Zhao Rong returned to his seat first.

Unlike his classmates around him, he did not take out paper, ink, brush and inkstone to prepare for the next class. Instead, he bent down, wrapped the guqin in a plain white cloth, packed up his things, then turned around and walked away.

Zhao Rong's contradictory action attracted a lot of attention.

Fan Yushu asked curiously, "Tzuyu, where are you going?"

Zhao Rong replied casually: "I am not feeling well today, so I will ask for leave."

As he spoke, he walked towards Yu Huaijin in the distance without waiting for Fan Yushu to ask any more questions.

The open space where the class at Shuexing Hall is held today is an abandoned ancient ferry with an ancient name, Lanzhou.

It is said that the first Confucian saint who brought his disciples to this place to see the ends of the earth landed at this ancient ferry and established Linlu Academy.

Although Lanzhou Ferry has been abandoned, the wooden plank road extending from the shore into the river still exists.

At this time, many students from Ruxingtang were queuing up and walking to the wooden plank road to scoop up water from Lidu to grind ink.

Yu Huaijin was standing at the entrance of the wooden plank road, behind a long table.

Zhao Rong walked closer and took a closer look.

Yu Huaijin had a calm expression and was working on the ink with his head lowered.

Her snow-white little hands, holding a long, black ink marker, looked dazzling against the backdrop, attracting the attention of many students who were passing by to fetch water.

After grinding the ink, Yu Huaijin walked to the other side of the table and continued working with her hands. Her face was still stern and her eyes were focused.

Zhao Rong looked at it for a while.

This desk is facing the seats of the students on the open space. It should be the desk that Mr. Zhu will use later. Yu Huaijin is a senior selected by Shuexing Hall. She can actually assign other students to do these chores for the teachers. However, in Zhao Rong's impression, as shown in front of him, Yu Huaijin seems to do everything herself every time.

He closed his eyelids slightly and walked straight forward.

He bowed and said, "Senior Yu, I feel a little unwell and would like to ask for a leave of absence for one class. I hope you will agree."

Yu Huaijin was placing a brush washer in the middle of the process. Upon hearing this, he paused for a moment, then continued placing things in the place without turning around to look at him or return the greeting.

Zhao Rong stared at her profile intently.

There was silence between the two of them for a while.

After hanging up the hairpin, Yu Huaijin nodded slightly without saying anything. Her profile showed a look of concentration as she continued to tidy up the table, not paying attention to Zhao Rong.

"Thank you, Senior."

Zhao Rong looked at Yu Huaijin's expression and understood something roughly, but he didn't explain anything. He thanked him, turned around and left, leaving Lanzhou Ferry with his classmates from Ruexing Hall seeing him off.

Yu Huaijin, with his back to Zhao Rong, shook his head imperceptibly after hanging up a hairpin.

The students who were queuing for water witnessed this scene, including Xiao Hongyu. She looked back at Zhao Rong's back as he was leaving without stopping, frowned and said, "Huai Jin, ignore this lazy guy. It's not worth getting angry at him."

Yu Huaijin didn't say anything, but looked up at the sun.

Wu Peiliang, who was not far behind Xiao Hongyu, had been paying attention to this place for a long time. At this moment, he nodded and smiled:

"Brother Hongyu is right. Fan Yushu, the last one, is at least obedient, but Zhao Ziyu is a hopeless case. Senior, you'd better not..."

"It's getting late, everyone should hurry up." Yu Huaijin suddenly spoke, interrupting Wu Peiliang.

She glanced calmly at the entrance of Lanzhou Ferry and said, "The teacher should be here soon."

Not long after, the students of Suixing Hall in the open space settled down after a busy period, sat in their seats, and waited quietly for the arrival of a woman in Confucian robes.

…

Zhao Rong thought Yu Huaijin would stop him, but he just let him go so easily.

He shook his head and laughed, "Zhao Ziyu, you are so shameless."

Zhao Rong cursed himself under his breath.

Immediately, he looked at the sun.

It was still early, and after some thought, Zhao Rong made a plan. He planned to visit Mr. Yan in the morning and ask for a few books to read.

However, for some things, Zhao Rong felt that it was better to be "shameless" and prepare for a rainy day.

For example, Zhu Weirui, who I met once by chance.

The next class in Suixing Hall in the morning was this female teacher's calligraphy class.

Because of the piece of paper where she copied the poem in his handwriting.

Zhao Rong was really afraid of her, in every sense of the word.

It would be better to avoid meeting each other, but what makes Zhao Rong feel relieved is that she doesn't know him yet.

After all, when they first passed each other in the academy, Mr. Zhu didn't even glance at him and hurried away. Zhao Rong was attracted by her temperament and asked the senior brother curiously, and then he found out her identity.

However, Zhao Rong also had a headache. Did he have to find excuses to skip calligraphy classes in the future?

It's okay if it happens once or twice, but if it happens too many times, and every time it happens, even someone as conscientious as Yu Huaijin would probably be completely disappointed in him and give up on him, right?

If I don't skip classes, I'll probably get into more trouble...

Zhao Rong frowned, but relaxed after a moment.

Never mind, I'll think of a way later. For now, I can avoid meeting her in the short term, unless Mr. Lanhua, who is said to be very popular among male Confucian scholars in the academy, personally goes to Nanxuan Academy to look for him by name, or blocks him at the door when other teachers in Ruxing Hall are in class...

No, no, she is a teacher in the academy and I am a student. This is against the rules.

Zhao Rong laughed, shook his head, dispelled these scattered thoughts and stopped thinking about them.

He looked around and saw that there were not many people on the road, and most of them were scholars and senior brothers from the academy. After all, most of the students at Mo Chi Academy were still in class.

It’s a sunny day today, and the morning sunshine is warm on my body.

Under the sun, Zhao Rong narrowed his eyes slightly, put his hands behind his back, and hummed a tune. At this moment, a figure came into his sight at the corner in front of him.

This is a graceful figure in Confucian clothes, walking towards Zhao Rong in the sunlight, with the faint fragrance of orchids and quiet and light steps.

A moment.

Zhao Rong opened his eyes, and in that instant he only had time to see the figure of the person coming, but it overlapped with the Rulan figure in his memory.

His heart skipped a beat.

Why is it her?

But soon, Zhao Rong closed his eyelids, pursed his lips, put away his expression, and walked forward normally.

He remained calm and steady, and cautiously glanced at the woman in scholarly robes who was getting closer and closer in front of him on the right.

Behind her was the rising sun, and the sunlight was shining through her from behind. For a moment, it was impossible to see the expression of the woman in the Confucian robe, but Zhao Rong was already sure that it was her.

He tilted his head slightly and saw a few other pedestrians around him at the edge of his vision, and he felt a little relieved.

In the short time that Zhao Rong's thoughts were flowing, he and the woman in Confucian robes had already gotten close.

Closer and closer.

Along with it, the delicate orchid fragrance becomes increasingly stronger.

Zhao Rong was originally going to keep his eyes straight ahead, but the next second, he still tilted his head slightly and "quietly" glanced at her, because even if this kind of woman with outstanding temperament was wearing a man's Confucian robe, she would attract men's attention. It was almost impossible for normal passers-by not to look at her. If they didn't look at her, they were either upright gentlemen or had other thoughts, which would easily attract her attention...

finally.

The two met.

Zhao Rong's heart was in his throat.

Next second.

We just passed each other by, once again.

Zhao Rong saw out of the corner of his eye that the woman in scholarly robes disappeared from his sight without turning her head. He breathed a sigh of relief. Why did he feel as if he had run into his teacher after skipping class?

Immediately, before Zhao Rong could think more, he noticed that several brothers beside him who were going in the same direction as him all slowed down their pace and turned back to look at the woman in Confucian robes who were passing by.

Zhao Rong understood this very well.

In order to pretend to be more convincing, he also stopped and looked back slowly, but his breath was choked in an instant, because the woman in Confucian clothes was stopped not far away, turning sideways and looking at them with her head tilted!

Zhao Rong and several passers-by: "..."

Zhu Weirui stood still.

At this moment, the atmosphere at this fork in the forest was a bit awkward and weird.

The air became silent.

There is only the rustling of leaves in the forest.

Zhu Weirui suddenly spoke in a clear voice, "Excuse me..."

Zhao Rong's right eyelid twitched.

She stretched out a slender finger, pointed in the direction they were going, and asked in a puzzled tone, "Is Lanzhou Ferry here?"

Um?

Zhao Rong was stunned, and then a possibility suddenly came to his mind.

He looked at the surrounding environment calmly. This path in the forest was winding and had many forks. If Zhao Rong had not been led by Jia Tengying and Fan Yushu who were familiar with the road before, he would have been completely in the dark.

According to Zhao Rong's rich experience of reading certain novels in his previous life, the beautiful women that the protagonist met usually had some minor flaws, and these minor flaws led to their meeting, knowing each other, and falling in love? For example...

Ahem, this is not important. What is important is that this talented and handsome Mr. Zhu is actually a person with poor direction?

Zhao Rong blinked, but he was still a little skeptical.

At this moment, after Zhu Weirui finished speaking, Zhao Rong and the brothers beside him looked at each other, and then they shook their heads like rattles.

"No, no."

"Lanzhou Ferry is in the direction you were going."

"You are on the right road, but there are some complicated turns ahead..."

Everyone spoke up.

Zhu Weirui nodded slightly and stared at them. For a moment, he did not speak, as if he was... hesitating about something.

Seeing this, Zhao Rong finally felt relieved, and then he raised his eyebrows slightly.

My thoughts changed.

At this time, one or two of the people around Zhao Rong also reacted, with some surprise in their eyes. It seemed that they were as experienced as Zhao Rong, and had realized that the intellectual and elegant Mr. Lanhua was actually a confused and directionally challenged person with a cute personality. So, is Mr. Zhu now... too embarrassed to ask for help?

However, although they were thinking about it excitedly, some hesitation appeared on their faces, and for a moment, they did not dare to take a step forward.

But the next moment, someone helped them move forward.

Zhao Rong looked around and saw that the people around him were eager to try. He fixed his eyes and did not leave in an attempt. Instead, he took a step forward without hesitation.

Behind him, the brothers who were originally undecided looked anxious, but Zhao Rong had already walked up to Zhu Weirui and spoke. The other passers-by, seeing this scene, had no choice but to give up and left with a sigh. Some of them even looked back from time to time...

Zhao Rong bowed and said with a smile:

"Excuse me, are you the new teacher in our academy, Zhu Weirui, Mr. Zhu?"

Zhu Weirui took a closer look at the smiling man in front of him, returned the greeting and said, "It is me."

Zhao Rong turned his head and looked around the mountains and forests, and said loudly: "Mr. Zhu, I know where Lanzhou Ferry is. How about I take you there?"

Zhu Weirui nodded slowly, "Then I'll trouble you, sir. Sir, you..."

"Oh, by the way, I forgot to introduce myself. Look at my memory." Zhao Rong, who was about to lift his foot, patted his forehead, laughed and shook his head, then turned around and said to Zhu Weirui enthusiastically:

"Mr. Zhu, my name is Lin Wenruo. I am a disciple of Mr. Yan Jidao."

Zhao Rong had an idea to solve the problem once and for all and wanted to give it a try.

After hearing this, Zhu Weirui slightly opened his pair of clear willow-leaf eyes and looked at him carefully.

Zhao Rong paused, then turned his head and asked curiously, "What's wrong, Mr. Zhu? What's the matter?"

Zhu Weirui raised her eyebrows slightly, smiled, and nodded, "So, it's Mr. Yan."

"Mr. Zhu is very familiar with my husband?"

Zhu Weirui thought for a moment and said seriously, "I'm not very familiar with Mr. Yan, but."

"But what?"

Zhao Rong asked casually while leading Zhu Weirui to turn left and walk into a path with flowers beside the road. He smiled and said, "Mr. Zhu, follow me. It will be closer if you take this path."

He was quite familiar with the road, and took her through a shortcut back the same way. However, he was just leading someone else, not that Zhao Rong was really going back to class, even though the teacher who was going to skip the class was right beside her.

"Thank you for your help, sir."

"It's okay, Mr. Zhu, you don't have to be so polite."

This flower path shortcut was taken by Jia Tengying and Zhao Rong before. There were not many pedestrians and few people. Although it was autumn, there were still many seasonal flowers growing on both sides of the path and even in the middle of the road.

Whenever Zhu Weirui encountered a flower blocking his way, he would take the initiative to give way and avoid stepping on it. Seeing this, Zhao Rong also perked up and became more careful.

After Zhao Rong finished speaking.

Zhu Weirui tilted her head slightly, looking at his smiling face, the corners of her red lips also rose, and she continued with the words just now, "... However, Mr. Yan has a new disciple who I have been in contact with for a long time."

Zhao Rong frowned, "Teacher's new disciple, who is worthy of Mr. Zhu's favor? Who are you talking about?"

"Zhao Ziyu."

Zhu Weirui was looking sideways at the flowers and plants on the path, not knowing what she was thinking. She smiled gently and whispered the name, "His name is Zhao Ziyu."

"Zi Yu?" Zhao Rong was confused. "So you are talking about Junior Brother Zhao."

After he finished speaking, he couldn't help but glance at Zhu Weirui.

The latter took a few more steps to avoid a bunch of autumn chrysanthemums on the path. She seemed to have noticed Zhao Rong's gaze, so she turned around and said with a smile: "What's wrong, sir, are you very familiar with Zhao Ziyu?"

Zhao Rong was a little hesitant, thought about it, and shook his head:

"I'm not too familiar with him, but I do know a little bit about this Junior Brother Zhao. After all... we lived together in Taiqing Mansion for a long time with our teacher, so I saw him often. Therefore, I saw a lot of things."

He sighed slightly and paused for a moment, as if giving this woman in Confucian clothes, whose orchid fragrance was more sweet than the scent of flowers, time to think.

Zhao Rong glanced at her and asked in a low voice, "Mr. Zhu, do you really admire... ahem, have you been in spiritual communication with him for a long time?"

Zhu Weirui raised her eyes and met his gaze. The woman's willow-shaped eyes were clear and bright, without blinking.

She smiled, but said seriously: "Well, I have seen his calligraphy. Mr. Zhao must be a great man."

Zhao Rong's expression remained unchanged, and he said to himself, "As expected."

Great man, right? Got it.

His face changed, he took a breath, and looked at Zhu Weirui, seeming to want to say something but stopping himself.

Zhu Weirui was considerate and said, "Sir, if you have anything to say, feel free to speak up."

Zhao Rong nodded and opened his mouth.

"Wait, don't step on it!" Zhu Weirui suddenly said in a crisp voice.

There was a solitary Jianlan flower on the road ahead of Zhao Rong, but Zhao Rong's foot had already been raised, and it fell down in a daze...

Zhao Rong and Zhu Weirui both stopped and stood still without saying a word.

The atmosphere between the two was a little strange.

Zhao Rong widened his eyes and looked down at his feet that were stepping on the flowers. No, it should be said...his feet that were pierced by the flowers.

In front of him, the autumn orchid that should have been trampled into the mud was still intact.

It pierced through Zhao Rong's boots and continued to bloom, swaying slightly in the wind, its graceful posture just as it had been before being stepped on.

Zhao Rong was surprised and moved his feet, but found nothing was wrong and he did not feel any pain. Then he discovered that the orchid was just like an illusory projection and could be passed through by other real objects at will.

"Young Master, can you please take your feet away? It cannot stay in the void for too long, otherwise it will be bad for its future growth." Zhu Weirui's voice sounded at the side, with some apology.

"Yeah, okay." Zhao Rong came to his senses and moved his feet away.

Zhu Weirui walked up to the wild orchid, squatted down, narrowed her willow-leaf eyes, and examined it carefully.

Zhao Rong blinked, looked down at the woman protecting the orchid, and then looked at his own feet.

"This is the transformation of reality into illusion." Gui couldn't help but say, "There are seven realms before the cultivators: Ascension, Fuyao, Haoran, Tianzhi, Jindan, Half-step Yuanying, Yuanying, and the seventh realm has different names. I have told you that the whole process is a process of transformation from reality to illusion and from illusion to reality."

It glanced at the orchid-like woman squatting on the ground in a simple Confucian robe, "Tsk tsk, judging from what she did just now, this admirer of Mr. Zhao is at least a Confucian monk who has reached the half-step Nascent Soul stage. Judging from her age, she is probably less than 60 years old. Not bad, not bad."

Zhao Rong listened quietly.

Gui said excitedly: "Zhao Rong, why don't you just eat her gigolo!"

The corner of Zhao Rong's mouth twitched, "Do you think I am this kind of person?"

The sword spirit recalled carefully for a while, and said with certainty: "I don't need to check, you are already."

Zhao Rong was silent for a moment after hearing this. He glanced at Zhu Weirui who was about to get up, nodded slightly, and suddenly spoke.

"Mr. Zhu."

"Um?"

"I have thought about it carefully, and I have decided to tell you some truths. I cannot hide them from you, sir."

"Sir, please speak."

"Mr. Zhu, Junior Brother Zhao... likes to live off his wife!"

Zhao Rong is selfless and upright.