Chapter 216: Cooking the Crane, Burning the Lute

The Northern Border Academy, the only school in Youzhou, the only place with a hint of scholarly air.

Usually quiet and peaceful, today it was unusually lively, with quite a few people gathered at the foot of the mountain.

"So many people, what's the excitement? Has it started?"

"What exactly is there to see here? But this academy is really beautiful!"

"I don't know, everyone says there's excitement to see below the academy."

"You also heard about it yesterday on Zhuque Avenue?"

"I heard it from my neighbor..."

Wang Tu, leading a few 'angry big shots', kept cursing the Great King all the way, intending to spread this disgusting deed to the world by informing the You King. Upon descending the mountain, he found that the You King himself had already done it.

Of course, if you tell them now, they won't believe it either.

The Great King's plant in the crowd stepped forward, saying, "Oh my, a big shot!"

A bunch of people pricked up their ears.

"The one in front is Wang Tu, and the one behind is the heir of the Fanyang Lu clan!"

"Real or fake?"

"Besides, it's not fake—they drank with the academy's Sacrificial Officer Xie at my second uncle's shop! Wang, Xie, Lu, Yang—you've surely heard of them; they're all major clan bigwigs!"

"Why do they seem so annoyed?"

"Shh! Don't ask!"

Alright, the more you say 'don't ask', the more you want to know. It's not just gossip‑lovers who come for the excitement; even hearing about excitement far away makes them rush over—each is a qualified melon‑eating bug.

The one who knew, urged by everyone, couldn't help but say: "I arrived early; you didn't see it, but just now a squad of cavalry rode up, holding the Great King's decree. This is the Great King ordering them to leave the Northern Border Academy!"

"Nonsense? They're truly aristocratic bigwigs; the Great King ought to give them face—how could he just chase them away?"

"Don't believe it? Just wait and see!"

From behind the crowd, two rickety carriages darted out, shouting, "Make way, make way! Don't delay my job!" Someone had just given them directions, saying there was big work here.

The carriage pulled up in front of the loudly cursing Wang Tu, and said, "Honored guest, would you like to go to the city for lodging? Need a ride? Three cash per person."

The group couldn't wait another moment; they all piled onto the carriages and headed first to the city to find lodging.

After they left, the crowd hadn't yet dispersed when some soldiers came forward carrying these people's luggage.

"How did Prince Wang and Prince Lu just leave? Being angry doesn't mean they'd abandon their luggage, does it?"

"The Great King merely set a rule for the academy; those nobles all seem really angry!"

As soon as the Owl Cavalry arrived, the onlookers fell silent; now whenever they speak, everyone hears clearly. Good grief, the You King sent troops to toss out the several big‑family scholars residing at the academy!

The few high‑surname people from the upper echelons of the Great Jin—they don't even know each other, never heard of such lofty existences; the class gap is too vast, they're not even in the same world, they can't even look up to them. Yet now the You King has thrown them out, people and luggage alike, losing face? Everyone loves to watch this spectacle, and it'll spread at lightning speed—surely everyone in Youzhou will know by tomorrow.

"... Wow, you didn't see how imposing those cavalry were—black armor, masked faces, tall steeds—tsk tsk!"

"Our Great King is… quite… inventive."

"Exactly, our Great King stands with us! No matter how noble the clans are, in Youzhou they must obey the Great King's rules."

…

That evening, the Great King personally squatted in a tavern to hear people gossip about his story of 'cooking the crane, burning the lute'; after listening enough, he returned home satisfied.

Not bad, not bad—still needs to be spread southward!

At the next morning's minor court assembly, the Great King felt that the looks from those below were full of deep meaning—especially the Grand Tutor's.

The Great King looked back innocently, "What's up?"

Playing dumb didn't help; as soon as court ended, the Grand Tutor caught him, "Your Highness…"

The Grand Tutor began to sigh while pulling him along.

Grand Tutor Xu couldn't comprehend.

He truly couldn't follow the Your Highness's train of thought, didn't even know how to start asking—it was utterly bizarre.

"Your Highness, have you heard about the Northern Border Academy affair?"

The Great King was also frank, admitting directly, "Is it about Wang Tu and company? I had them thrown out—do you want to ask about that, Grand Tutor?"

The Grand Tutor began to sigh: "Your Highness, why would you do this?"

"Those old geezers lost face before me; whoever loses face before me, I make them lose even more face. The Northern Border Academy is mine—isn't it fine to send them packing?" the Great King said innocently.

"But… doing this will offend the Wang and Lu clans; it's a losing bargain…" How could the shrewd Your Highness do such a thing?

The Great King gave his analysis: "Wang Tu is of the Langya Wang clan; the Wang clan originally stood behind the eldest. Even if he devoted himself to learning and ignored worldly affairs, he wouldn't be of one mind with Youzhou. As for the Lu clan, I have no intention of going to Fanyang to study—whatever."

"What about Lord Xie? They're all friends of Lord Xie—you're doing this…"

The Great King produced a brand‑new contract and displayed it: "Lord Xie has already sold himself to me for the next two and a half years; offending me isn't his doing, and I won't bear a grudge. Grand Tutor, if you have nothing else, you could go see Lord Xie and do some psychological counseling for him—I'm not targeting him!" Sigh.

This guy sighed while shuffling away in a six‑kin‑unrecognizing small step… walked off…

Grand Tutor: ……

What kind of bewitching soup did you give Lord Xie?!

Minister Xue came out and found Xu Zhi still brooding there; he advised, "Don't dwell on it—it's surely intentional."

Grand Tutor Xu opened his mouth, finally sighed, "I just can't fathom why he deliberately offended both the Qingyang Academy and the Flying Lu Academy all at once."

Actually, Minister Xue doesn't understand either.

Racking their brains to no avail, the Great King simply wants the Northern Border Academy to gain fame—infamy works too.

Xie Yuan didn't need the Grand Tutor to come enlighten him; he went to see him himself.

Wang Tu and Lu Ren couldn't stomach this anger; they've already set out to leave Youzhou today, but his own disciples remain.

Xie Yuan's purpose was simple: he wanted to tell the Great King that three of his disciples had been expelled together this time. He planned to keep the eldest disciple as an assistant instructor, and let the two younger ones directly enroll in the Northern Border Academy.

Thus Lu Xin and another disciple named Fang Chao were officially enrolled in the Northern Border Academy's student roster.

The Great King was quite pleased, gaining two qualified disciples—not bad! But thinking that they would surely go to his advanced class, with Xie Yuan still as the instructor, the Great King felt embarrassed for himself.

For this reason, that guy skipped school for another two days.

Good news stays at home; bad news travels a thousand miles.

Under the Great King's indulgence and deliberate fanning of the flames, the matter quickly spread to Youzhou.

Wang and Lu also did not try to hide it; they felt they were not at fault, blaming everything on the You King's rudeness and lack of appreciation.

They were victims of neglect.

But the version spread by the Great King's own people was that these two were unworthy of the Northern Border Academy, enough to cause a great uproar in the literacy circle.

What the heck is this?

An academy nobody has ever heard of looks down on the Qingyang Academy's master and the Lu clan's heir? Must be crazy! This is truly the funniest joke of the year.

The four words "Northern Border Academy" quickly swept across the literarily vibrant Jiangnan.

Soon the matter also came to the attention of the Prince of Yu who was concerned with Youzhou; upon hearing it, the Prince of Yu laughed heartily at home for a while.

"I really ought to help promote this for my good brother!"

——————————————

Great King: Points given, points given!