Villain: After I died, all the heroines cried themselves to sleep.

The academy is divided into primary school and university.

Children of noble families typically entered primary school at the age of eight to receive early education and learn the basics of the Six Arts.

When they reach the age of fifteen, they can enter university and receive more advanced education and training.

Unlike the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods in history.

This world possesses a power called spirit. Through their respective understanding and application of this spirit, various schools of thought have emerged, resulting in the current situation of a hundred schools of thought contending.

Therefore, the six arts of a gentleman in this world have become rites, arts, spirit, martial arts, calligraphy, and mathematics.

Gongsun Zheng was now sitting under the shade of a tree, watching his teacher impart Lingwu to his students.

Beside him was a basic manual on spiritual energy breathing techniques.

This "Primordial Heart Method" is very rudimentary, and doesn't even have a ranking system. Gongsun Zheng only had to read it once before he successfully began to cultivate it.

The status panel on the system also changes accordingly.

……

Name: Gongsun Zheng

[Personality: Shameless]

[Talent: Celestial Appearance (S)]

[Realm Level: First Stage of Acquired Realm]

[Technique: Primordial Heart Method (D)]

[Spiritual Skill: None]

……

Although it's still quite shabby, at least it's not a complete blank anymore.

Exit the system and return your attention to the classroom.

The first thing Gongsun Zheng saw was Tang Tong, who was standing there looking very smug.

Tang Tong's father was Ma Fujun Tang She, one of the three great generals of the Tang Dynasty.

More than ten years later, Tang Tong will inherit Ma Fujun's title and official position, becoming a general in charge of the Tang state and resisting the attack of the Liang state's army.

So this guy is a very important person.

After all, in a predetermined fate, without his theoretically incompetent opponent, King Zheng of Liang might not have been able to cripple the Tang Kingdom so easily.

"No matter what, we must ensure that Tang Tong returns to his original path and becomes a great general of the Tang Kingdom."

Gongsun Zheng nodded thoughtfully.

They shifted their gaze away from Tang Tong.

He then noticed a very inconspicuous boy among the students.

"Li Jin".

Gongsun Zheng silently uttered the boy's name.

Despite Li Jin's unremarkable, ordinary-looking face, he is actually the true protagonist of the future of the Tang Dynasty.

His father was Li Qi, the first general of the Tang Dynasty, who fought against the northern barbarians and resisted the Liang Kingdom in the west, single-handedly supporting the Tang Dynasty's border defenses.

This forced Liang Wangzheng's mediocre generals, who couldn't defeat the enemy head-on, to resort to underhanded tactics to kill them.

Li Jin himself went into hiding after the fall of the Tang Dynasty, becoming an anonymous swordsman wandering the martial world.

When King Liang Zheng went astray, he led the remnants of the Tang dynasty in an uprising and completed the restoration of the kingdom.

It can only be said that the Li family of the Tang Dynasty is indeed worthy of their name; none of them are easy to deal with.

Gongsun Zheng was considering whether he should kill Li Jin as soon as possible.

But then I thought, when Li Jin restores his kingdom, King Zheng of Liang will be dead, so there's no point in killing him.

"In that case, let's keep it."

Gongsun Zheng shook his head.

Ultimately, oppressive government is more ferocious than a tiger. Without King Liang's exorbitant taxes and levies, how could the people have rebelled without cause?

This may also be why Liang Wang Zheng was portrayed as a villain.

The enemy of all people is, of course, the villain.

At last.

Gongsun Zheng looked at a young girl.

The girl's name was Tang Ning, and she was the most beloved daughter of Lord Anling, Tang Sheng.

Lord Anling liked to recruit chivalrous heroes from the martial arts world as his retainers, and Tang Ning, influenced by this, became quite interested in cultivating spiritual martial arts.

She styled herself as a chivalrous woman of the martial arts world and often led a few followers to fight for justice.

Even Gongsun Zheng had received favors from the other party.

When he was ostracized by everyone, Tang Ning spoke up for him and helped him out of the predicament.

Gongsun Zheng stayed at the academy largely to cultivate good relations with Tang Ning and others, develop connections within the Tang Kingdom, and ultimately change the outcome of Zhuang Ji's death.

……

"I have said everything I need to say. Now you can cultivate on your own. If you have any questions, you can come to the inner room to ask me for clarification."

After informing his students of some basic principles of martial arts, the master left them to figure it out themselves.

No one found it strange.

After all, they were from aristocratic families and basically all had their own family traditions.

The academy was well aware of this, and its teaching was very relaxed, allowing students to come and go as they pleased, relying entirely on their self-discipline.

So after the teacher left, everyone immediately dispersed and started playing in groups of three or five in the courtyard.

Gongsun Zheng continued to sit in the shade of the tree and observe.

Soon, he saw Tang Tong leading several hooligans toward him.

"Young Master, you accidentally fell into the water a while ago. Instead of staying at home and crying to your parents, you've returned to the academy so quickly."

Tang Tong revealed a malicious smile.

"What are you all doing here?"

Gongsun Zheng feigned timidity and shrank back.

"It's nothing. We just saw you being so timid and coy, like a weak girl, without any manly spirit. So, since we're classmates, we decided to teach you what a real man is."

After Tang Tong finished speaking, he and the other young rascals rushed forward and surrounded Gongsun Zheng.

With nowhere to escape, Gongsun Zheng was half-forced by Tang Tong and the others to a clearing deep in the peach grove.

"In ancient times, gentlemen used swords for self-defense. How could a gentleman not understand the art of swordsmanship?"

Tang Tong tossed a wooden sword to Gongsun Zheng and then ordered the other ruffians to scatter, leaving only him and Gongsun Zheng on the field.

He brandished the wooden sword in his hand, striking a confident swordsmanship stance.

"Young Master, a gentleman should judge skill by sword. Today, let us settle this with our swords!"

"Isn't this... not a good idea? You'll get hurt."

Gongsun Zheng avoided eye contact and carefully picked up the sword from the ground.

"What's there to be afraid of! A real man sheds blood, not tears. What's a little injury!"

Tang Tong shouted passionately.

Without waiting for Gongsun Zheng's reply, he charged straight at Gongsun Zheng.

"Take this!"

The other delinquents wore wicked smiles of triumph.

It's as if I can already see the scene of the weak and incompetent Gongsun Zheng being bullied to the point of crying for his parents.

next second.

Snapped!

A wooden sword flew into the air, forming a parabola before landing on the ground.

"..."

The wicked smiles on the faces of the delinquents froze.

The surroundings suddenly became quiet.

On the open ground, Tang Tong was seen painfully clutching his swollen hand, while Gongsun Zheng stood there leisurely.

"I told you not to fight, fighting will get you hurt, why didn't you listen?"

Gongsun Zheng smiled broadly.

He casually flicked Tang Tong's sword away, yet his eyes were full of innocence.

"A gentleman wears a sword to demonstrate his virtue; martial virtue is also a virtue. So, it's my turn next, right? Don't cry!"

After saying that, Gongsun Zheng brandished his sword and began slashing at Tang Tong's head and face.

Although his body is very weak, dealing with a few thugs is a piece of cake for him.

Snapped!

With a flick of his sword, Gongsun Zheng slapped Tang Tong's face until it was swollen.

"Ouch! That hurts!"

Tang Tong cried out in pain.

He covered his swollen face, the excruciating pain causing tears to stream down his face uncontrollably.

"A man doesn't easily shed tears, why are you crying now?"

Gongsun Zheng blinked.

The sword in his hand continued to strike at Tang Tong.

Faced with Gongsun Zheng's attack, Tang Tong no longer cared about saving face and fled in all directions, covering his head.

The delinquents rubbed their eyes, staring dumbfounded at the scene before them.

It feels like I'm dreaming.

Coming to their senses, they immediately stepped forward to stop them.

"Stop it!"

Gongsun Zheng's smile grew even brighter as the crowd surrounded him.

"Aren't we going to attack together without any martial ethics? That doesn't seem like the behavior of a gentleman. Fine, then I'll just have to win people over with virtue."

Instead of retreating, he charged straight at the troublemakers, like a tiger among sheep.

In no time at all, the delinquents were whipped so badly by Gongsun Zheng that they were all crying and screaming for their parents.

"Don't run away! Didn't you say you were going to teach me manhood? Running away isn't something a virtuous gentleman would do, is it?"

"Young Master, I was wrong, please forgive me..."

"Waaah... Don't come any closer! Don't come near me!"

"Waaah... Dad... Mom... I want to go home... I want to go home..."

When Tang Ning and the others arrived at the scene, they saw Tang Tong and his gang of thugs rolling on the ground and howling in pain.

In contrast, Gongsun Zheng stood there with an innocent expression.

Although his clothes were a little disheveled and he looked somewhat tired, he was not injured overall.

When he saw Tang Ning and the others, his little face immediately turned pitiful.

Tang Ning's sense of justice erupted, and without saying a word, she stepped forward, shielding Gongsun Zheng behind her, and then glared angrily at the wicked teenagers rolling on the ground.

"This is outrageous! How could you do this, bullying Young Master Sun again and again!"

"W-what?"

Tang Tongyi, who was in the lead, looked up with a bewildered expression.

Tang Ning looked at Tang Tong in front of her and was momentarily confused.

"Who are you?"

"Pfft..."

The others couldn't help but laugh when they saw Tang Tong's bruised and swollen face, resembling a pig's head.