Chapter 71 – The Fourth Person
“Not like my normal self?? What do you mean?” he rolled his eyes and asked.
He saw it was Chen Shang Sheng who said it and suddenly, Tang Thirty Six’s expression came alive.
“Just previously, you cursed out your opposition.”
Chen Chang Sheng thought for a moment and said, “And after you were finished with cursing them out, you would just go back to sleep as if nothing happened.”
Tang Thirty Six looked at the seats of Heavenly Academy and fell silent. He whispered, “After all, some people did treat me nicely.”
During the entrance exam of Heavenly Academy, Chen Chang Sheng saw a few things from afar. He knew that the vice principal cared for Tang Thirty Six and now Tang Thirty Six was looking at the direction of the principal as well. There must be a story behind this, and the vice principal should be the reason that Tang Thirty Six behaved differently than his usual self.
“But, as a person, you should consider yourself before anything.” Tang Thirty Six looked at the seats of Heavenly Academy and thought back to the experiences he endured these recent months in the school. He thought back to the isolation from his schoolmates and what he endured in the first two nights of the Ivy Festival. The corners of his lip raised slightly and a mysterious smile was on his face.
If it was any other time, Chen Chang Sheng wouldn’t have supported Tang Thirty Six’s decision due to his personality — even if he was his only friend. But after encountering so much tonight, a lot has changed. Just like Tang Thirty Six fell into a shameless trap in Heavenly Academy, Chen Chang Sheng also barely escaped a Black Mighty Dragon.
He looked at Tang Thirty Six and said nothing, but his calm yet firm eyes supported his decision.
“You want me to apologize to these southerners?”
Tang Thirty Six looked at Zhuang Huan Yu and said, “This is boring, your actions are boring too.”
Shocking discussions were raised in the palace.
Zhuang Huan Yu was ranked tenth on the Honor Roll of Green Cloud. He was the leading role of the younger generation in the Six Ivies and he was on the same level of the Seven Rules of Heaven who was dominate in the south. Although his previous behavior was off and was both discouraging and shameful, at the end of the day, he was still the face of Heavenly Academy. As a student of Heavenly Academy, it was disrespectful of Tang Thirty Six to point out his fault so directly.
“It’s boring and it’s not fun. If it’s not fun, why should I stay to play around? You guys think you can oppress me through my status as a student of Heavenly Academy, use your status as teachers to control me or use the excuse that you are a senior to shut me up? Because I…. I am going to quit.”
Tang Thirty Six looked at his former classmates and teachers and said calmingly, “I have decided to leave Heavenly Academy.”
Everyone in the palace, after hearing all the news tonight, was shocked with his declaration.
Heavenly Academy was the best school in the entire continent. Countless formidable xiuxingists came from this school and even the current Pope used to be a student there. Many of the winners of Great Trial were also students from this school. Although in the recent years, the young students of Heavenly Academy were in the shadow of the Seven Rules of Heaven in the south, the Heavenly Academy was still the Heavenly Academy. No one dared to doubt the status of this institution. Everyone was proud that they could enter the Heavenly Academy. Many people struggled and endured so much just to enter the gates of Heavenly Academy. But tonight, someone actually requested to leave Heavenly Academy!
While shock filled the palace, the faces of the students and staffs of Heavenly Academy turned gray. The face of vice principal even turned pale.
“I know a lot of people will ask me why.”
Tang Thirty Six looked at everyone and said expressionlessly, “Heavenly Academy has the best teachers, best students, and I must admit that I learned a lot from my time here. Even if I endured some hardship, it wouldn’t be enough for me to decide to leave. But just like what I said earlier, the current Heavenly Academy is boring.”
“It’s boring and it’s not fun. If it’s not fun, then why should I stay to play around?”
It was a sentence that he said earlier and everyone thought back to it.
“Just because I said I’ll handicap Tian Hai Ya Er, the teachers and seniors of the academy banned me from participating in the Ivy Festival! Just because I want to challenge Zhuang Huan Yu, someone sealed me in the library for one night! Don’t tell me I have to think about the big picture. When did the old Heavenly Academy ever need to worry about other people’s big picture? What about the current Heavenly Academy? It’s even afraid of the Family of Tian Hai! What is this? This is not the Heavenly Academy I read about in books. This Heavenly Academy is boring and not fun!”
Tang Thirty Six looked at the students and teachers of Heavenly Academy. His words were informal but his expression was serious because they were words he spoke from his heart before his departure.
After hearing his speech, the noises in the palace got louder because this youngster from Wen Shui mentioned the Family of Tian Hai.
This sentence was filled with context, but people only heard Family of Tian Hai.
It’s even afraid of Family of Tian Hai!
He even used “even” in his sentence.
He even thought he shouldn’t be afraid of the Family of Tian Hai!
Prince Chen Liu lowered his head, two liquor cups were on the table in front of him. The liquor inside reflected the light from the Nightly Pearls and was beautiful. He seemed to be attracted by this sight and forgot about the things happening around him.
Mo Yu looked at Tang Thirty Six indifferently with a teacup in her right hand. The cup was steady.
Tian Hai was the last name of the Divine Queen. The Family of Tian Hai was the family the Divine Queen was born into. After that bloody power struggle a decade ago, Tian Hai replaced Chen to become the most powerful name on this continent — just like Bai for the Yao race. If political strength was considered, then it was without a doubt the most powerful in this world.
In the current Zhou Dynasty, even the people of Palace Li, where the Pope lives, treated Family of Tian Hai with courtesy and respect. Even if millions of people hated the Family of Tian Hai to their guts, no one dared to say such a thing in front of the public. Who else could be like Tang Thirty Six and point out their flaws straight up?
People were looking at Tang Thirty Six with complicated expressions.
Some respected him, some sympathized him but most of them were thinking of him as an idiot – was this youngster addicted to disgracing other people tonight? He wouldn’t even let go of the Family of Tian Hai?
It seemed like Tang Thirty Six didn’t even feel the stares and never even considered the danger of his words. He looked at Zhuang Huan Yu coldly and said, “I knew about the struggles you endured when you were young, but it’s not a reason for you to blame everyone else. Don’t think that everyone in this world owes you something. You pretend to be indifferent in front of people but keep on thinking and blaming inside. You already entered the top ten of Honor Roll of Green Cloud but you still think destiny isn’t fair and that you can’t be as strong as Qiu Shan Jun. Who are you blaming? I can’t stand it. I hate these kind of people. The current Heavenly Academy have too many of these kind of students and therefore, it’s becoming more and more like a drama show. Everyone just whines all day and sings soft tunes. Obviously, it’s boring!”
The palace got silent and people looked at the seats of Heavenly Academy. They looked at Zhuang Huan Yu.
Zhuang Huan Yu was wordless for a long time. His expression slowly turn calm and he looked at Tang Thirty Six, “Previously I did misbehave. It’s not up to me to judge whether you did wrong or if you cared about the legacy of Heavenly Academy. In addition, although your words are harsh to our ears, they do have some sense in them…….But have you ever thought about the reason why, after you entered Heavenly Academy, the teachers and students disliked you? Why do you feel that we isolate you? Is this because of your pride? No, the students of Heavenly Academy should be prideful themselves. You are the son of Tang in Wen Shui. You were born with a golden spoon in your hand. After you entered the academy, you were cared for by the powerful figures. You could skip class and disobey the rules of the school. But what you got was no less than others. What about your classmates? Only after they worked hard could they reap the reward and so, they disliked people like you, people who take the shorter path.”
Most of the students sitting on the scattered seats were from ordinary families. The dozens of young students of the southern ambassadors were also mostly poor students. The three young men of Seven Rules of Heaven changed their expression after hearing Zhuang Huan’s words. Gou Han Shi, who was famous for his low background, fell into a deep wonder.
The vice principal’s face wasn’t pretty because he knew that the big figure who cared for Tang Thirty Six that Zhuang Huan Yu referred to, was him.
“What you said was reasonable. Heavenly Academy has its own rules and legacies that were kept for thousands of years. Perhaps you and teachers believe that people could only become successful after enduring all the hardship and struggles. But……my family is just rich. What else can I do? Should I pretend to be poor or should I spend all of my family’s wealth? The Divine Queen would probably be happy from the results of that.”
Tang Thirty Six shook his head, “You have your reasons. I have my habits, and Heavenly Academy has its own rules. Tonight, there is no right or wrong between us but since we are not fit for each other, then this thing will never get interesting, Therefore, I will leave Heavenly Academy.
“You can stop talking!” the vice principal yelled with a very gloomy face.
Wen Shui’s Family of Tang had helped him when he was young. There were a lot of old stories between him and Tang. Since he promised the elders of the Family of Tang to care of Tang Thirty Six in the capital, he wouldn’t just let Tang Thirty Six fall deeper and deeper into trouble. “Enough! Your father told me to take care of you and you really think I won’t discipline you!”
Tang Thirty Six looked at him and thought for a while. He scratched his head and said, “Uncle Zhuang, you always say it’s my father who told you to take care of me…..but actually during the trip to the capital, I have already read the letter for you. I knew that my mother told you to take care of me. Therefore, you don’t need to use my father to pressure me.”
Zhuang vice principal was so angry that his fingers were shaking, “You, how could you read……read the letter!”
For some reason, Zhuang Huan Yu’s face got paler after hearing this.
Tang Thirty Six said, “All things aside, I will leave Heaven Academy tonight.”
Zhuang vice principal said bitterly, “You are such a child. Why don’t you listen? The semi-trial is already over and if you leave the school right now, what could you do about the Great Trial next year?”
Tang Thirty Six was a little stumped as this was a real problem.
“That wouldn’t be a problem.”
Chen Chang Sheng smiled and said, “Just come to my place.”
Tang Thirty Six raised his eyebrows “Go to your place?”
Chen Chang Sheng said, “The students of Traditional Academy also have the permission to enter the Great Trial directly.”
He couldn’t make a mistake about this rule. The reason he tried so hard to enter one of the Six Ivies after he arrived at the capital was to skip the semi-trial and join next year’s Great Trial automatically. But for some reason, fate led him to become the first new recruit of the Tradition Academy in many years.
Tang Thirty Six raised his eyebrow higher as if he found something interesting and new.
“How many people do you have now?’
“Three.”
Chen Chang Sheng pointed at Luo Luo and himself, “There is another one left in Tradition Academy for tonight. You saw him before.”
Tang Thirty Six was silent and then he laughed, “Count me in.”
Chen Chang Sheng thought for a moment, “Then we have four people.”