My Wife Is A Sword Immortal
Chapter 363 - 268 Book Mountain Book Tower

Chapter 363: Chapter 268 Book Mountain Book Tower

Zhao Rong looked at Yu Huaijin, who was holding the ruler, with a glint of appreciation in his eyes.

Indeed, a teacher’s little padded jacket—no wonder, despite being a stickler for rules and propriety and not exactly a teacher’s lackey, the teachers still liked this guy a lot.

First and foremost, he was mostly well-behaved and obedient, never instigating trouble.

Secondly, he knew how to handle affairs, working efficiently, able to grasp the main conflicts and root issues of a problem and resolve it from its source in one go.

Zhao Rong nodded, hands clasped behind his back, and turned to continue forward.

In his view, the main conflict in this incident was clear, a clash between his new approachable and amiable teaching style and a certain student named Wu, whose itch for mischief seemed to be growing by the day.

Quite sharp indeed.

Zhao Rong, with his back turned, let out a light sigh and glanced at the sun before heading toward the exit of Cheng Cong Valley.

But do you really think my classroom has no discipline?

"Close the door, and... please, Yu, give them an ’extra lesson’."

At that moment, with the ruler’s appearance, the whole room fell silent.

Of course, this was effective only in the hands of certain individuals, like the stern-faced Yu Huaijin at the moment.

Wu Peiliang glanced at the ruler, which was so worn from use it had developed a patina; it must have passed through many years at Shuaixing Hall, perhaps even older than anyone present. He wondered how many of Shuaixing Hall’s former students had come into close contact with it—and certainly, their encounters with it were not pleasant ones.

How did Wu Peiliang know this? The pits and worn marks on the ruler couldn’t all be from the ravages of time...

He licked his lips and quickly averted his gaze, turning to look at Zhao Rong’s retreating figure, who wasn’t exactly the epitome of instructional ethics. He opened his mouth to speak but promptly shut it again under Yu Huaijin’s expressionless stare.

"Keep up, we’re going for a walk so we can be a bit freer, but if we’re this noisy, we’d better leave the valley first and not disturb others who are studying," Zhao Rong’s voice carried from afar.

Yu Huaijin held the ruler, her gaze calm, as she looked around at the students of Shuaixing Hall.

The crowd either lowered their eyes, turned their heads, or offered a benign smile.

Finally, her gaze settled on Wu Peiliang who was slumped over with a dejected air.

Although many wanted to ask Teacher Zhao why the ruler, which was supposed to never appear in your happy-teachings classroom, had shown up again, who would dare to, given the circumstances? Indeed, you can only believe half of what teachers say—promises of adding just a "tiny bit more," or "we’ll dismiss class after this"...

Seeing that no one else had anything to say, Yu Huaijin suddenly sheathed the ruler back into her sleeve, straightened herself, and followed Zhao Rong, with the indifferent onlooker Fan Yushu leisurely trailing behind.

The students of Shuaixing Hall stood there, exchanging glances before sighing softly and reluctantly began to follow them.

Before long, the students followed Zhao Rong out of the valley.

The little interlude that had just occurred seemed to have passed, merely a simple matter of Wu Peiliang’s proposal to cancel Zhao Rong’s autocracy being vetoed by Zhao Rong’s autocracy, after which it was like nothing had happened.

However, Zhao Rong, with his back to the students of Shuaixing Hall, briefly furrowed his brow on his relaxed face, although it quickly smoothed out again.

After leaving Cheng Cong Valley, Zhao Rong led the students of Shuaixing Hall across the Qingfeng Gorge and past the Shi Lai, where the spring water striking the rocks also produced a musical sound.

Beneath the Shi Lai was a blue stream, fragrant and clear, cascading down into the Cheng Cong Valley, with the group making their way upstream.

After walking for about the time it takes an incense stick to burn, they encountered more people on the road, and Zhao Rong and his company arrived at the foot of Linlu Mountain, outside an ancient pavilion bearing the sign ’Zibei.’

Although the expanse of Linlu Academy was vast, many areas seemed secluded with sparse passersby; but there were bustling places thronged with people, such as this Zibei Pavilion at the foot of Linlu Mountain, whose foot traffic rivaled that of the Holy Temple, Six Gentlemen Hall, and Mochi Academy within the Academy.

This was because not far from here was the entrance to the main mountain climbing path of Linlu Mountain.

The entire Linlu Academy was built spreading out from Linlu Mountain, and this location was practically at the heart of the whole Academy.

Upon this Linlu Mountain, apart from providing climbing opportunities with its corridors and climbing galleries leading to the mountain summit, it had only one building at the top and one at the bottom.

The latter was this Zibei Pavilion that Zhao Rong was now approaching.

This was his first time here, a bit far from the regular hangouts of Mochi Academy and Nanxuan Academy.

At this moment, as Zhao Rong and the others entered the pavilion, many scholars and Confucian students were already stopping for rest, and many looked curiously at these somewhat abrupt visitors from Mochi Academy.

Zhao Rong looked up at the pavilion, finding the name quite intriguing—Zibei.

However, it likely wasn’t the meaning of self-deprecation he remembered from a saying of the Saint,

’The way of the gentleman is like a journey; to undertake it, we must start from the nearest point. When he wishes to climb up, he must begin from below.’

So it’s from a humble beginning that one climbs higher?

Zhao Rong smiled and glanced toward the summit of Linlu Mountain, seeing there a solitary and lofty tower rising nine stories high—it must be the tallest point of the whole Academy—wondering if it was higher than the one in Du You City’s You Mountain.

The bustling crowd here was undoubtedly attracted to this nine-story perilous tower.

But Zhao Rong now noticed, among the foot traffic at the mountain’s base, apart from Academy scholars, Mochi Academy students, and some teachers, there were many ’outsiders.’ Among them appeared to be visiting Confucian scholars from outside the Academy, wearing varying styles of Confucian robes. Beyond this, the most eye-catching were the porters shouldering heavy loads up the mountain—all ordinary folk—and there were many carts and sedans parked at the foot of the mountain.