Chapter 1944

This was simply stripping him naked and throwing him into the busy market to be whipped!

"You... you brat!"

"If you have the guts, say it again! Do you dare?!"

Su Wenling breathed rapidly, his withered fingers pointing heavily at Chi Potian like an eagle's claw, his voice sharp and distorted from extreme anger.

Facing this monstrous anger and naked threat, Chi Potian not only didn't retreat, but grinned, revealing a mouthful of white teeth.

He laughed.

"Everyone heard it; this is the first time I've seen such a rude request."

"Since Head Su wants to hear it, then I will say it again."

Chi Potian slammed the sage book in his hand onto the table with a fierce palm, looked directly at Su Wenling's old face, and cursed fiercely: "I said—fuck your mother's slave! You old person who doesn't die is a thief! Wearing a monkey's hat and knowing no shame! You old coffin-board whose meat even dogs find smelly! Are you worthy of fucking farting and discussing Prime Minister Gao?!"

"This time! Is it clear enough?! You old hairy bastard!"

Hiss!

Following Chi Potian's words.

In the Han Lin Academy, the sound of gasping for air gathered into a piece.

This was no longer cursing; this was digging out the heart and bones, stabbing into Su Wenling's heart!

Huang Zhizhan was convinced.

He looked at Su Wenling, his gaze even carrying a trace of sympathy.

Among the hundreds of scholars in the Han Lin Academy, who couldn't you provoke, you had to provoke Chi Potian!

He was the one who had swallowed dung and drunk golden juice in front of thousands of people in Changancheng, and since then, had successfully walked out of the shadows!

The most courageous person in the Han Lin Academy had been picked by Su Wenling.

Su Wenling's eyes were red.

These words were too dirty!

Prestige swept to the ground!

Face lost completely!

The image and dignity that Su Wenling had painstakingly managed were instantly torn to shreds by these few words, becoming a huge joke!

This was absolutely unacceptable to Su Wenling, who had ambitious goals and wanted to achieve a great cause!

"For a reckless person who brought this upon himself, was bold and reckless, and had no respect for superiors, you are actually willing to destroy your own future?!" Su Wenling forcibly suppressed his surging blood, his voice as cold as nine-nether ice, carrying a naked threat.

"Disobeying the head, roaring and insulting the teacher! With this one point, I can strip you of your fame and cut off your official career! Now! Kneel! Admit your mistake! I can still consider your youth and ignorance, and open a side net!"

Su Wenling stared fixedly at Chi Potian, certain that this threat to his future, which was enough to crush any scholar, would definitely make him lower his head!

The step was given; a sensible person should step down.

Anyway, there would be plenty of time in the future.

He wasn't in a hurry.

"Brother Chi, let it be!"

"Yes, Brother Chi, lowering your head is not shameful."

"Fame is important, the future is important; years of hard study, isn't it just to become an official in the court? Take the step down."

Huang Zhizhan and the others saw this and hurriedly persuaded him.

Chi Potian remained unmoved.

He shook his head, his eyes as cold as iron.

"If it were ordinary times, for the sake of fame, for the sake of this skin, I might lower my head, I might apologize, but today... no!"

"Why?"

Huang Zhizhan and the others were puzzled.

"Because he insulted me, I might be able to endure it! But he insulted Prime Minister Gao—I cannot endure it!"

Boom!

Once these words were spoken, Huang Zhizhan and the others' pupils shrank.

This sentence buzzed in their minds.

He could be insulted, but Prime Minister Gao could not be insulted!

Su Wenling looked stunned, extremely puzzled.

For the sake of a stranger, for the sake of Gao Yang, who had lost power, was abandoned by His Majesty, and whom even the hundred officials avoided, he was willing to destroy his own future.

Is this worth it?

Is this Chi Potian crazy?

Su Wenling couldn't understand.

Chi Potian looked directly at Su Wenling, as if he knew what he was thinking.

The corners of his mouth curled up, carrying a trace of mockery, and he picked up a piece of bamboo paper from the table; under the sunlight, the bamboo paper was thin, tough, and shining brilliantly.

"Head Su, student asks for advice... do you know how many wen a sheet of this high-quality bamboo paper costs?"

Su Wenling heard this.

He stared straight at Chi Potian, his expression cold, "What the price of this bamboo paper is, what does it have to do with today's matter?"

Su Wenling's voice had just fallen.

Chi Potian suddenly interrupted, "Of course it has to do with it!"

"Grand Scholar Su comes from the Su family of Jiangnan, a family of wealth and status, reading rare editions wrapped in gold foil since childhood, using rice paper worth its weight in gold, naturally not knowing the suffering of the world! Not knowing how many scholars from humble backgrounds, to save a sheet of paper, practice calligraphy on sand trays and draw marks on the mud!"

Chi Potian suddenly held the bamboo paper high, his voice like a great bell, resounding through the Han Lin Academy: "Nineteen wen! Only nineteen wen! Buy five get one free!"

"This is the high-quality bamboo paper used for the imperial examinations, not counting the inferior paper used for ordinary purposes! Without this paper, could your desks still be piled like mountains?!"

"It was Prime Minister Gao, Prime Minister Gao who created bamboo paper, making it affordable for scholars from humble backgrounds in the world, it was Prime Minister Gao who cut off the path of the noble families monopolizing the interpretation of the classics!"

"Otherwise, paper made from mulberry bark would cost a hundred wen a sheet! A copy of the Analects could only be transcribed on high-quality mulberry bark paper, otherwise it would be disrespectful to the sages, and they would dare to sell it for thirty taels of silver!"

"Prime Minister Gao took out ten million taels of silver to build schools, sheltering all the poor scholars of the world so they could all be happy; he wanted to give the scholars from humble backgrounds in the world a path to the blue clouds, a ladder to the sky!"

Su Wenling's pupils shrank.

He sensed something bad.

But before he could explain, Chi Potian spoke loudly again.

"You all, think about the bamboo paper on your desks; if it weren't for Prime Minister Gao, could you afford it today?"

"A year ago, the world suffered a great disaster, there were countless refugees in Linjiang, inside there were merchants hoarding grain, outside there were refugees entering the city, who was it that used the three policies of famine administration, using work as relief, to save hundreds of thousands of people in our Great Qian?"

"When the Great Chu's one hundred thousand cavalry pressed at the city gates, and Great Qian was about to be destroyed, who was it that took the lead, was the first to charge, broke the Great Chu army, and protected the millions of people in our Changancheng!"

"Have you all forgotten that battle?"

Every time Chi Potian asked a question, his voice became more high-pitched.

In the Han Lin Academy, the scholars' breathing became more rapid, the fire in their hearts, the pent-up frustration of the past six or seven days, rose bit by bit, making their eyes faintly red.

Those cold achievements were now endowed with burning vitality!

Su Wenling was not calm, he shouted sharply, "Shut up! Spreading rumors to confuse the public! Quickly take him down for me..."

Chi Potian didn't care; his gaze was no longer looking at Su Wenling, but at the Han Lin scholars.

He raised his voice, straight to the clouds, "The Xiongnu are rampant, plundering our Great Qian for a century, the people at the border suffer greatly, who was it that captured the Chanyu's grandfather in one battle, went out to Hexi twice, made the King of Zhenyue surrender, and the King of Langya die? Raising the national prestige of our Great Qian?"

"The national treasury is empty, the people's livelihood is withered, treacherous officials are in power in the court, who was it that built schools, spread education, made bamboo paper, making every scholar from a humble background have books to read and a path to climb?"

"Even on the day he resigned, he did not forget to offer divine objects that benefit the country and the people!"

"Who are all these?"

"Such a loyal official, yet because he resigned one day, he had a rift with His Majesty, and all these deeds were completely erased?"

Chi Potian's gaze was like lightning, sweeping across the whole field.

His gaze finally fell on Su Wenling.

He said loudly, "Such unparalleled merit, such a pillar of heaven, was actually slandered by petty people as 'power-hungry and reckless,' and ended up with a sentence of 'brought it upon himself'!"

"Is your conscience still beating in your chest? Does this noble place of the Han Lin Academy still have half a breath of righteous spirit? Has your conscience also been eaten by dogs like this?"

Chi Potian pointed at Su Wenling, his voice echoing throughout the Han Lin Academy.

Boom!

Following Chi Potian's words.

A fire of anger suddenly erupted from the chest of every scholar who still had hot blood!