Chapter 721: The Academy Starts School

For some time afterwards, Nan Tianzong was often nowhere to be found, and Di Yelei was also incredibly busy.

It was now the end of Golden August of autumn, also the month when the imperial court collected grain and salary taxes. The Di Family had quite a lot of farmland, but it was all rented out, and Di Yelei sent Old Cheng to collect the rent.

After the last drinking session, Di Yelei was always worried about Old Tang. He took the time to visit the armory and Old Tang’s residence, only to find a thick layer of dust covering the latter, indicating that no one had visited for quite some time.

Entering September, the academy officially started.

Due to the arrival of the three Hanlin Academy scholars assigned by His Majesty, and the inevitable differences that arose with several Liu Family teachers, things got very heated and even brought to Liu Sisi’s attention.

“Uncle, it’s not that Sisi refuses to help, but these three Hanlin Academy scholars are here by the Imperial Decree. Even daring enough to defy heaven, Sisi wouldn’t dare to refute them, would she?” Before this Uncle could speak, Liu Sisi directly quashed his unrealistic thoughts.

It would be foolish to push away the three great Buddhist monks who were living in the academy!

The exasperated Liu’s uncle rolled his eyes, “Niece, even though these three scholars are sent by His Majesty, they are in the end strangers in a foreign land. Regardless of whether it’s about recruiting students or procurement, everything still needs our own Family members, don’t they?”

So, the Liu Family has an eye on the academy’s procurement!

Thinking about it, logistics are always lucrative no matter what time it is, so it’s no wonder the Liu Family took notice.

“Uncle, it’s not that Sisi refuses to hand over the procurement to you, it’s just that the procurement has already been negotiated with the other party when the academy’s land was purchased. Sisi really can’t help!” Liu Sisi looked apologetically.

The Liu’s uncle could no longer sit still and suddenly stood up from the chair, “Are you saying that our Liu Family gets nothing out of this deal?”

“How could that be? Uncle you can rest assured, Sisi was born into the Liu Family. Even if she short changes anyone, it wouldn’t be the Liu Family, right?”

This statement from Liu Sisi improved her uncle’s demeanor significantly.

“Since my niece has such assurances, what arrangements does the niece have for the Liu Family?”

Liu Sisi was smiling, “Uncle, you just wait and see. Your niece will definitely make you satisfied!”

Just before school started, the academy suddenly filled with a group of new students, as many as one hundred and fifty people. This made Liu Sisi extremely pleased. In addition, there were some younger generations from the Di and Liu families, as well as some students from the upper village who were her fellow villagers. After considering for a moment, Sisi decided to accept them for half the education gift.

This move displeased both the three Hanlin Academy scholars and several Liu Family teachers. Especially the people from the Liu Family, who had previously had a good discussion with Liu Sisi, were suddenly pushed around by the three scholars arranged by His Majesty. They didn’t dare to complain.

“Since it is a academy, it should look like a academy. By placing your relatives in the academy and making it a mess, how can we teach? How can we instruct?” Xia Hongzhi was furious, glaring, obviously extremely displeased with Liu Sisi’s decision.

But Liu Sisi just smiled casually, “Since ancient times, law has not been humanely implemented. Isn’t even the whole Hanlin Academy serving His Majesty? They even serve the dragon son and phoenix grandson. Since this is so, I, Liu Sisi, have personally built this college, and what is wrong with promoting my husband’s and mother’s families?”

Xia Hongzhi was dumbstruck, it took quite awhile before he retorted, “If this is really the case, how can these ordinary students find their place in the academy? Instead of starting an academy, you might as well start a family school!”

“I have plans! His Majesty sent you here to assist me, the Prefecture Princess, not for me to assist you. Elder Xia, I believe you understand!” Liu Sisi squinted her eyes, and cornered Elder Xia.

Elder Xia indeed understood the implications.

“Your cooperation is also needed.” Liu Sisi showed a mysterious smile.

“Oh, how to cooperate?” Xia Hongyuan widened his eyes at this.

“I plan to teach students in accordance with their aptitude!”

She planned to imitate the modern teaching method, splitting up the students and utilizing the “teaching students according to their aptitude” method.

“Didn’t you assess the students before they entered the school? We will divide the students with good foundations and development prospects into the elite class, and you, Elder Xia, will personally be responsible for teaching this class. Ordinary students will be divided into ordinary classes, and the ordinary classes will be taught by the teachers together. Students without a basis will be split into the backup class, the backup class will be taught by dedicated teachers.”

This brought a better look to the faces of Xia Hongyuan and the other two.

“That could work. As long as we get our hands on these promising seeds, the other problems won’t be significant.”

Xia Hongyuan also thought it clear, having already come to this poor and remote place, there was no turning back, but to keep moving forward.

Liu Sisi nodded, “Finally, I plan to divide the specially recruited students into special education classes. In addition to studying, these students also need to work on the mountain to pay for their education. Therefore, in addition to studying literature, these students will also have a dedicated martial arts master teaching them. As for the younger generations of the Liu and Di Families, they will be personally taught by the Liu Family’s teacher.”

Learning martial arts? This made Xia Hongyuan surprised, but then he quickly understood.

Many people in large families make arrangements to send their confidants to school, and even hire special martial arts teachers to instruct them. This practice is extremely appealing and could potentially secure their loyalty.

“Since the Prefecture Princess has already made arrangements, we will follow them.”

Xia Hongyuan spoke up.

On a summer afternoon, Liu Sisi was leaning against the tree roots by the back wall, staring blankly at the sky above her head, still unable to recover from the current situation.

A few married women passing by the Di Family’s courtyard looked at her from a distance and whispered to each other.

“Do you think the Di family’s new bride is not right? Her gaze is so straight, and she looks so foolish. Could it be because a high fever turned her into an idiot?”

“Don’t you know, this new wife of Di Yelei isn’t like any ordinary person. I heard that she had something going on with Businessman Zhang from the city… Anyway, she failed to escape marriage and jumped into the river on her wedding night. She ended up like this because of the cold she caught while having a high fever.”

“If you ask me, what’s the use of keeping such a shameless daughter-in-law? Better just tie her up and sell her to the brothel to save on medical expenses.”

“Di Yelei is pretty good actually. If it weren’t for his two children, he wouldn’t have married this disaster of a woman back home…”

The chirping in her ears made Liu Sisi gently close her eyes.

She had heard similar gossip over the past few days, but she simply did not pay attention to them!

Others thought she had caught a cold from escaping marriage and falling into the water, staying sick for several days. However, only she knew that she had changed her core by now, and she was no longer the same person.

The original her was just an orphan whose parents had died, grew up with her grandpa in their rural hometown. When she got her first month’s salary after graduating from college, she bought a bottle of red wine to celebrate, but after getting drunk, she woke up as this Liu Sisi, who had attempted to escape her wedding and drowned in an accident.

The gossip from a few married women suddenly woke up her idle thoughts, and she realized that she had forgotten about the big problem waiting for her!

A hurried footsteps were heard, and soon, a big man appeared before her eyes.

Di Yelei had just come back from the old house, and with a belly full of idle anger, he felt suffocated and irritable when he thought about his sickly wife lying in bed.

His biological mother passed away as soon as he was born, and tragedy struck his betrothed wife before their marriage. Years later, he finally found a new wife. Just when their lives were starting to improve, she had a fall and died, leaving him with two children and a mountain of debt.

Initially, Aunt Zhang had persuaded him, thinking about his young children, and hearing the matchmaker talking up the bride’s beauty and abilities. He gritted his teeth and agreed to the marriage, but in the end, it turned out like this.

Although he no longer longed for a harmonious and loving married life, the bride’s suicide attempt on their wedding night made him both angry and annoyed!

Fortunately, there was no loss of life. That was the silver lining within this misfortune.

Being a man with a doomed and unfaithful destiny, it might have been fatal if he were to “taint” the bride to death on their wedding night. In that case, his already tarnished reputation would continue to plummet, and there would be no possibility of marrying again.

He and his two children might even be driven out of the village and forced to live in isolation.

Thinking like this, he could not help but hasten his pace.

Just as he approached the courtyard, he saw Liu Sisi sitting dumbfounded under the big tree roots, looking up at the sky overhead.

As daylight sprinkled over her head, creating a dappled halo that cast her pretty face in an extraordinary beauty, such otherworldly beauty was definitely not something an ordinary villager like him could match.@@novelbin@@

With this thought, Di Yelei felt an inexplicable irritation as he met her big eyes.

Their lost and helpless, teary, resentful eyes seemed like a frightened and pitiful deer, instantly striking the softest part deep in his heart. He could not help but sigh heavily.

“Are you awake? Why don’t you sleep a little longer? It’s hot outside, let’s go inside and talk.”

As his deep, muffled voice rang out, a pair of large, bronze-colored hands reached out, reflecting a shiny radiance under the sunlight.

Liu Sisi blinked, her disheveled mind not able to process the situation.

She pushed away his support, trying to get up with her weak legs, almost coming into intimate contact with the ground again, but was immediately caught by Di Yelei.

“Be careful! When you’re still weak, just lie down in bed, don’t come outside and try to act tough. You’re really driving me crazy!”

Finally, there was a hint of warm anger in Liu Sisi’s eyes, reminding her of everyone’s gossip and losing her temper.

Although the incident was caused by the original host, she didn’t inherit the information left by the original host. However, the man in front of her didn’t let her live or die on her own. He had taken care of her, sought medical treatment, and hadn’t sold her directly to the brothel. He had done more than enough for her!

Just as she was considering what to do, Di Yelei casually pulled her into the main entrance, and with a bang, the door was heavily closed behind them.

“Let go of me, you’re hurting my hand!” Liu Sisi struggled.

–

This story is a one-on-one, with a tough man, a soft girl, and a cute baby. It’s a super sweet romance. The author has completed multiple long novels with more than a million words; the quality of this story is guaranteed.

All three of them quietly breathed a sigh of relief, so the Prefecture Princess still remembered the promise of that day.

The three of them were eager to return back. What they didn’t expect was that three years later, Liu Sisi’s remark would actually come true.

After three years, none of them truly wanted to leave the academy, and the outside students broke their heads just for a chance to attend the academy.

The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!