Tang Dynasty Little Godfather

Chapter 153 Mother and Son's Battle of Wits
This verdict was lower than Wang Xi had predicted; he thought Li Longji would definitely execute Shang Gongbu.

However, he wouldn't dwell on it, since it involved diplomacy. He was just glad that he had dealt Shang Gongbu a heavy blow back then, otherwise he would have suffered a huge loss. He silently prayed that Shang Gongbu would be impotent for life.

After two days of rest, Wang Xi prepared to go out because they still had to participate in the singing competition for the Lantern Festival. They didn't get a holiday at all during this festival.

Just before leaving, Wang Xi suddenly called Wang Facai over.

"What are your orders, young master?"

"Go and arrange for a few people to secretly protect Hongxiu," Wang Xi said. "I don't want to put myself in danger again."

Wang Facai nodded and said, "I understand."

Wang Xi added, "But don't let the teacher notice."

Wang Facai nodded.

Wang Xi suddenly laughed and said, "I thought you would feel embarrassed."

Wang Facai said, "This is not a difficult task."

Wang Xi asked, "Then why was no one secretly protecting me?"

Wang Facai said, "This is what the young master requested himself. If the young master has any needs..."

"Keep it up."

Wang Xi said, "I don't want someone always following me around."

After saying that, he went out the door.

Upon arriving at the academy, Wang Xi encountered Li Jieman and immediately pounced on him.

"You fatso, you promised not to destroy anything."

"Oh dear! I was so worried when I saw you faint, so I sent someone to take you to see a doctor. I was just concerned about you, but who knew you would be so despicable as to pretend to faint."

"Get the hell out of here. Watch my move, 'Hidden Dragon in Concealed Power'."

"Hey! I'll block! Hey, I'll block again!"

Wang Xi and Li Jieman fought and chased each other as they entered the academy. After this incident, their friendship was even stronger than before.

"Sparrow!"

Just then, Cui Gu'er and the others ran over, looking Wang Xi over. "Are you alright?"

"Small thing!"

Wang Xi gently rubbed the bruises on her face, then looked them over and asked, "Are you all alright?"

Orphan Cui shook his head and said, "None of us were injured."

Xue Jun said with great regret, "It's just a pity that the situation was urgent at the time, and none of us had any suitable weapons. Otherwise, we would have killed those Tibetan bastards on the spot."

At that time, Li Jieman and Wang Xi were the most seriously injured. While they were besieging the four Tibetan men outside, those Tibetan men were only focused on rescuing Shang Gongbu and had no heart to fight anymore.

Shang Gongbu was also a skilled fighter; if they hadn't been drinking, the two of them might not have been able to win.

Linghu Baodi suddenly sighed and said, "What's even more regrettable is that everyone is talking about our fight now, but not many people are discussing our performance at the charity banquet."

Although the imperial court was completely on their side, and the students' parents did not blame them, the incident still had some impact on Wuming Academy.

Originally, Wuming Academy was the center of attention at the charity banquet, a major topic of discussion, but this incident shifted the focus of everyone's conversation.

The key issue is that she is both a playboy and a courtesan. Although Hongxiu has been a teacher for many days, she is still regarded as a courtesan by outsiders, and almost no one regards her as a teacher.

This leads many people to feel extremely disgusted upon hearing it, and they won't delve into the rights and wrongs of the matter. To stand up for the courtesans is seen as jealousy and involuntary, reminding people of the dark years during Wu Zetian's reign.

I had just made a good impression on my elders, and now it's all ruined.

The gull-headed gull is still a gull-headed gull; it hasn't changed at all.

Although Wu Xin's move was not fatal, it was indeed disgusting and successfully overshadowed Wang Xi.

Moreover, Li Linfu also benefited greatly from it.

The success of the charity banquet was undeniable, and Wang Xi should have been praised. However, no one wanted to, and they suddenly remembered that the idea came from Li Linfu. So they pushed Li Linfu forward, intentionally avoiding Wang Xi.

It certainly hurts morale.

Wang Xi laughed and said, "What are we doing? It's not to please others. That's too tiring. The more they hate us, the happier we should be."

Xue Jun nodded and said, "That's right! We don't care."

“Not only do we not care, we’ll make sure they have a hard time.” Wang Xi laughed. “The Lantern Festival is coming soon, so let’s go and cause trouble then, and make them suffer in silence.”

At this moment, Huangfu Sengnian came over and said, "Brother Que, Xiaoman, the master wants to see you."

Wang Xi was taken aback. "Seng Nian, why are you wearing a veil, you're a man?"

Li Jieman chuckled and said, "His martial arts skills are lacking; he whipped himself in the face."

Huangfu Sengnian, enraged, said, "If I hadn't been afraid of hurting you, I wouldn't have been the one to fall for it."

Wang Xi quickly said, "Monk Nian, please don't be angry. It's all my fault. I'll treat you all to a meal later to apologize."

Huangfu Sengnian said, "We'll talk about this later. Right now, the master wants you to go there right away."

Upon hearing this, Wang Xi couldn't help but frown.

Xue Jun, however, assumed that Wang Xi was afraid of being punished by the teacher, so he said, "Don't worry, Brother Que, the teacher has already praised us and didn't blame us at all."

Wang Xi smiled and nodded, saying, "Do you even need to tell me? The master is definitely looking for me to come over and give me a little red flower."

"Little red flower?"

"It means a reward. Okay, I'll go over there first."

Wang Xi and Li Jieman followed Huangfu Sengnian to the back hall.

"what's up?"

After leaving Xue Jun and the others, Wang Xi quietly asked Huangfu Sengnian.

Huangfu Sengnian said, "Just now, Hongxiu handed over her resignation to you, sir."

Wang Xi was startled. "Why?"

Huangfu Sengnian said, "It's because Hongxiu believes that she always brings trouble to the academy."

This woman really loves to make trouble for herself! Wang Xi frowned slightly.

Li Jieman asked, "What should we do then?"

Wang Xi said, "How would I know? Let's see what she has to say." Upon arriving at the back hall, Wang Xi first bowed to Tao Mo.

Hongxiu glanced at Wang Xi secretly, and seeing that he was unharmed, she breathed a slight sigh of relief.

Tao Mo looked Wang Xi up and down and asked, "Are you alright?"

"I'm sorry to have worried you, sir. I'm fine."

Wang Xi shook his head.

Tao Mo smiled and said, "That's good. None of you have disappointed your master."

"Thank you for the compliment, sir."

"I didn't call you here to praise you." Tao Mo glanced at Hongxiu. "Just now, Hong Niangzi handed me her resignation. After all, you invited Hong Niangzi, so I think you have the right to know about this."

Wang Xi then looked at Hongxiu, "Teacher, is this true?"

Hongxiu nodded slightly.

Wang Xi immediately said, "This matter is not the fault of the teacher. The teacher is also a victim. Even the imperial court thinks so. Why is the teacher in such a hurry to leave?"

Hongxiu smiled slightly and said, "Teacher has never thought that this is the teacher's fault, but the fact is that this matter was caused by the teacher, and this is not the first time. It may happen again in the future."

Therefore, after careful consideration, the teacher decided to leave the academy.

Wang Xi said, "This is just an accident, a coincidence. It doesn't happen often. Teacher, don't overthink it."

Hongxiu shook her head slightly and said, "This is not an accident. As our academy's reputation grows, it will inevitably attract all sorts of troubles, and I will only become a weapon for them to attack the academy."

Moreover, this was also for my own sake. When I wanted to leave Pingkangfang, I hoped to find a quiet place away from all the troubles, which is why I agreed to come here. But as it turns out, not only can I not escape the troubles here, but I will also attract more trouble.

This is not what the teacher wanted either.

After saying that, she looked at Tao Mo and said, "I am very grateful for your care during this time. I hope you can grant me this favor again."

Tao Mo was in a dilemma.

This was so sudden, but he had to maintain his public image and couldn't force others to do it.

Wang Xi suddenly said, "Of course we can understand your decision, and we will respect it. However, we still have to participate in the singing competition in a few days. If you leave now, it will definitely dampen our morale and affect our performance in the competition. We hope you can stay a few more days so that we can personally see you off after the singing competition."

Tao Mo quickly said, "Miss Hong, I will not force you. Would you be willing to stay a few more days?"

Hongxiu thought for a moment, then nodded and said, "Alright. Then I'll stay a few more days."

After saying that, she stood up and bowed to Tao Mo: "Sir, if there is nothing else, Hongxiu will take her leave now."

Tao Mo nodded and said, "Whatever decision Hong Niangzi makes, I only hope that she will not take this matter to heart. You have done nothing wrong in this matter."

Hongxiu smiled and nodded, saying, "Hongxiu will certainly keep your teachings in mind. Farewell."

She nodded slightly, then turned and left.

No sooner had she left than Li Jieman said, "Brother Que, you're not just going to let your teacher go like that, are you?"

"of course not."

Wang Xi said, "Didn't you realize that this is just a delaying tactic of mine? With Lao Tao here, I can't really make any moves."

Huangfu Sengnian said, "But judging from the teacher's attitude, he seems very determined. I'm afraid it won't be easy for him to stay."

Wang Xi frowned slightly and said, "Given the teacher's personality, it's normal for her to want to leave the academy after being affected by this. However, I think she made the decision too quickly. The teacher is meticulous. How could she not have considered that we are about to participate in the singing competition? If she were to submit her resignation at this time, it would be a very irresponsible thing to do. This is not like her."

Li Jieman asked, "So there's another reason behind this?"

"It must be."

Wang Xi nodded and said, "Xiaoman, I'll be treating everyone later. Teacher probably won't be attending, but I'll have someone invite Qin'er over. You can go and ask Qin'er about it then."

Li Jie hurriedly replied, "Leave it to me."

Qin'er was no match for these people. Soon, Li Jieman got information out of Qin'er, because Qin'er didn't want to leave either, but if Hongxiu left, she would definitely leave with her.

But this news was truly adding insult to injury for Wang Xi.

"Is that my mother?"

Wang Xi looked at Li Jieman in surprise.

Li Jie nodded and said, "According to Qin'er, her aunt came to see the teacher."

Wang Xi sat down, looking somewhat helpless.

Li Jie hurriedly said, "Go and try to persuade your aunt!"

Wang Xi sighed, "You don't know my mother's personality. This time she took action herself, which proves that there is no room for negotiation."

Princess Xue usually doesn't interfere, but once she takes action, it means that the matter has exceeded her limit of tolerance and is almost irreversible.

Of course, Wang Xi wouldn't blame Princess Xue. Putting herself in her shoes, as a mother, her actions were perfectly understandable.

As Hongxiu herself said, it wasn't her fault, but it was because of her that it happened.

This is the fact.

Princess Xue would naturally not allow a courtesan to affect the royal family, and her intervention at this time was already a sign of respect for Tao Mo.

Li Jieman urged, "Then go and make a scene with your aunt, what are you afraid of?"

Wang Xi said irritably, "If it were my father, I would dare to do it, but the problem is that this time it's my mother who's involved. Are you asking me to go and make a scene with my mother? Are you sending me to my death?"

Li Jieman said, "What should we do then? Are we just going to let the teacher go like this?"

"Of course not."

Wang Xi said, "However, when facing my mother, we can only outsmart her, not act brute force. At present, we can only ask one person for help."

Li Jieman asked, "Who?"

"His Majesty!"

"what?"

Li Jie was startled.

Huangfu Sengnian said, "For such a trivial matter, you go to His Majesty for help. Don't you think His Majesty is already annoyed enough?"

Wang Xi said, "I am a favored minister. If I don't ask His Majesty for help, who else can I ask?"

After saying that, he stood up and said, "I'll go to the palace first."

(End of this chapter)