Chapter 35
After Gang Gye's group left the private school, Scholar Zhou returned to his study.
But the study, which had been empty just moments ago, now had an elegant-looking man in his forties sitting inside.
The man appeared gentle and refined.
Yet the sharp light flashing in his eyes made it clear that he was by no means an easy person to deal with.
Scholar Zhou looked at him.
"You heard everything."
"Of course."
The man casually picked up the teapot and poured himself a cup.
After taking a sip, he continued with satisfaction,
"At least today's trip wasn't completely wasted."
Scholar Zhou frowned.
"That child is still too young."
"Your academy is already a complete mess."
"His life could even be in danger there."
Liu Yunhe gave a dismissive snort.
"If I take him in, naturally I'll protect him properly."
"Just how wonderful do you think this little private school of yours is?"
Scholar Zhou still looked opposed.
"Putting the children of powerful and wealthy families together with poor students was a mistake from the beginning."
"You're going to ruin those children."
"Liu Yunhe, please stop committing sins."
Liu Yunhe's expression darkened.
Stop committing sins?
Was Scholar Zhou saying that what he was doing now was sinful?
He accepted commoner students without charging them tuition.
Some of them were geniuses, of course, but geniuses were rare.
Most were only of average ability.
There was no guarantee any of them would ever pass the examinations.
He fed them, housed them, and taught them everything they needed.
He didn't take a single tael of silver from them.
And that was supposed to be a sin?
Of course, putting people from completely different social classes in the same place inevitably created conflict.
But he had always tried to suppress those conflicts.
For years, there hadn't been any serious incidents.
That lawless young master from the marquis household was simply something beyond his control.
And if those commoner students had chosen the path of scholarship, then they would face countless difficulties in the future anyway.
If they didn't learn to struggle for themselves now, would they simply be able to cry helplessly whenever disaster struck later?
It was true that Liu Yunhe hadn't founded the academy purely for the sake of ordinary students.
He had his own ambitions.
But he still believed that what he had done benefited those students more than anything else could have.
Without the children of wealthy and powerful families, how could he possibly educate poor students for free?
He even kept pouring income from his own private businesses into the academy.
White Crane Academy was the work into which he had poured his heart and blood.
"That child doesn't want to go to your academy."
Scholar Zhou had heard Gang Jo-hang's words clearly.
But he also knew that his old acquaintance Liu Yunhe was not an easy man to stop.
"For the sake of the friendship we've had since childhood, please don't use those kinds of methods on that child."
Liu Yunhe set down his teacup.
His face darkened as he looked at Scholar Zhou.
He had never used dirty methods against his students.
But he didn't bother defending himself.
He and Scholar Zhou had never walked the same path in life.
If not for the friendship they had shared since childhood, they probably wouldn't have had any relationship at all.
Liu Yunhe said,
"The academy hasn't produced any real results in recent years."
"Do you think they'll allow that to continue?"
White Crane Academy carried his name, but that didn't mean it belonged to him alone.
A chair scraped against the floor as Liu Yunhe stood.
"I have something to take care of."
"I'll be going."
Meanwhile, Gang Jo-hang and the others were also feeling that something wasn't quite right.
The second son said,
"That thing Scholar Zhou said about White Crane Academy..."
"Who doesn't know what a mess that place has become?"
"So why would he tell us to go there?"
"Scholar Zhou isn't secretly a bad person, is he?"
He certainly hadn't looked like one.
But ever since the incident where that student's hand was broken, White Crane Academy's reputation had never recovered.
Gang Jo-hang also fell into thought with a heavy expression.
"Maybe he's had students taken away by White Crane Academy before."
"Perhaps he was worried he wouldn't be able to keep Little Six, so he said that."
Everyone knew how good the treatment at White Crane Academy could be.
Students with excellent grades didn't have to pay tuition.
Their food and lodging were free too.
At the same time, they received the best education available.
And that wasn't all.
They could interact with the children of officials and build connections.
Most importantly, the academy offered generous scholarships.
Sometimes a single award could be worth several taels of silver, more than an ordinary farming household earned in an entire year.
Even so, something still felt wrong.
Gang Jo-hang thought about the academy's reputation and decided to ask someone who knew more.
If the children of officials at White Crane Academy were arrogant enough to bully others without restraint, then the headmaster couldn't possibly be completely blameless.
So the group turned around and headed toward the home of Zhou Jianfeng, the escort master Gang Jo-hang had served under when he was younger.
Zhou Jianfeng had always lived in town.
He had also once arranged schooling for his own children, so he would probably know at least some of these rumors.
There was no harm in asking.
If he didn't know, they could simply ask someone else afterward.
When they knocked, the gatekeeper opened the door and told them to go in by themselves.
"Master and Madam are both home today."
Gang Jo-hang entered the familiar courtyard and called out from a distance,
"Auntie!"
Gang Gye shouted too,
"Grandma!"
"Oh my!"
Old Madam Zhou heard the voices and turned around.
The moment she saw Gang Gye, her face brightened.
She hurried over and lifted him into her arms.
Only then did she look at the rest of the group.
She asked Gang Jo-hang,
"And these people are?"
Gang Jo-hang introduced everyone.
They exchanged greetings.
Old Madam Zhou invited them to sit and asked,
"What brings you here today?"
"Did something happen?"
Gang Jo-hang asked,
"Is Uncle Zhou home?"
"There's something I'd like to ask him."
Old Madam Zhou gave a look to the maid attending her.
The maid immediately went out to fetch him.
"Your Uncle Zhou is home."
"He'll be here soon."
While they were talking, Zhou Jianfeng came in.
After exchanging greetings with everyone, he sat down directly and asked,
"What is it?"
Gang Jo-hang explained what had happened that day.
Then he said,
"I want to know whether there's something wrong with White Crane Academy."
At first, Zhou Jianfeng was greatly surprised when he heard that Gang Gye possessed a memory that never forgot anything.
But after hearing the entire story, his expression became serious.
He thought for a moment before saying,
"If Little Six really caught White Crane Academy's attention, that could become troublesome."
Zhou Jianfeng began explaining the academy's situation.
"In recent years, White Crane Academy has only produced a few xiucai."
"It's nothing compared with the old days."
"The prefect and county magistrates stand behind the academy, and they're probably quite dissatisfied with Liu Yunhe."
"Recently, someone who doesn't get along with the prefect opened another academy."
"Its reputation has become very good."
"The prefect wants White Crane Academy to suppress that academy."
"So Liu Yunhe needs results."
"He needs to find more talented students if he wants to preserve his position and reputation."
Just like how Liu Yunhe had first built his fame in the past.
In short, Liu Yunhe was probably under tremendous pressure right now.
Zhou Jianfeng continued carefully,
"I'm not sure exactly how to judge Liu Yunhe."
"I wouldn't call him a good man."
"But toward commoner students..."
"Especially when he finds a genius, I've heard that he values and protects them greatly."
"I've never heard of him deliberately mistreating a particular student."
"However, if a poor student enters his academy and later wants to leave, that student has to repay every scholarship reward he received after taking the academy's tests."
"If he doesn't repay it, he can't leave."
"That rule is enforced very strictly."
"Liu Yunhe absolutely refuses to change it."
"In the past, that wasn't really a problem."
"White Crane Academy was somewhere everyone wanted to attend."
"Even if there were small conflicts, no student wanted to leave voluntarily."
"But now that young master from the marquis household is there."
"It seems some students want to leave."
"But if they can't repay the silver, they can't go."
"If someone in that situation ends up offending the wrong person inside the academy, their life there could become extremely difficult."
Gang Gye didn't feel particularly disgusted by that explanation.
Liu Yunhe's rule itself didn't sound unreasonable.
Zhou Jianfeng continued,
"The real problem is that Liu Yunhe's current situation isn't good."
"And personally, he's the type who uses schemes."
"His reputation isn't very good either."
"He has ties with the county magistrate and the prefect."
"There's almost no one in town who can stop him."
"If Liu Yunhe truly decides he wants Little Six, you might not even have the right to refuse."
In other words, whether Liu Yunhe used improper means against Gang Gye might come down entirely to luck.
Especially now, when Liu Yunhe desperately needed a genius to restore the academy's former glory.
Zhou Jianfeng added,
"There were rumors in the past that Liu Yunhe used unfair methods to force people into the academy."
"But there was never any real evidence."
"So I can't tell you whether those stories were true."
Gang Jo-hang frowned.
It was difficult to believe that someone with such rumors around him had completely upright conduct.
If one only looked at how Liu Yunhe treated talented students, then attending White Crane Academy could actually be a wonderful opportunity.
But the academy's reputation had already deteriorated this far.
And the person who had crippled another student's hand was still inside.
Gang Jo-hang didn't want to send his son into such a dangerous place.
Even if a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity waited there.
Everyone from the Gang family fell silent after hearing the explanation.
If they offended Liu Yunhe, then later, when Gang Gye took the Imperial Examinations, the county magistrate might...
And who knew what could happen to their family?
After a long silence, Gang Jo-hang finally asked with difficulty,
"Is there no way..."
Before he could finish, Zhou Jianfeng shook his head.
"The escort agency does have a few connections with the county magistrate."
"But they can't compare with Liu Yunhe's."
"Even the county magistrate doesn't dare treat Liu Yunhe casually."
Naturally, the escort agency wouldn't risk conflict with Liu Yunhe for their sake either.
Suddenly, the second son spoke.
"Didn't Scholar Zhou agree to take Little Six as a student today?"
"When we were talking, there was no one else in the study except Scholar Zhou."
"Couldn't we keep Little Six's talent hidden?"
Since Scholar Zhou had agreed to accept him, surely...
Wouldn't Scholar Zhou want to hide Little Six's talent too?
"Impossible."
Zhou Jianfeng shook his head.
"Private schools used to receive silver for recommending students to White Crane Academy."
"Scholar Zhou has benefited from that arrangement before."
"Now that he's already received those benefits, it'll be even harder for him to turn against White Crane Academy."
A xiucai was still poor.
Who would reject silver offered for free?
Besides, even though White Crane Academy had always had a few small problems, it had once been considered a sacred place of learning that everyone wanted to enter.
Students had willingly gone there despite minor issues.
And in the past, things had never gone as far as someone having his hand broken.
The student who was crippled was said to have been exceptionally talented too.
Now, however, the academy had accumulated far too many children from powerful families.
It wasn't difficult to imagine what might happen next.
Since things had already reached this point, Zhou Jianfeng could only try to reassure them.
"The situation may not necessarily be as bad as you're imagining."
"Little Six is clearly extremely talented."
"If Liu Yunhe wants to use him to restore his former glory, then he won't allow others to bully him."
"There are many students from powerful families inside the academy, but Liu Yunhe himself isn't someone they can casually ignore."
"Some of the students he produced more than ten years ago are officials in the capital now."
"I've heard that even the prefect doesn't dare act too rudely toward him."
"And powerful families send their children to the academy to study hard."
"They don't send them there just so they can bully people."
Gang Jo-hang nodded.
If that was the case, then perhaps things truly weren't quite as terrible as they seemed.
Now that they understood the situation, Gang Jo-hang said his goodbyes.
When they left, everyone felt heavy-hearted.
Munsaeng quietly asked,
"Little Six, does this mean we can't study together?"
Gang Gye shook his head with a slightly confused expression.
"I don't know either."
But he thought there was a good chance they wouldn't.
On the other hand, maybe it wouldn't necessarily happen.
Perhaps he could remain at Scholar Zhou's private school for a while.
After all, Liu Yunhe had no reason to learn about him so quickly.
However, the moment Liu Yunhe returned, he was already ordering someone to investigate Gang Gye.
He had always been skilled at prescribing exactly the right medicine for every situation.
