Young Master Gao? Call me Little Grand Secretary!

Gao Zhao returned to the dormitory and first went to the schoolmaster to cancel his leave. The schoolmaster asked him with concern about his uncle's condition.

Gao Zhao was stunned for a moment before remembering that he had asked for leave on the grounds that his uncle was sick, so he quickly replied that he was fine!

The tutor offered a few more words of comfort and cleared his leave before letting him go back.

Back in his dormitory, Su Mian came to greet him again, mentioning how he had helped Qin Hui and thanking him.

Gao Zhao waved his hand and laughed, "We're all brothers. How can we stand idly by when he's in trouble!"

"Brother, your righteousness is truly admirable!" Su Mian exclaimed in praise, then glanced at Fan Tongyi and sneered, "Unlike some people who, seeing their fellow villagers in trouble, kick them when they're down—truly despicable behavior!"

"He's a toad trying to eat swan meat, why blame me!" Fan Tong said disdainfully. "A good-for-nothing who couldn't even pass the Imperial Academy entrance exam dares to dream of marrying a noblewoman from the royal family? Isn't that just wishful thinking?"

"you……"

Su Mian was furious and was about to get up to argue, but Gao Zhao quickly pulled him back and advised, "Brother Su, calm down. It's not worth arguing with him!"

"What? Am I wrong?" Fan Tong stood up and retorted sharply, "How can a long-legged man be matched with a noblewoman?"

"Gentlemen, please stop arguing. You should focus on your studies right now!" Another person in the dormitory opened the door and peeked out to persuade them.

Seeing that he was studying, the two realized they had disturbed him and quickly stopped talking.

"I haven't studied for several days either, so please stop arguing!" Gao Zhao advised the two of them again, then turned around and went back to his own room. He picked up a book, glanced at it, and went to bed.

I ate too much yesterday and worked until midnight. I also spent half the day today, so my body is a bit depleted. I took this opportunity to rest well and soon fell into a deep sleep. When I woke up again, it was already dawn.

As is customary, I went to the lecture hall to check in, then slipped away. After sitting for a short while by the wall, I saw the old man approaching.

Gao Zhao hurriedly went up to him, took out a wine bag and handed it to him, saying with a smile, "It would be impolite not to reciprocate, so this time it's my treat."

The old man took the wine bag, smelled it, and laughed, "Liuxia from Gaoyang Main Store? Not bad!"

Gao Zhao's eyes widened in shock, and he exclaimed, "Wow! You can even smell that!"

The old man shook his head, pointed, and said, "Your wine bag has the name of Gaoyang Zhengdian written on it!"

Gao Zhao: "..."

The old man took a sip of wine, sat down on the ground, and said, "Have you taken care of what you asked me to do last time?"

Gao Zhao cursed inwardly, then shook his head and said, "I've managed to sow discord between the couple who made the false accusation. The woman has already gone to Kaifeng Prefecture to turn herself in, but the man has been silenced. Now the trail has gone cold..."

Gao Zhao then recounted everything that had happened that day.

"So, your plan to get revenge on that minor official has failed, is that right?" The old man took another sip of wine, turned to look at the Imperial Academy, and smiled, "You were right about something last time: out of more than two thousand people at the Imperial Academy, only a handful will eventually become officials!"

"But have you considered that although that minor official holds a low rank, he is still a genuine Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations)? From that perspective, he is a genius far superior to you!"

Gao Zhao was taken aback, then realized, "Yes! Anyone who can enter officialdom through the imperial examination or the Imperial Academy is a chosen one of heaven!"

To be able to fight one's way out of a state is already a genius; to then go to the capital and stand out from among all the geniuses is to be a dragon among men!

Regardless of their personality or temperament, they are at least no less intelligent than others!

Where did I get the confidence to not take him seriously?

That judge probably already knew how to kill Sun Yuan when he first started using him!

"It seems you've realized the gap between yourself and him!" The old man looked at him with a smile.

Gao Zhao rolled his eyes at him. He hated people like this the most, drinking his wine and making sarcastic remarks!

"I'm not mocking you!" the old man said softly, "but rather telling you a lesson: to surpass someone, you must first acknowledge the difference between you! You must understand that stupidity won't kill you, but arrogance can!"

Gao Zhao was silent for a moment, then nodded. He actually felt this way. In his previous life, he was able to get ahead by showing weakness to his enemies, making them underestimate him and lower their guard.

Having arrived here with Gao Qiu as his backer, he became arrogant and overconfident, looking down on others and taking things for granted!

"So, in this situation, do you still have a solution?" Gao Zhao pondered for a moment. This old fellow had come to chat with him out of the blue; he clearly had a penchant for being a know-it-all, craving respect and the satisfaction of his vanity. He immediately stood up, bowed deeply, and said sincerely, "Senior, please enlighten me!"

Sure enough, the old man was quite pleased, stroking his beard and laughing, "I love your shamelessness—being able to take things on and then let them go so easily!"

Gao Zhao froze, immediately about to erupt in anger and show the old man his fists, as big as sandbags. But then he heard the old man say, "The solution doesn't come from nowhere; it requires information gathering!"

"I once had a friend who proposed a theory that a person's life follows a set pattern!"

The old man broke off a twig from his head, tapped it on the ground, then tapped it a few more times in other places, forming a circle, and continued, "Although Sun Yuan is dead, have you investigated his usual life, how he contacted the people behind him?"

Gao Zhao pondered for a moment. He seemed to have heard of this method before. Then he shook his head and said, "This method probably won't work. It's easy to find out where Sun Yuanchang went, but that judge is the Right Army Inspector of Kaifeng Prefecture. He often patrols the city. It wouldn't be surprising to encounter him anywhere."

"I didn't ask you to investigate this!" The old man shook his head and said, "Didn't you ever think about how Sun Yuan knew to go to the mill?"

Gao Zhao's eyes lit up, and he suddenly realized, "You mean he saw that judge today!"

"What else can I do?" The old man casually drew a straight line through the circle and slowly said, "Go check the intersection of these two; you might be surprised by what you find!"

Gao Zhao stared at the map on the ground for a couple of seconds, nodded, and then turned and ran.

The old man called out from behind, "If you don't have enough clues, then put pressure on your opponent. Once he panics, he'll reveal a weakness!"

"Got it!" Gao Zhao replied loudly.

"Hey, where are you from? What's your name? Why are you wandering around outside during class time?! Stop right there!"

A loud shout attracted the attention of the two school officials, who scolded him and chased after him.

Upon seeing this, Gao Zhao ran even faster, which made the old man burst into laughter!

……

"What? You're taking leave again! You just got back yesterday!" Xueyu looked at him with a dark expression.

"Master Xueyu, I had no choice! My uncle is dead!"

"What! Wasn't it already much better?"

"A final burst of energy before death!"

Instructor: "..."

A moment later, Gao Zhao rushed out of the Biyong with the leave slip in hand.