Side Story 4: That Year at the Academy

Side Story 4: That Year at the Academy

[The Imperial Academy in the Capital]

"Crackling and popping—!!!"

A deafening burst of firecrackers suddenly erupted at the solemn and dignified entrance of the Royal Academy, startling the cicadas in the trees into silence.

The students passing by all turned their heads in astonishment.

This academy is a place where sages teach and educate, and it has always emphasized the word "quiet". What's wrong with it today?

Could it be that one of the princes passed the imperial examination with top honors?

Inside the main hall of the academy.

The venerable old dean, over seventy years old, stood undignifiedly on the table, holding a glass of aged Shaoxing wine, tears streaming down his face, looking up to the sky and letting out a long, mournful cry:

"They're gone! They're finally gone!"

"Those two troublemakers... have finally left the capital!"

"Heaven has eyes! My beard... has finally been saved!"

After saying that, the old dean tilted his head back and drank the wine in his glass in one gulp. His relieved expression was even more excited than if he had just gotten rid of a plague god.

A young teacher who had only recently started teaching was stunned and couldn't help but whisper a question:

"Dean, are you referring to... the young princess and young prince of the Regent's Palace who left the capital today?"

"But I once saw them from afar. Those two young princes were exquisitely beautiful and had extraordinary bearing. Especially the young prince, who was so calm and composed at such a young age... Are they really that scary?"

"Composed?"

Upon hearing those two words, the old dean's lips twitched violently, revealing a smile that was more like a grimace:

"Young man, you haven't seen what they looked like when they were six years old and just started school..."

The old dean's gaze became distant, as if he had traveled through time back to that autumn when the entire academy trembled with fear:

"That year, it was also a sunny day like this..."

...

[Seven years ago, a wave of nostalgia]

That autumn, the two young masters of the Regent's Palace reached the age of enlightenment.

Pei Yunjing waved his hand and sent the two divine beasts to the Royal Academy, which was dedicated to teaching members of the royal family.

The first day of school.

The classroom of "Class A" was filled with sons of wealthy and noble families. Most of them had been taught by their families to be well-behaved and sit upright.

Only the two seats in the last row had a unique style.

Sitting on the left is a little girl wearing a bright red dress.

She was about six years old, with bright eyes and white teeth, and was as cute as a New Year's picture doll.

But her sitting posture was extremely bold, with one foot on the horizontal bar and a grasshopper she had caught from somewhere in her hand, which she was studying with great interest.

Sitting on the right is a four-year-old boy.

He was wearing a miniature version of a black robe and holding a small, unsharpened wooden sword in his arms.

He was expressionless, staring blankly into the void ahead, exuding an aloof aura that said "keep away."

"Cough cough!"

The teacher in charge of instructing the new students was the strict and pedantic Master Sun.

He strode into the school, ruler in hand, his imposing gaze sweeping across the entire room:

"Today is the first day of school, so let me start by taking attendance."

"Zhao Heng".

"arrive."

"Li Xiuyuan."

"arrive."

One after another, young but respectful voices rang out.

Master Sun nodded in satisfaction, his gaze falling on the last two names on the roster.

I heard this was sent from the Regent's Palace, so he has to give it a hard time and set some rules.

"Pei Niannian!"

Master Sun raised his voice and shouted.

However, the last row was quiet, and no one answered.

Pei Niannian was busy teasing the grasshoppers and didn't hear anything.

"Pei Niannian!"

Master Sun frowned and slammed his ruler heavily on the table: "Has Pei Niannian from the Regent's Palace arrived yet?!"

The whole class turned to look at the last row.

Pei An stretched out a finger and poked her sister's arm.

"Huh?" Pei Niannian finally came to her senses.

She glanced at the glaring teacher, then calmly reached out and patted her bulging little schoolbag on the table.

"I'm here, I'm here, stop shouting, it's too noisy."

She muttered to herself as she untied the straps of her backpack:

"Little Thorn, the teacher is calling you. Come out and say hello."

Little Thorn? Who is Little Thorn?

Under the questioning gazes of Master Sun and the other students.

"Shh..."

The opening of the backpack twitched.

A round hedgehog covered in sharp spines slowly poked its head out of the schoolbag.

Its tiny, bean-like eyes looked around, seemingly checking its surroundings.

Then, under Pei Niannian's encouraging gaze, the hedgehog actually—

It raised one of its front paws!

It not only raised its hand, but also gave a perfunctory shout to Master Sun on the podium:

"Squeak!" (Arrived!)

"..."

The entire school fell into a suffocating silence.

A moment later.

"Hahahaha!"

"That's a hedgehog! She brought a hedgehog to school!"

"It can even raise its hand! That's so much fun!"

These minor nobles, who were usually strictly controlled, had never seen such a scene before.

They burst into laughter, some slapping the table, others rolling around on the floor, and classroom discipline vanished completely.

Master Sun stood on the platform, completely petrified.

He looked at the hedgehog that raised its hand to answer, and then at Pei Niannian, who had a look on her face that said, "I'm very well-behaved. What's wrong with letting my pet answer for me?"

His beard began to tremble violently, and his face changed from red to purple, and then from purple to black.

“Pei… Pei Niannian!”

Master Sun trembled with anger, pointing his ruler at the hedgehog:

"This is a sacred place! You...you actually brought this beast into the school?! You have disgraced scholarship! You have utterly disgraced scholarship!"

"Master, you are mistaken."

Pei Niannian blinked her big eyes and retorted innocently, "Confucius said, 'In education, there should be no discrimination.'"

"Although Little Thorn is a hedgehog, it also has a thirst for knowledge! Look, it even knows to raise its hand to answer, which is much better than Zhao Heng who was sleeping just now!"

Zhao Heng, who was called out, was speechless.

"You! You! You!"

Master Sun clutched his chest, nearly choking on his own breath.

He taught his whole life and had seen unruly students, but he had never seen one who brought a hedgehog to class and tried to reason with the teacher!

"go out!"

Master Sun let out a devastating roar:

"Take your hedgehog and go stand in the corner as punishment!"

Pei Niannian shrugged, grabbed the hedgehog from the table, stuffed it back into her bag, and nimbly jumped off the chair.

"Tch, fine, let's go. Little Thorn, let's go. This old man's lectures are so boring, let's go catch some crickets."

She swaggered out of the school.

As I passed by Pei An, he remained expressionless, not even lifting his eyelids, as if everything that had just happened had nothing to do with him.

Just as his sister walked out the door, he silently tightened the cap on the ink bottle on the table.

Because he heard the sound of the ruler in the teacher's hand about to break.

"Crack!"

Sure enough, the ruler in Master Sun's hand was broken in two.