Arknights: Studying medicine can't save Terra

The Grand Tutor's gaze swept over Qi Yan and his sister, then over the three sisters of Nianxi Ling, and finally settled on Liang Xun.

"Liang Xun, pack your things and have the person who will replace you as prefect arrive in Shangshu within a month."

The moment the Grand Tutor spoke, Liang Xun's expression changed.

However, Ning Ciqiu reacted even more strongly than Liang Xun.

Her bright eyes widened slightly as she stared at the Grand Tutor with a look that seemed to speak volumes, silently questioning what she would do if the Grand Tutor dismissed Liang Xun.

Liang Xun pondered for a moment, but couldn't find the answer, so he simply asked directly:

"I, Liang... do not understand the Grand Tutor's intentions."

"Come with me to the capital." The Grand Tutor didn't keep anyone in suspense and directly stated his plan.

Liang Xun was taken aback for a moment, then realized the deeper meaning behind the Grand Tutor's words. He was clearly planning to keep Liang Xun by his side and promote him.

Taihe, who was listening nearby, looked distressed.

He knew that the consequences of the decisions he made in the illusion had already been revealed at this moment.

I still came out on the wrong foot.

Just as Taihe was wallowing in self-pity, he suddenly heard Liang Xun speak again:

"I, Liang, thank you, Grand Tutor, but I, Liang, still..."

"Ning Ciqiu congratulates Lord Liang on his promotion." Ning Ciqiu quickly interrupted Liang Xun's reckless act.

Liang Xun opened his mouth, but couldn't finish his sentence.

"Minister Ning."

Just as Ning Ciqiu was giving Liang Xun meaningful glances, she was suddenly called by the Grand Tutor and quickly regained her composure, bowing and listening attentively.

"Yumen has changed its route from the established route," the Grand Tutor said abruptly.

Ning Ciqiu was somewhat confused and tentatively asked:

"Is Yumen City a refuge from natural disasters, or...?"

"It has another purpose." The Grand Tutor's lips curled into a smile. "You go to Yumen first. Liang Xun and I will go there after we finish our business in the capital."

Upon hearing this, Ning Ciqiu immediately perked up and said loudly, "Understood!"

After answering, Ning Ciqiu immediately looked excitedly at Liang Xun, only to find that the latter was frowning slightly, thinking about other things.

The little deer girl immediately pursed her lips again, silently looked away, and never looked at Liang Xun again.

Belatedly realizing something was amiss, Liang Xun looked around but found nothing unusual, and immediately returned to his own thoughts.

The Grand Tutor, who had been silently observing all of this, was speechless.

He sighed inwardly for the unfortunate Ning Ciqiu, his gaze shifting to Taihe.

"Has the Director of the Year's Office achieved anything this time?"

Taihe wanted to say that if Shangshu were to be at peace, it would be the greatest achievement of the Sisuitai, but he didn't have the courage to do so.

He couldn't help but groan inwardly.

In this Shang Shu incident, he was first dragged along by Qi Yan, and then he was busy running around in Wang's illusion. He was just as tired as anyone else, but he really only accompanied the others the whole time. He couldn't get a word in edgewise or lend a hand.

The Grand Tutor saw the bitterness in Taihe's heart, but did not say anything to lecture her:

"We will not pursue Si Suitai's mistake for now. You have more important matters to attend to. I now order you to take Zuo Le and confirm the whereabouts of all the fragments of Wang."

"……Yes."

Taihe reluctantly agreed.

After all that work, he didn't get any credit or reward, and in the end, all the hard work fell on his shoulders.

Zuo Le was completely unaware of all this. Instead, he was secretly excited because he had been given such an important task, and he couldn't help but raise his eyebrows.

Noticing Zuo Le's unusual expression, he seemed to feel a sense of inadequacy and a desire for Rhodes Island to be better.

Thinking of this, Taihe subconsciously looked at the edge of the courtyard, where Qi Yan was multitasking, dozing off, sucking on his younger sister, and listening to the lively chatter.

But just as her gaze shifted halfway, Taihe suddenly awoke with a start, realizing that the Grand Tutor was still there.

He quickly forced his gaze down and stared intently at a floor tile.

The Grand Tutor paid no attention to Taihe's little actions, his gaze wandering again before finally settling on the three sisters of the New Year's Eve ceremony.

"You've done a good job..." the Grand Tutor actually praised.

Ling smiled but didn't speak immediately. However, Nian, whose mouth was full of ink, suddenly brightened up.

“…Besides you, Nian.” The Grand Tutor added, “You made a private contact with Qi Yan, which is a first offense; you plotted to destroy the Sui Beast, which is a second offense; and you tempted Bai Tianshi to control thunder within the city, which is a third offense.”

Having retold your mistakes, do you know they are wrong?

Upon hearing this, Nian immediately bristled and was about to retort when her eldest sister gently tapped her head with a wine pot.

"You must not be disrespectful to the Grand Tutor," the magistrate admonished.

"I haven't said anything yet!" Nian said, looking wronged.

"If you tell me, it won't be as simple as just giving you a tap."

Ling reached out and rubbed Nian's head, then looked at the Grand Tutor: "I suppose the Grand Tutor summoned the three of us back not simply to settle scores afterward."

It was not surprising that the Grand Tutor was ordered to guess his thoughts:

"The main purpose of my plan this time is to see the attitudes of the three of you."

Faced with the mischief of the year's phase, even though the year and the evening were no match for it, they had no intention of letting the year's phase wreak havoc on Shangshu.

Seeing that you are still willing to stand with the people of Great Yan is enough. I have some arrangements to make afterward, but considering that you will be traveling to Yumen with Qi Yan, I won't rush to finish nagging now.”

Reiwa Nian didn't say anything, but Yuri Boli said, "Weren't you going to Rhodes Island to enjoy your own workstation? Why are you still running around outside?"

When Qi Yan saw that the topic had turned to Rhodes Island, he immediately sprang up from Qi Lin's shoulder and walked over to the group in a few steps.

“Da Xigua, you can go to Rhodes Island to join on your own, but I don’t have any token to prove my identity.” Qi Yan spread his hands and said, “If you recklessly lose it, you might get arrested and locked in the lowest level of Rhodes Island, in a room where no detector can find you, and you’ll be interrogated severely.”

Xi: "...Fine, I'll go with you."

When the Grand Tutor and the others saw that Qi Yan had so easily subdued Xi, they couldn't help but shake their heads with amusement.

But soon, the Grand Tutor's smile faded, and he said to Qi Yan seriously:

"May I speak with you privately?"

Chapter 869 The Grand Tutor's Test

Upon hearing the Grand Tutor's words, Liang Xun and the others bowed and excused themselves. Ling Ye shook his wine pot and took his two younger sisters to the street to find wine to drink.

Qi Yan was somewhat surprised to see the Grand Tutor being so proactive:

“You are the first old man who took the initiative to come to my nursing home.”

No, buddy!

I just wanted to talk to you alone, how did it suddenly turn into me saying I'm going to your nursing home?

Your math teacher didn't teach you this; it takes time, right?

Qi Yan disregarded what the Grand Tutor was thinking and casually put his arm around the other's shoulder:

“You’re a big shot now, and you’ve been so proactive, so out of respect for Lao Wei, I’ll give you a 15% discount. No need to thank me.”

The Grand Tutor forced back the curse words that were on the tip of his tongue.

He raised his hand and slapped away Qi Yan's dog paw, trying to remain calm, and said:

"I'm not planning to retire yet; I have something serious to discuss with you today."

Qi Yan pointed at himself and said with a laugh, "I'm not a decent person, so what serious business can you possibly have with me?"

Grand Tutor: "..."

He realized that he had truly met a formidable opponent.

When Qi Yan gets ruthless, he even curses himself!

"Lord Qi Yan, please don't joke." The Grand Tutor tried his best to keep his composure. "I have actually been quite concerned about what you said earlier."

"What?"

"You're saying the timeframe is running out?"

"See, this is a misunderstanding." Qi Yan clapped his hands, then spread his hands. "I was just using a riddle to scare Sui Lao Er, so riddle makers are really too wicked."

I was just saying that if Sui Lao Er wanted to learn from me, he wouldn't have the time, and I didn't really predict he would die... Furthermore, if he were to die soon, I would still try my best to save him out of consideration for the other Sui beast agents.”

The Grand Tutor tried his best to absorb the meaning behind Qi Yan's words.

He asked again, "Why do you collect these agents of the Year Beast?"

"Could you perhaps reveal a bit about your plans to me, so that the Yan Kingdom can avoid conflict with your actions?"

"You guys are really weird."

Qi Yan couldn't help but make a "old man, subway, cell phone" face: "I'm just looking for a giant beast and collecting some handsome men and beautiful women along the way, is that what you call a plan?"

Seeing that Qi Yan was not prepared to speak, the Grand Tutor settled for second best:

"On your upcoming trip to Yumen, I can represent the Great Yan to deal with that giant beast for you, but I hope you will not take action there."

"Is there such a good thing?"

The Grand Tutor shook his head solemnly: "My actions are not entirely to help you, but also to guard against Wang taking the opportunity to learn more about you in the shadows."

He is very persistent and will not give up just because of your warning. Please do not be too careless. All the signs so far indicate that he is interested in learning various skills.

"That sounds quite inspiring."

Qi Yan didn't care at all.

If Wang could truly learn this skill from him, he wouldn't need to study how to replace the Sui Beast; it would be much simpler to just raise his arms and shout, "I don't eat beef!"

The Grand Tutor had his hands behind his back, knowing that Qi Yan hadn't listened to him.

He was helpless about this and could only look up at the sky and admire the clear morning sky to soothe his mood.

After calming his anxiety, the Grand Tutor withdrew his gaze:

“If you really want to bring the three sisters of the New Year’s Eve Order back to Rhodes Island, I will not stop you, nor will I be able to stop you. However, the Si Sui Terrace needs to arrange for people to be on Rhodes Island to monitor them.”

"Zuo Le is a good choice," Qi Yan suggested.

The Grand Tutor casually agreed, then added, "If the Yan Kingdom has any needs, we will still contact them and reach a deal. I need to inform you of this in advance."

Qi Yan was so angry upon hearing this that he chuckled:

“You guys only dare to be so arrogant because the three sisters are easy to talk to. If it weren’t for their somewhat favorable feelings towards Yan Kingdom, they would have rebelled long ago under your exploitation and xenophobia.”

Do you have a favorable impression of Yan?

The Grand Tutor clearly disagreed: "These agents' goodwill is not for the Yan Kingdom, but for the people they come into contact with."

"At this point, they've severed ties between the common people and the sacred Yan Kingdom?" Qi Yan mocked.

"No." The Grand Tutor ignored the sarcasm in Qi Yan's words and said calmly, "In my opinion, the common people belong to Yan, but Yan is not only composed of these common people."

The agents have forged friendships with some people in Yan today and are willing to treat Yan with goodwill, but what about a hundred years from now, or a thousand years from now?

When the agents finally come to their senses and find that everything around them has changed, will they still care about Yan Kingdom?

"You're thinking pretty far ahead."

"Because I sit in this position, because I am the Grand Tutor of the Yan Kingdom."

The Grand Tutor looked directly into Qi Yan's eyes: "Actually, my attitude towards you is the same. You are still relatively friendly to Yan Kingdom because of Wei Yanwu, Lin Gerui, Chen Huijie and other people."

But when these people leave with the passage of time, what attitude will you continue to have towards the Yan Kingdom?

To extend this further, it seems to me that your contact with Rhodes Island is due to people, not Rhodes Island itself. When those familiar faces on Rhodes Island leave, will you continue to stay?

Qi Yan's expression gradually calmed down; he wasn't exactly angry, but his usual jovial manner was gone.

The Grand Tutor knew he had offended Qi Yan, but he had no intention of changing his mind.

"Old Deng, you don't seem to have much confidence in Yan Kingdom," Qi Yan said calmly. "The current people of Yan Kingdom can get along well with the proxies, but what about the people in the future?"