Chapter 152 The Young Priest (First Update)
After reprimanding Zheng Siye, Grand Tutor Zhuang returned to the Imperial Study to appease His Majesty.
His strategy was to never deny the mistakes Zheng Siye had made, but as the saying goes, "too much clarity leaves no room for fish," and visible wrongdoing is always better than invisible. Besides, this was an old matter from several years ago, and now that Zheng Siye has not acted in a similar manner, it proves that he has repented.
I humbly request Your Majesty to give him a chance to reform.
Furthermore, the Imperial Academy was in an awkward period of transition, and there was no one more suitable than Zheng Siye for the position of Chancellor.
Li Siye was too young, lacked experience, and was too inexperienced to control those stubborn old men.
Sometimes, it is precisely people like Zheng Siye, who are cunning and resourceful, who can become a sharper and more effective tool to help His Majesty overcome obstacles.
That's why we have to say how capable Grand Tutor Zhuang is; the angle from which he analyzes problems is something most people wouldn't dare to say.
But His Majesty felt that these were heartfelt words. He also hoped that the court of Zhao Kingdom would be clear and just. But as Grand Tutor Zhuang said, a knife that is too honest is too dull and not easy to use, while a knife that is too sharp will cut the hand.
Finding a knife that is both sharp and won't hurt you is extremely difficult.
If only the old chief priest were here...
In the end, His Majesty was appeased and retained Zheng Siye's official position and the decision to appoint him as the Chancellor of the Imperial Academy a few days later. He was only fined half a year's salary as a warning to others.
They claimed publicly that the account books were actually forged to slander Zheng Siye.
Zheng Siye stood guard outside the palace. When he saw Grand Tutor Zhuang come out, he bowed devoutly and said, "Grand Tutor, your kindness to me is like giving me a second life. I will definitely go through fire and water for you in the future!"
Grand Tutor Zhuang said coldly, "Don't think you can rest easy just because His Majesty isn't investigating. Don't act recklessly again and give others a handle to use against you!"
Zheng Siye broke out in a cold sweat and bowed, saying, "Yes, I will remember."
Grand Tutor Zhuang added, "And there's the matter of the monthly exam; you'll have to figure out a way to get through that!"
"……yes!"
Zheng Siye returned to the Imperial Academy with a toothache.
Xiao Liulang was tutoring Lin Chengye under the shade of a tree when he saw Zheng Siye rushing over angrily. He gave the other man a cold look.
Zheng Siye suddenly had a strong intuition that Xiao Liulang was the one who did this!
But isn't that strange?
The monthly exam papers were hidden in a secret compartment behind the mural, and the account book was hidden in a secret room in Minghui Hall. How did Xiao Liulang come to know so many of his secrets, and how did he manage to sneak into Minghui Hall without being discovered by the guards?
Zheng Siye felt as if a fire was burning inside him, making him unable to go up or down.
Xiao Liulang casually shifted his gaze, feeling that even glancing at him was unnecessary.
Zheng Siye was thoroughly enraged. Regardless of whether it was this kid or not, he loathed him to the core!
But he couldn't lay a hand on that kid again!
"Ah, Zheng, Siye." Lin Chengye spotted the other person.
Xiao Liulang handed the corrected exam paper to Lin Chengye, circling the parts that weren't detailed enough. Then, Xiao Liulang glanced at Zheng Siye and asked indifferently, "Is Zheng Siye here to apologize?"
"Apologize for what?" Zheng Siye was taken aback.
Xiao Liulang casually dusted off his wide sleeves and said leisurely, "My exam paper... I don't think I got a single question wrong. How did Zheng Siye assign my grade? Is it really as rumored, that Zheng Siye is deliberately targeting me?"
Yeah, so what if I'm targeting you?
Go ahead and bite me if you dare!
Zheng Siye dared to say that an hour ago, but he can't now.
Zheng Siye said with a forced smile, "I clearly told them that day that you were first in the top rank, but I don't know how they misunderstood and made you the last one."
"Oh." Xiao Liulang raised an eyebrow. "Then would you please trouble Zheng Siye to change the grades?"
Zheng Siye's fists clenched so tightly they cracked, and veins bulged on his forehead: "...Change it, change it right away!"
Zheng Siye not only had to correct Xiao Liulang's grades, but also had to apologize to Xiao Liulang in public. This was a death order given to him by Grand Tutor Zhuang.
If he can't even endure this much humiliation, then he doesn't deserve to be a knife in Grand Tutor Zhuang's hand.
The more pleasure Zheng Siye felt when bullying Xiao Liulang, the louder the slap he delivered when he apologized.
Zheng Siye clenched his fists tightly: "You just wait, one day when I become the Chancellor of the Imperial Academy..."
You'll see!
The elementary school dismissed earlier than the Imperial Academy, and Xiao Jingkong would usually do his homework in the classroom while waiting for Xiao Liulang to pick him up.
Today, the last class at Shuaixingtang is a self-study session, so you don't have to go.
Xiao Liulang went to the elementary school to pick up Xiao Jingkong.
"You skipped class again!" Xiao Jingkong said, hands on his hips, looking at him.
"No classes," Xiao Liulang said.
Xiao Jingkong crossed his arms and looked serious: "Isn't self-study time a class?"
Xiao Liulang: Are you the parent or am I the parent?
"Let's go." Xiao Liulang grabbed his schoolbag and made him put it on.
Little Jingkong didn't understand the adults' confusing behavior, but he missed Jiaojiao very much. So, carrying the schoolbag that Jiaojiao had made for him, he followed his bad brother-in-law out of the Imperial College.
People come and go on Chang'an Avenue.
Today, the boy selling candied hawthorns moved to a different location, which happened to be not far from his home.
Looking at the glistening candied hawthorns not far away, Xiao Liulang asked Xiao Jingkong, "Want some candied hawthorns?"
Xiao Jingkong: "Yes!"
Xiao Liulang: "I won't buy it for you."
Xiao Jingkong: "..."
This is the second confusing behavior of adults that Xiao Jingkong doesn't understand.
But he's not someone to be trifled with.
He stopped, put his hands on his hips, and said in a cute but fierce tone, "I'm going to raise your rent!"
Xiao Liulang: You even know about raising rent?!
Xiao Jingkong ultimately didn't get to eat his candied hawthorns as he wished, because his bad brother-in-law was so slow that by the time he arrived, the last skewer had already sold out.
Xiao Jingkong is going crazy!
Oh dear, I'm so upset!
Taking an adult out is really not easy!
Little Jingkong, with a dark expression, slowly made his way home.
Just as we were about to turn into Bishui Hutong, a trembling voice suddenly came from ahead: "Ah...Aheng?"
The voice was somewhat aged, filled with excitement and a tremor that seemed to come from the soul.
Xiao Liulang's body stiffened instantly.
He didn't look up.
He leaned on his cane with one hand and pulled Xiao Jingkong's hand with the other, quickly dragging him into Bishui Hutong.
"Oh no, I don't want you to hold my hand! I can walk by myself!"
It was Xiao Jingkong's plaintive little voice.
"Ah, Ah Heng!"
The old man took steps to catch up, but the ground was slippery and he almost fell.
Fortunately, the steward Liu Quan caught him in time: "Master, be careful! It's snowed in the capital these past few days, and the roads are icy. Don't fall!"
The old man was trembling with excitement: "Did you just see that?"
"Who did you see?" Liu Quan asked.
“Aheng!” the old man said.
"Young Master Aheng? The young Imperial Academy Master? Master, are you seeing things? The young Imperial Academy Master has already passed away." Liu Quan was the old man's servant. Although he had served the old man for many years, he had always helped the old man manage household affairs and had never been to the Imperial Academy, nor had he ever seen the legendary young Imperial Academy Master.
“Aheng…” The old man looked at the empty Bishui Hutong and felt a sense of loss.
Liu Quan said with heartache, "Master, perhaps it's just someone who looks similar."
The old man shook his head.
If he were truly a stranger, he would have instinctively looked up when someone called his name, not reacted as he did just now.
He clearly recognized his own voice.
It was so sudden that he didn't have time to hide it, and in order to avoid letting himself notice his strange behavior, he fled as if he were running away.
"It's Aheng! It's him!" The old man was still unable to calm down. He tried hard to recall, "He seemed to be wearing the uniform of the Imperial Academy."
Liu Quan said, "Then that's even more impossible, isn't it? How could the Junior Chancellor become a student of the Imperial Academy?"
He was personally appointed as the Young Chancellor by His Majesty!
The old man also found it strange, but seeing is believing: "Anyway, go and ask around. Also, I saw him using a cane, and it seems his legs are injured."
"Yes, sir," Liu Quan replied helplessly.
With so many students at the Imperial Academy, it wasn't easy to find out about one student, but finding out about a lame student was much easier.
Especially because of Zheng Siye's matter, Xiao Liulang became famous in the Imperial Academy. In just half a day, Liu Quan found out all about Xiao Liulang's situation.
Liu Quan: "Speaking of which, this student has quite a connection with us. He studied at Tianxiang Academy and lived in the village of our little benefactor!"
Old man: "What's his name?"
Liu Quan: "Xiao Liulang".
The old man was startled: "It's him?"
The old man had certainly heard of this name. When he settled in Tianxiang Academy, Dean Li summoned Xiao Liulang to Zhongzheng Hall more than once.
He had also read Xiao Liulang's articles and felt that the boy was too violent and unsuitable to be taken as a disciple.
He remained behind the screen the whole time and never came out to look at the other person's appearance.
If he had come out to check even once, wouldn't he have been able to recognize him as Ah Heng much sooner?
He didn't recognize his voice because the seventeen-year-old boy's voice had changed.
But what about handwriting and writing style?
The once gentle and refined young man seemed to have transformed overnight into a cold and ruthless person, and even changed his identity.
What exactly did his Ah Heng go through?
Meanwhile, after being dragged home by his brother-in-law, Xiao Jingkong silently rated it as the third most perplexing adult behavior.
"Why did you run away?" he asked, looking up at the sky.
"I didn't run away, I just walked a little faster," Xiao Liulang said without changing his expression.
Xiao Jingkong asked, "Why did you suddenly walk so fast? Don't you know you'll fall if you walk too fast? The two of us... are the ones in the family most likely to fall!"
Don't you have any idea how fast you can go?
Xiao Jingkong continued, "That old man just called you Aheng. Which 'heng' was it? The 'heng' of 'acting tyrannically'? Or the 'heng' of 'looking coldly at someone'?"
Xiao Liulang said, "These two are a pair of 'horsemen'. Also, you misheard; he wasn't calling me."
"Oh." Xiao Jingkong was disappointed; he hadn't been tricked.
Xiao Liulang changed the subject: "Stop nagging. Today we're learning Chen Guoyu. Have you finished the homework I assigned you yesterday?"
Ever since Xiao Jingkong got a low score on his entrance exam, he has been having a miserable experience of cramming for foreign languages every day after school.
Xiao Jingkong's attention was successfully diverted. He pulled out his homework from his schoolbag: "Of course I finished it! Do you think I'm like you? Someone has to poke me to move! If I don't push you, you'll still be getting the lowest score!"
Xiao Liulang: "..."
Is the "last place" meme just going to stick with?
Xiao Liulang checked his homework and found it to be mostly correct. Although both were teaching, it had to be said that teaching Xiao Jingkong was much less strenuous than teaching Lin Chengye.
"Ah Heng..." Xiao Jingkong suddenly imitated the old ladies outside, raising her little orchid finger and calling out to Xiao Liulang in a pretentious tone.
Xiao Liulang shuddered, completely stunned by the lightning!
He should just go and teach Lin Chengye!
After seeing Xiao Liulang with his own eyes, the old man was unable to calm down for a long time. His intuition told him that it was his Aheng, but all the information about Xiao Liulang showed that he was a complete stranger.
In order to find out the truth, the old man decided to visit the house in person.
He remembered that the two of them disappeared in Bishui Hutong that day, and as for which house they disappeared in, he would have to go door to door to find them.
He chose a day when the Imperial College was closed for ten days.
Qinghe Academy is also closed for ten days today.
But the four men in the family weren't idle; they all went with Gu Jiao to buy New Year's goods.
Therefore, when the old man arrived at their house, it was empty.
The door was ajar.
This is the door that the old lady left open for her mahjong partners.
"Excuse me, is Xiao Liulang here?"
The old man asked politely.
No one answered.
The old man guessed the person was behind him, thought for a moment, and then stepped inside: "I'm looking for Xiao Liulang. Is he home?"
The old lady was sitting in the backyard eating sunflower seeds when she heard the noise. She thought it was her mahjong partner coming over, so she turned around to look.
Huh?
An old man?
Are you a new card player?
Looking for someone to play cards with?
The old man also saw the old woman clearly, and his reaction was much more dramatic than hers.
Empress Dowager?
His legs buckled and he knelt down!
Old lady: ...No need.
Does anyone still have monthly passes?
Can I vote for Jiaojiao?
Thank you with a deep bow!
(End of this chapter)
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