Chapter 17
Chapter 17: Enter Sun-Chasing Class!
Sweetie’s cheeks were stuffed as she waved her little spoon and chirped, “Imperial Grandfather! The shrimp is so yummy! Crown Prince Brother, Big Imperial Brother—you two try it too!”
Crown Prince Chu Cheng Xuan and Eldest Prince Chu Cheng Yan remained careful and restrained in front of the Retired Emperor. Their chopsticks were elegant, their posture perfect, and their expressions… unusually polite.
The food tasted like nothing.
That didn’t change until Sweetie started piling dishes into the Retired Emperor’s bowl without hesitation, chattering nonstop about the morning exam like she’d personally invented victory.
The gentleness in the Retired Emperor’s eyes—something the brothers had never seen—quietly loosened their tense shoulders. The awe they’d carried since childhood drifted away with the rising steam and warm fragrance.
With Sweetie’s bright eyes on them, the two brothers, for once, reached for seconds. Then thirds.
Even the Retired Emperor’s appetite was unusually good. By the time he set down his bowl, he realized he’d eaten half a bowl more than usual.
He stroked his beard and laughed. “With Sweetie here, my Yang Qing Hall finally feels lively again.”
After lunch, warm sunlight filtered through the window lattice. For a rare stretch, the family enjoyed a peaceful, lazy pause.
That afternoon, the open ground outside the Royal Academy was packed.
The second test—talent—had been moved outdoors, and anyone could come watch.
Crown Prince Chu Cheng Xuan and Eldest Prince Chu Cheng Yan personally escorted Sweetie to the test area.
Chu Jiao Jiao had already claimed the best spot at the front. Her face was full of disdain, practically wearing a sign that read: waiting for a joke.
When she saw Chu Tian Tian walk toward the qin, Chu Jiao Jiao’s mouth twisted into a vicious smile.
“Oh, you really dare to dream,” she called sharply, making sure her voice carried. “A country bumpkin thinks she’s worthy of touching a qin? She probably can’t even tell which fingers are gong, shang, jiao, zhi, yu!”
Playing the qin?
Hah. Better suited for plucking cotton.
Her sneer made a few students nearby—eager to curry favor with the “Great Ning Lucky Star” princess without knowing the truth—snicker along.
All eyes fixed on tiny Chu Tian Tian: scrutiny, curiosity, and the sour anticipation of people craving a public embarrassment.
Chu Tian Tian acted as if she heard nothing.
She sat upright before the qin. Her small hands came down.
“Zheng—!”
The first note sliced through the air and seized the crowd’s attention like a hooked line.
Then the music poured out, smooth as flowing clouds and running water.
At times it sounded like high mountains and flowing water—clear, distant, almost weightless.
At times it turned into golden spears and iron horses, vast and fierce.
Then it became a moonlit spring, murmuring straight into the heart.
When the final note faded, the lingering echo curled in the air.
The entire test ground fell into dead silence.
Everyone—including those who’d been waiting to laugh—stared as if frozen, mouths hanging open, forgetting how to breathe.
“H-heavens!” An elderly scholar with white hair shot up from his chair so hard his voice cracked. “Th-that is Qin Sage Qu Lao’s ‘Vast Sea Dragon Chant’! And it’s the hardest third variation! I… I only had the honor of hearing Qin Sage perform it once, thirty years ago!”
“It’s more than similar!” another proctor, clearly versed in music, cried out, beard trembling with excitement. “That pure, lucid mood—those effortless techniques—this is surpassing the master! It’s even more untainted, more otherworldly than Qu Lao’s own performance!”
In the center of the crowd stood Cui Heng, the dean of the Royal Academy and Qin Sage Qu Tian’s most devoted admirer. He was practically vibrating with excitement.
He lunged to the qin table in a single stride, old face flushed red, eyes locked on Chu Tian Tian. His voice floated, as if he’d forgotten where he was.
“N-Ninth Princess, Your Highness… this tune belongs only in heaven! This old one dares to ask—would Your Highness be willing to enter our Royal Academy’s Sun-Chasing Class?”
“Sun-Chasing Class?!”
A wave of shocked cries erupted.
That was the academy’s absolute top tier. Every student inside was a once-in-a-century monster—and the crown prince himself was among them.
Dean Cui forced down his excitement and added quickly, “However, Sun-Chasing Class has extremely high standards and heavy coursework. If… if you cannot meet the requirements, you may be sent back to the regular class, and then—”
Chu Tian Tian tilted her head and asked in a baby voice, “Grandpa Dean, what class is Chu Jiao Jiao in?”
Crown Prince Chu Cheng Xuan fought a smile and answered loudly, “Class A.”
“Oh!” Sweetie’s eyes lit up at once. She chirped to Dean Cui, “Then Tian Tian will go to Sun-Chasing Class! Tian Tian doesn’t want to be in the same class as Bad Sister!”
Someone in the crowd snorted with laughter.
Chu Jiao Jiao, standing at the front in her finest clothes, turned the color of liver in an instant. Her nails dug into her skin as she tried to slip away in the chaos.
“Sister Jiao Jiao!” Sweetie’s clear baby voice rang across the entire ground, innocent and puzzled. “Did you forget something important?”
She counted on her fingers, voice small but perfectly audible. “We agreed, right? If Tian Tian tested into Class A, you had to kowtow and apologize!”
“Now Tian Tian is entering Sun-Chasing Class, which is even more impressive than Class A! Sister Jiao Jiao is the Great Ning Lucky Star, so you have to keep your word. Grandpa Dean is watching!”
Every gaze snapped onto Chu Jiao Jiao.
Chu Jiao Jiao went rigid, as if needles were pressed into her back. She forced a smile uglier than crying and tried to wriggle out of it. “Sister Nine, I… I was only joking then…”
“Hm?” Sweetie blinked, cutting her off with wide-eyed innocence. “Tian Tian isn’t even officially enrolled yet, but Tian Tian already knows ‘a promise is worth a thousand pieces of gold’ is a sage’s teaching. Could it be Sister Jiao Jiao’s teacher never taught that?”
Chu Jiao Jiao choked so hard she nearly passed out. She bit her lip until it almost bled.
Under countless looks—disdainful, mocking, or simply hungry for drama—humiliation hit her so sharp it made her shake.
Princess Qing Yue, utterly lacking in tact, even muttered, “Yeah, Ying Yue… didn’t you say you’d kowtow?”
Chu Jiao Jiao shot her a glare savage enough to strip flesh.
She drew in a breath and squeezed the words out between clenched teeth. “Yes. I underestimated you… Sister Nine.”
Her voice was barely louder than a mosquito, and humiliation made her tremble from head to toe.
Sweetie let out a tiny sigh, like a miniature official, and waved her hand grandly. “Fine, fine! Teacher said we should spare people when we can. Tian Tian is an official with a big heart, so I’ll waive the kowtow. Sister Jiao Jiao just remember the lesson, okay?”
The crowd erupted into louder praise than before.
“At such a tiny age, Ninth Princess, Your Highness is not only brilliant—her heart is wide, too!”
“That’s true royal grace! Much better than certain ‘lucky stars’!”
“Pretty as carved jade, gifted beyond measure, and so kind and generous—Ninth Princess, Your Highness is incredible!”
In an instant, starry-eyed boys and girls swarmed around Chu Tian Tian. She looked every bit like the academy’s new idol.
Chu Jiao Jiao’s “Great Ning Lucky Star” halo dimmed to nothing in the face of Sweetie’s raw strength and charm.