A Big Misunderstanding

The woman stubbornly argued, “I don’t care, now you either keep both of them or neither.”

Chu Rong was in a difficult position, but ultimately decided to stand by his own family, “Cousin, you should go back. I trust Qingzhi and the others.”

The woman became furious, “Chu Rong, we are relatives. By acting so ruthlessly today, if there comes a time you need us, don’t blame us for not remembering our kinship.”

After some thought, considering his family had never sought help from his cousin during their times of poverty and desperation, Chu Rong felt even less likely to do so now. “Cousin, please go back. I have work to do here.”

The woman glared at Chu Rong with hatred, “Fine, now that you have money, you look down on us. Chu Rong, I’ll remember what happened today.”

She forcefully took her son and declared, “We’re leaving. From now on, we’ll have nothing to do with their family.

Watching the mother and son leave, Chu Rong felt saddened but eventually went back to his work, thinking it was perhaps for the best to part ways with such relatives.

Li Qingyu came over to comfort him, “It’s okay, we’re better off without such relatives.”

Chu Rong nodded.

Today, Chu Qingzhi gathered some herbs, some of which were given to Chu Qingning to brew for the sick, while others were planted in the medicinal herb garden.

The garden now boasted over forty varieties of medicinal herbs, feeling like a large family.

After planting the herbs, Chu Qingzhi went to check on the Lingzhi mushrooms The Lingzhi mushrooms, growing in a corner, now had five blooms, the largest the size of a small plate and the smallest the size of a cup.

With no one around, Chu Qingzhi extended her hand, formed a spell, and cast a growth acceleration spell on the Lingzhi.

Under the spell’s influence, spiritual energy flowed into the mushrooms, causing them to visibly grow larger, expanding their diameter by half an inch.

Chu Qingzhi touched the Lingzhi, feeling fond of them.

Suddenly, she heard Chu Laipi’s voice, “Sister Qingzhi, we’ve gathered a lot of wood ears.”

She looked over and smiled.

At the entrance of the yard, Chu Laipi was holding a basket full of wood ears, while Chu Bapi had carried back a piece of deadwood covered in unharvested wood ears, giving it a dark appearance from afar.

She approached them, “Why did you bring back the whole log?”

Chu Bapi gave a simple answer, “To make it easier for Sister Qingzhi to gather and eat. It’s too far to go to the mountains, but if we have it right at our doorstep, it’s convenient. I’ll go get some more so Sister Qingzhi can pick them anytime.”

“Thank you for your hard work!” Chu Qingzhi directed him to place the wood on the left side of the house.

‘Okay.” Chu Bapi placed the wood there, then went back to the mountains to gather more, bringing back ten logs before stopping.

Truly dedicated!

At Yunfei School.

The school had three students with high achievements in the art of the guqin: Fang Mingyi, Pan Yuheng, and Tang Jiyang.

At the end of every year, the emperor would give an order to reward the three armies. Tang Jinghong had been taking over this task for the past few years.

A ceremonial war dance always accompanied the reward ceremony.

The music for the dance was collected from the royal music bureau, the two major academies, and the public, rotating each year. This year, it was Yunfei School’s turn.

The students of Yunfei School were eager to create music scores, with the competition between the three students being the most anticipated.

Now, Fang Mingyi had provoked widespread anger.

Here’s what happened…

Fang Mingyi had previously announced his withdrawal from the competition to focus on composing music in solitude. However, unexpectedly, the score he intended to gift was leaked.

Composing scores was not an issue in itself, but his music was so majestic and imposing that it was hard to believe it was not intended for military use.

Following the leak, the school’s community speculated that he was secretly composing music, which led to widespread dissatisfaction, especially among some students led by Pan Yuheng and Tang Jiyang.

Their discontent was fueled by another factor: whoever’s score was selected would receive a personal gift from the emperor.

In other words, being chosen would mean leaving a good impression with the emperor, which could be beneficial for the imperial examination.

As Xu Guannan and Fang Mingyi arrived at the school, they were surrounded by a group of students who appeared to have been waiting for them.

When they reached the entrance of the school, a group of students walked out and surrounded the two of them. It seemed that they were waiting for them.

Pan Yuheng and Tang Jiyang walked out after a while. The two of them looked at Fang Mingyi with unfriendly eyes.

Xu Guannan was afraid that the three of them would get into a conflict, so he quickly said, “Let’s talk things out. If the dean hears about this, it won’t be easy for everyone to explain.”

Given Xu Guannan’s standing as a respected figure in the school, his suggestion was accepted.

Pan Yuheng smiled and said, “Then let’s talk somewhere else?”

“Alright.” FangMingyi’s expression did not looktoo good, but if this matter had blown up, it was indeed difficult to explain, so he agreed.

The four of them came to the guqin room with the students. The four of them sat in the middle of the guqin room while the others sat around them. The atmosphere was a little tense.

Pan Yuheng said bluntly, “We don’t have any other intentions. We just want to hear Brother Fang’s explanation.”

Fang Mingyi said directly, “My scores was a gift to someone. I won’t participate in the competition.”

Tang Jiyang said, “Actually, it’s fine for Brother Fang to participate in the competition. The competition is fair and square and depends on your own ability. However, it’s really unacceptable for you to secretly compose even though you say you won’t.”

Fang Mingyi emphasized, “I told you, it’s a gift.”

Pan Yuheng said sarcastically, “Then can Brother Fang guarantee that you will refuse if you were to be selected? I heard that the dean likes your score very much and is preparing to send it up.”

Fang Mingyi was shocked. “Are you joking?”

“Who’s in the mood to joke with you?” Tang Jiyang was unhappy. “What do you suggest then?”

How would he know what to do? Fang Mingyi had never thought about this question. “What do you want me to do?”

Pan Yuheng and Fang Mingyi looked at each other. Pan Yuheng said, “Destroy the score.”

Fang Mingyi stood up excitedly. “Are you kidding me? This score is my hard work for more than half a year. You want me to destroy it just like that?”

Pan Yuheng asked, “If you don’t destroy it and the dean gives it to General

Tang, how are you going to send it to someone as a gift?”

Fang Mingyi was extremely regretful. If he had known earlier, he would have kept it a secret. Now that he had revealed the matter of the score, he was put in a difficult position. “I won’t destroy the score.”

Tang Jiyang said angrily, “I knew you were such a two-faced person.”

“I won’t destroy it, but I won’t give it to the dean either. Don’t worry.” Fang Mingyi saw that everyone was still looking at him unhappily, “i’ll send it away immediately. If I send it away, the dean definitely won’t choose me.”