Chapter 72: The Fourth Person
“His usual self? What’s that like?”
Seeing that it was Chen Changsheng who had spoken, Tang Thirty-Six’s expression immediately perked up, and he rolled his eyes as he asked.
“Like earlier. You would’ve just started cursing.”
Chen Changsheng thought for a moment, then said, “And when you got tired of cursing, you’d just fall asleep.”
Tang Thirty-Six looked at the seats where the teachers and students of the Heavenly Dao Academy were sitting. After a moment of silence, he lowered his voice slightly and said, “After all, there are some people who have been good to me.”
During the entrance examination for the Heavenly Dao Academy, Chen Changsheng had glimpsed a few scenes from afar. He knew that Vice Dean Zhuang had taken great care of Tang Thirty-Six. Now, seeing that Tang Thirty-Six’s gaze was indeed fixed on Vice Dean Zhuang, he thought there must be a story hidden there. It was probably because of this man that Tang Thirty-Six was acting so differently from his usual self.
“But still, the first thing a person should do is be himself.” Tang Thirty-Six looked at the Heavenly Dao Academy seats, thinking about the hidden frost and storms of the past few months of academy life, about being targeted by his classmates, about what had happened to him two nights before the Ivy Banquet. The corners of his mouth curled up in an ambiguous smile.
If it were any other time, Chen Changsheng wouldn’t have offered any opinion on his choices, even if he were his only friend—that was just his nature. But tonight, having encountered such a situation, and having himself fallen into an opponent’s shameless trap like Tang Thirty-Six had at the Heavenly Dao Academy, barely escaping with his life before the black dragon, many things had quietly changed.
He looked at Tang Thirty-Six and said nothing, but his calm and certain gaze represented his support.
“So you want me to apologize to those Southerners?”
Tang Thirty-Six looked at Zhuang Huanyu and said, “This whole thing is too boring, and the way you’re acting is too boring.”
Astonished murmurs broke out in the hall.
Zhuang Huanyu was ranked tenth on the Azure Cloud List, a leading figure among the young experts of the Ivy Academies, on par with the Divine Kingdom’s Seven Laws who commanded the winds and rains in the south. Although he had lost his composure earlier, which was unpleasant and even disgraceful, he was still the face of the Heavenly Dao Academy. For Tang Thirty-Six, a student of the academy, to directly point out his faults like this seemed somewhat disrespectful.
“Because it’s boring, it’s no fun. Since it’s no fun, why should I keep playing here? Don’t think you can use the bonds of being classmates to restrain me, or the authority of teachers to control me, or the dignity of senior brothers to shut me up. Because I… have decided to drop out.”
Tang Thirty-Six looked at his former classmates and teachers, his expression calm as he said, “I’ve decided to withdraw from the Heavenly Dao Academy.”
Even though everyone in the hall had already experienced too many shocks tonight, hearing these words still caused an uproar!
The Heavenly Dao Academy was the number one academy on the continent, having nurtured countless peerless experts. The current Pope himself had graduated from here, and the top scorer of the Grand Examination often came from here as well. Although in recent years, the young students of the Heavenly Dao Academy had been overshadowed by the Divine Kingdom’s Seven Laws in the south, and the Zhou Dynasty had produced a peerless genius like Xu Yourong, the Heavenly Dao Academy was still the Heavenly Dao Academy. No one dared to question its status. Everyone considered it an honor to be admitted. Countless people struggled and toiled just to step through its gates. And tonight, someone was voluntarily withdrawing from the Heavenly Dao Academy!
The uproar in the hall continued. The faces of the Heavenly Dao Academy’s teachers and students were extremely grim. Vice Dean Zhuang’s face was even slightly pale.
Surprisingly, the Dean of the Heavenly Dao Academy, Mao Qiuyu, showed no reaction. Instead, the old man’s expression seemed somewhat relieved, as if everything was within his expectations.
“I know many people will ask me why.”
Tang Thirty-Six looked at the crowd with a blank expression. “The Heavenly Dao Academy has the best teachers and the best students. I have to admit I’ve received a lot of care. Even if I’ve suffered some grievances, compared to all this, it doesn’t seem enough to make me decide to drop out. But like I said just now, the current Heavenly Dao Academy is really, really boring.”
“Boring means no fun. If it’s no fun, why should I keep playing here?”
This was a sentence he had said earlier, and many people remembered it.
“Just because I said I would cripple Tianhai Ya’er, some teachers and senior brothers in the academy banned me from participating in the Ivy Banquet! Just because I wanted to challenge Zhuang Huanyu, someone trapped me in the library with a restraint formation all night! Don’t talk to me about the greater good. In the old days, when did the Heavenly Dao Academy ever care about someone else’s greater good? And now? It’s even afraid of the Tianhai family! What kind of nonsense is this? This isn’t the Heavenly Dao Academy I read about in books. This academy is utterly boring, no fun at all!”
Tang Thirty-Six said this to the teachers and students of the Heavenly Dao Academy. His words were flippant, but his expression was extremely serious, because these were his true feelings before leaving.
Hearing this, the hall became even more chaotic and agitated, because this young man from Wenshui had mentioned the Tianhai family.
There was a lot of content in his words, but people only heard the Tianhai family.
It’s even afraid of the Tianhai family!
He actually used the word “even.”
He actually thought the Tianhai family shouldn’t be feared!
Prince Chenliu lowered his head slightly. On the table before him, two wine cups had appeared at some point, the wine reflecting the light of the night pearls, very beautiful. He seemed to be staring at them in a daze.
Mo Yu watched Tang Thirty-Six with a cold expression, her right hand gently holding a teacup. The tea inside didn’t ripple at all.
Tianhai was the surname of Her Holiness the Empress. The Tianhai family was her maternal clan. Since the brutal court struggle over a decade ago, the Tianhai family had replaced the Chen clan to become one of the most honored surnames on the continent, alongside the Bai clan of the west. If measured by power and influence, it was indisputably number one in the world.
In the current Great Zhou, even the Papal Palace where the Pope resided treated the Tianhai family with courtesy. Even though countless people hated the Tianhai family to the bone in private, no one dared to say such things in public. Who could be like Tang Thirty-Six, openly denouncing them in front of everyone?
People looked at Tang Thirty-Six with complicated eyes.
Some admired him, some pitied him. Of course, more looked at him as if he were an idiot—had this young man gotten addicted to slapping faces tonight? Was he even going after the Tianhai family?
Tang Thirty-Six seemed completely oblivious to these stares, as if he hadn’t even considered the danger hidden in his words. He looked at Zhuang Huanyu with a cold expression and said, “I know you had a hard childhood, but that’s no reason for you to blame anyone. Don’t always feel like the whole world owes you something. Putting on an air of detachment in front of others while wallowing in self-pity inside. Even though you’ve already made it into the top ten of the Azure Cloud List, you still feel fate is unfair, thinking you could be as strong as Qiu Shanjun. Who are you trying to make feel sorry for you? What I can’t stand most, what I hate most, are people like you. The current Heavenly Dao Academy has too many students like you, which is why it’s becoming more and more like a theater, droning on and on, singing these soft, weak tunes. Of course it’s boring!”
The hall gradually quieted down. People looked at the Heavenly Dao Academy seats, at Zhuang Huanyu.
Zhuang Huanyu was silent for a long time. His expression slowly calmed, and he looked at Tang Thirty-Six and said, “I did lose my composure earlier. No matter what you did wrong, no matter if you care about the survival of the Heavenly Dao Academy, it’s not my place to criticize you. And although what you said was harsh, there’s some truth to it… But have you ever thought about why the teachers and the rest of us never liked you after you entered the academy? Why you felt like you were being pushed out? Pride? No, students of the Heavenly Dao Academy should naturally be proud. You’re from the Tang family of Wenshui, born with a silver spoon in your mouth. From the moment you entered the academy, you had important people looking out for you. You could skip classes, ignore the academy’s rules, but you still got everything you were entitled to. What about your other classmates? They have to study and train hard to achieve anything. Naturally, they look down on someone like you who only takes shortcuts.”
At this moment, most of the people sitting in the scattered seats in the hall were students from ordinary families. The dozens of young students in the Southern delegation were mostly from poor backgrounds. The three young men among the Divine Kingdom’s Seven Laws looked thoughtful at Zhuang Huanyu’s words. It was well known that Gou Hanshi, who came from a poor family, also seemed lost in thought.
Vice Dean Zhuang’s face was very ugly, because he knew that the “important person” Zhuang Huanyu was referring to, who had looked after Tang Thirty-Six, was himself.
“Maybe what you said has some merit. The Heavenly Dao Academy has its rules, its traditions passed down for a thousand years. Maybe the teachers and all of you believe that only those who have endured hardship and suffering can truly amount to something. But… my family just has a lot of money. What can I do about it? Should I pretend to be poor? Or should I have my grandfather give away all our wealth? Her Holiness the Empress would probably be very happy about that.”
Tang Thirty-Six shook his head and said, “You have your reasoning, I have my habits, the Heavenly Dao Academy has its rules. Tonight, let’s not talk about who’s right or wrong. But since we’re not a good fit for each other, this matter will never become fun. So, I’m withdrawing from the Heavenly Dao Academy.”
“Shut up!” Vice Dean Zhuang shouted, his face dark.
When he was young, he had received kindness from the Tang family of Wenshui, and there were many old stories and friendships between him and the Tang family. Since he had promised the elders of the Tang family to look after Tang Thirty-Six in the capital, how could he just stand by and watch him mess around? “Haven’t you caused enough trouble! Your father entrusted you to my care. Do you really think I wouldn’t dare to discipline you!”
Tang Thirty-Six looked at him for a moment, scratched his head, and said, “Uncle Zhuang, you always say my father entrusted me to your care… Actually, on the way to the capital, I already opened that letter and read it. I know it was my mother who asked you to look after me. So you can stop using that line to pressure me.”
Vice Dean Zhuang’s fingers trembled with anger. “You brat, how could you… how could you open that letter!”
For some reason, upon hearing this, Zhuang Huanyu’s face turned slightly pale.
Tang Thirty-Six said, “Anyway, tonight I’m leaving the Heavenly Dao Academy.”
Vice Dean Zhuang said bitterly, “Child, why won’t you just listen? The preparatory course is already over. If you drop out, what about next year’s Grand Examination?”
Tang Thirty-Six was momentarily stunned, realizing this was indeed a problem.
“That’s not a problem.”
Chen Changsheng smiled and said, “Come to my place.”
Tang Thirty-Six raised an eyebrow. “Come to your place?”
Chen Changsheng said, “Students of the National Teaching Academy also have the qualifications to directly participate in the Grand Examination.”
He was absolutely certain about this rule. When he first entered the capital, it was precisely to avoid the preparatory exam and directly take the Grand Examination early next year that he had tried every possible way to get into one of the Six Ivy Academies. He just never expected that fate would ultimately make him the first new student of the National Teaching Academy in many years.
Tang Thirty-Six’s ink-black eyebrows rose even higher, as if he had discovered something very interesting, something very fun.
“How many people do you have there now?”
“Three.”
Chen Changsheng pointed to himself and Luoluo, then said, “There’s one more staying at the National Teaching Academy tonight. You’ve met him.”
Tang Thirty-Six was silent for a moment, then laughed and said, “Count me in.”
Chen Changsheng thought for a moment and said, “Then we’ll have four people.”
…
…
(Chen Changsheng’s stamp-collecting activity continues. The National Teaching Academy now has four people. Only one chapter today.)