Chapter 103: Hello Chang’an
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**Chapter 103: The Moral Bottom Line Needs to be Lowered**
At this moment, Qiao Yubai was puzzled, believing that there was a reason for Cui Lang and the others’ inability to win. He didn’t think the others in the team were useless, but rather that Chang Miao was truly ruthless, something that normal people with higher moral standards couldn’t handle.
Moreover, he was indeed excellent, and that was a fact. Without him, the team would suffer a significant loss, and it was inevitable that people would be anxious.
Considering all this, Qiao Yubai thought it over and concluded that the Blue Team had almost no chance of winning.
However, someone as exceptional as him, while watching Cui Lang gasp for breath, quickly regained his composure—
Qiao Yubai now suspected that the javelin had likely been taken by Cui Lang.
That would explain why he looked so breathless.
With a sigh, Qiao Yubai was just about to advise them to return the item when Cui Lang finally caught his breath and managed to speak, “Brother Qiao, we won! We won!”
Hu Yi, who had also run hard enough to struggle to speak, chimed in, “Yubai, not only did we win, but we also avenged you!”
Qiao Yubai was astonished, instinctively looking at the most reliable among them, Xi Zhiyuan.
Xi Zhiyuan nodded at him with a smile. “That’s right.”
It was only then that Qiao Yubai’s eyes widened slowly, and just as he was about to ask, he heard Cui Lang eagerly add, “We three, along with Miss Chang, beat Chang Miao to a pulp, leaving him crying for his mother and unable to get back up!”
Xi Zhiyuan: “…”
Adding the phrase ‘we three’ was utterly unnecessary.
“Who?”
“Ning Ning?!”
“Did my sister really beat Chang Miao?!” Chang Sui'an exclaimed, suddenly jumping up from his seat. “Is my sister alright? Did anyone cause her trouble? Where is she now?”
Cui Lang grinned and reassured him, “Don’t worry, Lord Chang. Miss Chang was fighting in the arena, just like Chang Miao and the others did before—completely within the rules… So naturally, no one dared to cause trouble!”
Qiao Yumianan hurriedly asked, “But how did Ning Ning get on the arena?”
Cui Lang quickly recounted the entire story.
From how Chang Suining had entered the arena as a substitute, to how she had beaten Chang Miao, and how afterward she had exposed the tricks Chang Miao had used with, leading to Chang Miao being stripped of his student status and expelled from the academy.
As he finished his last sentence, the large medical hall fell into silence.
Qiao Yubai and the others were stunned into silence by the shock, and the physicians and two apprentices in the hall were also captivated, as if listening to a story, completely abandoning their tasks.
It was Chang Sui'an ’s voice that finally broke the silence—
“Qiao Yubai… this is your doing!”
Qiao Yubai was bewildered. “Huh?”
Chang Sui'an was filled with regret and frustration, almost pounding his chest in distress. “If it weren’t for bringing you here, I wouldn’t have missed such an important event!”
He had once again missed the significant event of his sister fighting someone!
The last time he had missed it was at Dayun Temple, but then he had been completely absent, lacking any sense of participation. This time was different; he had witnessed the despicable actions of Chang Miao and the others in the first half—
As the saying goes, one must first suppress before they can elevate, yet he had only seen the suppression and missed the elevation… After a lifetime of good deeds, giving alms to monks and buying vegetables from elderly farmers in the rain without leaving a single one behind, why was he suffering such human torment?
Chang Sui'an felt suddenly wronged.
After failing to personally beat Zhou Ding the last time, this could very well become the second greatest regret of his life.
Qiao Yubai sighed, “I also didn’t get to see it, did I?”
Hearing the two of them lament, Qiao Yumianan’s mood remained relatively stable.
After all, she couldn’t see it whether she was there or not, and thinking of it this way made her feel quite balanced.
Additionally, having eaten and lived with Chang Suining for these days, she often accompanied her in the corridor while she practiced martial arts. Now that she heard that Ning Ning had beaten Chang Miao, aside from a moment of surprise, the rest was a sense of comfort akin to “Ning Ning’s hard work in martial arts wasn’t in vain,” feeling like the labor of spring would yield a bountiful harvest in autumn.
Ning Ning was right; hard work would not betray those who put in the effort.
Seeing that seemingly delicate little girl quietly clenching her fists and pursing her lips, Cui Lang felt a surge of excitement and looked at her with curiosity.
As for Wang shi, she had been covering her mouth in shock since hearing that Chang Suining entered the arena, and she hadn’t let her hand down since.
This reminded her of when she first asked Ning Ning if she liked watching Polo match. The girl had nodded and replied that she had seen a few matches.
So, she had suggested that Yubai teach the little girl how to throw polo ball.
Thinking of this, Wang shi glanced at her son, whose head was still wrapped in a bandage after being beaten, and her expression grew increasingly complicated.
Her suggestion had clearly underestimated her own son’s abilities.
Qiao Yubai was puzzled by the hint of pity and disdain in his mother’s gaze when he suddenly heard his sister helpfully clarify for him—
“Mother initially said to let Ning Ning learn polo throwing from brother.” Qiao Yumianan smiled as she spoke.
Qiao Yubai responded with a sudden realization, “Then it would be better to find someone more capable; it wouldn’t be right to waste Ning Ning’s time…”
“There’s no one more capable than her! miss Chang doesn’t need anyone to teach her,” Cui Lang said, feeling stirred just thinking about the scene in the arena. “I actually want to take miss Chang as my master!”
He continued, “Miss Chang’s techniques are truly unique and impressive! She must have trained under General Chang and his peers!”
Chang Sui'an was puzzled—after all, he hadn’t seen his sister learn polo from their father… Perhaps this was a manifestation of innate talent?
At that moment, Hu Yi said softly, “But as a man, isn’t it inappropriate for Young Master Cui to take Miss Chang as a master alone?”
Cui Lang raised an eyebrow at him.
The boy earnestly explained, “What I mean is, it would be better if I joined as well!”
With more people around, it would naturally feel more open and comfortable.
Qiao Yubai chuckled, “You’re thinking ahead, but Ning Ning is busy every day and probably doesn’t have time to take on apprentices.”
He then expressed his confusion, “However, going by what Young Master Cui just said, doesn’t it mean Ning Ning must have noticed Chang Miao’s foul play with the polo and horses while I was injured… So why didn’t she raise her concerns earlier and let the judges handle it? Instead, she went through the trouble of pretending to be a substitute to fight with Chang Miao and the others?”
“If I had brought it up too early and Chang Miao was immediately penalized, how would I have had the chance to fight them?”
A girl’s voice rang out; it was Chang Suining, who walked in as she spoke.
“If I couldn’t give them a good beating, wouldn’t that make your loss, brother Yubai, completely pointless?” She had changed back into a clean dress and said as she approached. “You’re great in every way, but just a bit too upright.”
There’s nothing wrong with being upright, but being too much of it could lead to suffering and limit one’s thinking, making it hard to expand one’s ideas. Otherwise, how could such a smart person like him not think of her reasons for exposing Chang Miao’s wrongdoings afterward?
To put it plainly, in his moral understanding, he wouldn’t consider her methods of ensuring that the first step was to beat them up.
Meeting her gaze, which clearly conveyed the message that “big brother’s moral bottom line needs to be lowered,” Qiao Yubai felt a tremor in his heart, as if the solid wall in his mind was being breached.
“What you just said is spot on, Ning Ning!” At this moment, Qiao Yan entered the hall and, seeing his son’s miserable state, sighed. “I’ve told you before, you need to be adaptable in your actions… If only your thoughts were a little more flexible, how could you have ended up like this? Did you learn a lesson from today?”
“You should learn from Ning Ning; the so-called moral cultivation must be approached differently. When encountering someone superior, you should elevate yourself, but when faced with someone inferior, you need to lower yourself. Knowing how to adapt can prevent losses! Ning Ning did exceptionally well today in this regard!”
“…” Chang Suining thought that wasn’t entirely accurate.
The principle in those words wasn’t wrong, but the mistake lay in the idea of moral cultivation; she simply had none.
As for whether those words that were entirely at odds with the gentleman's way would lead the nearby students astray—she believed that if they did go astray, it was to be expected, as she had long said that having Qiao Yang become the Head Master of the Imperial Academy would inevitably mislead the students.
Qiao Yubai had already fallen into deep thought.
Cui Lang and the others couldn’t help but nod in agreement.
The Head Master was providing additional insights—knowledge that couldn’t be found in books, which they needed to jot down in their hearts like a little notebook.
Qiao Yubai’s injury had been properly treated and bandaged. The physician had instructed him to rest for at least half a month, adding that it was fortunate his arm had been set in time; otherwise, a single misstep could have led to a more serious condition.
Qiao Yubai thanked the physician and gratefully looked at Chang Suining, “Ning Ning, it’s thanks to you today.”
That applied to both his injury and the entire match.
Chang Suining replied, “It’s also thanks to Brother Yubai—”
Qiao Yubai looked puzzled.
“Only because of you did I have the opportunity to shine in front of others,” she explained.
Qiao Yubai couldn’t help but chuckle in embarrassment.
Qiao Yumianan also couldn’t help but smile. With her small tiger teeth showing, her gentle and demure face suddenly became more lively.
Cui Lang caught an unintended glimpse and was momentarily taken aback.
At that moment, the room, which had been filled with dim twilight, suddenly brightened, and Cui Lang shook himself awake as if returning from a dream.
He looked over and realized that the physician had instructed the apprentice to light the lamps.
“It’s time to go home,” Wang shi said with a smile.
Qiao Yumianan extended her hand to the female servant beside her.
With the servant's accompaniment, the slightly fragile figure stepped out of the medical hall, leaving slowly.
As Qiao Yan and the others departed, a servant urged her Master, “Madam is still waiting outside the Imperial Academy for you.”
In three days, it would be the Dragon Boat Festival, and starting tomorrow, the academy would have a five-day holiday, allowing students from nearby to return home for family reunions tonight.
Cui Lang, however, seemed not to hear the servant’s urging and turned to ask the physician curiously, “Isn’t there a way to treat the Qiao family girl’s eye ailment?”
The physician sighed and shook his head, “It’s due to an injury and has lasted many years…”
Cui Lang turned to look in the direction where Qiao Yumianan had left.
“She’s rather pitiable.”
…
Cui Lang agreed to meet with Xi Zhiyuan and several substitute players at the Tai Tower for a celebratory banquet in three days before leaving the Imperial Academy.
On the way, he asked the servant, “Has my elder brother left?”
“I haven’t seen the eldest son for a while… He must have returned to the Xuanzhe Manor,” the servant replied.
Cui Lang thought about it and agreed, “Eldest brother is so busy with official duties. He must have taken time today to watch me playing polo, so he must have fallen behind on his work. He probably has to work all night to catch up, right?”
Thinking this, he felt increasingly moved, realizing how much his elder brother had sacrificed for him.
On the other side, after parting ways with Hu Yi, Xi Zhiyuan returned to the student dormitory with his servant.
He came from the distant Donglu country and hadn’t returned since coming to Da sheng for studies at the age of twelve.
The master and servant exchanged a few words in Donglu, their figures gradually disappearing into the emerging night.
Once they were far away, two shadows emerged from behind the rockery by the path.
“Great General, can you understand what they were saying just now?” Cui Yuanxiang whispered.
Cui Jing looked in the direction the master and servant had departed. “Just ordinary conversation.”
He had been marching for years and had interacted with Donglu people, so he could roughly understand some Donglu language. The master and servant were merely discussing how to pass the five-day holiday.
Cui Yuanxiang then asked, “Do you think there’s anything unusual about this person?”
Today, the Great General had come not just to watch Cui Liu play polo but also to personally investigate this Donglu scholar.
Cui Jing began to walk back, noncommittally saying, “Let’s have someone keep an eye on them; be sure to act cautiously.”
“Understood.” After Cui Yuanxiang responded seriously, he inquired, “Should we report this to the holy emperor?”
Although this matter was something the Great General had noticed by chance and was not directed by the holy emperor, if his suspicions were correct, they couldn’t afford to be careless.
Cui Jing replied, “Not for now.”
Cui Yuanxiang agreed again.
His loyalty lay solely with Cui Jing, and he never questioned his orders. Since the Great General said it was unnecessary to report to the holy emperor for now, he would be careful to keep this matter under wraps from the holy emperor’s ears.
As the two were leaving the path and about to exit the Imperial Academy, they unexpectedly encountered Yao Yi.
“General Cui,” Yao Yi raised his hand in greeting.
Cui Jing nodded slightly.
Yao Yi observed the aloof demeanor of this young man from the Cui family, a quality that couldn’t be entirely removed despite his youth. He knew that this general from the Xuanzhe army, hailing from an aristocratic background, was notoriously difficult to approach and get along with.
However, given the current situation, he couldn’t afford to be too concerned about that.
With some trepidation, Yao Yi forced a smile and invited, “General Cui, it’s late, and you haven’t returned yet. How about joining me for a drink with Qiao Yan?”
Cui Jing replied, “It’s getting late; it would be inappropriate to disturb them unannounced.”
Yao Yi shook his head, smiling as he said, “It wouldn’t be a disturbance; Minister Wei is also there!”
In other words, someone had already had the audacity to intrude, so adding two more wouldn’t make a difference.
However, Minister Wei had left too quickly. Yao Yi had been unable to break away from a conversation with colleagues earlier, and now he worried that going alone would attract too much attention. Hence, he urgently needed someone to accompany him.
Cui Yuanxiang discreetly glanced at Yao Yi.
It was better that Minister Yao didn’t mention Minister Wei at all…
Indeed, as soon as Cui Jing heard that Wei Shuyi was present, he felt a stronger urge to refuse. Yao Yi, being the Minister of the Court of Justice, was adept at reading subtle cues and quickly noticed the faint look of distaste on Cui Jing’s face. He thought to himself that he had messed up.
In that critical moment, Minister Yao, who was both observant and bold, swiftly grabbed Cui Jing’s arm before he could respond and pulled him forward.
Yao Yi was so enthusiastic that he didn’t intend to leave his companion with any chance to back out. “Let’s go! If we don’t hurry, we’ll miss the hot food!”
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(End of this chapter)
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