Chapter 059
Author: Feast of Masks
Raws: https://www.jjwxc.net/onebook.php?novelid=3185016
Translated by Gumihou
Within the study hall, Lin Miao sat behind his desk while Boss Chen paced back and forth restlessly.
“If anyone tries to tell me that Gao Youzhi is not behind all of this, I shall denounce that fool as a liar! A literary contest, how could a mere literary contest, secret or not, end in someone’s death? He must have planned this all along. He means to force Qingyuan Academy to shut down!”
Lin Miao sighed softly. “Brother Mo, it’s best not to overthink the matter. Though that Gao Youzhi is both shameless and despicable, surely there is no reason for him to toy with his own students’ lives? I’ve already questioned those involved, and they have admitted to laying their hands on him.”
“The question is, did you find out who was struck by whom?”
“With so many people involved, it was difficult to ascertain who was at fault. Although the yamen officials did not arrest our students out of courtesy, guards have been placed to watch them. We were also not allowed to speak to the students, presumably to prevent collusion in their testimonies.”
“In short, if they say you did it, then you did it. Whether it is you or not, yes?”
Both of them fell silent for a while after that. Then, Lin Miao said, “I have spoken to the yamen officials; the student who died was Sun He. He was indeed present during the duel.”
Boss Lao’s brows furrowed tightly as he sank into a chair.
If that was the case, the situation was serious. With Gao Youzhi being sworn brothers with Magistrate Hu and the yamen officials refusing to allow anyone from Qingyuan Academy to speak with the detained students… well, if Gao Youzhi truly had ill intentions, whatever he claimed would become the official version of events. Qingyuan could easily end up disgraced and shut down.
In fact, Boss Chen was starting to suspect that this may well be a deliberate trap set by the Qinghe Academy to force Qingyuan to close down.
“What do you wish me to say? Why did you even agree to such terms in the first place? A five-year ban from taking the exam, the provincial examination is held every three years, so that five years means losing two chances! How many more five years do you think you have left?” Boss Chen’s voice was tight with frustration and anguish.
Lin Miao smiled helplessly. “Brother Mo, there were reasons at that time. I may have fallen into his trap, but a gentleman’s word is his bond. Besides, the provincial examination is notoriously difficult. I have already failed it twice back then; taking it a few years sooner or later makes little difference.”
Boss Chen shook his head in exasperation. “Brother Anqi, do you think you can fool me? Back then, you may have been too young and inexperienced, but after all these years of diligence and studying… don’t tell me it’s all for show? While I had once believed you had simply grown disheartened with the examination system and returned to your hometown to teach, especially after our old master had passed away and Gao Youzhi broke away to found his own academy. Back then, Qingyuan needed someone to take charge. However, I never expected this to be the reason! That Gao Youzhi is shameless beyond words! Why must you treat a scoundrel like a gentleman and honour that farce of a promise?!”
At the mention of these memories, Lin Miao fell silent. His past played before his eyes like a lantern slide. After a moment, he sighed and said, “Brother Mo, the past is best left as it is. What matters now are those students who’ve been detained.”
Boss Chen grew even more indignant at this. “Then why can you not use that head of yours to think? If you have your Juren title now, would that villain Gao Youzhi still dare to act so arrogantly? He went to great lengths to scheme against you to prevent you from taking the examination precisely because he feared you would pass, thus causing Qinghe Academy to lose its rice bowl! Brother Anqi, what else do you want me to say to you, ah!?”
The room fell into a heavy silence. Neither spoke for a long while.
Finally, Boss Chen said, “Fine, fine, I know you have no wish to hear any of this, so I shall stop. Know this: those people have the upper hand. We do not even know what really happened with that dead student; how are we to resolve this? Even if the parents agree not to pursue the matter, Gao Youzhi would never pass up a chance to bring Qingyuan down.”
After a long pause, Lin Miao said quietly, “It doesn’t matter what happens to me. What I fear most is that my feud with Gao Youzhi will drag those children down with me.”
Boss Chen stood up. “I shall see what strings I can pull; perhaps I can find something of use to us. For now, we can only stall and keep the yamen from taking those boys away. Once they’re gone, it’ll be out of our hands.”
“My thanks, Brother Mo,” Lin Miao said apologetically.
Boss Chen waved him off, “Do not thank me. I am not doing this for you. This is all for the old master’s sake.” With that, he strode off, leaving Lin Miao gazing silently at his back, bitterness filling his mouth.
He knew that Chen Mozhi only said that to spare him from further guilt.
Please read this at kitchennovel dot com ~
Xue Tingxiang also talked about the incident with his friends for the better part of the day, but reached no conclusion. Since they were not directly involved, there was little they could do but sit back anxiously as events unfolded.
At noon, the four of them went to the dining hall together. The normally lively dining area was subdued and quiet. Most of the students sat with their heads down, looking dejected and listless.
There were no classes that afternoon. One manservant came by to inform them that they could review their text quietly in their dormitories. This continued for the next two days, causing unease within the academy.
Mao Badou went out for a walk. He returned to report that students in every dormitory appeared restless and distracted. No one was in the mood to study.
That afternoon, a sudden commotion erupted outside and students rushed out from their dormitories to see what was happening. Only to hear that students from Qinghe Academy had come by to make trouble again.
At the gates of Qingyuan Academy were a dozen or so students in Qinghe Academy robes, as well as three villagers in commonfolk outfits. There was a pair of middle-aged man and woman, who appeared to be husband and wife, as well as an elderly woman who looked to be well past her sixties.
The one causing the commotion was the old woman.
She wore a dark blue homespun coat with a matching headscarf. She was also sitting on the ground, slapping her legs as she wailed and screamed accusations at Qingyuan Academy, denouncing them for being heartless and causing her grandson’s death.
The couple beside her — clearly the dead boy’s parents — were weeping bitterly as well.
“Give my grandson back his life! Don’t think we don’t know how you’ve bribed the officials to protect those murderers! A life for a life, a debt for a debt — you so-called scholars all have rotten hearts. All the learning you’ve done gone to the dogs!!”
The old woman kept on screaming and cursing, repeating the same lines over and over.
Though her words lacked variety, the Qinghe students around her were more than made up for in eloquence as they quoted text and verses from classical works, making veiled accusations, implying that the school should just hand the students involved to the authorities.
Teacher Meng and Teacher Mo were blocking the gates along with their own students. Under the circumstances, they could do little but offer weak explanations just to prevent these people from storming into the school.
“Old Madam, we have not bribed any officials. Those students are being kept under the watchful eyes of the yamen officials. The truth would be revealed soon. Please be assured, if your grandson truly lost his life because of someone from Qingyuan Academy, we will give you a proper explanation,” Headmaster Lin said as he stepped through the gate to address the old woman.
The old woman stared at him through rheumy eyes. While she stared, one of the Qinghe students whispered that this was the headmaster of Qingyuan Academy — the one protecting those murderous students who had killed her grandson, and her expression twisted with rage.
With a howl, she launched herself at him, kicking, slapping and pulling at everything within reach. “You heartless villain! How dare you show your face! You’re the one who killed my grandson! Do you have any idea how hard it was for our family to send He’er to study? He was such a clever boy — his teacher said he was nearly ready to take the provincial exam! And now he’s dead because of you! I’ll beat you to death, beat you to death!”
The scene descended into chaos. Lin Miao’s robe was torn, his hair bun loosened, and several bloody scratches marred his face. He looked completely dishevelled.
The Headmaster had always been a man of restraint and composure, neat and upright in both appearance and conduct. Even though his robes were old, they were always immaculate, without a single crease. No one had ever seen him so unkempt; it was truly a ‘humiliation unworthy of a scholar’.
Unable to bear it any longer, some students surge forward to cry out:
“Enough! Say what you want, but don’t resort to violence!”
“Even if someone died, it wasn’t the Headmaster who killed him! Go find the real culprit instead of blaming others!”
Seeing the Qingyuan students rushing forward, students from Qinghe Academy faltered and retreated. The old woman immediately threw herself to the ground and started wailing at the top of her lungs. “They hit me! They hit me! Qingyuan Academy people are murderers! You heartless bastards! Black-hearted scoundrels!!”
Xue Tingxiang and his companions arrived at the gate just in time to witness this scene. Fortunately, this street was occupied only by the two academies and was rather out of the way. Otherwise, crowds of people would have come just to watch the spectacle.
“Tsk, why do I get the feeling that these people are more like a pack of swindlers putting on a show?” Mao Badou clicked his tongue at the sight and was even stroking his chin thoughtfully. “Surely if someone had really died, they should behave more remorsefully?”
A light flashed in Xue Tingxiang’s eyes at this remark. Meanwhile, Li Datian and Chen Jian shook their heads, muttering how inappropriate Mao Badao’s words were.
“Anyway, we can’t just let the Headmaster and the teachers take the blame like this. We should go and help them.”
“Wait,” said Xue Tingxiang suddenly.
He glanced around, then strode quickly back inside the academy. A moment later, he reemerged holding a potted plant. Without saying a word, he pushed his way through the crowd, followed closely by Mao Badou and the others.
Once they reached the front, he raised the pot high and smashed it onto the ground. The shattering of the pot was loud enough to silence the entire courtyard.
“Stop. Everyone, be quiet.”
At once, the crowd fell silent, all eyes turning to this unexpected intruder.
“You,” he pointed at the old woman on the ground. “Did someone from your family die?”
Before she could speak, one of the Qinghe students snapped, “Watch your mouth! What kind of scholar talks like that? Have you no shame-”
“Just answer me,” Xue interrupted coldly. “Did someone in your family die, yes or no?”
The old woman, startled by his calm but commanding tone, nodded dumbly.
“If someone in your family has died, shouldn’t you be home preparing the funeral? What are you doing here, making a scene?”
His blunt, shameless logic left the old woman momentarily speechless. After a long pause, she finally stammered, “My grandson was killed by your Qingyuan Academy-”
Xue Tingxiang cut her off again. “Where did your grandson die?”
The old woman answered instinctively, “We only received word this morning — they said he was beaten to death at the academy…”
“So your grandson did not die inside Qingyuan Academy?” When the old woman nodded, he continued sharply, “If he died at Qinghe Academy, then why are you here raising a fuss at Qingyuan? Isn’t this absurd?!”
“The Headmaster said it was your Qingyuan students who killed him-”
“Oh, so because Qinghe’s Headmaster says our students did it, it must be true? Then we can say your people killed him inside your own academy and are framing us to cover it up! Haven’t you heard the saying, ‘a thief crying to catch a thief’? Elder, you should be old enough to know better. We have no quarrel with your grandson. What reason would we have to kill him?”
“This…” the old woman faltered.
“By the way, was your grandson called Sun He?”
[Gumihou: Hah!! Real intelligent people at work!]
Kitchennovel.com has a Membership System!!
Please click on the table below to check it out~
Naturally, you can also choose to support us through Patreon or tip us via Kofi~!
Don’t forget to leave a comment at novelupdates too!
