A thousand li away, in the nation’s grand capital.

A single horseman rode at full gallop, stirring clouds of dust as he charged directly into the imperial city.

Half an hour later, a memorial bordered with purple arrived first at the Inner Cabinet, then at the Bureau of Ceremonial, and finally reached the Emperor’s desk unchanged—not a single character altered.

Current governmental affairs followed this pattern: the Inner Cabinet would draft preliminary responses, the Bureau of Ceremonial would mark them in red ink under the Empress Dowager’s instructions, and by the time they reached the Emperor, it was merely a formality. It was rare for memorials to reach the Emperor directly without preliminary drafting or red-ink marking.

This was simply because this particular matter was purely imperial family business.

And rather inauspicious family business at that.

Tie Yan unfolded the memorial. Moments later, he flew into a towering rage, smashing the purple-bordered memorial that represented a vassal prince. The document bounced off the threshold and flew a great distance.

The Emperor’s furious curses could be heard throughout the entire Chongming Palace.

“What nonsense! Does the Murong clan want to rebel?! A perfectly good arranged marriage—the edict was issued, accepted, gifts received, the Ministry of Rites even began scheduling the ceremony, and now he says he wants to break off the engagement! Break off the engagement! Who gave him such audacious nerve to go back on his word!”

The entire palace fell silent as cicadas, everyone carefully exchanging glances.

Good heavens, the Crown Princess had been rejected in marriage again?

Wasn’t it settled with the Eighteenth Prince of Prince Da’an of Liaodong, and hadn’t Liaodong accepted the imperial edict?

Why this sudden cancellation of the betrothal?

Though this memorial had not received red-ink approval, it had passed through the Inner Cabinet, and those officials were thinking even more deeply.

Prince Liaodong had many sons. They had calculated correctly that the other party needed to maintain balance with the court and would never mind sacrificing one-eighteenth of their assets. Choosing Liaodong was half for convenience and half to win over an important vassal.

The other party’s acceptance had been entirely reasonable.

Now suddenly wanting to break the engagement—did Prince Liaodong no longer wish to maintain surface peace and intend to openly break with the court?

Tie Yan quickly thought of this possibility as well. His heart tightened, and he ordered a eunuch to retrieve the memorial for careful examination. He discovered that Prince Da’an’s wording was respectfully cautious. The reason for breaking the engagement was that the Eighteenth Son had contracted a serious illness and feared harming the Crown Princess’s precious health, thus daring not continue to serve her. Liaodong was deeply fearful, but if His Majesty and the Crown Princess did not object, they could select from among the other unmarried princes.

Tie Yan read it several times, confirming that Prince Liaodong’s attitude would not warrant going to war over this marriage. He felt somewhat reassured.

But he remained extremely displeased nonetheless.

My Ci’er has both literary and military talents, unparalleled beauty, and noble status. Anyone she favors should consider it their good fortune—these bastards are all blind!

And now offering “this one won’t do, try that one”—what do they take Ci’er for?

He cursed hatefully, “They’ll regret this someday!” and shoved the memorial under a pile of other withheld documents.

The Bureau of Ceremonial eunuch responsible for transmitting memorials carefully asked, “Your Majesty, this memorial…”

Tie Yan had already regained his composure and said expressionlessly, “Have the Inner Cabinet reply to Prince Da’an. The matter of breaking the engagement is of great importance and concerns the Crown Princess’s entire future. We should consult the Crown Princess’s opinion. The Crown Princess is currently undergoing training. We’ll discuss this after she returns.”

“Yes.”

…

The hour had reached noon, and yesterday’s locust battle was reenacted. Tie Ci’s meal-fetching business was also flourishing.

At noon, Chi Xue and Dan Shuang arrived slightly late. Tie Ci remembered that servants had their own dining hall in a rather remote location, so she asked about the food quality and whether they had eaten.

She noticed both women’s clothing was slightly disheveled, as if they had already been squeezed through a crowd, but there weren’t many servants, so it shouldn’t be crowded. Could the servants’ dining hall be particularly small?

Chi Xue smiled, “The food is similar to here, and quite clean.” Dan Shuang, however, looked away.

Tie Ci was about to ask more when the dining hall opened for service. When the two arrived at the dining hall, Tie Ci was about to enter but was blocked by a group of people. The leader said politely, “Students from Section Wu, please wait a moment.”

“I’m from Section A.”

“A Section A student living in Section Wu quarters indicates a deficiency in moral character. You should be even more careful to observe rules and show modest courtesy,” the man said genially.

Tie Ci recognized him as the foreign student who had thrown her overboard during the mahjong game on the boat. It seemed he had recognized her as well.

Behind him was a group of people, presumably from Section A Superior Hall. Zhuang Huai’an and several others from the General Hall stood watching from a distance.

“As a Section A student, one should be a model. How can a model fail to show friendship to fellow students? How can one block paths and cause trouble? Don’t you want to be a model anymore?” Tie Ci smiled at him.

At her words, the group behind him hesitated somewhat. Many in that group still had faint red spots on their faces—presumably the batch who had previously spoken ill of the Crown Princess and contracted syphilis-like sores. Indeed, bad people could excel in any field of badness.

But the man would not yield, maintaining his false smile as he said, “We naturally respect and care for fellow students who observe rules and maintain proper etiquette, but for those who strike fellow students over disagreements and show disrespect to teachers, allowing them to usurp Section A positions and bully others with their influence—that would be our dereliction of duty!”

“Who might you be?”

“I am Ma De, humbly serving as Vice President of the Section A Student Association.”

“‘Damn it,’ you certainly are humble,” Tie Ci nodded. “When did it become the turn of a foreigner to represent students and bully people of Great Qian at Great Qian’s premier academy? Have all Great Qian’s scholars died, or has Great Qian already been conquered?”

“Outrageous!” Teacher Yao emerged from behind the crowd, angrily rebuking her. “How dare you, wretch, speak such treasonous words!”

“The academy teaches us to criticize current affairs and discuss governmental gains and losses. To offer remonstrance and correction, speaking directly without concealment. To not avoid death for this, to not value wealth and status—this is the duty of literary scholars and upright ministers,” Tie Ci said. “I am heartbroken and furiously denounce foreign thieves who have usurped the magpie’s nest, despising spineless literati who recognize thieves as fathers. What treason is there in this?”

Teacher Yao had already lost face before and naturally showed his inferior position before Tie Ci. Now facing her directly, he was even less of a match. His finger pointed at her and shook for a long time without producing a single word.

Several people in that group showed some shame after hearing this, quietly stepping back a few paces. But most obviously could not engage in timely self-reflection. Their anger at being humiliated overwhelmed their reason, and they began pointing and cursing. They cursed her for striking fellow students, driving away dormmates, disrespecting teachers, and bewitching Teacher Ying. Obviously her earlier excellent performance had spread throughout the academy, and most people were quite unconvinced.

More and more people gathered from all directions. Obviously everyone had heard that someone here dared to confront a teacher, so they came to watch the excitement. Tie Ci’s gaze swept over the crowd and actually spotted Wei Xuan. She was apparently familiar with the group blocking Tie Ci, inquired about the situation in low voices, looked at Tie Ci with complex emotions, but said nothing and showed no intention of helping Tie Ci out of the predicament.

For a moment, these three faced the vast crowd, rather like a lone boat in an angry sea.

Dan Shuang quietly asked Tie Ci, “Young Master, why do I get the impression that quite a few people know you?”

Tie Ci’s gaze swept over them—that group included several who had previously mocked Shen Mi. Birds of a feather truly flocked together.

“It’s not that my interpersonal relationships are poor—there really are just too many idiots.”

Chi Xue took a breath, preparing to enter the fray. When it came to verbal sparring, who in Ruixiang Palace had ever lost?

Ma De gave a look, and someone loudly declared, “Why waste words with him? This kind of madman who disrespects teachers and speaks wildly—how can he qualify to study at the academy? He should be expelled!”

The crowd voiced agreement in unison. Not far away, a tall young man stopped and frowned. It was none other than the Young Master Qi who had played mahjong with Tie Ci.

He watched for a while, ultimately feeling the crowd had gone too far. Just as he was thinking of stepping forward to say something, suddenly someone hurried past him, bringing a slight cool fragrance as they headed toward Tie Ci.

There, Tie Ci was just preparing to give those shouting fellows a dose of salt water when she suddenly saw someone emerge from the crowd, holding books, walking slowly, voice like cool spring water: “Brother Wang, after half a day of classes, you’re still so energetic?”

When the man surnamed Wang saw who had come, he immediately restrained his anger, stepped back, and bowed. “Brother Rong.”

The female students on all sides let out soft exclamations, and red clouds spread instantly.

Tie Ci silently cursed “show-off” in her heart.

Rong Pu then paid respects to the teachers before addressing Ma De: “Vice President, I don’t seem to recall the association rules giving you responsibility for supervising the dining hall’s seating order.”

Ma De’s expression changed slightly upon seeing him. Though he had used wealth to buy loyalty and gathered a group of followers, compared to the Rong family who were practically half-owners of the academy, that meant nothing.

These academy rules were unwritten customs that had never been recorded in any documents. Everyone was unable to argue and could only listen silently.

Rong Pu smiled again, “Brother Ma was accidentally knocked into the water by Brother Ye a few days ago and must be displeased about it. But official business cannot be used for personal purposes. I suggest Brother Ma resolve his previous grievances with Brother Ye privately.”

Everyone let out a long “Ohhhhh.”

Ma De’s face alternated between green and white.

Rong Pu then turned to the group of students with embarrassed expressions: “Fellow students have always been eager for justice with hearts devoted to serving the country. Naturally you are not those who curry favor with the powerful and act as accomplices to tyrants—you were merely deceived by petty people. I’m sure Brother Ye understands the whole story and won’t misunderstand you further.”

Someone in the crowd wanted to speak but was pulled hard by a companion. To accuse Ye Shiba at this point would be admitting to unclear thinking, being used by others, and acting as accomplices to tyrants.

Finally, Rong Pu turned to the teacher, pulling Tie Ci forward a step: “Teacher Yao is the academy’s main lecturer on classics, a renowned great scholar of Haiyou. He is ordinarily most loyal to Great Qian and has a fiery temperament, so naturally he cannot bear to hear your presumptuous words. Having Teacher Yao as such—teaching students who spread throughout the land and serve the emperor—is also Great Qian’s good fortune. Why don’t you quickly apologize to Teacher Yao?”

Tie Ci heard this speech that was smooth as glass on all sides and smiled slightly.

He had stepped on Ma De because Ma De was a foreigner.

He gave the fellow students an out, helping her smooth relations with classmates because most Section A students either had influential families or personal talent. As Crown Princess, she should be building networks—after all, with mountains above her and an unclear path ahead, she hadn’t reached the point where she could casually offend future ministers.

Finally, apologizing to the teacher and praising Teacher Yao was to mend her offense to Teacher Yao this morning, helping her curry favor with the great scholar of Haiyou for the same purpose.

Different treatment for different people, but the overall goal was what the Rong family had always believed she should do—befriend scholars, build networks, and create a good reputation for the Crown Princess.

His intentions weren’t bad, and his wisdom was outstanding.

But she didn’t like it.

She was the Crown Princess. If imperial dominance required bending the knee, pleasing others, and abandoning principles to build relationships, then someday she would become accustomed to bending the knee.

When that time came, how would an emperor control her ministers?

She wasn’t incapable of bending the knee, but these people didn’t deserve it.

Rong Pu’s gaze carried a hint of urging. Tie Ci smiled and gave a deep bow.

Regardless, Rong Pu meant well, and she didn’t want to waste good intentions.

But principles could not be discarded.

After the deep bow, Teacher Yao snorted and was putting on airs, ready to lecture, when he saw Tie Ci had already straightened up and said seriously, “This student still disagrees with your teaching methods and way of handling affairs, but this student swears to defend your dignity as a teacher to the death.”

Teacher Yao was stunned, not yet understanding what this fashionable phrase meant, when Tie Ci had already walked around him with great strides forward.

Seeing her smiling expression, the surrounding people somehow felt apprehensive and automatically opened a path. Ma De saw her approaching with an ugly expression, but at this moment he could no longer cause trouble and had to step slightly aside.

But Tie Ci stopped in front of him and tilted her head at him.

Ma De: “?”

Tie Ci tilted her head again.

Ma De: “??”

Everyone was baffled.

Wait, why were these two making eyes at each other?

After Tie Ci tilted her head twice, she sighed and said, “Brother Ma is so modest that I can only respectfully comply rather than decline.”

Ma De: “???”

The final note of Tie Ci’s “comply” was still on her lips when she suddenly struck!

One punch came like wind and thunder rising, lightning descending!

Everyone felt fierce wind striking their faces, suffocating and overwhelming, faces twisted askew.

“Bang!” Even though Ma De had been somewhat wary of Tie Ci, he was still sent flying by this heavy, fierce punch, soaring over the crowd before landing with a splat in the nearby flower bed.

Wet mud splashed in all directions. Everyone cried out and scattered, unable to tell whether from panic or shock.

Teacher Yao’s angry shouts contained shock: “What are you doing?”

Tie Ci spread her hands, smiling easily.

“Didn’t I just say? Ma De and I have a private grudge, and it was suggested we resolve it privately. I was just inviting him to resolve it privately and asking him to strike first. He politely let me go first, so I wasn’t polite about it.”

Teacher Yao: “…”

He was speechless.

The academy did not permit fighting, but Ma De had provoked first, Rong Pu had suggested private resolution afterward, and Tie Ci had resolved it with one punch while the other party was unable to fight back. From both reason and practical circumstances, this could not be called a brawl.

This was called unilateral overwhelming assault.

Footsteps sounded as a large group of school administrators approached, led as usual by the Dean. Someone immediately went up to them, chattering about the previous situation.

The Dean looked over. Tie Ci said calmly, “Earlier Brother Rong said that neither the academy regulations nor the student association rules contained provisions about dining order for Sections A, B, C, and D. Why would the academy teachers allow students to create their own hierarchies, oppress juniors, damage the academy’s reputation, and destroy the academy’s hundred-year tradition of enlightened equality?”

Someone said coldly, “Natural selection, the strong take precedence. Since they are juniors, they should be more aware of their position. Only then can they avoid wallowing in mud and strive to catch up. This is also the academy’s good intentions. What do you understand!”

Tie Ci smiled, “Then write it grandly into the academy regulations and rename the academy the Beast Hunter Academy, so all these juniors have rules to follow! I only hope that when you gentlemen are pointed at by all people in the future, when founders come seeking vengeance, when historical scribes slice you inch by inch, you won’t hide behind others and claim ignorance of these matters!”

That person said, “You!”

Tie Ci smiled, “Yes, me.”

The area before the dining hall became as quiet as a lecture hall. Apparently no one had seen such an automatic contrarian before, and the young people were all stunned.

But quite a few people looked at Tie Ci with admiring gazes—partly for Tie Ci’s “daring,” and partly because Section A had the fewest people, with most belonging to the “inferior races.” Deep in their hearts, they weren’t necessarily without complaints about these chaotic rules.

Finally someone had spoken out.

That person raised his eyebrows, about to say more, when the Dean vaguely gestured to stop him, saying, “Don’t gather here—be careful that the dining hall food gets cold.”

Only then did everyone remember the important matter of eating. After paying respects, they dispersed in a rush.

Those from Section A who had caused trouble also had to find their own way down, mixing resentfully into the crowd as they left. The Dean walked at the back, saying to Tie Ci, “Young people’s high spirits are enviable. But excessive rigidity leads to breaking—it’s better to cultivate a calm mind and nourish one’s qi.”

Tie Ci smiled, “Thank you for your teaching, sir.”

The Dean looked at her once, ultimately said no more, and left with that group.

His attitude was ambiguous—he neither punished Tie Ci nor advised those who had caused trouble, like an old good fellow who went with the flow, covering everything with one big blanket.

But regardless, when Tie Ci entered the dining hall again, even though it wasn’t time for Section Wu to eat, no one blocked her.

Tie Ci saw several people from Section Wu waiting to one side and waved, saying, “Would you like to go in with me?”

Tian Wu immediately walked over happily.

Tong Rushi completely ignored her, standing to one side like a stone statue.

Li Zhi hesitated a moment, then smiled, “I’m not hungry yet—I’ll wait a bit longer.”

Cui Shi chuckled with a sneer, saying in a passive-aggressive tone, “Brother Ye’s reputation is too great—this younger brother doesn’t dare accompany you.”

Tie Ci didn’t force them, only bringing Tian Wu into the dining hall. She had given them an opportunity—if they lacked even this much courage, they weren’t worth cultivating.

Cui Shi had just challenged her, but after she went in, he secretly followed behind the two, maintaining a slight distance, and also went to get food.

While Tie Ci was eating, some people gradually gathered around. After brief conversation, they found Tie Ci generous and straightforward, very easy to get along with, so they relaxed. A group of them ate and chatted, quite lively.

In the list Teacher He had given earlier, there were also some women. Back then, the couple had lived in the teachers’ compound in the academy’s final courtyard, equivalent to faculty housing, surrounded by married instructors and assistant teachers. Teacher He had mentioned that he was usually busy with academy affairs while Madam He managed the household, inevitably having to interact with neighboring wives. But regarding women’s affairs, he didn’t usually inquire and didn’t know how well she got along with those wives. He only vaguely knew she had a good relationship with the wife of former Instructor Zhu. Instructor Zhu was now the academy’s Director and also his disciple.

He Zi had said that Madam He seemed particularly disdainful of Clerk Ge’s wife, saying that woman was too petty. Her husband managed books in the library, and she could secretly tear out pages from rarely borrowed books to light fires. The library maintained warmth in winter and coolness in summer to protect the books, but that woman would bring her sewing basket inside to do needlework, saving on firewood and ice for her own home. She had even tried to drag Madam He along, earning a face full of spit from her.

Clerk Ge—perhaps because he got such a calculating wife—went bald early at just over forty, his temperament worn smooth, becoming the current Dean Ge.

Though He Zi couldn’t say clearly, Tie Ci guessed that Madam He, coming from the martial world with a straightforward nature, probably didn’t get along well with those scholars’ wives. But regardless, women had more interactions with each other, and women were also better at filtering and gathering various information. So to investigate Madam He’s cause of death, she first needed to reconstruct what happened on the day she died, and that still required starting with these wives.

Over twenty years, the academy had undergone several renovations and expansions, growing considerably in size. The teachers’ residences had also moved near the back mountain gate—a separate seven-courtyard compound neighboring the Yanbin Hall that specifically hosted important external guests. This was quite far from the academy’s main teaching and scholarly areas, where students couldn’t easily go.

But Tie Ci thought, given the Dean’s wife’s character, how could she not use these young, strong students as laborers?

Indeed, through casual inquiries during the meal, she learned that some poor but academically excellent students were allowed by the academy to exchange appropriate labor for compensation. Some cleaned for the academy, handled miscellaneous affairs, and others helped teachers. Among the latter, word of mouth was to seek out the Director’s household—the Director’s wife was virtuous, gentle, and kind-hearted—but never to help at the Dean’s house, where there was much work, people got tired, pay was little, or sometimes no pay at all.

Unfortunately, if you didn’t go to the mountain, the mountain came to you. Even when everyone avoided the Dean’s house, the Dean’s wife could always grab people to clean for her, chop firewood, cut wood, wash large items…

Chi Xue and Dan Shuang exchanged glances while listening.

Listening to this, Tie Ci also remembered something He Zi had mentioned. He said his wife had said that the Dean’s wife was shallow-eyed, and every time she visited their home, some things would go missing. Later, she only spoke with this wife at the door and never let her enter the house again.

When He Zi mentioned this, he was stroking a carved small box. Tie Ci saw the item looked feminine and asked about it.

He Zi then said this was a replica of his wife’s cosmetic box—the real one had already been buried with her.

He also mentioned that his wife liked simple things, with most jewelry being delicate and small. The few larger pieces were gifts from him, including one hair ornament that had been placed in her hair when she died. He Zi said that hair ornament had cost him an entire year’s salary and had attracted the Dean’s wife’s burning envious gaze for a long time. She had even asked his wife to let her try it on, was refused, and their relationship had worsened considerably after that.

Tie Ci hadn’t paid attention when listening at the time, but now hearing people mention the Dean’s wife, she suddenly thought of that hair ornament’s design.

The topic quickly shifted, with someone mentioning the new archery and martial arts teacher: “…The girls at the women’s academy caught a glimpse at the mountain gate and immediately went crazy…”

Tie Ci was thinking about her future plans and didn’t really listen.

There wasn’t enough time after eating to go to the back mountain gate area. Dan Shuang and Chi Xue said there was something at the women’s academy that needed help and hurried away. Tie Ci returned to class. The afternoon was archery class, a general course where all students attended together.

Though the academy’s main business was studying, it also emphasized physical training, so it consistently hired martial instructors to teach archery and basic fighting skills. After all, archery was a necessary skill for young nobles and an essential ability for future government service.

Tie Ci had previously heard that few scholars loved sports, so this class was usually conducted loosely—generally just time for male students to display hormones and scrawny muscles to female students.

She had expected attendance to be sparse, but when she changed into short training clothes and went to the martial arts field, she saw crowds of people. The academy’s female students were squeezed at the front, pushing and shoving each other, laughing continuously, all craning their necks forward to look, with some constantly tidying their appearance.

Even that petite girl Wei Xuan was chatting and laughing with female companions while continuously glancing toward the entrance.

Tie Ci seemed to see a field full of peacocks spreading their tails.

However, the male students’ faces didn’t look too good. Though rabbits weren’t supposed to eat grass near their own burrows, they inevitably harbored desires. During late-night conversations, they couldn’t help commenting on those female academy students, mentally arranging three wives and four concubines, fully satisfying their fantasies. Now seeing those famous flowers competing to bloom for another, the acidity in the air exceeded safe levels.

“What are they so excited about? Is it necessary? It’s just some rough military man!”

“They say he’s a handsome man… Ha! Does the academy lack handsome men? Section A has plenty—good-looking ones, wealthy ones, powerful ones!”

“The girls just find that trick-performing newcomer fresh. When it comes to actually choosing husbands, won’t they still look at official achievements, family background, and our literary talents and romantic charm!”

On the female students’ side, the conversation had a different tone.

“Oh my, Senior Brother Rong changed into training clothes today too? He usually never participates in archery classes. Today we finally get to see him—truly like distant mountains with snow, long willows reflected by the moon, such an elegant appearance!”

“I think that new Senior Brother Dan has a face that makes one’s heart itch. He clearly has wild energy all over him, yet when he smiles, those curved eyes and lips are sweet as honey!”

“Isn’t Young Master Qi appealing? Our Section A has the best academic talent! A spirited gentleman!”

“I think that Ye Shiba has the finest appearance, just a bit darker and shorter than those others. But that natural, generous air is rare!”

“If you ask me, talking about all these—you haven’t seen the new archery teacher!”

“Didn’t Miss Wei and the others see him at the mountain gate? Haven’t you noticed Su Hua and the others’ appearance yesterday and dress today!”

“I heard he’s a distant relative of the Rong family, a distant cousin of Rong Pu, also surnamed Rong!”

“That’s also from a great clan!”

“Teaching archery today—wonder how this teacher will instruct us. Will he personally help me mount a horse? Oh my, I’m so embarrassed…”

“With a face that thick, you still know embarrassment!”

…