My virtue is above yours.

After agreeing on a time and place, they went their separate ways.

Late that night, in his sleep, Chen Jingxuan vaguely smelled a sour, foul odor.

He suddenly opened his eyes and saw a pair of fair, small feet lying in front of him. Following the legs upwards, he saw the maid Chunhong staring at him with a grin: "Little Taoist Master Chen, smell my feet, don't they smell wonderful?"

"don't want!"

Chen Jingxuan suddenly jumped out of bed, only to find that there was nothing around him: "It was just a dream. Why would I have such a lewd dream? It must be because I smelled too many strange scents when I was controlling my senior brother today."

The next morning, he went to the backyard, where the sweet-looking Chunhong was squatting on the ground washing clothes. He took out the medicine packet he had prepared in advance and handed it to her.

Chunhong took the medicine packet with surprise and smelled it: "What is this? It smells quite nice."

"This is a foot bath pack," Chen Jingxuan said, making things up. "I noticed your complexion is a bit yin deficient. Soaking your feet in this can replenish your yang energy. It's best to mix it with vinegar and do it every day."

Chunhong, blushing, watched Chen Jingxuan leave, holding the foot bath packet in her hands.

Another tall maid, Xia He, noticed this and quickly came over: "Oh, how enviable! Little Master Chen actually gave you a gift. Let me see what it is?"

Chunhong quickly hugged the foot bath pack to her chest, afraid that someone would snatch it away: "Foot bath pack. Master Chen specially prepared it for me to help me recover because I looked a little weak."

Xia He smiled and said, "You really don't understand anything."

She whispered something in Chunhong's ear, and Chunhong covered her mouth in shock: "You mean he likes feet? But he wouldn't even warm his bed a few days ago."

Xia He explained, "That's because your feet don't smell good enough. I heard from Lin Mama in the kitchen that men have all sorts of strange tastes, and liking feet is a very common one. Once you wash your feet and they smell nice, see if he'll touch you."

Chunhong hugged the bag of foot bath packets, her face turning even redder.

-

Today, Lu Yunci and Zhu Lingyun were both on duty, and only Chen Jingxuan was off, so he went to the Zhu residence alone.

The Zhu family mansion was located in an ordinary neighborhood. From the outside, it certainly couldn't compare to the grand mansions of princes and nobles, but it had at least three courtyards, so it could be considered a mansion.

Chen Jingxuan knocked on the door, and a servant peeked out from under the door.

Before he could even speak, the other person slammed the door shut as if they'd seen a ghost.

"What's going on? How rude!"

Chen Jingxuan knocked on the door again and said politely, "I am Lord Zhu's guest. We made an appointment yesterday to come to your residence today to discuss the matter of sponsoring Shengyang Academy."

The servant inside replied somewhat nervously, "Please return, Taoist priest. My master is ill and unable to receive guests. Please come again another day."

"May I ask what illness you have? I have some medical knowledge and can examine you."

"The doctor has already come to see you. You just need to rest. Please come back another day, Taoist priest."

No matter how much Chen Jingxuan knocked on the door, there was no response from inside.

He felt something was amiss. Lord Zhu looked fine yesterday, so it was impossible for him to suddenly fall ill. He must not want to see him. Why was that?

Chen Jingxuan went around to the side gate of the Zhu residence and saw a young maid running hurriedly inside. He called out, "Miss, you dropped something."

The other person turned around, and he handed him his sachet.

The maid took the sachet with some surprise, looking at him timidly: "This doesn't seem to be my sachet."

Chen Jingxuan smiled and said, "I saw you drop it just now. Do you want to smell it?"

The maid's eyes flickered with fear, but she obediently sniffed it. She immediately felt dizzy and collapsed into Chen Jingxuan's arms.

"My apologies, my apologies. Little girl, you really shouldn't talk to strangers. Please bear with me, I'll be right back."

He separated a wisp of his divine consciousness and instantly entered the maid's body.

The maidservant suddenly stood up, curiously moving her arms around, feeling a lot of pain all over her body.

He rolled up his sleeve and saw bruises on his arms and legs: "This girl must have been bullied a lot in the house. No wonder she was scared and didn't dare to refuse; she must have been used to being bullied."

The young maidservant hurried into the courtyard, where a matron called out to her, "Pei'er! You slut, where have you been gallivanting off to again! Master is still waiting for you to serve him in the main hall!"

Without saying a word, the old woman came up and slapped her, but Pei'er dodged the slap with a quick movement.

The old woman used too much force, and her slap missed, leaving her arm stinging. She turned around and slapped her again: "You little hussy, you've gone too far!"

Pei'er dodged to the side and swiftly extended a foot, tripping the old woman to the ground.

The old woman lay on the ground, wailing in pain.

Ignoring the other person's wails, Pei'er walked towards the main hall without looking back. Chen Jingxuan cursed the old witch in his heart.

She slipped through the side door of the main hall, and the maid behind the screen gave her a wink. She quickly stepped over.

In front of the screen, you can vaguely see two middle-aged men sitting together chatting.

One of them was Lord Zhu, whom I met yesterday; the other was dressed in plain clothes and had an unfamiliar face.

The stranger was saying, "Mudball Lord was a hero, a god, but he ultimately fell. It's no longer Mudball Lord's time. Lord Zhu must recognize this. Mudball Lord's achievements cannot be erased, but erasing a small academy like Shengyang Academy is as easy as turning one's hand."

Lord Zhu, holding his teacup, smiled ingratiatingly: "But there are so many children at Shengyang Academy; we can't let them become homeless, can we?"

The stranger said seriously, "Lord Zhu, how can you be so confused about matters of officialdom? If it weren't for the fact that those anti-Heavenly Gang remarks at Shengyang Academy were attributed to the Mud Pill Lord, this academy would have been shut down long ago as a rebellion."

The stranger spoke of Niwan-jun with utter disdain: "Niwan-jun's way is ultimately not the right path. We are all scholars, and should follow the way of the Confucian sages."

Upon hearing this, Chen Jingxuan thought to himself, "The Confucian sage was nothing more than a lackey following behind the Mud King back then."

The stranger continued, "The fact that such an academy has survived is the result of weighing various factors. Everyone has been hesitant to make a fuss about the academy for fear of being accused of disrespecting Lord Niwan. But the reason everyone has been hesitant to help the academy is also because they are afraid of being accused of causing trouble under the guise of Lord Niwan. This dilemma has allowed Shengyang Academy to remain half-dead until now."

Lord Zhu asked, "This humble official is somewhat confused. Why are both the positive and negative claims relying on the name of Lord Niwan?"

The stranger lowered his voice and said, "It's because Lord Niwan is a dead tree; a tall tree catches the wind. What Lord Niwan himself is like is irrelevant; the important thing is that anyone who gets involved with him can be used against them. Those who oppose Lord Niwan can be accused of disrespecting the gods, and those who support him can be accused of rebellion. That's why everyone avoids Shengyang Academy like the plague. Otherwise, would such an opportunity have come your way? Other aristocratic families and immortal clans in the capital would be fighting tooth and nail for it!"

"But back in my family days—"

The stranger hurriedly interrupted, "Your grandfather is your grandfather; he came from the academy, and it's not appropriate for others to say much about his gratitude. But you're three generations removed, and you've lost contact with the academy for so many years. Your political enemies can accuse you of using gratitude as a pretext for rebellion, and you'll be unable to defend yourself. His Majesty is confused and ignorant; he just randomly designated a piece of land to demolish, which conveniently eliminates this rebellious academy, saving you from future troubles. Therefore, everyone is happy to see it happen. You've only recently returned to the capital and don't understand the reasons behind this. That's why my elder brother sent me to advise you not to ruin the future of your clan because of a moment of impulsiveness."

Lord Zhu sighed: "But I have already promised the Taoist priest of the Heavenly Dao Sect."

"That little Taoist priest is easy to deal with; he's just a country bumpkin. Just tell him that his hometown suffered a disaster and all his money went to disaster relief, so he really has no money left. He won't dare to do anything to you."

The stranger grasped Lord Zhu's hand and said solemnly, "Lord Zhu, please don't disappoint my brother's good intentions. If you insist on getting involved, don't blame me for not giving you a chance today. That's all I have to say; I'll take my leave now."

Chen Jingxuan could sense the threat and malice in the other party's tone.

Through the screen, one could vaguely see the person leaving.

From behind the screen came Lord Zhu's somewhat dazed voice: "I'm going to the ancestral hall, none of you should follow me."

After the maids finished tidying up the table, they dispersed. Chen Jingxuan, controlling Pei'er's body, went to the gatehouse and asked the old man there, "Who was that distinguished guest who just arrived?"

The old man glanced at the visiting card on the table and said, "Younger brother of Fan Chengyu, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Works."

Chen Jingxuan realized that this Lord Fan was the official in charge of the academy's demolition.