Huaimin Also Sleeps Not~

But soon, a little angel on his other side fluttered its small white wings and stood on his other shoulder. It said:

"Xu Yan, you are a Marquis who eats the monarch's salary! A proper member of the Imperial family! If you were to commit such an act of deceiving the Emperor, wouldn't you be beaten to death by the old fogies when you go down below?"

This won't do, that won't do! What do you want me to do then!

Impatiently reaching out to swat the two imaginary little things away like flies, Xu Yan pursed his lips and began to pace slowly around his balcony, muttering incessantly:

"Sun-Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy, Bright Capital Soul Engineer Academy... Sun-Moon Royal Soul Engineer... Bright Capital Soul Engineer... Sun-Moon, Bright Capital..."

"I graduated from the Sun-Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy, and heaven knows what the Bright Capital Soul Engineer Academy is like. If that Bright Capital Soul Engineer Academy is no good, wouldn't I be misleading the youth... No, I'm not sleeping tonight. I have to go to the Bright Capital Soul Engineer Academy and see what kind of academy it is."

With that, Xu Yan grabbed a coat from the rack, threw it over his shoulders, stepped onto the balcony railing, and leaped down toward his backyard.

Ten minutes later, at the entrance of the Bright Capital Soul Engineer Academy...

"I told you I am the Marquis of Xiyang, acting on behalf of His Majesty! Why don't you believe me!"

The gatekeeper in charge of the entrance looked at Xu Yan with a blank expression and said, "I'm supposed to believe you just because you say you're the Marquis of Xiyang? What do you take me for? Besides, why don't you take a look at the time? It's three-thirty in the morning!"

"According to the management regulations for high-level soul engineer academies in the Sun Moon Empire and our school rules, non-school personnel and those outside the Imperial Ministry of Education must apply to the department head or above at eight in the morning before they can enter the school for a visit under the guidance of our staff."

"You say you are acting on behalf of His Majesty, but where is His Majesty's decree? Do you have any token of authority?"

"I have neither, so how can I let you pass!"

"Hiss--", Xu Yan was so irritated by this stubborn gatekeeper that he sucked in a breath through his teeth.

Truth be told, he really wanted to give this stubborn gatekeeper a heavy, powerful elbow strike to send him flying off the ground.

But... the gatekeeper was following the rules and regulations to the letter, and there was truly nothing wrong with that.

He was a member of the Imperial family, and in the Bright Capital, the most civilized region under the Emperor's feet, one must be reasonable and follow the rules.

"Hoo--"

Calming his almost-exploding temper, Xu Yan suppressed his frustration and said in a low voice, "Do you have the contact information for that department head or whoever?"

"It is three-thirty in the morning. If you want to find someone to bring you in at this hour, according to the management regulations, you need the approval of the vice-principal or the principal." While explaining the regulations to Xu Yan, the gatekeeper turned and rushed back to the guard booth, took out a note filled with information, and handed it to Xu Yan:

"The top three are the communication codes for the principal and vice-principals."

"Hmm."

Taking the note, Xu Yan chose one from the top three names, someone he had once had some history with:

We fought over academic issues when we were young.

They were quite familiar with each other:

We fought more than once, that poor fellow.

"Hey!", Xu Yan dialed the communication Soul Tool of Li Huaimin, the vice-principal of the Bright Capital Soul Engineer Academy, with a mischievous grin. After a brief wait, a middle-aged man's voice filled with confusion and bewilderment came from the other end: "Hello, who is this?"

"Li Huaimin, I knew you weren't asleep yet!"

"Ah?!", Li Huaimin on the other end of the communication Soul Tool was stunned for a moment, then let out a low roar:

"No, who the hell are you! Do you have any idea what time it is! I'm telling you, you'd better have a real reason for calling me at this hour, rather than just being bored and messing with me, otherwise... when I find you, you're going to regret it!"

"I'm at your academy gate right now, just come and find me."

Saying this, Xu Yan ended the call and leaned against the white marble pillar next to the gate with a smirk.

About five minutes later, a thin, middle-aged man who looked like he was wearing a lab coat as a bathrobe rushed out of the Bright Capital Soul Engineer Academy, his hair a messy rooster crest and his eyes bloodshot.

"Who! Who called me!"

Li Huaimin shouted as he ran toward the guard room. He pushed open the door and looked at the stubborn gatekeeper: "Old Wang, where is he!"

"Over there!", the gatekeeper pointed to the pillar next to the gate, and only then did Li Huaimin see the person hiding most of his body behind the pillar.

"Got it."

Striding out of the guard room, Li Huaimin clenched his fists, stormed out of the campus, and glared viciously at the jerk who had called him at three-thirty in the morning.

"Hey! Li Huaimin, still full of energy, huh?"

After passing his own annoyance onto someone else, Xu Yan felt much better and greeted Li Huaimin with a smile, but he only received a look filled with anger, hostility, and irritation from Li Huaimin.

Li Huaimin's lips trembled, his eyes bloodshot, and he spat out a string of profanities: "I have an eight o'clock class, what the hell are you talking about with 'energy'! Calling me at this hour, I really want to blast you to death with a Soul Cannon."

"Look at you, getting worked up again.", Xu Yan raised his hand to press down on Li Huaimin's half-charged Soul Tool and said in a low voice, "Do you think I'm the type of person to call you for no reason?"

"Others might not be, but you, you bastard, it's hard to say. You were this kind of person when we were young. As the saying goes, it's easier to change rivers and mountains than a person's nature.", Li Huaimin slowly lowered the Soul Cannon and sighed as if resigning himself to his fate:

"Fine, fine, say what you have to say. If there's nothing, I'm going to beat you up and then you can get lost."

"Since that's the case, I'll say it.", Xu Yan rubbed his hands together, pulled Li Huaimin aside to a secluded corner, and whispered: "His Majesty's precious daughter, that little devil Xu Tianzhen, has applied to your academy. Do you know about this?"

"I know!", Li Huaimin nodded, his pale face showing visible irritability and exhaustion: "Although the best students are snatched away by your Sun-Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy every year, there are still some left for us, and most of those students are diligent and studious."

"But this year, the Princess didn't go to the Sun-Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy, but came to us instead. To be honest, we are also... worried."

"Worried about what? With the Princess here, you can apply for a much larger budget in the coming years.", Xu Yan asked.

"Money is one thing. Although our Bright Capital Soul Engineer Academy isn't as good as the Sun-Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy, we are still a top-tier school in the Empire.", Li Huaimin looked up at the dim sky, then slowly lowered his head and said:

"What we are worried about is that the Princess and some noble children who follow her lead will bring their arrogant and extravagant noble habits here and corrupt our good students."