I only wished to take up my fiefdom, but my elder brother forced me to rebel.

All the Confucian scholars lowered their heads.

They felt deeply resentful, as they were direct victims and couldn't possibly be happy.

However, they also knew that they were simply unable to refute Lu Yuan's remarks.

They didn't dare to go against the people of the world.

But there were still some people who, though they didn't say a word, had eyes full of anger.

Seeing that no one spoke, Kong Xiuyuan took a vermilion pen and added the five characters "practical learning can lead to officialdom" to the treatise, and signed his name.

The doctoral students avoided his gaze, none of them willing to touch the scroll of the college charter again.

What they just found dirty has now become an unavoidable rule for them.

Young Master Liu eagerly took the contract, smoothing out the curled corners, as if afraid of damaging a single word.

If anyone ever said that he was unworthy of an official position because he knew how to use an abacus, he would slap the abacus in their face!

Just as Lu Yuan was about to step down from the stage, a worn-out boot smashed down at his feet.

"The chief priest admits defeat, but we refuse to!"

Below the stage, a scholar with a short beard tore his clothes and squeezed to the side of the stone pillar.

"Student Ma Weizhang has studied for thirty-one years! If I bow down to miscellaneous learning today, how will I face my late teacher tomorrow!"

Kong Xiuyuan reached out to stop him.

"The topic is clearly stated, and the scriptures have never been disregarded! Ma Weizhang, for whom exactly are you upholding the doctrine?"

Ma Weizhang's eyes reddened when he saw the vermilion pen in his hand.

With this pen, one can become an official through two paths.

The threshold he had struggled through half his life but hadn't crossed, could be crossed by someone who was just settling accounts.

He would rather believe that the world is wrong than admit that his suffering over the years was merely a method of selecting officials.

"The students dare not live a life of dishonor!"

He slammed into the stone pillar.

Kong Xiuyuan only managed to grab half of the sleeve before collapsing off the stage.

The old man squatted down to check the patient's breathing, paused for a moment, then suddenly turned and shouted, "Call a doctor! Stop the people behind us!"

But it was too late.

Two more scholars rushed to the side of the platform. One of them was held back by his classmate, but he still struggled desperately, crying out that he would die to defend his principles.

The onlookers quickly backed away.

Someone pointed at Lu Yuan and called him a tyrant, and then someone else raised up the blood-stained scholar's robe.

"The Imperial Academy may have lost, but the sages did not!"

"Go to the Royal Academy! Take down that sign!"

The smile on Lu Yuan's face vanished completely.

He did not refute it word for word, nor did he want to explain the meaning of the scripture again during the lesson.

People are already banging their heads against the pillar. Submitting the charter after that is no different from reading a family tree to a mad cow.

Kong Xiuyuan was standing in front of the steps and was almost pushed over.

"No one is allowed to go! I personally drafted this agreement; how can I go back on my word!"

A young scholar wiped away his tears and placed his own academic credentials at his feet.

"The teacher is willing to admit it, but the student is not."

He turned and ran after the crowd.

Kong Xiuyuan stared at the plaque, his lips moved a few times, but he didn't utter another sound.

He taught trustworthiness for twenty years, but in the end, he lost to the principles of morality as described by his students.

Lu Yuan grabbed Young Master Liu and dragged him straight off the stage.

The Royal Academy must open today.

Otherwise, every time the imperial court undertakes a task, it will have to ask who is willing to risk their life to stop it.

When I arrived at the college, the wooden fence in front of the gate had been knocked down.

Several students used a door panel to protect the newly arrived teacher. One student's book box was trampled and scattered all over the ground.

The first madman to rush over didn't find any sorcery; he just snatched a few math books and wanted to burn them in the street.

He Shen led the Imperial Guards, who were maintaining order on the street, to the scene and used shields to separate the crowd.

The musketeers held the entrances to the alleys on both sides, but their guns were not aimed at the people huddled together.

"Step back onto the street and you may leave on your own!"

He Shen shouted twice, and some people retreated, but the person at the front grabbed the carrying pole and hurled it at the soldiers.

A teacher, protecting his textbooks, was knocked to his knees by the impact.

Some people even stuffed burning paper rolls into the cracks of the college doors.

Lu Yuan took the Emperor's Sword handed to him by his personal guard and threw it away along with the burning paper roll on it.

"Losing a debate means you're going to ruin someone's livelihood?"

"You dare call yourselves disciples of a saint?"

The leading scholar opened his arms.

"What does death matter if the heretical teachings are not eradicated!"

Lu Yuan drew his sword and stood up, saying to the people gathered at the entrance of the Royal Academy, "Anyone who comes to attack the Royal Academy will be punished for treason!"

"Commander He, kill him!"

The imperial guards crossed the wooden fence, and the first dozen or so fell down, their carrying poles and torches falling together.

Young Master Liu squatted down to help someone pick up a book, but was hit by a carrying pole before He Shen pulled him into the house.

He thought he could finally clear the road.

But then more people rushed up from behind.

Someone stepped on the fallen hat of a classmate, took off their scholar's cap, and placed it neatly on the side of the steps.

Someone cried as they dragged the injured away, then turned around and stood up against the shield.

They are not unaware of pain.

The soldier, forced back by the weapons, clutched his injured arm, writhing in pain, but still crawled toward the courtyard gate.

Lu Yuan stared at him, his grip on the sword tightening.

The argument has already been won, and the agreement has been signed.

What else do you want?

He could expose a false account to the face of the people, and lead the new army to repel 100,000 iron cavalry, but the door that these people had set their sights on was harder to open than a city wall.

Soon, another soldier was knocked down.

Lu Yuan forced back the madman who lunged at him with a sword strike, and waved for the shieldbearer to take his place.

"Guard the gate! Do not pursue or attack those who retreat!"

This is not a battlefield.

Ironically, his most familiar method only caused more and more people to fall at his feet.

The frustration was so intense that he could hardly breathe, and even the exhilaration of winning the debate was completely washed away.

He Shen leaned closer, his armor stained with blood.

"Your Highness, shall we wait a little longer?"

He wanted to wait until the crowd at the street corner dispersed.

The nephew's face was too ugly, and the soldiers' hands were already sore from hacking away.

Lu Yuan looked at the injured instructor.

The man was still kneeling by the door, picking up the scattered textbooks one by one and putting them back into his arms.

If we wait any longer, all the injuries suffered today will have been for nothing.

"Open the door."

Lu Yuan stepped over the fallen wooden fence and planted the Emperor's Sword in front of the steps.

He grabbed the red silk hanging from the plaque and ripped it off.

"The Royal Academy begins today!"

"Young Master Liu!"

Young Master Liu, holding the contract in his hand, immediately straightened up upon hearing the voice.

"Students are here!"

"Let me tell you, what will we read in the first lesson!"

He glanced at the blood on the ground, then at the book in the instructor's arms. His voice trembled slightly at first, then grew louder and louder.

"Mathematics! Measuring land, calculating taxes!"

"Go in and learn!"

Young Master Liu picked up the book box. The broken strap was no longer usable, so he simply hugged the book box to his chest.

He walked up to the instructor and bent down to help him.

The man who used to love mentioning his grandfather's name did not hide behind the Imperial Guards this time.

The other sons of Xun Gui followed one after another. Some were pale-faced, and some dared not look up at people, but none of them put down their books.

When the first roll call came from the courtyard, the scholars who were still shouting outside suddenly stopped.

Someone died, but the sign wasn't taken down.

Despite the commotion, classes proceeded as scheduled.

Some people wanted to go forward, but their companions grabbed their sleeves and turned to run away.

Just because someone in front is willing to die doesn't mean someone behind will be.

He Shen regrouped his troops, clearing a retreat route, and the people on the long street finally began to disperse.

When Kong Xiuyuan arrived, the sound of turning pages could already be heard in the courtyard.

He held the few prison student badges he had found and did not step onto the steps again.

As curfew approached, people from several academies in the capital began packing up and leaving the city.

When He Shen reported the news to Lu Yuan, the latter was wiping the blood off his sword with a red silk cloth.

"Dozens of people went to Zhouzhou together, shouting along the way that they wanted the King of Zhou to uphold justice. Several other groups went to the fiefdoms of the King of Huai and the King of Wei."