56: First battle a great victory

Seeing Nangong Yu look over, Shangguan Yuexi smiled faintly and said, "Yuer, don't make things difficult for her."

"Difficult?"

Nangong Yu was puzzled. Had this rule become so ingrained in her heart that it couldn't be changed?

"Yes, even as you said, she is about to become your enlightenment teacher, but if she doesn't bow to you, a Prince, she will be scolded by others!"

Hearing this, Nangong Yu frowned slightly. "Is that so? Then forget it. Teacher Qing Ling, you may rise now!"

"Thank you, Little Prince!"

Qing Ling nodded, then rose and stood respectfully to the side.

Seeing this, Nangong Yu couldn't help but frown slightly, then crawled into Shangguan Yuexi's arms and sat down.

"Mother, are you sure that with her submissive attitude, she can teach Yuer well if Yuer doesn't study properly?"

Hearing this, Qing Ling's delicate body trembled slightly, and she was about to kneel, but Shangguan Yuexi stopped her.

Shangguan Yuexi lowered her head, smiled, and said, "Will Yuer not study properly?"

"Probably not!" Nangong Yu shook his head. "Mother, why do you ask that?"

But Shangguan Yuexi smiled faintly and said, "Then isn't that settled? Since Yuer will study properly, then your assumption doesn't hold true, does it?"

Hearing this, Nangong Yu blinked slightly. It seemed he couldn't refute that.

He shook his head, said no more on the topic, and changed the subject: "Alright, then Mother, you go Cultivate. Yuer will follow Teacher Qing Ling to learn to read!"

But Shangguan Yuexi shook her head and smiled, "Not yet. Mother will watch Yuer learn for a couple of days first!"

"Oh, alright!"

Nangong Yu nodded and didn't refuse. He also understood that his mother was worried about him!

He looked at Qing Ling and said, "Teacher Qing Ling, then I'll trouble you!"

"The Little Prince is too kind; it's Qing Ling's duty!"

Qing Ling shook her head slightly, took out a small booklet from her embrace, and spread it on the table. "The Xuanling Continent has tens of thousands of characters, among which the most prevalent are the Human Race, Yao Race, and Demon Race characters. What we are going to learn are the most orthodox and prevalent characters of the Human Race!"

"Little Prince, for a while, this Servant Girl will first teach you how to use pitch. Pitch is the foundation of recognizing characters. Once you learn pitch, recognizing characters will be much simpler."

"After that, this Servant Girl will teach you some of the most commonly used characters, their writing, and their meanings, from simple to complex..."

...Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, a morning passed.

Nangong Yu looked at Qing Ling, who was parched from speaking yet still ceaselessly teaching him to read, and couldn't help but shake his head slightly.

"Mother, I'm tired. Let Qing Ling go down first. I'll study later!"

"Okay!"

Shangguan Yuexi nodded slightly, but looked at him deeply. Her son had such a kind heart!

She turned to Qing Ling, "Qing Ling, you rest for a bit. Go to the kitchen and find something to eat. You'll need to teach Yuer here for this period, so if you want to rest, go to the side room!"

"Thank you, Imperial Concubine Your Highness! Thank you, Little Prince!"

Qing Ling knelt again!

But this time, Nangong Yu said no more, because he was carried back to bed by Shangguan Yuexi for his afternoon nap.

Qing Ling watched the two leave, and only after a long while did she get up, go to the nearby kitchen to find some water to drink, and then returned to the pavilion.

Not long after, Shangguan Yuexi came out.

She glanced at Qing Ling, sat down beside her, and asked, "Do you know that the moment you became Yuer's enlightenment teacher, your official career was essentially ruined?"

"This Servant Girl knows!"

Qing Ling lowered her head. Once an ordinary person became a teacher to a royal descendant, even an enlightenment teacher, they could only be a teacher for life and would never be allowed into the imperial court in this lifetime.

Even if they could enter the imperial court, they were destined not to be highly regarded. How could she not know this?

But she had no choice. From the moment His Majesty chose her, she had no choice!

Ten years of arduous study, all wasted in an instant!

She had cried and despaired in her heart, but she could only accept it.

Shangguan Yuexi glanced at her and said, "If you regret it now, it's still not too late. This Princess values talent and can intercede with His Majesty for you, allowing you to enter the imperial court and no longer be Yuer's enlightenment teacher."

Hearing this, Qing Ling was somewhat moved, but she still shook her head. "Thank you for Your Imperial Concubine Your Highness's kindness. Since I am already here, this is Qing Ling's fate, and Qing Ling no longer wishes to fuss about it."

"Have you thought it through?"

Qing Ling knelt and kowtowed, "Thank you for Your Imperial Concubine Your Highness's great favor. This Servant Girl has thought it through and will diligently instruct the Little Prince from now on!"

"As you wish!" Shangguan Yuexi nodded slightly. "If you perform well, this Princess can take you into the Prince of Zhenbeis Residence, ensuring you a life of wealth, honor, and peace!"

"Thank you, Imperial Concubine Your Highness!"

Qing Ling respectfully kowtowed, her face filled with gratitude.

As an ordinary person, this was already an immense luxury.

Hadn't she studied hard for ten years precisely to enter the imperial court and receive deeper protection from the Empire?

Perhaps this counted now?

Shangguan Yuexi nodded slightly and waved her hand, "Alright, there's spirit rice in the kitchen. Go make yourself something to eat. Later, I'll have people deliver some low-grade beast meat and vegetables daily; you'll need to prepare your own meals!"

"Thank you, Imperial Concubine Your Highness!" Qing Ling's face showed gratitude, and her expression was respectful.

Shangguan Yuexi nodded slightly, then rose and returned to her room... In the following days, Nangong Yu continued to learn to read with Qing Ling, but he already knew everything she taught, so he found it a bit boring and eventually shifted from reading books to observing people.

Of course, no one could detect his gaze, not even Qing Ling herself!

Aside from the first three days, Shangguan Yuexi rarely came to check during the day in the subsequent days, as she was Cultivating in her room.

Because of this, Nangong Yu took the opportunity to have Ying Mei create an illusion, while he successively refined two batches of grotto-heaven pills, two batches of Golden Core Gathering Pills, and two batches of Restoration Pills!

With void feather's top-tier assistance, he refined a total of 148 special-grade and 2 superior-grade grotto-heaven pills, 96 special-grade and 3 superior-grade Golden Core Gathering Pills, and 1 medium-grade one.

As for the Restoration Pills, there were 97 special-grade and 3 superior-grade, all with a 100% pill formation rate.

And the success rate of the pills was, naturally, also 100%!

Except for the first refinement, which might produce superior or even medium-grade pills, the second refinement would always have void feather's help in correcting, resulting in all special-grade Medicinal Pills.

Nangong Yu sold all the superior and medium-grade Medicinal Pills to the Time-Space Merchant Guild, earning 2340 points.

On the seventh day of Qing Ling's arrival at Shouxian Palace, news finally arrived from the Northern Border.

The first battle was a great victory!

The Northern Expeditionary Army, with a casualty ratio of one to nine, utterly defeated the Beichuan Empire army, killing 140,000 Beichuan Empire soldiers, while the remaining Beichuan forces retreated into the Beichuan Empire's heartland.

In other words, Ming Tianan and the others killed 140,000 enemies while suffering only just over 15,000 casualties, not counting minor injuries!

Such terrifying military achievements directly shocked the Beichuan Empire and completely deterred the other three neighboring countries of the Qingyou Empire.