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

Master Yuanjing booked a big hot spring room since he had taken his students along. There was a smaller hot spring inside of their room, as well as patios and water pavilions. It was the most luxurious room in the hotel, which would surely help them have a leisurely time.

Master Yuanjing was extremely well-known in Dongqing Dynasty, which was how they could make such a reservation.

Zude walked back to their room with Master Yuanjing. He was about to pull the door open but Master Yuanjing lifted his hand to stop him. His face had a sense of curiosity. “Listen. Do you hear something?”

Zude was confused. They hadn’t accidently stepped into someone else’s room. What was his teacher doing? “Master, is there anything wrong?”

Master Yuanjing grinned. “They normally obey the norms and principles in front of me, but in the private they love playing and having fun. How come they keep quiet like this instead of flipping the world upside down while I’m not here? Therefore, there must be some respectful guest coming in to visit. Zude, how do I look?”

The young man almost choked, but he put his serious face on right away. “You look hearty and hale and you seem no different from young people.”

Master Yuanjing agreed with him and nodded. “I think the same thing.”

The young man was completely speechless.

Master Yuanjing held the same posture as an erudite celebrity and pushed the door open. His eyes swept the room and it all became clear to him. He spotted the person he was expecting and said to him, “It has been years since we last met. How have you been, Liu County Chief?”

The Liu’s had some connection with Master Yuanjing because of Gumin. The two parties interacted with each other every now and then. Even though Gumin had passed away years ago, Liu She’s second wife never forgot to send presents to Master Yuanjing on special days or occasions, which proved that they maintained a fine relationship.

The respectful guest that Master Yuanjing had mentioned earlier was Liu She, just as he had assumed. But Feng Ren, who was sitting next to Liu She, probably just came for fun.

Master took a peek at his students. They were pretty well-behaved considering Liu She and Feng Ren were both present. They all started to act like gentleman with merits. They were either reading poems and discussing them or playing chess.

Hmm, they are truly good at putting on a show.

Liu She took a deep breath when he saw Master Yuanjing appear. Honestly, he felt that it was hard for himself to fit in in that room. Every student in the room seemed as though they would be important in the future and it stressed him out.

He stood up to greet Master Yuanjing, then they were seated as the host and his guest.

Master Yuanjing started to speak before Liu She opened his mouth. “I know why you are here.”

Liu She moved his lips but swallowed his words. Then he asked, “If it is so, what do you think, Master?”

The rest of the students looked as though they were focusing intently on their own work, but as the matter of fact, they were all eavesdropping on their conversation to see why the Liu County Chief was there.

“I promised that I will only have four apprentices in my whole life. Not long ago, I took Zixiao as my fourth student, which means I don’t intend to accept more. Your son is truly an outstanding one in the masses. If you don’t find Langye Academy too shabby, he can enroll any time and he will be very welcome.” Master Yuanjing shook his head, but he didn’t seem as though he felt like he had missed out on an opportunity. “What’s more, even without Zixiao as my last student, I am not a match with your son as a teacher and a student.”

Liu She was slightly frustrated. He hadn’t started his speech yet, but the old man in front of him had spoken for him already. He was not going to push hard, though. His plan was, as long as Jiang Pengji was enrolled in Langye Academy, the rest would be her own destiny.

At least they would obtain what they had wished for.

“That sounds good. Then I’m confiding my disobedient son to you for now. I’m sorry to bother you with such a task.”

Master Yuanjin taunted him, “Your son is full of aggression. If I take my eyes off him, I’m afraid that my Langye Academy will be deconstructed.”

Liu She’s face changed when he heard that. Any normal person who heard such a thing from Master Yuanjing would jump to the conclusion that Master Yuanjing disfavored Liu She’s son for being hard to discipline and unruly; however, Liu She noticed the deeper meaning of his words. Master Yuanjin seemed to be the same as Master Liaochen; they both sensed that his son had a designated destiny that was out of the ordinary.

Master Liaochen had said that there were not more than five people in the world who could discern the emperor level aura that surrounded Jiang Pengji. But it seemed that his baby girl had bad luck meeting both Master Liaochen and Master Yuanjing.

“Don’t worry, Liu County Chief. I’m not a person with a fat mouth.” Master Yuanjing saw through Jiang Pengji’s disguise as a man, but he didn’t lay the secret bare. He even continued the cover for her without being noticed. It was obvious that he didn’t have the same stereotypes as most everyone else did. As the idea of the current literati, a girl who was fated to be the owner of a realm had to be a county-wrecking witch.

A person’s vision that was at the same level as his was no longer restrained by stereotypes. Or else why would they be the talented people? In many circumstances, they would keep their mouth shut even if they saw something.

Liu She squeezed a bitter smile. “If Lanting is really this impossible and he demolishes your academy, I will make sure to rebuild it even if it costs me my whole life and my possessions.”

Mater Yuanjing gently touched his beard and said, “I’m looking forward to him, with your promise.”

It was Liu She’s turn to be quiet. What? Looking forward to that?

Then Master Yuanjing added, “The roof of the room in the east was lifted last time and some of the students tried to fix it. But unfortunately, the craftsmanship is not good enough; it still leaks during the rainy days. If Liu County Chief promised to do the renovation for my academy, my students wouldn’t have to suffer from climbing up and down all the time.”

Liu Che had no comment. I really didn’t realize that you were a person like this, Master Yuanjing.

The impression of Master Yuanjing in Liu She’s mind was that he was someone noble, like the bright moon. He thought he was an exemplary, lofty, but hard to reach person who escaped the hustle of life. But after their meeting, he had a feeling that the illusion of his idol was broken. Master Yuanjing was no different from a normal person.

Feng Ren, who was standing next to Liu She with a startled face, looked like he was struck by lightning. Who would have imagined that the Master Yuanjing, who was described as a godlike person, was truly like a kid in reality?

“Then I will summon my son over here and you can meet him.”

Master Yuanjin smiled at him. “No rush, I met him outside earlier. He is indeed a handsome and healthy kid. You don’t have to worry about it. I will tell my apprentice to deliver a message for me. We might as well play a chess game while we wait.”

Liu She had a sense of anxiety when he heard Master Yuanjin make a comment like that about his baby girl. It was not hard to comprehend handsome, but where did he get healthy from?

Liu She was not the only one in a daze––so was Zude. The ruthless and rude kid from earlier was the Liu County Chief’s son?

“Thanks for making a trip for me.” Liu She wore a calm face, but he felt frightened. He had a bad feeling that his baby girl had caused some sort of trouble again.

“Zude, help us to set up the chess game. I’m going to have one with Liu County Chief.”

It was widely known that Master Yuanjin had mastered musical instruments, chess, calligraphy, and painting, but his students knew that he loved chess the most. He would sometimes stay up all night with a book about chess.

Master Yuanjing chose the black chess pieces. He had his back toward the door, but it was like he had a pair of eyes at the back of his head. He stopped the young man who had just stepped out of the room. “Zixiao, please run to Sky Room Number three in Fanghe Yuan. Just let them know that Langjun’s father wants him to come over.”

It seemed like that the young man had just had a bath. His dark hair still had steaming air and the water was wet on his shoulders.

He didn’t question his master’s request. He lowered his eyes and said yes.

“This young man is your apprentice as well, master?” Liu She lifted his head but he nearly dropped his chess piece. He forgot a most essential problem.

He never told the Master what room his baby girl was staying in. How did Master Yuanjing know?