A Clean Getaway

The brothers ran out of Sub-Sage Academy. Not daring to take the main road, they turned down a path beside the courtyard and into the woods, running a long way before they stopped.

Xu Qi'an's breathing was steady. Xu Xinnian leaned against a pine tree, panting, his fair face flushed a breathtaking shade of red from the strenuous exercise.

"What do we do now?" Xu Qi'an intended to consult his younger cousin, who "did things methodically," and ventured:

"Did I just solve an age-old problem for the academy?"

He hadn't expected his offhand remark to cause such a terrifying phenomenon, nor did he know what consequences it would have, so he had prudently fled with Xu Erlang.

Xu Xinnian caught his breath and steadied his racing heart, then gave a haughty "Hah." "At most, it was a two-hundred-year-old problem."

Xu Qi'an took off his waterskin and passed it over.

Xu Erlang took a sip and continued, "If I were still the person I was when I first entered the academy, I'd have advised you to stay where you were and wait for the teachers and students to worship and thank you."

"But now, all I want is to get you out of here quickly." He tossed the waterskin back to his older cousin and waited a moment, but his cousin's expression remained unchanged, with no sign of puzzlement.

He felt a little disappointed and a little impressed.

Impressed, of course, because his cousin had brains, unlike his rough-hewn father. That heartened the highly self-regarding Xu Xinnian from the bottom of his heart.

Disappointed because he couldn't show off in front of his cousin and enjoy a sense of intellectual superiority.

Yes, even though his cousin had composed astonishing poems on many occasions, even though he had just written a sentence on the stele with the force to cleave mountains and split the earth, Xu Xinnian still believed his own intellect was a notch higher.

Without that attitude, he could never have come up with "Had Heaven not given birth to me, Xu Xinnian, Great Feng would have remained an endless night for all eternity."

The brothers hurried through the woods, sneaking toward the stables.

Leaving without a farewell was their best choice now.

If Xu Qi'an stayed, he might be greeted with Cloud Deer Academy's boundless gratitude, perhaps even revered as a great scholar. Though that was unlikely.

That was the good side.

The bad side was equally obvious. Cloud Deer Academy and the Imperial Academy were locked in a struggle over their orthodox teachings. If Xu Qi'an accepted Cloud Deer Academy's gratitude, he would inevitably incur the hostility of scholars from the Imperial Academy.

All the scarlet- and purple-robed nobles at court came from the Imperial Academy.

A single tax silver case had left endless trouble in its wake, and this was more dangerous and troublesome than a hundred tax silver cases.

Cijiu and I came to the same conclusion without a word. Xu Qi'an chuckled. "Cijiu, you really are a dog."

Very good. Erlang wasn't a hidebound scholar. Perhaps that was because he had studied the art of war so closely.

"Lout," Xu Xinnian shot back. "As long as we leave, I believe the academy won't spread the news indiscriminately afterward. It'll keep our secret."

He said no more, his gaze intent as he pondered while they traveled, quiet and taciturn.

On the broad terrace outside the Sage's Hall of Learning.

Zhao Shou, dressed in hemp robes, his hair streaked with gray, suddenly did something unexpected. He turned abruptly and gazed toward the back of the academy.

A few seconds later, the three great scholars did the same, looking into the distance with grave expressions.

Puzzled, the Eldest Princess instinctively turned to follow their gaze. The sky was clear and bright; there was nothing there.

But the next instant, a stream of Clear Qi visible to the naked eye shot into the heavens, piercing the clouds. Before everyone's eyes, the thick white clouds floating over Clear Cloud Mountain broke apart.

Zhao Shou vanished first. The three great scholars then displayed the miraculous power of Law Follows Speech, shifting their bodies to the back of the academy.

The Eldest Princess's slender brows knitted slightly. Lifting her skirts, she hurried after them, quick but never losing her poise.

She was tall and slender, with graceful curves. The allure of her brisk stride defied description and could only be felt.

Inside Sub-Sage Academy, candlesticks had toppled, and wax flowed in thick streams.

In the spacious hall, Clear Qi rippled like a spring breeze, revealing Zhao Shou's figure. He swiftly scanned every corner of the hall, then fixed his gaze on the cracked inscription of Sub-Sage Cheng.

This... Towering waves rose in the dean's eyes, still as ancient wells, even as he swiftly deduced the cause of the Clear Qi that had soared into the sky.

The inscription suppressing the hall had cracked, and the Righteous Qi held within Cloud Deer Academy had broken free of its restraints. It had filled the academy and overflowed, causing the sight they had just witnessed.

The question was, how could Sub-Sage Cheng's inscription have cracked for no reason?

Dean Zhao soon understood. His gaze was drawn to the stele he had once erected in the hall. As he read its inscription, he felt the whole world fading, vanishing, until only that line of ugly writing remained, branded deep into his eyes.

Branded into his heart.

It became the only thing in the world at that moment.

Amid ripples of Clear Qi that felt like a spring breeze, the three great scholars appeared, instinctively sweeping their gazes across the hall.

When they saw the cracked stele of Sub-Sage Cheng, their pupils involuntarily contracted.

The stele was perfectly fine. How could it have cracked? No, this is a good thing. It means the seal suppressing Cloud Deer Academy's fortune has been shaken. As Li Mubai thought this, he suddenly noticed that something was wrong with the dean.

He seemed lost in his own world, as though his soul had left him.

The stele actually cracked. In an age when no Sub-Sage has appeared, someone managed to shake the Cheng stele. Zhang Shen and Chen Tai exchanged a glance, each seeing shock and confusion in the other's eyes.

Then, like Li Mubai, they noticed Dean Zhao's strange state.

"To set the heart of Heaven and Earth, to establish destiny for the living, to carry on the lost teachings of the sages, to open peace for all generations," Zhang Shen murmured.

He was utterly shaken by the spirit, integrity, and aspiration contained in those words. Goosebumps rose all over his body, and the hot blood in his chest seemed to boil.

"This is what a scholar truly ought to do." Chen Tai's lips trembled. "An official should serve the people, the nation, and all the lives under heaven, not a household of one surname or a select few."

At that moment, the great scholar hailed as a man of extraordinary talent for governing a nation was trembling uncontrollably, his voice hoarse. "Like the finest cream poured over my head, like the finest cream poured over my head!"

Li Mubai took a deep breath and composed himself. "Who wrote this?"

All three looked at Dean Zhao Shou. The dean had spent more than a decade in seclusion, pouring out his heart's blood to overturn the Cheng school's philosophy of principle. If anyone in the world could found a new school of thought, it had to be him.

But the dean had been with them just now, and his present reaction said it all.

Silence answered them. After a long while, Zhao Shou said quietly, "Go out first. Whatever you have to say, we'll discuss it later."

He continued, "A gentleman holds his tongue."

The three great scholars bowed with cupped hands and left side by side.

The hall doors closed, and silence fell. Zhao Shou stood before the stele without a word, sunlight filtering through the latticed doors and windows behind him.

A long time later, he straightened his robes and hat, then gave the inscription a disciple's deepest bow. "If I hear the Dao in the morning, I may die content that evening."

The Eldest Princess, holding up her skirts, finally reached Sub-Sage Academy, only to find that the area within thirty meters of it was enveloped by a Qi barrier shaped like an overturned bowl, sealing the inside off from the outside.

She did not rush. She stood quietly below the steps outside the hall, like a flower blooming in stillness.

Soon, the three great scholars came out side by side, their expressions solemn, though it was impossible to tell whether the news was good or bad.

"Gentlemen, might you tell me what happened?" The Eldest Princess looked toward the hall in the distance.

"Please don't ask, Princess." Chen Tai bowed with cupped hands. "For the moment, we haven't made heads or tails of it ourselves."

The Eldest Princess smiled, her unmistakably noble face as calm as ever.

After taking leave of the three great scholars, she headed alone toward the elegant pavilion. Her silk skirts and sashes fluttered in the mountain breeze, making her look like a spirit of the mountains, a fairy descended to the mortal world for an outing.

Two ranks of armored soldiers bearing weapons still stood guard outside the pavilion, like silent statues.

The twenty-four Golden Guards were her escort. At the foot of the mountain, another group of seven Nightwatchers waited.

But the academy loathed Wei Yuan and did not allow the Nightwatchers up the mountain.

The Eldest Princess descended with her escort and found the seven Nightwatchers waiting beside the official road. In a clear, melodious voice, she said, "Clear Qi soared into the sky above Cloud Deer Academy, and Sub-Sage Academy has been sealed off. Report this to Duke Wei. Have him keep a close eye on the academy and get to the bottom of it."

"Yes!" The Nightwatchers cupped their fists.

The Eldest Princess continued, "Look into someone for me: Xu Qi'an, a constable of the Changle County yamen."

"As you command."