Chapter 1184: Intercept

The servants were used to guests leaving without bidding farewell due to their master falling into a daze from time to time. Thus, when they saw King Rong and Queen Consort Rong walking out together, they were not curious why their master did not send them off. They only cupped their hands and sent the two of them off.

Qi Haoran was afraid that Mu Yangling would be bullied in the academy, so he immediately came to pick her up after leaving the palace. For convenience’s sake, he’d pushed away all other matters, so he had a lot of time.

He simply held Mu Yangling’s hand and walked out slowly, admiring the scenery along the way as he commented on the teachers’ houses.

In the end, Qi Haoran came to a conclusion. “Scholars seem to favor straw huts. Why doesn’t Zijin have such a preference?”

Along the way, six of the ten houses were straw huts. Of the remaining four, three were farmyards, and only one was a normal brick house.

As teachers of the famous Pine Mountain Academy, Qi Haoran did not believe that they did not even have the money to build a brick house.

Mu Yangling could not help but laugh out loud. “Because Zijin is not a teacher of Pine Mountain Academy.”

With that, Mu Yangling laughed out loud.

Qi Haoran tilted his head, not understanding what was so funny about this sentence.

Instead of explaining, Mu Yangling only pulled him along and quickened her pace. “Let’s go. If one day, Zijin really eschews brick houses in favor of straw huts, you’ll wonder if that person is actually Zijin.”

That was true. It seemed that only the scholars of Pine Mountain Academy favored straw huts.

After leaving the teachers’ residential area, they saw more people on the road. When everyone saw King Rong and his wife walking over together, they all secretly glanced over.

Mu Yangling was about to let go of Qi Haoran’s hand when Qi Haoran grabbed her hand and graciously walked alongside her.

The surrounding students couldn’t help but sigh. It seemed that the rumors were still true. Everyone said that King Rong loved Queen Consort Rong and was willing to be called a henpecked husband because of love.

Qi Haoran held his head high and puffed out his chest as he led Mu Yangling out of the academy. Before they reached the entrance, they were stopped by someone.

After bowing to the two of them, that person lowered his head and said, “Your Highnesses, an old friend invites you. Please come with me to the Ling Summit.”

Qi Haoran looked at the person who was obviously dressed like a servant and raised his eyebrows. He asked, “Old friend? Since when did I have an old friend in Pine Mountain Academy?”

The servant replied in a neither servile nor overbearing manner, “Your Highness, have you forgotten about “Emperor Shizong’s Admonishment Memorial” which was published in the 26th year of Jingyan?”

Qi Haoran’s expression gradually turned serious. Sensing his grip tighten, Mu Yangling knew that he was angry. She squeezed his hand and smiled at the servant. “Of course we remember. Even if King Rong forgets about it, I won’t.”

Seeing that many people around them were pricking up their ears to listen, Mu Yangling smiled brightly and said, “Back then, when His Majesty conquered Jingzhao Prefecture, he accidentally obtained the original copy of the ‘Emperor Shizong’s Admonishment Memorial’, pleasing him greatly. Later on, when King Rong and Prince An returned to the capital, Prince An wanted to participate in the Imperial Examination. Because he didn’t have the guidance of a good teacher due to being in the north all year round, although he was smart and quick-witted, he was still much behind others. Because of this, King Rong racked his brains and begged his good friend Chen Qian to get a handwritten letter from his grandfather. He also stole his father’s precious copy of the ‘Emperor Shizong’s Admonishment Memorial’.”

“His Highness offered these two items in exchange for Grand Scholar Chen tutoring Prince An for four months to prepare for that year’s metropolitan exam. Although the Annotated Precepts of Emperor Shizong copied by Kong Yi was merely a reproduction, its strong brushwork and the private seal of Emperor Shizong made it a priceless treasure. Back in the day, Master Chen had emptied his personal fortune to acquire it. When he discovered it had been stolen, he fainted on the spot. It was said that when he woke up, he beat Chen Qian up with a ferule. It was only because King Rong felt bad and asked His Majesty for the original copy that Uncle Chen woke up from his grief and anger.”

Mu Yangling glanced at Qi Haoran from the corner of her eyes and said with a smile, “Because Uncle Chen fell ill for a period of time after experiencing such an emotional rollercoaster, King Rong was still extremely guilty and nearly carried a chaste tree twig to the Chen Residence to apologize. Now that you mention it, I remember. I wonder if this old friend is Uncle Chen, who is currently teaching at Pine Mountain Academy, or the former head of the Pine Mountain Academy, Grand Scholar Chen?”

Many people could detect the sarcasm in Mu Yangling’s words. Since Chen Guangdi’s servant could walk freely in the academy, he was naturally not illiterate and could also hear the hostility in Mu Yangling’s words. His expression changed and he said with a solemn expression, “My master is considered half a teacher to Prince An. After hearing that Your Highnesses are guests at the academy, he specially sent me to invite you.”

Mu Yangling glanced at Qi Haoran and smiled. “It’s our honor to be invited by Grand Scholar Chen.”

However, the onlookers did not believe her. ‘Your Highness, you should have turned to look at King Rong’s expression when you said this. He sure does not look honored.’

Of course, Qi Haoran was not honored. Even Lin Weide personally picked up Ah Ling at the entrance of the academy. Why should Chen Guangdi send a servant to invite the couple over?

Moreover, their relationship with Chen Guangdi was not good.

The onlookers also started discussing in low voices. “Aren’t King Rong and Prince An good friends? Why is King Rong treating Prince An’s half-teacher like this?”

As the current students of Pine Mountain Academy were all in their teens and twenties, they naturally did not know much about what had happened more than ten years ago.

However, standing beside them, there were teachers or teaching assistants who knew some inside information. Seeing their strange gazes, the students could tell at a glance that there was some inside story. As there were always some teachers or teaching assistants who were loose-lipped, not long after Qi Haoran and his wife left with that servant, everyone vaguely knew the truth.

“It’s said that back then, when Prince An passed the imperial examination and became a jinshi, he didn’t become an official. When Grand Scholar Chen found out, he was a tad displeased. Although he didn’t say anything, he returned the gift of gratitude from Prince An. He said that although he had studied with him for four months, they weren’t master and disciple, so there’s no need to send him a thank-you gift.”

“During the siege of the capital, Grand Scholar Chen once asked Prince An to go out of the city to persuade the Emperor to surrender. Not only was the current Emperor biological cousins with Prince An, he’d also raised him. Since that’s as good as forcing the current Emperor or Prince An, King Rong naturally doesn’t have a good impression of Grand Scholar Chen.”

“We also haven’t seen Prince An visit Grand Scholar Chen all these years…”

“From the looks of it, the two sides have long had a conflict. I’m afraid Grand Scholar Chen has ill intentions for inviting King Rong and his wife.”

“I think King Rong isn’t just angry about this. Although Grand Scholar Chen is Prince An’s half-teacher, he isn’t a teacher of King Rong. Even Teacher Lin personally went to the entrance of the academy to welcome Queen Consort Rong, but Grand Scholar Chen only sent a servant over. At the very least, he should send a student over.”

“Ahem, I’ve always felt that Her Highness deliberately emphasized the word ‘Grand Scholar’. Speaking of which, haven’t we always called Grand Scholar Chen ‘Teacher Chen’?”

Everyone fell silent. ‘Grand Scholar’ was a respectful title. Now, it could be used to mock others?

However, what this classmate said made sense and the others couldn’t refute that.

“Her Highness refers to Teacher Lin as Teacher, and she addresses him very respectfully with a smile.” Another person provided evidence.

While they were still analyzing whether King Rong and his wife were happy about the invitation, the others started paying attention to Mu Yangling’s long explanation.

They discussed in low voices, “So the original work of the “Emperor Shizong’s Admonishment Memorial” now belongs to the Chen family…”