Chapter 178 Purification (Second Update)

The weather is fine.

All the major academies in the capital city have started classes, and Qinghe Academy is no exception.

Early in the morning, Gu Yan and Gu Xiaoshun arrived at the academy with their book bags.

There wasn't much homework on the first day; the main thing was to get back into the swing of things.

As they walked through the courtyard gate carrying their books, the two encountered the Hou brothers, Gu Chengfeng and Gu Chenglin, whom they hadn't seen for many days.

After two whole months of recuperation, Gu Chenglin was finally able to walk normally again. However, he was left with a deep psychological shadow, always feeling that he would get injured if he took just a few steps.

The four of them met at the door, and the scene was quite awkward.

Gu Chenglin's gaze toward Gu Yan was still filled with resentment, but beneath that resentment lay even greater apprehension.

Whenever he saw Gu Yan, he would recall the scene of Gu Jiao locking him in a dark room and tormenting him, and he dared not lay a hand on Gu Yan again.

He only hoped that something would happen to Gu Yan himself, so that he could vent his hatred!

Gu Xiaoshun decisively stepped in front of Gu Yan, blocking their gazes.

What a joke! From a dull little carpenter to the number one bully in the surrounding area, it's just a matter of a single feather!

He, Gu Xiaoshun, is not someone to be trifled with!

"I'm leaving." Gu Chengfeng had no intention of fighting with the two at the academy.

Gu Changqing had already given a strict order: if they caused any more trouble outside, they would be punished by having to live in the ancestral hall for a year!

Whether or not I live in the ancestral hall doesn't matter. The main thing is that I'm currently in debt and have to sneak out every night to do missions to pay it off. It won't be convenient for me to go out if my brother's bodyguards are watching me.

Gu Chenglin was pulled away by his second brother.

Gu Yan: "Hmph!"

The four of them went into their respective classrooms.

Meanwhile, Xiao Liulang and Xiao Jingkong also came to the Imperial College for classes.

Xiao Liulang first escorted Xiao Jingkong to the entrance of the elementary school and said to him, "I'll come to pick you up for lunch."

"I know!" Little Jingkong said casually, "I'm four years old now, not a little kid anymore!"

Xiao Liulang doubted his age, feeling that it was possible the abbot had overestimated his age, since he was so young and didn't look like a four-year-old dumpling at all.

“Alright, go in now,” Xiao Liulang said to him.

Clutching his book bag, Xiao Jingkong entered the elementary school with utter despair.

Why do we need to go to school?

He clearly only wanted to stay by Jiaojiao's side and become her little shadow.

The changes in the elementary school class were actually quite significant. Because children grow quickly, after a year, everyone had either grown taller or fatter, except for Xiao Jingkong, who was still a tiny little bundle, the kind of child whose head was almost completely hidden by the desk when sitting on a stool.

Some of his classmates started laughing at him.

"Jingkong, why are you still so small? Will you never grow up?"

"Yes, yes! Aren't you going to eat?"

"Are you still a baby?"

In Xiao Jingkong's schoolbag was a bottle of milk that Gu Jiao had packed for him, saying that drinking more milk would help him grow taller.

But now he refuses to drink milk in front of these little classmates!

He didn't want to be laughed at by them.

Of all these people, Qin Chuyu was the one laughing the most arrogantly.

Qin Chuyu had been on sick leave since contracting smallpox, and finally came back after the New Year.

He is eight years old (by Chinese reckoning), and he has not only gained weight but also grown a bit taller.

He reached out and touched Xiao Jingkong's scholar's hat: "Little cutie, do you want some candy? Call me 'brother' and I'll give you some!"

Xiao Jingkong glanced at him speechlessly: "Childish!"

Qin Chuyu: "..."

Before long, the teacher arrived.

It's not Master Jiang; Master Jiang has been transferred to Guangyetang. From today onwards, Master Sun will be teaching the prodigy class.

After introducing himself, Master Sun began to check the holiday homework of the prodigy class.

The students who were just laughing at Xiao Jingkong suddenly stopped laughing. They had all gone crazy during the New Year holiday and had no idea how to do their homework.

Parents like Xiao Liulang who check their children's homework every day are actually not many; most parents just let their children grow up wildly.

The result was predictable.

The whole class wailed.

Amidst this wailing, only Jingkong Xiaotuanzi silently opened her schoolbag and took out her winter vacation homework.

The atmosphere at the Imperial College today was somewhat unusual. The young children were too young to notice the change, but as soon as Xiao Liulang entered the Shuaixing Hall, he sensed that the atmosphere was both strange and serious, with a hint of gossip mixed in.

"Hey, have you heard? Zheng Siye has fallen ill!"

"How could he suddenly fall ill?"

"Isn't it all because of that?"

"What is it?"

"It's been rumored so much, you guys really haven't heard about it?"

"No."

"Alright, stop being so mysterious, just tell me!"

As expected, his classmate never disappointed Xiao Liulang, and quickly explained the whole story in a flurry of chatter.

It turns out that news had already spread in the palace that His Majesty would bestow the title of Prince Ning upon the eldest prince and appoint Zheng Siye as the Chancellor of the Imperial Academy.

Zheng Siye even had his official robes made, the banquet booked, and all the invitations prepared, just waiting to be distributed after the court session.

But who would have thought that a Cheng Yaojin would appear halfway through the journey? The former chief minister wrote a letter to His Majesty, saying that he had returned to the capital.

His Majesty couldn't sit still upon hearing this. The old Grand Master of Ceremonies had returned, so what was the point of having a new one? His Majesty immediately resigned his post, and Zheng Siye was so angry that his face turned green.

Before court, Zheng Siye stood up straight; after court, his head drooped as low as possible.

He lost all face and became the laughingstock of the entire court.

Such important news reached the Imperial Academy in less than half an hour.

"Zheng Siye isn't coming today. He said he was coming to give us a lesson," a classmate said.

"He's not here to teach, he's here to hear us call him 'Chancellor,' right?" another classmate said.

After Xiao Liulang's exam paper and embezzled account book were exposed, Zheng Siye tried hard to clear his name for a long time, but many students still harbored resentment towards him. Among the six halls, the students of the Shuaixing Hall were the least easily fooled and had the lowest support rate for Zheng Siye.

After Xiao Liulang entered the classroom, everyone fell silent.

Xiao Liulang was always an unconventional figure in Shuaixing Hall. He always had a cold face and kept strangers at bay. Despite being a poor scholar from a small county, he always came first in the exams.

He also suffers from a leg ailment.

If this were in the previous dynasty, he would have had no way to participate in the imperial examinations.

Zheng Siye had targeted him before.

Everyone thought he would be forced to drop out of school, but to their surprise, he didn't leave. Instead, it was Zheng Siye who encountered setbacks in his official career.

I don't know whether to say Zheng Siye is unlucky or that this kid is lucky.

The matter of Zheng Siye was not discussed by the students for too long. After all, what was more important to them was their studies and the imperial examination next month.

Everyone quickly got into a learning mindset.

Among the six halls of the Imperial College, the Guangye Hall, Chongzhi Hall, and Zhengyi Hall of the first year had the loudest reading voices, followed by the Xiudao Hall and Chengxin Hall of the second year. By the time it came to the Shuaixing Hall of the third year, almost no one was reading aloud.

Shuaixing Hall was very quiet, and of course, the atmosphere for preparing for the exam was the most oppressive.

This year's imperial examinations will not only be attended by this year's successful candidates, but also by former successful candidates who failed in the previous two years.

Therefore, the competition is fierce.

After finishing their morning classes, the students went to the canteen looking disheveled.

Xiao Liulang went to the elementary school to pick up Xiao Jingkong and take him home for dinner. He waited outside the school for a long time before Xiao Jingkong finally arrived.

"Did the teacher stay after class today?" he asked.

"No, I just have something to do," Xiao Jingkong said, raising his chin slightly.

Do you have something else to do? You really think you're an adult.

Xiao Liulang was both annoyed and amused, and went back to Bishui Hutong with him.

Their house was really close to the Imperial Academy. Xiao Liulang seriously suspected that the little guy's master bought the house so that it would be convenient for him to go to the Imperial Academy.

Lunch was prepared by the old libationer, and it was delicious and visually appealing.

Gu Yan and Gu Xiaoshun didn't have any dietary restrictions, so they ate in the academy's cafeteria.

After dinner, the old lady went back to her room to sleep, and Xiao Jingkong went to wash his own little bowls.

Only the master and his apprentice remained at the dinner table.

"Why did you do that?" Xiao Liulang asked the old chief priest.

The old chief priest wasn't stupid; he knew exactly what his apprentice was asking. Not wanting Xiao Liulang to feel any guilt, he replied, "To earn money and support my family."

Xiao Liulang: "..."

Some understandings remain unspoken, existing only in each other's hearts.

His path ahead was shrouded in darkness; he could see no way out. Gu Jiao and the old priest were both illuminating his way out in their own ways.

Xiao Jingkong usually takes a nap after lunch, but he didn't today.

Xiao Liulang came out of the house and saw him acting suspiciously in the backyard.

"What are you doing?" Xiao Liulang asked.

"It's nothing!" Xiao Jingkong said nonchalantly.

He neither takes a nap nor becomes a gossipmonger, which makes his behavior highly suspicious.

As the saying goes, when a child is quiet, he must be up to no good.

Sure enough, Xiao Liulang only attended one class in the afternoon before his parents were called in by Xiao Jingkong's teacher.

The incident started when Xiao Jingkong came to school in the morning and was ridiculed by his classmates because of his small stature, with Qin Chuyu being the worst offender.

Xiao Jingkong was not convinced, so after class he called Qin Chuyu aside and said he wanted to have a size contest with him.

Qin Chuyu almost died laughing: "Haha, what makes you bigger than me?"

Xiao Jingkong thought for a moment: "Do you have birds?"

Qin Chuyu choked on his words.

His face flushed red, and he became angry and embarrassed: "How dare you talk like that? Of course I have it! Don't you?"

“I have one!” Xiao Jingkong said, his eyes wide. “Then let’s compare birds! Let’s see whose bird is bigger! I’ll come find you after we eat! Let’s go somewhere where no one’s around!”

Qin Chuyu looked at Xiao Jingkong with suspicion.

After Xiao Jingkong finished his meal, he returned to the Imperial Academy and indeed came to find Qin Chuyu.

Qin Chuyu was embarrassed: "You...you...you really want to compete in that?"

He's a prince, he's supposed to be well-mannered and respectful. This is just too much.

Besides, how could a three- or four-year-old little dumpling be older than him?

As Qin Chuyu walked, he wondered suspiciously, "Could it really be that she's older than me?"

"Alright, right here!" Xiao Jingkong stopped under a big tree.

This is a small grassy area for elementary school students; usually, no one comes here.

Xiao Jingkong went around behind the big tree and said to Qin Chuyu, "Come on over! Did you bring yours?"

Qin Chuyu: What kind of talk is this? Do I even need to bring it?

Qin Chuyu, with a dark expression, also went around to the back of the big tree.

He thought about it for a moment, but still felt something was off: "Do we really... really want to compete?"

Xiao Jingkong looked at him: "Are you scared?"

Qin Chuyu was most susceptible to provocation, and stomped his foot, saying, "What a joke! How could I be afraid? Let's compete! Come on! I'll count to three, and we'll go for it!"

Xiao Jingkong generously said, "Okay, you count."

Qin Chuyu gritted his teeth: "One, two, three!"

Unbuckle your belt!

Xiao Jingkong took out the biggest bird in the house—a fledgling eagle—from his bulging book bag.

Xiao Jingkong: "..."

Little Eagle: "..."

Qin Chuyu: "..."

Hearing this, Xiao Liulang broke out in a cold sweat: "And then what?"

Master Sun, newly appointed to his post, was even more troubled by this situation than Xiao Liulang. He said with lingering fear, "Then the eagle swooped down on Chu Yu—"

Xiao Liulang's body trembled: "Pounce on him—could it be—"

Master Sun hurriedly waved his hands: "No, no, no! I've got it down! Jingkong has it down!"

However, Qin Chuyu really thought he was going to die, and he was so scared that he fell to the ground and wet his pants on the spot.

For a prince of the nation to wet his pants at the Imperial Academy is utterly disgraceful.

However, it was ultimately Xiao Jingkong's fault for bringing such a terrifying bird of prey to the Imperial College; it was easy for an accident to happen.

Xiao Liulang sighed and said, "I was so naive to think you'd stop causing trouble now that you're a year older!"

Qin Chuyu's parents haven't arrived yet.

Xiao Liulang and Xiao Jingkong waited in a private classroom.

Little Jingkong hung his head, looking dejected: "Don't tell Jiaojiao." He glanced at the little eaglet in his arms, "And don't send Xiao Jiu away either."

Xiao Liulang looked at him seriously: "You wish!"

Xiao Jingkong thought for a moment, then tilted his head to look at him: "Shall I waive one month's rent for you?"

Xiao Liulang: "..."

(End of this chapter)