Chapter 101: He’s Here to Be Your Tutor, Surprised?

Chapter 101: He's Here to Be Your Tutor, Surprised?

"Cousin Cui, congratulations! Your injuries on your face have healed, and it was really quick."

Cui Yongnian smiled. "It's all thanks to Little Cousin for the medicine."

Zheng Jinyu was taken aback. "I gave it to you?"

"Yes, when you visited me last time, you brought healing ointment and a musical score. Have you forgotten?"

Zheng Jinyu suddenly recalled that she had claimed the musical score was from Xie Peiyu, which was a lie she had fabricated.

But the healing ointment was indeed from Xie Peiyu.

"I'm sorry, I momentarily forgot. It's great that I could help Cousin Cui. May I ask why you've come to visit me today? Is there something specific?"

He took out a piece of paper. "It's about this musical score. I've been waiting for days for Prince Chen's version, but since I haven't received it, I tried modifying it myself. What do you think?"

Zheng Jinyu accepted the score. "I'm sorry, Prince Chen must be occupied with post-war affairs. He probably hasn't had the chance to work on it."

"No worries, Cousin has inherited his skills. It's the same for you to watch."

Zheng Jinyu observed that his few modifications to the flute melody were indeed well-placed.

Despite his young age, his musical prowess far surpassed hers, someone who could merely recite sheet music by heart.

If this continued, she would be exposed.

Wait, no – Xie Peiyu would be the one exposed.

Her abilities were mediocre to begin with; the true master of composition was Xie Peiyu.

"Shall we give it a try? I won't know if it's good or not just by looking at the score."

Cui Yongnian quickly retracted his gaze and offered a polite, gentlemanly bow. "Cousin, please."

The two spent an entire afternoon refining the piece until they reached a satisfactory level.

After enduring Cui Yongnian's company for half a day, Zheng Jinyu felt almost driven to distraction. She was contemplating whether to inform Xie Peiyu about the situation and ask him to devise a way to deal with Cui Yongnian. To her surprise, she learned the next day that Cui Yongnian had gone to the Imperial Academy.

"He went to the Imperial Academy? Didn't they say he couldn't enter? He doesn't even have the qualifications of a scholar."

It's like someone without a primary school diploma saying they're going to study at Peking University or Tsinghua University – who would let them in?

Zheng's father did mention treating the headmaster of the Imperial Academy to a meal and slipping him some money to get Cui Yongnian admitted.

But after learning that he didn't have the scholar's credentials, he abandoned that idea.

It was impossible to ask.

"True, but he really did go. The servant who took him there saw him go in with his own eyes, and after waiting for over an hour, he didn't see him being thrown out. He must have been accepted."

Zheng Jinyu looked surprised; this was indeed peculiar.

One must know that the Imperial Academy was no ordinary institution; it was the highest academic establishment in ancient imperial society, where princes studied. How could they allow someone unqualified to lower the standard of students?

The fact that he was accepted only further confirmed Zheng Jinyu's previous suspicions.

Cui Yongnian was playing dumb but was actually a formidable force, perhaps even more capable than she had imagined. So skilled that he didn't need any certificates – the Imperial Academy itself welcomed him in.

At the Imperial Academy at that moment, those who had heard his name were utterly astonished, their jaws hanging loose.

"You, Cui Yongnian? The relative from the Zheng family? The one who put two catties of flour on your face during the last Poetry Banquet?"

Cui Yongnian held his folding fan and smiled amiably. "I am indeed Cui Yongnian, currently staying at my aunt's residence, which is also the home of the esteemed Zheng Ji. As for the two catties of flour on the face, that was a misunderstanding. My good sir, no one could bear that much flour on their face."

The man swallowed hard; he had only been making a metaphor.

Feeling Cui Yongnian's intense gaze upon him, accompanied by that smile, he was utterly embarrassed and couldn't meet the gaze directly. He lowered his head and whispered, "I had no idea you were Master Qinghe. I have offended you before, please forgive me, Master Qinghe."

Quite a few of those who had insulted him at the Poetry Banquet were now in the same classroom.

Each of them kept their heads down, daring not to look Cui Yongnian in the eye.

Cui Yongnian, however, chose not to expose their past misdeeds. After introducing himself, he began his lesson with a book in hand.

During lunchtime, the grandmaster of the Imperial Academy personally came to invite Cui Yongnian to dine with him.

They were also told that they had tremendous luck, as the renowned Master Qinghe himself was to instruct them.

After their nerve-wracking lesson, during mealtime, the news that Cui Yongnian was none other than Master Qinghe spread like wildfire.

Lu Shen simply refused to believe it.

"How could that be? He's barely of age. How can he possibly be Master Qinghe? Master Qinghe has been famous for almost a decade now."

"Brother Lu, we didn't believe it either. If not for the Chancellor himself inviting him, we would never have imagined that he is Master Qinghe, no matter how hard you tried to convince us."

Lu Shen staggered, grasping the collar of the speaker. "Could it be that he deceived Chancellor Ji?"

"How could that be? Lord Sacrificial Wine saw Mister Qinghe three years ago when he was studying in River Qing prior to taking up his post."

"Yes, three years ago, the Grand Master of the Imperial Academy extended an invitation to Mister Qinghe to teach here. He even personally left a letter of invitation. It is with that letter that he gained entry to the Imperial Academy today."

"No, it can't be," Lu Shen still couldn't bring himself to believe it.

Others were at a loss for words, merely urging, "Young Master Lu, though it's hard to accept, it's the truth, you can't be mistaken."

"Yes, he's currently having dinner with Lord Decanal, as invited. You can go and see for yourself if you don't believe me."

What's there to see?

He wouldn't dare go.

Given that everyone was saying the same thing, he was almost entirely convinced. The tiny fraction of doubt that remained was his last stubborn stand, one he'd never admit to even under duress.

"Where are Zheng Hongqi and Zheng Hongxu?"

"They haven't come."

"Why not again?"

"Well... I heard they've been disciplined."

"By whom?"

"Their father, Lord Zheng. It seems Young Master Lu got upset over the mockery we directed at Mister Qinghe last time. This angered Lord Zheng, who then punished the two of them and confined them in the family temple."

Lu Shen's face alternated between shades of green and white, a rather fascinating sight.

For the rest of the day, his mind was elsewhere, earning him several spanks from the teacher who was instructing him.

He wasn't as handsome as Qinghe, the Lu family's status wasn't as high as the Cui family's, their reputation wasn't as grand, and their knowledge wasn't as profound. What on earth could he compete with Qinghe for Jinxiu?

Should he give up?

No, no. The more this was the case, the fiercer his desire to win became.

If Mister Qinghe lost the competition for a woman to him, it would be immensely satisfying.

...

A day passed, and Zheng Jinyu finally learned of Cui Yongnian's identity.

"Mister Qinghe? What's so special about him?"

This character who didn't exist in the original story was a stranger to her, an unpredictable factor now residing under her roof. Naturally, she wanted to gather as much information about him as possible.

Chunmei said, "From what this servant has heard, Young Master Cui gained fame at a young age and thus adopted the pseudonym Qinghe. The Cui family from River Qing, he took the homophonic meaning of River Qing to name himself Qinghe, and he refers to himself as Scholar Qinghe. Not a single person in all of River Qing fails to acknowledge his greatness. People speak highly of how remarkable Mister Qinghe is, but this servant doesn't quite understand—anyway, he must be incredibly talented."

It was truly challenging for a maid to express so much.

Zheng Jinyu waved her hand. "You may leave."

The maid bowed and left. Zheng Jinyu walked to the window and gazed into the darkness of the courtyard.