Chapter 186 Chapter 186 The reason for leaving the Imperial College
The rumors about Master Xu were heard by the students in their town from a student named Li when they went to the county town to visit with students from the private school in the county town.
This student Li was a graduate of Qingfeng Academy. At first, other students did not want to make close friends with him. After all, he was expelled from the academy, and perhaps he had committed some crime. As students, they had to be cautious when interacting with others.
However, the student Li had a worried look on his face, as if he had something to hide that he didn't want to say. Finally, it was only after his cousin Bai Ban's guidance and urging that he told the "truth" that he was expelled from the college.
Because he discovered some extraordinary things, because he saw things that he shouldn't have seen, how could Qingfeng Academy tolerate him?
Wow, I didn't expect that a teacher without even being a scholar could be specially hired as a teacher by Qingfeng Academy, one of the top schools. At first, the students who heard about this thought that this teacher Xu might really have some skills, but now they have to sigh that the world is going downhill and people's hearts are no longer the same!
Since the canteen of Qingfeng Academy was established, students of Qingfeng Academy have rarely gone out to find food. In addition, the arithmetic scores of the students in Class C have improved by leaps and bounds, and the other students feel a sense of urgency. They are all studying hard and have no time to go out.
Since they didn't go out, they naturally didn't know the rumors about Xu Yunfan. Without knowing, they could only let the rumors about Xu Yunfan spread more and more outrageous.
Qi Xiu Ze and the other three listened in the private room, their rage rising as they listened. Shen Ruxi even opened the door and directly asked the students across from them who were discussing Xu Yunfan, "Which private school are you from? Have you ever verified what happened to Master Xu?"
Shen Ruxi's sudden questioning scared the students so much that they became as quiet as quails. There was nothing they could do. Who among the students in the town didn't know about Shen Ruxi and his companions?
Anyone who has heard of the names of Shen Ruxi and others knows that Shen Ruxi and the other three are not only scholars, they are also young masters from the capital. It is said that their family background is extraordinary and they should not be easily offended.
Judging from the other party's tone, he is obviously angry. As for why he is angry, is there any need to explain?
This person wanted to stand up for Xu Yunfan, and they all broke out in cold sweats. One of the students trembled and said, "Master Shen, this... this matter is known to everyone. We just heard about it and said it casually."
If it is just hearsay, why should we verify it?
"Since you've only heard about it, as students, you should know that following the crowd can make a tiger out of nothing. You're just telling everyone you hear about it. What's the difference between you and those gossipy women?"
"Master Shen, you're going too far. We just said it a little. What's more, there's no smoke without fire in this kind of situation." One student also had a bad temper. Comparing them with the gossipy women in the same village who only knew how to gossip was nothing short of a naked irony to the student.
"There's no smoke without fire? Oh, so you're convinced there's some unsavory relationship between our academy's president and Master Xu? If you say so, then where's the evidence? Show me the evidence. Without it, this matter won't end today." Xie Baizhou slammed the table in anger. "You dare to slander this young master's brother? You're so bold that you don't even take this young master seriously, do you?"
Lin Xiaoran deliberately said, "Baizhou, please don't say that. Xu Yunfan is just our brother, not our biological brother. On what basis and in what position should we question this student? If we side with Xu Yunfan like this, these people might turn around and spread rumors that we have something shameful going on with Master Xu."
Xie Baizhou snorted coldly, "Let's see who dares to talk nonsense. I will tear their mouths off."
Lin Xiaoran's last sentence was full of sarcasm, and anyone could tell who he was mocking.
"Young Masters, we're not just making this up," the student who was speaking was so frightened by Xie Baizhou and the others that he broke into a cold sweat. "It's just that this story was spread so convincingly that we mistakenly believed it to be true. That's why... that's why we couldn't help but say a few more words."
Qi Xiu Ze glanced coldly at the silent students present, using this as an excuse to criticize them: "Where did you hear this? Have you really become stupid from reading so much? Who is our dean? How can you freely comment on him? I think you are probably hoping to be banned from the imperial examination."
The so-called imperial examination ban is a prohibition on participating in the imperial examination.
The targets of the imperial examination ban include descendants of guilty ministers and those within three generations who are not allowed to participate in the imperial examination, and descendants of people who have committed serious crimes who are not allowed to take the imperial examination and become officials. Apart from such reasons of being implicated, students themselves who violate the law or commit crimes can also be subject to the imperial examination ban.
Talking about an official of the imperial court behind his back could be a serious matter or a minor one. If Jiang Lanfang gets furious, the students present today might never have a chance to take the imperial examination in this lifetime.
What a horrible punishment this must be for the students.
All of a sudden, the students who had mentioned the rumor about Xu Yunfan panicked. "Master Xie, we really didn't spread this. We were just curious, and we didn't mean to humiliate or slander the relationship between the dean and Master Xu. Masters, we only heard about this and spoke out of curiosity, not intentionally spreading rumors."
Qi Xiu Ze: "Where did you hear this?"
In order to protect themselves, other students betrayed the person who informed them of the matter first. Xie Baizhou and his companions followed the rope to the source, and the person who first spread the rumor about Xu Yunfan was quickly found out.
After finding out clearly, Qi Xiu Ze and the other three had no time to read books since it was related to brothers. With a wave of their hands, the guards hiding in the dark suddenly appeared in front of them, clasped their fists and asked if there was anything they could do for them.
Xie Baizhou asked someone to bring horses, and the four of them climbed over the door and headed straight for the county town.
The remaining students thought about the guards who had suddenly appeared, and suddenly realized that these four people were indeed not the ones they wanted to offend. They did not dare to stay for long and quickly dispersed.
Since being expelled from Qingfeng Academy, Li Yunfei stayed at home for a while. During that period, he hardly dared to go out. Even on the way from home to the county town, when the villagers looked at him, Li Yunfei wondered if they were laughing at him, or were going to ask him what he had done to be expelled?
Even at home, Li Yunfei knew that Li Xiaohua, who came home crying every now and then, and her mother, who complained and scolded Xu Yunfan and others every day, were just angry and wanted to stand up for him. But every time he heard those scoldings, Li Yunfei couldn't help but think of what happened in the academy that day. Every time he thought of how he had lost face in front of his classmates, Li Yunfei was so ashamed that he wanted to faint immediately.
Li Baoshan was so humble and flattering in front of Li Baohe that Li Baohe used his connections to find a private school for Li Yunfei in the county town.
After arriving at the private school, Li Yunfei looked at the private school, which was much more dilapidated and shabby than the college, and felt as if he had fallen from the clouds into the quagmire.
Li Yunfei hated it.
The reason why he ended up like this was all because of Xu Yunfan.
He hated Xu Yunfan's ruthlessness and Jiang Lanfang's favoritism, but he never thought that he had ended up in this situation because of his own actions.
Li Yunfei wanted to destroy Xu Yunfan. After being taken on several trips by Li Yunqi, rumors about Xu Yunfan began to appear.
When Qi Xiu Ze and the other three came, Li Yunfei was secretly proud of his masterpiece, but he didn't know that this time, he would not be punished by being expelled from the academy like last time.
When Li Yunfei was taken to the yamen by Qi Xiu Ze, he did struggle, but unfortunately, Qi Xiu Ze and the other three had practiced some fancy martial arts, and whenever Li Yunfei struggled a few times, Xie Baizhou punched him directly in the abdomen, which made Li Yunfei realize the reality and dared not move again.
Li Yunqi witnessed his cousin being "kidnapped" with his own eyes. He scolded them repeatedly and even brought up his own mother, but Qi Xiu Ze and the other three still took action and did not take Li Yunqi's threats seriously at all.
How could Li Yunqi stand idly by in front of everyone?
Li Yunqi stepped forward and wanted to argue, but before he could do anything, Lin Xiaoran glanced at him.
Wonderful sound?
Oh, he knows this guy.
When they came to the county town, Qi Xiu Ze and his three companions found out clearly.
I heard that Jin Manlou had warned Miaoyin, but this woman seemed to have some power behind her. She completely ignored Zhou Laoer's warning and repeatedly targeted Yunrun Store.
No one knows what the owner of Jin Manlou has been doing recently. He is not in the building, so Zhou Laoer, a rough man, is so busy that he can't even understand the account book. Naturally, he has no time to care about the Yunrun store being messed up.
Just because Zhou Laoer can't spare the time doesn't mean Qi Xiu Ze and the other three don't have time.
Qi Xiu Ze half-closed his eyes and said, "I heard your mother is quite capable. How dare she mess with my brothers? She wants to shut down our shop? Did your mother ask for our consent? Who is your mother, with her status and status, to dare to touch us brothers? This is not a blow to Xu Yunfan's face, but to the faces of all of us brothers. Therefore, no one in your Miao family can escape responsibility."
"Who are you? Do you know who my maternal family is?" Li Yunqi was quite scared just now, but when talking about his maternal family, he seemed to have confidence and was no longer panicked.
Miaoyin was able to survive in the county town on her own and dared to go to Jin Manlou alone to hire someone to teach someone a lesson. Such a woman, in addition to being extremely courageous, also had someone to rely on. Moreover, this reliance was so great that she believed that the people in Jin Manlou would not dare to touch her.
Xie Baizhou took the opportunity to ask, "Who is it?"
"Hmph, my maternal family is the Zhou family of Yiping Prefecture." Li Yunqi became proud. Although his grandmother was just a concubine of the master of the Zhou family, even if she was a concubine, she was still half a member of the Zhou family.
Qi Xiu Ze and the other three glanced at each other and blurted out in unison: "Zhou family? Which Zhou family?"
Li Yunqi raised his chin and said, "Of course it's the Zhou family of Mr. Zhou Tongzhi."
Tongzhi is an assistant officer of the prefect, a sixth-rank official. It sounds like the rank of this position is only one level higher than that of the county magistrate. Although it is only one level higher, the magistrate is close to the prefect. If he hears something from the magistrate, what can't be done?
Shen Ruxi sneered, "A mere sixth-rank official, what's so great about that? Today, let alone your mother, even if Zhou Tongzhi comes, you two brothers will have to give this young master a piece of your mind before you leave."
When County Magistrate Zhou heard that his nephew had arrested two students in the street and that many people had gathered outside the yamen to watch the fun, he immediately felt a severe headache.
After hearing the cause of the incident, County Magistrate Zhou's face immediately darkened. After verifying that what Qi Xiu Ze and the other three said was true, he gave Li Yunfei thirty lashes each without saying a word, as a warning to others.
When Miaoyin arrived, she saw her son had fainted from being beaten with a stick. She screamed and almost fainted, and rushed to Li Yunqi in a hurry.
This matter caused quite a stir. The cousins gathered together to spread false rumors about the officials of the current dynasty. They were very courageous.
Miaoyin even moved out of her parents' home, but would County Magistrate Zhou be afraid?
Not to mention that the target of Li Yunfei and others' rumors were Jiang Lanfang and Xu Yunfan, the person who came today was Qi Xiu Ze's nephew, so this matter absolutely cannot be let go.
Li Yunfei knew that things were bad when he was beaten speechless by Qi Xiu Ze and his four companions. When he was taken to the yamen, his legs were so weak that he could not speak.
Why?
Why is it that Xu Yunfan is favored by Jiang Lanfang? It’s ok, but Qi Xiu Ze and the other four young masters actually came to the county town to find him just for Xu Yunfan?
This was something Li Yunfei had never thought of. It was precisely because he had never thought that Qi Xiu Ze and the others had such a close relationship with Xu Yunfan that he dared to talk nonsense behind his back to clear his name.
It was already past seven o'clock in the evening when Xie Baizhou and his friends arrived at Dali Village.
Qin Run specially prepared dinner for them. After they had eaten and drunk their fill, the four of them explained their purpose.
After learning that Li Yunfei was expelled from Qingfeng Academy, he still caused such trouble. Although Li Yunfei and Li Yunqi were punished with a ban on the imperial examination, these rumors would not disappear with the punishment of Li Yunfei and others. Instead, today's incident made a big fuss. Now, not only are the stories about Xu Yunfan and Jiang Lanfang circulating among the students, but even some people who don't know the truth and heard it from others believe it to be true.
In March next year, Xu Yunfan will also participate in the Teacher Competition. It is conceivable that after these things happened, when Xu Yunfan represents Qingfeng Academy in the competition, it is likely to cause discussion among some people.
Xu Yunfan wasn't one to worry about things happening out of thin air. Upon learning about these things, he simply rubbed his face in sorrow and sighed, "In the end, it's all because of my overly handsome face. Alas, it seems like a handsome man is destined to have a more uncertain life than an average person."
Shen Ruxi held her forehead with her hand: "Yunfan, you... aren't you worried at all?"
"What's there to worry about? At worst, I won't participate in the Master's Competition." Xu Yunfan said indifferently.
Qi Xiu Ze said angrily, "You kid, I'm afraid you don't know what it will bring you if you stand out in the Master's Competition and are lucky enough to pass the imperial examination."
For them, the Imperial College was not a good place to go. They had suffered grievances in the Imperial College that they could not tell their families. Wouldn't it be even more miserable for Xu Yunfan, a person without power or background, to go in?
Precisely because they had experienced things that were too painful to look back on, Qi Xiu Ze and the others naturally did not want Xu Yunfan to follow the same path they had taken.
If Xu Yunfan achieved good results in the teacher's competition and passed the imperial examination in the future, as long as he was willing, the rule that the imperial examination required the imperial scholars to study at the Imperial Academy would no longer apply to him. At that time, he could directly enter the Hanlin Academy or petition to be directly appointed to a position such as a seventh-rank county magistrate.
Anyway, most people who come out of the Imperial College also enter the Hanlin Academy. When their term in the Hanlin Academy expires or they are lucky, they can go to other places to take up positions in advance.
To put it bluntly, taking office here also starts from the seventh rank official position.
Today, the Imperial College has long become a place where some officials look for capable personnel in advance.
Qi Xiu Ze and the other three could still protect Xu Yunfan in Qinghe Town. After all, they were the ones who had the final say here. But when they arrived in the capital, even if they were the four young masters of the capital, if they really met some of them, the four of them would have to swallow their anger.
There is no way. They are powerful, but isn’t there a shortage of powerful young men in the capital?
The young masters of the general's mansion, the marquis' mansion, the prince's mansion, the prime minister's mansion, the minister's mansion, the duke's mansion, etc. are not people they can easily offend.
Although Xie Baizhou's grandfather was the Left Prime Minister, to be frank, the foundation of their Xie family was indeed lower than that of the Right Prime Minister.
Lin Xiaoran rested one hand on the table, feeling exhausted. "Once you've arrived in the capital, you've entered a complex vortex of power. Sometimes, circumstances force you to make a choice. If you become friends with us, I'm afraid..."
I'm afraid Xu Yunfan doesn't even need to make a choice, others will automatically put him on their side.
Unless Xu Yunfan personally breaks off all ties with them brothers.
Xu Yunfan: "I don't take sides. I just want to do things for the emperor. Is this not allowed?"
Shen Ruxi knew that Xu Yunfan came from overseas and didn't understand the affairs of the court. She said patiently, "Okay, of course. But the prerequisite is that you have to make the emperor pay attention to you, promote you personally, and let other ministers know that you can't be won over. Otherwise, not to mention that your official position is not high enough, you will be taken advantage of before you can even see the emperor. I'm afraid that by then you won't even be able to stay in the capital. Yunfan, it's not that you will have the opportunity to see the emperor just by joining the Hanlin Academy. Without any achievements and strengths that can attract the emperor's attention, why do you think the emperor, who is busy with all kinds of affairs, would notice you?"
What Shen Ruxi said made a lot of sense, and Xu Yunfan agreed deeply. However, he said, "But I think I have a lot of strengths. These things are actually nothing to me. Brothers, I know you are worried about me, but don't worry. Even if I enter the Imperial College in the future, I will not bully others. But whoever dares to bully me, I will definitely return it a hundredfold. You know, I am not someone who can suffer losses. Speaking of which, did you come to Qingfeng Academy because you couldn't make it in the Imperial College? Who bullied you? Tell me, so that I can find someone to blame when I take you back to the capital."
Shen Ruxi uttered an "ah," with a hint of amusement and subtle emotion in her tone. The corners of her mouth curled up slightly, and she felt comforted in her heart, "No, you still want to stand up for us brothers?"
"Of course I do," Xu Yunfan said matter-of-factly. "Aren't we brothers? If anyone bullies you, isn't that just indirectly slapping me in the face?"
"But..." Xie Baizhou had a very realistic word on the tip of his tongue, but when he met Xu Yunfan's serious gaze, he swallowed it back, "It's the young master of the Right Prime Minister's family, and the young marquis of the Marquis's family."
Qi Xiu Ze corrected him, "Actually, it's not right to say it's bullying. We just have different positions and occasionally argue when we meet. But you know us. We don't like those polite words. We usually speak directly."
Precisely because they spoke so directly, compared with the more elegant words of the four young masters of Wenjie, they immediately appeared to be vulgar and of average education.
Xie Baizhou and the others just don't understand. Isn't it better to be more direct? Why use so many jargons?
But the teacher was clearly not on their side. Qi Xiu Ze gritted his teeth and said, "My grades are actually pretty good in every exam, but because of this, the teacher thinks that a student as unrefined as me can only get good grades by sheer luck. I refuse to accept this. Whether it's a blind cat or not, I know for sure. As a teacher, it's fine for him to question my grades, but he actually suspects me of cheating without any evidence. Tell me, can I really handle this? I've argued with him twice, and the old man almost fainted from anger. The next day, he came to my house and told me I was a hopeless case, a piece of rotten wood that can't be carved. Screw him, you piece of rotten wood! Only the Imperial College has a teacher like this, and why would I want to go there?"
Speaking of which, Qi Xiu Ze was also feeling very aggrieved, but fortunately he met Jiang Lanfang. Although Jiang Lanfang often scolded him, at least Jiang Lanfang would not doubt him, because Jiang Lanfang knew his level too well. He could tell whether a poem was written by him just by listening to it.
As a teacher, Jiang Lanfang would never judge any student casually, nor would he easily evaluate whether they were rough diamonds or useless people based on their grades. He knew very well that as a teacher, he must be responsible for his students with every word and action. Jiang Lanfang's behavior naturally suited Qi Xiu Ze's taste.
Xu Yunfan hummed to Qi Xiu Ze, "To put it bluntly, you left the Imperial College because of the Master. So what about the other three of you?"
Xie Baizhou: "I'm not good at arithmetic. My arithmetic teacher said he couldn't teach me and told me to find someone else. So I'll find someone else."
Shen Ruxi and Lin Xiaoran were not biased in their studies, but they were loyal. When they learned that the two brothers had been scolded like dogs by the teacher, they went to the dean in anger and asked him to deal with the two teachers. As a result, the teacher continued to teach their classes, but the two of them were targeted by the teacher because of this incident.
It would have been fine if they had just been at odds with the four young masters of Wenjie, but now they are even arguing with the Master. One can imagine their situation in the Imperial College.
It was a feeling of being isolated and helpless.
Xu Yunfan was puzzled. "No, you are the sons of an official family. One of your fathers is a deputy first-rank official, and the other is a first-rank official. So, shouldn't those teachers give you some face?"
So, Xu Yunfan still doesn't understand the complex forces in the capital, and he thinks too superficially about many things.
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