Chapter Eleven: Forget About Other Academies
With Gu Yu and Director Qingshan being allies, after Gu Yu found Director Qingshan’s carriage and explained his purpose, he got into the carriage without any suspense and headed towards the prefecture.
On the way, Director Qingshan explained the details of the Academy Competition to Gu Yu.
After listening to Director Qingshan’s explanation, Gu Yu became somewhat interested in this Academy Competition. It wasn’t for any other reason than the fact that the winning academy would receive a large number of books and a tuition subsidy of fifty thousand taels of silver.
All expenses were to be jointly funded by the participating academies and the government.
It was like various competitions in modern times; the rewards for winning were very generous, giving people an urge to try.
It even made Gu Yu want to sign up!
Of course, Gu Yu was only thinking about it in his heart. When it came to the Academy Competition, it would still depend on his younger brother-in-law’s brilliant performance.
If it were before the Lunar New Year, Gu Yu might have worried whether Gu Qingheng could win, but after his younger brother-in-law’s recent intense studying, Gu Yu no longer worried.
After all, even if he lost, it would ignite Gu Qingheng’s fighting spirit and make him study harder in the future.
In short, it was beneficial no matter what, so Gu Yu stopped thinking about it and started thinking about visiting the prefecture afterwards.
Since transmigrating, apart from Lian Town and Yang Family Village, he had only traveled the route between the capital and the battlefield. Apart from that, Gu Yu had not been anywhere else.
Now that he had the opportunity to visit the prefecture, Gu Yu naturally wouldn’t miss it.
However, he would have to wait until Gu Qingheng finished his competition.
If he didn’t take Gu Qingheng to visit the prefecture and see the sights, when Mengyao returned from the battlefield, his younger brother-in-law would definitely complain!
And he would embellish it…
“Gu Yu, we are about to reach the prefecture! Next, do you want to go to the location of the Academy Competition with us, or would you like to go somewhere else first?”
“Of course, I will go with you. Even if I don’t participate, I can cheer you on from the side.”
“Yes, Qingheng will definitely shock everyone this time. Just you wait and see!”
Then, when Director Qingshan asked Gu Yu, and after receiving Gu Yu’s affirmative answer, he immediately smiled, thinking that the students he had taught would definitely surprise everyone.
Not to mention that Gu Qingheng was already a genius in his studies.
At such a young age, he could remember so many books. When he grew up, Gu Qingheng’s achievements would definitely not be small.
He might even be more formidable than his teacher.
Moreover, Gu Qingheng’s father was a famous Vice General and held a position in the imperial court, and his brother-in-law Gu Yu was also a capable person. Although he looked like just a villager, there would be no problem with financial support!
As for knowledge, with him as his teacher, there was no need to worry.
It could be said that Gu Qingheng’s path to entering the government as an official in the future had already been paved, and there were no obstacles at all.
He just needed to confidently set foot on this path and smoothly reach the end…
Upon thinking of Gu Qingheng’s good fortune, Director Qingshan was also happy for him.
Besides a teacher hoping for his student to succeed, only by Gu Qingheng achieving greater success could the hatred for the Ruan family’s annihilation by the Wang Clan be avenged!
Thinking of this, Director Qingshan couldn’t help but sigh, thinking that it was a violation of his teacher’s character to teach students with impure motives.
However, apart from this method, he really didn’t know how else he could bring down the behemoth that was the Wang Clan.
“Director Qingshan, we’ve arrived.”
“Oh! Sorry, I was just lost in thought.”
After the carriage stopped, Gu Yu was about to get off the carriage, only to see Director Qingshan sitting there in a daze, clearly thinking about something and not yet recovered.
Just by looking at the sadness in Director Qingshan’s eyes, Gu Yu knew the reason without him speaking…
It was still the old grudges with the Wang Clan that Director Qingshan couldn’t let go of.
“Actually, Director Qingshan doesn’t need to think too much. Regarding bringing down the Wang Clan, I don’t think it’s too difficult. It’s just that the Wang Clan is still connected to the Empress Dowager, so we can’t rush things even if we want to make a move.”
“Alas, I understand the道理, but I don’t know if it’s because I’m getting old. Every time I think about the hatred for the Wang Clan, I can’t control my anger.”
When Gu Yu spoke to comfort him, Director Qingshan recovered and had a wry smile on his face, shaking his head and saying that he was indeed getting worse with each passing day.
When he was younger, Director Qingshan knew how to control his emotions. Now that he was older, he could barely control them.
After he finished teaching this batch of students, Director Qingshan knew he couldn’t continue teaching, otherwise, he would definitely cause great trouble.
“Given the Wang Clan’s current self-destructive behavior, an opportunity will arise before long. Director Qingshan, you must persevere! At least cultivate Gu Qingheng, and then close the academy. If that’s the case, based on Gu Qingheng’s character, he will definitely help you get revenge and wipe away the disgrace.”
After hearing Director Qingshan say that he was powerless, Gu Yu quickly advised him to persevere and not give up easily!
Gu Yu’s first half of the sentence was very encouraging, but after the latter half came out, it made Director Qingshan unable to decide whether to laugh or cry, thinking that it was indeed Gu Yu, who never lost out no matter what.
However, what Gu Yu said strangely made Director Qingshan regain his spirit.
That’s right, Gu Yu was right.
Although he had formed an alliance with Gu Yu, as long as the Wang Clan did not provoke Gu Yu, Gu Yu would not risk dealing with the Wang Clan.
In that case, revenge would be a distant prospect.
For this, Director Qingshan did not blame Gu Yu. After all, he had no bargaining chip to negotiate with Gu Yu to risk his life to contend with the Wang Clan.
However, Gu Qingheng was different.
Although Gu Qingheng was still young, and clever and shrewd, his personality was completely different from Gu Yu’s.
Just like now, Gu Qingheng knew that Director Qingshan had a grudge against the Wang Clan, but he did not show any worry or fear, clearly having made preparations in his heart.
When he had the ability in the future, Gu Qingheng would definitely help Director Qingshan avenge him and fulfill his lifelong regret.
The grace of teaching and imparting knowledge should be repaid in this way!
“Yes, you are right! I won’t think too much about it anymore. Now, let’s see if Qingheng can shine in the Academy Competition!”
“Okay.”
Then, seeing that Director Qingshan’s expression was no longer as dejected as in the beginning, Gu Yu was finally relieved, thinking that it was a blessing that Director Qingshan could think more openly now!
If it were modern times, Director Qingshan would have been diagnosed with depression if he went to the hospital for a physical examination…
Even though Director Qingshan’s spirit was very strong, after experiencing the massacre of his entire family and lying low for more than ten years solely for revenge, an ordinary person would become abnormal.
The belief in taking revenge on the Wang Clan now supported Director Qingshan to continue living.
Based on Gu Yu’s speculation, if the Wang Clan were truly brought down, Director Qingshan would probably follow suit… His obsession was too deep; it was hope, and also despair.
Just as Gu Yu was lamenting the grudges between Director Qingshan and the Wang Clan in his heart, he also jumped off the carriage and followed Director Qingshan towards the competition venue, preparing to witness an ancient version of a competition scene.
As a result, when they arrived at the venue, it was already surrounded by people.
And when a rope blocked the crowd, there were several rosewood chairs placed around the front of the rope. As Director Qingshan led Gu Yu towards the chairs, Gu Yu then confirmed that the chairs were for the judges.
He never expected that by accompanying Director Qingshan, he could even get a role as a judge…
Some chairs were already occupied. Upon seeing Director Qingshan appear, everyone’s gaze was involuntarily cast over. Among them were envy, jealousy, and burning fighting spirit, making these academy teachers pay close attention to Director Qingshan.
Although Qingshan Academy was just an academy in a small town, it consistently achieved good rankings in the Academy Competition, attracting many scholars from the prefecture to seek out famous teachers and improve their academic knowledge.
Although he knew that competition existed everywhere, the way Qingshan Academy aggressively attracted students made many teachers unable to suppress their complex emotions, thinking that they absolutely could not let Qingshan Academy steal the spotlight again in this Academy Competition!
Since Qingshan Academy won last time, it had put immense pressure on all the academies in the prefecture.
Furthermore, the officials in the prefecture had secretly exerted pressure, stating that the academies in the prefecture must display their true strength and crush the Qingshan Academy from the town.
If the academies in the prefecture couldn’t compare to the academies in the town, then the officials would have nothing to boast about and would even be looked down upon by the magistrate of the town.
For example, Bai Wangzhi, the magistrate of Lian Town, often bragged at gatherings of prefecture officials…
“Haha, Director Qingshan, you’ve arrived quite early today. You look in high spirits, clearly very confident in your students!”
As soon as Director Qingshan sat down, a voice came from the side, sounding like it was looking for trouble, which made Gu Yu curiously look over.
Then he saw a middle-aged man with a thin face and a goatee on his chin looking at him with a half-smile, his eyes flashing with sharp light, clearly not having good intentions.
“Not at all, not at all. It’s just that this year we indeed have a batch of good seedlings.”
“If that’s the case, perhaps the winner of this competition will once again be your Qingshan Academy.”
“Then it will depend on everyone’s abilities to see the final outcome.”
However, Director Qingshan’s expression remained unchanged, and he even smiled at the man with the goatee.
The words that finally came out of his mouth, although sounding humble, actually unmistakably indicated that the winner of this Academy Competition would still be their Qingshan Academy.
Forget about other academies.
…………
Congratulations on the end of the college entrance examination. Now it’s time to have fun!
Don’t forget to give the author rewards and monthly tickets~
