Chapter 53: The Truth Comes to Light

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In the Imperial Academy, the Road of Sincerity.

The Road of Sincerity was the grandest avenue within the Imperial Academy, paved entirely with slabs of blue stone. Along its sides stood sculptures of Confucius’s seventy-two disciples, and every student loved to walk this path, gazing upon the likenesses of the ancient sages seeking knowledge. Thus, it was also the busiest thoroughfare in the Academy.

Its name was drawn from the ideal of utmost sincerity in a gentleman, and it served as the place where the Academy punished errant students. Today, the Road of Sincerity welcomed three frequent visitors and one newcomer.

Mo Dun, Qin Huaiyu, Cheng Chumo, and Yuchi Baolin stood there, heads bowed and sighing. Qin Huaiyu and his two companions, as the principal offenders, held their coursework aloft, while Mo Dun, as their accomplice, raised his advertising leaflet.

The weather in the first month of the year remained bitterly cold, with the sky overcast. A chilly breeze swept by, making the four shiver miserably.

Students from the Academy gathered upon hearing the news, crowding around the four and pointing at them from time to time.

Qin Huaiyu and his companions, regulars on the Road of Sincerity, were long accustomed to such spectacles, their thick skins impervious to ridicule. Mo Dun, hailing from later times and used to much greater scenes, felt no psychological pressure over such minor matters.

“What happened to you?”

Zhu Mingjun, arriving after hearing the news, looked at the four in surprise. They’d been fine yesterday, yet after just a single day, the Dean had punished them.

“What else? Our cheating was exposed!” Xiong Maocai chimed in with a mocking tone. Ever since he’d heard Mo Dun was punished, he was delighted and had come specially to watch them make fools of themselves.

Zhu Mingjun glanced at the coursework in Qin Huaiyu’s hands and then at the flyers in Mo Dun’s, suddenly enlightened. He’d personally overheard Qin Huaiyu and his friends boasting to Li Gaoming about using printing to complete their assignments!

He had also participated in handing out flyers, but he hadn’t expected their scheme to unravel so quickly.

“Twenty pages of large script, not a single one missing, and every page is in my handwriting. If I cheat, it’s by my own skill!” Qin Huaiyu declared proudly, ignoring Xiong Maocai’s petty sarcasm.

“Hmph! Cheating is cheating. The Dean now has proof and has already reported to His Majesty. The Mo family boy will surely be expelled from the Academy, and you three will suffer even if you aren’t ruined!” Xiong Maocai snorted coldly, feeling immensely satisfied. Ever since Mo Dun had displayed his penmanship, Xiong Maocai felt like a clown, and the words he’d spoken against Mo Dun seemed to slap his own face.

He now hated the Mo family boy for conceding; had Mo Dun openly defeated him, he might not bear such a grudge. Like Kong Huisuo and Zhu Mingjun, who, though dissatisfied with Mo Dun, accepted their loss with dignity, unlike himself who ended up an outcast.

“Hmph! The Dean’s decisions are none of your concern, Xiong Maocai.”

“A dog meddling in affairs beyond his station.”

“A petty man kicking others when they’re down!”

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……

The four—Mo Dun and his friends—each retorted with a cutting remark, piercing Xiong Maocai’s fragile heart, causing his face to flush red with rage.

Even the students nearby felt Xiong Maocai had gone too far.

After all, Mo Dun was their classmate, and he had arranged for the bun shop at the gate to offer half-price to Academy students. As the saying goes, “One’s hand is softened by receiving, mouth shortened by eating,” and Xiong Maocai had enjoyed plenty of buns. Yet at this moment, he showed no restraint, instead adding insult to injury.

His character was lacking; many students quietly made their judgment and instinctively distanced themselves from him.

Sensing the cold stares and alienation from his peers, Xiong Maocai felt as if his heart were bleeding, his face shamed, and he stumbled away.

“It’s all Mo Dun’s fault!” Hatred surged in Xiong Maocai’s heart. He had once been in the limelight, but ever since he encountered Mo Dun, misfortune had followed.

Still, the other students had little fondness for Mo Dun. The Mo family had always been conservative and steady, and Mo Dun had used printing—a world-shaking innovation—to cheat, which naturally did not endear him to the Academy.

But soon classes were about to begin, and the crowd dispersed. Zhu Mingjun departed in haste, and the Road of Sincerity regained its peace.

“Ah! We dragged Mo Dun into this! If we hadn’t wanted to cheat, he wouldn’t have revealed the printing technique to help us,” Qin Huaiyu lamented.

“A skill destined for fame throughout the ages, turned into irrefutable proof of cheating by us. We’ll surely be remembered in history, our reputations ruined forever,” Cheng Chumo sighed.

“You’re still concerned about immortalizing your name?” Qin Huaiyu glared fiercely at Cheng Chumo.

“Right, that’s for the future. What about our coursework from now on?” Yuchi Baolin’s comment stunned everyone.

This blockhead was still mourning the loss of his ability to cheat—what a mighty heart he must have!

Mo Dun gazed at his three troublesome friends, speechless for a long time. What had he done to deserve them?

“Don’t worry, nothing will happen this time!” Mo Dun said confidently.

“Hmm?”

The three looked at Mo Dun in confusion, unable to understand his confidence.

Mo Dun chuckled, keeping to himself that he had already struck a deal with Kong Yingda.

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Kong Yingda now both hated and admired the Mo family boy. That rascal had used such a revolutionary printing technique to bargain with him, threatening to let it vanish for a thousand years unless he refused to admit their cheating.

Heavens! Did he not understand how precious this technology was? For the sake of countless students spared the agony of copying texts, Kong Yingda had no choice but to accept the humiliating terms and let Mo Dun present the printing template.

Daxing Palace.

Kong Yingda, descendant of the Kong family and Dean of the Imperial Academy, stood in high esteem and rarely needed to attend court except for grand councils.

“The sun must be rising in the west if Kong the Dean is here!” The speaker, unrestrained and blunt, could only be Cheng Yaojin, who was naturally at odds with Kong Yingda, the pedantic scholar, and they clashed every time they met.

“Hmph! You oaf, restrain your tongue. Today’s matter concerns your precious son!” Kong Yingda retorted coldly.

“You pedant, our differences are between us. If you drag the children into it, that will be your fault!” Cheng Yaojin replied, his face darkening.

Kong Yingda flushed angrily. “Do you take me for that sort of man?”

Cheng Yaojin scrutinized Kong Yingda with suspicion, nearly making the scholar jump with rage.

“The Emperor arrives!”

Just as Kong Yingda grew agitated, Pang De’s sharp voice rang through the Hall of Supreme Harmony.

“Greetings, Your Majesty!”

Li Shimin, robed in golden dragon attire, strode in with regal authority.

“Kong, my beloved minister, I hear you have matters concerning the fate of the realm to report. Speak quickly.”

At this time, Li Shimin was in his prime, his voice powerful and his imperial bearing unmistakable.