My Wife Is A Sword Immortal
Chapter 471 - 321 Pre-exam Preparation (✕), Slacking Off Before the Exam (√)

Chapter 471: Chapter 321 Pre-exam Preparation (✕), Slacking Off Before the Exam (√)

After Meng Zhengjun left.

Zhao Rong didn’t pay attention to the complex looks from the students below.

He immediately joined Gu Yiwu to confirm who the first twenty people who had just taken the stage were.

If Meng Zhengjun’s words weren’t just spoken in anger — and Zhao Rong thought that possibility was small, given that as a Academy instructor, every word carried great weight —

then it should be these twenty who first took the stage who would go together to Great Li to participate in the examination.

Not long after.

Gu Yiwu couldn’t help but let out a slight sigh, having been prepared for this.

But now that it was confirmed, he still showed a pained expression on his face.

Originally, Gu Yiwu had resolutely stepped forward, intending to go to Great Li with Zhao Rong, the two of them together.

His sole Ritual Skill result wouldn’t have much impact on Justice Hall.

In previous assessments on a ten-point scale, Gu Yiwu could only score seven or eight at most; the difference wasn’t significant. This time, he had hoped to at least pass with Zhao Rong.

But now it had backfired.

Justice Hall had only thirty or forty students to begin with.

More than half were about to be given away for nothing.

No more talk about being dark horses from now on; white horses would be more like it.

If anyone dared to praise Justice Hall as a dark horse in front of Gu Yiwu these days, he’d be the first to turn against them.

At this moment, the Six Halls meeting had ended, and the crowd on the open ground in front of the Ritual Hall slowly dispersed.

Gu Yiwu sighed as he watched the eighteen fellow Justice Hall students gathered together.

Most of them looked happy and relieved, and even a few jokers, mimicking Meng Zhengjun’s angry demeanor and tone, were playfully bantering about to amuse each other.

It provoked a burst of laughter from the people of Justice Hall.

In Zhao Rong’s view, they must have often been put in their place by Meng Zhengjun in the past.

Was this finally a chance for a fierce retaliation?

Some Justice Hall students who were not among the first twenty showed faces full of disappointment and regret, complaining that if only they had moved faster when stepping up just now, they could have descended the mountain with Teacher Zhao and Big Brother Gu.

Zhao Rong noticed that Gu Yiwu’s face seemed to have darkened even more.

He apologized, "Brother Gu..."

Gu Yiwu glared fiercely at a few students who treated the Great Li examination as a government-funded trip and, without thinking, interrupted:

"Ziyu, to tell the truth, if I claim that this situation hasn’t caused me any headache up to now, that would definitely be a lie. These brats coming along have given me a massive headache."

He said with a wry smile, shaking his head, then his expression suddenly became serious,

"But if you ask me if I regret it... Huh, if it were to happen again, I, Gu Yiwu, would still come forward."

Zhao Rong pressed his lips together.

Gu Yiwu sighed again, "Ah, it’s just that some things are rather annoying."

Zhao Rong was curious, "Annoying how?"

Gu Yiwu looked up with a long sigh, "Annoying, Ziyu, because I’ve been tricked by you again."

Zhao Rong: "..."

Zhao Rong swallowed the name of a certain plant he was about to say and thought for a moment, "Sorry, Brother Yiwu, next time something like this happens, I’ll notify you immediately, and we’ll go together."

Gu Yiwu immediately beamed with joy.

He pounded Zhao Rong on the shoulder.

"Ziyu, you clearly have a keen sense for these matters; next time please make sure to signal to me at the first moment. You suddenly stood up on your own this time, and we didn’t have time to react. You took all the limelight, and now everyone in the Academy knows of you, Ziyu. I reckon it will even spread to the Academy scholars by tomorrow, and our seniors will praise you, saying ’the junior brother is fearsome.’

"Ah, this time, I and the classmates behind me were just green leaves on the backdrop, how vexing."

The rugged, burly man summarized the principles of showing off that he had gleaned from Zhao Rong.

"Hmm, of course, if it wasn’t for Ziyu taking the lead, we wouldn’t have come forward, nor would we have made such a big fuss to pressure the higher-ups and put that person in his place."

"Actually, the students of Justice Hall didn’t come forward just because of this senior. Everyone really respects you, both in Calligraphy class and outside. Moreover, Ziyu seems to get along well in Shuaixing Hall, even though you have just joined the Academy not long ago, haha, I didn’t expect our stern older classmate Yu."

Zhao Rong listened to Gu Yiwu’s jesting, shaking his head with a smile, ready to explain, when suddenly he remembered something.

He abruptly turned around.

Yu Huaijin, Li Xueyou, and several other classmates from Shuaixing Hall, including Ye Zhuzhi, were no longer in sight.

There was no one left on the platform or below it.

Well, except for Fan Yushu and Jia Tengying who were waiting to return to the student housing with him.

They must have left while he wasn’t paying attention.

It was just that Zhao Rong had wanted to say his thanks.

Even though he knew Yu Huaijin might not have acted against Teacher Meng whom she respected greatly, just for his sake.

...

The next day.

On the notice board outside Ritual Hall, the freshly released list for the Ritual Skill examination allocation was posted.

Zhao Rong and Gu Yiwu, along with nineteen other Justice Hall students, unsurprisingly all made the list, admired by students of the Six Halls, set to be dispatched to oversee the Great Li enshrining ceremony.

In the morning, Zhao Rong met up with Gu Yiwu and others to head to the Ritual Hall to inquire about details.

They didn’t encounter Meng Zhengjun this time.

It was several stewards of the Ritual Hall who processed their documents.

They were also told to come back in two days to collect items they would need for descending the mountain.

Because according to the Academy rules,

Even for Mochi students who were not yet formal scholars of the Academy, a matter of descending the mountain on official business was to some extent representing the Academy’s reputation.

Thus carrying a symbolic Jade piece was a must.

The temporary Jade pieces for the twenty students, including Zhao Rong, would be ready in the Academy within two days.