Transmigrated as the Prince Regent's Cherished Runaway WifeChapter 15

The day this Young Master embawassed himsewf.

Translation Checker: jellypeaches zWCtms

Editor: jellypeaches, Dobhsh

It took only two days for them to find a tutor.

Chrysanthemum Garden.

About fifty years old, he was a serious-looking man with a beard and thin cheeks. At the sight of his new tutor, Meng Huan remembered the dreadful feeling of being ordered around by strict teachers in middle and high school.

Feng Zhi quietly introduced him. “The tutor’s name is Shan Shu, a senior guest scholar, very highly qualified. He also came third in the Hanlin examination years ago, and even now he is still working as an official.” VH4BMn

“Third in the Hanlin examination?” Meng Huan was puzzled. “Would it not be a waste to teach someone like me with his qualifications?” He made some comparisons. If passing the imperial service exam in ancient times was like getting the top score on the college entrance exam in a province, then placing third in the imperial service exam would be like getting the top score nationwide. He was a little skeptical. “Not to mention he only charged five silver taels per month.”

Feng Zhi said, “Maybe we got lucky.”

“…”

Just as Meng Huan was about to say more, Shan Shu coughed. “Madam, please.”

“Coming.”

Meng Huan came and sat down, while the teacher said with his eyes closed, “Here is a list of beginner textbooks for kids: Three Character Classic, The Book of Family Names, Thousand Character Classic, Abridged Classics, Elementary Couplets, and Words for Children. Which book does madam think is appropriate for madam to start with?”

Yesterday, Meng Haun had someone buy a literacy book. He pulled out a copy of Sets of Four. “Teacher, there are pictures in this textbook, why not start with this one?”

Shan Shu took a look at it. tGymO0

Each single character word in this book has a corresponding image to make identifying words easier. Just to list a few: sun, moon, mountain, and river; cloud, rain, thunder, and lightning. But the total number of characters is relatively small—only a little more than three hundred. This was usually read by very young children.

Meng Huan chose it for this reason: for primary school students, it is a little childish, but for someone like him, who just started college, it was perfect.

Meng Huan: ^v^

“If madam wants to start from this textbook, then we shall.” Shan Shu picked up his ruler and flipped the page in front of him. “This old teacher will first read it with you once. Afterward, you will need to recite from memory.” Ecv6WM

“All right.”

Meng Huan even hurriedly marked homophones in pinyin nearby so as not to forget how to pronounce them.

After going through the pronunciation, Shan Shu took back his ruler and rested his eyes. “Madam, memorize the first two pages. After two hours, you must write them from memory. You will get ten strokes on your palm for every word you can’t write out.”

“……” 7 bjfE

There was even punishment?

What’s this? Don’t you know I am His Royal Highness’s madam?… Meng Huan complained silently, but as someone who has feared teachers since he was a child, hearing the last sentence made his scalp tense, and he felt suffocated. Without wasting any more time, he lowered his head and scanned the two pages.

Story translated by Chrysanthemum Garden.

The first page was not as bad; most of the characters were similar to modern simplified Chinese, but the second page was more foreign, with the difficulty also increasing significantly, but most of the components and radicals were the same.

Meng Huan took a deep breath, picked up his brush, and started memorizing by practicing on the draft paper. xedtGT

The weather was hot and dry, and his maids did not dare come forward and distract him, only occasionally coming to refill his tea. Meng Huan was drenched in sweat from writing. When he looked up, he found that Teacher Shan had fallen asleep with his head tilted backward, sleeping crookedly on his chair.

“…”

Silence.

Silent is Cambridge tonight. OE0S7Q

—A book world where only he suffers after transmigrating has been achieved.

The shadow of the sundial slowly moved as Meng Huan worked to memorize as much as he could before two hours were up. Gradually relaxing, Meng Huan began to inspect the little old man who was loafing on the job and sleeping.

He really knows how to slack off. As soon as he thought that, the old man opened his eyes and yawned, asking, “Madam, have you memorized them?”

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

“…Tfr.” Zfcu Lejc abbx bea atf vgjoa qjqfg obg tlr afra. dauXsq

“Rbk, kglaf ogbw wfwbgs.”

–

The sedan transporting Lin Bozhou stopped in front of the compound. Lin Bozhou lifted the hem of his scarlet four-clawed dragon official robe, stepped on the stool that the servants had prepared, and landed steadily on the stone surface. KgqRen

“Tbeg Ebsji Llutcfrr tjr gfaegcfv?” Vtjc Wlcu jcv Tbe Alc, atf tfjv fecemt bo atf mbwqbecv, kfgf kjlalcu ja atf vbbg, kfimbwlcu atflg wjrafg yjmx lc j kfii-qgjmalmfv wjccfg. “Tbeg Ebsji Llutcfrr, sbeg afj.”

Olc Dbhtbe tjv rfa atlr geif obg tlr gfaegc ab atf mbwqbecv. C rlq bo tba afj lc atf klcafg jcv j rlq bo mbbifv afj lc atf rewwfg ab mifjg tlr wlcv.

“Your Royal Highness, why did you leave court so early today?” Shan Xing asked while following behind him.

“There were some unpleasant things. An imperial inspector conducted an inspection on the front end, so now the court is rattled. The Qingliu Faction is also persistent in having their voices heard, kow-towing and risking death. Although it is useless, it’s very noisy.” Lin Bozhou placed the teacup back into You Jin’s hands. “This Regent’s ears were going to form calluses from listening to them, so this Regent decided to come back first.” fvDhr0

“Are they going to succeed?” Shan Xing looked concerned.

Lin Bozhou’s murders were all justified, but there were many people and numerous factions in the imperial court, and that was what made the imperial court so corrupt. Not everyone understood his ideas, and many were more willing to consider them from the perspective of their own interests.

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Not surprisingly, Lin Bozhou was cursed at by others again today.

Lin Bozhou stated in a flat voice, “They’re not.” 4SJrH0

As he walked, he suddenly paused. “Where is madam?”

“Madam?” Shan Xing pondered. “My father isn’t back yet. Madam should still be studying.”

“It’s almost dark.” Lin Bozhou checked the color of the sky.

“Is it this late?” Shan Xing smacked his own forehead and gasped, “Then madam must have been detained by my old man. Your Royal Highness is well aware of my old man’s violent temper. Even the smartest people would be disciplined by him. Wait, if this is madam we are speaking of—” CQLX0d

The atmosphere suddenly sank into silence.

Lin Bozhou gave him a look.

Shan Xing immediately shook off the blame. “It wasn’t me who suggested asking my dad to teach him, was it? It wasn’t.”

“…” UlZoIt

Lin Bozhou did not bother arguing with him and said, “We’ll go check on them.”

In the courtyard, as the sun was disappearing behind the mountains, Meng Huan was hunched over the desk, writing with a brush. His snow-white face was listless and depressed, but his expression was filled with determination.

In front of him, the grim-faced Shan Shu had his ruler in his hand, looking down at the paper covered in ink marks with a grave face.

Under the eaves, Feng Zhi swallowed as she chatted with A-Qing. “Madam has still not memorized them?” ZIDi20

“It looks like madam has written two words wrong again. Why don’t we all stop for today and continue another day? It is getting late and it’s almost time to prepare dinner.”

“Why don’t you go and propose to Master Shan Shu to stop for the day and continue tomorrow?”

“…Why don’t you go?”

The two maids muttered and turned, heading towards the kitchen. k2uP8e

Meng Huan dipped his brush into the ink again. Once he confirmed that he had memorized the two words, he said, “Teacher, I memorized them; test me again.”

Maintaining his stern face, the old man recited, “Goose, duck, chicken…”

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After wiping the sweat off of his forehead, Meng Huan was nervous and inexplicably wondered if the teacher from Lu Xun’s Sanwei School had an aura as terrifying as this.

The memory in his head began to blur again as he hurriedly waved away his irrelevant thoughts so as to avoid forgetting how to write the words. 5Vzot6

“Turtle…”

When Shan Shu said that word, Meng Huan’s writing hand froze as a chill ran down his back.

“I’m done for.”

The old man frowned. “Madam.” 1iQnGy

Meng Huan resisted the urge to cry and left a blank space. “Teacher, can you read the next one? I will come back to this one later.”

This was only to delay the inevitable. After failing to pass repeatedly, Meng Huan’s mood plummeted. His brush strokes were even more depressed, and his lips turned downward, showing a very sad look.

But just then, there was a noise at the door. It was the maid’s voice.

“Greetings, Your Royal Highness.” cDNnTe

Meng Huan turned his head sideways to peek as the remnants of the sunlight happened to illuminate the courtyard entrance. The hazy yellow light cast a shadow on the tall young man at the gate, a kind of beauty that was captured in oil paintings.

Lin Bozhou had changed out of his court robes and was now wearing jade-white official robes for everyday use, which only enhanced his elegant and handsome appearance. Seeing Meng Huan’s aggrieved expression, he couldn’t resist showing a faint smile.

Lin Bozhou?

…Why is he here? Okm9ld

Just as Meng Huan tensed up, he heard the old man’s cold voice. “Softshell turtle.”

“…” Meng Huan quickly lowered his head.

Before Shan Shu could get up and bow, Lin Bozhou said, “Uncle, no need for formalities. Continue with what you’re doing, this Regent is just here for a stroll.”

Then the voice moved to the top of Meng Huan’s head. As the shadow fell, Meng Huan could sense that Lin Bozhou had come up to him, standing about two to three steps away, blocking the heat of the sunset, and looking down at his writing. K7X85f

The hot and dry afterglow of the setting sun now passed through and carried the scent of sandalwood on the man, making it more unbearable and uncomfortable for Meng Huan.

“…”

Chrysanthemum Garden.

Meng Huan’s handwriting was already bad, but now that the man was reading it, the brush in his hand became heavier as he thought of the other man’s high level of intellect. He wrote slowly and clumsily, like a ghost writing talismans, each stroke uglier than the previous.

“…” iXvlQ0

Lin Bozhou’s chuckle sounded in his ear.

With his head hung, Meng Huan blushed out of embarrassment, and his chest tightened. There was an uncomfortable feeling of shame washing over him.

He let the other man witness that not only could he not write, but what he could write was ugly as hell.

There went his face, QAQ. 7e60q

His face was thrown out of the window.

He toughed it out and continued to write. After the old man finished reciting the tested words, he gave some time for Meng Huan to check his work. Meng Huan’s brush was frozen above an empty space on the paper. He scratched his head with a frustrated face, unable to remember how to write the omitted word.

“What was the word?” Lin Bozhou finally asked.

“Turtle.” Meng Huan reluctantly replied. R IPot

“Madam doesn’t know how to write it?”

“…”

Even though he was stewing in gloom, he still replied, “Yes.”

He dragged the word out, making it soft. XLdOIM

Lin Bozhou turned to Shan Shu, and with great patience, he asked, “What happens if he can’t write it?”

“Discipline. Ten strokes on his palm.”

The old man was already being very forgiving to him. Meng Huan should have been punished the first time, but the teacher gave Meng Huan two chances. If he still could not write it this time, he would definitely get punished.

“So you’re really going to strike his palm as punishment…” Lin Bozhou stretched out the last word and looked at Meng Huan’s hand. His wife was really having trouble writing with a brush, with his small, pale hands covered with black ink stains from front to back. X0AP43

Lin Bozhou wanted to smile as he raised his head and looked at Shan Shu again.

Shan Shu was a very strict teacher. Even as an intelligent child, Lin Bozhou was punished and made to face the wall with a self-reflection essay on the top of his head. He’d had to stand for an hour until he felt ashamed of his mistakes before being allowed to move by the old man.

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Although his palms never received strokes, he had seen Shan Shu discipline his own son, Shan Xing, to the point where his palms were swollen.

If it was Meng Huan, the odds were that his palms would also end up red and swollen. kJnNSY

Then… He wouldn’t cry again, would he?

After a moment of silence, Lin Bozhou asked Meng Huan slowly, “Can you not remember the full character, or is there just a portion you can’t recall?”

“Huh?” Meng Huan looked up.

Looking very dumbfounded. iekCwP

“This Regent asked you, ‘Can you not remember it at all?'” The hint in Lin Bozhou’s voice was very obvious.

Meng Huan just sucked in a breath.

Shan Shu also picked it up as he looked sterner. “Your Royal Highness—”

“Uncle has no need to be nervous. This Regent will never tell him how to write the word.” Lin Bozhou smiled as he pointed to the draft paper, indicating something through gestures while speaking to Meng Huan. “Think back to what a turtle looks like: its head, the shell on its back, and its four feet.” TXAVKW

Meng Huan kept his head down as his eyes followed Lin Bozhou’s finger.

The man seemed to be drawing a small turtle, but the strokes were vaguely familiar to Meng Huan.

Meng Huan’s eyes widened as he exclaimed, “I remember now!”

“Smart.” Lin Bozhou smiled. “Write it down now.” PCkwpI

Meng Huan quickly wrote down the word for turtle. Once he was done, he found that Shan Shu’s face was turning blue, obviously at a loss for words. They technically hadn’t violated any rules, but he couldn’t say it was unproblematic without feeling a lump in his heart.

Lin Bozhou had already taken Meng Huan’s paper, smiling slightly as he passed it to Shan Shu. “Uncle, this Regent has already reviewed it. Madam has written these dozen words correctly, with no stroke out of place.”

Shan Shu, “…”

Meng Huan blushed with embarrassment, dawdling as he stood up. JFnBLI

Shan Shu, powerless and seeming to endure it, said, “Fine. Madam must copy each word ten times tonight and turn it in for this old tutor’s inspection tomorrow.” Then he left the yard.

After dealing with the teacher, Meng Huan turned to Lin Bozhou, realizing the crux of the situation.

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The atmosphere was quiet as he scratched his head and asked with crystal-clear eyes, “Why is Your Royal Highness here?”

“This Regent can’t be here?” Lin Bozhou met his eyes. pYjuQm

“That’s not it…”

For the past several days, Meng Huan had not seen the man and had not been summoned either. He was neither unhappy nor empty; he just stared at the other man while scratching his head at a loss.

After a moment of hesitation, Meng Huan said meekly, “I thought I lost Your Royal Highness’s favor.”

Translation update: Y93lw0

Scholar => guest scholar

Teo: The word, 清客, means transparent guest. At first this translator thought keeping it as scholar was enough, but that didn’t get all the points across because it’s too broad. In the future, this job will be viewed in a negative light, so an update was needed.

Other opinion is hanger-on, as their job is borderline, freeloaders who didn’t actually have productive careers (like a court jesters if you will). They are very specifically a scholar/learned individual who likes to hang out with rich people and makes poetry, in exchange for food, a place to live, etc. They can also be kicked out of the master’s house at any time, like a couch-surfing friend.