I proved immortality through the imperial examination.

Chapter 14 Shut Up
Around noon, Xue Xiang arrived at his uncle Song Yuan's house.

In the courtyard, Song Yuan and Xue Shi were playing pitch-pot, having a great time. Xue Xiang entered without noticing.

Inside the main room, Aunt Zhang was arguing with Song Zijie; one's pretty face was deathly pale, and the other's neck was stiff.

Upon seeing Xue Xiang enter, the two acted as if they hadn't seen him.

Xue Xiang was used to their attitude and walked towards the kitchen. His mother was squatting on the ground picking vegetables, while Liu Mei was frying small crispy fish in the kitchen.

Two thick, long braids were tied tightly with a handkerchief, revealing her slender, fair neck. Hearing the noise, she turned around and saw Xue Xiang. She smiled sweetly and immediately picked out a fish from the bamboo plate and handed it to him.

Xue Xiang opened his mouth to catch it, his mouth filled with a crispy and fragrant taste.

He took the chopsticks and started fiddling with them in the oil, casually asking about Song Zijie's situation.

Liu Mei said, "Everything was fine, my uncle was even killing chickens, when Chen, the instructor from Baishui Academy, suddenly showed up at the door."

It is said that Zijie caused trouble in the school by damaging the statue of Daxian, and should be expelled from the school.

The uncle dragged Zijie out to apologize, but Zijie stubbornly denied it.

Instructor Chen immediately flew into a rage, and the uncle had no choice but to invite Instructor Chen to a teahouse to speak and apologize in person.

At this point, Liu Mei lowered her voice and said, "My lord, why don't we tell Madam Zhang that we should go back?"

"It's all from my uncle's heart, so it's alright. Let's wait and see."

Xue Xiang knew that Liu Mei had a problem with his aunt, who was so easily offended, but if he left now, Song Yuan would lose face.

Half an hour later, Liu Mei finally finished preparing a large table of dishes, and Song Yuan, who was travel-worn, returned.

He patted Xue Xiang on the shoulder and said, "Xiao Xiang, I'm sorry to have troubled you. Zijie is useless and has caused such a big problem."

I had to use a lot of persuasion to finally convince Instructor Chen.

We won't be able to have this meal today; Instructor Chen promised to invite Vice Headmaster Long over..."

"What kind of time is this to talk to him about this? If Zijie can't continue his studies, I'd like to see where the Song family will put their faces."

Zhang said coldly, "What kind of table is this with chicken, duck, fish and meat? Xiao Xiang, hurry up and go to Tan Family Cuisine and order some hearty dishes."

Although you got a minor official position in Jiufenshan thanks to your uncle's connections, it's not a legitimate path to officialdom.

Zijie is going to follow the right path. He will pass the city examination, the prefecture examination, and the academy examination in succession, and be listed on the bronze list. When he comes out, he will be a celestial official with a certain rank.

"You'll inevitably have your moment to shine through Zijie's shadow, so hurry up and go."

"Ignorant woman!"

Song Yuan shouted.

Zhang raised her sharp chin, looking like she was about to scold him, when Xue Xiang quickly said, "Aunt is right, I'll go right away."

As he spoke, he strode off outside.

"money!"

Song and Yuan shouted.

"I have it here."

Xue Xiang left without looking back.

"What money? Without you, could he have made it up Jiufen Mountain?"

Zhang scoffed, "It's time for him to repay the favor. Tan's cuisine isn't cheap; it's sure to satisfy Deputy Headmaster Long. Maybe we can pay some money and say some nice things, and this matter will be covered up."

"you you……"

Song Yuan was furious.

Zhang ignored him and ordered Liu Mei to help set up the table.

Half an hour later, Xue Xiang returned carrying two large, multi-tiered food boxes, where the three people in the hall were already eating and drinking.

The middle-aged man sitting in the middle was a very fat man with huge eye bags and a cold, chubby face. He didn't touch his chopsticks much.

This gentleman is none other than Long Youdao, the vice-headmaster of Baishui Academy.

To Long Youdao's left was a man with a mustache, in his thirties, who was eating with a greasy mouth.

This man was Chen Bing, the instructor of Baishui Academy, who had come to cause trouble.

Song Yuan sat opposite Chen Bing, earnestly urging him to drink.

Song Zijie looked displeased and stood to one side.

Seeing Long Youdao's displeasure, Chen Bing put down his chopsticks. "Old Song, we finally managed to invite some guests back, and this is all we get?"

"The food is ready."

Xue Xiang brought the food box closer.

Zhang hurriedly told Liu Mei to serve the dishes. When the eight delicacies of Tan Family Cuisine were served, Chen Bing's eyes widened. "Old Song, this is Tan Family Cuisine's Drunken Eight Delicacies, right? A table of these costs at least two thousand spirit coins. Haha, if you had shown this attitude earlier, there wouldn't have been any trouble."

Alright, I'll stand up for you, Deputy Headmaster Long. Have Zijie write a letter of apology, and you can hire two craftsmen to repair the statue. That'll settle things.

"Hey, Deputy Headmaster Long, why are you standing up?"

Chen Bing sensed something was wrong.

"You stand up too."

Long Youdao said in a deep voice, wiping the sweat from his brow.

"me……"

Chen Bing was completely baffled.

"stand up!"

Long Youdao's voice turned stern.

Chen Bing had no choice but to stand up and finally figured out where the problem was. Long Youdao's eyes were fixed on the tall young man who was delivering the vegetables.

"May I ask your name?"

Long Youdao still found it hard to believe.

"This is my nephew, who works in Jiufenshan."

Song Yuanfen said.

Chen Bing scoffed, "There are plenty of people just loafing around on Jiufen Mountain, Lao Song, stop trying to pull this on. Shall we drink or not? Once the mood for drinking wears off, we won't be able to continue."

"Shut up!"

After shouting sternly, Long Youdao suddenly cupped his hands towards Xue Xiang and asked, "May I ask, is your surname Xue?"

"Have we met before?"

Xue Xiang had no recollection of it.

"Chief Xue!"

Long Youdao stumbled and nearly fell.

"What room leader?"

Chen Bing was baffled.

"you are?"

Xue Xiangzhen did not recognize Long Youdao.

"I am Xiaolong from Baishui Academy."

Deputy Headmaster Long bowed respectfully.

Song Yuan, Zhang Shi, Song Zijie, and Liu Mei were all dumbfounded.

Is there such a fat and old little dragon?

Xue Xiang roughly understood why this Deputy Headmaster Long knew him.

The Seventh Academy is in charge of commerce and education. The six primary schools and three intermediate schools in Yunmeng City are all funded by the Yunmeng government.

The appointment of the heads of the various academies was based on local recommendations and approval by the head of the Seventh Academy.

The Seventh Academy has the authority to hire and dismiss the other deputy heads and faculty members.

The third room is in charge of education.

Previously, the main business of the Third Office was the arrangement of the annual financial allocation budget for each university in the following year.

Song Kui, the head of the Third Office, summoned the heads of various academies in Yunmeng City to a meeting. He insisted on bringing Xue Xiang to the meeting as well, not only arranging for him to sit on the stage but also making him give a speech.

Xue Xiang reluctantly attended several meetings, and managed to become familiar with the heads of the various academies in Yunmeng City.

From Xue Xiang's perspective, he was merely there to observe the meeting.

From the perspective of Long Youdao and other headmasters and deputy headmasters, they had long regarded him as a rising star in the Third Room. After some inquiries, they learned that he was Xie Haiya's most trusted confidant, and immediately regarded him as someone they had to befriend.

Today, Chen Bing used Song Zijie as a go-between to extort a banquet from Song Yuan, which is nothing out of the ordinary.

Long Youdao never expected that he would extort money from Xue Shizhang's uncle.

Long Youdao stepped forward and shook Xue Xiang's hand, saying, "At the last meeting on fiscal appropriations, two people from Baishui went: one was Headmaster Zhang, and the other was me."

You were sitting on the stage next to Director Song, and I was below you, so it's normal that you didn't see me.

But I listened carefully to your speech; it was insightful and every word was precious…

(End of this chapter)