The destiny of all heavens begins in the Red Chamber

Upon closer inspection, his breathing rhythm remained normal and smooth, as always.

The other students couldn't keep up. Even Cong-ge, who had already started basic martial arts training, could only last for the time it takes to drink a cup of tea before he had to step aside and rest for a while.

Jia Huan keenly realized that playing Cuju (ancient Chinese football) was quite effective for physical exercise.

Just like modern sepak takraw, watching it always amazes you with the players' physical abilities and various fancy moves.

What surprised him most was the progress bar for the breathing and exhalation section of the cheat system, which had reached 0.5%. After so much time spent studying and researching, he had achieved considerable results.

At this time, he not only grew taller, but also reached the height of an average nine- or ten-year-old boy.

Physical strength, agility, speed, and other aspects have all improved significantly!

His overall physical fitness is no worse than that of an average eleven or twelve-year-old boy!

Unfortunately, the area around the clan school was too small. They managed to build a football field, but there wasn't any other large open space available.

Otherwise, he really wanted to set up a training ground, with commonly used weapons and stone weights and wooden stakes for training.

To reiterate, there are far too few ethnic minority school students who are truly motivated and willing to learn proactively.

More often than not, they have little interest in serious studying, but are full of enthusiasm for all kinds of fun and games.

Even though Jia Qiang was already fifteen years old, he would participate in the afternoon Cuju (ancient Chinese football) matches whenever he had time. According to him, it was a way to exercise, and he enjoyed it very much.

Having received special care and undergone more than a year of recuperation and training, Congge'er has grown taller and more robust, clearly a strong and capable fellow.

When they reach the age of ten, they can then try to begin learning more advanced martial arts and military strategies.

Meanwhile, Jia Huan and his classmates were sweating profusely on the Cuju field when someone suddenly shouted from the side: "Third Master Huan, Third Master Huan, look over here!"

Taking advantage of a moment of free time, Jia Huan glanced around and discovered that it was actually the errand boy from the Second Master Zheng's side.

Not daring to be negligent, he waved to signal the students to play by themselves, and immediately came down and asked curiously, "What brings you here? Is this your first time at the clan school?"

"Third Master Huan, the master requests your presence. Let's hurry over!"

The servant who came to call for people didn't waste any words and urged them directly.

Jia Huan didn't delay and quickly changed his clothes before heading out.

"Is there anything important coming up with the master?"

After leaving the clan school, Jia Huan stuffed a handful of copper coins into the servant who had called for people; there must have been at least twenty or thirty of them.

The other party also knew that Jia Huan was a penniless pauper, at least on the surface, so naturally they wouldn't complain about the small amount offered. They said softly, "It seems to be a matter for Master Xue!"

Uncle Xue?

Oh, it's the domineering Xue Pan.

Jia Huan knew that the Second Master Zheng had called him over to talk, probably because of Xue Pan's plans to study at the clan school.

In the past, Master Zheng would not have called Jia Huan over; he would have simply sent someone to inform Jia Dairu.

But things are different now. Master Zheng is very familiar with the situation of the clan school and knows Jia Huan's importance.

Of course, it's probably because they don't trust Xue Pan, which is why they want to give him some pointers.

As expected, when Jia Huan returned to the mansion and reported to the main study, the Second Master Zheng spoke to him about Xue Pan's studies at the clan school, instructing Jia Huan to "take good care" of him.

Jia Huan agreed immediately without saying anything unnecessary.

Xue Pan didn't go to the clan school to study; his aunt wanted to keep him confined to the Jia family's school. But Xue Pan didn't play by the rules and turned the clan school into a brothel with money.

It's not fair to blame the students of the ethnic minority school for lacking willpower; even adults would have struggled!

It should be noted that Jin Rong in the original Dream of the Red Chamber earned nearly a hundred taels of silver a year just by running errands and speaking favorably for Xue Pan.

Looking across the entire capital, a family with an annual income of one hundred taels of silver was definitely considered a top-tier middle-class family.

It's not an exaggeration to say that people would be willing to die for money on the streets!

At the clan school, apart from a few students whose families were well-off, the rest of the students all came from wealthy families and were easily won over by Xue Pan's sweet talk.

Of course, that's unlikely right now.

Sure enough, Xue Pan went to the clan school with great enthusiasm the next day.

Then, a group of elementary school students swarmed around him and surrounded him.

"What are you guys trying to do?"

Xue Pan was startled; this was nothing like the Jia clan school life he had imagined.

"You are Xue Pan?"

Jin Rong sized the man up and down and chuckled, "I heard you're doing quite well in Jinling!"

"Of course, I have a nickname: 'Little Tyrant of Jinling'!"

Xue Pan boasted smugly, "In Jinling, I can do whatever I want!"

"That's pretty impressive?"

Jin Rong chuckled and said, "So that means you're pretty good at fighting?"

Changing the subject, he said leisurely, "Perfect timing! The students from the clan school want to see what's what, so don't hold back. We've all seen a lot in the world!"

With a shout, he swung his fist at Xue Pan, who was tall, but also plump and fair-skinned.

"Stop fighting! Stop fighting! Ouch, ouch, I give up! I give up! Please stop fighting!"

Xue Pan was knocked to the ground and repeatedly begged for mercy.

Chapter 64 A Show of Force (Please continue reading)

"Pan'er, Pan'er, what's wrong with you?"

In a side room of the Pear Fragrance Courtyard of the Rong Mansion, Aunt Xue was shocked to see Xue Pan with a bruised and swollen face. She exclaimed repeatedly, "Has someone bullied you? I'll go tell your aunt right away!"

"No, no, no, Mother, please don't!"

Xue Pan hurriedly waved his hand, embarrassed, and said, "I just went to the Jia family academy and bragged a bit, and those kids started to think I was really good at fighting!"

"He insisted on sparring with me, and this is how it ended up!"

Aunt Xue was speechless, and her gaze toward Xue Pan was rather subtle.

"Besides, they're just teenagers; their strength isn't that exaggerated!"

Xue Pan could still laugh, but he was secretly suffering in his heart, though he dared not say it aloud.

Little did he know, Jia Huan had already prepared a feast for him.

The group of lads were really ruthless; they knocked him to the ground, leaving him utterly humiliated.

In the end, she was even threatened, and feeling somewhat embarrassed, she ended up just going along with what the other party said to fool her mother.

Surprisingly, it worked really well!

The mother, who had been fuming, now had a subtle expression and a strange look in her eyes.

After carefully examining his injuries for a few moments, he stopped making a fuss about finding someone to help him.

In fact, Xue Pan only had some bruises on his face, not to the point of being swollen and bruised or even turning into a pig's head. It was just some superficial injury.

"You should be more careful in the future, you're all grown up now!"

Aunt Xue was both amused and exasperated, and said irritably, "This is the capital, not Jinling!"

She spoke with a hint of melancholy; if circumstances hadn't prevented it, she truly wouldn't have wanted to come to the capital to seek refuge with the Rong family.

The Xue family was very powerful in Jinling; even the prefect had to give them face.

Otherwise, given Xue Pan's crime of killing someone, even if he doesn't die, he'll be severely injured. Either the Xue family will have to pay a huge price to settle the matter.

In fact, the Xue family didn't exert any effort at all. The prefect of Jinling came up with a plan to help Xue Pan escape punishment. Even a fool would know how powerful the Xue family was in Jinling.

The frustrating thing is that the external pressure isn't too great, but the internal troubles within the family are the most deadly!

A group of collateral branches joined forces to force Xue Pan's main branch to hand over the power of the clan leader and the imperial merchant quota, practically trying to force the three of them to their deaths.

Once the title of clan leader is gone, many of the Xue family's businesses, authority, and extensive network of connections will be taken over by the collateral branches.

As for the imperial merchant quota, that is the foundation of the Xue family's current status, so how could they easily give it up?

At this time, Xue Pan's second uncle was engaged in overseas trade and could not help at all.

Finally, with no other option, Aunt Xue, under Xue Baochai's guidance, divided the southern business with the Jinling branch and then hurriedly left Jinling with her two children to avoid disaster.

If we had stayed in Nanjing, we probably wouldn't even know how the whole family of three died.

But once they arrived in the capital, the situation was quite different.

Aunt Xue was well aware that there were far too many powerful and influential people in the capital.

Given Xue Pan's reckless nature, it's no joke if he offends someone powerful.

This is one of the reasons why she couldn't wait to send Xue Pan to the Jia family school.

With the status of a student of the Jia family academy, even if Xue Pan caused trouble outside, others would not take it too seriously out of respect for the Rong family.

Such thoughts are obvious to anyone with eyes to see, but no one says them out loud.

In addition, Aunt Xue was very good at dealing with people, and she directly used gold and silver to pave the way, which suited the Rong family master and the servants perfectly.