Chapter 105 - Dispute Among Children

To put things simply, the Hanlin Academy is just a school.

However, unlike ordinary schools, the students are all the offspring of the nobles and ministers of the Ruen Dynasty.

Even the current emperor, Chen Kaiming, studied here. The venerable elder Fan Shaolin, who has served in two dynasties, also held the position of Hanlin Scholar when he first arrived in the capital.

The Hanlin Scholar's role involves assisting the Hanlin Academy teachers by organizing texts, preparing lessons for the instructors, and doing other similar tasks.

Since taking office, Su Yi has considered his position relatively relaxed and carried no real authority.

However, Su Yi did not neglect his duties for this reason. On the contrary, he worked even more diligently, as he was a serious person by nature.

As usual, Su Yi arrived early at the Hanlin Academy today. He started by organizing the books and documents on the teachers' desks, then fetched a broom to start cleaning the room.

This is something he does every day.

"Hey, Su Yi..." A voice came from behind the door. Su Yi looked up and saw an older man in his fifties standing at the entrance. It was Zhang Sicheng, a teacher at the academy known as Senior Zhang.

Seeing Su Yi look over, Senior Zhang shook his head and said, "Su Yi, I’ve told you countless times that this kind of work is to be done by the servants. Why won’t you listen?"

Su Yi placed the broom in the corner, brushed the dust off his hands, and smiled. "It’s alright, Senior Zhang. I don’t have much official work, so it’s only right to do a little extra."

Senior Zhang walked to his desk and glared at Su Yi. "What does this have to do with the amount of official work? As a scholar, you shouldn’t be doing these things."

Just then, another elderly man entered from outside. Su Yi quickly cupped his hands in greeting. "Senior Xie, you’re here."

Senior Xie looked much younger than Senior Zhang, with hardly any gray in his hair. As soon as he entered, he said, "What’s wrong, Senior Zhang? I heard you shouting even before I came in... Did Su Yi upset you?"

Senior Zhang waved his hand. "It’s nothing serious. I was just reminding Su Yi to remember his identity as a scholar... Forget it; there's no need to mention it further."

Su Yi cupped his hands again to Senior Zhang and replied, "Senior Zhang is right. I will remember."

Senior Xie laughed a couple of times and acted as a peacemaker, "Alright, alright. Su Yi hasn’t done anything bad, so Senior Zhang should let him off this time."

Senior Zhang did not reply but simply nodded and began tidying up his desk.

Before long, the teachers in the same room gradually arrived. Among them, aside from Su Yi, the youngest looked to be over fifty.

Su Yi glanced at the water clock on the wall and reminded the older man, "Senior Zhang, it's almost time."

"

Mm,

I know," Senior Zhang replied indifferently and picked up the ruler from the desk before walking out.

Su Yi watched Senior Zhang walk out, then lowered his head again to organize the texts needed for the next class.

After the class ended, Senior Zhang returned slowly with his hands behind his back. At this point, Su Yi had already finished his work and, upon seeing Senior Zhang return, handed over the previously organized materials.

Senior Zhang took them and then pulled out a stack from the pile of documents on the desk, handing it to Su Yi and saying, "Su Yi, take these to Chief Cao... He asked for this document last time. Go make a trip."

The Chief of Hanlin Academy is an official role appointed by the emperor to manage the Hanlin Academy.

"Alright, I’ll go now." Su Yi smiled and nodded.

On his way back from Chief Cao, Su Yi could still hear the sounds of children playing in the courtyard, clearly indicating that class hadn’t started yet. He stopped by the wall, pricking up his ears to listen closely.

Although they were still children, they were privy to many secrets given their backgrounds. A large portion of the information Su Yi had gathered over the past month came from their conversations.

While listening, the playful commotion suddenly ceased, followed by the sound of a child crying.

"Bookworm! Always crying!" a child scorned.

A fight? Su Yi raised an eyebrow and quickly walked around the wall into the courtyard.

As soon as he entered the courtyard, he saw the young masters gathered in a circle, making it difficult to see what was happening inside. A few girls stood far away, peering curiously over.

Su Yi quickly walked over and parted the crowd of children. Two young boys stood out in the group.

One was a spirited boy, who looked a little over ten years old, stood angrily on one side, while another, more refined boy, was sitting on the ground and wiping his tears. A clearly imprinted shoe print on his clothes showed that he had been bullied.

Su Yi recognized the boy who was being bullied. He seemed to be named Xu Tairan, the young son of a minister in the Ministry of Revenue. He was diligent in his studies, liked reading, and performed well in class, earning the appreciation of his teachers.

As for the spirited boy, Su Yi did not recognize him and seemed never to have seen that face before.

Su Yi walked over and helped Xu Tairan up, brushing the dust and shoe print off his clothes.

Su Yi gave a reassuring smile and ruffled Xu Tairan’s hair. "What happened? What’s going on?"

"Um, teacher... he... he hit me..." Little Xu sobbed while pointing at the spirited boy.

"

Hmph!

So what if I hit you!" The boy crossed his arms and turned his head away with a huff.

"Don’t cry." Su Yi comforted Little Xu, then smiled at the boy who hit him and said, "Little fellow, what’s your name?"

The child arrogantly glanced at Su Yi and loudly proclaimed, "My name is Chen Xun. What do you want?"

Chen Xun? Could he be the son of Lord Chen from the Ministry of Justice? No, hadn't Lord Chen’s son just come of age? Could he have a grandson already? Su Yi examined the child from head to toe... Even if he had a grandson. He shouldn’t be this big yet, right?

Unable to guess, Su Yi assumed the boy was the child of an official he didn’t know, so he stopped worrying about it.

Su Yi looked at the boy and asked, "Let me ask you, why did you hit him?"

"Hmph, I hit him because I felt like it. Why do I need to explain?" The arrogant child didn’t even glance at Su Yi, raising his nose so that it almost pointed to the sky.

Although Hanlin Academy had its share of spoiled children with bad attitudes, their elders would remind them to listen to their teachers before coming here.

Moreover, the teachers at the academy would use rulers to strike the palms of disobedient children, so the children were generally obedient. This was the first time Su Yi had encountered such arrogance.

Nonetheless, Su Yi was not angry; he found no need to quarrel with a child.

So he turned to Little Xu and asked, "Why did he hit you?"

Upon hearing this, the freshly wiped tears threatened to spill again: "

Wuwu

... he doesn’t study seriously and even destroyed a book. I said I would tell the teacher...

wuwu

... and then he hit me..." His tone was extremely aggrieved.

Upon hearing this, Su Yi's brow furrowed deeply. As a scholar, he was fundamentally Confucian in nature, and he considered tearing books to be an unforgivable act.

Su Yi’s expression became serious as he pointed at the child.

"You. Chen Xun, come here."