Unsheathed

When summer arrived in the Water Combing Nation, Song Yushao left his mountain villa and visited the familiar restaurant in the small town, sitting in the same spot as always as he enjoyed a nice and steamy meal of hotpot.

There was a smug smile on his face as he murmured to himself, "Do you see this, young lad? This is the spiciest hotpot in the restaurant. I was still looking after you before. Your sword skills might be better than mine, but when it comes to eating spicy food, I alone can defeat several Chen Ping'ans."

————

At the Colorful Garment Nation, a gaunt old woman lay on her sickbed, with one of her dry and wrinkled hands lightly held by the woman sitting beside her bed.

The old woman was already on the verge of death, but she still summoned all of her energy to open her eyes as she murmured, "Master, Mistress, this year's wine still hasn't been made yet... Young Master Chen won't be able to drink any wine if he visits."

The woman's eyes were blurry with tears as she leaned down and replied softly, "There's no need to worry. I'll personally make this year's wine."

The old woman continued to murmur with the last of her energy, with her voice barely audible as she said, "And there's also Young Master Chen's favorite dish of stir-fried pork with bamboo shoots. Mistress, remember to use a large white bowl instead of a cup to serve him wine... This maidservant should have been responsible for these trivial matters, but I can only trouble Mistress with doing these things now. Make sure not to forget, Mistress, make sure not to forget..."

————

When Cui Dongshan left Lake View Academy, Zhou Ju felt like this person was a very interesting and remarkable individual.

Both Lake View Academy and Mountain Cliff Academy, which was located further north in the Great Sui Nation, experienced some changes not long after Cui Dongshan left.

Starting from the sagely mountain master of the academies to the deputy mountain masters and all of the noble scholars and virtuous scholars, everyone needed to set aside a specified amount of time each year to teach in the various normal academies and imperial academies of the large empires.

It was no longer the case that sages taught noble scholars, noble scholars taught virtuous scholars, and virtuous scholars taught the disciples of the academies.