A peasant girl travels through time with a hospital, rising to become an empress.

Nie Qianqian and Gu Xiao ignored the curious glances from passersby as they walked, and followed the page to Vice Dean Li's study. The first thing they saw was a calligraphy scroll hanging on the wall with the four characters "diligence and self-discipline".

The study has bookshelves on both sides, neatly filled with all kinds of books, and several paintings or calligraphy works hanging on the walls.

Nie Qianqian examined the work closely; the inscriptions on it all praised Vice Dean Li for her virtue, talent, and tireless dedication to teaching.

Nie Qianqian chuckled to herself. This was equivalent to having her clinic filled with banners praising her miraculous healing skills and quick cures. Wasn't she just praising herself? Haha.

Vice Dean Li is slightly older than Tang Jincheng. He has a thin face and wears the teacher's uniform of Tiande Academy. He is usually serious and rarely smiles when teaching. The students call him "Cold-Faced Li" behind his back.

Upon seeing the two enter, he raised his eyelids and caught a glimpse of Nie Qianqian's fleeting smile. He was immediately displeased, his expression turning even colder, and he asked indifferently, "You are Gu Xiao?"

Gu Xiao gave a student's salute, saying, "This student is Gu Xiao."

Vice Dean Li glanced at him and said coldly, "You do have some manners."

Nie Qianqian frowned slightly, feeling that Vice Dean Li's attitude was not very friendly.

Vice Dean Li's voice was cold and clear. "Lord Tang has spoken to me about your situation before. Since Lord Tang has recommended you, you may enroll in my Tiande Academy. However, I must make it clear to you beforehand that the academy is a place of integrity and refinement. Those who study here must be diligent and self-disciplined, and all their actions must revolve around the pursuit of knowledge. They must deeply understand righteousness and propriety, internalize them, and embody them in their lives. They must not use the books of sages and worthies to decorate their appearance, to please the crowd, or to cause reading and learning to lose their true meaning."

Nie Qianqian understood the implied meaning behind these words. It turned out that Vice Dean Li thought Gu Xiao was someone who got in through connections and that he was a person without talent who was just trying to gain fame.

This Vice Dean Li's judgment seems rather subjective.

“I have already inquired about your situation with Lord Tang. You have never studied at an academy or obtained any official rank. You should start by learning in the basic knowledge class.”

Tiande Academy divides students into different classes based on age and academic knowledge. Each class has a different teacher and teaches at different levels. The classes are divided into Joyful Learning Class, Quick Learning Class, and Broad Learning Class, just like regular classes and elite classes in modern society.

The Joyful Learning Class was generally for new students who had not yet passed the preliminary examinations, the Quick Learning Class was for students who had already passed the preliminary examinations and were preparing to pass the county-level examinations, and the Broad Learning Class was composed of students who had already passed the county-level examinations and were aiming to become provincial-level scholars.

Nie Wenye, who is already a Xiucai (a successful candidate in the imperial examinations) and is preparing for the autumn examinations next year, is in this erudite class, and Vice Dean Li is one of the teachers in the erudite class.

Gu Xiao didn't care much about which class he was in.

The Great Yu Dynasty had a well-developed imperial examination system, with more than 3000 academies throughout the country, spread across urban and rural areas. Naturally, the academies in the capital and provincial capitals had higher teaching quality, followed by those in county-level cities.

The head of the provincial academy was appointed by the provincial governor and prefect, together with the provincial administrators, to be the most renowned scholar in the area or in the country. They were generally graduates of the imperial examinations. The teaching staff of the prefectural and county schools were not very strong, with very few graduates of the imperial examinations. Most of them were graduates of the provincial examinations or the county-level examinations.

Gu Xiao was taught by the Chancellor of the Imperial Academy from a young age, and the great Confucian scholars of the Imperial Academy took turns teaching him. To put it bluntly, he didn't think much of the teaching level at Tiande Academy, and it didn't matter much which class he attended.

He decided to study at Tiande Academy simply to pursue a legitimate career in government.

Hearing these clearly disdainful words, Nie Qianqian felt a hint of displeasure. She imitated Gu Xiao's manner and bowed to Vice Dean Li, "Vice Dean Li, how can you judge that my husband will go to the basic class based on this?"

Vice Dean Li frowned, thinking that he was talking to Gu Xiao, how could he allow a woman to speak? Didn't she know that women shouldn't be involved in external affairs?

He looked at Gu Xiao with dissatisfaction, but found that Gu Xiao did not seem to mind at all, nor did he say anything to stop him, which made him feel a little dissatisfied with Gu Xiao.

He had previously thought the boy was polite, but it seems his knowledge of manners is quite limited.

Gu Xiao caught a glimpse of Vice Dean Li's gaze. He wasn't unaware of Vice Dean Li's thoughts; he had seen many such people at the Imperial Academy. The older and higher the academic standing of those people, the more rigid and dogmatic they were.

He had always scoffed at this idea. His mother, a woman, possessed extraordinary talent and discussed history and politics with his father. His father never said anything about women being allowed to interfere in politics.

In his view, Nie Qianqian could speak whenever she wanted.

Seeing that Gu Xiao did not speak, Vice Dean Li frowned and had no choice but to reply, "Then what do you think we should do?"

Nie Qianqian stared at Vice Dean Li and said, "I think there should be an entrance assessment, and class assignments should be determined based on the test scores."

Every year after the autumn recruitment, Tiande Academy holds a preliminary exam to rank students and divide them into classes, as Nie Qianqian said. However, Vice Dean Li believes that Gu Xiao is a person who got in through connections and has never studied at the academy before, so there is no need to go through the trouble.

Now that Nie Qianqian has brought it up, it makes it seem like he hasn't followed the college's rules.

Vice Dean Li's face darkened. "In that case, let Gu Xiao take the preliminary test. He can take it in my study, and I will personally proctor it. This young lady should leave the study later and is not allowed to interfere with the test."

Nie Qianqian smiled brightly, "No problem, thank you Vice Dean Li."

Seeing this, Gu Xiao bowed and said calmly, "I will leave it to you, Master."

Nie Qianqian turned her head and saw that Gu Xiao was still calm and composed, not nervous at all because he had heard about the exam, so she felt relieved.

In reality, she didn't know her husband's actual academic level; she was only trying to get a fair way to be placed in classes after the exam. If he still ended up in the foundation class after the exam, that would be perfectly acceptable.

She raised her right fist and made a thumbs-up gesture towards Gu Xiao, cheering him on: "Go for it!"

Gu Xiao had heard Nie Qianqian use the word "加油" (jiāyóu, meaning "cheer up") before and knew it meant "to strive for." Now, seeing this gesture, he guessed it meant the same thing.

He copied Nie Qianqian's gesture, making a slightly stiff hand gesture in response, and said, "Good luck."

Upon witnessing this scene, Vice Dean Li felt that the two were behaving too erratically and their manners were not in accordance with proper etiquette.

He always believed that students should listen attentively to instruction and should not be disobeyed.

Since he has never studied, he should have followed his teacher's instructions and started from the basic class. Instead, he insisted on taking the entrance exam, which was a waste of his time. He thought he was incredibly talented, but in reality, he was arrogant and mediocre. He had seen many students like this.

He went to the bookshelf to look for past placement questions and happened to see an exam paper that Dean Qiu had personally prepared in the past.

This exam paper was created by Dean Qiu based on his research of the scope of the autumn examinations over the years. It was designed to test the knowledge reserves of the students in the erudite class in preparation for the autumn examinations.

The exam questions are modeled after the autumn imperial examinations. Although students are not required to write lengthy essays, they are mostly short and concise questions, covering a wide range of topics. Students need to be well-read, knowledgeable, and truly understand the profound meaning of the books in order to answer them. The purpose is to allow students to identify their own shortcomings.

In the five years since the exam papers were used for internal examinations at the academy, the highest score was no more than 80 points. A score of around 50 points was considered above average. If one was only a student in the preliminary stage, one could probably only answer one or two out of ten questions.

Vice Dean Li's gaze lingered on the exam paper for a moment before she reached out and took it out.

Since Gu Xiao and Nie Qianqian have taken the initiative to ask for a test, then let's use this test paper. Gu Xiao doesn't seem to have much knowledge, but he's quite arrogant. This test paper will be a good opportunity to put his arrogance to the test.