Daily life in the academy

The book in Baizhi's hand was suddenly pulled out, and the text on the book was now frozen in a description of a scene of dressing and undressing, with everything below the neck prohibited.

She slowly raised her head and looked at Yan Qingchen, who was standing beside her with a sullen face. The smile on the corner of her mouth was frozen stiffly at the starting point, neither going up nor down.

Yan Qingchen clenched his left fist behind his back, trying hard to suppress the urge to hit someone: "You usually look at these... these filthy things?"

"No..." Bai Zhi lowered her head guiltily.

It's like she couldn't do anything out of the ordinary in front of others since she was a child, and she was always caught. At this moment, she could feel the sharp gaze above her head.

Emotions are brewing on both sides.

There was a subtle change in the atmosphere, and Bai Zhi admitted her mistake timidly before Yan Qingchen could open his mouth to speak.

"Brother Yan, I was wrong."

Yan Qingchen's breath caught in his chest and he pressed it down: "What did you do wrong?"

"My mistake is that as a student at the academy, I should behave like a gentleman and not read such a disgusting book, even if it's just for entertainment occasionally."

He has a very positive attitude towards admitting mistakes, a skill he has acquired since childhood.

Since the other party already knew that he was wrong, Yan Qingchen could not say anything more. He just quickly closed his hand and put it behind his back.

"I'm confiscating your book. Since you admit your mistake, I'll punish you by making you copy the Tao Te Ching three times. Give it to me tomorrow night."

Bai Zhi's eyes went dark. "Huh? Three times?"

"Not enough? Then five times."

"No, no, no, it's not too little. I will definitely give you the Tao Te Ching that I copied three times tomorrow night."

Yan Qingchen looked at him deeply, turned around and sat back at the desk, putting the "filthy" book wrapped in the cover of "The Book of Changes" aside.

The low pressure lifted, Bai Zhi breathed a sigh of relief, resigned herself to her fate and moved to the desk, took out the Tao Te Ching and started copying it.

The Tao that can be spoken of is not the eternal Tao. The name that can be named is not the eternal name. The nameless is the beginning of heaven and earth, and the named is the mother of all things. Therefore, the constant nothingness can be used to observe its wonders, and the constant existence can be used to observe its boundaries. These two things come from the same source but have different names, and are both called mysterious. The more mysterious, the more mysterious they are, and they are the door to all wonders.

...

Second day

During the morning class, Xie Guan came over, inspected the class, and left. Bai Zhi could no longer hold on and fell asleep on the desk. She only woke up in a daze when the bell rang for the end of get out of class.

Mu Bailian leaned over curiously and said, "Azhi, did you become a thief last night? You slept so soundly during the morning class. Aren't you afraid that Old Man Xie will come back and rob you?"

Bai Zhi yawned, tears welling in her eyes. She rubbed her eyes and finally woke up. She glanced at Yan Qingchen secretly, and seeing that he didn't notice her, she whispered, "I made Brother Yan angry, so I copied the Tao Te Ching for most of the night."

"What did you do?" Mu Bailian was still excited after hearing this. He looked Bai Zhi up and down, but didn't see any obvious injuries. He felt a little angry in his heart: "I told you that Brother Yan was partial, but Wenzhe didn't believe me."

"What do you mean by partiality?" Bai Zhi was puzzled. Wasn't they talking about her now?

"If I had done something wrong, Brother Yan would have beaten me up long ago, but you just simply copied the book."

Bai Zhi covered her chest, pretending to be heartbroken. Her expression of grief was exaggerated: "Mu Bailian, you have no heart. These bright dark circles under my eyes are the result of my lost life."

Yan Qingchen glared at Bai Zhi and said, "If you keep talking nonsense, go to the dining hall."

"Brother Yan is right." Bai Zhi stood up and followed him like a dog. Mu Bailian brushed off the goose bumps on his body.

In the dining hall, Wenzhe had already taken a seat and waved for them to come over.

In recent days, the students have noticed that Yan Qingchen is not as irritable and quick-tempered as rumored, and he does not have the habit of hitting people at will. As long as they are careful not to bump into them, they no longer deliberately avoid them.

After the three of them sat down, Wenzhe keenly noticed that Baizhi was not in a good state and asked with concern. Baizhi tilted his head towards Mu Bailian and signaled him to speak.

After hearing what was said, Wenzhe could only shake his head helplessly. He had made Qingchen angry, and he had no choice but to give Baizhi a look that wished him the best.

"Hey, have you heard? There's something new happening in Sheng'an City recently."

"What's the matter? The teachers have assigned too many lessons these days, and I don't have time to inquire about these news."

"This isn't just hearsay. It's all over the market. It's said that a flower-plundering demon has appeared in the city recently. He specifically kidnaps young women and tortures them to death. Some even have their eyes gouged out and their livers removed... It's extremely cruel."

"It's a good thing we're all men, otherwise we'd be too scared to sleep in the middle of the night."

"That's it."

"Hush, I also heard that there is a prince among the Di Kingdom's envoys. His most beloved concubine was also captured and her whereabouts are still unknown. Now the prince is looking for an explanation from the emperor."

"They've all been captured by monsters. They're probably in great danger."

"Who says it isn't?"

Although the people at the next table spoke very quietly, Bai Zhi and the other three people nearby heard the conversation.

There were many people talking here, and the four of them exchanged glances, but tacitly agreed not to discuss the matter.

However, the four words "envoy from the Di Kingdom" are highly sensitive words to Bai Zhi, and she naturally thinks of An Ziqian.

Missing young woman...

The memory of the original book flashed in her mind. Isn't this the incident that caused Wenzhe's family to be exiled?

Bai Zhi suddenly looked up and met Yan Qingchen's eyes. His expression seemed to be asking: Have you dreamed about this too?

It seems that what he said last night, "I believe you", was not a lie.

But because they were there, Bai Zhi could only nod imperceptibly.

The whole day's classes were neither slow nor fast. After school, Yan Qingchen stayed in the academy as expected, but he sent one of his servants back to the palace to find out what was going on.

At the beginning of the midnight hour, Bai Zhi finally finished copying the Tao Te Ching and presented it to Yan Qingchen with both hands.

"Brother Yan, I know I was wrong and I will never make the same mistake again."

Yan Qingchen nodded with satisfaction: "Remember what you said."

Next time... I definitely won't be caught by you.

Now that the business was done, Yan Qingchen asked, "Did you dream about what happened in the dining hall today?"

"I vaguely remember dreaming about it a few days ago. It seemed like Wenzhe's father was involved." Bai Zhi pretended to be thoughtful and said, "It's just that my dreams are always clearer the closer they are to the time. Maybe I will have clearer dreams in the next two days."

You have to do things step by step. If you reveal everything, it will easily arouse suspicion.

Yan Qingchen nodded thoughtfully, "Okay, if you dream of any details again, feel free to tell me. I won't reveal it to anyone else." He paused, then added, "In exchange, I will also tell you the news I learned from the palace."

"Brother Yan, I'm relieved."