"How did Jing Shaoxuan manage to get into our academy?" Jing Luoluo asked, looking utterly baffled. By all accounts, the threshold for entering Nanling Academy was hardly low! Yet Jing Shaoxuan's ability to test into Beigu Academy earlier precisely proved that the man possessed rather decent literary talent!
Zhao Huaiyuan looked thoroughly disdainful. "That bastard doesn't know how, but he somehow got chummy with the Third Prince! Now the Third Prince has taken him along to serve as a study companion!"
With that, he said indignantly, "Little Jing, hurry up and come with me to the academy. He's been spreading rumors everywhere that you used your injury to frame their second branch, claiming you just looked down on them and deliberately drove them out of the estate!"
Jing Luoluo's brows knitted together. The book had never mentioned that Jing Shaoxuan would hook up with the Third Prince this early!
He remembered the book describing the female protagonist's brother as someone of vast erudition who happened to place in the top ten on the exams the same year as the male protagonist.
Later on, he hit it off exceptionally well with the male protagonist in official circles, and together they assisted the Third Prince in ascending the throne—which indirectly resulted in the Third Prince intensely disliking the original body!
And the male protagonist had operated behind the scenes to sever the second branch's ties with the Duke's Estate, leaving them completely unblemished when the entire clan was executed. Thinking of this, Jing Luoluo broke out in a cold sweat!
The storyline was still following the plot of the book; wouldn't that mean he was dead for sure?
"What are you spacing out for, Little Jing? This Prince is talking to you!" Seeing that he had been rambling on forever while Jing Luoluo's mind was wandering beyond the heavens, Zhao Huaiyuan could not help growing displeased!
"Huh? Hahaha, no... nothing at all. Where were you just now?" Jing Luoluo offered an awkward laugh to change the subject.
Suspecting nothing, Zhao Huaiyuan continued, "You have no idea, the Third Prince takes that Jing Shaoxuan everywhere he goes now. I've got some inside gossip here, and you will never guess it!"
The little Fatty stared at Jing Luoluo with sparkling eyes, instantly arousing the latter's curiosity as he urged, "What inside gossip? Hurry up and tell me!"
Looking around mysteriously to the left and right, Zhao Huaiyuan built up the anticipation thoroughly before saying, "I heard your second uncle's entire family is being supported by the Third Prince. He even bought them a courtyard on the outskirts of the city. Tsk tsk tsk! As for your second uncle's two daughters—hey, I'm not making things up, someone actually saw it and told me!"
Listening to Zhao Huaiyuan fail to reach the point, Jing Luoluo grew anxious. "Get to the point already! What happened to my second uncle's two daughters? What did people see?"
Zhao Huaiyuan gave a mysterious smile. "I heard the younger one, Jing Rou, has hooked up with the Third Prince! They were even spotted going to a jewelry shop together, and word is the Third Prince footed the bill. Heavens, he spent a massive fortune buying a complete set of red gemstone hair ornaments!"
"Is that all? If the Third Prince fancies her, so be it. Running around together without a formal match or betrothal is just her debasing herself!"
Jing Luoluo wasn't wrong. Although the Dayi Dynasty wasn't particularly conservative regarding the interactions between young men and women, no respectable young lady would be seen pairing up with a man before their marriage was officially settled.
Ordinary families permitted betrothed young couples to go on outings together, but engaging in improper conduct still invited public scorn!
"Heh, it's a good thing your branch doesn't have any female relatives, otherwise Jing Rou's behavior would inevitably implicate you!"
Zhao Huaiyuan wore a serious expression. Although he usually chased cats, bullied dogs, and lacked proper industry, he still regarded matters of great principle very seriously.
Jing Luoluo's mind was spinning with a flurry of thoughts. In the original book, the Third Prince was supposed to marry the eldest sister, Jing Rong. At the time, he had clearly schemed to marry her in order to win over the Duke's Estate!
Ever since he arrived, his second uncle's family could be said to have cut ties entirely with the Duke's Estate, so why had the Third Prince hooked up with Jing Rou instead?
No, if he let the plot continue developing like this, wouldn't he end up dying a second time?
"How about I talk to the old man at home and go back to the academy for my studies?" Jing Luoluo said after careful consideration.
In truth, the cut on his head had healed completely days ago. The only reason he had remained cooped up in his room was because he still had no idea how to face the unfamiliar world outside!
Now, to cling to his little life, he had no choice but to face this ancient world and live on in place of the original body.
Seeing that he had finally persuaded Jing Luoluo, Zhao Huaiyuan excitedly slapped him on the shoulder. "Let me check the injury on your head! Heh! I knew it had healed long ago. Could this Prince possibly guess wrong about your little tricks, Little Jing? Quick, quick, get up and tell your page to pack your luggage—we're heading back to the academy today!"
Jing Luoluo looked worried. "Huh? Today? I haven't even told my dad yet!"
Zhao Huaiyuan had already let his page step inside to change Jing Luoluo's clothes, and standing off to the side, he said, "It's still early for your dad to return from morning court. I hear the political situation in the court has been quite tense lately."
Numbly, Jing Luoluo allowed the page to put his outer robe on. Fortunately, he didn't know how to dress himself in these garments either, which matched the original's personality by seven or eight parts!
Before long, the page had him properly packed, and Zhao Huaiyuan couldn't help clicking his tongue twice.
"Oh my, not bad at all, Little Jing. Tsk tsk tsk, it's a good thing you didn't inherit Lord Duke's looks, or the fine maidens of the Capital would surely be captivated by you in the future!"
Jing Luoluo found it hard to believe. After all, having stared at the original father's face every single day lately, he had given up all hope regarding his own appearance.
A square, boxy face, eyebrows so thick they were practically fusing together, topped off with a thick beard, and skin that was dark beyond belief. He simply couldn't imagine how he could possibly look good.
He managed a strained, awkward smile. There was no helping it; there were no mirrors in the room, and he was too embarrassed to ask for one, so to this day he still had no idea what the original body looked like!
At least his skin hadn't inherited his father's—the exposed arms and legs were all tender and fair, which he figured was probably because he was still young.
The two boarded a carriage and headed toward the academy. Nanling Academy operated on a modern-day boarding system, where ordinary students were only granted two days of rest every ten to half-month, though that certainly never included people like Zhao Huaiyuan and Jing Luoluo.
Going out was hardly restricted for aristocratic youths like them unless their behavior became utterly egregious, in which case their fathers would inevitably be summoned to the estate—and at that point, a few slaps on the palms wouldn't fix things.
The carriage rocked and swayed all the way to the foot of the mountain.
Nanling Academy occupied an entire low hill in the southern part of the Capital. Because of the vast number of students, all sorts of bustling shops lined the foot of the mountain.
It was currently noon break, and many students could be seen strolling in groups of three or five to purchase necessary supplies.
Carriages were strictly forbidden from entering the academy grounds at the foot of the mountain. If a student had too many belongings, their family page could deliver them to the dormitory, but they had to leave immediately after dropping the items off.
Pages accompanying any student were permitted to wait only outside the gates and were ordinarily barred from entering without cause, all to prevent noble scions from bullying commoner students.
Yet this measure had achieved very little effect; officials' sons naturally commanded flattery and sycophancy, and cliques were by no means rare.
The two instructed their pages to take their token and deliver their personal belongings to the dormitory, then began strolling idly through the streets.
It was Jing Luoluo's first time out—the hurried trip into the palace last time didn't count!
He couldn't help finding the antique streets immensely interesting. Perhaps driven by a girl's natural instincts, he kept touching this and looking at that, temporarily forgetting his current identity as a male.