My Wife Is A Sword Immortal
Chapter 336 - 251 Lacking One Person’s Character

Chapter 336: Chapter 251 Lacking One Person’s Character

Zhengguan Well water!

These simple words of Zhu Weirui, uttered in Shuaixing Hall, stirred up a commotion among the students.

The students turned their heads to look around.

Yu Huaijin’s expression slightly changed, and he couldn’t help but turn his head to the side.

Wu Peiliang’s eyes widened suddenly as he jerked his head up.

Li Xueyou’s little mouth opened slightly, while Xiao Hongyu stood ramrod straight.

Fan Yushu’s eyes widened, unblinkingly staring.

All eyes of the students were locked on the top of the lacquered red long table, on the small green bamboo tube.

An ordinary bamboo tube, yet the focus of the entire gathering.

However, there seemed to be an exception.

Zhao Rong had been engrossed in reading a new book on the Classics when he heard Zhu Weirui mention that this classroom exercise came with a prize, and he raised an eyebrow.

But upon seeing her take out a small bamboo tube and say it was some well water, Zhao Rong immediately lowered his head and continued to delve into the Confucian Classics.

Fan Yushu clenched his fist and struck his palm.

"Ziyu, Ziyu, it’s actually Zhengguan Well water—this is the water only available to Linlu Academy teachers or Reading Seeds! I thought the twitching of my left eyelid this morning meant you were finally showing signs of kidney weakness, deservedly so for not being loyal yesterday. But no, it turns out it was about having the chance to drink it here with Teacher Zhu!"

Zhao Rong curled his lip, paying no heed to what Fan Yushu said next but casually remarked, without even lifting his head,

"Isn’t it still just water, though? When we passed by that well before, I heard you guys say that this well water was just better for brewing tea; does it really have some other miraculous quality?"

His tone at the end held some expectation.

Fan Yushu was taken aback, "Uh, miraculous quality, I haven’t heard of that, nor do I know if there’s any. I only heard that Zhengguan Well water has a cold taste and a strong fragrance, ideal for brewing tea on one’s own."

"Oh." Zhao Rong acknowledged.

Fan Yushu straightened his back and looked at the small bamboo tube that was the center of attention, "Ziyu, it’s not about whether it’s miraculous or not, nor how it tastes; the important thing is the symbolic significance of this Zhengguan Well water!"

"Ah, how do I explain this to you..." He gazed at the object eagerly and sighed.

"In the entire Academy, only the Mountain Master and newly joined teachers receive a small portion of Zhengguan Well water. We students and scholars hoping to get this water must make an enormous contribution to the Academy to be rewarded a small portion or be designated as an Academy Reading Seed, something I’ve not even seen in person yet from the rumored senior brothers and sisters. I don’t even know most of their names; there’s one with a surname Sima..."

As Zhao Rong was reading intently, he flicked his index finger and turned a page, murmuring, "Reading Seed..."

Fan Yushu nodded.

"This is the highest honor among us students and scholars of our Academy, arguably putting them on par with the Academy teachers in certain respects. They are key figures whom Linlu Academy focuses on cultivating, possessing unimaginable resources and connections, almost equivalent to candidates for the Mountain Master—the future Mountain Masters are selected among them. However, the difficulty in achieving this title..."

"Sometimes not a single student achieves it over several terms, though this term has brought forth Yu Huaijin, who might just manage it."

Zhao Rong nodded thoughtfully.

Fan Yushu also nodded, patting Zhao Rong’s shoulder casually,

"Alright, Ziyu, I’ve told you how impressive it is to be a Reading Seed. You can take that and dream about it now, but I won’t tell you the conditions yet—actually, I don’t even know them myself. It’s better you don’t know; it could disrupt the immersion of your beautiful dreams, a loss indeed. But I only hope that in your dream, you include me, and we become Reading Seeds of Linlu Academy together."

At that, Zhao Rong folded a corner of a page, then closed his book. He turned to Fan Yushu and nodded while clasping his fists, "Thank you very much, Brother Yushu. However, if in the dream you also become a Reading Seed like me, it would indeed spoil my beautiful dream. That title would suddenly lose its appeal."

Fan Yushu: "......"

He blinked as he scrutinized Zhao Rong’s sincere expression, feeling a bit itchy-fingered.

Fan Yushu said grumpily:

"Enough with the digressions; you’ve led us off-topic again... Ziyu, just know that Zhengguan Well water is extraordinarily significant within our Academy. If you manage to drink a sip today, by tomorrow—no need for tomorrow, by this afternoon, it would be known throughout Mochi Academy, and even the external scholars would hear of your name and envy you greatly."

Zhao Rong stated earnestly, "But isn’t it still just a sip of water, merely a false reputation."

He paused, pondered, "Even if it’s delivered to my lips, I might not drink it; after all, drinking cold water in this weather can be painful to the teeth."

As he finished speaking, many of the surrounding students glanced aside.

Fan Yushu exclaimed, "Ziyu truly has a noble and unyielding spirit; we are indeed vulgar, ashamed, ashamed."

Zhao Rong blinked and clasped his fists in return.

Fan Yushu tentatively suggested, "Then how about you and I both submit a piece of calligraphy? I’ve seen your calligraphy and found it quite unique. Maybe Teacher Zhu will like it, find some affinity. Let’s both give it a shot. If I don’t win but you do, given your noble character, why not let me have it and allow this brother to be vulgar once?"

Zhao Rong appeared contemplative, then decisively said, "No."

Fan Yushu choked, glared at him, then quickly lowered his head to start writing earnestly; an incense stick’s burning time isn’t long after all.

Zhao Rong’s face bore a hint of a smile as he glanced at the focused Fan Yushu. It was the first time he had seen this fellow take such a serious attitude. He shook his head amusedly, deciding not to delay his friend’s shot at the prize.

Zhao Rong looked up slightly, catching a glimpse of the Confucian-robed woman with a smile playing on her lips, then lowered his head again, continuing to read.

Zhu Weirui, standing behind the lacquered red long table, chin slightly raised, watched with a smile lingering on her lips as the students below energetically busied themselves after being motivated. From the corner of her eye, she stealthily glanced to the side and the next second, saw Zhao Rong sitting quietly, absorbed in his book, completely out of place among the bustling students, showing no intention of writing.

"Hmm?"

Zhu Weirui’s nasal tone was soft as she closely observed Zhao Rong, who was deeply engrossed in reading; he stood out starkly from the busy field of students. There was no sign he was about to start writing.

The duration of an incense stick passed quickly.

During the period, no student handed in their paper early, after all choosing the best script to present, it was always better to write more and pick out the best one to submit.

The students got up one after another to submit their papers.

Fan Yushu’s brow relaxed, he sighed, set down his pen, and carefully picked up a piece of still-wet scroll paper, blowing on it lightly.

Turning his head, he noticed Zhao Rong had not written anything yet and was flipping through a book.

Fan Yushu did not look any further, grabbing the piece of writing he was most satisfied with, and went forward to submit his paper enthusiastically.

The Confucian highly valued respecting teachers and their teachings; in the classroom, students almost always handled any miscellaneous matters on behalf of the teachers.

This was the case with the students submitting their papers at Lanzhou Crossing right now.

After a period equivalent to the burning of an incense stick had passed, Yu Huaijin, who had finished writing earlier, walked straight to the bright red desk to collect the papers from the students.

The students lined up orderly and silently, submitting their papers.

Wu Peiliang was the first to get up and submit his paper.

He had been diligently practicing calligraphy recently, always copying famous writings collected from home whenever he found spare time.

Wu Peiliang’s achievements in the seven arts ranked among the best in Shuaixing Hall, placing fourth in Shuaixing Hall during the last mid-month exam; however, he felt that surpassing those few ranks ahead would be difficult. As for calligraphy, everyone’s scores were very close in the last mid-month assessment.

This had given Wu Peiliang a chance to see an opportunity to exceed others; therefore, calligraphy was an area he fiercely competed in and had put in a great deal of effort.

Currently, in Shuaixing Hall, the only one he genuinely saw as a rival in calligraphy was Yu Huaijin.

In the last mid-month assessment, although her calligraphy ranked first in Shuaixing Hall, the gap between her and the runners-up was minimal, unlike other arts where several could receive full scores from the teachers, rendering Shuaixing Hall students unable to surpass.

Wu Peiliang had been very close to Yu Huaijin in calligraphy in the previous round, and he had always believed that Yu Huaijin only had an early advantage in this new art form.

After all, everyone was not familiar with calligraphy before, while Yu Huaijin had followed Teacher Zhu to Linlu Academy, and their private student-teacher relationship was nearly a well-known issue within Mochi Academy.

Wu Peiliang, holding his calligraphy paper, deliberately hurried his steps and was the first to step forward to submit his paper, walking at the forefront.

As he approached Yu Huaijin, he looked down briefly and glanced at the script Yu Huaijin had first placed on the table.

Wu Peiliang handed over his paper with a smile and said respectfully, "Thank you for the effort, Senior Yu."

Yu Huaijin nodded slightly, collected his script, and stacked it on top of her own, but throughout the process, Yu Huaijin did not look down at Wu Peiliang’s script.

Wu Peiliang turned and left, his mind flickering with the sight of the neat and elegant script he had just glimpsed.

He took a breath, thought for a moment, and compared it with his own script again.

Soon, Wu Peiliang nodded slightly, and with a slight upturn of his lips, walked away with a light step.

He should be able to win.

As for the scripts submitted by his fellow classmates behind him, he was not very worried, based on the experience of several past assessments in calligraphy classes, his classmates at most succeeded once by luck, and it seemed luck played a significant part; while only he and Yu Huaijin had won the top spot multiple times, though Yu Huaijin did so slightly more often.

And this time Wu Peiliang had made thorough preparations after class...

The students of Shuaixing Hall continued to submit their papers, and Yu Huaijin collected them one by one, recording the order of names to facilitate Zhu Weirui’s later marking.

Xiao Hongyu and Li Xueyou were in line.

Li Xueyou’s hands were empty because Xiao Hongyu had snatched it to look at.

Xiao Hongyu bit her lip, glanced at her friend’s elegantly simple small script, and then at her own.

Xiao Hongyu’s shoulders slumped, she handed Li Xueyou’s script back and feigned a grievance, saying,

"Oh, Xueyou, have you been practicing behind my back? Your writing is so good, you’re probably catching up to Huaijin. Hmph, you two never teach me; I won’t play with you anymore, being the bottom when we all play together."

Li Xueyou pursed her lips in a smile, knowing her friend was joking, but she still took Xiao Hongyu’s sleeves and shook them gently, showing her a bright smile.

Xiao Hongyu couldn’t hold back and chuckled, she glanced at Yu Huaijin ahead, "Xueyou, who do you think will win today and get the well water?"

Li Xueyou thought for a moment, then shook her head.

Xiao Hongyu sighed, "I think it’s either Huaijin or Brother Wu. In recent assessments, it’s always been one of them coming out on top, and the chance of winning out of luck has been decreasing."

She turned her head to look at the receding figure of Wu Peiliang, somewhat admiringly, "Brother Wu is amazing, to be able to catch up to Huaijin."

"Yes, yes." Li Xueyou also followed her gaze and nodded her head.

While they were speaking, it was their turn, and the two bowed, submitted their papers, and then returned to their seats together.

Before long, all the students lining up to submit their papers had dispersed, and no one else came forward.

Yu Huaijin was counting the papers with her head down.

All the students quietly watched her and Zhu Weirui.

Suddenly, Yu Huaijin frowned, staring at the stack of papers with a discrepancy, and fell silent for a while. She then lifted her head and looked directly towards Zhao Rong, only to see him still busily engrossed in his own task.

The next second, she moved, holding the papers as she walked towards Zhao Rong, emotionless.

"Xuanji, come back." Zhu Weirui suddenly said.

Yu Huaijin stopped, turned back, and saluted, "Teacher, not all have been collected yet."

"It’s fine, I know."

Zhu Weirui pursed his lips, picked up the stack of papers from the table, walked past Yu Huaijin, and headed towards Zhao Rong’s seat.