Chapter 1186: Rumors

After Qi Haoran and Mu Yangling’s trip to Pine Mountain Academy, two eye-catching topics started circulating in the academy that day and spread throughout the capital the next day.

Lin Weide, Chen Guangdi, Qi Haoran and his wife, Fan Zijin, and the Emperor were fortunate enough to become influential figures in the topic.

It was said that Lin Weide evaluated him as a wise ruler who was not inferior to Emperor Shizong.

When his three good friends heard that Queen Consort Rong wanted to invite Lin Weide to be the first Publisher of The Great Qi Times, they all advised him to take the opportunity to become an official, but Lin Weide declined.

The three of them could not help but be puzzled. They asked, “In the previous dynasty, you were unwilling to become an official because the Emperor was muddle-headed and treacherous. Since you’ve already acknowledged that the current Emperor is virtuous and wise, why aren’t you willing to become an official and serve the country? Not only can you bring glory to your ancestors, but you can also help the world.”

In the teahouse, the storyteller slammed the table and pointed at everyone. “Guess what was Teacher Lin’s reply to that?”

Tiger Head anxiously ran down from the second floor and asked, “How did he answer?”

The storyteller stroked his beard but smiled without saying anything.

Tiger Head stomped his feet. “Tell us quickly, tell us quickly.”

The onlookers laughed and took out copper coins to reward the storyteller. Little Lion also ran down from the second floor and grabbed the anxious Tiger Head. After digging around in his pocket, he finally looked at Little An.

The corners of Little An’s mouth twitched. He took more than ten copper coins from his pouch and placed them into the copper basin of the storyteller. Only then did the storyteller hit the table with a wooden block and imitate Lin Weide as he sighed. “The current Emperor is virtuous, but we don’t lack civil officials and generals. The Imperial Court doesn’t need me. Moreover, although I’m successful in my studies, I don’t know much about being an official. If I really become an official, I’m afraid I won’t even be comparable to the other officials. There’s really no need for me to fight for a position with the younger generation. I only rejected the Emperor because I’m really not qualified to take on a big responsibility. That third time, I locked myself in my room because I was too ashamed to meet the Emperor.”

Tiger Head was stunned when he heard that. In the end, he slapped the table and cheered. “Good, to be able to recognize one’s strengths and weaknesses. Teacher Lin is indeed a grand scholar.”

The guests in the teahouse all looked at him. Seeing that he was only about ten years old, they exclaimed, “You’re so knowledgeable at such a young age. It seems that the younger generation is really capable and we’re getting old.”

Little Lion and Little An also felt that Lin Weide could be considered a true gentleman. They surrounded the storyteller and asked, “What else did Teacher Lin say?”

The storyteller shook his head. “At this point, Teacher Lin sent his good friends out and refused to say anything more.”

Everyone felt that it was a pity. Seeing that everyone was about to leave, the storyteller immediately sighed and said, “If Teacher Lin is a true gentleman, then Grand Scholar Chen, who had always been respected in the past, now has his name covered in dust because of King Rong and his wife’s words.”

Someone immediately asked, “What do you mean?”

The storyteller immediately repeated what Mu Yangling had said back then and said, “From this, it can be seen that Grand Scholar Chen agreed to let Prince An study by his side because of Kong Yi’s reproduced piece of ‘Emperor Shizong’s Admonishment Memorial’ that King Rong and Chen Qian stole. However, Grand Scholar Chen is Chen Sheng’s uncle and they’re of the same clan. Since even outsiders know that Chen Sheng hid the ‘Emperor Shizong’s Admonishment Memorial’ like a treasure, how could he not know?”

The storyteller shook his head and said, “As the saying goes, a gentleman doesn’t take what others like. He knew that there was something fishy about this memorial, but he still accepted it. From this, one can see his character. It’s said that after Chen Sheng found out about this, he fell ill. If it weren’t for the fact that the Emperor happened to own the authentic piece, tsk tsk, who knows what would’ve happened to him.”

“Even then, that’s his son, Chen Qian’s fault. How can we blame Grand Scholar Chen for it?”

“Chen Qian was naturally at fault, but despite knowing that Chen Sheng might lose his life if he lost the “Emperor Shizong’s Admonishment Memorial”, Grand Scholar Chen still refused to return it. Based on this, one can tell that his character is not good either. You have to know that Chen Sheng is his nephew.”

“Chen Qian is really loyal. He actually stole his father’s treasure for his friend…”

“Why did I hear that King Rong and Chen Qian had discussed exchanging the original for a fake? Chen Qian gave King Rong Kong Yi’s reproduced copy of the memorial and King Rong gave him the original.”

“Why haven’t I heard of it? Anyway, King Rong and Prince An are really close. In order for him to learn from Grand Scholar Chen for four months, he actually offered the authentic “Emperor Shizong’s Admonishment Memorial”. You have to know that this item is a priceless treasure.”

The teahouse became lively, and everyone expressed their opinions.

Seeing that everyone was almost done talking among themselves, the storyteller patted the wood and said, “If it’s just this matter, everyone will only think that Grand Scholar Chen loves the “Emperor Shizong’s Admonishment Memorial” too much. Although it’s not a gentlemanly act, it’s still understandable.”

The eyes of the people in the teahouse lit up as they asked, “Could there be something else?”

Tiger Head and the other two also looked at the storyteller with shining eyes. Seeing that he was stroking his beard and not saying anything, Tiger Head couldn’t help but hit the railing and shouted, “I’ll give you money after you’re done telling us the story. Don’t stop halfway.”

Everyone laughed out loud. The storyteller shook his head and smiled bitterly. “This Young Master is too anxious.”

However, he did not delay any longer and said slowly, “It was also because of this that everyone paid attention to Grand Scholar Chen. It was then that they realized that there was a problem. Every student that Grand Scholar Chen took in was either from a family of officials or a descendant of an aristocratic family. There was actually not a single student from a humble background. Most of his disciples’ fathers held an official rank not lower than fourth-grade. Even if there were low-grade ones, the grandfather would definitely hold an important position, or other superior conditions existed.”

Everyone widened their eyes.

With a sigh, the storyteller said, “In terms of teaching and educating, there’s a model example right before our eyes. Ever since the highly-respected Teacher Lin Weide passed the examination and became a jinshi, he has traveled the world. The number of disciples he has taken in is even higher than Grand Scholar Chen’s, but less than 30% of them are sons of officials. The rest are children from scholarly farmer families or humble backgrounds. It’s said that he even has two students who came from the nursery. This is a man who is truly detached from material wealth and societal status.”

In short, it was Mu Yangling’s words that made the students of Pine Mountain Academy start doubting Grand Scholar Chen’s character. It couldn’t be helped. Although they had heard of Chen Guangdi’s great reputation, he had long stopped being the head of Pine Mountain Academy long ago. Some students had never even seen him before, so they naturally did not respect him as much as the students from more than ten years ago.

In short, he was not as revered as he was back then. Upon investigation, one now realized what was wrong with him.

It wasn’t uncovered that Chen Guangdi had actually done something immoral, but just the identities of his students was enough to shock everyone. To think Chen Guangdi exclusively took in students from such outstanding family backgrounds.

No wonder his students had such a high passing rate in the Imperial Examination.

Although the Imperial Examination was fair, education was unfair. The educational resources enjoyed by poor students and students from official families were different. Therefore, students from official families had a much greater advantage over poor students.

Due to this realization, Chen Guangdi’s reputation plummeted. Everyone suspected that the reason why his students had such a high passing rate was not because he had taught them well, but because they possessed a huge advantage to begin with.