Chapter 1185: Attitude

Qi Haoran was quite respectful to the teachers who taught and cleared students’ doubts, but this did not include Chen Guangdi.

Chen Guangdi was indeed a knowledgeable man whose reputation among the scholars was not inferior to Lin Weide’s. In fact, because he had once been the teacher of princes of the previous dynasty, he was held in high regard. In the past, Qi Haoran respected him because of Fan Zijin. However, ever since he forced Zijin, Qi Haoran no longer had a good impression of him.

Coupled with the fact that the other party was not as detached from material wealth and societal status as he appeared, Qi Haoran’s disdain for him was even more obvious.

If it was in the past, he would still hide it a little, but he was already a King, second only to his big brother in the world. Why would he still need to put up with this?

Qi Haoran went to meet Chen Guangdi with a dark expression.

Chen Guangdi was sitting in a pavilion halfway up the mountain, playing chess. When he saw that Qi Haoran’s expression was not good, he immediately sensed that something was wrong.

He glanced at the servant who went to invite them over and slowly put down the chess piece in his hand. He looked up at Qi Haoran and smiled. “It’s been 14 years since we last met. How have you been, King Rong?”

One should not hit a smiling person. Even if Qi Haoran was unhappy, he could not lose his temper at Chen Guangdi for no reason. Hence, he nodded and helped Mu Yangling sit down at the stone table before lifting his robe and sitting behind Chen Guangdi.

Chen Guangdi’s eyebrows twitched, but he lowered his eyes and didn’t say anything. The disciple behind him opened his mouth and looked at the couple who acted as a matter of course. In the end, he didn’t dare to say anything.

Chen Guangdi put away the black and white chess pieces on the table and smiled at Qi Haoran. “Your Highness, since you’re an outstanding strategist in war, how about a game of chess?”

Qi Haoran glanced at the black and white chess pieces and agreed readily.

Mu Yangling sat at the side and watched.

At this moment, Lin Weide’s three good friends had just arrived at the academy. Seeing that the students in the academy were gathered in groups of twos and threes, they couldn’t help but grab one of them and ask, “Has Queen Consort Rong left?”

“Not yet. She and King Rong were invited to the Ling Summit by Grand Scholar Chen.”

The three of them heaved a sigh of relief. If she had left, they’d have missed a great opportunity.

The three of them did not pay special attention to what the students were discussing and hurriedly ran to the plum forest to look for Lin Weide.

In the past, Qi Haoran’s chess skills were indeed not that good. To him, the torture of playing chess was second only to memorizing books. However, he had no choice. After all, he had been released for posted elsewhere for more than ten years and was always in the same place as Fan Zijin.

Though a chess lover, Fan Zijin did not like to play chess with others. Thus, Qi Haoran was his only opponent.

Qi Haoran found his own way after being defeated thoroughly too many times. Actually, there were similarities in chess and war.

Now, he did not dare to say that he could compare to Fan Zijin, but out of ten rounds, he could typically win one round and tie in two rounds. Even then, he was confident that his chess skills weren’t inferior to some of the good chess players in the capital.

Most importantly, Fan Zijin had said that his chess moves were ever-changing. If he played against someone who wasn’t familiar with the way he played, his chances of winning would be even higher.

It could be said that Qi Haoran was full of confidence in playing against Chen Guangdi.

Chen Guangdi and the others were not familiar with Qi Haoran, but Mu Yangling felt that his aura had changed. She thought for a moment and understood. She could not help but lower her head and purse her lips into a smile.

Chen Guangdi was indeed caught off guard by Qi Haoran’s ever-changing chess moves, but his title as a Great Scholar was not for nothing. After getting over the initial surprise, he quickly reacted and cut off Qi Haoran’s path. In the end, although he lost, he merely lost by two pieces.

Chen Guangdi sighed. “King Rong is indeed a hero of our era!”

“Grand Scholar Chen is indeed a Great Scholar.”

Chen Guangdi wasn’t sure if he was praising or mocking him, so he simply didn’t think about it. He turned around, took a box from his disciple’s hand, and handed it to him. “I’m very relieved to be able to have a round with King Rong today. This is this spring’s Pre-Rain Long Jing and I happened to obtain some. I didn’t know what King Rong liked, so I randomly chose this as a gift. I hope you don’t mind.”

Qi Haoran raised his eyebrows slightly and took the box. “Not everyone can get their hands on Pre-Rain Long Jing. Only Grand Scholar Chen has such connections.”

If someone else had said this, they might have meant to flatter him. But coming from a King of the royal family, one could tell it was not said with good intentions.

However, Chen Guangdi only smiled. His disciple was intimidated by Qi Haoran’s aura and did not dare to refute him. It was only when King Rong and his wife bade farewell and left that his students said angrily, “Teacher, isn’t King Rong being too unreasonable?”

Chen Guangdi lowered his eyes, feeling displeased. Since he knew that King Rong was unreasonable, why didn’t he say anything when he was around? What was the use of complaining after he left?

Some quick-witted students saw that their teacher’s expression was not right and immediately changed the topic. “Teacher, are we just going to let the matter of The Great Qi Times go?”

“Queen Consort Rong isn’t the only one who came.” Chen Guangdi said calmly, “King Rong isn’t easy to deal with. Let’s forget about The Great Qi Times.”

“Perhaps we can look for Prince An. He’s considered half a senior brother to us. I heard that he and Queen Consort Rong grew up together and have a good personal relationship. As long as he asks…”

“Alright.” Chen Guangdi interrupted him and said calmly, “It’s not worth looking for him over such a small matter. We’ll discuss this matter in the future.”

If that was a small matter, why did he have to look for Queen Consort Rong?

Doubts flashed across the students’ hearts. Could it really be as the rumors said, that their teacher did not have a good relationship with Prince An?

Chen Guangdi calmly put away the black and white chess pieces on the chessboard one by one, but he was not calm at all.

It was extremely obvious from Qi Haoran’s attitude that he did not get along with the people in power in Great Qi.

He felt angry and helpless.

Back then, so many people who opposed Qi Xiuyuan’s rebellion could enter the court as officials again. Why did they only target him?

But now that he was old, there were very few things he could do. And there were very few students he was proud of who could still stay safely in the bureaucracy. He no longer had any say in politics.

In the previous dynasty, although he did not become an official, he was well-connected since his students were all over the Imperial Court. His authority was not inferior to a Grade 2 official.

Now, he had lost all his advantages. He had invited Mu Yangling over for two reasons: Firstly, it was to arrange for his students to enter The Great Qi Times; secondly, it was to test the waters.

After all, he had too many students. Fan Zijin had only studied with him for four months and had not even officially acknowledged him as his teacher. If not for Fan Zijin’s growing momentum and the fact that his and the Chen family’s power was getting weaker, he would not have thought of him.

Thinking of him, Chen Guangdi realized that Fan Zijin had never sent him a gift in the past ten years. The two families had completely cut off all contact.

Queen Consort Rong and Fan Zijin had a good personal relationship. If Queen Consort Rong agreed to help him arrange for a few of his students to enter The Great Qi Times, it would mean that Fan Zijin still considered him as half a teacher. Outsiders would also be more polite to him and the people he protected.

If Queen Consort Rong didn’t consent, others would only take it to mean that she didn’t want to abuse her power for personal gain. As she was a woman, outsiders wouldn’t think too much about it.

But who knew that Qi Haoran would also show up?

Chen Guangdi was a cunning old fox. One look at Qi Haoran’s expression and he knew his attitude. Hence, he did not make any requests and only played a round of chess with him.

Chen Guangdi only thought that he had fooled King Rong and his wife, but he did not know that Mu Yangling’s words at the foot of the mountain had caused his reputation to plummet. Even his reputation was now covered in dust.

When he found out, he thought of Mu Yangling, who had been silent at that time. He couldn’t help but grit his teeth and scold, “Indeed, a dog that bites doesn’t bark.”