Chapter 71 – May Your Wishes All Come to Nothing!

“My dear little one, come here,” Old Madam Su said with a smile as she looked at Tang Chaoyang. “Grandmother will stand up for you.”

That one sentence from Old Madam Su made Tang Chaoyang instantly withdraw all the barbs she had bristling around her. Her beautiful eyes shimmered briefly with moisture.

She hadn’t expected her grandmother to appear here.

Su Ziliang and Su Zijing, seeing their great-grandmother arrive at the academy, hurried over to salute her.

“What is wrong with you two? Your cousin was bullied so miserably by them, and you just stood by and did nothing to help.”

Old Madam Su lightly tapped her cane against the ground a few times. Though her voice wasn’t loud, it carried undeniable authority.

Su Ziliang and Su Zijing bowed, admitting fault. “It was our mistake.”

“Of course it was your mistake.”

Old Madam Su lifted her chin slightly, her sharp gaze sweeping across everyone gathered in the square.

Old Madam Su had followed her husband to guard the borderlands of Jin State for decades. She had been on the battlefield and killed enemies. Though she was now elderly and her face was marked by the years, the aura she had brought back from war was still deeply imprinted on her.

The students all cupped their hands and saluted her as an elder.

Tang Chaoyang reached out to support Old Madam Su. “Grandmother, it was I who insisted on debating Master He. Naturally my cousins could not interfere.”

The Vice Headmaster stepped forward and bowed. “Old Madam, what brings you here?”

“If I hadn’t come today,” Old Madam Su said calmly, “your academy’s people would have forced my poor granddaughter to her death! Where is that brat Wang Quan? Bring him out to see me!”

She spoke in an even tone, but she had only learned of her granddaughter’s trouble this very morning.

Just a few days ago, her granddaughter had visited Chengqi Temple, and now the slander and insults were spreading everywhere like wildfire!

Such a major incident—and the entire family had concealed it from her, an old woman!

“Today, I have come only to demand justice for my granddaughter!”

Old Madam Su believed in her granddaughter.

To untie the bell, one must first untie the person who tied it. This matter required addressing Wang Quan openly and directly.

It was just as well—since everyone was here, they could lay everything bare under the sun.

Old Madam Su’s thoughts happened to coincide perfectly with Tang Chaoyang’s.

Tang Chaoyang also wanted to face Wang Quan in front of everyone and make things clear.

There was no need to continue debating further.

Master He had already been unable to find any argument to refute Tang Chaoyang’s examples.

Society demanded that women abide by the Four Books for Women—but this was nothing more than a form of restriction and suppression. Over time, these constraints had accumulated to strip women of their freedom.

Raising the subject merely tore away a bit of the hypocritical face of pedantic men.

People’s thoughts, understanding, and knowledge had already been shaped. Tang Chaoyang had no power to change how the world bound women. She was no deity—she herself still lived within these shackles.

Standing not far away, the Headmaster saw that Old Madam Su had arrived, and he could no longer remain a passive observer.

He sighed. “Old Madam Su—she once donned armor to pacify the land, now she carries tender feeling to shield the delicate.”

As he stepped forward, he stroked his beard and glanced meaningfully at Fei Yan.

Fei Yan’s gaze fell on Tang Chaoyang, who was standing beside Old Madam Su.

In this moment, her face was adorned with a brilliant smile.

Remembering how she had just mocked Master He, his eyes flickered, and an emotion he couldn’t name rose in his heart.

He followed the Headmaster over.

“Old Madam.”

“Headmaster.”

Old Madam Su looked at Fei Yan with a calm expression.

Fei Yan stopped in front of her and inclined his head in greeting. “Old Madam.”

“Don’t be so polite. You are the Chancellor now—truly I should be saluting you,” Old Madam Su replied, bowing slightly. Fei Yan turned sideways, not daring to accept a full bow.

Tang Chaoyang’s face revealed a hint of disdain upon seeing Fei Yan here.

Fei Yan happened to catch her look of contempt. “…”

Wang Quan came forward under everyone’s scrutiny, forcing himself to bow. “This junior, Wang Quan.”

Old Madam Su gave a quiet hum, then turned to look at Tang Chaoyang. “My dear little one, you handle this. Don’t be afraid—Grandmother is here.”

Tang Chaoyang smiled softly and nodded, her heart brimming with gratitude.

With Grandmother backing her up—

She could not let her down.

Tang Chaoyang looked calmly at Wang Quan, her tone mild as she questioned, “Young Master Wang, everyone is spreading that you and I committed an indecent act at the temple. Yet that day, I merely exchanged a few words with you behind the mountain. Where did such a rumor come from? What so-called indecency?”

At these words, Fei Yan’s eyes darkened slightly as he looked at Wang Quan. No matter what, Tang Chaoyang was once his wife.

He hadn’t known there were such rumors circulating.

Tang Chaoyang’s question rang clearly into the ears of everyone present.

All eyes turned toward her and Wang Quan.

Wang Quan hadn’t expected her to bring up the matter so openly.

He frowned slightly. He hadn’t wanted to discuss such things, which damaged a woman’s reputation, in front of so many.

“Miss Tang, my servant personally saw you leaving the south wing.”

Though he phrased it vaguely, everyone who understood could read the implication:

He was hinting that the two of them had been in the same room.

Tang Chaoyang raised her eyebrows. There really was such a story? She had assumed it was entirely fabricated.

Whoever was behind this had truly planned everything down to the last detail.

She chuckled softly and shook her head. “Young Master Wang, since I never agreed to marry you, why would I debase myself to lie with you?”

She spoke the words “lie with” as if they were nothing at all.

“Were you fully conscious at that time in the wing? And your servant—he only glimpsed that woman in passing. What he saw might not have been me.”

“Do you not know that in this world, there is such a thing as disguise?”

As soon as Tang Chaoyang finished speaking, Wang Quan seemed to recall something. His expression shifted subtly.

When he had entered the room, he’d smelled a fragrance. At the time, he thought it was rouge.

The discomfort on Wang Quan’s face was plain to see.

Those born into great families quickly understood: Wang Quan had been set up.

They weren’t sure whether to pity him or not.

After all, for a man, it was merely a fleeting affair in a moment of passion.

Tang Chaoyang offered Wang Quan a formal bow. “I don’t know whether the villain behind this meant to target me or to target you. If, when I heard the rumors, I had shown even a shred of weakness, I would already have been destroyed by gossip.”

With a faint smile, she walked over to the Morning and Dusk Drum and picked up the drumstick.

“I have offended many today. Allow me to borrow this.”

Dong! A drumbeat resounded as her slender wrist swung the stick again.

The drumbeats mingled with a voice that seemed to weep, to hate, to rage—

“May your heart’s desires dissolve into bubbles! May all you seek turn to emptiness! Good and evil are repaid; karma never fails! A life steeped in evil will never end well! May all you plot scatter to the winds! May everything you pursue slip away like drifting sand! May you, foul-hearted villain, fail in all your endeavors…”

The Headmaster and the others all looked stricken.

She was reciting a curse!

The wind howled as the woman’s bitter, hateful voice seemed to swirl like a phantom overhead. Everyone felt a chill run down their spines.

A woman clad in red, a single drum—

Fei Yan’s cold, deep-set eyes fixed on her as she recited her malediction before the drum. The wind lifted her black hair. Her slender figure stood proud.

“Heaven does not protect you—may your wishes all come to nothing!” Tang Chaoyang uttered the final line of her curse. She set the drumstick down and turned back toward the others, offering them another formal bow.

She walked to Old Madam Su, her face bright with a gentle smile. “Grandmother, let’s go.”

Old Madam Su looked back at her, her eyes full of affection. She swept her gaze coolly over everyone, finally pausing on the stubborn-faced Master He.

Master He: “…”

Tang Chaoyang took Old Madam Su’s arm and led her away.

The woman’s sorrowful, vengeful curse lingered in every heart, refusing to fade.

Fei Yan lifted a long-fingered hand and gently patted Wang Quan on the shoulder. In a quiet voice, he looked around and said, “Rumors die in the hearts of the wise.”