"Mm."
Emperor Xuanwu gave a noncommittal hum.
"And what inspired you to pursue that line of work?"
"Did not Grand Preceptor Ye say," Yun Shu replied, lowering her gaze with feigned shyness, "that if I could invent something new, I wouldn't have to do my schoolwork?
Father Emperor, You know how much I dislike writing assignments."
Emperor Xuanwu fell silent.
Indeed, He knew. All too well.
But how He wished this daughter of His would offer any other answer today.
He had been diligent from a young age. His elder children had never required supervision in their studies. Even the youngest, Sixth Prince, though somewhat fond of games, never neglected his lessons.
Why, then, was learning such a trial for this one?
This girl would rather invent anything—anything—just to avoid her schoolwork.
For the first time in His life, Emperor Xuanwu found Himself so exasperated by a child's aversion to study that He nearly lifted a hand to His forehead.
"And? Have you invented it?"
"Not just yet."
Yun Shu lowered her head further, face the very image of bashful regret.
"I've only just begun to form a rough idea. To truly complete it, there's still a long way to go."
"So what you mean is, you'll be unable to do your assignments for a long time."
Emperor Xuanwu's expression remained utterly blank as He exposed her intentions without mercy.
"Could it be that this long road you speak of conveniently ends the day you are released from your studies entirely?"
"Such matters are not for me to decide."
Yun Shu rubbed her nose and pretended not to hear the biting edge in His words.
"If low-cost paper were so easy to produce, surely someone would have done it by now."
"You are not wrong."
To her surprise, Emperor Xuanwu nodded, as if her argument held weight.
"In the past, many minds devoted their lives to solving this problem without success. Surely We cannot expect Our own daughter, a noble princess, to spend her entire life pondering just one thing."
Yun Shu said nothing.
She had a feeling she knew where this cunning old man was headed.
No wonder he ruled an empire.
He was impossible to outwit.
Yun Shu ground her teeth silently.
And sure enough, Emperor Xuanwu continued with a faint smile.
"We shall give you a time limit of two months. If, within that time, there is no real progress, then clearly you are better suited for your lessons."
"...Your daughter obeys."
Two months to develop an improved method of papermaking? Not even modern industrialists would make such demands.
Frustrated, Yun Shu turned and withdrew from the hall.
But behind the imperial desk, Emperor Xuanwu watched her drooping figure and could not help but chuckle.
Had it not been for the Simulation Life Selection System, He would never have imagined that His daughter had such potential hidden within her.
A low-cost papermaking technique that had stumped scholars for generations—if left to her own devices, she might truly spend three years on it with no results.
But now that she had only two months and the threat of schoolwork hanging over her, she might actually make headway out of sheer stubbornness.
"This little rascal truly needed to be reined in."
Unaware that her own father was shamelessly relying on cheat codes to discipline her, Yun Shu returned to Fengyang Palace after leaving the study hall.
Since she had promised Emperor Xuanwu that she would quickly bring Cao Wenbin's story arc to a close, the first thing she did was write a short note and had Eunuch Wang deliver it to Tang Muzhi.
That very afternoon, news broke across the capital.
The Tang family's eldest daughter, Tang Xinhua, had formally requested a separation from her husband, the young master of the Cao family, Cao Wenbin.
"What did you say? You're sure it was the Tang family's young lady who asked for the divorce? Not Young Master Cao?"
At that moment, Zhao Er Xiaojie, daughter of the Imperial Censor, was gossiping with her companions about all the noble households in the capital where madams were currently seeking separation from their husbands.
Hearing the maid bring such shocking news from outside, she nearly choked on an entire grape.
"Is she out of her mind? Other noblewomen have reasons for divorcing, but what reason could she possibly have? Hasn't Young Master Cao treated her well?"
"I don't know the full details."
The maid shook her head.
"I only heard others talking about it. They said that after Miss Tang made her intentions clear, Young Master Cao tried to resist, but Young Master Tang personally came and took his sister home."
"How could this happen..."
Zhao Er Xiaojie furrowed her brow, mumbling under her breath.
"Cao Wenbin loves her so deeply, and yet she still wants to end the marriage. He must be heartbroken. What could she possibly be thinking?"
"Maybe..."
One of her companions hesitated before speaking.
"Doesn't this sound strangely familiar to you?"
"Familiar how? Everyone in the capital knows that Cao Wenbin is hopelessly in love with her, while Miss Tang is haughty and ungrateful and—"
Her voice trailed off near the end, shrinking to a whisper.
Because now that she really thought about it... it did sound familiar.
Hadn't several of the recent articles in Capital Weekly started just like this?
A seemingly virtuous gentleman whose charm vanished behind closed doors. A gentle, quiet woman silently bearing the pain, misunderstood by all around her.
Oh no...
Zhao Er Xiaojie, who had leapt to her feet in indignation, collapsed back onto her seat with a thud.
"Cao Wenbin doesn't seem like that kind of person... does he?"
"None of the false gentlemen in Her Highness the Fifth Princess's stories seemed like that kind of person either," whispered another girl.
"If Cao Wenbin truly were as good as he appears, why would Miss Tang suddenly ask for a divorce?"
"But... but if he is one of those false gentlemen, then why would Capital Weekly still publish articles praising him?"
After all, every time she read one of those heartbreakingly tragic stories and felt like she was going to burst from anger, she would soothe herself by thinking of Cao Wenbin—proof that good men still existed.
If even he turned out to be no different from the scoundrels Yun Shu described...
No. Impossible.
Zhao Er Xiaojie refused to accept such a thing. Desperately, she reached for the last shred of hope and clung to it.
"Think about it. Her Highness clearly hates men who pretend to be decent while treating their wives cruelly in private. If it were you, would you willingly write kind words about someone you despised in your own publication?"
"Normally, no."
But what if Her Highness had planned this from the very beginning?
What if every compliment written about Cao Wenbin had been a subtle setup—a method of elevating him so high that the fall would be all the more convincing?
Perhaps it wasn't just about exposure.
Perhaps this entire scheme had one goal: to help Tang Xinhua leave her husband without incurring blame, gossip, or shame.
Still, that was merely speculation.
After all, Her Highness the Fifth Princess was only thirteen years old. Could someone that young truly plot something so elaborate?
Without concrete proof, it was impossible to say for certain.
The one young lady in the group who had thought through the entire chain of events hesitated for a long moment.
In the end, she said nothing.