"That’s right. If you don’t dare to compete, you should just go home now," Qian Zhuye said with a laugh.

Sang Qi was also surprised, but he refused to believe that a six-year-old girl could actually beat him with just one question.

"Crown Prince, do you dare to compete?" Ye Qianning asked, looking at him.

Sang Qi’s eyes flickered. After a moment, he looked up. "I’ll compete with you."

"Excellent. You truly live up to your title as Crown Prince. Since you agree, let’s find a witness and begin." Ye Qianning had just been waiting for his nod. ’He switched out the little stiff’s test paper, and I’m going to settle that score right here and now.’

Sang Qi said coldly, "Go and summon Teacher Song."

"Yes, sir." A hidden guard departed.

Sang Zhi secretly pulled Ye Qianning aside. "How can you be so reckless? If you lose..."

"I won’t lose," Ye Qianning interrupted.

"But he’s the Crown Prince. It will be very troublesome if he loses." As a member of the royal family, Sang Zhi understood his Imperial Father’s mind all too well.

"He was the one who willingly took the bet. I didn’t force him. Who’s to blame but himself for being so petty he can’t stand seeing someone with a higher score?" Ye Qianning pouted, and after speaking, she even huffed in Sang Qi’s direction.

Sang Qi’s young face immediately darkened to the color of a pot’s bottom.

"Who dares to question Ye Qianning’s integrity? Who dares to accuse me of falsifying her score?" Teacher Zhang came storming over, his furious voice arriving long before he did, as he was still walking slowly from a distance.

Everyone looked over. Teacher Zhang was approaching with a dark face, fuming, and accompanying him was the Chief of Staff.

Teacher Zhang was so angry he could have coughed up blood. If not for the rules of decorum, he would have already sprinted right up to them.

Ye Qianning could see that the teacher was very, *very* angry right now. ’These unlucky students,’ she thought. ’It’s one thing to doubt me, but to doubt their own instructor? They’re just asking for trouble.’

As the students watched the teacher walk right up to them, they were so frightened they all backed away, not daring to speak.

"Well? Who accused me of falsifying the score? All of you, step forward!" In all his years of teaching, this was the first time Teacher Zhang had ever been accused of faking a grade.

It was utterly humiliating!

None of the students dared to speak, but the one who had first accused Ye Qianning of cheating was pushed forward by the others.

The student stumbled and nearly fell flat on his face. After steadying himself, he looked at the teacher, terrified. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

"Was it you who questioned Ye Qianning? Who accused me of cheating?" the teacher demanded, his attention fixed on him.

The student’s fingers clenched his robes as he whispered, "Ye Qianning only answered one question. How could she possibly get such a high score?"

"One question was more than enough. If she had written one more, I’m afraid none of you could have matched her," Teacher Zhang retorted. He had been watching Ye Qianning throughout the monthly exam. She had fallen asleep without even looking at the test paper.

The entire process—from looking at the paper, to picking up the brush, to writing, and to handing it in—had happened in the blink of an eye. With talent like that, it was no wonder the dean had taken her as a personal disciple.

Even he would have been eager to take her on as his most prized student.

At this point, even Sang Qi felt that Teacher Zhang must have faked it. How could a six-year-old girl possibly be so learned?

"How... How is that possible?"

"Just because you’re a fool doesn’t mean everyone else is. Instead of looking for the cause of your own poor grades, you accuse others of cheating. The academy has no place for someone so lacking in virtue and magnanimity. You should just go home at once," Teacher Zhang said, thoroughly incensed.

"Teacher, I can’t go home! Teacher, please don’t expel me from the academy!" The student was so frightened by these words that he started crying again. Seeing that the teacher wouldn’t even look at him, he turned to Sang Qi. "Crown Prince! Crown Prince, please stand up for me!"

Sang Qi furrowed his brow. But when he thought of his bet with Ye Qianning, he couldn’t help but say, "Teacher, he was merely voicing his doubts. To expel someone from the academy for that... it’s hardly convincing."