"Your Highness, the Chief Priest, Master Liu, and Master Bai invite you!"
At the end of the hour of Mao, just as Hua Qingcheng and Wu Chen were about to step into Mingde Tower, they were suddenly stopped by a guard from the Imperial College.
"My dear sister, I will go with you."
Wu Chen looked at the guard with a little wariness.
"I probably know why they are looking for me. Monk Hua, you go to class first." After Hua Qingcheng instructed Wu Chen, she followed the guards to the Jinyi Pavilion in the front yard.
Jinyi Hall, Jijiu Study (Principal's Office).
"Master Ruan, Master Liu, Master Bai, I wonder why you have come to see Qingcheng?"
Upon entering Ruan Suhe's study, Hua Qingcheng saw a female student in Imperial College uniform and a man who looked like a servant, bound and kneeling on the ground. In the center of the desk sat Ruan Suhe, the chief academic officer. To his left and right sat Liu Nanxu, the zither teacher, and Bai Yuheng, the painting teacher.
"Princess, I heard that you didn't go to the piano class two days ago in the morning because you got lost?" Ruan Suhe asked Hua Qingcheng directly.
"That's right. Qingcheng noticed the road signs were misplaced, and she had eaten too many barbecued pork buns that morning, which gave her a bit of a stomachache. She searched for the piano room for a quarter of an hour but couldn't find it, so she went to the toilet. She stayed there for so long that she only arrived at the room a quarter of an hour before get out of class ended."
Hua Qingcheng answered in an orderly manner according to the reasons she had discussed with Bai Yuheng before.
Liu Nanxu, who was sitting to Ruan Suhe's left, nodded slightly. "The princess did arrive at the piano room at 7:15 pm. Nanxu asked the servant guarding the toilet, and he confirmed that the princess was in the toilet from 2:15 pm to 5:15 pm. Adding the time it took her to walk from the toilet to the piano room, it matches."
(The servant guarding the toilet was a member of Bai Yuheng's staff. The Imperial College was mostly attended by the children of royal relatives, high-ranking officials, and aristocratic families. Students sometimes chatted in the toilet, and it was possible to glean useful information from their conversations.)
"Although Yuheng is a teacher, there are differences between men and women. Apart from teaching, he will not meet the princess privately for no reason."
Bai Yuheng spoke lightly, with a hint of displeasure on his face. His expression remained calm and magnanimous, unfazed by praise or criticism.
"Qiu Jiamin, why did you order people to dress up as servants from the Imperial College and replace the signpost of the piano room, deliberately misleading the princess? You framed the princess and Master Bai and damaged their reputation?" Ruan Suhe frowned and scolded the female student who was tied up and kneeling on the ground.
"Nalan Qingcheng, she stole the man I like, and Jiamin was just angry for a moment..." The female student kneeling on the ground pointed at Hua Qingcheng and glared at her.
"Qingcheng doesn't even know this person, and has never done anything to steal someone's lover." Hua Qingcheng said speechlessly.
"Qiu Jiamin, what else do you have to say?" Ruan Suhe asked.
"Jiamin loves Si Chengfeng, the adopted son of the General's Mansion, and the mansion has long been preparing to propose marriage to the General's Mansion. Unexpectedly, Nalan Qingcheng actually snatched away her love and took Master Chengfeng as her concubine." Qiu Jiamin said angrily.
Hua Qingcheng's mouth twitched slightly when she heard this.
She had never imagined that it would be Si Chengfeng's admirer who did it. That Si Huli guy, he really was... "a blue-faced man brings disaster"! It seemed that she would have to let him "comfort" her "weak heart" when she returned...
"Marriage is all about fate, how can we force it?" Liu Nanxu shook his head slightly, looking disappointed in his partner.
"Qiu Jiamin, you have evil intentions, and the Imperial College will no longer tolerate you. I have decided to expel you from the Imperial College from this very day, and you will never be allowed to study there again. Furthermore... I will report this truthfully to His Majesty. I'm afraid... you will never be able to take the imperial examination again."
Ruan Suhe finally expelled Qiu Jiamin from the Imperial College in accordance with the academy rules.
Because of Qiu Jiamin's incident, Hua Qingcheng missed her first numerology class. However, it was just arithmetic, not difficult for her, so she could choose to attend or not.
“Dang! Dang! Dang!”
At 1:01 PM, the bell for class rang on time.
The second class of Class Dizi Ding was taught by Wen Siyin, and again, more than half of the students fell asleep in the class.
At the same time, in the study of Anxiang Pavilion where Bai Yuheng lived.
"Sir, Qiu Jiamin is just a scapegoat. Why don't you find out who is behind this?" Bai Yuheng's personal servant Zizhu asked in confusion.
"What I need is a reasonable explanation to clear myself and Nalan Qingcheng. As for the reason, it is not important. As long as the result shows that I and Nalan Qingcheng are innocent, that is enough."
Bai Yuheng turned the jade flute in his hand in front of the desk, his eyes slightly cold.
This time, he'd spare Xia Houyu for the sake of the Prince of Pingxi. If he dared to target him again and use him as a pawn, he wouldn't mind making Xia Houyu pay a heavy price...
"Young Master, everyone in Laifeng, from the capital to the provinces, prefectures, and counties, is gearing up for the Crown Princess' upcoming husband selection. Even the various forces outside Laifeng are eagerly waiting for this opportunity to plant their seeds of trouble."
Zizhu paused and continued, "The Lord wants you to find a way to win the favor of the princess, sneak into the election, and ideally win first place. Then, sneak into the Eastern Palace, gather information, and take the opportunity to overthrow the court of Laifeng Kingdom..."
"Send a pigeon immediately, and have the Queen Mother send someone else to carry out this mission. This young master does not want to..." (I do not want to be one of that woman's concubines)
However, before Bai Yuheng could finish his words, Zizhu interrupted him: "Sir, we just received a secret letter from Lengyue Country today. The Lord said... that in order to avoid attracting attention, no additional personnel will be sent here. You must complete this mission..."
My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It will be even more exciting later!
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