With the crisis resolved, Zhang Yang remained calm and composed throughout.
He continued toward the snack street with Huo Yuhao and the other two.
Dai Huabin, meanwhile, was being escorted to the disciplinary office by Zhou Yi, along with several lackeys.
The commotion naturally drew the attention of passersby. It was just the peak of the after-school rush, and students from every year turned to look.
"Isn't that Dai Huabin from Freshman Class Five?"
"Strange. Why is Class One's homeroom teacher marching him off?"
"Did he do something wrong? Come on, let's take a look. Something must have happened!"
"Huh? What did you say? This guy was jealous because Zhang Yang was too handsome, so he cornered him in the grove?"
"How could someone be so awful? Is it a crime to be handsome? The academy should punish him severely and restore justice under the bright sky!"
Gossip like this spread remarkably fast.
Dai Huabin had entered the disciplinary office and hadn't even come back out yet.
But word of his conflict with Zhang Yang had already spread with embellishments, though the different versions were much the same.
Apart from being jealous of Zhang Yang's looks and bearing, then lashing out in humiliation and anger, they couldn't think of any other reason!
Since it was the only answer, no matter how absurd, it could only be true.
What was more, the students who heard it didn't find anything amiss.
It makes sense. It makes perfect sense! The girls decided on the spot that it had to be true!
As for the boys? Though unhappy with Zhang Yang's popularity, they thought much the same.
Putting themselves in his shoes, they had to admit that someone really did deserve a beating. They had held back, but Dai Huabin had actually done it.
"I wonder if Zhang Yang was hurt?"
"Does anyone know where the handsome boy went?"
"My heart aches for him. I want to go check on him... Did you say the snack street?"
The senior girls felt their chance had come. After asking around a little, they heard that Zhang Yang was at the back gate.
The enthusiastic ones, the bold ones, the uninhibited ones, and those just looking for entertainment all trotted in that direction.
Meanwhile, beside a landscaped strip by the teaching building, a mature beauty as aloof and cold as snow happened to be passing by and witnessed the whole affair.
"Zhang Yang? That name sounds familiar."
"Oh, right, he's the one Eldest Senior Sister kept mentioning..."
Ling Luochen stopped and raised an eyebrow, soon recalling the details.
Eldest Senior Sister Zhang Lexuan was a famously aloof beauty, every bit as cold as Luochen herself, who possessed an ice Martial Soul.
But ever since Zhang Lexuan returned from her last mission outside, she had begun acting strangely. More precisely, she had seemed "lost in thought."
Every now and then, she would mention a name that was completely unfamiliar to everyone else, yet seemed very important to her.
That was why Ling Luochen had subconsciously remembered it.
She had come to the outer court on business and happened to overhear everyone's discussion.
Although she had never met Zhang Yang, he was the man Eldest Senior Sister had spoken of, so she paid extra attention.
After learning what had happened, she returned to the inner court at once, full of questions and curiosity, and went straight to the person concerned.
"Eldest Senior Sister, are you in?"
Ling Luochen gently knocked on the door.
A moment later, a beautiful figure appeared.
Her glossy black hair fell to her waist, and her delicate face was fair and flawless. Wearing a gentle, serene smile, she was a beauty like a painting.
"Luochen? What is it?" Zhang Lexuan asked calmly. Her tone was less grave than in the original work, and instead held a touch of buoyancy.
"Eldest Senior Sister, who is that Zhang Yang you mentioned last time to you?" Ling Luochen asked softly as she respectfully bowed and entered the room.
She was genuinely very curious.
Zhang Lexuan and Zhang Yang shared the same surname.
Could they be relatives? No, that can't be right either. Eldest Senior Sister's entire family was said to have been wiped out, leaving her as the sole survivor.
If that possibility is ruled out, then there seems to be only one answer left for why she keeps thinking about a young boy.
Could Eldest Senior Sister have a thing for young boys?
As Ling Luochen spoke, she watched her with bright, lively eyes.
With her pure ice Martial Soul, she was actually very aloof, but even she couldn't resist this gossip.
"Zhang Yang!" Zhang Lexuan trembled slightly all over. As though waking from a dream, she blushed and noticed Ling Luochen's odd expression.
There really is something going on! Ling Luochen thought. Feeling as though a cat were scratching at her heart, she waited for an answer with gleaming eyes.
"Ahem, he's a friend I met some time ago. Have you met him too?" Zhang Lexuan had weathered great storms, after all.
In an instant, she regained her composure.
Keeping her expression neutral, she gave a non-answer.
Her attempt to cover it up only made it more conspicuous, and she looked even more suspicious. Ling Luochen knew what was going on.
That's it! The freshman called Zhang Yang was widely rumored in the outer court to be exceptionally good-looking, handsome enough to make girls swoon over him.
No matter how formidable Eldest Senior Sister was, she was still a woman. And now, at twenty-six or twenty-seven, she was at an age when women were as hungry as wolves and tigers.
Having met a handsome boy with an impressive bearing who made her heart flutter, it wasn't hard to understand why she might fall for him, though wasn't it a little hasty?
Ling Luochen's interest was thoroughly piqued...
What is he like, to make Eldest Senior Sister act this way?
Then she remembered the matter at hand. Quickly suppressing her jumbled thoughts, she relayed what she had just heard.
Zhang Yang had reported to Freshman Class One, and on his very first day, his charm had been so great that it had made another student jealous?
And that student had actually attacked him! He had cornered Zhang Yang in a grove, and Zhang Yang had nearly encountered danger. Fortunately, his homeroom teacher had arrived quickly.
After hearing this, Zhang Lexuan's expression changed at once.
Her good mood vanished without a trace in that instant.
She had considered that Zhang Yang's status as a transfer student might cause him trouble, but she hadn't expected it to be this extreme.
On his very first day, he had been targeted by a three-ring Soul Elder? Although his charm was more to blame, she still felt some regret.
"The academy's management has grown lax."
Zhang Lexuan's face stiffened, and her voice grew a little colder.
It was a sign that she was angry. Ling Luochen's eyelids twitched, and her expression grew hesitant.
She truly hadn't expected such a fierce reaction from Eldest Senior Sister, especially when there was one more piece of information she hadn't mentioned yet.
"Luochen, if you have something to say, say it." Zhang Lexuan saw through her hesitation at a glance. Her gaze was sharp as a torch as she spoke with a hint of urgency.
"Uh, well... I forgot to mention it just now, but the person who cornered Zhang Yang was called Dai Huabin, Brother Yueheng's younger brother." Cold sweat slid down Ling Luochen's temple.
Eldest Senior Sister really was a little frightening like this.
Almost blurting it out, she revealed the most important piece of information.
The moment the words left her mouth, she felt she really shouldn't have said them. Hadn't she just thrown Dai Yueheng into a pit?
Forget it... It's the truth anyway. Even if I hadn't said it, she could still find out. In any case, I'm not taking the blame.
"Dai Huabin, Dai Yueheng!"
"I see. So that's what happened."
Zhang Lexuan pondered for a moment, then a look of realization suddenly dawned on her face.
The duke's eldest son, so full of himself, had a bit of a thing for her. As an adult, how could she not know?
There was nothing wrong with the first stirrings of youthful affection. She usually ignored him, but she wouldn't reproach him for it either.
But now things were different. How could he send his younger brother after Zhang Yang for a reason like that? If this could be tolerated, what couldn't?
"Luochen, go back for now."
With that, Zhang Lexuan's Soul Power surged.
She walked straight out of the room and flew toward the other side of the inner court.
Ling Luoxuan froze where she stood and stared after her. After a long moment, she swallowed and couldn't help exclaiming in alarm, "Eldest Senior Sister is really angry!"