Chapter 96

There was no need for everyone to gather for the announcement of the results, especially since Shen Cui’s complexion wasn’t great due to her recent rush of work.

She knew it herself, seeing her attributes drop by 3 points, she didn’t plan to push herself so hard anymore.

She only let Wei Shu and Wei Xi go to check the results, and she would observe from afar. Since Shuiyun Village was close to the county town and within the same city limits, she could see their chibi characters and their mood values, which already gave her a lot of information.

Both brothers were a bit nervous before going to check the results, especially Wei Xi, the directly involved party, was more anxious.

After seeing the results, their mood values increased significantly.

Shen Cui enlarged the image on the light screen and sure enough, she could see Wei Xi’s name at the top of the long list!

She was also happy, already thinking about how to celebrate today. The two brothers definitely wouldn’t want her to spend money, and today they specially proposed to go alone, most likely to arrange the feast themselves.

As she worked on her needlework and thought about it, she glanced up to see the two brothers standing in front of the announcement board, motionless. Wei Shu’s mood value was plummeting, but Wei Xi seemed fine, holding onto him without saying anything.

Unfortunately, the observation function of the system could only transmit images, without sound, so Shen Cui didn’t know what was happening.

An hour later, Wei Shu and Wei Xi came back with some things in hand. As Shen Cui had expected, Wei Xi had guessed that he had done well in the exam, and there would surely be some celebration in the academy.

Earlier, Shen Cui didn’t want Zhou Shi to chip in, thinking that Zhou Shi earned hard-earned money.

In their eyes, Shen Cui only took twenty taels of silver from them each month for their living expenses, but she took care of every aspect of their studies and lives meticulously. How could they bear to let her chip in?

So after checking the results, the two of them went to the tavern where Wei Shu often frequented and bought some hot dishes and good wine to take away.

After learning the good news, everyone naturally rejoiced, especially since this was not only a good result for Wei Xi but also a proof of the academy’s success!

Since there were no outsiders present, they didn’t need to observe any formalities during the meal. They poured their own drinks and helped themselves. Lao Buyu happily said, “I’ll go share the good news with my senior brother this afternoon.”

Since Qingzhu Academy also had someone participating in the exams this year, when they received the news of the results, naturally, Ling Qingming also got the message.

What Lao Buyu referred to as “sharing the good news” was of course just a way to flaunt in front of him.

He sometimes acted like a child, and everyone was used to it, but Wei Shu was hesitant to speak up.

When everyone had almost finished eating, Shen Cui took the opportunity to pull Wei Shu aside and asked if he encountered anything unusual when checking the results.

Wei Shu was straightforward and couldn’t beat around the bush. He sighed and said, “Little Xi told me not to mention it, but since you’ve noticed, I won’t hide it.”

It turned out that when they went to check the results today, there were already many scholars gathered in front of the announcement board.

The top scorers from the past two years, whether it was Mu Yunchuan or Song Yao, were both well-known talents.

But this year, everyone was somewhat unfamiliar with the name Wei Xi, and they were starting to discuss it.

“I remember last year’s top scorers and the second-placed were both students from Qingzhu Academy. Is this Wei Xi also from Qingzhu? Why does it seem like I’ve never heard of him before?”

“No, I remember this Wei Xi! He participated in the academy’s major competition. It seems like he’s from our small academy, called Cui something…”

“Cui Wei!” someone interjected, “I know about this academy. It’s established in the village. That’s why it’s not well-known in the city. It seems like it’s only been operating for two years.”

As the discussions continued, some became sour, “Can someone become the top scorer in the county exams in just two years? This is some incredible luck.”

Wei Shu and Wei Xi treated such remarks about attributing one’s own failure to others’ luck as a joke.

But then someone added, “Do you guys know about Wei Shu, who got second place last year? You know, you can’t write ‘Wei’ without a second stroke. Wei Shu and this Wei Xi are real brothers.”

“That’s even more confusing, then. With both brothers having such high talents, why didn’t they both go to Qingzhu? Why did they let his younger brother go to the relatively unknown Cui Wei?”

Wei Shu found these remarks amusing. These people had been studying for a few years and thought they understood everything about the world—couldn’t people prefer other academies?

Cuiwei is so good that it’s beyond words to describe. If it weren’t for Wang Po bragging and boasting, Wei Shu would have wanted to argue directly with them.

Wei Xi already knew his rank, and regardless of how others mocked him, he was ready to leave with Wei Shu.

Unexpectedly, these gossipy mouths kept on talking, and some even speculated whether the two brothers were not getting along, hence not attending the same academy?

The person who first mentioned they were brothers continued, “I heard that Wei Shu indeed used to be at the Qingzhu Academy, but I don’t know why he isn’t there anymore and just frequents Cuiwei.”

By now, those people weren’t concerned about ranks anymore; they were just treating this as gossip after-meal talk.

And the person who started the conversation quietly slipped away, leaving behind these speculations.

“What’s really going on?”

“Could it be that Master Lingshan refused to accept his brother, so Wei Shu learned something at Qingzhu and secretly taught it to his brother at Cuiwei?”

“That’s possible. Otherwise, how could such an obscure little academy produce a county top scorer in just two years?”

“Then Master Lingshan is too easygoing. The things in their own academy are treasures! How could they easily teach them to outsiders?”

“I heard someone mention during the academy’s big competition that the teacher at Cuiwei seems to be Master Lingshan’s junior brother, so their families aren’t exactly strangers, right?”

Wei Shu couldn’t stand this kind of talk. While others were devaluing their brotherhood, under the instigation of malicious people, they were subtly degrading Cuiwei… It seemed like they were taking advantage of Qingzhu after becoming county case leaders!

He stepped forward to argue with someone. Wei Xi held him back, saying it wasn’t worth it, “As the book ‘Xunzi: Summary’ says, ‘A dart can be stopped at Ouyu, but a rumor can be stopped by a wise person.’ Do you think they are wise?”

These onlookers are more interested in stirring up trouble than in the truth. They prefer to believe their speculations rather than accepting that a place like Cuiwei, which has no prior reputation, could produce someone noteworthy. Naturally, they can’t be called wise.

Arguing with them would only lower your own status, and it might even give rise to new rumors like “Cuiwei’s students are narrow-minded, they have to meddle in everyone else’s business.”

“Xiao Xi is right, there’s no need to take these things to heart.” After listening to the situation, Shen Cui gently advised him, “Besides, as you continue your studies, such rumors will naturally be debunked.”

Following the logic of those people, last year Wei Shu ranked second, and he passed on Qingzhu’s teachings to his own brother, which resulted in Wei Xi becoming a new county examination top scorer and rank number 1.

But in the provincial exam, Wei Shu ranked twelfth, and Wei Xi is slightly more talented than him. As long as he performs normally, he will naturally do better, perhaps even becoming a provincial exam top list.

Those people can’t argue that Wei Shu, ranked twelfth, can guide someone to become a provincial examiner, right?

Even Qingzhu itself has only produced one provincial case leader in recent years, namely Mu Yunchuan.

By then, they will realize that Wei Xi not going to Qingzhu is not because Leng Qingming refuses to accept him, but because Cuiwei is no less than Qingzhu, and he prefers to stay here!

Cuiwei doesn’t need to take advantage of Qingzhu’s reputation!

“However, you’ve reminded me of something,” Shen Cui pondered, “Someone pointed out that you two are brothers and also knows your movements. They’re definitely different from those who don’t know you. This person throws out a few true facts and then backs off, clearly doing it intentionally to manipulate public opinion. We need to find out who this person is.”

Wei Shu remembered the person’s appearance and immediately went inside to draw a portrait.

He knew the ins and outs of the county town better than Shen Cui, so without needing Shen Cui’s arrangement, he immediately had a servant take the portrait and sent someone to inquire.

The servant was clever too. Instead of aimlessly searching for the person, he decided to investigate those who had grudges with the Wei family—Wei Xi lived a secluded life in the village, and Wei Shu was amiable with others, so there were plenty of clues to follow.

That afternoon, the servant came back with news.

The troublemaker mingling in the crowd turned out to be none other than Song Yao, a close friend’s servant.

Following the trail, they discovered that Song Yao had gone to check the exam results ahead of them and then murmured with his friend for a while before they left together, leaving only the servant behind.

What more was there to understand? Obviously, Song Yao harbored resentment from earlier events and intentionally caused trouble!

But Wei Shu wasn’t foolish. Nobody could provide evidence that Song Yao was the instigator, and his friend wasn’t a student at Qingzhu Academy either.

Even if Wei Shu took this matter to Qingzhu Academy to confront Song Yao, even if Song Yao confessed, and even if Leng Qingming, as the headmaster, didn’t show favoritism, he couldn’t reach out to someone else’s servant…

“Such a clown!” Although Wei Shu had clashed with Song Yao before, he had never spoken ill of him behind his back until now.

Shen Cui and Wei Shu discussed this matter for a long time. The academy wasn’t that big, so apart from the drunk and the already informed Wei Xi, others were naturally curious.

It wasn’t like they had done something shameful, so Shen Cui explained it to them.

Mei Ruochu couldn’t help but say, “I remember this Song Yao. I heard that he was affected by my situation at the time, and I felt guilty about it. I never thought he was such an unsavory person!”

Shen Cui comforted them, saying, “As you move forward, you’ll encounter all sorts of people. This time it’s just a small baseless rumor, not worth getting angry over. Just a jumping clown, who only spreads groundless rumors. Once you perform well in your exams and bring honor to our academy, the rumors will naturally die down.”

Everyone nodded, especially Wei Xi. In truth, he wasn’t so keen on chasing after good grades because of the prestige associated with Cuiwei. But now, after this incident, he became more determined to excel in the upcoming provincial exam and put an end to the rumors!

After their discussion, everyone returned to their respective places to study diligently. It was until Mu Erpang suddenly mentioned, asking about the teacher?

During lunchtime, Lao Buyu drank too much and ended up sleeping on the dining table. The others helped carry him inside to rest.

However, Lao Buyu had always been able to hold his liquor well, and after a short nap, he would usually sober up. It was unusual for him to be missing for so long.

Although Shen Cui could see the layout of the academy on the map, she had naturally blocked off private areas like bedrooms and toilets. So, she assumed Lao Buyu was resting inside.

When they went inside to check, they found that he wasn’t on the bed.

“Did he go into town?” Mu Erpang guessed aloud.

After all, during the meal, Lao Buyu had mentioned that he would go inform Leng Qingming of their success after the meal. He had informed them, so it was likely that he had sobered up later and left while everyone was talking and not paying attention.

“This teacher, he’s acting like a child again,” Shen Cui murmured helplessly.

Not long after, Lao Buyu returned.

All traces of alcohol had disappeared from him, and his gaze had returned to its usual clarity. However, his expression was somewhat strange, as if he were a guilty child who had been caught misbehaving. He lingered outside the academy gate for quite some time without coming in.

Shen Cui noticed that something was wrong and went out with her needlework to ask him what was going on.

After hesitating for a while, Lao Buyu said, “I… I think I’ve done something wrong.”

Shen Cui initially thought he had heard the rumors spread by Song Yao in town and had gotten into an argument with someone. But then she heard him continue, “I spoke too soon and promised Ruochu that he could go to Qingzhu for a month.”