Holding a lantern, guiding souls across, Lady Hou comes from the underworld.

As one of the four meritorious marquises, Marquis Jiang Ting of Zhenbei has always been stationed in the northern border and holds a large army.

Ren Fengjue had never seen this person before.

I only heard my father say that this marquis had a fiery temper and always lived up to his name.

Whether it's fighting a war or carrying out other tasks, they are always swift and decisive, with overwhelming force.

Therefore, Ren Fengjue felt that what the old man said made perfect sense.

Jiang Ting is intolerant of any wrongdoing, so how could he allow the people of the Northern Border to worship ghosts and gods indiscriminately?

The story of "Scholar Zhong" happened decades ago, so who can prove whether Minister Zhong actually went to the "Temple of Ghosts and Gods" back then?

It was already getting dark when I came out of the teahouse.

Yu Lang stretched at the doorway. "It feels like I've only been sitting here for a short while, how come it's already dark?"

He then asked Ren Fengjue, "My lord, shall we return to the Zhong residence now, or...?"

Ren Fengjue shook his head: "Let's go to Beiding Academy again."

The old gentleman said that Minister Zhong was an orphan who grew up in Beiding Academy.

After he entered the court as an official, he would donate a sum of money to the academy every so often.

This has been going on for about thirty years.

Beiding Academy is also located in the east of the city, and it is very close to the "Liuhua Lane" mentioned by the old gentleman.

In front of the academy is the moat.

There are two old trees with gnarled roots in front of the door, and several children are playing under them.

Upon learning that someone wanted to visit the academy, Xiao Tong immediately summoned the academy's supervisor.

Ren Fengjue and the others entered the courtyard at the invitation of the supervisor.

At that moment, it was mealtime, and with a call from the front of the dining hall, a dozen or so children immediately swarmed over.

There were also three or five scholars staying at the academy, carrying books, swaying their heads and muttering to themselves, slowly passing by the crowd.

While introducing the academy to everyone, the supervisor, out of courtesy, also suggested that they have a meal together.

To everyone's surprise, Ren Fengjue readily agreed.

This surprised Yu Lang, who thought to himself, "They were just being polite, why did you take it so seriously, Lord Ren?"

The supervisor was visibly taken aback, but having said that, there was no reason to take it back.

He immediately led everyone to the dining hall and arranged a table for them separately.

Surprisingly, the food at the academy was quite delicious. Although it consisted of only a few simple vegetarian dishes, the combination was ingenious.

Especially the stuffed tofu; even Xia Ximo couldn't resist taking two pieces...

Seeing that she liked it, Lord Ren calmly gave her the last piece as well.

Yu Lang, who had just picked up his chopsticks, felt a deep sense of resentment upon seeing this.

At that moment, a robust man in his forties came out of the kitchen and greeted the supervisor.

The supervisor introduced him to everyone, saying that this was the cook of the dining hall, surnamed Wu, known as Uncle Wu, who had grown up in the academy since childhood.

Ah-Wu laughed and said that he gets dizzy when he sees words since he was a child, and only gets excited when he sees food.

The former headmaster, seeing that he was not suited for studying, allowed him to work in the kitchen.

This has been going on for over thirty years.

Ren Fengjue naturally praised him a few times, and at the same time asked, "Uncle Wu has been in the academy for so long, is he still familiar with the current Minister Zhong?"

A-Wu chuckled and immediately replied, "Minister Zhong also grew up in the academy. However, when he passed the imperial examination, I was not even ten years old. Although we didn't play together much, we were still quite familiar with each other."

Ren Fengjue then asked, "I heard that Minister Zhong had a very good relationship with a scholar who shared the same surname back then. Do you remember him?"

Without hesitation, A-Wu replied, "Of course I do, and I remember it very clearly..."