An Opportunity with the Academy Students

"Meet the academy students?" Xi Muyuan was first taken aback, then nodded. "It is indeed time to see them. Working day after day—even the most patient academy students have grown restless these past two days. If this continues, trouble will certainly arise. Even the lecturers supervising them have voiced considerable complaints..."

Qiu Yan smiled. "Naturally. Tilling fields was never the proper duty of academy students, and the Imperial Academy's doctors and lecturers were certainly not meant to oversee students planting crops. They endured it before because His Majesty had issued a verbal decree, and because I had exchanged words with the Chancellor. Then His Majesty fell unconscious, chaos began to show within the court, and the Chancellor feared the academy students might be exploited by others. Thus, he simply went along with the current and did not summon them back. Otherwise, a Grand Confucian like him, if he firmly recalled the students, not even the imperial house could punish him."

Xi Muyuan's soul said, "Then what does Brother Qiu intend to do now? I know your intention is to borrow the Imperial Academy's prevailing winds, but as things stand, you have already earned the dislike of quite a few academy students. When hearts change, rumors and idle talk follow. How can you still gain the wind's direction?"

"Brother Xi's concerns are justified. However..." Qiu Yan smiled and nodded, then lightly waved his hand. Invisible ripples spread through the Void and linked with Xi Muyuan's soul, transmitting information. "This is..." Startled, Xi Muyuan first felt concern, but driven by his instinct for knowledge, he could not help probing the various scriptures and principles within his perception. Then he recalled something, realized its origin, and asked, "Could this be the Humanistic Network Brother Qiu mentioned, extended from your own Way of Knowledge