Mountain and River Festival

Chapter 119 Mrs. Ye

That night, Lu Xingzhou was genuinely infatuated, a rare occurrence for him.

The little vixen is so alluring, and so uninhibited. Her post-bath fragrance is intoxicating, her seductive charm is irresistible, and her hazy eyes are practically dripping with tears. Accompanied by her captivating voice, even a god could be mesmerized.

The two unknowingly moved from the table to the bed, and by the time Lu Xingzhou regained his senses, the enemy was already at the gates.

He stopped, panting, and met Pei Chuyun's dazed eyes.

The air seemed to freeze for a few moments. Lu Xingzhou pursed his lips and saw the mockery and disappointment in the little demoness's eyes.

What is she disappointed about?
Disappointed, he ultimately failed to seduce her, and the prepared "Charming Maiden Technique" was still useless.
Still disappointed... She had no intention of using her cultivation technique, but the man didn't trust her?
I don't know, and I dare not guess.

Pei Chuyun wouldn't say either.

The misty tears in her eyes finally receded, but she only smiled weakly: "Let me hold you and let you sleep."

Lu Xingzhou didn't say anything, quietly lay down and hugged her. Pei Chuyun leaned against his shoulder, her legs wrapped around him without any hesitation, smacked her lips twice, and closed her eyes to fall asleep.

Lu Xingzhou suffered from complete insomnia and could only concentrate on practicing martial arts to pass the time.

He felt that life had become much harder than before after getting involved with this little vixen... Shen Tang would help solve the problem, but the little vixen would kill him and not bury him, and would even pester him afterwards.

This is going to drive me crazy... I have to come up with something...

…………

The next morning, Lu Xingzhou visited Meng Guan's elder brother, Meng Li, an instructor at the Dan Academy, carrying Meng Guan's letter.

The position of Instructor was established in both the Imperial Academy and the Alchemy Academy. In counties and prefectures, the Instructor was often the head, while in the Imperial Academy in the capital, it was roughly equivalent to the Director of Education, responsible for educational work. In the Alchemy Academy, this position was somewhat similar to a political commissar; they were not responsible for teaching alchemy, but rather for overseeing the students' ideological education and medical ethics, teaching them loyalty to the emperor and patriotism, alchemy for the people, and the benevolence of a healer, among other things…

Positioned below the head of the academy, the second-in-command. Given the current importance of alchemy in the Great Qian Dynasty, the head of the academy and the instructor hold extremely high ranks and are very influential figures.

The maid, Pei Chuyun, threw a tantrum today and refused to go with them. Lu Xingzhou knew what was wrong with her and didn't dare to call her. Instead, it was A'nuo who pushed the wheelchair to Meng Li's house.

With his younger brother's connections, Meng Li was very friendly to Lu Xingzhou: "I know about your situation. You don't get along with the Huo family. I heard that Huo Jin even disturbed you during dinner yesterday?"

"Yes. I'm not too worried about anything else, but I'm afraid that the Huo family will try to sabotage things during the Dan Academy's assessment. I hope Instructor Meng will help me out."

Meng Li stroked his beard and smiled, "Actually, it's difficult for the Huo family to do anything this time... because His Majesty said a few days ago that he would personally come to watch, and who would dare to cause any trouble under His Majesty's nose?"

Lu Xingzhou wasn't surprised; the emperor had personally overseen the assessment quite a few times over the years. He didn't think the emperor would specifically look at him, since in his mind the emperor didn't really care about Shen Tang, and a mere guest advisor by Shen Tang's side wasn't worth a special look.

"We can basically put aside our concerns about a cover-up, but His Majesty's personal presence means the assessment will be more rigorous. He might even set the questions himself. Without real talent, things could get quite ugly." Meng Li glanced at Lu Xingzhou: "I wonder what your actual level is. I'll give you a test to see your medical knowledge."

Lu Xingzhou bowed respectfully and said, "Instructor Meng, please set the questions."

Meng Li then took out a ready-made test paper and handed it to Lu Xingzhou, who immediately took a pen and began to answer the questions.

Seeing Lu Xingzhou deep in thought as he answered the question, Meng Li was quite surprised.

This isn't an entrance exam paper; it's the "final exam" for the entire academic year at the Alchemy Academy. It's used to test the learning outcomes of alchemists who have been studying there for a year. It covers a lot of knowledge about the upper three grades of alchemy. It would be quite remarkable if an incoming candidate could guess two or three questions correctly; submitting a blank paper is considered normal.

As a result, although Lu Xingzhou answered quite slowly and needed to think often, he actually answered nearly half of the questions correctly... and every answer he wrote down was the correct one.

Little did Lu Xingzhou know that he was also sweating profusely as he answered the questions. "Damn, this is way too difficult! Is this the entrance exam for medical theory?"
I possess the knowledge of the Maha Notebook and the Incense Burning Pavilion, far exceeding what a normal fifth or sixth-grade alchemist should have. Yet, there's still half of that knowledge I haven't encountered... I originally thought it was like taking the entrance exam for Tsinghua or Peking University, but it seems more like I'm taking the entrance exam for doctoral programs at Tsinghua or Peking University!
Just as he was racking his brains to answer the question, a servant came in to announce: "Madam Ye has come to visit."

Meng Li's expression turned serious, and he even seemed a little nervous: "Please let her in."

A woman wearing a light veil slowly entered the room. Seeing someone bent over a desk answering questions, she asked telepathically, "Instructor Meng, this is..."

Meng Li bowed slightly: "Lu Xingzhou is a student who has entered the Dan Academy for this year's entrance examination. Let me first take a look at his knowledge."

Madam Ye seemed taken aback for a moment: "He is Lu Xingzhou?"

As she spoke, she subconsciously moved a few steps closer to Lu Xingzhou and looked down at him as he answered the questions.

After only a moment's observation, her beautiful eyes widened in surprise: "This... some medical principles are things that the Incense Burning Pavilion should know, so it's not surprising that he knows them, but some..."

Meng Li said in a low voice, "Madam has also noticed, hasn't she? Some of his answers are quite ingenious... Although it's only third-grade knowledge, his thought process is like that of a first-grade..."

"First-class?" Madam Ye smiled and said, "That's because you only know about first-class."

Meng Li was horrified.

The two only used telepathy, which Lu Xingzhou and his disciple could not hear. Anuo kept her big, round eyes fixed on Madam Ye. She thought this older sister must be very beautiful, her beautiful eyes alone were as beautiful as the starry sky.

Unfortunately, this woman's veil seems to be a treasure as well, as it's impossible to see through it.

So she tried divination. She couldn't get any results and almost suffered a backlash. Anuo was shocked and dared not try again.

Madam Ye naturally noticed that the little brat was counting on himself, and she squatted down with a smile, pinching A-Nuo's cheek: "You're counting on me?"

Ah Nuo smiled apologetically, "Sister, you're so amazing! I was wrong..."

Madam Ye asked with great interest, "Where did you learn your divination skills?"

"That, I learned it from the wandering old Taoist priest..."

Madam Ye smiled. As expected of Yuan Muyu's divination method, this liar's nature was just like Yuan Muyu's.

For countless years, no one had dared to divine her own fortune, yet here came this ignorant and fearless child. She too felt a surge of childlike wonder, and said with a smile, "Little girl, I'll restrain my power and let you divine. Let's see what you can figure out, okay?"

Ah Nuo asked curiously, "Sister, are you feeling lost about the future and want to have your fortune told?"

Madam Ye paused for a moment, then nodded.

That must be how the subconscious works.

It's always been said that it's hard to predict others, and no one can ever truly predict you. The road ahead is uncertain, and you're utterly exhausted. So, what's wrong with taking a casual look, perhaps out of a childlike curiosity?

Ah Nuo calculated again with her fingers this time, and sure enough, there was no backlash... But as she calculated, her chubby face became increasingly strange.

"What's wrong little girl?"

"Hey, your divination result looks so similar to a sister I know..."

"Who?" It can't be Yuan Muyu, can it? Well, you kid have some skill.

When asked, Ah Nuo replied, "Sheng Yuanyao."

What similarities could I possibly have with that girl from the Sheng family? After much thought, I can't find any other similarities besides that we're both women. Clearly, this is a misinterpretation.

Madam Ye didn't even bother to ask what the specific divination result was. She shook her head listlessly, stood up, and said to Meng Li, "Instructor Meng, I've come here to ask your younger brother, Prefect Meng, what his private opinion is on the infant ghost case. Don't try to fob me off with official excuses... don't try to fob me off with official excuses."

“Uh…” Meng Li pointed at Lu Xingzhou: “The person involved is here. Instead of asking me about this ‘passed-through’ explanation, why don’t you ask him directly?”

Just then, Lu Xingzhou sighed, turned around and handed in his paper: "Instructor Meng, this is all I can answer. It seems that the entrance exam for Dan Academy is far more difficult than I expected. I'll have to pack up and go home to study for another two years."

Meng Li's hands were trembling as he held the exam paper.

I actually passed the exam...

Although you've only just passed... you haven't even enrolled yet! Do you know how many students in this cohort failed after a whole year of study?

If even you're packing your bags, then Dan Academy might as well close down.

Meng Li's voice trembled: "This, this isn't about the difficulty of the entrance exam, it's something else, something else. The entrance exam will be easier than this. Go back to your lodgings and study the alchemical texts more, don't slack off. The exam isn't until next month, your chances are very good, very good..."

Mrs. Ye couldn't help but laugh.

Lu Xingzhou breathed a sigh of relief, his gaze falling on Madam Ye: "And this is...?"

“This is Madam Ye, who is highly accomplished in alchemy and divination.” Meng Li hurriedly said, “Madam Ye has come to inquire about the details of the infant ghost case. You can take this opportunity to learn more from Madam Ye.”

Madam Ye... sounds like a married woman, perhaps from a prominent family, which explains why she wears a veil.

Since it was Meng Li who introduced them, they should be on the same side as Meng Guan, so Lu Xingzhou could speak with some reservations. Lu Xingzhou then bowed and said, "Greetings, Madam Ye. What would you like to know?"

Madam Ye stared at him: "I find it unbelievable that Huo Lu would hire an infant ghost to kill you in the street. He couldn't possibly be that stupid. What I want to know is how much of this you framed, and whether it's completely unassailable."

Lu Xingzhou laughed and said, "It is a fact that Huo Lu asked the infant ghost to kill me. Even searching their souls would give the same answer. It's just that they chose Hongfa Temple as the assassination location, while the long street was something I created for others to see. But that doesn't matter. The facts are established, aren't they?"

Madam Ye's eyes relaxed considerably, and a smile returned: "That's good. What kind of guidance on alchemy would you like to receive?"

Lu Xingzhou pondered for a moment: "Madam's cultivation is so strong that I can't see through it; it's definitely in the upper three ranks. May I ask you some questions about cultivation?"

Madam Ye nodded: "Okay."

That aura, that confidence... she didn't even ask any questions about cultivation, as if she could answer any question about cultivation.

Lu Xingzhou gritted his teeth: "Madam, please forgive my abruptness... I want to ask about the balance of Yin and Yang, which has been troubling me recently."

(End of this chapter)