Chapter 5

Zhang Xuan placed the remaining small ingot of gold, the copper plaque, and the wax-sealed pill on the table.

"Adding the letter from just now, these are all the items."

Wang Bo-dang sighed, "Thank you, young master, for delivering the letter to Luoyang. Could you please tell me about the situation at the time? Please be as detailed as possible, if you don't mind."

Zhang Xuan then recounted to Wang Bo-dang how he had saved Li Mi, but added the extra detail that Li Mi had been severely injured by an arrow. After a moment of hesitation, he also mentioned that Yuwen Shu had released Yang Xuangan.

Wang Bo-dang's eyes suddenly widened, and he asked in surprise, "Can Master Zhang be sure that it was Yuwen Shu who released Yang Xuangan?"

"I don't know if it was Yuwen Shu, but at the time, Yuwen Chengdu was about to kill Yang Xuangan. A messenger soldier ran over and shouted that the general had ordered Yang Xuangan to be released, thus Yang Xuangan escaped with his life."

Wang Bo-dang nodded, "It must have been Yuwen Shu then. No wonder the Sui army didn't capture Yang Xuangan; he was privately released by Yuwen Shu."

Wang Bo-dang felt that this matter was significant and needed to be reported immediately. He glanced at Zhang Xuan, thinking that as an eyewitness who had been with Li Mi, the leader might have some questions for him.

Wang Bo-dang smiled and said, "Could Master Zhang please come with me to meet someone? Please rest assured, it's just to discuss the situation, and we won't make things difficult for you."

Zhang Xuan glanced at the copper plaque on the table and asked with a smile, "Are we going to Wuchuan Manor?"

"Exactly!"

...

Wuchuan Manor, publicly known as 'Wuchuan Academy,' is a private school located in Xiufeng Lane. It is said to have been jointly founded by several powerful aristocratic families, specifically to cultivate morally and intellectually excellent young talents, and it is very famous in Luoyang.

Li Mi was previously a professor at this academy, responsible for teaching policy and strategy. Wang Bo-dang was also a hired instructor at the academy, but he taught archery.

Before long, the two arrived at a vast mansion. If Wang Bo-dang hadn't explained beforehand, Zhang Xuan would never have guessed that this grand mansion was actually a school.

They walked up the high steps, and Zhang Xuan looked up at a large golden-edged blue plaque above them, which read 'Wuchuan Academy' in flowing calligraphy.

Zhang Xuan was a bit puzzled as to why it was called Wuchuan. In his memory, Wuchuan was one of the six military garrisons on the northern frontier during the Northern Wei period.

Wuchuan Academy covered nearly a hundred acres. Unlike ordinary mansions, it had been specially modified. It was divided into small courtyards enclosed by tall walls, and deep alleys, making the entire complex resemble a maze, with no idea how many people lived inside.

The two did not encounter a single person on their way into the manor. The interior was unusually quiet, giving a strange feeling, and there was no sense of a school at all.

Wang Bo-dang led Zhang Xuan into a guest courtyard and smiled, "Please wait here for a moment, Master Zhang. I'll be right back!"

Wang Bo-dang hurried away, and Zhang Xuan paced back and forth on the steps, carefully observing the building.

He noticed that the architecture of the Sui Dynasty was different from that of the Ming and Qing Dynasties. The foundation was very high, made of huge stones, and one had to climb about three meters of steps to enter the main hall. The brick and wood structure above was grand and majestic, with wide beams and brackets, supported by more than a dozen pillars, each about half a meter in diameter. This was just a guest hall, but it looked like a grand hall.

However, the interior decoration of the main hall was simple, with only a dozen couches, each with a low table in front, and a tall vase in each corner. The rest of the hall was empty, making it seem very spacious and lofty.

Zhang Xuan didn't know why he had agreed to come to Wuchuan Academy with Wang Bo-dang. Perhaps it was out of curiosity about why Li Mi had a copper plaque from Wuchuan Manor, or who had founded this educational institution.

But perhaps it was also because he was interested in Wang Bo-dang. After all, Yuwen Chengdu was a god-like figure, while Wang Bo-dang was more down-to-earth. He could learn about the martial arts of the Sui Dynasty from Wang Bo-dang.

How could Sui Dynasty generals wield weapons weighing forty to fifty pounds, and how could Yuwen Chengdu wield a phoenix-winged gold-coated trident weighing over two hundred pounds? It was simply unbelievable.

Numerous mysteries swirled in Zhang Xuan's mind, and he was eager to understand everything, to the point that he almost forgot that he had personally killed Li Mi.

Unconsciously, Zhang Xuan walked through a small door next to the guest hall and entered another building. In front was a corridor, with two rooms on the right and a small courtyard on the left, paved with blue bricks. A few plum blossoms in the corner were almost withered, their pale yellow petals turning grayish yellow.

But Zhang Xuan was more interested in the two rooms. Each room had twenty neatly arranged single couches, or ping, with a small table in front of each, holding writing materials.

At the front of each room was a slightly larger couch.

These two rooms were clearly classrooms. Zhang Xuan saw that one of the doors was unlocked and, out of curiosity, pushed it open and walked in.

The room was very quiet, with no one inside. There were no reserved assignments on the tables, and it seemed that no one had entered for a long time. The teacher's desk was covered with a thin layer of dust.

Zhang Xuan then noticed a piece of hemp paper on the wall behind the teacher's seat, with a line of text: "Discuss the necessity of the Liaodong campaign."

This seemed to be a policy question. Zhang Xuan couldn't help but smile. A few months ago, he had debated the same topic at the Army College. He never expected that this question had appeared 1,400 years ago.

"Who are you?" a young woman's voice suddenly came from behind him.

Zhang Xuan turned around and saw a young woman standing at the door, wearing black martial attire. She was about 1.7 meters tall, with long legs and a very well-proportioned figure.

Perhaps because of her all-black attire, her skin appeared especially fair. She had a delicate oval face, a fresh and plump red mouth, a straight nose, and a pair of arched eyebrows that curved like a fine moon. Her eyes were like gemstones, exceptionally bright. She looked to be about sixteen or seventeen years old, but her movements and demeanor exuded a sense of maturity and decisiveness.

Zhang Xuan had always thought that women in the Sui and Tang Dynasties only wore long skirts and not pants, but this black-clad woman was wearing long, wide-legged lantern pants, with the cuffs tied with thin ropes, somewhat resembling the pants worn by women in West Asia.

Zhang Xuan was so focused on the attire of Sui Dynasty women that he forgot to answer the question.

"Who are you?" the young woman repeated, her eyebrows slightly furrowed.

She didn't like people who were slow to react. This young man was tall and handsome, but he seemed like a block of wood.

Zhang Xuan quickly bowed and said, "I am Zhang Xuan, a friend of Wang Bo-dang."

"How could he bring an outsider into Wuchuan Manor so casually?" the young woman asked, a bit unhappy.

"If you are a guest, you should wait in the guest hall. This is a restricted area, and guests are not allowed to enter without permission!" she added.

The young woman's intimidating presence made Zhang Xuan slightly displeased. Regardless of what Wuchuan Academy was, he was still a guest, and he wasn't here to apply for a servant position. Was this how guests were treated?

However, he knew he was also at fault for leaving the guest hall, so he apologized, "I will return there."

"Hmph! You trespassed into the restricted area of Wuchuan Manor, and you think you can just leave like that?" the young woman said coldly.

Zhang Xuan, a disciplined soldier and a diligent military academy student, was not used to the rigid hierarchy and clear distinctions of this era.

He was not one to back down from intimidation. The young woman's firmness irritated him, and he also sneered, "If it's a restricted area, it should be clearly marked, and the doors should be locked. The courtyard door next to the guest hall was open, and it's clearly the host's fault. Blaming the guest is not proper etiquette."

"You dare!" the young woman was furious and placed her hand on her sword hilt.

"Chuchen!"

A hoarse voice came from the side, and an old man with white hair and beard appeared in the courtyard. He had a youthful face despite his age, with silver hair flowing over his shoulders. The old man placed his hands behind his back and said to the young woman, "The young master is right. It's our fault for not arranging things properly. We can't blame the guest. Go on."

"Yes, Father."

The young woman seemed to respect the old man greatly. She glared at Zhang Xuan fiercely, and if her father hadn't appeared, she would have given this young man, who didn't understand the rules of Wuchuan Manor, a good lesson.

She ignored Zhang Xuan and quickly walked to the other side of the round door, disappearing inside.

At this moment, the old man slowly entered the room and apologized with a smile, "My daughter is used to settling things with her sword and forgot the proper way to treat guests. Please don't take it to heart, young master."

Zhang Xuan, seeing the old man's kind face and gentle tone, felt a bit more at ease. He quickly said, "It's my fault for not understanding the rules of being a guest and intruding on the host's property. I will leave now."

He bowed and turned to leave, but the old man smiled again, "Young master, you are the one who delivered the letter for Li Mi, right?"

"Y-Yes."

Zhang Xuan hesitated for a moment, remembering that Li Mi had died at his hands. Could this old man be a relative of Li Mi?

The old man walked to the hemp paper on the wall and sighed, "The topic was unfinished, and the person is gone. It's truly a pity."

"This is Li Mi's topic."

No wonder Zhang Xuan found the writing familiar; it was indeed written by Li Mi. This classroom was where Li Mi taught, which explained why no one had entered for a long time.

"The young master seemed to be thinking about this topic just now. Do you have any insights?" the old man asked with a gentle smile.

"I don't have any profound insights, just a few thoughts."

The old man smiled, "Please share them. I am willing to listen attentively, young master."