39 - Chapter 36

Sa Bina entered her second class of the day. Some of her fellow students were already seated and chatting, as the professor read over some papers at his desk.

Sa Bina strode up to the desk and held out the note. “Greetings Professor Hu Ru,” she said in a polite tone. “I am Lady Sa Bina. I am joining your class from today. I was also asked to pass a note to you from Professor Li Dandan.”

“Oh good. I was expecting you.” replied Hu Ru, smiling benevolently. “The headmaster had mentioned that a new student would be joining shortly.” He opened the note and glanced at the content.

“I am surprised to hear you say that, Professor.” replied Sa Bina in a contemplative tone. “My impression, on meeting your colleagues, was that they had not been notified of my presence.”

“Gave you a hard time did they?” chortled Hu Ru. “Don’t worry, from what I heard you acquitted yourself well. I wouldn’t worry about Hou Bou too much, he does tend to get carried away. He will have calmed down by your next lesson. The others, the ones you have met, were impressed with your ability to stand up for yourself.”

“So it was all a test?” asked Sa Bina nonplussed by the amiable response. She had been worried that she had alienated some of her professors, especially Hou Bou.

“Something like that.” replied Hu Ru. “There is also some internal politics at play, as there is in any organisation that has any modicum of power. Though that is not something that a student should concern themselves with. If a professor really steps out of line, then the headmaster will step in. We are here to teach after all.”

“It didn’t feel like that at the time, Professor.” replied Sa Bina. “What exactly were they testing?”

“What do you think they were testing?” replied Hu Ru. “And if it was too obvious that it was a test, then that would defeat the objective, would it not? Though, as I said, some tend to take it a little too far.”

Sa Bina thought about her interactions with her previous professors. If she add in the fact that all the professors were aware that she was joining and her test results, then also added in the detail that Professor Hou Bou had taken the exercise too far, it led to a few interesting conclusions.

“You are not only here to teach us your respective subjects,” said Sa Bina. “You also teach young nobles how to handle pressure from those in a superior position of power. The tests were designed to see how I handled being dismissed and treated poorly. If I had folded under the pressure, I would have found myself receiving a nudge to join certain extracurricular activities?”

“Not a bad interpretation.” replied Hu Ru.

“And you are testing my ability to reason,” continued Sa Bina. “And to see how I react to being so obviously manipulated.”

“Very good.” replied Hu Ru. “Your reasoning ability seems to be coming along nicely. Now, based on this note from Li Dandan, your language skills seem especially well developed. Of course the use of language in literature is very different, then the use of language in law.”

“Of course,” replied Sa Bina, responding reflexively. “The use of language in literature has far more flexibility, where the use in law will be formulaic and prescriptive.”

“Interesting, that you are already aware of that,” mused Hu Ru. “Why don’t you make an attempt at this examination paper. It will let me gauge your abilities as it pertains to the law. You should, of course, ignore any questions that require the knowledge of specific laws.”

“Of course, professor.” respond Sa Bina. It seemed that all the professors wanted to test her abilities regardless of what they had been told. She took the offered paper and retired to a desk to make the attempt.

She thought through her interactions with all her professors in a new light based on the information that Hu Ru had revealed. It seemed that there was more to attending the academy than simple studies, especially if you were holding a noble title. She supposed it made sense, as the responsibilities that nobles’ inherited were in addition to the need to be educated. In the normal course of affairs, non nobles would not be expected to take on the same level and breadth of responsibilities after all.

After that, she focused on the examination paper she was meant to be attempting. She first read through the entire paper and noted which questions she was not in a position to answer, and the ones that she could partially attempt. It seemed that she would only be able to attempt around half the paper.

The questions were more strict than in the literature class, with the specific use case of language being examined in detail. This was expected by Sa Bina. Though she had not been a legal expert back on Earth, she had certainly had to read and apply some laws and regulations while teaching economics. The level of legalese developed on earth was significantly more complicated than the level of legalese she had seen on this new world. Her comparison was not just based on the few extracts of laws that she saw on the examination paper, but also based on the laws she had seen while working with the ministries in the formation of her guilds. Sa Bina had made sure to read through every contract before she had signed, and though she did not have an eidetic memory, she had retained enough understanding to see the differences, and more importantly weaknesses in the way the local laws were drafted.

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Of course, whether the laws were really open to exploitation would be determined by how the legal system choose to interpret the said laws, and the view the courts would take. It would also depend on a thorough understanding of the complex interplay between the laws, the legal system, the courts, the various levels of nobility and royalty, the ultimate expression of power in the kingdom.

Sa Bina spent the majority of the remainder of the class crafting her answers and improving her understanding by inferring a basic understanding from the way the questions were constructed. As she finished the paper, she looked up and saw that the Professor was busy reading, having set the class to read some laws and provide commentary. She stood to garner his attention, and at a flick of his finger, descended to his desk with her completed exam paper.

“You are done sooner than I expected,” said Hu Ru, taking the paper from her. “Let me review your answers.”

Sa Bina stood at the professor’s desk as his eyes and hands moved with practiced efficiency, marking her answers and making notes as he moved through the questions.

“You have done well,” replied Hu Ru. “Though the questions make it clear that you lack even the most foundational knowledge, your command of the language and logic is impeccable. Also, though you are missing basic knowledge, your approach in identifying weakness in the laws seems to be based on a more adversarial approach, rather than a justice based approach. I must admit I would be interested in debating such an approach for just the academic merit of such a pursuit, however impractical the approach would be in the real world.”

“Thank you.” replied Sa Bina. She was still trying to parse the professor's comments. It seemed her approach to the law from Earth would actually be a detriment here, as the entire paradigm seemed to be different. “I know I have a lot to learn.”

“Yes, I will give you a list of books to start with.” replied Hu Ru. “You will need a thorough grounding in the basics before we can start to progress on to more advanced topics. If you are able to apply a level of diligence, I am sure you will improve at a remarkable pace. Why don’t you spend the rest of this lesson reading.” Hu Ru handed her a tome titled the legal structures of the kingdom.

Sa Bina took the book and returned to her desk to read. The rest of the lesson flew by as she immersed herself in the text. She was only jolted out of her focus by the ringing of the bell marking the end of the lesson.

As the professor had not asked for the book back, she took it with her as she left the classroom and headed out to lunch, her thoughts still in the pages that she had just been engrossed in.

As she entered the cafeteria she looked around to see if could spot Jia Yun. As she finally spotted her, at the very same table that they had occupied the previous day, she saw Jia Yun waving her over. However, Jia Yun was not alone, she was seated with two boys of a similar age, meaning that they were likely in the last year as well. Sa Bina walked over to the table.

“Greeting Lady Jia Yun.” said Sa Bina politely. “Hope your day is going well.”

“Greetings Lady Sa Bina,” she responded. “Let me introduce you to Lord Qin Ai, heir to Earl Qin Zixin and Lord Cheng Jiang, the second son of Earl Cheng Lei. In turn, may I introduce Lady Sa Bina.”

“Greetings Lord Qin Ai, Lord Cheng Jiang,” replied Sa Bina formally. “I am pleased to make your acquaintance.” Turning to Jia Yun, she continued. “If you are busy Lady Jia Yun, I am happy to find another table for today.”

“Nonsense Lady Sa Bina,” replied Jin Yun nonchalantly, but with a cheeky gleam in her eye. “Please join us. I was just telling the young lords of your antics from yesterday. Tell me, has today been just as exciting?”

“No, no, nothing like that.” replied Sa Bina, taking a seat. The two young lords having stood until Sa Bina was seated, before taking their own seats again. “In fact, I just learned from Professor Hu Ru that the little incidents yesterday were actually orchestrated by the Professors in an effort to test me. I guess I will learn in due course if they identified deficiencies in need of correction.”

The boys burst out laughing. “Trust professor Hu Ru to blurt out that little detail,” said Qin Ai. “We were taking bets now how long before you realised what was happening.”

“Don’t feel bad about it.” added Cheng Jiang. “We have all suffered random tests of character over the past three years. They seem determined to mould us into the perfect little noble, at least in the shape of their ideal of nobility.”

“So what are the usual results of these tests?” asked Sa Bina, starting to see the funny side. If this was something everyone underwent, then it was indeed funny from an outside perspective.

“When the, what did you call it, yes the deficiencies are identified,” replied a mirthful Jia Yun. “Then the professors push you into voluntary extracurricular classes designed to correct said issues.”

“And, I assume from your tone,” asked Sa Bina, seeing where this was going. “The voluntary option is not voluntary at all.”

“I did try and argue that when I was in my first year.” responded Qin Ai, still laughing. “However, the suggestion suddenly became an order from my father the moment he found out. So yes the professors do like us to feel like we have a choice, but if we ignore their suggestions, they find a way for us to change our minds. It’s usually just easier to go along.”

“Do you think our interaction with Lady Xiu Lian was also part of their test?” asked Sa Bina, hoping that it was something innocuous.

“No,” responded Cheng Jiang darkly. “She is a viper, and you should be very careful around her. She can’t do much to us, as we all out rank her. However, she holds onto grudges, and is not above using her father to settle those if she is unable to do so herself.”

“I think it’s a bit too late for that,” replied a mildly morose Sa Bina. “I have already managed to upset her.” She then spent the rest of lunch recounting her interactions with that particular lady for the benefit of her new companions.