Is This What Clearwater Academy Looks Like

"What you said is absolutely right." Alexander Hayes smiled and nodded. Lily Evans took Alexander's hand and said, "Come on, let's change our clothes and go see how the literacy classes are coming along in different places."

The couple changed into the clothes of ordinary folks, traveling incognito with only a few trusted guards, disguised as a regular family and riding a plain carriage for their outing.

Upon hearing this, Lord Qian became restless when he learned the couple had gone out sightseeing without paying him any attention, so he hurriedly took Mia Qian along to follow them.

"Mia, that academy run by the Queen of Qin will never succeed. Let's go watch her embarrass herself!" Lord Qian said to Mia Qian along the way.

Alexander and Lily only smiled when they saw Lord Qian, who had just claimed to be ill, now tagging along. They didn't expose him.

Lord Qian and Mia Qian followed behind them in a separate carriage.

The carriage stopped at a village on the outskirts of Chang'an.

The village looked extremely poor. At a glance, the villagers' clothes were gray and patched all over.

Lily and Alexander got out of the carriage, arm in arm like any ordinary couple. Lily looked at the village ahead, then turned to Alexander and said, "This place is even poorer than Haizi Village."

Alexander nodded. "The poverty of Qin's people is truly shocking."

But this impoverished little village had become lively a few days ago, all because the court sent people over, saying they were going to build some kind of literacy class academy.

The couple asked an elderly villager for directions and headed toward the site of the literacy class.

Lord Qian and Mia Qian hurried after them.

The village paths were extremely difficult to walk. Lily was used to it and didn't mind, but Mia Qian, a pampered young lady, couldn't stand the dirty soil and mud, complaining constantly as she struggled to walk.

"What a lousy village! It's so filthy, my shoes and dress are ruined!" Mia Qian pouted and complained all the way.

Lily turned to look at Mia Qian and said calmly, "If Miss Qian can't handle it, you shouldn't have come along."

Mia Qian refused to admit defeat in front of Lily. "I—I'm not bothered at all! Grandpa and I care about the people of Qin, that's why we came."

Lily smiled faintly, thinking to herself: You don't care about Qin's people; you're just here to see me make a fool of myself.

After walking a while longer, the group arrived at the village entrance and saw the literacy academy, with officials busy arranging tables and chairs.

"Is this the academy?" Mia Qian stared in disbelief at the drafty shack called an academy. "This—this is just a hut! It's even shabbier than a hut. How can an academy look like this?"

"This is the academy," Lily said firmly to Mia Qian. "Miss Qian, you come from a wealthy family, so you don't know the value of daily necessities. Building a proper academy costs a lot of silver, and the treasury is empty—we simply can't afford it. This hut is made from local materials, just wood from the nearby forest, so it doesn't cost anything. As long as the academy has a place to shelter from the wind and rain, it doesn't need to be fancy. Practicality is what matters most."

Mia Qian pouted, thinking to herself, 'What do you know? No one would come to such a shabby academy!'

While Mia Qian was full of disdain, Lily went over to speak with the officials building the academy. They respectfully handed her a small copper gong.

Standing beneath the ramshackle hut, Lily took the little copper gong and began to clang it loudly.

Mia Qian squinted, having no idea what Lily was up to.