Unsheathed

Despite the fact that the emperor was being rudely ignored by the five children, neither he nor any of the important officials behind him were irked in the slightest. Instead, all of them were looking on with amused smiles, and this was a clear indication of just how high a regard scholars were held in Great Sui Nation.

The group of children were gathered together, speaking quietly to one another, and the three green bamboo bookcases were particularly eye-catching. Among them, the little girl wearing the red padded coat was the most attention-grabbing child, and she appeared to have been quite agitated for some reason.

All of a sudden, the shortest of the five children abruptly burst into tears, perhaps because he was in a completely unfamiliar place, or perhaps he was intimidated by the grand welcome prepared by the emperor.

Not only did the emperor of Great Sui Nation not display any annoyance upon seeing this, he turned and began to make small talk with the elderly head minister of the ministry of rites.

In the end, the three children turned their collective gaze to the end of the street, unwilling to meet the emperor up ahead.

The emperor of Great Sui Nation wasn’t in a hurry, but this was still a rather awkward impasse. Hence, a reputable scholar of Great Sui Nation, who was also serving as one of the three deputy mountain masters of the new Mountain Cliff Academy, made his way out of the group on his own to remind the children that it was time to enter the academy.

Thankfully, there were no further mishaps or delays. The children didn’t know the customs and rites of the imperial court, but everyone was more than willing to forgive them for their minor transgressions, given how innocent and adorable they were. Despite their young age, they were already accustomed to extending formal Confucian salutes and curtseys, and that alone was already an extremely pleasing sight to the emperor.

He personally gifted each of the five children a jade pendant and a box of golden dragon ink sticks, and what followed should’ve been a complicated series of formalities that lasted at least half a day, but the emperor made an exception on this occasion and simplified the process as much as possible, much to the relief of the three tense and apprehensive children.

As for Xie Xie and Yu Lu, they were already accustomed to such situations, so they didn’t feel nervous at all.

Finally, it was time for the deputy mountain masters to take them to their respective school buildings before informing the children of what they were going to be taught. The five children were split up into school buildings, none of which were very close to one another.

The academy took up a massive area, and aside from the buildings constructed along the mountain, the entire Eastern Splendor Mountain itself had also been assigned to the academy, so it was no surprise that the school buildings were so far away from each other.

Great Sui Nation had extremely high hopes for this academy, which had fewer than 200 students, but over 30 extremely reputable and knowledgeable teachers.

The mountain master was none other than the head minister of Great Sui Nation’s ministry of rites. However, in reality, he was only the mountain master in status, and the head deputy mountain master that would be overseeing the educational affairs of the academy was a former teacher at the original Mountain Cliff Academy.

He was also one of the Scholarly Sage’s secret disciples. His name was Mao Xiaodong, and his bright red nose made him very recognizable. Despite the fact that he was already over 90 years of age, he was still very healthy and looked to have only been 50 to 60 years old.

He wasn’t present to welcome the five children as he had to teach lessons at the academy in order to not delay the education of the other students, and the emperor of Great Sui Nation naturally had no objections to this.

It was said that this deputy mountain master carried a redwood ruler that was strapped to his waist, upon which were engraved the words “rules” and “laws”. All those who had seen the ruler proclaimed that someone had engraved the word “below” in tiny text between the two words, so the whole thing spelled out “rules below laws”.

It was actually quite unexpected that Great Sui Nation had managed to successfully take over what remained of Mountain Cliff Academy. First and foremost, approval from the emperor of the Great Li Empire had been of the utmost importance. Otherwise, there was no way that this could’ve happened.

Perhaps the emperor of the Great Li Empire harbored guilt in his heart toward Qi Jingchun, or perhaps he had some other plans. In any case, the entire imperial court of Great Sui Nation was of the opinion that taking over the academy was a massive blessing.

Initially, there were around four dozen teachers and students from the original Mountain Cliff Academy, and Mao Xiaodong had played a pivotal role in allowing them to successfully leave the Great Li Empire. The journey to Great Sui Nation hadn’t been all smooth sailing for them. Instead, it had been one that was fraught with peril.

Even though Great Sui Nation had invested so much resources into the new Mountain Cliff Academy, it was still somewhat lacking due to the absence of the academy’s founder, Qi Jingchun, or anyone directly related to him.

However, from this day forth, with the arrival of the five children, the academy was well and truly complete.

Standing halfway up Eastern Splendor Mountain was a wenzheng hall, at the center of which was hanging a portrait of the Paramount Sage of Confucianism. To the left of the portrait was another portrait of a solemn elderly man who had had his name concealed, while to the right was a third portrait, this one depicting Qi Jingchun, the first mountain master of Mountain Cliff Academy.

Inside the hall was an old man with a redwood ruler strapped to his waist, and he respectfully offered three sticks of incense to the three Sages as he lowered his head and recited to himself in silence, “Knowledge is the vessel that carries the Dao, passing it down from generation to generation.”

————

The old Mountain Cliff Academy had a rule, which was that accommodation was provided, but not food.

Hence, back when Mountain Cliff Academy was in the Great Li Empire, many students of the academy who had come from impoverished backgrounds would earn money for food by helping the academy make copies of scriptures.

This rule hadn’t been abolished by the new Mountain Cliff Academy, but it was now a lot more lenient. At the moment, the majority of the students of Mountain Cliff Academy were local children native to Great Sui Nation. Due to the fact that this was the first-ever cohort of students, the imperial court of Great Sui Nation had chosen to enroll students from nearby.

Hence, almost all of them came from wealthy and powerful clans of Great Sui Nation, so they weren’t lacking in money. Furthermore, the academy was providing these new students with many benefits, and just the free books, brushes, ink, Confucian robes, and everything else provided by the academy free of charge amounted to an astonishing sum of wealth.

Li Huai was the youngest of the five children, and after reaching his dormitory, he discovered that it was completely empty as all of the students who shared the same dormitory with him were still attending their lessons.

Having already burst into tears once at the foot of the mountain, Li Huai crouched down onto the ground and began to sniffle once again. He was feeling extremely sorry for himself, feeling as if he had lost both his parents and his friends, and the sleeves of his new clothes were smeared with tears and snot over and over again.

In the end, Li Huai opened his bookcase as he continued to weep, and only after putting on that pair of straw sandals did he feel a little better. However, he was then worried that other students would look down on him, so he put on his new boots again, and he repeated the process several times, weeping the entire time.

He had already made up his mind to make Chen Ping’an his junior uncle, but he didn’t have a chance to call him that before they were separated, and he couldn’t help but reminisce about all the good things that Chen Ping’an had done for

Meanwhile, after setting down his bookcase, Lin Shouyi made his way out of his dormitory on his own to take a stroll. There was still a rather cold look on his face, and he walked with firm and decisive footsteps as he came upon a scripture library. Due to the fact that it was newly constructed, it was still giving off a faint woody fragrance.

On the way here, he was always able to hear the familiar sound of book passages being recited, and it seemed that there were far more students here than back in the school in the small town.

Lin Shouyi took a deep breath before making his way into the scripture library.

He had heard that he could read countless books in here without having to spend even a single copper coin.

All of a sudden, Lin Shouyi was struck by a sense of sorrow. If the stingy Chen Ping’an had stayed with them, he would’ve definitely encouraged them to read more books from the library. By his logic, being able to read books for free was equivalent to earning money!

As for Li Baoping, she was seated in her deserted dormitory, and after opening her bookcase, she dug out the letter that Chen Ping’an had written to her. The letter was very long, and it told her that he was going home, that he would inform her family that she was safe and well, and that he would be sure to tell her eldest brother that she had been very obedient and conscientious along the entire journey.

He also told her that he had punched a hole into the gold essence copper coins and strung a length of red string through the hole so that she could wear the coin around her neck. She cautioned her not to lose the coin and told her that if she were ever in urgent need of money, she could sell it for silver.

The letter also said that he had prepared a jade pendant for each of the three children as a parting gift, and the words “Baoping”, “Shouyi”, and “Huaiyin” had been engraved upon them, respectively. He said that hadn’t been able to help them much over the course of the journey, so he insisted that they at least accept this gift from him, and that if they found the jade pendants to be too unsightly and embarrassing to wear, then they could just hide them somewhere.

He said that Li Huai was very timid and frightful, so Li Baoping should play with him more and ensure that he wasn’t picked on by anyone in the academy. As for Lin Shouyi, his personality was quite cold and aloof, so Chen Ping’an encouraged Li Baoping to regularly stay in touch with him so that their bond didn’t weaken.

He said that Yu Lu was a powerful martial artist, and that Xie Xie was also a cultivator, so if any physical altercation were to arise, he cautioned Li Baoping not to charge ahead at the very front. Instead, she should turn to them for help, and there was no need for her to worry about owing them any favors as her junior uncle would repay those favors in her stead in the future.

Furthermore, that whetstone by the name of the Dragon Slaying Platform had been left by Chen Ping’an in her bookcase, and he cautioned her to always go somewhere deserted before sharpening her blade so that she didn’t scare her schoolmates. There was also that small silver gourd that she had to keep safe…

Finally, Chen Ping’an apologized for not accompanying them into the academy and departing without first bidding farewell. They had come all this way, yet he was unable to see the journey through to its conclusion, and for that, he felt very apologetic.

He encouraged them to keep safe and work hard in their studies so that when all of them forged resounding reputations for themselves, he would be able to boast to everyone that he knew Li Baoping, Li Huai, and Lin Shouyi personally.

Despite the extensive length of the letter, every single character had been written in impeccable fashion. There was no flair or excessive elegance to his handwriting, but it was incredibly consistent and meticulous, just like his personality.

In his eyes, right was right, while wrong was wrong, and good things had to be cherished with all of one’s might.

As Li Baoping read through the letter, tears began to flow down her cheeks before falling onto the letter like a bout of autumnal rain that symbolized the sorrow of parting ways.

She wasn’t bawling her eyes out, but her heart was still filled with melancholy, and she was stubbornly chastising herself to stop crying. Otherwise, if her junior uncle were to see her like this, his heart would be broken.

————

On a wide street in the capital city of Great Sui Nation, Cui Chan was chattering incessantly as he smiled and asked, “If you’re so unwilling to part with them, then why did you sneak away without telling them?”

It was clear that he was pouring salt onto Chen Ping’an’s wounds.

After looking back at the academy for a long while, Chen Ping’an turned around and strode away with a stoic look on his face.

“You’re their junior uncle, aren’t you? Are you not afraid that they’ll be picked on in the academy? If that happens, there won’t be anyone there to stand up for them,” Cui Chan said, while Chen Ping’an continued to remain silent.

The capital city of Great Sui Nation was massive, and the two of them were finally able to make it out of the city gates right before the nightly curfew arrived. Cui Chan was holding a flagon of wine in his hand that he would take small sips out of as he walked, and even after exiting the city, it seemed that the flagon still hadn’t run dry.

All of a sudden, a team of elite cavalry rushed out through the city gates before catching up with the duo, led by none other than Prince Gao Xuan of Great Sui Nation.

This time, he wasn’t accompanied by the two old men, and after getting down from his horse, he arrived by Chen Ping’an’s side with a displeased expression as he asked, “Have you forgotten about the compensation that I owe you? I’m going to feel very guilty if you left just like this!”

Chen Ping’an smiled as he said, “If it’s not too much trouble, please look after those children for me. That will serve as more than enough compensation.”

Gao Xuan shook his head in response. “That’s an entirely different matter. I’m not going to promise you that I can look after the children as even I can’t meddle in the academy’s affairs. However, rest assured, my father will definitely make the time to keep an eye on the academy on occasion. Hence, the compensation that I promised you must be delivered to you. Even if you don’t accept it, you have to take it first before throwing it away.”

Gao Xuan intentionally put on a menacing expression as he continued, “Chen Ping’an, don’t forget that I am a prince of Great Sui Nation! You’d better not embarrass me by turning me down!”

“Alright, give it to me,” Chen Ping’an replied as he extended a hand forward.

Gao Xuan burst into laughter as he extended a fist toward Chen Ping’an, then suddenly loosened his fist before slamming his palm heavily down onto the palm of Chen Ping’an’s hand. “From now on, you’re my friend! If you ever come back to the capital city of Great Sui Nation, come straight to me!”

Chen Ping’an was rather taken aback to hear this, then withdrew his hand as he nodded in response. “Alright.”

Gao Xuan didn’t waste anymore time as he got back on his steed, then bent over so that his eyes remained roughly level with Chen Ping’an’s, and a bright smile appeared on his face as he said, “It’s a long journey back, so I prepared a horse-drawn carriage for you. The carriage will arrive very soon. If you prefer walking, you can sell the carriage for money, but don’t sell it too cheaply. At the very least, it’s worth 700 to 800 taels of silver.”

After that, Gao Xuan departed just as quickly as he arrived, galloping back into the city with his team of elite cavalry, attracting a great deal of attention from passersby on the official road.

Chen Ping’an and Cui Chan continued onward, and the latter asked, “You must be quite perplexed about why an esteemed prince is being so friendly and hospitable to you, right?”

“I am indeed perplexed, but seeing as I can’t think of an answer, there’s no point in thinking about this matter,” Chen Ping’an replied.

However, Cui Chan wasn’t willing to drop the subject, and he explained, “It’s actually not very complicated. Gao Xuan is a prince, and Yellow Court Nation is a subsidiary nation to Great Sui Nation. Additionally, Great Sui Nation definitely has spies in the Great Li Empire, so I’m sure he’s aware of what took place along the journey from the Great Li Empire to Mountain Cliff Academy.

“Furthermore, Baoping and the others are far more important than they can imagine, and that’s why he’s going out of his way to be on friendly terms with you. Essentially, this is a long-term investment, and even if it doesn’t pay off, he doesn’t really stand to lose anything.”

Cui Chan pursed his lips as he continued, “If the current emperor of the Great Li Empire had been any other emperor in the empire’s history, and if the mountain master of Mountain Cliff Academy had been any other mountain master aside from Qi Jingchun, then the academy would’ve died on the very spot that it stood, like a withered old tree struck down by lightning.

“Of course, it truly is quite admirable that Great Sui Nation had the courage to take over Mountain Cliff Academy, and the emperor of the Great Li Empire has rather mixed feelings about all of this. You may not believe me when I say this, but prior to its fall, the Lu Empire that Yu Lu and Xie Xie belonged to was once the undisputed number one nation in the northern region of Eastern Treasured Vial Continent.

“However, there are only three worthy adversaries in the eyes of the Great Li Empire’s emperor, and the emperor of the Lu Empire was not one of them. Instead, the emperor of Great Sui Nation, a nation that’s slightly inferior to the Lu Empire of old, claims one of those three spots.”

While Cui Chan was revealing all of these secrets, Chen Ping’an was busy changing into his straw sandals, and Cui Chan was left feeling rather dejected, as if he were talking to an earthen wall.

“Teacher, can you weave a pair of straw sandals for me as well?” Cui Chan asked. “I wouldn’t mind having a little bookcase, either.”

Chen Ping’an carefully stowed the pair of boots away, then hoisted his bamboo basket back onto his back as he grumbled, “Wearing straw sandals isn’t meant to be something done for fun!”

“But I feel like it’s really fun,” Cui Chan countered with a smile.

Chen Ping’an continued to make his way along the official road, looking directly ahead as he asked, “Is reading books fun?”

For what seemed like the first time in a long time, Cui Chan fell silent upon hearing this question. A hesitant look appeared on his face as he strapped his wine flagon back to his waist, then interlaced his fingers behind his head as he replied, “I’ve never felt like reading books is fun.”

After walking for a long while, Chen Ping’an turned to look back at the mighty city walls of Great Sui Nation’s capital under the final rays of light of dusk.

Cui Chan had been silent for quite some time, but he suddenly burst into laughter upon seeing this. “Haha! I knew you wouldn’t be able to resist!”

Chen Ping’an paid no heed to Cui Chan’s jibes as he asked with an earnest expression, “Should I have stayed at the academy for a few days? At the very least, I should’ve made sure that they were all settled in before I left, right?”

Cui Chan was caught completely off guard by this question, and he pondered it for a moment before replying, “I think it makes no difference whether you left sooner or later.”

Chen Ping’an gave Cui Chan a disdainful glance, and his expression essentially said: “Well, that was a useless answer”.

Cui Chan was feeling a little dejected, and a sullen look appeared on his face as he said, “I was doing my best to alleviate your sorrows, Teacher. Surely you don’t have to look at me like that.”

Chen Ping’an took a glance at the wine flagon strapped to Cui Chan’s waist, then quickly withdrew his gaze and heaved a faint sigh before picking up the pace.

Cui Chan’s expression remained unchanged, but deep down, he was astonished.

Even Chen Ping’an has times when he wants to drink wine?! Ah, I see. The young boy already knows the taste of sorrow.