Chapter 1743 – Cause and Effect
Seeing this situation, Sun Lan couldn’t be more clueless about her mood—he must be foolish.
“Jinghui, I’m back!”
The maidservant brought a mat for Sun Lan, who then settled down not far from Qi Guan Jinghui, her eyes wandering back and forth between her face and her left hand.
“Hmph, so you’re back? Why the loud voice?”
The anticipated ‘gazing at each other with tear-filled eyes’ didn’t happen, and instead, she seemed annoyed.
“Are you mad at me?” Sun Lan couldn’t help but feel wronged. His voice was hardly above a whisper, “What did I do wrong?”
Qi Guan Jinghui set her book aside and casually remarked, “When have I been mad at you?”
“Not mad? It’s clearly written on your face!”
Qi Guan Jinghui raised a smile that was devoid of warmth.
“Oh? Written on my face? Then take another look and tell me why I’m angry.”
Sun Lan: “…”
How could he possibly guess? If he guessed right, great, but if wrong, it would be the end of him.
After pondering, he couldn’t think of anything he did to offend her, unless… that foot-warming girl?
Qi Guan Jinghui said, “You guessed right, but there’s no reward.”
Since he wasn’t present, Qi Guan Jinghui occasionally looked out for the Sun Residence out of their long-standing friendship.
However, the heart of the servants had grown wild; like that foot-warming girl who harbored different thoughts, each time Qi Guan Jinghui arrived at the Sun Residence, she’d flaunt some poses that made Jinghui extremely irked. Gradually, Jinghui became too lazy to visit the Sun Residence anymore.
Just yesterday, she heard some juicy gossip about the Sun Residence—how could she not be angry?
Sun Lan let out a sigh of relief and hurriedly explained, “That girl has already been dealt with! I have no relations with such a scatterbrained maid.”
He was innocent!
Look at his sincere eyes!!!
Qi Guan Jinghui replied, “Whether you have a relation with her is none of my business.”
Though she said that, her demeanor softened a tad.
Only then did Sun Lan muster the courage to care about Qi Guan Jinghui’s left hand—who the heck hit you?
Qi Guan Jinghui glanced at her own left hand.
“Why don’t you ask how the person I hit is doing?”
Sun Lan let out an ‘ah,’ seemingly not catching where things had gone awry. He heard from Madam Qi Guan that Jinghui had her left hand broken; he was worried and could think of nothing else, instinctively believing Qi Guan Jinghui to be the weaker party, never considering the assailant’s fate.
“And how’s that person doing?”
Sun Lan was obedient; if Jinghui asked him to inquire, he would.
Qi Guan Jinghui scoffed, her youthful eyebrows holding a hint of cold charm, giving Sun Lan a sense of strange unfamiliarity.
“How could I possibly suffer loss? That couple of scoundrels naturally had their legs broken by me.”
Sun Lan was left dumbfounded.
Scoundrels… couple?
Those words came from Jinghui’s mouth?
Jinghui rolled her eyes and said, “What’s with that expression?”
“An utterly incredulous expression,” Sun Lan replied honestly.
So cute evolved into a fierce monster or something…
That’s big cute!
Jinghui stretched out her long leg and settled into a more comfortable position.
Sun Lan noticed her cute, sock-clad foot poking out from under her clothes and, fearing she might catch cold, took off his rabbit-fur cloak and draped it over her feet.
“Now tell me, what exactly happened?”
Qi Guan Jinghui replied, “It’s a long story.”
“I have plenty of time to hear your long story.”
Qi Guan Jinghui opened up, and Sun Lan finally understood the cause and effect.
Jinghui said, “The academy has been established for several years; in our early years, things were fine, but as the students grew older, their minds became less pure. One classmate, older than me by two years, her grades plummeted… then she ended up pregnant…”
Sun Lan gasped, “Pregnant?”
Jinghui nodded.
“Whose child is it?”
Jinghui said, “Some little noble’s illegitimate son in the city, who was also a student at the academy.”
“Why?”
Jinghui continued, “I asked her why, and what did she say? She said she came from a poor background, now of age but without any elder to handle marriage matters. She feared she wouldn’t be able to marry a good family in the future, so she had to make plans for herself. Coincidentally, a male student at the academy was interested in her, and so they became enamored. They… those shameless scoundrels dared to engage in illicit activities at the academy and ended up with a pregnancy, only to expose it when she couldn’t hide it anymore. The Teacher was furious and expelled them.”
To prevent such things from harming the students and the academy’s reputation, the teachers firmly prohibited occurrences alike.
According to private investigations, many girls nearing or having come of age shared similar worries.
However, the timing of the scandal was just right; although they harbored thoughts, they wouldn’t dare act.
Sun Lan listened, unsure of how to respond, and continued to hear Jinghui out.
“What do you think this story should end?”
Sun Lan guessed, “A proper marriage, happily ever after?”
Jinghui scoffed in response, “Did you believe what you just said?”
Sun Lan: “…”
Alright, even he didn’t believe it. In the past, a male student could take the female student as a concubine, after all, she was carrying the male student’s child; she’d had several years of education at the Golden Scales Academy, better than some illiterate concubine.
However, now things were tightly monitored; who would dare openly take a concubine?
The male student was only from a minor noble family; their family’s achievements weren’t enough to afford him the right to take a concubine.
No concubine, so could he openly marry her?
That was even less likely.
The female student slept with him before marriage, got pregnant, and her reputation was in ruins—how could she ever officially marry into the family?
A seemingly beautiful campus romance turned brutally real.
Either let the girl be an unnamed mistress, spending her life as his plaything.
Or the girl would give birth to the child for him, and he would count the child among the side branches as a bastard.
Or…
Both the girl and the child could disappear.
That male classmate and his family chose the third option.
They despised the girl for not valuing herself, for seducing a man before marriage, for being intimate with the guy while pregnant, causing him to be expelled from the academy.
After ten months of bearing the child, the female student regretted after giving birth; she endured much suffering, reminiscing about her carefree days in the academy, lamenting her foolishness for being tricked by him. After giving birth, she took the child to the academy, begging the teachers for a second chance.
But she had no awareness of where she went wrong, every word she said was just to absolve herself.
For instance, she said she had come of age, but her elders had long passed away, no one at home could arrange her marriage, and she feared that if she lingered a few more years, no one would want her, she wouldn’t be able to marry a good family hence had no future… and similar “unavoidable hardships,” that’s why she made such a mistake in a moment of confusion.
The female teacher of the girls’ class was furious at these theories.
Just so happens Jinghui was present, and she retaliated.
In the end—
In the end, they cornered Jinghui over her background, saying her father was a high-ranking minister, and she’d no worries over marriage… for example, many knew Sun Lan liked Jinghui, and their marriage was practically a done deal; she should shut her mouth and not complain…
At first, Jinghui could stay calm, but she quickly lost her composure because the girl began to lump Jinghui in with her, loaded with disdain and insults.
Jinghui couldn’t take it and fired back.
Had it been her old self, she might not have managed to retort.
However, she had undergone military training; the academy partnered with the stationed military camp, and during breaks, students could voluntarily sign up to experience military life. Many were put off, embarrassed to deal with those rough soldiers, while Qi Guan Jinghui went every time.
Staying at the military camp, she learned a lot, and while her temperament improved, she also sharpened her skill in cursing with nasty venom.
【I came to the academy to study, not to accumulate capital to serve men like you.】
【Don’t say I don’t have a marriage contract now; even if I did marry, I wouldn’t stay in the back courtyard.】
【If you can’t stand being disgraceful in your actions, let alone dragging so many girl students down with you—what kind of sin have you created?】
【Not knowing to repent while rambling such nonsense, you don’t even realize where you’ve gone wrong. Did I force you to do shameless things in this quiet place, the academy? Did I tear your clothes, spread your legs, and get you pregnant?】
【Golden Scales Academy is a pure land; you don’t cherish it, living blessed and unaware of your fortune, then you should just roll out soon, don’t waste an admission slot. There are countless women wanting to rise; those like you who are willing to sink should just leave early, don’t taint this place’s purity.】
How much pressure had the girls’ class of the Golden Scales Academy faced from rumors and societal scrutiny since its inception?
The teachers bore the weight and persevered, hoping these students would behave well and restore honor to the girls’ class—only to have such a disgraceful incident occur.
That female student had her face turn blue from Jinghui’s scolding.
In a fit of rage, she tried to lay hands on Jinghui.
She’d learned quite a few skills at the academy but didn’t use them to seek justice from the male student and his family; rather, she aimed them at Jinghui.
In terms of martial prowess, Jinghui couldn’t hold her own.
However, she had a good reputation in class and held considerable influence, having many supporters.
In the ensuing chaos, Jinghui’s left hand was fractured, while the other girl had her leg broken.
But that wasn’t enough for Jinghui; she led over twenty female classmates, bringing along house servants and guards to trash the male student’s home.
Sun Lan: “You really did trash it?”
Jinghui scoffed.
“Why shouldn’t I trash it? He started this mess, played with the academy’s female students, got someone pregnant and backed off, ruining the reputation of countless students over the years—just trashing their house is still too lenient. Isn’t he relying on his power? Let him experience what it feels like to be crushed by stronger authority. If the sky falls, my dad will hold it up, and even if Lord Lan Ting finds out, he won’t truly blame me.”
Sun Lan was at a loss for words.
Jinghui said, “This matter shouldn’t be resolved privately; hiding it would only harm the girls’ reputation at the academy. Instead, it should be dealt with openly, brazenly—let the world see. That way, they can’t go behind our backs to slander the academy’s students anymore.”
She did this, of course, to protect the academy’s female students.
What happened with that girl had brought tremendous harm to the girls’ class.
“Those narrow-minded and short-sighted ones only bring us down; expecting them to lift up the girls’ class is less reliable than doing it ourselves.”
Suddenly, Jinghui thought of something and scrutinized Sun Lan with a keen gaze, making him nervously fidget.
“Sun Lan.”
“I’m here.”
“Do you like me?”
“Y-yes, yes… but I have no intentions of overstepping…”
Jinghui said, “You like me, and you want to marry me?”
Sun Lan couldn’t help but blush, nodding slightly.
“That’s fine, but I have conditions.”
Sun Lan seemed to hear the sound of blooming flowers; it was the sound of his heart bursting with joy!!!
“So… you just agreed like that?”
His best buddy Feng Yi, hearing this news, looked on with a hint of pity.
