The First Venerable of the Prosperous Age

The two went to the corridor and saw the woman with the duckbill standing with her hands behind her back, while Wu, the junior brother opposite her, was still standing there with his umbrella, expressionless.

The woman with the duck-beak glared at the two of them, and they consciously stood beside Wu's junior brother.

Chang'an and Wang Xiaofan exchanged a glance, and then both bent their legs and tilted their heads, looking nonchalant.

Seeing this, the woman with the duck-beak walked up to Wang Xiaofan with a smile and asked softly, "What's your name?"

Wang Xiaofan tilted his head to the other side, pouting his sausage lips and pointing his nostrils at the person, arrogantly saying each word: "This humble Taoist is Wang Xiaofan!"

The woman with the duck-billed brow furrowed, tilted her ear, and asked in confusion, "Huh?"

Wang Xiaofan glanced sideways at the duck-billed woman who only reached his shoulder, and continued barking wildly, "Woof...!"

Before he could finish speaking, the woman with the duckbill suddenly jumped up and slapped Wang Xiaofan hard across the face. "What are you barking about? What breed of dog are you?!"

Upon seeing this, Chang'an's body trembled, and he immediately raised his head, straightened his chest, and stood at attention obediently.

Wang Xiaofan's legs were bent inwards, his face drooping, his cheeks red and swollen, filled with grievance. He had lost all his spirit and looked as wilted as an eggplant.

The woman with the duck-billed mouth came up to Chang'an again, hands behind her back, and demanded sharply, "What's your name?!" She acted as if Chang'an owed her a lot of money.

"Chang'an."

The woman with the duck-billed beak paused for a moment, looked him up and down, then put on her original sour face again and walked up to Junior Brother Wu.

"And you, why are you late?"

Junior Brother Wu's eyes flashed sharply: "I could have simply not come." His expression seemed to say: Don't be ungrateful.

"Hmph, you already did that in the last class, didn't I tell you, Wu Zijin?" the duck-billed woman sneered.

"Clang, clang, clang." Suddenly, the sound of orderly footsteps rang out again outside the corridor.

Looking in the direction of the sound, Guiyou and his two bodyguards were walking towards them.

They were late too, but the duck-billed woman just kept her head down, as if she couldn't see the three of them at all, letting them swagger into the hall, her unfriendly gaze still scrutinizing them.

Seeing this, Wu Zijin was furious. She turned the umbrella towards the woman with the duck-billed mouth and said righteously, "My time is precious and I will not waste it on meaningless things."

The woman with the duck-beak smiled crookedly, "I will relay these words to your Master Tang verbatim."

“No, you should tell Confucius.” Wu Zijing gently turned the umbrella again, showing extreme disgust towards the woman with the duckbill.

The platypus's eyes flashed with fury; it was enraged. After a moment, it said, "I see you don't want this umbrella anymore."

Wu Zijin looked wary and gripped the umbrella handle even tighter.

In the stalemate, Wang Xiaofan suddenly pouted his swollen, red lips and pleaded, "Master, although I really don't want to say it, I still have to: I hope you can spare Junior Brother Wu. Ever since we met him, this umbrella has never left his side, so..."

The woman with the duckbill smiled maliciously, "Then so be it."

"Really?!" Wang Xiaofan exclaimed in surprise.

"I can spare you, but I will report your matter to your Master Zhang, hehehe." The duck-billed woman sneered.

Upon hearing this, both Wang Xiaofan and Wu Zijin showed signs of panic.

"Cough cough cough." Chang'an coughed twice and looked at the duck-billed woman with a meaningful gaze.

Seeing this, the woman with the duck-beak lowered her head, walked up to Chang'an, and said, "Come out here."

The two went to a secluded corner, and the woman with the duck-billed mouth suddenly gave a fawning smile, brighter than the sun. No one believed that such a person could have such a smile, but that was the truth, and it had become the norm.

"Hehehe, junior brother, how is our senior uncle doing lately? Please give him my regards."

Chang'an nodded perfunctorily, then asked, "So, what are you planning to do with the three of us?"

The woman with the duck-billed billow hurriedly said, "No, no, how could I dare to punish you, junior brother?"

Despite her fawning and obsequious manner, Chang'an still felt very uncomfortable: We're clearly of the same generation, why is she being so humble? What kind of benefit could make you lose all sense of shame?

"Sigh..." Chang'an sighed, then asked politely, "How should I address you?"

"My surname is Xiao, and my given name is Liu." The woman with the duck-beak never lost her smile.

"Oh, so you're Senior Sister Xiao Liu. From now on, to make it easier to hide my identity, I'll call you Xiao Liu." Chang'an said very seriously, not at all like he was joking.

Xiao Liu nodded repeatedly, "No problem, no problem."

Chang'an shook his head and asked again, "Xiao Liu, what do you plan to do with them?"

Master Xiao Liu complimented, "Hehe, what do you think?"

Chang'an rolled his eyes, leaned down and whispered in Xiao Liu's ear.

After a while...

Chang'an strode back to the two of them, but Master Xiao Liu had already returned to the hall to continue his lesson.

The three people in the aisle looked at each other, and finally, the two of them fixed their gazes on Wang Xiaofan's sausage lips, which were even redder and fuller from being slapped.

"What breed of dog is this? Hahahahahahahahaha!!" Chang'an laughed loudly, which made Zijing unable to hold back her laughter as well.

"Don't...don't laugh! What did that platypus say? Is it really going to report us to Master Zhang?"

Upon hearing this, Wu Zijin's smile faded, and she looked at Chang'an with some anxiety.

Chang'an smiled smugly, "Don't you even know who I am?"

Wang Xiaofan pointed at him with a smile, "Oh!! I knew it, with connections, we'll all be fine."

Chang'an suddenly stopped smiling. "What do you mean, 'us'? Are we that close?"

Wang Xiaofan stared wide-eyed, stunned for a long time.

Chang'an then turned to Wu Zijin and said softly, "Junior Brother Wu, don't worry, Master Xiao Liu will no longer make things difficult for you. Go back and find a seat to listen to the lesson."

Wu Zijin was stunned, staring at Chang'an's face, and remained silent for a long time.

"Junior Brother Wu?"

"Oh, oh." Wu Zijing suddenly woke up, pulled the umbrella back a little, and then bowed and said, "I haven't yet asked for your name, senior brother?"

"My name is Chang'an."

Wu Zijin smiled and picked up a flower: "Looking towards Chang'an under the sun, and gazing at Wu and Hui amidst the clouds. Senior Brother Chang'an, it's a pleasure to meet you."

Chang'an smiled in response: "We are strangers meeting by chance, both of us are from out of town. Junior Brother Wu, it's a pleasure to meet you."

Wu Zijin exclaimed in surprise, "Senior brother has also read this article!"

Chang'an scratched his head and gave an awkward smile: "I used to listen to those nobles reciting poems and writing essays every day in a certain building. My ears were calloused from it, hehehe."

"I see." Wu Zijin's joy diminished slightly, but she still smiled and bowed: "Then I will ask Senior Brother Chang'an for guidance in the future."

Looking at his smile, which felt like a gentle breeze, Chang'an replied, "I wouldn't dare... I wouldn't dare."

Wu Zijin bowed and said, "Then, junior brother, I'll take my leave now."

After watching Wu Zijing walk away, he saw Wang Xiaofan looking at him with disdain: "You pretentious, pedantic scholar, how disgusting!"

Chang'an clicked his tongue and shook his head. "Look at him, what does it mean to be elegant, gentle, and refined? And look at you, how do you act when you meet people? Hmm?"

Wang Xiaofan frowned and said, "Don't forget who's being punished with you right now!"

"You'll be punished with me? Hahahaha." Chang'an laughed loudly.

Wang Xiaofan retorted angrily, "Speaking of which, why did you save him but not me?"

Chang'an raised his head, he hadn't been this smug in a long time: "Because for me, seeing you make a fool of yourself is more important than anything else, hahahahahaha."

Wang Xiaofan's sausage lips trembled with anger. "You... what did you have that platypus do to me?"

Chang'an laughed and said, "Your act of talking back to your superior is quite egregious, so of course we have to hand you over to Master Zhang. Hahahaha."

Wang Xiaofan's eyes widened, and he hurriedly said, "She asked me what my name was, and I told her the truth... Besides, you did it too!"

"I didn't do anything! I was standing perfectly straight! Besides, you should be thinking about what to do next, shouldn't you?"

Wang Xiaofan was frantic with worry, pleading, "Please show me the way..."

Chang'an tossed her messy hair back and said, "That's easy. Just go and give that duckbill tumor some gifts."

"what!?"

Wang Xiaofan bit his sausage lips, pondering for a long time, "This, this... can't we just switch to cash?"

Chang'an laughed loudly, "That would be the best, of course."

Wang Xiaofan pursed his lips for a long time before finally saying, "Hmm... how about paying with my body?"

Chang'an slapped his thigh and exclaimed excitedly, "I couldn't be happier, fellow Daoist!"