Young Lord, Let's Go!

Huh?

Jiang Xiaobai stood to the side, his face so full of shock that he could barely keep his composure.

The page finally came to his senses, glaring at Zhang Xinnian in shock and anger. "Wait, you... are you out of your mind?"

"How dare you!"

Zhang Xinnian flew into a rage and abruptly raised his foot.

But before he could bring it down, he seemed to remember something and forcibly stopped himself. "No, I can't stamp my foot. If I do, the ground here will split open for a hundred yards!"

"I wouldn't care if you got hurt, but it would be rather unfortunate if the shock injured my young lord!"

"Boy, count yourself lucky to be alive. Now get lost..."

"..."

Faced with Zhang Xinnian's icy expression, the page was utterly dumbfounded.

Jiang Xiaobai finally caught on, too.

This guard of mine...

He's pretending to be an invincible master!

But isn't this act a little too cringeworthy? And behaving like this is practically shoving humiliation right in the fellow's face!

This hits even harder than a slap!

While he struggled between laughter and tears, the page was clearly incensed. "Fine, fine, fine! You knocked everything over, and not only did you refuse to apologize, you're humiliating me, too?!"

"Humiliate you? What a joke!"

Zhang Xinnian sneered. Glancing at the shattered wooden tray on the ground, he wore an expression of utter disdain. "Let me tell you the truth. This wooden tray..."

He paused briefly, then continued with perfect nonchalance. "My young lord didn't break it. It couldn't withstand my overwhelming aura and shattered all on its own!"

"..."

Jiang Xiaobai finally couldn't help raising a hand to rub his brow.

That claim...

Even I think it's ridiculous.

Just then, a cool voice sounded from behind them. "What's going on?"

As the voice faded, a figure came briskly toward them from up ahead, her skirt fluttering lightly and stirring a faint breeze.

The newcomer was a woman who looked to be in her early twenties. Tall and slender, she wore a pale green dress, its gently swaying folds lending her an indescribably cool elegance.

Her eyes, in particular, were strikingly beautiful, yet held a chill that made anyone who looked at her hesitate to entertain even the slightest irreverent thought.

"Teaching Assistant, this fellow wasn't watching where he was going and broke the counting tray the instructor needs for his lesson!"

The page's eyes lit up when he saw her approach. He immediately pointed at Zhang Xinnian beside Jiang Xiaobai. "And as if that weren't enough, they insulted me!"

At those words, the woman's gaze settled on Jiang Xiaobai. Her voice remained calm. "You. Apologize."

Before Jiang Xiaobai could speak, Zhang Xinnian lifted his chin. "Apologize?"

Zhang Xinnian sneered, then stood there shaking his shoulders back and forth.

At the sight, Jiang Xiaobai's forehead darkened.

It's over!

Here he goes.

This fellow... is at it again!

Sure enough, Zhang Xinnian spoke a moment later. "Oh? You've got some ability, woman. You took several of my shoulder slaps without even changing your expression!"

"It seems not everyone in your Imperial College is useless."

"..."

Jiang Xiaobai lowered his head at those words.

The woman was clearly taken aback by this utterly unexpected routine, her delicate brows drawing together.

"Forget it. A true master shouldn't casually strike a woman!"

Zhang Xinnian turned to Jiang Xiaobai. "Young Lord, why don't we... spare these two?"

As soon as Zhang Xinnian finished, the page turned to the woman. "Teaching Assistant, look! They've clearly come here to cause trouble!"

The woman recovered her composure and glanced down at the broken tray. "I don't care who you are."

"Within the Imperial College, if you knock into someone and damage something, you must compensate them and apologize. Otherwise... this matter won't end here today."

"If I may ask."

This time, Jiang Xiaobai spoke before Zhang Xinnian could. "What is this thing used for?"

"Hmph! It's the counting tray for today's arithmetic lesson!"

The page's voice carried both grievance and anger. "The instructor needs it for his lesson today!"

"Now you've smashed the whole thing! How am I supposed to explain this to him?"

Only then did understanding dawn on Jiang Xiaobai's face. He looked at the page with a cheerful smile. "So, is it possible that this counting tray... was already broken before I bumped into it?"

As he saw it, the page was clearly hiding something.

If no one was directing him from behind the scenes, then the page must have broken the counting tray himself and was trying to make Jiang Xiaobai his scapegoat!

"You... what gives you the right to say that?!"

The page's expression shifted when he heard this, before he demanded angrily, "What proof do you have?"

"Proof? Heh, I don't need proof!"

Jiang Xiaobai shrugged and said cheerfully, "So what if we say I broke it?!"

The moment he finished speaking, Zhang Xinnian seemed to understand something. His eyes widened, and he lifted his foot and stamped down on the broken tray.

Crack!

The already shattered wooden tray was crushed even more thoroughly beneath his foot, reduced to a heap of splinters.

"I thought it was some priceless treasure. Turns out it's just this piece of junk."

Zhang Xinnian snorted. "Tell your instructor to come find me! I'd like to see what sort of instructor would dare trouble my young lord over a lousy tray!"

A smile appeared on Jiang Xiaobai's face.

This time, Zhang Xinnian had struck just the right note of arrogance!

"You, you..."

The page stared at the thoroughly crushed counting tray, his face filled with shock.

The woman's previously calm expression turned utterly grim as well.

"Hmph! Young Lord, let's go!"

As though nothing had happened, Zhang Xinnian snorted again, then pulled Jiang Xiaobai along and headed forward.

As they passed the woman and the page, Zhang Xinnian spoke again. "Remember this: if I hadn't been mindful of my young lord's presence today, you wouldn't still be standing here talking!"

"So... you'd better thank my young lord properly!"

With that, Zhang Xinnian turned away, his expression serene. Even his departing silhouette carried the air of a man withdrawing after a job well done.

Left where he stood, the page stared blankly at their retreating backs. Only after a long while did he speak in a trembling voice. "Teaching Assistant..."

"What do we do now?"

"Don't worry. I'll explain it to the instructor!"

As the woman spoke, her cool eyes remained fixed on the direction Jiang Xiaobai had gone. Her hands trembled slightly with anger, her chest rose and fell, and her voice was as cold as ice.

"I'll also report how these two ran wild in the Imperial College!"