Chapter 49: Bug Hidden in the Shadows

That letter was delivered to the bank of South Lake by Song Lian.
Actually, there was news that came from South Lake long ago.
That news was too big, instantly shaking the entire Divine Capital.

It was like someone threw a large rock into the South Lake.
The ripples that were set off were no less than a torrential storm raining in the Divine Capital.

There was an academy beside the South Lake.
Since it was an academy, there would be a dean.

The academy had existed for thousands of years.
Each generation's dean was naturally an extremely impressive existence.

The current dean had stated explicitly long before he took office that he wanted to emulate the sages' stories and take in 72 disciples.
Hence, in those years, there were occasionally academy students who the dean thought highly of and taken in as a disciple.
It was just that along with the passage of time, the intervals between the dean's acceptance of disciples became longer and longer.
Because the remaining spots at the back became increasingly fewer, the dean's requirements naturally became higher and higher too.

All the way until 30 years ago, after the dean took in the 71st disciple, there was only one last spot remaining.

In these 30 years, the academy would observe when the academy recruited students annually, but he no longer had anyone that he fancied.

Just as everyone thought that the dean would still need many years before finding that last disciple, the news came out.

That girl from White Deer's Xie Clan had become the dean's final student now.

She was even the one and only female student.

This matter shocked the academy first.

Countless students gathered at the bank of South Lake.
They looked towards that elegant little courtyard over from the lake and started discussing.

“I said long ago, how can that Xie Family's girl be an ordinary person? It's perfectly natural that she doesn't attend some classes on normal days.
How can it be worth making a fuss over?”

“I feel the same too.
After all, the dean personally exempted her from the entrance examination.
How can she be mediocre?”

“I was too rash that day and said too many bad things about her.
Now, I really regret it.”

“We're really lucky to be in the academy with someone like that.”

There were many voices at the lake, but now, there was virtually nothing negative anymore.
It was mostly praises.

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There were also some students who were different.
Many students gathered under a willow tree.
Looking at Huang Zhi who was further away, someone sneered and said, “This person already had improper desires back then.
Now that she has already become the dean's final disciple, is he still going to be so shameless?”

Another student with a handsome face concurred, “Presumably so.
Back then, he pestered relentlessly like this because of that person's family background.
Now that he knows that she's the dean's student, he'll probably be all the more so.”

The moment these words came out, those few people under the willow tree all started laughing.
It was just that the laughter did not reach the ears of Huang Zhi who was in the distance.

Huang Zhi looked at the small courtyard in the distance from afar, a bitter smile all over his face.
But at the same time, there were some other emotions in his eyes.

In the small courtyard even further away, Xie Nandu opened that letter and then took out the item inside.
She smiled after finishing reading the letter and just kept that item.
Going out of the courtyard, her maidservant Liu Ye followed behind her.

Since she had acknowledged a teacher, she naturally had to go and learn some things.

She arrived at the small pavilion at the heart of the lake very soon.

There was a scholar who had waited for a long time here.
Seeing Xie Nandu arrive, he just nodded and said with a slight smile, “Teacher has instructed me to teach Junior Apprentice Sister.”

Xie Nandu gave her greetings and said softly, “In that case, I'll have to thank Senior Apprentice Brother.”

The scholar nodded and immediately reported his background, “My surname is Wei and my given name is Xu.
My seniority is ranked 12, you can call me 12th Senior Apprentice Brother.
If you don't like it, there's also no harm in calling me Senior Apprentice Brother Wei.
Teacher doesn't really mind these things.”

Hence, Xie Nandu called Senior Apprentice Brother Wei.

Wei Xu nodded his head and said, “Teacher has once said that the sages' books can be read on your own.
I heard that junior sister is a renowned talented woman from White Deer's Xie Clan, you've naturally read many books.
Many other teachers in the academy have also explained the books.
Hence, my lesson today will only talk about cultivation.”

Xie Nandu nodded her head.

“The Xie Family has their techniques that are handed down in the family.
But, Teacher said those methods are not good, so junior sister doesn't need to study them.”

The moment Wei Xu opened his mouth, he denied the Xie Family's cultivation methods that had already been handed down for over a century in its entirety.
It was just that he represented the dean and also represented the academy, so he naturally had this qualification.

Xie Nandu nodded and did not refute it.

Someone like the dean was thoroughly acquainted with the ancient and modern, there were no problems with his views.

Wei Xu smiled again and said, “Teacher said that junior sister is a genius, so I don't need to say too much when teaching, and junior sister will be able to understand on your own.”

Xie Nandu did not speak.

After a long silence, Wei Xu asked, “Does junior sister have anything that you want to ask?”

Xie Nandu was silent for a moment before saying, “If senior brother begins teaching, I believe I'll have questions.”

……

……

Since the first year of Tianjian, the Court of Judicial Review has detained dozens of officials who had committed crimes.
Each of them held great authority and had committed felons.
But, it may be presumed that those people added up also did not cause more trouble than Chen Chao.
And the strange thing was that Chen Chao's official rank was the lowest among these people.

He was just a Tianqing County warden.

It was the same official rank as a magistrate.

It was impossible for this kind of official to be locked up in the Court of Judicial Review in the past.

But now, Chen Chao already had a prison cell that belonged to him in the Court of Judicial Review.

It was very spacious and not crawling with rats as he imagined.
There were not even any strange smells and there was even a bed with bedding.

The condition of the Court of Judicial Review's prison cell was indeed the best in the entire Great Liang Dynasty.

Chen Chao was quite satisfied.

It was just that he did not understand something.
He was already locked up in the prison that was engraved full of talisman array formations, but there were still such heavy iron shackles on his hands and legs.

This was completely superfluous!

Chen Chao sat on the ground, his head full of black hair already became incredibly greasy.
The itching that came from his scalp made him feel a little uncomfortable.
It was just that currently, his two hands were full of filth too, making it very hard for him to think about scratching.

Hence, he had been enduring the entire time.

When lunch was placed in front of him, there was a meat dish and two vegetable dishes.
That snow-white shredded radish and emerald-green vegetables looked like it could cut through greasiness.
It was just that the fishtail was probably thickened with too much powder, causing the soup to be overly thick.

As a Divine Trove martial artist, ordinary poison could not poison him to death.
But, there were indeed many poisons in this world that specifically targeted cultivators.
Who knew whether or not there would be one in the meal?

He did not want to die without rhyme or reason.

He did not know what happened outside, but Chen Chao felt that it should be about time for someone to come and look for him.

As he was thinking of this, footsteps came from afar.

A big and tall man walked over from afar and then opened the cell gate.

He looked at Chen Chao and said with a slight smile, “You can go now, someone has saved your life, you don't need to stand trial anymore.”

Chen Chao gave an 'oh'.

The big and tall man took a look at the meal placed on the ground and said with a slight smile, “Why? The food here doesn't suit your palate?” “Makes sense.
The Ministry of Revenue allocates quite a bit of funds here and won't treat you officials shabbily when it comes to food and whatnot.
But, the human heart is all like this, the chefs feel that no matter how good they make the food, you guys will all have to die, so it's unavoidable that they become a little unprofessional.”

He took the key from his waist and came over with a smile as he said, “But, the problem that you caused isn't small.
That person expended a great effort before resolving it.”

He took off the chains on Chen Chao's hand and crouched down to remove the chains on his feet.

But, at the moment he squatted down, Chen Chao opened his mouth and asked, “Do you think that you acted well?”

The man suddenly raised his head, his face frightened.
But before he could react, he was kicked in the face by Chen Chao.
Just one kick and the man was knocked flying by the tremendous impact, slamming heavily against the opposite prison cell's wall with a loud bang.
It was just that before he could slide to the ground and spurt a mouthful of blood, Chen Chao already arrived in front of him.
Grabbing his throat, he forcibly choked the blood in his mouth at his throat, not letting it out.

The man had a face full of terror.
He could not imagine how he was exposed.

Chen Chao looked at his reddened face and said with narrowed eyes, “I'll only ask once, who asked you to kill me?”

The man was unable to speak.
In fact, he could not even breathe.
At this moment, he could only stare wide-eyed in agony like this.

Chen Chao loosened his grip.

The man gasped slightly for air.
But then, he immediately crushed the poison hidden in his teeth.
A streak of black blood flowed out of his lips and he became lifeless.

Chen Chao let go and the man's corpse became limp, like a pile of mud.