HE With the Cold Male Protagonist C76

Chapter 76: A Minor Examination, the Division of Dormitories

“Hey, have you heard? They say that fellow even fancies men. You ought to be grateful he did not come, otherwise, heh heh…” That student revealed a lecherous expression, which at once drew countless looks of disgust.

“Can you not be so revolting?”

“What of it if he likes men? To like someone is still to like, what is so repulsive about that?” Fei Hongyu happened to pass by the group and could not help but rebuke, “Our dynasty’s laws permit two men to marry. Surely you are not so ignorant of the law?”

“Hmph. From the sound of you, one might almost think you too are inclined toward men!”

“Then since you mind it so much, ought you not be careful? Should I happen to like you, would you not be utterly disgusted?” Fei Hongyu bared his teeth in a grin, causing the once-arrogant student’s countenance to change at once—
as though he truly feared being fancied.

Fei Hongyu burst into laughter, clutching his stomach and bending double. “Brother Haocheng, never have I seen such a conceited creature. That one fancies men does not mean he would so casually fancy some crooked melon or cracked jujube. Does he truly imagine himself to be a scallion of importance?”

Clearly, he had never infringed upon them, yet they despised him nonetheless. How absurdly self-important!

When the two departed, the group’s expressions darkened at once. “Zhijie, those two are utterly base, speaking naught but nonsense, possessing not a shred of a sage’s virtue. You ought not walk with them!”

But that would not do.

Yu Zhijie had deliberately transferred from the Mingli Academy, where the tutors and conditions were superior, for he bore a task upon his shoulders.

Naturally, he was to make Lu Lizhi’s days ill at ease. Such was his own intent, and also what Lu Qinghong had let slip, albeit without words.

Otherwise, why would Lu Qinghong have pulled strings to admit him into the Prefectural Academy, and why would he now treat him with ever more warmth, even handing him twenty taels of silver without hesitation when he confessed his purse was tight?

Therefore, even if not for revenge, for the sake of these benefits Yu Zhijie must give Lu Lizhi trouble!

And the key lay in those two.

Since enrollment, the new scholars of this cohort had already undergone two minor examinations. Song Haocheng and Fei Hongyu were consistently at the forefront, with Song Haocheng ever the first, praised repeatedly by the tutors.

Yu Zhijie thought: since I cannot handle Lu Lizhi on my own, might I not borrow another’s strength?

On the other side, Ding Lihui and his companions still formed a stable little circle, though none of them had expected, having transferred to the Prefectural Academy, that they would yet encounter Yu Zhijie, that tiresome pest.

“Indeed, birds of a feather flock together. Wherever he goes, he is surrounded by unsavoury sorts,” muttered Dong Yuanjiu.

“Though he has kept himself quieter here, we must still beware, lest we once more fall into his schemes.”

“I cannot shake the sense he is plotting some great trick…” The three were filled with worry. “Lihui, do you suppose Lizhi will come? Many licentiates study at home and need not enter the Academy. If he does not come, we shall lose one of our greatest amusements!”

Ding Lihui hastily drew back his gaze from a figure at the desk before him. “He will come. He promised me he would!”

Such conversations they had staged countless times, almost daily, thus the absent-minded Ding Lihui could answer without even listening.

Just as they thought his coming highly unlikely, outside the door a student clad in the Prefectural Academy’s white-and-blue gown dashed in, cheeks flushed with excitement. “He has come, he has come!”

“What has come?” No one took much note; the majority were still bent over their books even in recess.

“Lu Lizhi!”

At once, heads lifted in unison.

Beyond the school hall, light snow drifted down, laying a fine cover upon the roofs.

Lu Lizhi bore no umbrella, though in his hand he carried a bamboo-ribbed oiled paper umbrella which Jiang Baiye, reluctant at parting, had pressed upon him.

But as none of the tutors about him used one, hastening him in from the gate, how could he alone raise it?

“I am surnamed Yi. For reasons unknown, my father oft spoke of you, praising you without end. Yet you have missed over two months of lessons; the punishment cannot be waived.” The middle-aged Tutor Yi spoke sternly.

Lu Lizhi blinked, the snow upon his long lashes falling away. Yi?

He thought he might know who this was.

Meanwhile, the corridor outside the classroom was already crowded with curious students craning their necks for a glimpse.

“Quiet! Back to your books!” At Tutor Yi’s bark, the scholars instantly returned to their seats. Still, they thought, why the fuss? He shall be brought in anon.

Yet this newly arrived First of the Examinations did not resemble what they had imagined.

They had pictured him in threadbare garb, gaunt and haggard—poverty-stricken and solitary.

But at a single glance, they nearly mistook him for a noble scion come to amuse himself here. Not even Lu Qinghong, famed for his gentlemanly bearing, possessed such a presence.

Moreover, Lu Lizhi’s expression bore none of the unease or wary rejection of the unfamiliar they had expected. To those who had seen him, and those who had only heard tales, he was not at all as imagined.

“Ah, so this is why he placed first in the examinations. Surely he has taken much silver from local gentry and merchants, hence his fine appearance.”

“Or perhaps it is mere pretence. They say his family is gone, leaving him alone. Whence would he have such wealth? Though licentiates receive stipends, it suffices only for bare subsistence. To pursue learning with it alone?”

Ink, brushes, and books were all costly, enough to drive families to ruin just to sustain one scholar.

For those from the countryside, it took the combined effort of an entire family, clan, even village to raise one student!

Those speaking knew well the hardship—study was ruinously expensive. Many were not licentiates but mere students, whose families had recently been crushed by heavy levies and conscriptions. Their kin scarce had enough to eat, while they themselves, here in the Academy, still must fret over livelihood.

The bell sounded for class, yet not only did Lu Lizhi not appear, even Tutor Yi dispatched only an assistant instructor to guide the students’ reading.

“Eh? Where is he? Why has he not yet come?”

“Receiving uniform and being assigned a dormitory should not take so long.”

Someone sneered, “Likely being scolded!”

Yet when Lu Lizhi was brought not before the tutor but before the Academy’s highest authority—the venerable Professor Huang, equivalent to a rector—the old man only smiled warmly. “I hear these past months you were aiding in the building of the flood-diversion channels?”

At those words, Lu Lizhi knew he must already have “colluded” with Prefect Yan, and thus treated him kindly because he knew he was Yan’s student.

“Excellent, excellent!”

Tutor Yi—more precisely, Instructor Yi—frowned. “Excellent? It is neglect of duty. What has such labor to do with a scholar?”

“How can it not! Scholars must broaden their vision. Only by witnessing the people’s hardships and the myriad scenes of life may they compose works of true depth, rather than hollow essays, piling up phrases and citations without substance!”

Instructor Yi remained bewildered. Was not this man fondest of ornate writing? And when it came to hollowness, none surpassed him.

So long as the style was fine, he delighted, caring not a whit for the thought beneath…

Yet Professor Huang praised Lu Lizhi to the skies.

In a few words, Lu Lizhi discerned both men’s temperaments. Expecting censure, he found instead the path smoothed before him.

“It is thus: here students are divided by years into Outer Dormitory, Inner Dormitory, and Upper Dormitory. The further one progresses, the finer the studies. To which class would you enter?”

Instructor Yi frowned once more, at last sensing something amiss. “By rule, none may be placed until after the Annual Examination.”

That Annual Examination was akin to a term’s end assessment. Professor Huang was clearly bending rules for Lu Lizhi, to Instructor Yi’s displeasure.

Lu Lizhi, however, did not seize the opportunity. Though the advanced classes might benefit him, remembering that Ding Lihui and the others awaited in the slower Outer Dormitory, he chose to remain there.

“Ah, with your talent it is somewhat a pity.” How was he to explain this to Prefect Yan?

Seeing that he respected the rules, Instructor Yi’s expression at last softened, having thought him some kin of Professor Huang.

“There is to be a minor examination soon. You will not be otherwise occupied?”

Lu Lizhi shook his head.

“Should you fail to place in the top three, your punishment shall be doubled!”

Before he could answer, Professor Huang interjected indignantly, “Instructor Yi, that is too much!”

“If he fail to take first, let him clean the latrines for three months!”

At that, Lu Lizhi was undone. He prized cleanliness above all, only restraining himself when with Jiang Baiye. But to be made to scrub privies was little short of death!

Preoccupied with these matters, he felt as though he had forgotten something vital…

At the great gates of the Academy, Jiang Baiye sat in his carriage, idly twirling his whip, gaze dark as he lingered long without departing.

“I wonder if he has taken my counsel to heart…”

When the bell rang again, Lu Lizhi emerged from the comprehensive minor examination, inwardly sighing—indeed, he must now attend regularly.

Otherwise, he would already be falling behind, uncertain of securing a place, for the others had over two months’ advantage.

At noon, before he could dwell further, he was beset by a throng—some kindly, some indifferent, some openly hostile.

Yu Zhijie suppressed his excitement and malice, seizing upon the meal hour to hurry to the dormitory steward.

Learning that Lu Lizhi had not yet been assigned, a glint of calculation flashed in his eyes. With apparent sincerity he said, “He is an old acquaintance of mine. By chance our dormitory lacks one member—why not let him join us?”

The steward, long accustomed to his favors, thought well of him and, disinclined to search through the thick register, casually assented, “Very well.”

Such arrangements between acquaintances were not rare. To grant them a small convenience was no matter.

Most importantly, the Academy housed no small number of students. Beyond the hundreds of scholars across all years, there were countless pupils besides.

The division of dormitories was no easy task, easily giving offence.

“What? Your younger brother is studying at the Prefectural Academy? Why did you not say so sooner?”

Jiang Baiye, lingering long outside the Academy gates and seeing no sign of Lu Lizhi, had returned once more to the He residence, preparing food for Doctor Pang and processing herbs. On hearing this sudden tidings, he was astonished.

In truth, what he wished to ask was: what, you have a younger brother?

“What of it? My younger brother is extraordinary. At but twelve years of age he passed the county examination. He is the hope of our entire family!”

Jiang Baiye recalled: in the book, He Lin had indeed invited Lu Lizhi to tutor his younger brother He Min, and through this, they became fast friends.

“Yet so young, residing at the Academy, managing all by himself—he must suffer greatly.”

“No, he has a page to attend to his daily needs.”

Jiang Baiye ignored this, sighing instead, “I hear the conditions are harsh, food and clothing scarce. How pitiable. When I have time, I shall visit him. I wonder if he will like my cooking?”

He Lin was deeply moved. “That you should have such a heart is enough. As for your cooking, I am certain he will love it. Jiang Baiye, I never thought you would treat our family so kindly…”

At that, he suddenly paused. Hm? Was something not quite right?

Jiang Baiye had found his reason to visit Lu Lizhi—a fair and proper excuse, arousing no suspicion. His heart eased.

Now the herbs were nearly all prepared, awaiting only the last seedling to be forced to maturity.

The deed to the new residence was also in hand. He ought to plan its design and adornment.

Yet before he could, having fed Doctor Pang, the He steward came hurrying, anxious: “Young Master Jiang, the house opposite the one you bid me watch—another has already purchased it!”