Feng Zhiwei regretted it!

Had she known, she wouldn’t have casually taken a man’s hand!

She had been leading that fellow for half the night. At first she was quite pleased, because she discovered that although he had no silver on him, he did have some finely crafted human skin masks. She helped herself to one depicting an ordinary youth and put it on, feeling the trade was still worthwhile. However, after walking a while longer, feeling both tired and hungry, she asked him: “Do you have any dry rations?”

Books said that great heroes wandering the jianghu always carried dry rations with them.

When that person heard her inquiry, his reaction this time was very quick—not to answer, but for his stomach to immediately growl. Then he slowly extended his hand toward her: “Dry rations.”

Feng Zhiwei blinked, only now coming to a realization—he was hungry and asking her for dry rations!

The hand extended was snow-white like jade carving, not at all resembling a martial artist’s fingers. Unfortunately, Feng Zhiwei had absolutely no interest in admiring it and only wanted to viciously slap away this hand in a most unladylike manner.

“Can you hunt?” she asked through gritted teeth, forcing a smile as radiant as flowers.

“You hunt.”

“!!!”

This wasn’t a great hero—this was a young master!

Feng Zhiwei began to regret her decision. Forget it, she should just abandon him and let him starve.

She gently released her fingers that had been clutching his lapel, gently grasped his shoulders and turned him in another direction, smiling: “There, they’re in that direction. Go find them yourself. I’ll go hunt for you. Farewell.”

Then she waved her hand dashingly and strode forward quickly.

Finally making a wise decision… Men really couldn’t be picked up casually…

She walked briskly in the moonlight, somewhat surprised that her stamina seemed to be getting better and better—tossing about for half the night without getting tired, her steps so vigorous.

Steps… vigorous…

These footsteps were too heavy, weren’t they?

She turned around somewhat stiffly and indeed saw the veiled young man following step by step behind her, his sky-water blue gossamer robes spreading like a tranquil flowing stream in the moonlight.

Feng Zhiwei pressed her hand to her forehead, sensing with some tragic foreboding that this matter wouldn’t be so easily resolved.

“Why are you following me?”

Yu Diao said quietly: “You said you’d take me there.”

“I was deceiving you,” Feng Zhiwei told him gently and sweetly.

“You said you’d take me there.” Yu Diao remained unmoved.

“…”

After Feng Zhiwei had tried three or four different methods and still couldn’t make Yu Diao give up following her, she finally miserably realized that this sticky candy was attached. From beginning to end, he could dismiss her with just one sentence!

You said you’d take me there!

Forget it, conversing with this person was also asking for abuse. Feng Zhiwei finally gave up. She had walked for half the night, both hungry and thirsty. Seeing a stream gorge ahead, she wanted to go drink water and wash her face. Walking to the stream’s edge, she removed her mask and squatted down. The moonlight was bright, and her reflection clearly mirrored in the jade-green water.

That reflection looked somewhat different.

Feng Zhiwei stared at the shadow swaying in the rippling water—a woman bright as the moon, except for a red beauty mark between her eyebrows like rouge, adding several parts allure.

After a long while, she slowly raised her hand and pinched between her eyebrows. Her fingertip was stained with a dot of bright red, its luster gleaming faintly in the moonlight.

Feng Zhiwei stared at this dot of blood from between her eyebrows for a long while. In her mind flashed the fluttering moon-white sleeves at dusk and that pale gold mandala blooming in the magnificent jade-green light.

Was Ning Yi injured?

Feng Zhiwei immediately guessed that his injury must be related to her little maneuver—facing off against a master like Yu Diao, the slightest distraction could mean not just injury, but mortal danger.

She stood transfixed in the moonlight, silent for a long time. Moonlight like silver frost plated her jade-white cheeks, then fell upon her fluttering sleeves. Beneath the sleeves, her blood-stained finger finally silently ground away that dot of blood…

The beauty mark of rouge that fell between someone’s eyebrows could not leave the imprint of life.

After a long while, Feng Zhiwei looked up and only then noticed that halfway up the mountain ahead, a building was partially concealed.

Judging from the glimpse of distinctive blue-green flying eaves visible through the tree shade and mountain rocks, it seemed this entangled journey had actually brought them to Qingming Academy.

Qingming was acclaimed as the foremost academy under heaven. Its predecessor was the Great Cheng’s First Academy. In earlier times, it gathered scholars of talent from across the realm, making no distinction between nobility and humble birth, selecting only exceptional students. After the Tiansheng dynasty was established, following this imperial court’s consistently strict hierarchical customs, Qingming gradually became the First Imperial Academy, serving only the imperial clan, nobility, and officials. However, since Xin Ziyan assumed the position of Academy Head, under his insistence, each year they would still recruit a portion of particularly outstanding students from humble and merchant backgrounds. These people found it extremely difficult to enter, but after completing their studies, most had smooth official careers. This wasn’t strange—the academy’s caliber was too high. Any random student concealing their identity could be a well-connected noble. Even if they couldn’t study their way to success, just by cultivating these connections, it would be enough to get by for a lifetime.

Therefore, every year during Qingming Academy’s entrance examinations, people throughout the realm would fight tooth and nail to get in. Feng Zhiwei recalled the conversation between her younger brother and mother that she had overheard that day, thinking that those fair-weather friends he associated with must all be from Qingming Academy? Truly wastrel dandies.

She was very hungry at the moment with nowhere to go, still dragging along a burden, and thought she might as well go beg for some food?

So she led Yu Diao to knock on the door. After knocking for a while, the side door opened and an old gatekeeper stuck his head out. Feng Zhiwei explained her purpose. The old man rolled his eyes and said roughly: “One cup of water costs one hundred taels of silver! One flatbread costs one thousand taels. Can’t pay? Roll down the mountain!”

Feng Zhiwei was astonished—was this water or jade nectar and sweet dew? Could it be that touched by Qingming Academy’s arrogance, even water had become noble?

Fortunately, her temperament was always good, and it wasn’t easy to make her angry. She still smiled apologetically: “Old sir… my elder brother is ill, please be accommodating…”

“Right, I know your brother is ill, and I also know you lost your father in early years, lived under someone else’s roof suffering cold stares, your brothers were unfriendly and younger brothers disrespectful, you were driven from your family home to wander the jianghu and nearly sold into a brothel…” The old man rolled his eyes, his manner theatrical as he waved his hand.

Feng Zhiwei looked up at him in amazement and sighed: “How did you know? It’s absolutely correct! Though I wasn’t sold into a brothel…”

“If you weren’t sold into a brothel then it’s your sister who was sold into a brothel—but it’s all the same!”

Feng Zhiwei felt something was off. She turned to look around and only then discovered that there were people all around wrapped in blankets sleeping on the ground. Some were dressed splendidly, but most wore tattered clothes, looked haggard, their complexions even more sallow than hers, expressions even more pitiful than hers, their garments barely covering their bottoms. They all stared eagerly at the old gatekeeper, eyes flashing with hopeful light.

Feng Zhiwei’s heart stirred as understanding dawned. The old gatekeeper had already viciously slammed the door shut again.

With a bitter smile, Feng Zhiwei shook her head to leave. Suddenly a young man came over and bowed politely to her: “Brother.”

Feng Zhiwei didn’t understand why he had come over and returned the courtesy. She saw the young man had refined features, his eyes especially distinctive, as if starfire blazed brilliantly within them, dazzling to behold.

That young man mysteriously drew closer and said: “Brother, do you not understand why it’s like this?”

Feng Zhiwei solemnly sought instruction: “I would be pleased to hear the details.”

“The Academy’s Head Xin came from humble origins in earlier times,” that young man said with a low laugh. “Therefore he has always looked after students from humble backgrounds, so…”

Feng Zhiwei suddenly understood—so regardless of whether they had money or not, these people all pretended to be destitute and homeless, clothes not covering their bodies, each more pitiful than the last, poor and pathetic, hoping that Academy Head Xin would take notice and allow them to enter the academy.

So the old gatekeeper, accustomed to this spectacle, assumed she was also part of the pretend-poverty army and directly shut the door in her face.

How wronged she was!

“Since you know there are frauds among them, why not simply eliminate them all?”

The young man’s expression held what seemed like respect as he said: “Academy Head Xin says that driving these people away would be easy, and the academy would also gain peace and quiet, but what if among them there truly are poor yet talented people—wouldn’t that needlessly cut off their opportunity? Therefore he doesn’t obstruct them and occasionally even comes out to personally select candidates. Only getting past this old man is very difficult.”

Feng Zhiwei smiled and said: “Academy Head Xin truly has a compassionate heart.”

“Exactly!” the young man said admiringly. “Head of the Academy is a person of noble character, kind-hearted, supports the elderly and cares for the poor, is not attracted to women, maintains private virtue with caution, keeps himself pure and proper…”

He praised eloquently without end. Feng Zhiwei smiled as she listened, thinking: is he describing a normal person? And this fellow’s voice is so loud—could he be hoping for the old gatekeeper or the Academy Head Xin who might come out at any time to hear?

Suddenly she heard him sigh resentfully and lower his voice: “This younger brother came from Nanhai and didn’t know the local customs. I dressed far too splendidly. I wanted to buy some old clothes from poor families at the mountain’s base, but unexpectedly the people at the mountain’s base have all become wealthy households from selling old clothes—each one’s garments are even more splendid than mine…” He sighed repeatedly, his expression extremely pained.

Feng Zhiwei understood the implied meaning and immediately said: “Could it be that brother has taken a liking to this younger brother’s outfit?”

“Precisely!” The young man clapped his hands together. “Brother is straightforward! This younger brother will pay one hundred taels of silver to buy just your outer garment. This younger brother’s set of Nanhai sharkskin robes will also be yours!”

“Good, deal!” Feng Zhiwei was even more forthright than him and immediately began removing her outer garment—selling a servant’s outfit for one hundred taels of silver and getting a precious outer robe thrown in—only a fool wouldn’t exchange!

As she removed her garment, there was a tinkling sound as a small object fell from the hidden layer in her sleeve. Before Feng Zhiwei could see what it was, the young man had already snatched it up first. Holding it in his hand and examining it carefully, he immediately exclaimed “Oh!”

In his palm was that tianhuang seal. The young man turned it over and examined it several times, his gaze suddenly becoming wolf-like.

Feng Zhiwei looked at him in astonishment, thinking that this person clearly came from a great wealthy family—surely he wouldn’t be greedy for a tianhuang stone too?

The young man cradled the tianhuang stone, saying gleefully: “If you have this, how could you still…” Looking up and seeing Feng Zhiwei’s astonished expression, he immediately changed his words. Smiling broadly, he drew closer and nudged Feng Zhiwei with his elbow: “Big brother, let’s discuss something.”

Feng Zhiwei found it odd how this fellow had suddenly become much more familiar and was so self-inviting. She casually asked: “What?”

“You also want to enter the academy, right?” the young man said with a low laugh. “This younger brother guarantees you can get in. I just have one small request. When you enter, say that this younger brother is your attendant, how about it? The academy allows each person to bring two companions when enrolling. Oh, I forgot to introduce myself—this younger brother is surnamed Yan, from the Yan family of Nanhai.”

Feng Zhiwei’s eyes flashed. The Yan family of Nanhai was one of Tiansheng’s three great hidden clans, known alongside the Tianzhan clan and the Xuanyuan clan. It was said that in earlier times they were all imperial clans, but later were annexed by Great Cheng. The retired former imperial clan powers gradually shifted from the forefront to behind the scenes, no longer making their voices heard in court and countryside. Among the grassroots, the three great families wielded tremendous power. The Tianzhan clan firmly controlled the jianghu; the Xuanyuan clan were commercial giants, controlling the nation’s medicine, forging, textile and other industries; the Yan clan were maritime overlords, with the nation’s largest shipbuilding workshops under their command. On the distant Bright Sea, the sails of Yan family ships blocked out the sky and sun.

Merchant families had abundant wealth, but in this Imperial Capital at the feet of the Son of Heaven, their reach fell short. But regardless, a Yan family scion was worth cultivating a relationship with.

“How could I dare to wrong brother by making you a servant?” Feng Zhiwei guessed the key lay with that tianhuang stone, but didn’t ask, only smiled and declined.

That fellow became anxious and followed over saying: “Three thousand taels of silver monthly for big brother’s spending money!”

“I dare not accept undeserved rewards, hehe…”

“Ten thousand taels!”

“Money is but worldly possessions, hehe…”

“This younger brother’s entire household of family members and subordinates in the Imperial Capital are at big brother’s disposal anytime!”

Feng Zhiwei stopped saying “hehe,” smiled and turned around, seriously looking at the Yan family lad. The Yan family lad shrank his neck and firmly raised his hand: “I swear by my great Yan clan’s Imperial Founder Ancestor’s divine throne!”

Their family ancestor was truly pitiable, constantly being dragged out for oaths…

Feng Zhiwei smiled and clapped the Yan family lad on the shoulder.

“Between you and me, why stand on ceremony… hehe!”