Chapter 1130: Ancient Academy Records, Lots of Fun 17

The sun gradually grew bigger.

Jin Chen listened to the long-winded, confusing explanation of formation methods, and he gradually grew annoyed.

While he hesitated whether to slip away alone or skip class with the gang, General Song, who had been living in comfort for a long time and couldn't stand the sun either, summoned his personal disciple Huiyi, who wore an equally deceitful look.

General Song told him to watch over the ten people's training, then turned and went into the Master's Courtyard to drink and relax, meanwhile thinking how to spread the news.

Huiyi was a petty thug recruited by General Song from a border town; before, he could never have contacted the imperial family, but now he could watch them train.

Taking a chicken feather as a command arrow, Huiyi began to act high and mighty as soon as General Song left, finding fault more than the General did, even though he himself knew nothing about tactics.

Jin Chen steadied his stance, snapped his fingers, and said, "Who wants to go drink plum wine?"

"Come on, come on, come on!" The nine immediately agreed and began discussing what to use as a side dish for drinks.

As usual, Ling Xiuyu gave a symbolic admonition: "The master hasn't said training is over; isn't it wrong for us to do this?"

Xie Yuancheng wagged his finger, putting on an air of reliability, and said, "If anything happens, I will take responsibility."

"Let's go!!"

"Stop! How can you just leave?"

Huiyi looked, panicked, and said, "General Song said you can't leave! Not even the Crown Prince!"

Accustomed to acting high and mighty under General Song, he immediately rebuked, "Your Highness Crown Prince, you are now a disciple being taught by the general; by that reckoning I could count as your senior brother—how can you pretend not to see me?"

"... This person is crazy." Jiang Yao was startled by those words; besides Xie Beiyao, who else would dare speak like that to the Crown Prince, whom she addresses as brother?

Xie Yuancheng kicked Huiyi aside and shouted, "Impudent!"

He lifted his chin slightly, furrowed his brows, his expression radiating an intolerable arrogant anger, and said, "What are you even?"

"I... I will go tell the general! He won't let you off!"

Huiyi struggled to rise from the ground, brushed off the dust, looked up, and saw ten people gathering around, flexing wrists and necks with hostile eyes.

Ye Susu even pulled out a worm from her sleeve!

"Still trying to run?" She grabbed Huiyi's chin and lifted it; behind her, Jiang Yao flicked her long whip, holding Huiyi's upper body upright, and the tiny worm crawled straight into his throat.

"Ugh... ugh!!"

Huiyi's face turned red from holding his breath, feeling the small worm crawl up his throat, a piercing pain.

The two worked in perfect sync; Lan Wuyang nearby stared wide‑mouthed and said, "Poison, too poisonous."

The next second, she crossed her arms and laughed happily, "But well done!"

Xie Yuancheng pulled a long length of hemp rope from his sleeve, raised a mischievous eyebrow, and said, "Tie him up!"

All ten moved at once, grabbing Huiyi and hurling him toward the tree.

After a cup of tea's time, they linked arms and left, following Jin Chen to drink plum wine.

In the tree, Huiyi looked weak, his hands hoisted high, suspended half a meter above the ground; but if he tried to struggle and jump down, a full row of gleaming cold‑light iron spikes awaited, stepping on which would cripple his legs.

The only mouth able to cry for help was stuffed full of worms, half his face covered by Tingyang's clothing.

Not fatal, but torturous.

——

Within the tranquil little courtyard, ten people sat around the stone table drinking freshly brewed plum wine.

Tingyang raised his cup, proposing to become sworn brothers with Lan Wuyang; Wanzhou was overjoyed, slapped his chest and said he'd be their witness, then sat on the fake stone and invited them to kowtow.

Ye Susu grabbed a stalk of green bamboo leaf from Zhu Lin to play with; Jiang Yao was frightened, flicked her whip, and warned that anyone who approached would fight, telling Si Ning to keep them in check.

Si Ning silently took out poison and placed it on the table.

Ye Susu immediately behaved properly, drinking politely with them.

Xie Beiyao sat beside Ling Xiuyu, shamelessly coaxing him to drink the conjoined cup.

"Xiuyu, just go along with me this time."

Xie Beiyao is half a year younger than Ling Xiuyu; as a child he liked to follow behind and call him 'big brother', but when he grew up he stopped, the brother became his beloved, yet everyone sees him as a steady, reliable young Heir Apparent, and he still likes to act coquettish toward Ling Xiuyu.

He is naturally endowed with divine strength, while Ling Xiuyu has always relied on wit over brute force; if one tried to force something, Ling Xiuyu could not resist at all, but Xie Beiyao has never done so.

Ling Xiuyu's eyes held a faint smile as he took the cup, but he did not assume the posture for drinking the conjoined cup as Xie Beiyao wanted.

"This is no child's play."

"All right."

Xie Beiyao, his hopes unfulfilled, listlessly tilted his head back to drink, propping his chin to gaze at Ling Xiuyu, as if he could never see enough.

After the match, he would go ask his imperial uncle whether he could grant a marriage; if so, he would first declare his feelings to Xiuyu, then together they would petition for an imperial edict to marry.

Xie Beiyao's heart was full of Ling Xiuyu, and his thoughts were wonderfully beautiful.

In the future, he and Xiuyu would jointly assist Yuancheng, never facing separation—how wonderful.

At this moment, the highly anticipated Crown Prince Your Highness Xie Yuancheng, under the eaves, earnestly wrote in crab‑script a letter about General Song, the lines full of how the general had bullied the new friends from the martial world, and also suspecting that the general's obesity came from having visited the border of the North Wind Kingdom.

Having finished, to prevent the Emperor from disbelieving, he added a line: "It's not my guess as a subject; it's my cousin's guess."

He satisfiedly put down his pen, whistled for the dark guard to hurry and deliver it to the Emperor.

Watching the dark guard leave, Xie Yuancheng propped his chin, worried, and sighed softly.

Even within the academy, one must pay attention to court affairs—truly heartbreaking.

The father emperor is in his prime; when will he and the mother empress have another little imperial brother, so that he can place his hope on that younger brother?

But the father emperor could remain emperor for a long, long time—no need to worry for now!

Having consoled himself, Xie Yuancheng patted his sleeve and suddenly remembered something left undone.