The front hall of the city lord's mansion.
Master Song and the city lord and others had already taken their seats.
Gu Jiangli and his family weren't late, but the others were already seated, as if everyone was waiting for them.
Jiang Huaizhi, of course, knew what to say in this situation. After approaching, he first apologized to Master Song: "Master Song, I apologize for keeping you waiting. My wife is pregnant and we are a little late. Please forgive me."
Gu Jiangli also gave a polite, simple bow, prompting Master Song to quickly stand up and reply:
"No problem, no problem. You two are not late; it's not mealtime yet. Your wife is six months pregnant, so let's skip the formalities."
Master Song was a tall, thin man in his fifties. He was very kind and approachable in his speech, without any airs of someone in a high position in the capital.
Gu Jiangli appreciated this point, and she could rest assured that Nan Yu was going to the capital with him.
"Thank you for your understanding, Master Song." Gu Jiangli smiled slightly and led Nan Yu to the front. "Nan Yu, quickly greet Master Song. From now on, this will be your teacher at Baiwen Academy."
Nan Yu is very sensible and has a calm and composed demeanor. Even at a young age, he already has the demeanor of a gentleman.
After exchanging greetings, Master Song's eyes revealed a great deal of admiration.
After they sat down, Master Song asked Nan Yu several questions in succession, and Nan Yu answered them all fluently. Master Song was even more pleased and praised Nan Yu highly.
While thanking Master Song for his praise, the city lord's wife also said:
“Master Song, Nan Yu has been very talented since he was a child. It is his good fortune that you have chosen him to study at the Hundred Books Academy. In fact, the City Lord’s Mansion has more than just Nan Yu as a talented child. Nan Yu’s cousin, Wu You, has also been very studious and hardworking since he was a child. If you value talent, why not take both children with you so that they can have someone to look after them in the capital?”
After he finished speaking, everyone at the table fell silent.
The city lord looked embarrassed and tugged at his wife's sleeve under the table, but she ignored him.
Left with no other choice, he could only try to smooth things over before the situation became even more awkward: "Master Song, please don't misunderstand. My wife was just a little worried that Nan Yu might not be used to living alone in the capital. She was just overthinking things and said these irrelevant things. Please don't take them to heart."
“We are all aware of the requirements for Baiwen Academy to accept disciples. Although Nan Yu’s cousin is indeed very hardworking, he still falls far short of the requirements of Baiwen Academy. We never even considered having Baiwen Academy accept him as a disciple…”
The city lord felt increasingly embarrassed as he spoke, as if he was making things worse by trying to explain, and eventually his voice lowered.
Master Song was initially taken aback, but he gradually regained his amiable expression and said with a smile:
"No problem, no problem. I know that the City Lord's wife has good intentions. If there is an opportunity in the future to see Young Master Wuyou's writings, and the other teachers of Baiwen Academy also believe that Young Master Wuyou can enter the academy to study, then it will be no problem for Young Master Wuyou to formally enter the academy at that time."
Gu Jiangli and Jiang Huai both lowered their heads and remained silent.
In fact, Master Song's words were already an excuse; the so-called "there will be an opportunity later" actually meant there was no opportunity now.
If the city lord's wife could understand the meaning of these words, agree to them, and say "we'll wait for another opportunity," then the matter would be over.
But the city lord's wife not only failed to understand the pretense in Master Song's words, but also genuinely believed that this opportunity had arrived, and immediately said with a beaming smile:
"Alright! Master Song, I'll have someone bring Wuyou over right away. You can see him and just chat with him for a bit. Wuyou certainly won't disappoint you!"
After she finished speaking, she immediately waved for a servant to call Jiang Wuyou, completely unaware of the embarrassment on Master Song's face.
Why couldn't the city lord's wife understand the implied meaning that even a discerning person could understand?
The situation is now a bit delicate.
Master Song forced a smile. The etiquette of a scholar and the manners of a guest prevented him from saying anything harsh, so he let his host make the arrangements.
"Alright... Since the City Lord's wife is so sincere, let's meet this Young Master Wuyou. Since he is Young Master Nanyu's cousin, I believe he won't disappoint. If he is truly capable, he will have a chance to enter the Hundred Books Academy next year."
In short, there's no chance this year. Even if I really have the ability, I can only wait another year.
The refusal was practically obvious, yet the city lord's wife still saw it as an opportunity.
"Next year is fine too. Wuyou is still young, so waiting another year won't hurt."
She was delighted, and Master Song smiled faintly, took a sip of tea, and said nothing more.
The city lord couldn't stand it any longer. He grabbed her sleeve and whispered in her ear in a voice only the two of them could hear:
"What are you thinking? Wuyou is of bad character and has already been expelled from Luming Academy! Aren't you afraid that Master Song will find out about this shameful thing? If Master Song finds out that Wuyou once beat up his classmate, wouldn't we be disgraced in the capital?!"
The city lord's wife, with a smile on her face and maintaining her expression, answered softly:
"What do you know? As long as Wuyou is accepted by Baiwen Academy, does his past mistakes still matter? Right now, no academy in the entire Qingfeng City is willing to accept Wuyou. Wuyou's only way out is to go to an academy outside Qingfeng City. If Wuyou can use Nanyu as a pawn to successfully leave Qingfeng City and reach the capital, who will care about his behavior in Qingfeng City?"
"But……"
"But what? Let me tell you, Wuyou has changed a lot now. He's really studying hard and hasn't bullied anyone since. I've confirmed all of this. You haven't seen Wuyou's writing, but with his abilities, getting into Baiwen Academy would be a huge honor for the academy!"
The city lord was so shocked that he was speechless, and an inexplicable anger in his chest almost made him stand up and argue with the city lord's wife.
But with Master Song present, he had no choice but to suppress his anger.
"I can't be bothered to talk to you. It's no wonder that Master Song would look down on Wuyou."
The city lord's wife gave a soft, cold snort, her face full of arrogance and confidence.
"Wuyou is quite capable; it's just that you, as her grandfather, don't care."
Their whispered conversation did not reach the ears of anyone else.
Besides the two of them whispering to each other, there were two other people whispering in each other's ears.
Jiang Huaizhi covered his lips with his teacup and said to Gu Jiangli:
"Jiang Li, just as you said, the fish has taken the bait."
Gu Jiangli also pretended to pick up a teacup and asked quietly, "Who did it?"
"You'd never guess, it's Jiang Wuyou."
"Oh? He went after our painting?"
“Yes, I had the person guarding the painting leave for a while on purpose, and Jiang Wuyou sneaked over and switched the contents of the box. Huaiyu watched him take the painting out of the box, throw it in a corner, and then replace it with something else.”
"A substitution? What did he substitute?"
Jiang Huaizhi's face was icy cold. "He replaced it with a living creature."
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