Before the students could run into the pavilion, they were blocked by the guards outside wearing straw raincoats and bamboo hats.

It wasn’t that they were being inhospitable—as guards, they naturally had more vigilant instincts than ordinary people.

The five students looked into the pavilion and pointed, saying, “There’s still space inside. Why won’t you let us in?”

The guard asked, “Who are you people?”

“What? To shelter from rain in a pavilion, must we be questioned about our backgrounds and origins?”

“Out here in these wild mountain forests, who knows where you’ve come from?”

“Where we come from is none of your business. This pavilion wasn’t built by you lot. With such heavy rain, this is the only place to shelter, yet you brutes are being completely unreasonable.”

The guard: “…”

“We’re all students from Mingshan Academy. This pavilion was built for our academy in the first place. What right do you have to occupy it?”

“Do you think just because you carry swords, we fear you?”

“Let us in!”

Guard: “…”

The commotion between the two groups was quite loud. Although the rain muffled half of it, Jingrong and the others still heard and looked over to see the guards entangled with the Confucian-robed students.

He immediately stood up, swept his sleeve, and said with emphasis, “Let them in.”

Upon receiving the order, the guards immediately stepped aside.

The students quickly ran into the pavilion. Once inside, they began straightening their drenched clothes and wiping the books in their hands with their already soaked sleeves.

One student angrily questioned the people inside, “What kind of people are you? With such heavy rain, you wouldn’t let us in to shelter. On what grounds?”

Jingrong said mildly, “My subordinates don’t understand proper conduct. Please don’t take offense.”

“You think one sentence settles it?”

His tone carried hostility!

“When traveling abroad, one naturally becomes more cautious. It’s inevitable that subordinates would be vigilant.”

“How ridiculous! As the saying goes, at home one relies on parents, away from home one relies on friends. When abroad, all are kin. In this vast world, surely not everyone has become vicious villains?” The man clenched his fists tightly, completely at odds with his current Confucian scholarly attire.

At this point, another student came forward to dissuade him, pulling at him. “Lin Shu, forget it.”

The man called Lin Shu shook off the hand. “I can’t forget it! Knowing full well it’s raining this hard, they sat comfortably inside yet wouldn’t let us in. What kind of explanation is that? Throughout the Bingjing region, who doesn’t know that this Observation Pavilion was built by our Mingshan Academy!”

Actually, Lin Shu’s anger wasn’t particularly strange. He had always been an impulsive person, somewhat hot-tempered by nature. But normally at the academy, while he might fool around, he wasn’t any kind of heinous villain. He had a somewhat enthusiastic nature for fighting injustice, so the academy students all enjoyed associating with him. This time, having gone down the mountain to purchase books, they had the misfortune of encountering heavy rain. Getting drenched was one thing, but being blocked outside the pavilion made him even more irritable.

Irritation upon irritation—naturally he couldn’t suppress it!

Jingrong had quite exhausted his patience with this person. His calm face showed neither joy nor anger, and he gazed at Lin Shu with composure.

He found this young man rather endearing!

Unable to rein in his anger, Lin Shu was about to step forward to argue. Just as he took a step forward, Lang Bo positioned himself in front of him, pressing his sword hilt directly against his chest, his cold, stern eyes carrying an imposing force that would not tolerate being crossed.

“You’d best behave yourselves. Though people have eyes, swords do not.”

Lin Shu wasn’t intimidated. “Then try it.”

Try then!

Lang Bo’s thinking was straightforward—he never knew how to bend.

He pressed his thumb forcefully against the sword handle, and in an instant, a small section of the silver-bright blade hidden within the hilt was revealed.

“Do not be discourteous. Stand down.” Jingrong spoke out.

Lang Bo glanced sideways from the corner of his eye, lowered his head slightly, obediently sheathed his sword, and retreated to the side.

The atmosphere in the pavilion also became somewhat lifeless after that scene.

Jingrong surveyed the students and murmured, “Mingshan Academy?” After thinking carefully, he suddenly nodded and said with a smile, “Indeed, we’ve now reached Bingjing territory. Walk a little further, and we’ll be near Mingshan Academy.”

The crowd looked but said nothing!

“Counting up, Master Yu founded Mingshan Academy over forty years ago, didn’t he? Back when it was established, in just a few short years, Mingshan Academy became famous. Many sons of officials and wealthy merchants would rather give up their admission to the Imperial Academy to travel thousands of miles to study here. There were even many who offered heavy gold as enrollment gifts in exchange for one year of study, hoping to learn and achieve success under Master Yu’s tutelage.”

Jingrong’s words carried the refined tone of a cultured scholar.

Therefore, Lin Shu looked at him more closely, only feeling that this person had extraordinary bearing and elegant dress. His every gesture and movement was definitely not that of an ordinary household, and considering those sword-bearing people surrounding the pavilion, it was conceivable that if he wasn’t of noble status, he must be from a prominent family.

He asked, “You know our master?”

“To say I know him wouldn’t quite be knowing him, but to say I don’t know him—I do recognize him.” Jingrong gave a slight smile. “Over forty years ago, Master Yu placed first in the imperial examinations and entered the Hanlin Academy in a high position. However, he was a person with an extreme temperament who went his own way. Consequently, he offended many people in official circles. Perhaps because a golden cage cannot contain a bird ready to fly, he resigned from his official post and went to Bingjing to establish Mingshan Academy. Everyone says Master Yu is a stubborn old eccentric, and his way of doing things differs from ordinary people. I’ve heard he even published a book on disciplining students. Whether masters at various academies or private tutors in wealthy households, nearly everyone has a copy. But such conduct has also drawn considerable questioning from many. Yet Master Yu’s temperament is proud—not only did he refuse to change, he became even more extreme. The result was that he made himself notorious.”

The four words “notorious” were forcefully thrown from his mouth!

He spoke of Mingshan Academy’s Master Yu as if he were utterly worthless.

Upon hearing this, the five students felt indignant.

Someone immediately jumped up to refute and defend him: “Our master is supremely virtuous and holy! How can you crude and vulgar people slander him? Above, the late Emperor praised him; later, his biography was written in books. Everyone says our master is a sage among sages. The students he teaches are either highly intelligent or talented scholars. Where did you hear such idle gossip? Spouting nonsense here! In my view, you people clearly have extreme thinking!”

Protective!

But then—

Another student among them actually said, “I actually think what this young master says isn’t without reason. The master does indeed have a poor temperament, and what he advocates is closed Confucian teaching. Not only does he restrict people’s thoughts and behavior, but he also demands meticulous precision and strictness in everything. Yet the learning of Confucian scholars has always been relatively easygoing, emphasizing following one’s heart in both entry and action. But the master’s closed Confucian teaching completely suppresses that aspect of following one’s heart, ultimately leading to the drawback that what is learned cannot be applied—one can test but cannot practice.”

Upon hearing this, everyone’s gaze turned to that person in unison.

This person’s surname was Shang, courtesy name Zhuo. He was also a student of Mingshan Academy, with a rather honest-looking face that was fairly refined and elegant. In his eyes, there was also an air of wisdom. However, he differed from those students from wealthy families—since childhood, he had been a hardworking person from humble circumstances. He entered Mingshan Academy purely on his own merit.

Due to his outstanding scholarship, at the academy he had earned the title of “Living Confucian Scholar.”