Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

“It’s complete nonsense!” The young man was so furious and ashamed after being scolded by Jiang Pengji; he was barely able to control his temper.

Jiang Pengji sneered at him, looked at Master Yuanjing, then took a look at the young Zude. She said to him with sarcasm, “You are calling what I said nonsense. But why don’t you take a look at yourself and what you have in your brain? There is a saying, ‘The citizens outweigh their emperor.’ If it is so, how come the gentry clan members are more noble than citizens? You are saying I’m protected in my family’s shelter, but are you the same as me? Otherwise you aren’t talking reason with me here.”

Jiang Pengji didn’t have a good impression of the young man Zude. She found he didn’t just have a hypocritical, sainted heart, but he was also a bit dumb.

The young man went mute. Jiang Pengji started to talk again, but she was talking to Master Yuanjing instead of the young man. “I thought Master Yuanjing had fame all over the world, which meant that you should have taken extra caution when you received your apprentice… Yet somehow you were blind when you took on this bipolar and incorrigibly obstinate piece of wood as your student?” She didn’t try to hide how much she despised the young man.

The young man was so mad he couldn’t speak and his face turned red. He didn’t care how much Jiang Pengji attacked him verbally, but it wasn’t acceptable for her to get the teacher involved.

Master Yuanjing took a deep look at Jiang Pengji instead of getting upset. “No one is perfect. This rule works for the saints, not to mention any ordinary person. As a teacher, I need to teach without classifying my students and then I can make sure to deliver the principles, tutor the knowledge, and answer the questions. Zude was wrong for sure, but you cannot deny his bright side. How can you judge a person from a small piece of him and then deny him everything? According to what you are saying, Langye Academy is just a place with a name and a defective teacher who doesn’t deserve to be a teacher. We need to study because of our defects. But it won’t take only one or two days to rectify the defects, not to mention to rectify the moulded temperament.”

His face had a smile that made Jiang Pengji feel uncomfortable. If she could use a word to describe his smile, it would be sly.

Master Yuanjing was deeply respected by the people in the world. His students were not just there because he vied for three cities from the North Borderline royal family when he was younger, or because he was erudite and proficient in his knowledge. Part of the draw was his attitude towards his students: He treated them all exactly the same.

No matter if his student was a gentry clan kid or a vendor’s kid, they were just his students. He wouldn’t lose his bias to value someone just because the student was extraordinary or because they were from a noble family. At the same time, he wouldn’t despise a student because of his bad behaviour or his petty family background. As long as they were not rotten deep inside and there was a chance to modify them, it would be worth his time and effort to teach them.

Jiang Pengji said to him, “I didn’t expect that you would be quite so protective of your own people, Master.”

Master Yuanjing replied to her calmly, “Zude is not a bad person. He is just simply bigoted, but it is fixable.”

Jiang Pengji squinted and causally responded to him with an “okay.” All of a sudden, she pointed at the two guys hiding in the hot spring and asked Master Yuanjing, “Then how do you think I should deal with these two?”

Most of the people watching the show were intrigued by her question. The two people were definitely intimidated.

They basically had to say goodbye to their goal of obtaining a position in the government after they offended Liu She. It did seem, however,like they might still have a chance if Master Yuanjin was willing to put in some good words for them.

Master Yuanjing beamed at them, then gently touched his grey beard. A cunning look flashed in his eyes.

There was a saying that went, ‘Eyes could reflect someone’s true age.’ Master Yuanjing took fine care of himself and he seemed only thirty or forty from his appearance. His eyes were crystal clear with a profound wisdom, however. There was no way to to take a guess at his real age just by looking at his eyes.

Master Yuanjing had seen people holding grudges against others and people acting aggressively. It was rare that he came across someone like Jiang Pengji. He said to her, “Judging by their behavior, they are decent people that glitter on the outside. Looking at their insides, they are full or garbage and they are nothing close to gold. Are you satisfied with my answer?”

Liu She alone would make the two guys’ lives hell, and then she had to pull him into this dirt. She was really going to make them suffer. That was truly mean.

Master Yuanjing was smart; he could see through her intention to use him as her gun. But he wasn’t going to reveal her intention. He was not the type of person to strain at a gnat with someone so young.

What he evaluated was no doubt a bolt out of the blue to the two guys. They were sitting in the warm hot spring, but they felt like they were frozen from their heads to their toes. It was like they were in an icehouse.

Liu She had ended their career and the evaluation from Master Yuanjing left them with not even a foothold in Dongqing Dynasty.

Jiang Pengji grinned with satisfaction. Her eyes squinted like a bright new moon. They resembled Master Yuanjing’s eyes in a way. “I beg your pardon for my drunken rudeness earlier.”

Master Yuanjing shook his head helplessly. She had taken advantage of him being an old man, but he was at least not blind yet. It was rather obvious for him to tell whether or not she was truly drunk.

“No problem. But drinking too much will hurt your liver. It would be best for young people to stay out of it. Let’s go, Zude.”

“I’m so sorry, master. Me not being in my best condition embarrassed you and made you encounter a young kid.” After they left the water pavilion, the young man Zude’s head hung low like a rooster who had lost a battle. He wasn’t pleased.

Master Yuanjing put his hands in his wide, baggy sleeves and paced leisurely. “Zude, what do you think of the young Langjun we just met?”

The young man turned his face away. He was still mad at Jiang Pengji. “He is for sure good at speaking, but he talks a whole pile of nonsense.”

Master Yuanjing didn’t make a comment about that. He raised his brows and asked, “Other than that?”

The young man didn’t say another word for a while.

Master Yuanjin sighed deeply and said, “You have your eyes covered by your resentment, which affects your judgement. That is the biggest mistake for advisers. You can’t judge someone by their surface. You have to make subtle observations about their way of speaking and the way they behave, and then you can dig into the truth. Otherwise, you will make false decisions about if they are an outstanding and talented person among the masses. Isn’t it a shame?” He spoke peacefully, as if he were having a chit-chat with a friend instead of lecturing his student.

The young man wasn’t impressed. “Are you saying that the young kid is an outstanding and talented person among the masses?” Such a high evaluation?

Master Yuanjing stopping walking, turned, and smiled at the young man. “One of the ten thousand.”

The young man was completely speechless.

“However, he is extremely tough and his temperament is rather rampant, which is going to cause trouble for him.” Master Yuanjing pondered for a bit and sighed after. “He is like a piece of fine jade that is of the best quality but it hasn’t been polished. Others who don’t know about his hidden value only treat him like a stubborn stone.”

What was more, she was destined to be the owner of the realm, but she happened to be a she. Master Yuanjing’s brows were raised while he thought about it. For him, it was obvious whether Jiang Pengji was a guy or a girl.

Since Master Yuanjing was holding such a positive attitude towards Jiang Pengji, no matter how terrible the young man felt, he finally started to settle down and viewed her from a more objective perspective. He muttered like he was being wronged, “I’m so sorry that I was blinded and only saw him bullying the weak.”

Master Yuanjing laughed like a kid and made fun of his student. “That’s why I’m your teacher and you are my student.”

The young man didn’t have anything to debate that. Sure. You are the teacher, so you make the call.