Jiangshan Fengwuzhi

Chapter 163 Water and Fire (I)

The sun shone on the backyard of Chengye Marquis' Mansion. Zhang Xiaofang had been waiting in the courtyard with a book in her hand. When she saw Gu Jingnian and Pei Nian come out, she was stunned for a moment.

"Sir, are you going to school today?"

"Yeah." Gu Jingnian nodded and answered the question irrelevantly: "You are always eager to learn."

Although he was calm, Zhang Xiaofang keenly felt that the atmosphere between him and Pei Nian today was different from usual.

Glancing at the two of them suspiciously, she said, "Well, let's go?"

"Let's go."

Gu Jingnian did not walk on his own as usual, but deliberately stayed half a step behind Pei Nian, occasionally glancing at her with a caring look.

The three of them were silent along the way. When they passed by a pancake stall, Pei Nian went over to buy a few pancakes. Just as he was about to touch his purse, Gu Jingnian had already handed him a few copper coins.

"You are not needed."

Pei Nian was displeased and pushed Gu Jingnian's hand away.

Gu Jingnian did not continue to argue with her and said, "It's just a matter of a few cents, why bother to refuse it?"

"I don't like your attitude."

"What attitude?"

"Be courteous for nothing."

"Have it?"

Pei Nian didn't answer and walked away biting the pancake.

Zhang Xiaofang was still standing there in a daze, but she saw the owner of the sesame cake stall giving her an awkward smile, pointing his chin at Pei Nian and Gu Jingnian, and whispered, "Did you have a fight?"

"Ah? Really?"

Zhang Xiaofang turned around to leave, when suddenly, she seemed to catch a glimpse of a familiar figure out of the corner of her eye. She turned around quickly, only to see people walking on the street, and the figure had disappeared.

"Did I see it wrong?" she muttered to herself and caught up with the two people who were looking a little awkward.

The three of them arrived at the academy. Seeing Gu Jingnian following Pei Nian and walking two steps towards Mingde Hall, Zhang Xiaofang had no choice but to hold him back and asked, "Master, you?"

"I haven't been here for a long time. I forgot the way." Gu Jingnian said, "Are we still in Zhishi Hall?"

"Yes."

"That's good."

This time, the situation was very different from before. Many students pointed at Gu Jingnian and whispered to each other.

"That's Gu Jingnian, who was awarded the title of Marquis Chengye for his meritorious service to the emperor? I heard that he has extraordinary abilities and is actually a classmate of you and me..."

Similar words are heard all the time.

Many female disciples surrounded Gu Jingnian and blocked his way.

"Marquis Chengye defeated the traitor's plot in one fell swoop and saved the fate of the Great Yong. I admire you very much."

"May I ask which hall the Marquis of Chengye is in?"

"Can I see your fire wings?"

"..."

Gu Jingnian was just about to be annoyed when a tall, square-faced, thick-browed disciple pushed those female disciples away with both hands.

"Get out of the way, you are all so superficial."

This person walked up to Gu Jingnian and said seriously, "Marquis Chengye, although you are a marquis, you are still a student in the academy. How can you act like a marquis?"

"When did I put on airs?"

"No, you have to show it off. Otherwise, how would so many people know that you are Marquis Chengye?"

Gu Jingnian then realized that the man in front of him was not very smart. He was too lazy to argue with him and just walked away.

This is why he doesn't like coming to school, there are too many right and wrongs.

"I gave you my honest advice in person, how could you just walk away without paying any attention? You are so arrogant!"

The disciple with a square face and thick eyebrows shouted and patted Gu Jingnian on the shoulder.

The strange thing is that Gu Jingnian finds it difficult to take another step.

He felt a great force on his shoulders, but the force was unusual. It did not come from above, but was like a cover, tightly binding his entire body and making it difficult for him to move at all.

So he could only stand there.

The disciple with a square face and thick eyebrows imitated the old scholar, pacing with his hands behind his back and admonishing him with righteous words.

"I advise you not to be too ambitious and arrogant. Although you have made great achievements, it is hard to guarantee that it is not just luck. If you give up your studies for this, you will forget that studying is the foundation..."

Even Zhang Xiaofang became impatient and curious about why Gu Jingnian was so patient, so she pushed the phone away.

"Son."

As soon as she pushed, Zhang Xiaofang felt Gu Jingnian’s whole body stiffen.

Some of the female disciples standing on the side pointed at Gu Changming and cursed him, shouting "Let my senior brother Gu go", while many others stepped back in fear, whispering to each other.

"what happened?"

"That's Gu Changming. He's been stupid because of reading too much. He likes to preach old-fashioned principles to everyone he meets. He also likes to keep people there and talk. Who can stand it?"

Zhang Xiaofang got anxious when she heard this and quickly shouted, "Let go of the master!"

Gu Changming's face turned serious and he said, "You little girl, you are so quick to stop Cheng Yehou from listening to good advice. You should know that diligence makes one proficient, while play makes one lose. He hasn't come to the school for many days, but you don't persuade him, but persuade me..."

Zhang Xiaofang had no choice but to use her hands to pry Gu Changming's hand off Gu Jingnian's shoulder.

"Let go!"

The louder she yelled, the louder Gu Changming spoke, until she felt dizzy.

Suddenly, someone behind him said, "Let go."

Gu Changming looked back and quickly called out, "Mr. Yu."

After saying that, he finally let go of Gu Jingnian.

The one who came was a cold and beautiful woman. She walked up to them and said calmly, "Take a seat in the hall. It's time for the lecture."

Gu Jingnian stretched his muscles, glanced at Gu Changming, and did not provoke him again. He went to Zhishi Hall and sat down.

Only today did he notice that he and Gu Changming were classmates. The other person was sitting in the front row, his tall body standing straight.

The cold and beautiful woman walked into the lecture hall and said, "The teacher who taught you 'The Book of Yong' has injured his leg. I will be the one giving the lectures from now on. My name is Yu Moxian... Please read an passage from the third volume of 'The Book of Yong'." Yu Moxian was very beautiful, but her lectures were very boring.

Gu Jingnian fell asleep again without realizing it.

After waking up, he heard disciples talking in the hall.

"Who is Ms. Yu? Why does it seem like everyone in the school is afraid of her?"

"She should have super powers."

"What kind of power?"

"I don't know, but anyone who offends her will be in trouble."

"Why do you say that?"

"I heard that anyone who said something rude to her behind her back would either fall down and get a bloody head, or have their hair cut off, or have their face scratched. In short, it was not a good ending."

"It doesn't sound like a supernatural power, but some kind of mysterious technique."

Gu Jingnian paid attention to this matter, took another nap, and finally made it until the end of get out of class. He said to Zhang Xiaofang, "You go back first today. Pei Nian and I are going to a place."

"it is good."

Zhang Xiaofang looked at Gu Changming warily on behalf of Gu Jingnian, and only felt relieved when she saw that the other party was arguing with someone and walked away.

--------

Mingde Hall.

Bai Ji was in a daze the whole day today.

He sat there, occasionally looking up at Pei Nian, his eyes fixed on the jade hairpin on her bun, a look of pain flashing in his eyes.

In the afternoon, a new gentleman came to Mingde Hall. He was a chubby man named Han Youxin.

"My class is different from other teachers'. I teach rare treasures. There are all kinds of treasures in the world. I brought a few of them here today."

Han Youxin first picked up a small jade pendant, showed it to the disciples, and asked, "Look, what's different about this jade?"

"Not much different."

"This jade is called 'Stolen Jade'."

"Excuse me, sir, but is this stealing the fragrance and jade?"

"No, you can listen to the sound of stealing jade."

As he spoke, Han Youxin broke the jade pendant in his hand into two, placed one piece in a corner of the lecture hall, moved his fat body to the other corner and placed the other piece of jade.

"Come, divide into two groups, one group comes over, the other goes over... You come, speak quietly to this jade."

The disciples gathered around a piece of stolen jade. One of them squatted down and said something in a low voice, which even the people around him could not hear.

But in another corner of the lecture hall, someone shouted, "I heard you say, 'Can a small piece of jade really steal sound?'"

The disciples were greatly surprised, and some did not believe it, so they tried it a few more times.

Han Youxin let them try for a while, then told the disciples to sit down and said, "Do you all understand what a rare treasure is?"

"Yes."

"Do you know why I taught you what stealing jade is first?" Han Youxin said with a serious expression, "Since the establishment of the Kaiping Division, Rui State has always sent spies to Yong State to gather intelligence, and they are omnipresent."

When he said this, Han Youxin frowned, looking righteous.

"You are all outstanding talents of Yong State. You will all enter the officialdom and make great contributions in the future. You must be careful not to let the spies of Rui State learn of your secrets."

"Yes, thank you for your teachings, sir."

All the disciples responded in unison.

Pei Nian was sitting there, but he heard a secret voice in his ears.

"The jade hairpin you're wearing on your head is a stolen jade. Are you being targeted?"

Pei Nian didn't look up at Han Youxin, but just shook his head slightly.

Behind her, Bai Ji's eyes also fell on the jade hairpin.

In fact, Bai Ji heard the entire conversation between Pei Nian and Yin Yucheng in Prince Xin's villa that day.

In order to find a certain medicinal ingredient, he has been secretly inquiring into Prince Xin's Palace, and Yin Yucheng's confidant has his stolen jade.

Therefore, before he met Pei Nian, he knew her strength and pride, and after saving her, he felt sorry for her.

Some time ago, Bai Ji was curious and investigated the relationship between Pei Nian and Gu Jingnian. Through various clues, he became more and more curious and wanted to know whether there was no love between the two as he guessed.

So, when he demonstrated his supernatural powers yesterday, he deliberately broke Pei Nian's wooden hairpin in mid-air and gave her a jade hairpin.

He wanted to confirm his judgment, but he didn't expect that the words he heard made him extremely disappointed...

"Bai Ji?"

Bai Ji came to his senses and it was You Yan who patted him.

"What are you thinking about? Let's go and meet Gu Jingnian."

"Not to meet that person."

Bai Ji turned around and saw Pei Nian and Yin Wanqing already standing outside the hall waiting.

"Miss Pei wants to see me practice, so let her watch."

But another short and fat disciple came over and deliberately spat in front of You Yan, almost spitting out a small puddle of water.

"Hao Pangshui, what are you going to do?" You Yan asked with a frown.

"I heard that you are going to compete with Gu Jingnian?"

"so what?"

"I'll go as well."

You Yan was about to refuse, but Yin Wanqing suddenly said, "That's great, let's go together."

The five people then left the Yuewei Academy and saw Gu Jingnian already waiting under the old locust tree, surrounded by many female disciples.

Seeing this, Hao Pangshui and You Yan's competitive spirit was aroused.

"Let's go, little 'fire' boy."

Gu Jingnian nodded and followed them.

(End of this chapter)