As soon as Hypatia emerged from the side door, Yun Ye, who was just about to swallow a mouthful of water, suddenly sprayed it out. Li Chengqian looked at Yun Ye with annoyance—not a drop of that water was wasted, all of it spraying onto his neck. Li Tai’s eyes widened like copper bells, completely stunned by Hypatia’s terrifying appearance.

Normally she wore women’s Tang-style clothing, and aside from her eye color and slightly different hair, she didn’t look much different from other female relatives. But today she was wearing a white robe of the wise, exposing one arm with her hair hanging loose—this was rather frightening.

If she went out like this, she would definitely scare the students and parents below. What fundraising could she do? Not being stuffed into a pig basket and drowned in a ditch would be considered extremely fortunate.

“Auntie, please change, change your clothes, I beg you! If you go out like this, never mind your life being at risk, even mine would be in danger. Forget about giving your lecture—being able to come out alive would make you impressive.”

“How could that be? The girls at Yanlai Tower dress even more provocatively than me, yet don’t you all watch with lustful eyes? This is the traditional robe that only the wise can wear, the most formal dress of Egypt.”

“You don’t understand! Tang men don’t care whether women wear more or less, but Tang women care very much. Which woman from Yanai Tower can stand on the podium to lecture? Hurry and change clothes.”

“There’s no time. I said I would lecture at this time, so I must begin at this time. Credibility is very important. Of course, if you agree to approve the funding for me, I don’t mind breaking my word.”

“Dream on! You want six thousand strings of cash to buy two things that don’t exist. This is throwing money into water. I absolutely won’t agree. Either you go change clothes, or I’ll go up and tell them this lecture is cancelled. You decide.”

“Fine, strange Tang people. Take off your robe and give it to me. Wearing the Academy’s long robe shouldn’t be too inappropriate, right? We’re about the same height, no problem.”

Yun Ye hurriedly removed his outer robe. Summer was very hot—who would wear anything underneath? He had no choice but to hide in the corner bare-chested, pulling Li Chengqian over to shield him from view.

Hypatia actually ignored the two pairs of gleaming lecherous eyes of Li Chengqian and Li Tai, very casually removed her white robe, wearing only a breast band, and changed clothes right in front of the brothers. Yun Ye very clearly saw Li Chengqian and Li Tai staring at Hypatia’s full bosom while swallowing their saliva.

Throwing the white robe to the wretched Yun Ye, Hypatia tied her hair into a ponytail and tossed her hair dashingly. Yun Ye’s robe, aside from being a bit tight at the chest, fit surprisingly well everywhere else.

She held a thick stack of lecture notes against her chest, smiled charmingly at the Li brothers, then immediately switched to a reserved ladylike expression. Her walking posture was impeccably dignified as she slowly walked to the front of the podium. Before she even spoke, Yun Ye discovered that this woman’s androgynous outfit immediately captured the hearts of all the young men below tightly in her hand. Even the women in back were each entranced and intoxicated.

Hypatia placed her lecture notes on the podium, parted her vermillion lips slightly, and perfectly articulated Mandarin came pouring forth. Li Gang listened while nodding repeatedly. The rigid Master Yuanzhang also listened with great interest. As for Cheng Chuliang behind him, his eyes were wide and round.

“Honored gentlemen and ladies, in this world we inhabit, infinite secrets are hidden. Fortunately, our sages throughout the ages used their wisdom to open a door of wisdom for us. As those who come after, we have the responsibility and obligation to pass down their wisdom and do our utmost to carry it forward. The great Western sage Aristotle once said that humanity needs only three things: theory, utility, and discernment. With these three foundations, we can find everything we need in the vast sea of scrolls. The ultimate value of life lies in the ability to awaken and think, not merely in survival.”

As soon as she finished speaking, warm applause immediately erupted in the auditorium. Those helpless women, seeing their children applauding, and Li Gang and Master Yuanzhang applauding, immediately began clumsily clapping as well.

“Ye Zi, that trip to Yanai Tower was so worth it! Tell me, how did you turn a dancing girl who couldn’t dance well into this? If possible, I want to go back and look around the Eastern Palace to see if there are women like this.”

“Elder Brother, forget it. This woman just doesn’t like men. I think she’s eighty percent likely to prefer women. Look at her—she’s casting flirtatious glances at those women so diligently. If this continues, many of our Tang Dynasty’s meritorious nobles will be seduced by one woman. This woman is a fox spirit. For the sake of our Great Tang’s eternal prosperity, you absolutely must not have such thoughts. If possible, little brother could go meet with this woman.” Li Tai scratched his chin and said thoughtfully to Li Chengqian.

“I always thought the Li family were all decent people—except for your father emperor, of course. Now it seems you two brothers aren’t good people either. The faces of lechers are now thoroughly exposed before everyone. What do you have to say?”

“Bah! Of course we have something to say! It’s fine if you talk about us brothers, but why drag in my father? He’s beyond discussion, beyond criticism—don’t you know that?” Li Chengqian couldn’t stand hearing people criticize his wise father—though of course he himself was an exception.

“Honored gentlemen and ladies, after Western scholarship has traversed a long period of time, it now welcomes its longest winter. Wise scholars are murdered, slandered, thrown alive into fires and burned to death. When God’s will determines everyone’s life and death, to avoid being sent to fight lions, I had no choice but to travel thousands of miles, suffering through wilderness, desert, and grassland, desperately seeking the Eden of learning. Finally, after going through hardships, I came to this great nation. I discovered that here, the seeds of thought can take root and sprout. The radiance of reason envelops this heaven-sent city, this city of light. Here there is a wise monarch, sagacious ministers—this is my ideal land of freedom.”

“Haha, Ye Zi, look! This lewd woman is about to play tricks. She keeps praising, stirring emotions, complaining—now she’s going to show her true face. She wants money, that’s right, just money. Damned woman, in a bit this master will reward you with one copper coin to buy candy.”

Seeing the excited Li Tai gesticulating, Yun Ye said gloomily: “Save your energy. Physician Sun just said you might very well lose that function. Instead of properly recuperating, why are you so agitated?”

Hearing Yun Ye’s words, Li Tai angrily flicked his sleeve and stopped talking. Li Chengqian asked Li Tai with concern: “Qing Que, tell your brother honestly—when that damned woman was changing clothes just now, did you have a reaction? If it doesn’t work, finding Physician Sun for a proper examination is the right thing to do. There are plenty of women. Whatever kind you want, when your illness is cured, tell your brother—whatever kind, your brother guarantees he can find for you.”

Yun Ye felt like he was about to pass out. Li Tai grabbed his brother’s lapels and roared in a low voice: “I’m perfectly normal! Just now I had a strong reaction! I’ll find women myself—you don’t need to worry about it.”

Yun Ye, afraid he’d die from laughing, wrapped that robe around himself, stretched out his neck, and prepared to watch how Hypatia would swindle enough money from these noble ladies to buy what she needed.

“After long-term research, I have discovered that around each and every one of us, there exists a miraculous force. I have not yet named this force. The Tang Dynasty’s most intelligent person, Marquis Yun Ye, once used a simple method to prove the existence of this force. In a small-scale experiment, he discovered that this force, through just a sheet of paper, could support a full cup of water. Now I will demonstrate this process for you all.”

“Ye Zi, this damned woman wants to steal your knowledge! Aren’t you going out to call her shameless?” Li Tai watched as Hypatia in the venue covered the mouth of a cup with a sheet of paper, then carefully turned it upside down. Under the astonished gazes of those noble ladies, that paper remained covering the cup’s mouth, and not a drop of water from the cup spilled.

“I’ve already written it all in my damn book—who cares how she uses it! If you’re jealous, why don’t you go demonstrate it for everyone? What’s the point of saying these sour words now?”

“I’m a prince, not someone who performs monkey shows. That damned woman can do such things, but if we did this, would we have any face left? However, with this small experiment as a foundation, fooling those ignorant women shouldn’t be a big problem.”

“Marquis Yun once said that this force is so great that it allows our feet to stand firmly on the ground rather than floating around everywhere. It causes ripe fruit to fall to the ground rather than falling into the sky…”

Hearing Hypatia say this, Yun Ye smiled. This woman still hadn’t figured out what universal gravitation was versus atmospheric pressure. Li Tai heard it too. Back then, he had debated this issue with Yun Ye for a long time. Now hearing Hypatia speak nonsense, he happily jumped up, flexed his jaw with his hand, preparing to jump out in a moment to refute Hypatia’s fallacies and make sure this woman knew how formidable he was.

While still feeling smug, he heard Hypatia continue: “Your distinguished nation has an extremely wise prince, Prince Li Tai. He himself has extremely profound understanding of the density of matter. His talent and spirit of striving have always been what I admire. However, this wise prince is filled with discrimination toward us women. He believes that a woman cannot possibly make the slightest contribution to humanity’s unknown domains. After I discussed with him the differences in changes between water and ice, he turned a blind eye to his own ignorance, yet always sets obstacles on the path of us women seeking knowledge, seeking strength, seeking progress. Is our only purpose for existing in this world as women merely to reproduce?”

“No! I do not think so. We should have higher ideals. Beautiful ladies, when you gaze at the starry sky and see the twinkling stars, according to the Tang Dynasty’s beliefs, each person is a star in heaven. Could it be that none of these stars are us women? Why? On what basis? This is unfair!”

Yun Ye turned back to look at the pale-faced Li Tai and said: “Qing Que, you’re finished. Finding a good woman in this lifetime is probably a fantasy now. This damned woman has ruined the happiness of the second half of your life. As for your illness, whether you treat it or not doesn’t matter anymore. You are the public enemy of women.”