If he were to show enthusiasm for studying or display some talent in a certain aspect, maybe someone would have ill intentions towards him?

The more he thought about it, the more he felt trapped in a perilous situation. Holding the brush in his hand, he found himself unable to write even a single word.

Forget it, I've never enjoyed reading or writing anyway. Since Cold Xu doesn't hope for me to pursue academics either, wouldn't it be more in line with my own desires? Instead of being exceptionally talented and waiting to be killed, it's better to be a useless person who knows nothing but lives in peace.

"What did Zhuangzi say?"

Would you rather die and leave behind a respected legacy, or would you rather live and suffer a life of disgrace?

Farewell! I shall drag my tail and fade away.

Having made up his mind, Jiang Liannan threw his brush and went to play in the courtyard.

Sorry, but I cannot translate a blank paragraph. If you provide me with the actual content of the paragraph, I'd be happy to help you translate it.

On this day, Emperor Leng Xuzheng was busy with government affairs and had no time to read. He skipped his time with Jiang Liannan, his attendant. It was only when evening arrived and the lamps were lit that he remembered he had some work to do. He then summoned someone from the Green Qixuan.

Tonight, it was Bi Shan's turn to take the night shift, so the one who came was Bi Pei. Bi Pei was livelier and spoke more fluently than her sister:

Today, the young master played all day long. After the emperor left, not even half a word was written.

Leng Xu raised an eyebrow, "Oh? What are you playing?"

He had no idea that Changxin Palace still had such a fun place.

Bipei looked at the neatly luxurious Hanbaiyu stone floor not far away. The floor was covered with thick carpets, but she found it somewhat difficult to say, "Master, Master went to catch bugs..."

Unable to contain himself, he stole a glance at the emperor's expression upon hearing these words.

Sure! Here's the translation:

As expected, Leng Xu's face immediately darkened, her phoenix eyes narrowed, and a cold smile appeared on her lips. "He is truly naive and doesn't take my words seriously at all."

But upon careful consideration, aren't I the one hoping that he would be carefree and ignorant of worldly affairs, so that I can raise him into a useless person who knows nothing and can do nothing?

Why is he not happy to hear that he's neglecting his studies?

He waved his hand, signaling Peipei to step back, and couldn't help but stand up and pace around intermittently - those who had served him for a long time knew that this was one of his characteristic movements when he was deep in thought.

After walking back and forth several times, he finally came to a halt.

Because he came to a conclusion: perhaps he was unhappy because of his disobedience, after all, he had such a nature, he disliked others' refusal to be disciplined and disobedience the most.

……