Chapter 291 The Diligent Emperor Used as Cannon Fodder (Sixteen) Subsystem...
After receiving the guarantee, Subsystem 2 became much more perceptive. Only after he finished teaching his students and was leading them to the poetry gathering did he ask Li Tianle about the Pei family again.
"That girl was able to marry into the Marquis's family, so her family must be powerful and influential. They wouldn't let it go if their daughter was bullied."
However, if Pei Chengzhi is found out, he is a fourteen-year-old child. In ancient times, he was not too old, but he was not too young either. If he took advantage of her, as long as it was not too outrageous, the woman would really not be able to hold a grudge.
After all, the Marquis's family could say that he was just a child and didn't understand matters between men and women, but if your daughter, a woman in her twenties, could get drunk while visiting her future husband's family, and such rumors got out, that girl would probably…”
Li Tianle explained in great detail, as if he were truly teaching a system. His tone was gentle, and he broke down the details one by one. However, the look in his eyes, which were lowered and concealed, became increasingly profound.
Literary gatherings are usually arranged in places of romance and beauty, but this is a gathering of the Hanlin Academy, so naturally they would not go to places that are easily criticized.
This time, we came to an elegant restaurant, and there were also singing girls playing the pipa to entertain us. A group of people gathered together to eat and drink, talk about poetry and literature, and connect with each other. From another perspective, it was actually quite similar to a modern company dinner.
Li Tianle has the original body's memories, and combined with some modern poetry, he has no problem handling this kind of poetry gathering.
But who would have thought that when you take your students out to broaden their horizons, your boss's boss turns out to be one of the students' parents!
Chu Huaijin was arguing with Pei Chengzhi over the last piece of pastry on the teacher's plate when he looked up and saw his father's serious yet shocked expression.
Chu Huaijin, who had been lively and energetic, instantly composed himself, stood respectfully, and stepped forward to bow. His eyes were filled with trepidation, and he hoped that his father hadn't seen how lively he had been just now. Otherwise, he would probably get a good beating when he got home.
If it were just being beaten, that would be fine. The worst thing would be if he thought that his teacher would corrupt him and then prevent him from learning from his teacher.
Chu Huaijin's father was a lecturer in the Hanlin Academy. Because he was always by the emperor's side, he had to pay extra attention to the matters that the emperor cared about, so that he would not be at a loss for words if the emperor asked him about them later.
He wouldn't normally attend these kinds of colleague gatherings, but today His Majesty rewarded Li Tianle with two plates of pastries, specifically saying it was to congratulate him on moving to a new home, so he had to come.
At least we shouldn't wait until tomorrow when His Majesty mentions Li Tianle and he's completely clueless. This isn't something that can be easily brushed off with a few words; lying would be a crime of deceiving the emperor.
Scholar Chu was completely oblivious to his son's antics; he was trying to recall what the brat had told him back then.
He said that he and his classmates found a teacher after school, and received a tuition fee of five taels of silver per month.
Because of this matter, he asked for sixty taels of silver from himself, his mother, his uncle, the Prince of An'nan, and the old lady in the mansion.
Scholar Chu had always thought that this was just a way for the boy to fool people by finding a random teacher to trick his elders out of pocket money. He only gave Chu Huaijin a reward because his grades had indeed improved a lot recently.
But who would have thought that his brat actually had a tutor!
Moreover, the tutor he supposedly hired for five taels of silver a month turned out to be a top scholar (rank 3 in the imperial examination).
"As expected, like father, like son. Huaijin is so intelligent, studious, and quick-witted. He is so talented in literature at such a young age. He must have been influenced by Lord Chu to raise such a prodigy."
Li Tianle's praise was sincere and earnest, and his eyes were full of admiration and affection as he looked at Chu Huaijin.
These were no empty compliments to anyone, and Scholar Chu's eyes widened in astonishment. He quickly waved his hand and said, "My son is unruly and has never liked studying. He is not worthy of such praise. Mr. Li is too kind."
“Huai Jin is a gentleman of upright character, humble and kind, diligent and eager to learn, and also has the vigorous spirit of a young man. Lord Chu, you should not be too strict with him, lest you stifle his youthful nature.”
Seeing Chu Huaijin's obvious disappointment, Li Tianle knew that this was the sensitive and rebellious period for a child of that age. Regardless of whether the father was being modest, he directly and seriously refuted him.
This was the first time anyone at the Hanlin Academy had seen Li Tianle with a cold face, and the reason was that he was arguing with a student's father about his child's studies.
Someone couldn't help but laugh out loud, and soon the people around them joined in. Scholar Chu was being refuted by a seventh-rank editor, yet he couldn't get angry.
No matter whose child it is, when a parent tells others that their child is a terrible student, the child's teacher will rush over, shut them down, and then praise the child as an outstanding student.
This parent wouldn't be angry at all; in fact, they'd probably be secretly pleased, wishing the teacher would praise them more so everyone could hear it.
Scholar Chu wasn't secretly pleased, but Li Tianle's retorts left him questioning his existence:
His son, who always gets mediocre grades and tries to cheat whenever he's asked to study, even falling asleep at the Four Books and Five Classics, is so bad that if it weren't for his appearance, he'd think he wasn't his own son. How could he be praised like this?!
Other colleagues, unaware of Scholar Chu's thoughts, also offered a few words of praise. Some even joined in the fun by posing a few questions, and when Chu Huaijin answered them all correctly, their praise grew even louder.
Scholar Chu's eyes widened even more. Although he knew that Chu Huaijin had done well in the Imperial Academy's annual examination, he had been busy lately and hadn't had time to check on his child's learning progress.
He only worked on it for half a month from beginning to end, how did his son go from a poor student to a top student?!
Because he had four students with him, Li Tianle wasn't often asked to compose poems or couplets; he spent most of his time playing with the children.
While enjoying his leisure time, he also pulled Scholar Chu aside and talked for a long time about his parenting experience, emphasizing the harm of repressive education to the physical and mental health of teenagers, and how children want their parents' approval even more.
Li Tianle only let him go after Scholar Chu finally promised that he would no longer scold Chu Huaijin casually and would praise him appropriately.
Scholar Chu glanced at his son, who was standing to the side, pretending to be serious as he served him tea and water, and waved his hand helplessly, "Go, go, go play with your classmates."
He always felt that this brat was hanging around him not to serve his father, but just to hear how his master would scold him.
Seeing his son running around with his classmates again, and Li Tianle's attention being diverted, Scholar Chu finally breathed a sigh of relief.
He reasonably suspected that the brat only became Li Tianle's student to hear praise, but ironically, the praise actually improved his grades.
Since everyone at the Hanlin Academy had to work the next day, they didn't drink much. The main task for today was to get to know Li Tianle better, and the party ended before it got completely dark.
Pei Chengzhi had no idea what he had dodged. Only after returning home did he realize that the atmosphere seemed a little strange.
As is customary, whenever something good happens, his stepmother would call him over and give him a good scolding. Today, he went to attend an internal gathering of the Hanlin Academy, so why didn't he make a sound?
A little while later, a maidservant from Pei Chengzhi's aunt's side came to find him. "Greetings, Second Young Master. Aunt said that she noticed you've grown quite a bit taller recently, and your robes are too short. It's getting colder and colder these days, so she made you two sets of clothes and asked you to try them on to see if they fit."
As the young master of the Marquis's mansion, even if he was born out of wedlock, Pei Chengzhi would never lack clothes to wear, and his concubine would never need to bring him clothes in the middle of the night.
After the maid left, Pei Chengzhi indeed found a letter under his clothes, which explained the reason for the strange occurrences at home:
The gist of it is that Lady Hou was plotting against the third master Pei Ce's betrothed, but Pei Ce caught her in the act when he returned early. Now, she is being confined by the Marquis to the courtyard to worship Buddha.
Pei Chengzhi initially thought this matter had little to do with him, but after looking at it carefully again, he discovered his aunt's subtle hint.
The person arranged by the lady was dressed in the same lake-blue robe as him, with a brownish-red belt, and hanging from his waist was the jade pendant that the Marquis had specially bestowed upon him a few days ago for his good grades.
In other words, if the gentleman hadn't happened to take her to the poetry gathering today, she would have been among those who were schemed against.
After carefully burning the letter, Pei Chengzhi deliberately didn't change his clothes before going to pay his respects to his father. The reason was readily available: he naturally talked about some things that happened at the poetry gathering that day.
Back then, the gentleman was ostracized by the people in the Hanlin Academy and had no power or influence. He dared not let his family know his identity, for fear that his stepmother would find out and then plot against him.
Now that you have caught His Majesty's eye and have established a connection with the Prince's Mansion, you are worthy of my father's attention.
He can't hide his identity at the poetry gathering today; it's only a matter of time before his father finds out that his teacher is a third-place scholar.
By bringing it up myself, it won't seem like I deliberately concealed your identity from him. Besides, bringing it up myself will give him a better image.
When Pei Chengzhi arrived, Lord Pei was in his study. Besides him, there was also Pei Ce, who had a dark expression, pacing around in the study.
"Third brother, nothing happened. At most, it was just a mistake by Madam that she got that girl drunk, and she was taken care of properly. Now Madam is under house arrest. What you found out doesn't make sense."
Lord Pei was extremely troubled by his younger brother's insistence on getting an explanation. Pei Ce was his younger brother, born of the same mother, and was more than ten years younger than him. Because of his good physique, he had been learning martial arts from the old lord since childhood.
He went to serve as a guard by His Majesty's side when he was twelve years old, and usually lived in the palace. Today he suddenly came back, saying that his fiancée had been plotted against by a Lady Hou.
But apart from the girl falling asleep drunk, Pei Ce also caught someone whose attire didn't resemble a servant, nor was he a man from the manor. There was no other evidence to suggest that the Lady of the Marquis intended to scheme against that girl.
Pei Ce, however, refused to give up. He had overheard a conversation between a concubine and a maid while on duty in the palace and learned of the conspiracy. If the news had even reached the palace, couldn't it have been planned in advance?!
"That man was young and strong, and he was dressed up specially. If he appeared in the inner quarters like this, could he be the gigolo that my sister-in-law is keeping?"
Hearing Pei Ce's mocking tone, Lord Pei was so angry that he almost choked and had to cough several times to calm down.
It was at this moment that Pei Chengzhi came to request an audience. Lord Pei was about to wave him away, but Pei Ce glanced up at the door and, after seeing Pei Chengzhi's clothes, immediately slammed his hand on the table with a sharp expression, "Let that brat in!"
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