"Have you heard? Wu Meng and Sun Xun are officially becoming disciples tomorrow. What incredible luck—they'll become students of a Grand Chancellor in one stroke."
Not long after Qiu Yan arrived, the words he spoke upon entering the academy had already spread throughout the entire institution, stirring up a storm of discussion.
"That is only natural. While the situation was still unclear, the two of them stood firmly by the Marquis of Pacifying the Realm's side from beginning to end. Of course they won the Marquis's favor. Being formally accepted into his school now is simply the natural course of things."
"Exactly. Wu Meng is one thing—his father, that Military Governor Wu, openly and unequivocally stood with the Marquis of Pacifying the Realm as well, even falling out badly with several neighboring military districts over it. But Sun Xun is different. The Sun Household was one of the many Noble Clans that had previously acted against the Marquis of Pacifying the Realm, and that old Marquis Sun even seemed to harbor intentions of leading all sides. For Sun Xun to withstand that pressure under such circumstances was truly no easy feat."
"Yes, I heard the Sun Household even specifically sent people to urge him to return, yet he gave no response at all. In the end, his parents were implicated as well. Rumor has it that he was expelled from the lineage, his family's fields confiscated, and they were banished to the miasmic lands of the Southern Ridges, where they suffered greatly."
"Now the bitter has ended and the sweet has come. The Marquis of Pacifying the Realm is formally in power, holding the sacred instruments of state in his hands. Sun Xun's position rises with the tide as well. The impact on the Sun Household's internal affairs will likely