Unsheathed

Of course, Mountain Cliff Academy was obligated to launch a thorough investigation in the wake of such a major incident. All the trouble had begun when that assistant mountain master of the academy had invited Zhao Shi to the academy to deliver a lecture, so Mao Xiaodong had approached the assistant mountain master for a chat, which ultimately concluded on a very sour note.

The assistant mountain master in question had come from a major clan of the Great Sui Nation, and he felt like Mao Xiaodong was intentionally trying to target him by pinning the blame on him in order to eliminate dissenters from the academy.

Hence, he quit his position of assistant mountain master on the spot, declaring that he was going to stay in his own study and accept whatever punishment came to him, whether that be a private punishment handed down by the academy, or even if Mao Xiaodong could convince the Great Sui Nation's imperial court to execute his entire clan.

In the end, he concluded by all but spitting in Mao Xiaodong's face, and Mao Xiaodong was so incensed by the incorrigible old fart that he set Cui Dongshan onto him.

Cui Dongshan was very happy to take on the task, and he paid the assistant mountain master a visit before gleefully returning to Mao Xiaodong's study no more than an hour later, declaring that the assistant mountain master had no further issues, nor did Zhao Shi, and that both of them had agreed that this was an unforeseen incident with no one to blame.

Mao Xiaodong couldn't help but feel concerned, seeing as Cui Dongshan was looking like a smug mongoose that had just managed to sneak a fat chicken out of a pen, and he warned him that this matter concerned the safety of Little Baoping and the other children, so if he dared to play any tricks... Before he even had a chance to finish his threat, Cui Dongshan had already promised him that he had done everything in accordance with correct protocol.

Mao Xiaodong remained skeptical.

After that, Cui Dongshan swaggered out of the academy, then made his way into a new relay station set up by the Great Li Empire in the capital city using the facade that he had recently peeled off the Nascent Tier swordsman's face, in conjunction with some special disguise techniques. That relay station was where the envoys of the Great Li Empire were staying.

Mao Xiaodong briefly contemplated following Cui Dongshan, but ultimately decided not to.

Chen Ping'an was still missing two items from the list of natural treasures required to refine his scholarly core, and those items would have to be obtained through some private connections.

On top of that, they also had to continue visiting the Confucian temple, but at the moment, the most important thing that had to be done was to gauge the attitude displayed by the emperor of the Great Sui Nation in response to all of this.