Chapter 31 A fight broke out over a shuttlecock.
Su Yuyao was having a great time playing with the girls when Gong Meng rang a bell and called out, "Class is starting!"
The children all ran towards Tingxuan Hall. Su Yuyao quickly picked up the shuttlecock, stuffed it into her bundle, and ran into Tingxuan Hall with the bundle in her hand.
In the afternoon, Meng Yu led everyone in a history lesson about the beginning of the universe. All the children were very interested, but Su Yuyao was not interested. She secretly opened her little bag and played with her little toys.
"Su Yuyao!" Meng Yu slammed the ruler on Su Yuyao's desk. "Tell me, when did Mother Yi establish the first Shiyuan?"
"Huh? Hmm..." Su Yuyao blinked, looking at Meng Yu.
"What is the original true form of the Mother Goddess?" Meng Yu then asked.
"Um……"
What was the World Origin Crisis a thousand years ago in the Wuji Dao?
"Um……"
"You didn't know what I just said?"
"Um……"
"What are you going to play?" Meng Yu asked with a smile.
"I didn't play anything..." Su Yuyao carefully stuffed the things into her bundle.
"Take it out!" Meng Yu said with a smile, but his tone became serious.
“I…” Su Yuyao looked at Meng Yu in confusion. Meng Yu, who had just led her to climb to the top of the mountain, had suddenly become so serious.
Meng Yu raised the ruler and said calmly, "Either put your hands up or take out what you're holding."
“Meng Yu…” Su Yuyao’s tears welled up again.
But this time, tears didn't seem to work. Su Yuyao couldn't bear to part with her little toy, so she slowly laid her palm out on the table.
Snap!
"Ah!" Su Yuyao's palm felt like it had been electrocuted.
"Want to play again?" Meng Yu asked with a smile.
Su Yuyao clenched her fist and shook her head.
Meng Yu gave a crooked smile and continued lecturing.
Su Yuyao's palms burned with pain. She didn't know why Meng Yu suddenly seemed like a different person, and the blows were even more painful than those from the Immortal Master!
She lowered her head, tears streaming down her chest.
While lecturing, Meng Yu glanced at Su Yuyao and frowned slightly.
"Alright! That's all for today! Go back and write down your thoughts! Write down what you would do if you were to solve the crisis of the world a thousand years ago! Hand it in tomorrow, and I'll take a look!" Meng Yu said, stretching and yawning.
"Huh?" The cheerful classroom was filled with sorrow again.
"Fifth Uncle! Can't we not write it?" Qinglu asked coquettishly.
"Don't want to write? Of course not! Then you can expect to get a beating!" Meng Yu said with a smile.
After class, most of the children ran outside to play.
Su Yuyao wiped away her tears and began packing her small bag. "Huh? Where's my shuttlecock?"
She searched high and low, under the table and under the cushion, but couldn't find the shuttlecock. "Where did it go?"
"Wow! Green! You have a shuttlecock too?!"
"Of course! I just didn't take it out!"
"Green! Green! Let's play together!"
"That won't do! What if it breaks?!"
Su Yuyao looked up and saw Qinglu sitting not far away holding a shuttlecock in her hand, which was the one she had thrown!
“Green!” Su Yuyao walked over and pointed at the shuttlecock, saying, “Where did you find this shuttlecock?”
"Who said I found this? This is mine!" Qinglu said, protecting the shuttlecock.
"Yours?" Su Yuyao said angrily, "If it's yours, why didn't you take it out to play with it just now? This is clearly my shuttlecock, the one I just lost!"
"How can you prove it's yours? It's in my hands right now!" Qinglu said with a look of utter contempt.
"Proof?" Su Yuyao pointed to the girls who had just been playing shuttlecock with her and said, "They can all prove it!"
"Can you prove it?!" Qinglu glanced at the girls and asked.
"Uh..." The girls looked at each other, none of them daring to speak.
Su Yuyao looked at them in disbelief, "Why aren't you saying anything? We were clearly playing together just now!"
The girls all lowered their heads, avoiding Su Yuyao's gaze.
Qinglu sneered, picked up the shuttlecock, stood up, and looked at Su Yuyao with disdain. "No one can vouch for you! This is mine!"
After saying that, he shoved Su Yuyao's shoulder aside and walked arrogantly out of the hall.
Su Yuyao glanced at the girls who had been playing with her earlier but were now hiding to the side, and then at Qinglu, who had arrogantly snatched her shuttlecock. The more she thought about it, the angrier she became.
She quickly caught up, grabbed Qinglu's arm, and shouted, "Give it back to me!"
Qinglu shook her arms, struggling to break free, "Let go!"
Su Yuyao wouldn't let go, and Qinglu wouldn't back down either; the two children started wrestling back and forth.
Qinglu ripped Su Yuyao's hair out of place, and Su Yuyao punched Qinglu in the nose.
"Ah—!" Qinglu covered her nose and burst into tears.
When the other girls saw Qinglu crying, they knew things had gotten serious, so they quickly ran out to find someone to help them.
Qinglu cried as she wiped her nose with her hand, "Ah? Ah—! My nose is bleeding!"
Seeing blood flowing from Qinglu's nose, Su Yuyao became frightened and quickly let go.
"Green!" Qingju heard the voice and ran into the main hall.
"Brother! Brother! Su Yuyao hit me!" Qinglu shouted, pointing at Su Yuyao with her little finger covered in nosebleed.
"Su Yuyao? Did you do this?!" Qingju questioned, her eyes red.
"She took my things and wouldn't give them back to me!" Su Yuyao said matter-of-factly.
"We have everything! How could we possibly take your things!" Qingju glared and said, "On the contrary, it's you! Lord Xuanfeng is so poor, how could he possibly buy you so many nice things? Did you steal them!"
"What?!" Su Yuyao wasn't surprised that Qingju had falsely accused her of stealing, but rather by another thing he said. "What did you say? Xuanfeng is poor?"
"Hmph! They're dirt poor!" Qingju shielded Qinglu behind her and pointed at Su Yuyao, saying, "I'm going to tell my father! You just wait!"
"What are you doing?!" Qi Meng's voice was clearly angry.
Inside Tingxuan Hall, Meng Yu was comforting the crying Qinglu, while outside Tingxuan Hall, Qi Meng was glaring at Su Yuyao, who was kneeling on the bluestone slab, and asking her a question.
"Yao'er, why are you hitting the green?"
"No reason, I just got hit." Su Yuyao lowered her head, looking at the longevity lock on her chest.
Xuanfeng was very poor, extremely poor, but he bought me a longevity lock and so many useless trinkets, and even built me a house, made new quilts, and new clothes...
"Yao'er, if you don't speak up, how can your master uphold justice for you?" Qi Meng said, looking at the pitiful Su Yuyao.
"I don't need you to uphold justice for me... I just want to hit her..." Su Yuyao thought that even if she told the story about the shuttlecock, without any evidence, how could the immortal master uphold justice for her? It would only cause trouble for no reason, and if Xuanfeng found out, she would be scolded.
"Yao'er, if you don't say anything, I will have no choice but to punish you according to the rules of the garden!" Qi Meng said sternly.
"Punish me, I was wrong to begin with." Su Yuyao looked at the two bells under the longevity lock. I really deserve to be punished. I didn't even know that Xuanfeng was going through such a difficult time, and I was always causing trouble.
“According to the rules of the garden, anyone who fights will be punished with ten lashes of the rattan cane! Yao’er, have you thought it through?” Qi Meng asked with a frown.
With tears in her eyes, Su Yuyao looked up at Qi Meng and said, "Immortal Master, I have no evidence and no one is willing to testify for me. How can you uphold justice for me based solely on my own words and the fact that I injured Qinglu?"
Qi Meng looked at Su Yuyao in surprise. This child, who looked about the same age as these hundred-year-old children but was only fifteen years old in mind, actually asked such a question!
"Yao'er, even if I can't uphold justice for you, you can still tell the truth!"
“Who cares what the truth is? The truth that someone believes is the true truth.” Su Yuyao lowered her head, and the stone slab beneath her knees was gradually soaked with tears. “Immortal Master, I accept the punishment, but please don’t tell Xuanfeng.”
Qi Meng sighed and called out, "Gong Meng! Vine Whip!"
"Immortal Master!" Gong Meng stood protectively in front of Su Yuyao. "We all know what happened, why must you punish Yao'er?!"
"According to the rules of the garden, anyone who fights will be punished!" Qi Meng shouted loudly, "Fight!"
Although Su Yuyao knelt upright, she was trembling with fear. She gripped the hem of her skirt tightly with her chubby little hands, trying her best to hide her cowardice.
Gong Meng raised the rattan whip, but couldn't bring himself to strike Su Yuyao, who was trembling in front of him.
"Attack!" Qi Meng shouted again.
Gong Meng made a snap decision and lashed the rattan whip across Su Yuyao's back.
"Ah!" Although Gong Meng held back his strength and Su Yuyao was prepared, she still cried out in pain.
All the children were pressed against the entrance of Tingxuan Hall, watching Su Yuyao being punished. When they saw the twisted rattan whip come down, they all covered their eyes in fear.
Qinglu was still throwing a tantrum at Meng Yu when she heard the sound of Su Yuyao being hit, so she hurriedly ran to the door to see what was happening.
Meng Yu also turned cold for once, frowning as he looked at Su Yuyao, who was in so much pain that she could barely kneel.
"Qinglu, are you satisfied?" Meng Yu asked.
"Me? What do I have to be satisfied with? She's the one who hurt me..." Qinglu began to feel guilty.
"Give it to me! Do you still want to keep it?" Meng Yu said, holding out his hand.
“This is mine!” Qinglu pushed Meng Yu’s hand away.
"Alright! Go back to class!" Gong Meng put away the rattan whip and urged the children back to their seats.
The sound of reading aloud rang out, but Su Yuyao was still kneeling in the courtyard as punishment. Although it was still daylight, the overlapping mountains blocked the sunlight, and the cool mountain wind blew on Su Yuyao, making her, who was already trembling, tremble even more violently.
"Yao'er!" Meng Yu squatted down in front of Su Yuyao with a grin, "Does it still hurt?"
Su Yuyao kept her head down and did not respond.
Meng Yu raised his hand and offered a dried apricot to Su Yuyao's lips, but just as he was about to put it in, Su Yuyao turned her head away and refused.
"Are you angry?" Meng Yu brought his face close to Su Yuyao's. "This dried apricot, I won't take your tears! Want some?"
Su Yuyao remained motionless and did not respond.
"Yao'er, when the Immortal Master grants me permission to leave the Immortal Mountain, I'll buy you another shuttlecock, okay?"
Su Yuyao kept her head down and did not respond.
"How about this, I'll allow you to skip today's homework, okay?"
“I didn’t originally intend to write this…” Su Yuyao finally spoke.
Meng Yu breathed a slight sigh of relief and said with a smile, "You don't have to do it this time, but you must do the homework I assign from now on, or I'll spank your hand!"
After saying that, Meng Yu handed over the dried apricots, "Want some?"
"I won't eat!" Su Yuyao said stubbornly.
Meng Yu smiled as she put away the dried apricots, then looked at Su Yuyao's face and said, "Let me take you to wash your face! Your face is all smeared with tears!"
"But... the immortal master didn't let me get up..." Su Yuyao muttered.
Meng Yu smiled slightly and said, "Wait here, I'll go and find a master immortal for you!"
"No need to beg me!" Qi Meng tapped Meng Yu on the head with a ruler.
"Immortal Master! Show some respect!" Meng Yu said with a grin, covering his head.
Su Yuyao looked up and couldn't help but smile at Meng Yu's appearance.
"Yao'er! Get up! Lord Xuanfeng has come to fetch you." Qi Meng said gently, "Don't push yourself too hard. What's difficult for you isn't difficult for us, understand?"
"Yes, Immortal Master..."
Meng Yu took Su Yuyao's hand and said, "Yao'er, get up!"
Su Yuyao was helped up by Meng Yu and limped to the well. She carefully washed her face with the well water, and Meng Yu then tidied her hair again.
"Yao'er, don't fight with Qinglu in the future. She has someone backing her up!" Meng Yu put his hand on Su Yuyao's shoulder and said seriously, "You have to be careful!"
Su Yuyao tilted her head and looked at Meng Yu, "Although she has Lord Qinggan backing her up, I have Xuanfeng backing me up! I'm not afraid of her at all!"
Meng Yu smiled and said, "Qinglu is so unrestrained in the academy because he has Lord Qinggan backing him up. But have you ever thought about why Lord Qinggan is so unrestrained in the Immortal Mountain? Why isn't he afraid of Lord Xuanfeng?"
Su Yuyao blinked, seemingly understanding something, yet also not quite.
"Yao'er, you must listen in class from now on, understand?" Meng Yu pinched Su Yuyao's nose and said, "If I find you skipping class again, you'll get a slap on the hand!"
"I don't want to go to class at all..." Su Yuyao muttered, rubbing her nose.
"Girl!"
"Hmm?" Su Yuyao looked in the direction of the sound.
Xuanfeng was frowning as he looked at Meng Yu and Su Yuyao by the well.
"Xuanfeng!" Su Yuyao felt a sudden warmth in her heart when she saw that familiar, tired figure. She pushed Meng Yu aside, ran over quickly, tugged at Xuanfeng's sleeve, and started to whine, "Xuanfeng! Why did it take you so long to pick me up! I don't like it here! I want to go home!"
Xuanfeng glanced at Su Yuyao's red eyes, then at her dusty skirt, and asked softly, "Where's your bundle?"
"Oh! Right! There's also a bundle!" Su Yuyao ran into Tingxuan Palace, ignoring Gong Meng who was in class, and picked up the bundle and ran out under everyone's gaze.
She didn't care what others thought of her; at this moment, all she wanted was to go home with Xuanfeng.
"Xuanfeng! Let's go home quickly!"
Xuanfeng took the bundle, took Su Yuyao's hand, and said, "Let's go home."
"Great! We're home!" Su Yuyao smiled happily. Even though the day hadn't gone as planned, having Xuanfeng by her side made her happy.
Her smile was reflected in Xuanfeng's eyes, and the melodious sound of the bell rang in Xuanfeng's heart. You brat, you've had such a hard day, but you can still smile now!
Sitting by the well, Meng Yu watched as Su Yuyao abandoned him so quickly, and smiled helplessly, feeling somewhat disappointed.
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