Feeling the discreet glances coming from all around, Chen An's expression remained calm as he quietly listened to Dong Heng's lecture, occasionally asking questions.
In this world, in order to avoid arousing suspicion and jealousy among the people in the Chen Guo Gong Mansion, he had no choice but to choose the path of studying and enter the National Academy.
He thought this path would be difficult, as he was not very familiar with the poetry and literature of this world compared to martial arts, and he was not good at it himself.
In his past life, he had read many books, but they were all in the field of science and technology.
As a science dog, Chen An doubted his ability to write articles.
But limited by circumstances, he could only grit his teeth and choose this path.
Unexpectedly, he found this path quite smooth.
Many things that were very obscure and difficult to understand for others could easily be answered by him.
Therefore, he had been famous since childhood and was hailed as a child prodigy.
Later, Chen An finally realized.
The reason why things went so smoothly was not only due to his inherent mature wisdom, but also the important reason of the experiences from the simulations he had done before.
Before this projection, Chen An had always only been able to simulate.
Those simulated memories would actually return to him as well, but they were relatively incomplete and vague.
It seemed that the upgrade template had its own protective mechanism, so the memories obtained from the simulations would flash by and then be hidden away, not causing too much impact on Chen An himself.
For him, it was like watching a very long movie.
It was fortunate that it was like this.
If the impressions were profound, after many simulations, Chen An's temperament would have changed drastically.
He had simulated at least a dozen times before, totaling hundreds of years of memories.
If such a colossal memory were to accumulate, it was unimaginable how Chen An would end up.
So these memories were diluted and it was also a good thing for Chen An himself.
And these memories were just diluted, not completely erased.
In this world, these memories showed up and made Chen An adept at reading.
Because in many simulations, he had experienced reading countless times, and had rich experience in reading classic texts, poetry, and articles.
In a way, this was making up for his lack of ability with experience.
The class quickly ended.
Facing the gazes of the students around, Chen An quietly got up, picked up his books, and left.
Along the way, he ran into many people, exchanging greetings with them.
With a smile on his face, he greeted them as usual, making no difference.
His years of studying made him disguise himself well.
If he didn't actively reveal his martial arts skills, he really looked no different from an ordinary student, basically indistinguishable.
There was no way around it.
Being in a weak position for many years, if he were to act arrogantly like others, his life might be in danger.
Although Chen An wasn't afraid of death, he still wanted to sell his life for a good price, right?
Otherwise, wouldn't it be a loss?
Due to these considerations, in this world, Chen An had always been low-key and rarely made enemies.
In the National Academy, anyone who had contact with Chen An thought of him as a gentleman, indifferent and focused on his ideals, as if he had no desires at all.
Only those who truly knew him could understand his true situation.
After leaving the National Academy, Chen An returned to his mansion.
The mansion arranged for him by the Fourth Princess was very close to her residence.
This was the treatment of being a guest official, allowing close contact with the Fourth Princess.
Upon returning to his residence, Chen An found someone waiting for him.
"The Fourth Princess invites me to a banquet?"
Upon hearing the words from the servant, Chen An was somewhat surprised, but he still nodded, "I understand, I'll go over later."
He did not refuse.
The person who could invite the Fourth Princess must have a noble status, that much was certain.
Chen An attached himself to the Fourth Princess, becoming a guest official under her. Wasn't it to make contact with these dignitaries?
Now that the opportunity had come, there was no reason to push it away.
After a moment of hesitation, he quickly straightened up, then left.
In the princess's mansion, the Fourth Princess's eyes lit up as she saw Chen An approaching.
Dressed in a green shirt, his whole person was clean and neat. With deep eyes, a delicate and handsome face, a tall and straight body, he had a heavenly appearance that was unforgettable at first sight.
This seemingly simple outfit was actually deliberately prepared by Chen An.
There was no way around it, even if he didn't want to attract attention this way, the importance of appearance was self-evident.
If he didn't have a good appearance, would the Fourth Princess treat him so well?
Chen An also understood this well.
Since he had an advantage, he should make the most of it. Every little bit counted.
From the looks of the Fourth Princess, this effect should be quite good, right?
Steadily watching for a while, it wasn't until the servant Liu Zhong coughed several times on the side that the Fourth Princess reacted, her face suddenly blushing.
"You look very good in this outfit, you can try dressing like this more in the future."
She casually spoke, then walked off as if she was in a hurry, heading towards the carriage ahead.
She seemed a bit embarrassed as well.
Chen An watched the Fourth Princess's retreating figure, not particularly concerned, just quietly following behind.
After a while, the procession advanced and after a long time, they arrived at another location.
The place in front of them was also vast in size, not as grand as the Fourth Princess's mansion, but equally imposing in other aspects, clearly a dignitary's residence.
"Duke Liu's Mansion?"
Chen An cast a glance around, his expression calm, with the thought in his mind.
In the years he had been in Shengjing, he had also not been idle.
He had basically memorized the basic information about the residences of various dignitaries.
The owner of the mansion in front of him was Duke Liu.
Regarding this Duke Liu, Chen An didn't know much about him. He only knew that this Duke Liu had inherited his title as duke only a few years ago, making him relatively young among the dukes, seemingly in his twenties this year.
Of course, his strength was relatively inferior, Chen An wasn't sure of the specifics, but he definitely didn't have the strength of the Spirit Qi Realm.
After all, the Spirit Qi Realm was not something one could easily come across.
Generally speaking, in the Great China Dynasty, most martial practitioners who were conferred the title of duke were basically at the Spirit Qi Realm.
However, this was only for the first generation dukes.
After the first generation dukes passed away, their descendants couldn't all have the strength of the Spirit Qi Realm.
Take the current Chen Guo Gong, Chen Zu, for example, he was conferred the title of Chen Guo Gong because he had reached the Spirit Qi Realm. But some of his offspring hadn't achieved much in their cultivation, with only a few who could practice martial arts, and the best among them had only reached the peak of the Internal Qi realm.
The current Duke Liu was the same, simply inheriting the title of duke, with no notable strength of his own.
Of course, with the noble title of a duke, even if his strength was lacking, who could provoke him?
Chen An pondered silently, then followed the Fourth Princess, entering the premises.
"Your Highness is here?"
Entering the inner courtyard, a young man came out to greet them, smiling, "Aren't you always the last one to arrive? Why did you come early today?"
"What? Can't I be late and not punctual?" The Fourth Princess seemed a bit angry, "Are you looking down on me?"
The young man glanced at the Fourth Princess and chuckled, "It's not that I'm looking down on you, but you usually only come if there's something good to say."
He seemed to have a very close relationship with the Fourth Princess, so he could joke around with her in this manner.
If it were an ordinary person, even a duke might not dare to speak in such a joking manner.
"Who is this?"
He then raised his head, looking at Chen An behind the Fourth Princess, and couldn't help but ask.
The expression on the Fourth Princess's face became proud, "This is my new guest official, a talented scholar from the National Academy."
"Indeed."
Liu Chu sighed, seeming to have expected this, "You came this time to show off your new guest official to me, right?"
"I am Chen Changan, I have seen Duke Liu."
Chen An took the initiative to step forward, bowing respectfully.
"Chen Changan?"
Liu Chu was stunned for a moment, then instinctively asked, "The son of Chen Guo Gong's family?"
"Duke Liu knows me?"
This time, Chen An was a little surprised.
He did have some reputation in Shengjing, but it hadn't reached the level where even a duke like Liu Chu could mention him by name, right?
"My mother has old ties with the Chen Guo Gong Mansion, so I know some information and also know that the Chen Guo Gong family has a talented son."
Liu Chu said with a smile.
Chen An suddenly realized.
"Since you are the son of the Chen Guo Gong family, you must be properly entertained."
Liu Chu bowed and said with a smile, "Please, son."
Chen An smiled and returned the salute, but instead of immediately stepping forward, he looked at the Fourth Princess in front of him.
Whatever the case, the Fourth Princess was his master at the moment, so it would be impolite to bypass her and go forward directly.
After so many years of being cautious in this world, Chen An still wouldn't make such a small mistake.
Seeing Chen An's actions, Liu Chu nodded silently.
Indeed, he was a well-mannered good child.
The Fourth Princess, however, didn't notice anything amiss, simply proudly walked forward under Liu Chu's guidance, then casually took a seat at a random spot.
As for Chen An?
Liu Chu had originally wanted to prepare a seat for Chen An separately, but he politely declined, just standing behind the Fourth Princess like a guard.
This performance caused Liu Chu to have a higher opinion of him.
After a moment, the guests at the banquet all approached and took their places.
Feeling the discreet glances coming from all around, Chen An's expression remained calm as he quietly listened to Dong Heng's lecture, occasionally asking questions.
In this world, in order to avoid arousing suspicion and jealousy among the people in the Chen Guo Gong Mansion, he had no choice but to choose the path of studying and enter the National Academy.
He thought this path would be difficult, as he was not very familiar with the poetry and literature of this world compared to martial arts, and he was not good at it himself.
In his past life, he had read many books, but they were all in the field of science and technology.
As a science dog, Chen An doubted his ability to write articles.
But limited by circumstances, he could only grit his teeth and choose this path.
Unexpectedly, he found this path quite smooth.
Many things that were very obscure and difficult to understand for others could easily be answered by him.
Therefore, he had been famous since childhood and was hailed as a child prodigy.
Later, Chen An finally realized.
The reason why things went so smoothly was not only due to his inherent mature wisdom, but also the important reason of the experiences from the simulations he had done before.
Before this projection, Chen An had always only been able to simulate.
Those simulated memories would actually return to him as well, but they were relatively incomplete and vague.
It seemed that the upgrade template had its own protective mechanism, so the memories obtained from the simulations would flash by and then be hidden away, not causing too much impact on Chen An himself.
For him, it was like watching a very long movie.
It was fortunate that it was like this.
If the impressions were profound, after many simulations, Chen An's temperament would have changed drastically.
He had simulated at least a dozen times before, totaling hundreds of years of memories.
If such a colossal memory were to accumulate, it was unimaginable how Chen An would end up.
So these memories were diluted and it was also a good thing for Chen An himself.
And these memories were just diluted, not completely erased.
In this world, these memories showed up and made Chen An adept at reading.
Because in many simulations, he had experienced reading countless times, and had rich experience in reading classic texts, poetry, and articles.
In a way, this was making up for his lack of ability with experience.
The class quickly ended.
Facing the gazes of the students around, Chen An quietly got up, picked up his books, and left.
Along the way, he ran into many people, exchanging greetings with them.
With a smile on his face, he greeted them as usual, making no difference.
His years of studying made him disguise himself well.
If he didn't actively reveal his martial arts skills, he really looked no different from an ordinary student, basically indistinguishable.
There was no way around it.
Being in a weak position for many years, if he were to act arrogantly like others, his life might be in danger.
Although Chen An wasn't afraid of death, he still wanted to sell his life for a good price, right?
Otherwise, wouldn't it be a loss?
Due to these considerations, in this world, Chen An had always been low-key and rarely made enemies.
In the National Academy, anyone who had contact with Chen An thought of him as a gentleman, indifferent and focused on his ideals, as if he had no desires at all.
Only those who truly knew him could understand his true situation.
After leaving the National Academy, Chen An returned to his mansion.
The mansion arranged for him by the Fourth Princess was very close to her residence.
This was the treatment of being a guest official, allowing close contact with the Fourth Princess.
Upon returning to his residence, Chen An found someone waiting for him.
"The Fourth Princess invites me to a banquet?"
Upon hearing the words from the servant, Chen An was somewhat surprised, but he still nodded, "I understand, I'll go over later."
He did not refuse.
The person who could invite the Fourth Princess must have a noble status, that much was certain.
Chen An attached himself to the Fourth Princess, becoming a guest official under her. Wasn't it to make contact with these dignitaries?
Now that the opportunity had come, there was no reason to push it away.
After a moment of hesitation, he quickly straightened up, then left.
In the princess's mansion, the Fourth Princess's eyes lit up as she saw Chen An approaching.
Dressed in a green shirt, his whole person was clean and neat. With deep eyes, a delicate and handsome face, a tall and straight body, he had a heavenly appearance that was unforgettable at first sight.
This seemingly simple outfit was actually deliberately prepared by Chen An.
There was no way around it, even if he didn't want to attract attention this way, the importance of appearance was self-evident.
If he didn't have a good appearance, would the Fourth Princess treat him so well?
Chen An also understood this well.
Since he had an advantage, he should make the most of it. Every little bit counted.
From the looks of the Fourth Princess, this effect should be quite good, right?
Steadily watching for a while, it wasn't until the servant Liu Zhong coughed several times on the side that the Fourth Princess reacted, her face suddenly blushing.
"You look very good in this outfit, you can try dressing like this more in the future."
She casually spoke, then walked off as if she was in a hurry, heading towards the carriage ahead.
She seemed a bit embarrassed as well.
Chen An watched the Fourth Princess's retreating figure, not particularly concerned, just quietly following behind.
After a while, the procession advanced and after a long time, they arrived at another location.
The place in front of them was also vast in size, not as grand as the Fourth Princess's mansion, but equally imposing in other aspects, clearly a dignitary's residence.
"Duke Liu's Mansion?"
Chen An cast a glance around, his expression calm, with the thought in his mind.
In the years he had been in Shengjing, he had also not been idle.
He had basically memorized the basic information about the residences of various dignitaries.
The owner of the mansion in front of him was Duke Liu.
Regarding this Duke Liu, Chen An didn't know much about him. He only knew that this Duke Liu had inherited his title as duke only a few years ago, making him relatively young among the dukes, seemingly in his twenties this year.
Of course, his strength was relatively inferior, Chen An wasn't sure of the specifics, but he definitely didn't have the strength of the Spirit Qi Realm.
After all, the Spirit Qi Realm was not something one could easily come across.
Generally speaking, in the Great China Dynasty, most martial practitioners who were conferred the title of duke were basically at the Spirit Qi Realm.
However, this was only for the first generation dukes.
After the first generation dukes passed away, their descendants couldn't all have the strength of the Spirit Qi Realm.
Take the current Chen Guo Gong, Chen Zu, for example, he was conferred the title of Chen Guo Gong because he had reached the Spirit Qi Realm. But some of his offspring hadn't achieved much in their cultivation, with only a few who could practice martial arts, and the best among them had only reached the peak of the Internal Qi realm.
The current Duke Liu was the same, simply inheriting the title of duke, with no notable strength of his own.
Of course, with the noble title of a duke, even if his strength was lacking, who could provoke him?
Chen An pondered silently, then followed the Fourth Princess, entering the premises.
"Your Highness is here?"
Entering the inner courtyard, a young man came out to greet them, smiling, "Aren't you always the last one to arrive? Why did you come early today?"
"What? Can't I be late and not punctual?" The Fourth Princess seemed a bit angry, "Are you looking down on me?"
The young man glanced at the Fourth Princess and chuckled, "It's not that I'm looking down on you, but you usually only come if there's something good to say."
He seemed to have a very close relationship with the Fourth Princess, so he could joke around with her in this manner.
If it were an ordinary person, even a duke might not dare to speak in such a joking manner.
"Who is this?"
He then raised his head, looking at Chen An behind the Fourth Princess, and couldn't help but ask.
The expression on the Fourth Princess's face became proud, "This is my new guest official, a talented scholar from the National Academy."
"Indeed."
Liu Chu sighed, seeming to have expected this, "You came this time to show off your new guest official to me, right?"
"I am Chen Changan, I have seen Duke Liu."
Chen An took the initiative to step forward, bowing respectfully.
"Chen Changan?"
Liu Chu was stunned for a moment, then instinctively asked, "The son of Chen Guo Gong's family?"
"Duke Liu knows me?"
This time, Chen An was a little surprised.
He did have some reputation in Shengjing, but it hadn't reached the level where even a duke like Liu Chu could mention him by name, right?
"My mother has old ties with the Chen Guo Gong Mansion, so I know some information and also know that the Chen Guo Gong family has a talented son."
Liu Chu said with a smile.
Chen An suddenly realized.
"Since you are the son of the Chen Guo Gong family, you must be properly entertained."
Liu Chu bowed and said with a smile, "Please, son."
Chen An smiled and returned the salute, but instead of immediately stepping forward, he looked at the Fourth Princess in front of him.
Whatever the case, the Fourth Princess was his master at the moment, so it would be impolite to bypass her and go forward directly.
After so many years of being cautious in this world, Chen An still wouldn't make such a small mistake.
Seeing Chen An's actions, Liu Chu nodded silently.
Indeed, he was a well-mannered good child.
The Fourth Princess, however, didn't notice anything amiss, simply proudly walked forward under Liu Chu's guidance, then casually took a seat at a random spot.
As for Chen An?
Liu Chu had originally wanted to prepare a seat for Chen An separately, but he politely declined, just standing behind the Fourth Princess like a guard.
This performance caused Liu Chu to have a higher opinion of him.
After a moment, the guests at the banquet all approached and took their places.
