Martial Saint through Reading

The next day.

Chu Ming came with Ning Hao and Liang Yuan to the dining hall for morning porridge.

As expected, there was arsenic powder in the bowl he had ordered.

Chu Ming memorized the features, attire, and voice of the waiter who brought the porridge. After finishing his meal, he prepared to head to Wenlan Hall.

"Brother Chu, this morning is the Political Book class, aren’t you going?" Ning Hao asked with some confusion, noticing Chu Ming walking in another direction.

"No." Chu Ming shook his head.

He had attended the academy’s classes a few times. To be honest, reading on his own was faster and these lectures felt like a bit of a waste of time.

His main goal now was to improve his own abilities and read more books, especially the "Mountain Scripture," which he suspected to be part of the Classic of Mountains and Seas. He had a feeling it would bring him something different.

"But today’s Political Book class is taught by Lord Feng Yuan." Ning Hao added.

Feng Yuan?

Chu Ming paused for a moment, but still shook his head: "Thank you for the reminder, Senior Brother."

"You really aren’t going?"

"No."

At this moment, Liang Yuan leaned in and laughed softly, "Why bother going? Brother Chu is about to be recommended for an official post, what’s the point of more classes? If I were in Brother Chu’s shoes, I wouldn’t have come back to the academy yesterday—I’d be off taking up my post today."

"That’s why you’re not Brother Chu." Ning Hao said blandly, then turned to Chu Ming. "Brother Chu, where are you going?"

"Senior Brother Ning, you’re skipping class too?" Liang Yuan stared with wide eyes.

"Wenlan Hall." Chu Ming replied.

"I just happen to need to go too." Ning Hao said.

"You just happen to need to go?" Liang Yuan curled his lip, "Did you forget what Mr. Shen and Brother Chu discussed last night? Brother Chu’s going to the Inner Courtyard of Wenlan Hall—are you even allowed in?"

"..."

...

Political Book class, the academy hall.

Ning Hao and Liang Yuan sat in the middle row, Luu Xian sat in the back row.

The front row held Xu He and Xiaang Changgu.

Xiaang Changgu was an Upper Academy Student and shouldn’t have been in this class, so he drew quite a bit of attention.

"Isn’t he Xiaang Changgu, the only one this year who entered directly into the Upper Academy through the entrance exam?"

"Yeah, I heard Mr. Feng himself picked him out as a genius."

"Genius? Just wait—when I pass the next Upper Academy exam, I’ll outshine him."

"..."

The instructor hadn’t arrived yet, and there was a buzz of private whispers below the dais.

Xiaang Changgu’s expression was cold; all those voices entered his ears.

"Heh, Junior Xiaang, no need to pay them any mind. Just idle talk, nothing to take seriously. With your talent and learning, your place in the Upper Academy is unshakeable." Xu He advised quietly from beside him.

"Thank you, Senior Brother." Xiaang Changgu turned to look toward the back, and immediately, those gossipers fell silent.

However, Xiaang Changgu only swept his eyes quickly over those people, setting his gaze on Luu Xian in the last row.

Luu Xian happened to be looking forward and locked eyes with Xiaang Changgu, clearly startled.

Why is the Upper Academy senior looking at me?

Soon enough, he realized Xiaang Changgu wasn’t actually looking at him, but at the empty seat beside him.

That seat should have been occupied by Chu Ming.

So Brother Chu isn’t coming today?

Luu Xian grumbled inwardly. Even Lord Feng’s class, and Chu Ming dares not to show—he really has some nerve.

Today, I must put on my best performance!

Xiaang Changgu took one look at the empty seat, then shifted his gaze to Ning Hao and Liang Yuan sitting in the middle row.

The two were both bowed over, seriously reading "Poetry, Politics, and Military."

Yes, the entire "Poetry, Politics, and Military"—thick enough to hide their heads.

Influenced by Chu Ming, the two of them now carried the whole "Poetry, Politics, and Military" with them to every class, making use of every moment to study it.

After these past few days, they’d understood one thing: the gap between them and Chu Ming was growing at a rate that was hard to imagine.

They couldn’t close the gap, only try their hardest to let it grow more slowly.

Xiaang Changgu swept his gaze around, didn’t find Chu Ming, and frowned faintly: "He’s not here."

He?

Xu He instantly realized who "he" referred to, turned and looked, and indeed, didn’t spot Chu Ming.

"Does Junior Chu not know Lord Feng is teaching Political Book today?" Xu He frowned, looking out the window, and muttered, "Strange—the appointed time’s here, but Lord Feng isn’t here either."

"Lord Feng said he’d be late today." Xiaang Changgu replied in a deep voice.

Xu He’s expression changed. "Lord Feng told you himself?"

"Yes."

...

At the academy, a separate courtyard.

Feng Yuan stood at the center of the yard. In front of him stood Captain Tan Hong from the Criminal Defense Bureau.

"Lord Feng, we found the scholar."

Both eighth-grade officials, but Tan Hong still bowed to Feng Yuan.

Yesterday, after he and Shao Pengshu lost track of the scholar, they hurried to report to Feng Yuan and Liu Sitong.

Liu Sitong immediately ordered Shao Pengshu and Tan Hong to find the scholar within one day by any means necessary.

Shao Pengshu mobilized the resources of the Criminal Defense Bureau, with Liu Sitong and Feng Yuan both providing assistance, and in just one night they had a breakthrough.

Tan Hong came to report to Feng Yuan, while Shao Pengshu went to the county yamen to report to Liu Sitong.

"Who is it?!" Feng Yuan couldn’t wait, "Where is that boy now? Did he get out of Baiyuan County?"

"He didn’t leave Baiyuan County," Tan Hong’s expression changed; his tone was peculiar. "In fact, he’s right here at Baiyuan Academy."

"Hm?" Feng Yuan raised his brows. "The academy? Which instructor?"

Tan Hong shook his head. "Not a teacher—a Junior Examinee."

"A Junior Examinee?" Feng Yuan frowned, thinking over the ten Upper Academy students who might like painting, but apart from Su Zhe, none had shown artistic talent.

But obviously, Su Zhe wasn’t the scholar.

In the Middle Courtyard there were a few who liked painting.

Liang Yuan?

In the Middle Courtyard, Liang Yuan was the only one seriously studying painting.

Oh right, there was Chu Ming, too.

Feng Yuan recalled what Xu He told him—Chu Ming seemed interested in painting and often discussed it with Liang Yuan at the dining hall.

But it couldn’t be Chu Ming; the boy had only just entered the academy a few days ago, probably hadn’t even mastered sketching simple lines.

"Liang Yuan?" he asked.

Tan Hong paused, nodded, then shook his head.

"Captain Tan, what does that mean, nodding and then shaking your head?"

"So who is it, exactly?"

Feng Yuan’s face was both anxious and excited.

There was such a genius hidden in the academy and he’d never even noticed!

"It’s Chu Ming." Tan Hong took a deep breath to steady himself before finally saying the two words he’d been wanting to get out.

He could hardly believe that the Instructor Fang’s young master, whom he escorted from Liuu Town, had in just a short time become the prodigy sought out by County Magistrate Liuu and Feng Dianji.

And soon, he’d skip three years of academy study to be recommended directly for an official post.

"Chu Ming?" Feng Yuan’s gaze sharpened abruptly. "Are you sure there’s no mistake?"

That kid could paint the Five Kui Oxen Painting?

Even putting aside whether Chu Ming was that creative, just the painting skill that scholar had displayed yesterday couldn’t have belonged to someone who’d only just entered the academy and started drawing.

"It can’t be wrong. According to the investigation, the scholar who appeared in the gallery yesterday was Chu Ming in disguise, accompanied by that tough fellow and the scholar’s attendant—who are Ning Hao and Liang Yuan from the academy." Tan Hong’s reply was unusually firm.

Chu Ming...Ning Hao...Liang Yuan...

The three from Yunqi Courtyard!

It really was that boy?!

Feng Yuan’s face shifted, his heart rippling in waves.

Chu Ming, the illegitimate son of the East City Chu Family, who endured obscurity in Liuu Town, only to display his talent in this year’s entrance exam—and be chosen by him.

He raised his hand and gazed at the newly copied fragment of the Mountain Scripture, a complex look in his eyes.