Xie Qiao knew her weakness—she was too weak.
Although a person who was weak could attract people's protection, at the same time, they would lose their original personality. No matter what such a person said, nobody would care.
It would be different if she inflicted some pain on herself.
Perhaps Xia Yayun would not mess with her for a while after this. At least, she would not dare to challenge her in public.
However, it was rather irritating that they had to clean the stable.
It sounded like a stinky job.
The teachers at the academy would have many strange ways of punishing the students.. However, they were usually more lenient when it came to ladies. Even if they made mistakes, they would only be punished to do things like copying books. They hardly had to do anything that required a lot of strength.
Therefore, many people in the academy were shocked to hear that two ladies from the Orchid Courtyard had been asked to clean the stable.
Meanwhile, it was fortunate that a couple of male students were being punished at the stable at the moment.
They curiously watched the both of them walking over slowly as if they saw delicious meat.
"What kind of big mistake do you think they made to be asked to come here?"
"I heard the teachers who taught Class Sun in Orchid Courtyard are the kindest. This is the first time young ladies are being punished here. Can it be that they secretly burned the teacher's stuff?"
"You're curious? Go ask them." The man in the middle of the crowd smiled.
He chewed a straw. He was 16 or 17, had prominent eyebrows, and looked confident as he walked over directly.
He glanced at Xia Yayun, and her cheeks blushed immediately. He then looked at Xie Qiao.
This young lady looked prettier, but pretty ladies were usually sly. Especially a weak and sweet lady like this one, she was definitely a troublemaker.
Therefore, he ignored Xie Qiao and chose to ask Xia Yayun, "What bad things did you do to be punished here?"
Xia Yayun's eyes turned red. "I merely said something terrible out of impulse, and she hit me. In the end, she cried before the teacher, so the teacher sent me here as well."
Xie Qiao rolled her eyes.
She walked to the stable and looked around.
The Royal Academy had approximately 400 horses. There was a village that raised horses, specially outside the city. If the academy needed, the village would send the horses anytime.
Meanwhile, these 400 horses were used for classes on a daily basis. There were not many horseback archery classes. They were spread out every time, so there were enough horses.
Meng Jifang looked at Xia Yayun and asked, "What's her name?"
"Err, she's Xie Qiao?"
'Someone has no idea who Xie Qiao is?'
"Who is Xie Qiao?" Meng Jifang turned his head in doubt. How was it possible that there was someone famous in the academy that he had no idea of?
"Brother Meng, Xie Qiao joined the academy not long ago. She's Xie Niushan's eldest daughter. I heard she has a short life. The imperial doctor said she wouldn't be able to live long."
That was no longer a secret.
Meng Jifang was rather shocked. "Xie Niushan gave birth to a daughter who looks like that? I'm sure she's not his daughter by blood, right?!"
The overseer of the stable walked over as soon as he was done speaking. He looked very serious.
"You guys are here to be punished, not to fool around!" The overseer said immediately, "Your task is simple today. Each of you will clean a row of stalls, clean the horses, and prepare food for them. Choose your row now. The time you finish will be the time you leave."
Meng Jifang's eyelids twitched.
'A row? Are you insane? There are 20 horses in a row!
'How can we clean so many in an afternoon?!
'Moreover, there are definitely untamed horses in there. How would they let us get close to them!?'