"After years of development, the Left Wei Guard's system has become quite mature. As long as you all don't make a mess of things, I basically won't make any changes to your positions."
"Also, the twenty-four early-stage Spirit Transformation Realm guards Duke of Wei assigned me won't compete with you for positions in the army."
"Their main task will still be protecting me and guarding the barracks."
The others heard Li Tieniu make his announcement then and breathed a collective sigh of relief.
Although everyone was loyal to the Wei State Duke Mansion, no one wanted to give up the power in their hands so easily.
Meanwhile, the atmosphere in the Left Wei Guard Barracks grew increasingly harmonious.
News that Mo Yunxuan had swaggered out of the Wei State Duke Mansion with the Elite Vanguard reached every faction.
Most chose to wait and see. Only a few people paid close attention to it.
The Great Dry Empress, Ji Ruxue, was one of them. She had just received word that Mo Yunxuan had gone out, heading for the Left Wei Guard Barracks.
It gave her quite a fright. She thought Mo Yunxuan had gotten carried away and was planning to rally the army to surround and wipe out Taihua Academy!
But what she hadn't expected was that, in less than a quarter of an hour, the spies outside the Wei State Duke Mansion reported that Mo Yunxuan had returned.
Ji Ruxue furrowed her brows at the news. A feeling of unease lingered in her heart.
Meanwhile, inside Taihua Academy, Dean Yun Congnan, Vice Dean Qiu, and Lü Qingjian had gathered together.
All three were officials directly appointed by the Imperial Family. In the past, the Wei State Duke Mansion had been a staunch part of the Imperial Faction and had remained utterly loyal to the Emperor.
So they hadn't minded the Imperial Court appointing officials to meddle in the management of Taihua Academy. With the Wei State Duke Mansion's tacit approval,
the Imperial Court had even placed its people in many of the academy's administrative positions, such as Zhang Feng, the former Dean of Academic Affairs.
But the three of them were in a foul mood. Since yesterday, half of the academy's teachers had announced their departure,
and more than a quarter of its students had applied to withdraw. Though Lü Qingjian had rejected every application,
an incident affecting the entire academy was bound to alarm the other two leaders.
Even Yun Congnan, who had been in seclusion, had rushed out of his cultivation room in the middle of the night to attend the meeting.
If they let all these people leave the academy, Taihua Academy would be reduced to an empty shell in the blink of an eye.
Then the resources Taihua Academy received from the Imperial Court would be slashed.
In turn, the resources they could obtain from the academy would dwindle, inevitably slowing their own cultivation progress.
For Lü Qingjian, the academy's resources concerned not only him personally but also the cultivation of his beloved disciple, Lin Fan.
He could never accept Lin Fan's cultivation being affected.
Unfortunately, his personal opinion had no influence over the decisions of those teachers and students.
After he rejected all their applications yesterday, the teachers and students began leaving Taihua Academy one after another, each giving a different excuse.
None of them came back. By the time he realized what was happening that morning, half the academy had already emptied out.
Not a single person from yesterday's list of applicants remained. Worse still, as they left, they had taken many outstanding students with them.
Taihua Academy had truly become the worst of the Four Great Academies.
After looking into the matter, they learned that all those people had joined Sage Scholar Academy, one of the Four Great Academies in the Imperial City.
As soon as he received the news, Lü Qingjian hurried to Sage Scholar Academy and spoke with its Dean, Fang Wanqing.
But he got nothing more than a flat refusal. Fang Wanqing had even graciously remarked,
"We're grateful to Taihua Academy for sending us such outstanding students and teachers. They've helped Sage Scholar Academy rise to the top of the Four Great Academies."
Lü Qingjian was furious. But Fang Wanqing was a Void Refinement Realm Expert, and there was nothing he could do about her. He could only slink back to Taihua Academy.
As soon as he entered the office, he saw Yun Congnan and Vice Dean Qiu waiting for him.
Dean Yun Congnan spoke first. His seclusion had been interrupted, and he was already in a foul mood. He immediately launched into a barrage of questions:
"Vice Dean Lü, what on earth have you been doing? How could you let things get this bad? How can you face the trust Vice Dean Qiu and I placed in you?"
Taihua Academy was in the Imperial City, a place of absolute safety. There was no need for three Void Refinement Realm Experts to manage it together day to day.
So Lü Qingjian, who had a strong appetite for power, had been left in charge of its daily affairs, while the other two stayed behind the scenes.
But when they finally came out, they were greeted with this enormous mess. If things were allowed to spiral any further,
the Imperial City's Four Great Academies might well become the Three Great Academies.
Lü Qingjian was so aggrieved by Yun Congnan's questions that he hurriedly defended himself:
"This is all the fault of the newly appointed Duke of Wei, that greenhorn who hasn't even grown his hair out yet. He—"
Before he could finish, Yun Congnan slammed his palm on the table and roared:
"Enough! And you're still thinking about how to shirk responsibility!"
"The whole story has already spread throughout the Imperial City. Who doesn't know what happened? Do you take us all for fools?"
Lü Qingjian was at a loss for words. He knew that no amount of excuses would help him wriggle out of it.
He lowered his head and fell silent, as if keeping his mouth shut would let him escape the dreadful consequences.
Little did he know that seeing him like this only made Yun Congnan angrier. He was about to berate him some more.
But Vice Dean Qiu cut in:
"Dean, the most important thing right now is how to resolve this. As for Vice Dean Lü, we can discuss his matter later or leave it to His Majesty to decide."
Hearing her words, Lü Qingjian's eyes flashed with gratitude. Yun Congnan had only been blinded by anger just now,
but now that he had calmed down, he understood what mattered most. After thinking for a moment, he raised his head and said:
"The whole thing started with Duke of Wei's remark that he wanted to sever ties with Taihua Academy. But it was never formally announced."
"Perhaps there's still room to make amends with the Wei State Duke Mansion. We should get them to retract that statement."
Vice Dean Qiu seemed to have anticipated what Yun Congnan would say. She promptly asked, "Then how do we get the Wei State Duke Mansion to agree?"
As soon as she finished speaking, Yun Congnan spoke again, leaving Lü Qingjian no chance to think or butt in.
"This all began when Vice Dean Lü's disciple, Lin Fan, came to cause trouble and coveted Duke of Wei's fiancée."
"Our academy must severely punish someone like that. Besides, Vice Dean Lü used his cultivation to bully the Wei State Duke Mansion, and he must be punished for that too."
"But this matter is no longer ours to decide. We must report it to His Majesty and let him pass judgment."
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