Mountain and River Festival

Chapter 407 Dan Academy Doesn't Raise Pigs

The first day in office passed by with Lu Xingzhou feeling utterly overwhelmed.

The day was mostly spent getting to know people and familiarizing themselves with the rules and regulations; nothing much was actually done except watching Pei Chuyun and Sheng Yuanyao bicker.

Lu Xingzhou noticed that Sheng Yuanyao's fighting ability had improved considerably since she was kidnapped. Before, a single sarcastic remark from Pei Chuyun would send shivers down her spine and make her want to retreat, but now she could retort as if it were nothing, and those manipulative tactics seemed to have little effect on her…

This is what they mean by "once you've seen the ocean, you can't be satisfied with a river"—you've survived the most painful experiences, so everything else is just a minor matter.

That night, the demon capital heard the sun rise, a fate comparable to undergoing a tribulation.

Lu Xingzhou was also going through a tribulation at this moment. He waited until the end of the office, then seized an opportunity to make an excuse to pick up his child and ran away like the wind.

Sheng Yuanyao had no idea where Lu Xingzhou was going that night. She felt that she had held her own against Pei Chuyun all day and had stopped Pei Chuyun from sneaking a bite to eat. She was very satisfied with her performance and went home for dinner with a proud and triumphant air.

Pei Chuyun, who seemed defeated, suddenly smiled as she watched her retreating figure.

Foolish melon.

Lu Xingzhou did indeed pick up the child.

He's become an official, but both he and his apprentice still retain their student status at the Alchemy Academy. They had no choice but to go on a mission, and theoretically, they should have continued their studies upon their return. However, he's now directly appointed as an official, so the Alchemy Academy still needs to process some paperwork.

They either have to suspend their studies or keep their names on the list; as long as they can pass the assessment when they return, there has to be some explanation.

After all, it's the highest institution of learning. No matter how powerful your connections are, if you don't even cooperate with the procedures, you can't explain yourself.

So the master and apprentice split up. Lu Xingzhou went to the Six Ministries to handle the formalities for becoming an official, while A Nuo went to the Dan Academy to handle the procedures for taking a leave of absence.

Meng Li sat behind a tall, wide desk, looking at the small head opposite him.

The little girl was just taller than the desk, her two little hands gripping the desk, her head hanging on it, looking at herself with her round eyes – she was incredibly cute.

I wonder if she's standing on her tiptoes; that would make her even cuter.

Meng Li couldn't help but laugh: "You came to handle the procedures all by yourself?"

“Yes.” A’Nuo leaned on the table, looking very serious. “I’m also a student of Dan Academy!”

"Yes, yes, yes." Meng Li laughed, "Your master went to become an official, and you didn't become an official, so you can continue learning."

Ah Nuo hesitated for a moment.

Meng Li said, "Is it because you can't bear to part with your master? He usually goes to the government office, and you have nothing to do at home."

Ah Nuo said sincerely, "I was just thinking about how to say the fact that I can't learn much here in a way that would save face for Instructor Meng."

Meng Li: "..."

Ah Nuo: “…”

The two stared at each other for a long time before Meng Li finally said with a long face, "Since that's the case, why bother dropping out of school? You and your master were able to pass the assessment without attending many classes, so naturally you've passed."

Ah Nuo was overjoyed: "Really?"

"Do you think I, an instructor, can fool a little child like you?"

Will attendance points be deducted?

"...Under normal circumstances, it would be deducted, but since you have such an important mission, you can use this excuse to count other absences."

Ah Nuo was overjoyed: "How about we participate in the three-year graduation assessment?"

Meng Li was dumbfounded.

The Dan Academy's advanced studies last for three years, and this master and apprentice are only in their first year. There is still a whole quarter left before the end of the year. If they fail the assessment this year, they will have to repeat the year.

Meng Li was still considering whether they would repeat a grade this academic year, while this kid was already thinking about going straight to the third-year graduation exam...

There have been geniuses who skipped grades in the past; Qin Zhiyu, the headmaster of their Dan Academy, skipped a grade when he was a student there in his early years, but there has never been such a way of skipping grades, and the person who said this was a child.

"Why is Instructor Meng so surprised?" Anuo said with utmost sincerity, "If it's just for this academic year's assessment, I don't care about attendance points. I don't care if I lose them all... The graduation assessment is probably a bit difficult, so I can't just deduct points randomly..."

Meng Li remained expressionless.

Anuo shook her little hand: "Instructor? Instructor?"

Meng Li reluctantly said, "Are you sure you don't need the knowledge from the Alchemy Academy? You should know that even the Imperial Preceptor's knowledge is not entirely the same as that of the Alchemy Academy. You can learn from others' experiences, so don't think you know everything."

"Oh yeah..." A'nuo scratched her head: "Does the Pill Academy have pills for raising pigs?"

Meng Li: "I hereby grant you permission to directly participate in the graduation assessment at the end of the year. Now, please leave this place gracefully."

The fact that there wasn't even a pig farmer confirmed Ah Nuo's belief that she wouldn't learn much here. She sighed and left the instructor's office.

Passing by her classroom, Anu peeked inside and saw that it looked quite pitiful.

Originally, there were only about twenty people in this class. One person died in the Demon Subduing Domain, Chen Yu is gone, and my master and I went on an "envoy" mission. Now there are less than twenty people left, and the group is sparse.

"Hey, who's that little girl? She's so cute."

"Why are there children at the Dan Academy? Is one of the teachers' children?"

Pshaw? You guys don't even recognize your classmates anymore.

Ah Nuo looked at the female classmate in front of her who was trying to rub her face as if she were an idiot: "Sister Cuilian, the medicine you just prescribed has one more qian of angelica and half a qian less of wolfberry."

The female classmate looked down in surprise and found it to be true. She was shocked: "How did you know... no, how do you know me?"

Ah Nuo's little face fell: "Do you still remember Lu Nuonuo, who was in a row and a column..."

The classroom fell silent. Yes, everyone did have a classmate this young, but her total class time probably didn't even amount to a fifth of her absenteeism. Everyone had almost forgotten about her. Lu Nuonuo was relatively well-known; at least she was a child and everyone remembered her. As for what her master, Lu Xingzhou, looked like, no one really could recall.

"Alas." Ah Nuo, with her hands clasped in her sleeves, walked away with faltering steps: "Children I meet do not recognize me, and laughingly ask, 'Where do you come from, guest?'"

The students were expressionless.

Who's the child here?

Just then, Lu Xingzhou found A Nuo, picked her up and weighed her in his arms, then turned to look at the classroom.

It's true that many departments of the imperial court would employ alchemists to be stationed there, and the Ministry of Reception and Foreign Affairs also had this excuse—if a foreign envoy came and fell ill, they would have an alchemist readily available and wouldn't need to go out to find one. Of course, in reality, he didn't need one, but the purpose of finding an alchemist wasn't just that.

Knowledge is hard to come by, and so is alchemy. Those who can get into alchemy academies are generally from prominent backgrounds; they are either trained by various sects or have family connections.

Therefore, a career at the Dan Academy is itself a form of social gilding.

If you could recruit them like Qi Tuizhi, the gains would be even greater. Of course, these people have no worries about their future; you'd have to poach them, not have them begging you, so you can't achieve the same effect as Qi Tuizhi.

Lu Xingzhou pondered for a moment, then picked up Anuo and went to find Meng Li again.

Hearing the knock, Meng Li casually said, "Come in."

The door opened, and Anuo's chubby face appeared first. Meng Li almost shuddered: "Why are you here again? The Dan Academy really doesn't raise pigs."

Lu Xingzhou then entered the room: "Instructor, I would like some background information on my classmates, including those from the previous two graduating classes."

Meng Li calmed down, squinted at him for a long time, and said, "Don't you think you've taken too big a step?"

Lu Xingzhou smiled and said, "Since it's time to ride the wind, then let's fill the sails."

"Alright. You have your own ideas, so I won't say more." Meng Li took out a jade slip and tossed it over: "Make your own decision."

"Thank you for your instruction." Lu Xingzhou accepted the gift, said nothing more, and bowed to take his leave.

"Hey hey hey...wait a minute..." Meng Li suddenly remembered that he should ask Lu Xingzhou whether he was going to participate in the graduation assessment directly, and whether his child could represent him. Lu Xingzhou had already disappeared.

Lu Xingzhou was lost in thought, and his steps unconsciously quickened.

The Meng brothers, Meng Guan and Meng Li… although politically aligned with Pei Qingyan's faction, they didn't bear the strong imprint of Pei's former protégés and were relatively independent. Therefore, while most people didn't know that Ye Tinglan was disguised as Madam Ye, Meng Li did, because Ye Tinglan needed Meng Li to establish his identity, meaning she recognized his character and independence.

This is actually Lu Xingzhou's own relationship. After all, his relationship with Meng Guan was formed when they worked together to deal with the Demon Disciple Infant Ghost. They were people he knew, not people he was brought together by.

Adding to his classmates at Dan Academy, and setting aside the influence of romantic relationships, Lu Xingzhou's own network of connections isn't particularly small, giving him a certain foundation. If Pei Chuyun, Sheng Yuanyao, and Ye Tinglan weren't involved in romantic relationships, and they were all men, the camaraderie forged through shared battles and the teacher-student relationship would actually be more direct and useful. The romantic relationship, however, makes things a little awkward now, giving him a feeling of being a kept man…

But once you think it through, it's nothing. Even if it's not a romantic relationship, since they are both men, isn't their past mutual support a strong bond?
"Master, where are we going?" Even though he had been away from the Dan Academy for a long time, Lu Xingzhou was still deep in thought. Seeing that Anuo had missed her own street corner, he finally couldn't help but ask.

"Oh, I'm going to a friend's house for dinner," Lu Xingzhou replied casually, lost in thought.

"Friend? Do I know her?" Ah Nuo had just finished asking when she saw the little demon girl waiting at the alley entrance ahead, waving at them.

Ah Nuo was filled with grief and indignation: "This Ah Lu is your friend? I really didn't believe you guys."

What's even stranger is that you have to sneak out the back door to "go to a friend's house for dinner," like a thief.

Back when I brought Ah Lü to the Pei residence for dinner, we used the main gate! We've gotten so far back in our ways.

Once inside, there was no more concealment. The banquet hall was brightly lit, and Pei Qingyan and his son were already waiting there, clearly showing that they valued Lu Xingzhou much more than before.

"The boat is here? Have a seat." Pei Qingyan smiled and casually pointed.

Lu Xingzhou said, "Wasn't he broken his leg and thrown out?"

"So who's holding a grudge now?" Pei Qingyan chuckled. "It was just a casual remark back then. Did I really hit you? Or was it Yu'er who was outwardly compliant but inwardly hitting you behind your back?"

Pei Yu quickly laughed, "How could that be?"

Lu Xingzhou then noticed another young man in the room, who appeared to be a bit older than Pei Yu. Seeing Lu Xingzhou looking him over, the young man stood up, cupped his hands, and bowed deeply to the ground: "Pei Zhao thanks you, Magistrate, for your kindness in rescuing me from the northern frontier."

"I don't deserve it, it's my duty." Lu Xingzhou said politely, then heard Pei Qingyan say, "The Pei family was in charge of Zhao'er in this Northern Frontier border market incident, so let's get to know each other and let him thank us for the rescue back then."

Lu Xingzhou nodded, finally understanding that this was one of the reasons why Pei Qingyan's attitude had been unusually good since returning to the capital. Indeed, he was Pei Zhao's benefactor.

When Gu Zhanting's plan failed, a group of generals were trapped in the city, including Pei Zhao. Although they hadn't been captured yet, it was only a matter of time. Lu Xingzhou ransomed them all with a cartload of Yao Ye Pearls, sparing them even the humiliation of being prisoners.

This was a great favor not only to the Pei family, but also to many soldiers and generals at the time. The more one understands about this matter, the greater the favor becomes, because Pei Qingyan is certain that if anyone else had been sent to negotiate, Long Qinghuang would not have listened. This was a feat that only Lu Xingzhou in the entire Daqian could accomplish.

Seeing that her father and brothers were unusually kind to Lu Xingzhou this time, Pei Chuyun, who was sitting beside him with her eyes narrowed from smiling, finally said, "Oh dear, you keep talking and talking, can't you let people eat?"

Pei Yu laughed: "What, you're already protecting your boss on your first day in office?"

Pei Chuyun glared fiercely at her brother.

Lu Xingzhou then continued the conversation, saying, "Prime Minister Pei appointed Miss Pei as the Registrar of my Office of Guests and invited me to his home for dinner... I think it must be more than just to express his gratitude and discuss the border market matters, right? After all, Registrar Pei will know more about the border market matters than anyone else later."

The casual conversation at the table suddenly fell silent as everyone looked at Pei Qingyan.

Pei Qingyan waved his hand and said with a smile, "It's still the same topic you and Chu Yun talked about when you first came to our house for dinner... It's just that back then I wanted you to directly sue Huo Xingyuan for abusing his illegitimate son, which really shows I didn't care about your future. Now the situation is different, and our relationship is different too. You might as well tell us how you plan to deal with the Huo family, and see if our Pei family can help."

Pei Chuyun turned her head and glanced at Lu Xingzhou.

She was present throughout that not-so-pleasant meal as a "maid," and she still remembers Lu Xingzhou's composed and respectful response: "I think Prime Minister Pei hasn't made up his mind yet."

Now, the decision to "see if our Pei family can help" is a genuine one. Lu Xingzhou, a mere fifth-rank official, traveled to the capital in a wheelchair carrying a child; in less than a year, everything had changed dramatically.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

P.S.: I forgot about swearing yesterday, so please vote for me! I'll still post 10,000 words today (three chapters total).
(End of this chapter)