After my luck was stolen, I led my whole family to defy fate and change our destiny.

"I...no, I didn't, you're talking nonsense."

Li Qing was truly panicked; his teeth were chattering. If this rumor got out, the entire Li family would be finished.

He looked at the other students and loudly explained, "I didn't mean that! He's slandering me. I have no intention of becoming His Majesty's master, nor do I intend to rebel!"

The other students all took a step back, not wanting to get involved in anything related to "treason," even if it was just a rumor.

Moreover, Gu Yu'an is incredibly eloquent; he can make even the white seem black.

Gu Yu'an looked coldly at Li Qing: "I heard you clearly, you said my father is a sinner."

Li Qing looked at Lu Li for help, but the other party turned his head away silently as if he hadn't seen her.

Li Qing panicked even more, breaking out in a cold sweat. He was so wrong. How could he have thought Gu Yu'an was easy to deal with?

He truly experienced firsthand what it means to "rather offend a petty person than a gentleman."

"Brother Gu, I was wrong, I was really wrong. I spoke without thinking."

"You're a magnanimous person, please forgive me."

Gu Yu'an turned his head away, and Li Qing said to Gu Liyao, "Brother Liyao, I was wrong. Please forgive me for the sake of us being classmates."

Li Qing grabbed Gu Liyao's hand. "Here's what we'll do: hit me, punch me a couple of times to vent your anger."

Gu Liyao withdrew his hand and, seeing Li Qing's cowardly appearance, didn't even bother to fight him.

Seeing that Gu Liyao ignored him, he apologized to Gu Ziming, "Little brother Ziming, I was wrong. I shouldn't have spoken to your father like that."

Gu Ziming ran to Gu Yu'an's side, head held high: "I'm not your brother, don't take advantage of me."

"Yes, yes, I'm your younger brother, okay?"

[Hehe, scared now? Of all people to mess with, you had to mess with my older brother. My older brother is the smartest in our family, hmph.]

Seeing that he had frightened Li Qing quite a bit, Gu Yu'an apologized to his younger brother, and that was enough.

"Since Brother Li Qing doesn't have that kind of intention, you should be careful with your words in the future."

"Yes Yes Yes"

Li Qing nodded vigorously, then raised his hand to wipe the cold sweat from his forehead.

Lu Li, that sixth brother, is really good at scheming. Just wait and see if I slap you or not.

Seeing that the matter had been resolved and that his henchmen were terrified, Lu Li silently took two steps back to avoid being noticed by Gu Yu'an.

Jiang He, who was watching silently from the side, hesitated. In fact, he had considered all of Li Qing's points, but he really didn't want to give up on Gu Yu'an, this talented man.

"But...I saw Brother Gu and Chen Boqing getting very close today."

“I saw it too. Why is Gu Yu’an with him?”

"Gu Yu'an's grades were only average before, but he got such good grades this time. Could he have plagiarized like Chen Boqing?"

"Possibly, otherwise why would he be so close to Chen Boqing? As the saying goes, 'One who stays near vermilion gets stained red, and one who stays near ink gets stained black.'"

Someone, I don't know who, had a few quiet words exchanged.

Perhaps the name Chen Boqing was too famous. Jiang He, who was lost in thought, suddenly came to his senses and realized that Gu Yu'an was actually getting very close to Chen Boqing.

He looked at Gu Yu'an scrutinizingly, if he really was close to Chen Boqing...

His hands curled up inside his sleeves, then relaxed for a moment...

For the sake of the academy's reputation, then we have no choice but to...

Gu Yu'an also overheard these few sentences of discussion and naturally knew that Chen Boqing had a bad reputation. He had heard that Chen had plagiarized Vice President Jiang's article back then.

Many students are unwilling to associate with him, except for some students from Chengwei College.

Gu Yu'an looked curiously at his teacher, Jiang He, whom he had always admired. Gu Yu'an even regarded him as a guiding light on his learning path and considered him an idol.

He could even recite Jiang He's "Ode to a Beautiful Woman" backwards, and he also wrote many critical biographies about it.

He did have some interaction with Chen Boqing today, but he doesn't believe that his team leader qualification should be revoked because of this.

He trusted his idol's judgment and ability to handle situations.

Chen Boqing?

"This name sounds so familiar," Gu Linglong thought, turning her big, dark eyes around.

Ah… ah, I remember now… Chen Boqing.

Brother, others may not believe Chen Boqing, but you must.

Gu Yu'an: "?"

Chen Boqing is the only person besides the Gu family who wants to redeem you from your bondage.

Gu Liyao was shocked when he heard this. Did that old man actually have designs on my older brother?

[In the previous life, my elder brother was sold into a brothel by Lu Li. Chen Boqing read the biography my elder brother wrote for "Ode to a Beauty" and particularly admired you.]

Hearing his younger sister say that, Gu Liyao inwardly berated himself for having such filthy thoughts.

I didn't want you to ruin your future, so I even borrowed money to buy your freedom.

He really is a good man, sob sob... but his reputation is so bad, no one will lend him money, and they even beat him up.

You jumped off a building before you had raised enough money, and he was the one who collected your body and buried you.

Gu Linglong became more and more excited as she spoke. When reading the book, especially when it came to the inscription on Chen Boqing's tombstone: "My confidant, the tomb of Gu Yu'an," she cried loudly.

[Waaaaah... Big brother, what he wrote on your tombstone was, "My confidant, the tomb of Gu Yu'an," waaaaah...]

Gu Yu'an was utterly stunned. He considered him a confidant? But he and Chen Boqing had never crossed paths at all!

Was it all because of the short biography and commentary he wrote for the poem about a beautiful woman? Was he really forced to redeem himself from servitude and even get beaten up because of that?

This is... unbelievable!

Although somewhat surprised, Gu Yu'an was deeply moved.

[Because the Ode to a Beauty was written by Chen Boqing. Back when Jiang He and Chen Boqing were inseparable friends, Jiang He became insanely jealous after seeing Chen Boqing's Ode to a Beauty, drugged him, stole the article, and fled to the capital overnight to publish it.]

After Chen Bo woke up, he was unaware that his article had been stolen. He searched everywhere for Jiang He, thinking that something bad had happened to him. While searching, he also participated in the imperial examination.

[He had no idea his article had been published. During the exam, he quoted his own "Ode to a Beautiful Woman," and the examiner immediately accused him of plagiarism, banning him from taking the imperial examinations for life. Waaah... He's so pitiful.]

[Is the examiner out of his mind? If he really plagiarized, why would he copy the wildly popular "Ode to a Beauty"? There's obviously something wrong with it, why didn't he investigate?]

Gu Yu'an and Gu Liyao were both so shocked that they took a step back. What had they just heard?

Wasn't "Ode to a Beauty" written by Vice Dean Jiang He? The real plagiarist wasn't Chen Boqing, but the renowned Vice Dean Jiang He from Beijing?

Who would believe this if I told them?

Jiang He's idol image was shattered into pieces in Gu Yu'an's heart.

This series of shocks left Gu Yu'an feeling numb and cold.

He gave Jiang He a mischievous look. Now that he knew he was getting close to Chen Boqing, how should he handle it?

Expel him from the academy? Target him? Or revoke his team leader qualification?

Regardless of how he viewed his close relationship with Chen Boqing, he had already made his decision.

He whispered a few words in Gu Liyao's ear, and Gu Liyao nodded repeatedly.

"I'll listen to my older brother."