Chapter 56

Inside the Hall of Worship.

With Gu Jinnian's arrival.

Several people in the hall turned their gazes towards him.

Two men and two women.

The men wore green and white robes respectively. The man in the green robe was older, around twenty-seven or twenty-eight, with a handsome and dignified appearance. He wore a seven-star jade crown, a green robe, and golden-threaded shoes, his appearance alone was enough to make people marvel, though his expression was slightly cold, somewhat similar to Su Huaiyu.

The man in the white robe had a refined and gentle appearance, around twenty years old. He wore a coiled dragon jade at his waist and looked at Gu Jinnian and the others with a smile, a friendly gesture.

As for the two women.

One wore a light purple dress, the other a light blue dress.

The woman in the light blue dress had delicate features and an excellent figure, even in a long dress, her allure could not be concealed. Her long hair cascaded down, perfectly fitting Gu Jinnian's ideal of a classical beauty, and with a faint air of divinity, she had a beauty that seemed untouched by the world.

She was not much older, around twenty-three or twenty-four, and her demeanor did not have the coldness of an ice queen, but she did have a certain aloofness.

As for the woman in the light purple dress, she was a bit different, around twenty years old. Her beautiful eyes were fixed on Gu Jinnian, her face smiling, her personality clearly outgoing. Her figure was also good, but compared to the woman in the blue dress, she was slightly inferior.

But it was fine, acceptable.

Su Wenjing sat on the podium, holding a scripture and slowly spoke.

"Everyone, please take your seats."

As he spoke, everyone immediately found seats and sat down.

Su Wenjing did not speak, continuing to read his book.

It was the man in the white robe who spoke first, breaking the silence.

"May I ask, are you Gu Jinnian?"

The man spoke with a smile, asking Gu Jinnian.

"En."

"Who are you?"

Gu Jinnian nodded, somewhat curious.

"Indeed, you are the Young Master. I am Xu Ya, my Daoist name is Jiuyi."

"We are all disciples of the Tai Xuan Immortal Sect."

"Your Highness, this is my senior brother, Xu Changge."

"These two are my senior sisters, Shangguan Baiyu, and this is my junior sister, Zhao Siqing."

Xu Ya introduced the others as he spoke.

Among the three, except for Xu Changge, the other two nodded at Gu Jinnian, a friendly gesture.

Gu Jinnian also nodded.

As for Xu Changge, he remained calm, seemingly uninterested in Gu Jinnian and the others.

Very proud.

Proud to the core.

Seeing this, Xu Ya's voice immediately rang out.

"Your Highness, please forgive my senior brother. He is cold on the outside but warm on the inside, not good at socializing, but his heart is good, with no ill intentions."

Xu Ya quickly spoke, fearing that Gu Jinnian and the others might misunderstand.

"No problem."

"Disciples of the Immortal Sect should be like this."

Gu Jinnian shook his head, not thinking much of it. He then looked at Su Huaiyu and Wang Fugui and said,

"Brother Xu, this is Wang Fugui, the eldest son of the Wang family in Suzhou. If you have time, you can visit Suzhou together, and Brother Wang will surely entertain you warmly."

"This is Su Huaiyu."

Gu Jinnian also explained the identities of the two to the four people.

However, as soon as he finished speaking, everyone's gazes fell on Su Huaiyu, especially Xu Changge, who stared directly at him.

"The first divine detective of the Great Xia, Su Huaiyu?"

Xu Ya was somewhat surprised, knowing about Su Huaiyu's deeds, his reaction was somewhat exaggerated.

However, Su Huaiyu did not respond.

He sat quietly, like Xu Changge, aloof.

Gu Jinnian had nothing to say.

This was a personal matter, and he could not persuade him.

Seeing Su Huaiyu's demeanor, everyone became somewhat silent, but soon Zhao Siqing's voice broke the silence.

"Was the timeless article from a few days ago written by you?"

Zhao Siqing spoke, she was not interested in the divine detective, but rather in Gu Jinnian.

"En."

Gu Jinnian smiled and nodded.

"Can you teach me?"

"My master always forces me to read books, but I'm not smart and can't learn. Can I come to you when I have nothing to do?"

Zhao Siqing spoke, her beautiful face full of anticipation.

Her thoughts were simple, and she was somewhat familiar.

"Sure, we can improve together, but don't you have your senior brothers and sisters?"

Gu Jinnian did not refuse such a direct approach, but with his senior brothers and sisters present, he did not want to overshadow them.

"No."

"Brother Jinnian, you don't know, my master says they are even dumber than me."

"Besides, even if I learn half from them, it's not as good as learning a little from you. Maybe I can write a timeless article, right?"

Zhao Siqing was very simple and spoke very directly.

Her words made three people silent.

Even Xu Changge could not hold back.

What do you mean by 'we are dumber'?

Don't you have any sense?

"Uh... Yes, yes, yes."

Gu Jinnian did not know what to say. This girl had clearly been in the mountains for too long and did not understand the ways of the world.

Who talks like that?

What a little rascal.

"It's settled then."

"Brother Jinnian, I'll come to you when I have nothing to do at night."

"Don't pretend to be asleep."

She spoke, looking very happy.

Gu Jinnian was somewhat overwhelmed.

Shangguan Baiyu then spoke.

"Enough."

"Junior sister, don't cause trouble."

She spoke, calming her junior sister, then looked at Gu Jinnian and said,

"Your Highness, my junior sister is simple-minded, please forgive her."

She spoke, slightly apologetically.

"No problem."

Gu Jinnian smiled.

Just then, someone else entered the Hall of Worship.

It was Yang Hanrou.

"Student Yang Hanrou, greeting the Dean."

She entered the room and bowed to Su Wenjing, who nodded but did not speak.

Yang Hanrou did not do anything, but looked around the hall, then without hesitation, sat next to Gu Jinnian.

"Brother Jinnian, it's been a while, I've missed you."

Seeing Gu Jinnian again, Yang Hanrou's attitude had changed.

At first, she was indifferent, then she was submissive, but now it was different. As Gu Jinnian displayed his talent, Yang Hanrou realized she had misjudged him.

Gu Jinnian was handsome, a grandson of a national duke, and now had astonishing talent. To be honest, wasn't he the kind of man she had always dreamed of?

Of course, Yang Hanrou was not immediately choosing Gu Jinnian, but she wanted to see how things went.

She was confident in her appearance.

"Sister Hanrou is here too."

"It seems this academy won't be boring, there's something to do."

Seeing Yang Hanrou, Gu Jinnian smiled.

This scene instantly made Wang Fugui dumbfounded.

Wasn't it rumored that Gu Jinnian had teased Yang Hanrou and been pushed into the water by her?

How could their relationship be so unusual?

What's going on?

And why do all these beautiful sisters like Gu Jinnian?

Is it because he's talented?

Hearing Gu Jinnian speak, Yang Hanrou's smile stiffened slightly. She did not know why, but she felt there was something in his words.

What do you mean by 'there's something to do'?

What does that mean?

As for the four cultivators, they remained calm.

After a while,

More people entered the Hall of Worship.

Each person who came had a distinguished background.

The son of the Minister of Revenue.

The son of the Minister of Works.

The son of the Marquis of Changying.

Seven or eight people came, all sons of high-ranking officials or dukes, each with a higher status than the last.

The descendants of civil officials found a quiet place to sit, staying a bit away from Gu Jinnian, as they had better relationships.

The descendants of military officials gathered around Gu Jinnian, calling him "Brother Jinnian."

Of course, some military descendants chose to sit with the civil officials.

After all, although the Marquis of Zhen Guo was the head of the military, it did not mean all military officials followed him.

Among the nine dukes, two had already passed away, and one was a political rival of his grandfather.

That was Duke Xue.

However, Duke Xue's influence was not great. As Gu Jinnian's sixth uncle described it, it was a 70-30 split.

The academy had limited seats, a total of thirty-three.

Including Gu Jinnian and the four cultivators, plus the new arrivals, they had already taken up twenty seats.

Soon, more people trickled in.

The new arrivals were not descendants of the nobility, but local talents.

They were from powerful families, each no weaker than Wang Fugui, and some even had more influence.

Gu Jinnian was a noble of the Great Xia.

These powerful families were local nobles.

But if you had to say, these local nobles were even more formidable.

In the capital, many nobles did not dare to act recklessly, and the Xuan Deng Si was not just for show. If they did something, they would be punished.

But in the local regions,

The emperor was far away, and they could act tyrannically, their actions often defying common sense.

In terms of luxury, some nobles, though they did not build palaces, had extremely luxurious homes.

In terms of food, a simple dish of stir-fried bean sprouts could be made with shark fins inside. Have you seen that?

In terms of entertainment, it was even worse.

Gu Jinnian deeply understood how enjoyable life was for ancient powerful families. These people did not treat others as equals.

As these powerful families' descendants took their seats,

There were only a few seats left.

Just then, the appearance of two figures surprised everyone in the hall.

They were three monks.

Wearing monk's robes.

One was a girl, around seventeen or eighteen, not yet ordained, but wearing a monk's robe, with a beauty that surpassed all the women present.

She had an indescribable aura, momentarily stunning everyone.

Except for Gu Jinnian, Su Huaiyu, and Xu Changge.

Such a beautiful woman in a monk's robe was indeed somewhat incongruous.

The other person was about the same age, with lively eyes and a delicate appearance, looking very lively at first glance.

The last person was the oldest, appearing somewhat dull and calm, with many patches on his monk's robe.

"The people from Xiaoyuan Temple are here."

Su Huaiyu spoke, his eyes also showing surprise.

He was not surprised by the arrival of the cultivators, but by the arrival of the Buddhist monks.

This was somewhat strange.

Hearing about Xiaoyuan Temple, Gu Jinnian was also surprised.

It was one of the two major Buddhist temples in the Western Region, with a very high status.

Looking around,

Nobles of the Great Xia, powerful families, outstanding cultivators, and Buddhist monks.

What was going on?

This almost gathered the strongest forces in the world.

It was a bit excessive.

Moreover, the Fulo Dynasty and the Jin Dynasty had also established similar academies, and other forces were likely to have moved in as well.

For a moment, Gu Jinnian could not help but think.

Finally,

After a short while,

Another figure entered.

A slender man.

Around twenty-three or twenty-four, dressed plainly, with slightly worn shoes, his hair slightly damp, clearly tired.

He looked like a true commoner.

"Who is this person?"

Wang Fugui spoke, somewhat curious, as his attire was very plain.

"The eldest son of the Nightclothes Marquis."

"Jiang Yezhou."

Su Huaiyu spoke, informing Wang Fugui of his identity.

"What?"

"The eldest son of the Nightclothes Marquis?"

Wang Fugui was momentarily incredulous.

Even Gu Jinnian was somewhat surprised.

He knew the Nightclothes Marquis.

Known as the First Marquis.

The best childhood friend of Emperor Yongsheng, with a better relationship than Gu Jinnian's father.

He was a high-ranking official.

His descendant looking like this was hard to believe.

However, with Jiang Yezhou's arrival,

The thirty-three seats were completely filled.

Seeing the seats full,

Su Wenjing waved his hand, and the bell rang again.

"The Hall of Worship is full."

"Those who have not entered can go to the other two places, no more will be accepted."

His voice echoed throughout the Great Xia Academy.

The hall was prepared with thirty-three seats, and once full, classes would begin without waiting.

Inside the hall, many were surprised, but also somewhat relieved.

As the bell rang,

Su Wenjing stood up.

"Everyone, please take your seats."

He spoke.

Everyone sat down, straightening their postures, not daring to be disrespectful.

After everyone was seated,

Su Wenjing's voice rang out again.

"My teaching methods are somewhat peculiar."

"You are all students of the Great Xia, the best from various regions, either well-versed in literature or both literate and martial."

"But once you enter my Hall of Worship, you must follow my rules."

"But don't worry, my academy has only two rules."

"First, the last three in the monthly exams will automatically leave the academy. The first month does not count, and in the end, only one will remain."

"Second, I will set exams at any time, evaluating you as excellent, good, or poor. If you receive three poor evaluations, you will also leave the academy."

"Do you understand?"

Su Wenjing spoke.

This statement caused everyone to fall silent.

The rules were somewhat harsh.

The last three in the monthly exams would automatically leave.

Twelve months in a year, excluding the first month, did it mean that out of thirty-three, only one would remain, and the rest would leave?

Choosing one out of thirty-three.

This was a bit...

Moreover, receiving three poor evaluations at any time would also result in leaving, giving everyone an indescribable pressure.

"I understand."

However, regardless, everyone immediately responded.

"Good."

"This time, Xu Changge is excellent."

"The next ten who entered are good, the rest are poor."

After receiving everyone's response,

Su Wenjing spoke directly.

He immediately began the evaluation.

This statement made everyone pause.

Especially those who came later, who stared wide-eyed.

"Teacher, why are we poor?"

"Yes, just because we came a bit late, we are directly given a poor evaluation?"

For a moment, someone spoke, somewhat unwilling.

Twelve months in a year, with a maximum of three poor evaluations.

Starting with one, wouldn't it be difficult for the rest?

Facing everyone's doubts,

Su Wenjing spoke with a serious expression.

"Remember."

"In this world, people only remember the first, not the second, and certainly not the tenth."

"This is the first lesson I give you."

"As scholars, we should strive to be the best, to compete with heaven, earth, and people, to be