Chapter 173: Searching Tianxiang Lou

As the voice fell, a man of forty or fifty years old appeared before them, wearing a green robe with a jade belt, his face fair and his beard long; he was none other than the current Libationer of the Directorate of Education, Feng Ying.

The moment the manager saw this person, he rushed over excitedly: "Master, you have finally arrived! If you had come a step later, our Tianxiang Lou would have been torn down by this bunch of people!"

"I would like to see who dares!" The first person he saw was Xie Shouzheng. "Official Xie, it has been a long time. Have you brought your official authority to bear upon me now?"

Strictly speaking, Xie Shouzheng could be considered a student of Feng Ying.

At that time, Xie Shouzheng had only been a person for a short while, accompanying the Crown Prince to class every day in the capacity of a book boy. He would incidentally listen to the lectures and learn along with him.

Back then, one of the lecturers teaching the Crown Prince was Feng Ying.

Feng Ying had originally intended to become the Crown Prince's Grand Tutor, the future Imperial Tutor of the Son of Heaven. Therefore, he was exceptionally diligent every time he gave a lecture.

And his impression of Xie Shouzheng was: not very bright, with a mountain of questions.

Every time class ended, Xie Shouzheng would hold a scroll of books and come over to ask this and that.

When in the presence of the Crown Prince, Feng Ying would patiently explain.

But as soon as the Crown Prince left, he had absolutely no desire to say another word to a book boy with no family background.

Once, he was so annoyed by Xie Shouzheng's questions that he sneered with a cold face: "A servant should just serve his master well; becoming a steward in the future is the limit of your potential. The books of the sages are only meant for the children of the upper class; no matter how many books a servant like you reads, you will never be able to enter the halls of high society!"

Xiao Hui, who had heard everything at the time, was completely bewildered.

He did not understand why a person could have two faces: one polite and smiling, the other high and mighty, speaking such mean and venomous words.

He stood blankly under the eaves of the palace, and for a long time afterward, that sentence echoed in his mind: "No matter how many books a servant like you reads, you will never be able to enter the halls of high society... never be able to enter the halls of high society..."

It was also that time that he discovered there were indeed differences between people.

Invisible hierarchies had long since divided people into different ranks.

Even though he was someone by the Crown Prince's side, without a prominent family background, he was still looked down upon by others.

Dongfang Qi noticed that Xiao Hui's mood was off and asked him what was wrong.

Xiao Hui's eyes turned red: "Your Highness, someone bullied me. Can I bite him?"

Dongfang Qi: "..."

The next day, Feng Ying was stripped of his qualifications as a lecturer, losing his position as the future Imperial Tutor.

Xiao Hui even went up to him, skipping along, to gloat:

"Didn't expect that, did you? I can report you! Hmph, a person like you has the nerve to teach and educate others? Ptooey!"

Later, it was only because of Feng Ying's father—who was the teacher of Qi Zhaodi—that he was able to maneuver and recommend him into the Directorate of Education, eventually walking step by step to the position of Libationer of the Directorate of Education.

Unfortunately, his official rank was only Fifth Rank, which was the end of the road for him. He could not compare to a Crown Prince's Grand Tutor or an Imperial Tutor at all.

From a certain perspective, Feng Ying's path to becoming an Imperial Tutor had been cut off by Xie Shouzheng.

So at this moment, with new grudges and old hatreds combined, the look Feng Ying gave Xie Shouzheng was so hateful it was as if he were spitting fire.

The Xie Shouzheng of today was no longer the simple little book boy of those years.

He looked at Feng Ying with cold eyes, his tone just as infuriating as it had been back then:

"So, Tianxiang Lou is the property of Libationer Feng! Libationer Feng, listen well: this official suspects that a corpse is hidden under the ice cellar of your restaurant. For the sake of the few classes of yours I attended in the past, if you are willing to open the ice cellar door yourself, we can guarantee that the ice inside will not be damaged."

Feng Ying stood in front of the ice cellar and said: "You, a mere Fifth-rank Official, are investigating a dirty case and have come to my doorstep? Today, whoever dares to act presumptuously at Tianxiang Lou, I will certainly go before the Emperor and impeach him!"

Behind him followed a group of his students, all of whom were children of noble families, and they spoke up one after another:

"I really don't understand what His Highness the Crown Prince is thinking, actually letting a bunch of low-class wandering sorcerers into the halls. Can't monks and Daoists do the work of chanting scriptures and exorcising evil? Why go to all this extra trouble?"

"And yet there are those who take a chicken feather for an arrow, throwing their weight around!"

"If I were an official, the first thing I would do is request a decree to disband that bullshit Profound Mirror Division!"

Lin Qingyue, who was standing among the guards, had not intended to speak, but upon hearing this, she could not help but sneer:

"What a fine bunch of scholars! If not for the Profound Mirror Division guarding the safety of Qi Guo, what do you think gives you the right to study in peace?"

She stared at one of the young students and said: "You just said, 'If I were an official, the first thing I would do is request a decree to disband that bullshit Profound Mirror Division?' I regret to inform you that I happen to know some physiognomy, and judging by your face, you will have no connection to an official career in this life!"

"What did you say?" The man was very annoyed, then suddenly stared at Lin Qingyue's face and asked curiously, "Eh, you are a woman?"

Feng Ying had met Lin Qingyue once before and recognized her identity; he was just about to speak.

But the group of students under him had already started mocking:

"Hahaha, the Profound Mirror Division is truly a rabble, actually letting a woman come out and show her face!"

"She is quite pretty, but what is the difference between such a pretty woman mixing with this bunch of men and those women in the brothels?"

"Hahaha, perhaps she is the same sort of trash!"

Lin Qingyue's face darkened, and she shouted: "Hong Yao, slap their mouths!"

Before the laughter had even faded, a red shadow suddenly flashed before their eyes, and then came the sound of "Slap! Slap! Slap!" as the sound of slaps echoed one after another.

Hong Yao's movements were very fast; in just the blink of an eye, she had slapped each of those foul-mouthed students one hundred times, leaving their cheeks red and swollen and their mouths bleeding.

"You... how dare you..." a man whose teeth had been slapped out and who was lisping asked while covering his face.

Hong Yao shouted sternly: "To dare to insult the current Prince Chaolan is simply not knowing whether you are living or dead! Why have you not knelt down to beg for mercy?"

The ignorant students had not yet reacted, but Feng Ying immediately came over to pay his respects:

"Prince Chaolan, please forgive us. These are all children of noble families, new to the world and still ignorant of social graces. Your Highness, you occupy a high position and should have the magnanimity to tolerate others; do not haggle with them."

On the surface, these words were humble and reasonable, but in secret, they were accusing Lin Qingyue of using power to oppress others and lacking the magnanimity to tolerate them.