The Marquis Mansion's Elite Class-Chapter 419

Xu Wan smiled and declined: "An occasional taste is fine, but three meals a day is too much. Kids, enjoy your meal slowly." With that, she stood up and left the table.

Seeing the adults leave, the little troublemaker immediately slumped in his seat and said, "Fine, you guys eat it then."

The other kids also disliked greens to varying degrees. While planting the vegetables, they had loudly declared that no one should waste them, but when it came to eating, they suddenly became models of brotherly courtesy, spending forever trying to pass around the three plates of vegetables without finishing them.

Shen Yibai was the quickest thinker: "I’ve decided to send mine home for my parents to eat. Once they hear I grew these, they’ll definitely finish every bite."

Wei Xinglu chimed in, "That makes sense. I’ll send some home too."

The other three had no one to send theirs to, so they stayed out of the conversation.

Just as Zong Jincheng was fretting over how to finish all his water spinach, a brilliant idea flashed in his mind: "Let’s send the rest to the Duke Protector’s Manor!"

The four boys turned to look at him in unison.

He Zheng gulped and cautiously reminded him, "Big bro, that’s Luo Jingfeng we’re talking about… If we send a whole cart of vegetables, won’t he just kick us out along with it?"

Shen Yibai pictured the scene and winced—it wasn’t pretty.

The little troublemaker rolled his eyes. "No way. Just tell him I grew them, and he can’t give them to the servants or throw them away. He’ll definitely eat them all."

And sure enough, Zong Jincheng’s words carried weight.

The Duke Protector’s Manor accepted the entire delivery without complaint. Rumor had it Luo Jingfeng was even delighted, praising his godson for being so thoughtful and remembering him.

Zong Jincheng lifted his chin proudly. "Mission accomplished!"

"Big bro, you’re amazing!!" He Zheng cheered, ever the hype man.

Back at the Marquis Manor Elite Class, the children hadn’t returned from their meal yet, but all five tutors were already seated, eagerly awaiting Xu Wan’s announcement of their evaluation results—which would determine whether they stayed or left.

To ease their nerves, Xu Wan had specifically asked Zong Zhao to leave first.

Cui Zhi handed her the exam papers, and as she flipped through the essays, matching names to scores, she smiled and said, "As I expected, all of you tutors are quite capable. Especially Tutor Pan—perhaps being tormented by Jincheng for so long has sharpened your essay skills. You ranked just below Jiang Yan. You passed."

Pan Hongzhi let out a quiet sigh of relief. Among the tutors, he had always been the one with the lowest imperial exam ranking, so this evaluation had weighed on him the most. Though tutoring the little troublemaker for the past two and a half years had been exhausting, it had also been full of laughter and growth. Even without the dangling incentive of three thousand taels of silver, he would have wanted to stay in this unique and unconventional study hall.

Tears welled up in his eyes, but he held them back and said, "Thank you, Madam, for this opportunity. Honestly, our relationship isn’t just tutor and student—it’s more like fellow scholars learning from each other. I’ve learned a lot from Jincheng too, especially about argumentative essays."

Xu Wan chuckled. "That’s a fitting way to put it. If you both took the imperial exams this year, you’d be classmates. Tutor Pan, I hope you’ll also achieve great success, entering the officialdom alongside Jincheng and supporting each other along the way."

Pan Hongzhi was both touched and humbled. As a scholar from a humble background, he had never imagined being considered a friend to someone like Zong Jincheng, the heir of a marquis’s household. Yet Xu Wan’s words made him feel genuinely valued—like he mattered to Jincheng in a meaningful way.

Fighting back tears, he said, "Yes, I will give it my all and live up to your expectations, Madam."

Xu Wan nodded at him before moving on to the others. "Zhao Yin, you passed." freeweɓnovēl.coɱ

Zhao Yin pumped his fist. "Yes! Thank you, Madam!"

Xu Wan continued, "Cheng Zhidong, you passed."

"I made it too! I made it!" Cheng Zhidong excitedly hugged Zhao Yin.

Pan Hongzhi joined in their celebratory embrace.

The three of them had been the first tutors recruited for the Elite Class, so their unanimous success felt like a collective triumph—as thrilling as passing the imperial exams themselves.

"Lastly, Xu Jin."

Xu Jin held his breath, already bracing for failure.

Though his original exam ranking had been higher than the other three, he had joined the class later and couldn’t match Jiang Yan’s jinshi (metropolitan graduate) status. There was no guarantee he could meet the current standards.

"You passed. Congratulations." Xu Wan smiled warmly.

Truthfully, Xu Jin had fallen slightly short, but after discussing it with Zong Zhao, they decided to keep him.

Skill could be improved with time, but loyalty and trust were harder to cultivate. With only six months left until the spring exams, they didn’t have time to train another tutor who was both highly skilled and loyal.

Xu Jin looked up in disbelief. "I… I really passed?"

Xu Wan nodded. "Of course. You’ve made remarkable progress, Tutor Xu. Though there’s still a gap between you and the others, diligence can bridge it. In these next six months, I’m confident you’ll catch up and join everyone in the palace exams."

Xu Jin clenched his fists, eyes shining. "Thank you, Madam! I’ll work hard to keep up and never hold back the Elite Class!"

"Good." Xu Wan handed the essays to Jiang Yan and casually remarked, "The general mentioned that your argumentative essays far surpass the others. It’s a shame someone of your talent isn’t in the officialdom."

Jiang Yan smiled faintly. "Being a tutor suits me just fine. Teaching is simple and fulfilling."

Seeing his resolve unchanged, Xu Wan didn’t press further. Instead, she said, "Tutors, take a look at the children’s essays. We all agreed that He Zheng wrote the best one this time."

Pan Hongzhi was the first to protest. "What? Even better than Jincheng’s?"

Cheng Zhidong, who mentored He Zheng, also hesitated. "You mean… aside from Jincheng, right?"

Xu Wan laughed. "Jincheng went off-topic. But even if he hadn’t, He Zheng’s answer would still be the strongest."

"Jincheng actually went off-topic?" Zhao Yin couldn’t believe it.

Pan Hongzhi scrambled to justify it. "Maybe he treated it like a debate, focusing too much on one side and neglecting the bigger picture?"

"Now I’m really curious about He Zheng’s essay," Cheng Zhidong said, peering over Jiang Yan’s shoulder. His eyes widened as he read. "Wow, this is… impressively sycophantic."

Jiang Yan nudged him. "Don’t say that. It’s called loyalty."

Cheng Zhidong swallowed his words, thinking, Of course you’d say that—metropolitan graduates really know how to spin things.

After announcing the tutors’ results, Xu Wan moved on to guiding their next steps. "Something Mr. Su said to me recently got me thinking. The children originally learned argumentation through debates and discussions, listing every point meticulously. While practical, it risks stifling creativity. So, I’d like to try something new—an experimental approach for the next month."

"An experiment?" The tutors exchanged intrigued glances, eager to see what innovative method Xu Wan had in store.

Xu Wan sorted out her thoughts and began to explain her new teaching philosophy: "We should abandon the old method of rote memorization and let them explore solutions on their own. For instance, when faced with complex, high-stakes cases, don’t simply tell them how the legal code or the Dali Court would handle it. Instead, have them think for themselves—if they were the ones drafting the law, how would they resolve it?"

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