Chapter 32-Part 2

This young crown prince may seem to have an easy time, but in reality, his power is constrained from multiple sides. Those senior ministers in the court, along with his own retainers, are not completely aligned with him!

Feng Liwu is preparing ahead of time, always seeking to cultivate new sources of influence. Just having sycophants drawn to his household for wealth and fame isn’t enough. He needs a group of young officials who are sincere in their beliefs, full of vitality, and dare to think and act.

And the completion of this academy is the first step for the Crown Prince to cultivate his own power…

Realizing this, Jiang Xiurun, even if she couldn’t escape, didn’t want her brother to attend the academy. It’s like a deep whirlpool; once you’re sucked in, you’re no longer in control, and no one knows the final outcome.

But at this moment, Feng Liwu spoke up: “In a few days, this academy will start enrolling students. Besides your brother preparing for the examination, you should also get ready.”

Jiang Xiurun was stunned. She was the Crown Prince’s tutor, although she mainly taught him indulgence rather than academics. But why would the Crown Prince ask one of his aides to study?

Feng Liwu continued, “You don’t want to be an unremarkable staff confined to the prince mansion forever. Your talent is bright, but your foundation is still shallow. If you can study, you’ll have great achievements in the future.”

Since her reincarnation, Jiang Xiurun had never imagined that someone would tell her, “You could become a king or a prime minister in the future!”

Especially unexpected was that the person saying this was the Crown Prince from her previous life, who had publicly denounced her as a calamity to the nation. But considering that studying at the academy might be better than being confined to the Crown Prince’s residence all the time, where would she have the chance to escape?

As for the Crown Prince saying her foundation was shallow, there was a reason for it.

In the past, she had been so impressive in the academy, engaging in debates with scholars, that those who admired her thought she was extremely knowledgeable.

But the day before yesterday, the Crown Prince happened to discuss academic matters with her in the study. Apart from the Weizi literature she was familiar with from her past life, Jiang Xiurun was completely clueless about everything else.

In the study, with just the two of them, Jiang Xiurun tried to divert the conversation several times but ended up being caught out by Feng Liwu in the end.

If this had happened earlier and Feng Liwu had discovered that the tutor he had appointed was just a pretender, he would probably have mercilessly driven her away.

But seeing the usually arrogant young man sweating on his forehead, he couldn’t help but find it amusing.

At the same time, he thought that if he had the opportunity, it would be good to have him study at the academy. Otherwise, wouldn’t it be a waste of his exceptional intelligence?

Since Feng Liwu had already spoken, Jiang Xiurun had no reason to decline. She could only express her gratitude to the Crown Prince for his favor.

So Feng Liwu took her to meet the newly appointed headmaster of the academy, Mr. Mufeng.

Mr. Mufeng is a renowned scholar in Great Qi, different from those who seek fame and reputation. He focuses on strategies for governing the country. Even the Crown Prince’s grand tutor was his student.

When Mr. Mufeng heard that this young man was the Crown Prince’s tutor, his eyebrows couldn’t help but rise lightly. “Since you are the Crown Prince’s tutor, you must be talented. Why bother coming here to study with an old man like me?”

These words made Jiang Xiurun somewhat embarrassed. It was indeed too conspicuous to come to study while still holding the title of tutor.

However, since it was recommended by the Crown Prince, it must be an extraordinary talent. Mr. Mufeng kindly proposed several topics for Jiang Xiurun.

Jiang Xiurun reluctantly answered the questions in front of the Crown Prince, stumbling over her words.

At first, the kindly face of the old man gradually became serious, his eyebrows furrowing, and he occasionally glanced at the Crown Prince with suspicion.

But despite Jiang Xiurun’s embarrassment, the Crown Prince remained calm and unchanged.

Later, the Crown Prince invited the headmaster into a private room, and after some discussion, Mr. Mufeng finally decided to exempt this Crown Prince’s tutor from the examination and enroll her directly.

However, unlike most students who stayed in the academy dormitory to study, Jiang Xiurun still had to return to the Crown Prince’s residence every night.

And Jiang Xiurun’s elder brother, Jiang Zhi, was also specially taken care of by the Crown Prince. After a long period of preparation, he finally passed the examination for admission to the academy.

But the academy divided the students into several branches based on the quality of their admission essays.

Jiang Zhi, because he barely passed the exam, was assigned to a Dizhi branch. The students in this branch were those whose academic performance was not ideal.

On the other hand, the Tiangan branch housed the cream of the crop from this examination.

In addition to the Tiangan and Dizhi branches, there was another branch that only admitted a handful of students, mainly those with connections who were sent in despite lacking academic aptitude.

Mr. Mufeng was probably too lazy to care about these noble sons, so the name of this branch was casually called the “Ding” branch. In more blunt terms, if the students in this academy didn’t strive to improve and keep up with the pace of learning, no matter how influential their backgrounds were, they would eventually be expelled.

Initially, when Jiang Xiurun was dominating the academic scene, almost every student in Luo’an City had heard of this tutor whom the Crown Prince had paid a hefty sum to bring into the mansion.

There were a few students who used to be disciples or friends of Fan Sheng.

When they were assigned to their respective branches, they saw Jiang Xiurun. They were first stunned, then they clutched their stomachs and laughed heartily, saying, “Heavens! The illustrious Crown Prince’s tutor! Young Master Jiang! Such a talent, but why are you placed in the Ding branch?”