The Glory After Rebirth [重生之尊荣]

Chapter 202- 204

Chapter 202: A Threat of Expulsion from the Imperial College

Ling Zhang looked at Yuwen Tong in surprise. 'If I understand him correctly, is he saying that this ship-lantern show ongoing out there is for me?'

"Ho–How did you come up with the idea of arranging this stuff?"

"You don't seem to be quite fond of studying in the Imperial College, and I figure I'm the one to blame, because if it weren't for me, the emperor wouldn't have interfered and upset your plan. Currently, the situation in the Imperial College is rather complicated, and you almost certainly wouldn't find your life in there enjoyable. From the vantage point of the present, I'm afraid you'll have to put up with it until the day we get married. After that, I'll be able to get you out of this city with good reason. I brought you here to see ship-lanterns because I felt you could use something to cheer you up."

Ling Zhang leaning against him looked at the splendid night view on the riverbank and then shifted his gaze to the sparse hazy lamplight on the opposite side of the river, finding his words quite sweet. "It's okay. I'd prepared myself for all this before I decided to come to this city. The Imperial College is indeed something of a disappointment, but my teachers are not. They're all truly learned. Now that I've already enrolled in the Imperial College, I'll make good use of this opportunity and learn as much as I can from them."

Ling Zhang was seeing this matter in a fairly simple way. He just didn't want to waste this chance of studying in the Imperial College and hated to see all this time go to waste as well. He was determined to learn something in this college. Although in the morning the professor teaching Confucian classics had frequently asked him to express his opinions, he had also given Ling Zhang some directions, all of which had struck home and made Ling Zhang felt that light had suddenly dawned on him. In the afternoon he had attended an etiquette lesson, which was one of the Six Arts (six subjects taught in an aristocratic school in feudal China: etiquette, music, archery, carriage-driving, reading and calculation). He had heard that each of the Six Arts was taught by a different teacher. The etiquette class on this particular day happened to be about military salute, and what the teacher had taught them differed somewhat from what the teacher of the Tanyang Academy had taught him previously. Unlike the teacher of the Tanyang Academy, who had limited the teaching to military salute and never mentioned anything concerning any other aspects of etiquette, what the teacher in this college had taught him had been more in-depth and also more extensive, and Ling Zhang was very interested in all of them. Though some of his classmates had been giving him stealthy glances and talking about him behind his back all along, he didn't really find it intolerable.

"All teachers of the Imperial College are truly erudite. It's a pity that most students in there are frivolous and slack. I sat in the classroom for a whole day and they stared at me talking about me for just as long. They didn't even hear what the teacher said. I don't see they'd achieve anything in the future."

Thinking about what had happened during the day, Ling Zhang couldn't help but get angry. 'Most teachers of the Imperial College are quite renowned. Everyone who has the chance to attend their classes should seize it and listen to them attentively. There are a lot of people who would kill to get such an opportunity. Pity those students are unaware of what they're missing out on.'

"It's been like this for quite some time. Otherwise there wouldn't have been a general public perception that situation in the Imperial College is messy," replied Yuwen Tong.

"Most students in the Imperial College are children of influential officials. It's very likely that these people will become the backbone of the Great Yue in a decade or two. Is His Majesty not afraid that they might not be competent enough to be entrusted with important duties? This concerns the stability of his country, doesn't it? Why is he standing by watching the situation getting worse instead of doing something to make a difference?" Ling Zhang was perplexed.