Jiapingguan Chronicle

"They came in all high and mighty, and left looking utterly dejected?" Jin Miaomiao shook her head helplessly. "What's the point of all this trouble? What are they after? Just want the clerk to glance at them?"

That's roughly the idea.

"Huh?" Jin Miaomiao was taken aback. "Wouldn't it be better to go and say hello properly and introduce yourself?"

“They must have done that before, but Master ignored them. They felt neglected and were probably a little resentful!” Third Master raised an eyebrow. “They’re all sons of wealthy families, pampered since birth. They’ve never been treated like this before, so naturally they’ll take it to heart. Besides, boys this age are inexplicably strange, the kind of strange that makes people annoyed. They don’t want to play by the rules; they prefer to take the unconventional approach.” He took a sip of tea and said, “The more Master ignores them, the more curious they become, and the more they want to get close to him.”

“Yes.” Xiao Fengqi smiled. “It’s just like…” At this point, his face couldn’t help but turn red. He looked at Qi Zhifeng, who was staring at him with a mischievous grin, and cleared his throat to appear calm. “It’s just like some young children from certain tribes who are curious about girls from other tribes and deliberately try to provoke them.”

"Young Master Xiao," Jin Miaomiao looked at him with a half-smile, "Your face is so red, are you talking about yourself?"

"No, no!" Xiao Fengqi denied subconsciously, rubbing his ears which were already a little hot, and said, "I was just giving an example. I have a friend who is like this."

"Really?" Jin Miaomiao was about to ask who this friend was when she saw Qi Zhifeng shake his head at her, gesturing that they would talk later. She raised an eyebrow, temporarily letting Xiao Fengqi go, and turned to look at the Third Master. "Actually, it's not surprising that they're interested in the clerk. Before returning to the Yun family, the clerk seemed to be quite remarkable, right?"

"What did the Yun family say?" Third Grandfather thought for a moment, "The chosen elder has this kind of imposing aura without being angry." He looked at everyone and smiled, "This is not my opinion, but the opinion of the previous elder of the Yun family. He said that although my master always gives people a cold, indifferent feeling, as if he keeps people at a distance, most people are unconsciously attracted to him, approach him, understand him, and trust him."

"The unique temperament of an unparalleled genius?" Shen Cha raised an eyebrow. "Surely not all elders possess this quality, right?"

"Of course, otherwise how could he be called the chosen elder? It's no surprise that he caused such a stir in the academy." Third Grandfather smiled. "However, the elder said that what surprised them all was that my master could imitate other people's words and actions so perfectly. In their minds, such an ethereal person would not do such things."

"Master is quite a humorous person, isn't he?" "He only gradually became humorous after he needed to take on apprentices and coax children." Third Master smiled. "My master said that if he hadn't taken on apprentices, he might have always been a very serious and unapproachable person. But the more serious a person is, the more attention he attracts. For example, those sons of wealthy merchants are very curious about Master, but they can't get close to him on a regular basis. They can only catch a glimpse of him from afar at lunchtime. If they want to get close, they have to resort to rather special or even extreme methods. But at their age, the only childish thing they can think of is blocking the road and provoking him." He looked at Xue Mu, who had already mastered the art of grilling meat, and breathed a sigh of relief. "The son of a wealthy merchant who led the group was only eleven or twelve years old. The others who played with him were about the same age. The fact that they could play together means that they shared the same ideas and had the same style of doing things. After Master exposed their provocation this time, they were even more unwilling to give up and provoked him several more times in groups."

"The results of it?"

"There was no result." The Third Grandfather shook his head with a wry smile. "Later, he angered Master and went directly to the First Elder, demanding to speak directly with the parents of these children. He said that if their children continued to harass him in the academy, they should no longer study there, because their academy was too small to accommodate such a big Buddha."

"Well done, sir!" Jin Miaomiao clapped her hands. "The way to deal with people like that is simple and brutal. And then what happened?"

"I don't know if it was because someone in the family told them to come and apologize to Master, but they claimed they had no ulterior motives and just wanted to get to know each other." The Third Master sighed. "Master asked him what he wanted to do after getting to know them, and he said, 'Wouldn't it be better to become friends? We'll be studying at the academy for several years, and all we'll be around are family members. What's the point? Getting to know more people will allow us to exchange ideas on our studies.' He said he knew the Yun family members couldn't take the imperial examinations, but there was no harm in exchanging ideas with each other."

"Speaking of which," Xia Chen thought for a moment, looked at the shrimp that were being grilled, flipped them over, and said, "What he said makes a lot of sense. Even if the Yun family's children can't take the imperial examinations, their ideas can still be conveyed through these children who can, right?"

“That’s true.” Xue Ruitian nodded. “Although the Yun family is a family of imperial advisors, there can only be one imperial advisor. Although some of his ideas can reach the ears of the emperor, the family can’t just say whatever they want. If that were the case, the Yun family would have no place to stand long ago. It would be good if we could express our opinions through other channels.”

"Yes, that's what the former Grand Elder said too. Actually, the Yun family children also want to meet people from the outside world and see what it's like." The Third Grandfather sighed. "But when my master was studying, nothing changed. The Yun family children were still in the inner courtyard, and the children from outside were in the outer courtyard. In the third year after my master left the academy, Yunshan Academy officially announced that the inner courtyard was a forbidden area for the Yun family and would no longer be open to the public. The outer courtyard was the place for normal study, and the Yun family children would have to study in the outer courtyard with the students from outside. Before making this decision, the Yun family consulted everyone internally, especially the children who were preparing to enter the academy and those who were already studying there. Everyone agreed and was very happy, thinking that it should have been like this a long time ago."

"But then another problem arises, right?"

"Yes!" The third grandfather shrugged helplessly. "A few years later, some students couldn't handle the pressure and broke down. That's when the first person jumped off the back mountain." (End of Chapter)