For true aristocratic families, human lives weren’t worth much—at least compared to the family’s legacy. Even the clan patriarch’s life wouldn’t be more valuable than a chicken’s.

Yun Ye dared not truly compete with the Dou family in strength, especially since he lacked the legendary abilities attributed to him. If not for Li Er forcing his hand, he would have kept the greatest distance possible from the Dou family. Upon encountering Dou Yanshan, he would have greeted him with cheerful laughter and perhaps even hosted him for a meal or taken him out for drinks with courtesans.

Who liked inviting powerful enemies upon themselves? “Struggling against Heaven brings endless joy, struggling against Earth brings endless joy, struggling against people brings endless joy”—that was the Great Ancestor’s philosophy. Such extraordinarily difficult matters should be left to the Great Ancestor himself. Yun Ye only wanted to enjoy life peacefully at home, care for his grandmother until she passed naturally, marry off his sisters in grand style, then have a few children of his own. Even playing around with his kids at home would be far better than fighting to the death with a behemoth like the Dou family.

There was no avoiding it, no escape. Li Er was waiting for Yun Ye’s return to set this affair in motion. Even now, Yun Ye still didn’t know what exactly had happened, and didn’t dare ask Pei Ying. It seemed his family had already abandoned him—when he came to the academy, not a single attendant accompanied him. Pei Ying was left to hide alone in the academy, waiting for death.

The hearts of great families were made of stone. Whatever exchange the Emperor and the Pei family had made was unknown, but Pei Ying had definitely been abandoned. Aside from the Dou family single-mindedly wanting to wrap him up like a meat bun and devour him, no one cared whether he lived or died.

He himself seemed to have accepted his fate, lying on his bed staring at the ceiling, eyes unblinking. Yun Ye brought some steamed buns and a bowl of porridge to deliver his meal. Only after kicking him twice did Pei Ying react. Though his face wore a smile, his eyes were utterly lifeless.

“You’ll stay here these days. If you get bored, find some books to read. You’re unfamiliar with the academy’s curriculum and need to preview it in advance, especially mathematics—for you, it’ll be an entirely new world you’ve never experienced.”

Yun Ye handed him the buns and continued, “You’re currently staying in the academy’s dungeon. You know, all the students in the academy fear this place most. They’d rather take a beating with boards than come here. If you’re uncomfortable living here, you can have them change your room. Though it’s safe here, staying too long will cause problems.”

“Brother Yun, I really like it here. Truly, I like it very much. I wish I could live here forever. I love the quiet here so much.”

It was clear he spoke the truth. In that single short sentence, he used the word “I” three times, proving he genuinely liked the dungeon. Yun Ye patted his shoulder and closed the door as he left. Pei Ying’s meals came from the small kitchen—the same food Li Tai and Li Ke ate, subjected to the same inspections. Yun Ye didn’t want him dying here under mysterious circumstances.

He climbed back up the water tower and asked Li Tai, “How many times has your cousin walked out?”

“Six times. But he still seems unwilling to give up. Right now he’s sitting in Ying Niang’s little shop eating. Once he’s restored his energy, he’ll come back again.”

Li Tai loved this kind of humanized teaching most—using real people to demonstrate the development of events was his favorite.

He suddenly asked Yun Ye, “Yezi, if I have no way to break through this maze, I’d just smash through the walls or dig a tunnel to get in. You’d still lose.”

“Oh? Why don’t you try it? Dou Yanshan is obviously smarter than you. Why hasn’t he chosen either of those two routes? There must be a reason. Never mind breaking through walls—the academy’s perimeter isn’t even sealed. He could enter the academy from anywhere, so why rack his brains trying to break through the maze? Think carefully before speaking.”

Gongshu Mu, who had been sitting with his eyes closed, suddenly spoke: “Little Tai, don’t think about breaking through walls or digging tunnels. Both paths lead to certain death. When the walls were built, this problem was already considered. If you knock down one wall, all the walls will fall, so whoever breaks through a wall will die. Besides, the walls were built from leftover stone materials from constructing buildings. They can’t be broken through quickly—you’d need a battering ram. As for digging tunnels, think about it carefully yourself.”

Yun Ye glanced at Gongshu Mu. This old fellow was treating Li Tai with such care and attention that it seemed he was trending toward taking him as a final disciple.

Li Tai said nothing, lowering his head in thought.

Dou Yanshan once again returned empty-handed. He had marked every fork in the path and walked through all the corridors without missing a single one. Each time he thought he’d found the correct route, what greeted him was still the academy’s main gate exit.

Exhausted, he sat outside the main gate and took a sip of sweet fermented rice wine brought by his guards. Seeing the academy guard’s sympathetic expression, he asked, “Has anyone else solved this mechanism before?”

“In reply to young master, just before you arrived, our marquis entered from here, and he brought someone with him.” The guard spoke freely.

“How long did your marquis take?” Dou Yanshan knew the person brought in must have been Pei Ying. He couldn’t worry about that now—he only wanted to know how long it took Yun Ye to solve this secret passage.

“Our marquis came out three times total. The fourth time, he only needed the time it takes to burn one incense stick.”

The leader of the Dou family guards immediately roared, “Young master, he’s the academy’s vice director—of course he knows where the mechanisms are! You know nothing about this place, so naturally it takes much longer. Let’s not bother with his lousy maze—let’s just storm in and see what he can do about it!”

Before he finished speaking, Dou Yanshan slapped him across the face. Before the guard leader could react, he said to the other guards, “This academy’s full name is ‘Imperial Yushan Academy’—meaning this is an imperial place. Anyone else who dares speak such nonsense will be dealt with according to family law.”

Everyone was shocked. The Dou family’s punishments weren’t something anyone could endure—light offenses meant torn skin and bleeding flesh, severe ones meant broken bones and torn tendons. This was why among the Dou family’s several thousand members, there were very few wastrels. The young master, because he was doted on by the family patriarch, received special treatment from everyone who turned a blind eye to his behavior. This was how his tyrannical character developed, ultimately bringing disaster. Now hearing Dou Yanshan’s warning, they naturally bowed in compliance.

The academy guard spoke up: “That brother’s slap was truly well-deserved. Our marquis only returned yesterday. Today is his first day at the academy. Master Gongshu had long prepared to test our marquis, so naturally he wouldn’t reveal the secrets inside. Even this humble one was severely warned by Prince Wei not to leak any information. I stake my head on it—our marquis knew nothing and relied purely on his true abilities to enter. If you don’t believe me, you can ask Teacher Li Gang. That venerable gentleman is most upright and surely wouldn’t deceive you all.”

The slight suspicion that had just arisen in Dou Yanshan’s mind immediately vanished upon hearing this. He could doubt Teacher Li Gang’s scholarship, but he wouldn’t doubt Teacher Li Gang’s character. Li Gang had spent sixty years crafting his personal integrity, which remained rock-solid.

Dou Yanshan suddenly realized—why was he here competing with the academy over mechanism studies? He only needed to go to the imperial palace and request an edict from the Great Emperor, and even if Yun Ye had the courage of Heaven itself, he wouldn’t dare obstruct him in the slightest.

Now there was trouble. If he went to the palace now, Yun Ye would surely tell all of Chang’an that the Dou family couldn’t break the academy’s formation and could only rely on imperial authority to seize by force. What kind of noble family transmitted through poetry and rites would that be? Thousands of years of legacy had transmitted nothing but bullying with power?

This was bad. From the moment he stepped through the main gate, the nature of the situation had changed. His family had transformed from the aggrieved party into gate-crashers who came to the academy to challenge its scholarship and cause trouble.

From his appearance until now, finding himself in this dilemma, he had plunged headfirst into a trap specially set for him. How laughable that he’d thought all this was just a minor farce that he could effortlessly resolve by breaking the academy’s maze. Who knew that after struggling for two hours, he hadn’t a single clue? If he couldn’t break the maze, he couldn’t enter the academy. This main gate was a boulder blocking the Dou family’s path to revenge.

It was too late for regrets. The academy had knocked down another section of wall not far away, and a large group of students surrounded their teachers, encircling Dou Yanshan completely. They all talked at once, asking whether he could break the maze, since they’d all placed their bets.

“Cousin, have you broken through the formation yet? I’ve already bet five hundred wen in meal tickets on your victory. You absolutely can’t lose, or I’ll be stuck eating nothing but steamed buns for the next half month!” Li Tai looked at his cousin with worshipful eyes, his appearance ugly and his expression vile.

Hearing the sound of horse hooves behind him, Dou Yanshan knew he had completely lost. Those riders, without question, were heading to Chang’an City to spread the news. No doubt before long, all of Chang’an would know that the Dou family was challenging Yushan Academy. As for his younger brother’s tragedy, no one would mention it again. The world had merely gained one more eunuch—how could that compare to the excitement of an ancient noble family challenging the fledgling Yushan Academy?

Dou Yanshan clenched his fists so tightly that his knuckles turned white. Through gritted teeth he said, “The Dou family will definitely solve the maze and tear the villain who harmed my younger brother into ten thousand pieces. Dou Yanshan’s talents and learning are shallow—I admit I cannot solve the maze. But I refuse to believe this small maze will block my Dou family’s path to revenge. Pei Ying, you listen well! Today I’ll let you breathe for one more day. Tomorrow I’ll return.” Having spoken, he pushed through the crowd, mounted his horse, and galloped toward Chang’an.

Yun Ye emerged from Ying Niang’s little shop, his expression gloomy as he watched Dou Yanshan’s retreating figure. Great families truly never lacked talented people. With just a few words, he’d forced the academy into a corner. That no maze in the world couldn’t be broken was common knowledge. Dou Yanshan’s admission of defeat was open and honorable, and he repeatedly emphasized that it wasn’t out of jealousy of the academy’s learning, but because the academy harbored someone who had injured another. The Dou family had no choice but to accept the challenge. When the time came, the academy would no longer have any excuse to obstruct their revenge, and Li Er’s plan would also fail—though Yun Ye still didn’t know exactly what Li Er’s plan was.

Should I replace those seven characters “When three walk together, one must be my teacher” with the seven lovely digits one-two-three-four-five-six-seven? Retrieve the escaped one, and with a seven-digit password, the Dou family would need to be transmitted through two more generations before they could solve it by hand. Yun Ye also felt he was quite shameless—at least right now, very shameless.