“What are you doing?” Just then, the teacher who had left earlier rushed back after hearing the ruckus.

Yet, what the teacher saw was that all the ironwood stools had run to the fighting arena and a dozen or so people had run forward as though they were trying to save someone.

They were all confused as they watched, not knowing what was going on. It was not like the ironwood stools could have collapsed on someone, it hadn’t even been that long. Who could tell him what was going on?

“This is too much fun…” Gao Ren was having his fill of fun as he looked around with a sense of lingering, trying to see if there were still ironwood stools.

“Yeah, yeah, I gave him quite a few blows and it was the best feeling ever.” Tie Ta laughed as he nodded his head vigorously.

“That’s enough fun. Let’s leave quickly, the teacher is here.” Seeing that the two of them had yet to have their fun, Ren Jie hurriedly dragged them off the fighting arena.

The others also came back to their senses and slinked away even though some of them had yet to receive their money.

“Wha-what, 15,000 taels of… you just said that you… threw down 15,000 taels of gold just like that?” Back at the dorms, when Gao Ren heard that Ren Jie had thrown down an entire month of allowance as well as the largest advancement ever, he was stunned.

He was planning on buying a lot more herbs and had thought of ideas for new recipes. Oh no, what was he going to do now?

“How are you going to get big returns if you’re not willing to invest a little in it? What’s more, we just earned 500,000 taels of silver.” Ren Jie now understood that Jade coins were the true transactional currency in the real world and that gold and silver were significant because they were the common currency. Based on what Ren Jie knew, a silver tael had the worth of a cent from his past world and a tael of gold was 10 cents, while a Jade coin was like a dollar. However, they were somewhat similar to the 80s of the previous century in terms of purchasing power as 500,000 taels of gold was more than enough for an average family to spend in their lifetime.

But to someone of a higher status, that was only worth 50,000 Jade coins.

“We should be glad that Gao Fei didn’t come after us. How are you going to expect him to give us 500,000 taels of gold?”

“Are you kidding me? Our family head is the boss, getting this money back is no big deal.” Ren Jie already had everything thought out. “Get back at us? He was the one who wanted to gamble, so he should pay up what he owes. The academy can only blame us for destroying a few ironwood stools, and we didn’t thrash that many. We don’t have to worry that he won’t pay up, either. It’s the palace feast tomorrow, I can just ask the Gao family head for it.”

Asking the Gao family head for money at the palace feast. When Gao Ren pictured the scene in his head, all he could say was this was too bold a move. But… it must be interesting too.

He never left the academy and never accompanied Ren Jie to any feast before. Hence, the first time he asked to go along, Ren Jie agreed immediately.

Tie Ta originally wanted to go back after staying a while, but Ren Jie was worried that these underlings would look for trouble with Tie Ta instead of him and thus, he had Tie Ta stay behind at his place with him for a few days. Tie Ta received guidance from him from a young age and had long thought of himself as Ren Jie’s guard and thus, he would not disagree with Ren Jie.

What happened in the fighting arena sent all the first years of the Jade Imperial Academy into a flurry as news spread that Gao Fei could have died if not for the timely intervention of the teachers. Everyone was discussing about it, but as the one behind this incident, Ren Jie acted like nothing was out of the ordinary as he simply went about his daily tasks.

The five family clans of the Jade Capital had property all around and their business transactions were even larger in number. However, the palace took the center spot in the Jade Capital while the other four family clans were each based in either the north, south, west or east.

The Fang family was south of the Jade Capital and they were currently in a mess.

“Bam!” Fang Tianen, the Fang family head, slammed his teacup onto the floor, his brows shaking slightly as he frowned. He only had Fang Qi after the age of 50 and Fang Qi was also exceptional in many aspects. Thus, she was especially doted on by him. Yet, she was just poisoned by someone.

“What have all of you been doing? It has been more than a day, yet she is still unconscious.” Fang Tianen got more worked up as he spoke and looked up suddenly to glare at the young man in his twenties who just brought the news. “Some brother you are, fancy being the commander of the Imperial Front Guard. I doubt you amount to anything. If not because your sister helped you get close to the Seventh Princess, you wouldn’t have been holding this position.”

Fang Yan, the commander of the Imperial Front Guard, was only in his early twenties and was one of the most prominent figures of his age in the Jade Capital. He had graduated from the Jade Imperial Academy three years ago and had many achievements in the one year he served in the army. He was already a Captain when he joined the Imperial Front Guard and climbed the ranks every year for the next couple of years. Now, he was one of the 12 commanders of the Imperial Front Guard.

The year before he would have won the title of Martial Arts Scholar if not for the arrival of that god-forsaken fellow. He would not have just been a second place in other circumstances. Moreover, he was close to the Seventh Princess and rumors were rife that he would become a Prince Consort and he would then become the youngest ever Lieutenant-General of the Imperial Front Guard.

Fang Yan looked as mighty as ever decked in a suit of armor, but now, he looked ridiculous being scolded so harshly by Fang Tianen. What had this got to do with him, he had already sought for the Imperial Physician at the first moment he could. While Fang Tianen was not his father, he was still the family head of the Fangs and thus, Fang Yan did not show what he was thinking and even looked rather remorseful.

“It’s all my fault, but it’s just that even the Imperial Physician and the brilliant physicians from our family clan are at their wit’s end. They’re only able to delay it for a while. Our topmost priority now is to save sister Fang Qi. The Seventh Princess has already asked His Majesty for a middle-grade Life-preserving Panacea which the Imperial Physician says will be able to buy us a few days. Hence, we must make use of this time to quickly think of other solutions.” Fang Yan vigorously nodded his head to acknowledge his faults while carefully shifting Fang Tianen’s attention elsewhere.

“A middle-grade Life-preserving Panacea…” Fang Tianen’s anger subsided slightly when he heard. He was aware of how precious a middle-grade Life-preserving Panacea was; even the palace did not have many of it. It seemed like Fang Yan had indeed put in some effort.

“Even the Imperial Physician is at his wit’s end, and the Life-preserving Panacea can only buy us a few days. Who would do something so vicious…” Anger burned in Fang Tianen’s eyes as the thought of murder flashed in his mind. He would pursue it to the end if he knew who had done that.

“Family head, according to what the Imperial Physician said, the person who was able to come up with such poison could not have been just a nobody. Furthermore, it would have been much easier for him to just kill sister Fang Qi if they wanted, so he must have his intentions for doing so. Hence, I think that we should announce a reward. The person who is able to come up with the antidote of the poison must be the one who poisoned Fang Qi.” While Fang Yan was quite young, he was able to hold the position, not only because of the fact that he was from the Fang family.

“And the person who poisoned her will dare come forth?” Fang Tianen’s tone was so chilly that it was enough to freeze someone over.

“Well, we don’t have any other solutions now. And if we announce a reward, we might find an unexpected talent. No matter what the intentions of the culprit is, be it blackmail or an intention to discuss any dealings with us, he or she will appear then. On the other hand, we should also think of some solutions…” Fang Yan knew how important Fang Qi was to Fang Tianen and hence, he was especially careful when he spoke.

The truth was that Fang Tianen viewed him highly mainly because he was always on Fang Qi’s side and did his best to support her in whatever she did.

Fang Qi would even discuss whatever she wanted to do with him before she did so, such as the plan she had to make use of Gao Fei’s rashness and childish jealousy to kill Ren Jie in hopes that this would sow discord between the Ren and the Gao Families so that the Ren family would be sent into a mess. Fang Yan was the one who helped Fang Qi come up with this plan.

Hence, he had to appear as though he had done his best as the person that Fang Qi trusted the most now that something had happened to her. He had to show everyone, including Fang Tianen and the Seventh Princess, that he fully supported Fang Qi in whatever she did.

“I guess that’s all we can do at the moment. If I know who did this to Qi-er, I will not spare them. Boom!” Fang Tianen reached a pillar so thick that two people were needed to wrap their arms around and landed a heavy blow on it. In an instant, a layer of frost enveloped the pillar before it started shattering. Thankfully, this was only one of the many pillars in the great hall and thus, it did not matter even if it shattered. All it did was make the people watching stare in awe.

He would not be half as affected if it were his two sons.

“And keep up with that news. If we really have no choice, then we will have to use other means.”

What? Fang Yan’s heart was caught in his throat as it suddenly dawned on him that he had made a mistake, a huge mistake. In the end, he still underestimated Fang Qi’s importance in Fang Tianen”s heart.

That was the royal family’s treasure, yet Fang Tianen was willing to obtain it through other means for Fang Qi. What was he planning to do with his position as family head…

“Yes.” Fang Yan was in shock, but none of it was shown in his expression as he only nodded at Fang Tianen’s orders.

The sky darkened gradually as a carriage pulled up. While it was no heavenly vehicle, it was still no less spacious and lavish. In it lay Gao Fei, who had just been pelted by 5,000 ironwood stools in the fighting arena.

“Aye… ow… shit, this bastard Ren Jie. Wait till I’m better, I’m gonna settle this score…” Gao Fei whimpered painfully as he had a dozen broken bones and fractures. Even though he had already taken a life-saving elixir and some other medicines, his injuries would still take another couple of weeks or so to heal.

“That shameless fellow, how can the school let him go?

“He did not dare come up, so he used such despicable means. Idiot, ridiculous…

“When I recover I’m going to personally break every single bone in his body…”

As Gao Fei was painfully whimpering and cursing away at Ren Jie, someone else was sitting quietly in the spacious carriage. He held a scroll in his hands as he read while incense burned beside him. It was as though he was in a completely different world from the one that Gao Fei was living in.

“Brother… is there no punishment from the academy at all?” Gao Fei had been cursing away at Ren Jie and had thought of at least ten different ways he was going to get back at Ren Jie when he was well again, but he was incredibly dissatisfied over the fact that the academy had not done anything about the incident in which Ren Jie had incited him and was pelted by thousands of ironwood stools.

The young man who was reading looked somewhat like Gao Fei, but he looked mature, grand and had a scholarly aura around him. Only now did he slowly close his scroll and turned over to look at Gao Fei.

“What were you hoping for them to do? You were the one who jumped into the fighting arena, and Ren Jie did not say he wanted to fight with you either. You say that he is an idiot and a useless person, but here you are, falling into the trap of an idiotic and useless man. What do you think you are?”

“Brother, I…” Gao Fei immediately tried to defend himself when he heard that.

When he saw the scholarly young man’s face fall, he coiled his body in shock, aggravating his wounded body. But even though his jaw fell agape from the pain, he did not dare to make a sound. While Gao Peng was his biological brother and was only two years older than him, he was more afraid of him than he was of their family head. This was because his brother had always been smarter than average and made it to the first few places in the examinations last year. If not because of a god-forsaken lunatic who appeared out of nowhere suddenly, Gao Peng would definitely have become the Academic Scholar. Moreover, Gao Peng had been involved in almost all the family’s affairs and held enough authority in the family that even some elders in the family would rather meet the family head than him.

“What, that Fang Qi was obviously toying with you all, yet you still can’t tell. Do you really think she will fall for you? Fancy running away after you beat up someone instead of telling the family clan. When you recover and after the examinations, you shall go into seclusion at the family house to train for three months. Don’t bother coming out if you don’t perfect the Body Refinement Realm.”

Going into seclusion to train? Gao Fei nearly cried at the thought. The training at his family clan was already terrifying, to begin with, but after Gao Peng’s modifications, it had become absolutely inhumane. Going into seclusion to train for three months was like peeling off a layer of his skin. Gao Fei’s still-swollen face twitched as his mouth opened and closed a few times, yet he did not dare to say anything in front of Gao Peng.

Seeing that Gao Fei was now finally quiet, Gao Peng opened his scroll again. However, even though he was looking at the scroll, his mind was on the events of the past few days. While it looked like children messing around to him, it seemed as though there might be something more behind Fang Qi inciting Gao Fei to strike. What would happen if Ren Jie really died…

And Fang Qi’s place was on fire, who could it be? According to secret reports Fang Qi was poisoned, who could that be too?

That Ren Jie unprecedentedly toyed with Gao Fei in the fighting arena, was that an accident or…

Did someone do something secretly after Gao Fei was beaten up or was Ren Jie just odd? But if Ren Jie was really so, then wouldn’t the Ren family start panicking first?

It would be the feast tomorrow and a good chance to test Ren Jie. If Fang Qi being poisoned and Gao Fei being beaten up was really his doing, then he would have to do something to get rid of this ticking timebomb before he left the Jade Imperial Academy. He would have to get rid of all these minor inconveniences before he met that fellow Lan Tian in court…