After Crossdressing and Provoking Long AoTian

Wen Changjun’s face instantly darkened. “This academy is sacred ground, and you dare spout such outrageous—”

Before he could finish, he saw Scholar Xiao give the branch in his hand a few experimental swishes, apparently testing whether it felt comfortable to use.

An ominous feeling suddenly came over Wen Changjun. He shot backward.

“Scholar Xiao, you—”

Scholar Xiao looked up at him. “Hm?”

Seeing the wary look on his face, Scholar Xiao burst out laughing. “What are you panicking for, Junior Brother? I’m not actually going to spank you. You’re not a child anymore.”

Wen Changjun: “...”

He did not look particularly convinced.

“I’m merely curious.” Scholar Xiao smiled at him, seemingly unbothered by his attitude. “Teacher already entrusted this matter to me. Why did he suddenly change his mind and send you over to keep an eye on me?”

“Hmph.” Wen Changjun shot him a glance. “Isn’t it because you were causing trouble in the Chess School and alarmed Teacher?”

“If Teacher hadn’t reacted in time, the entire Chess School would’ve been turned upside down by now! If someone like you became head of the Chess School, how could you possibly command anyone’s respect?”

Scholar Xiao froze, then laughed helplessly.

“You don’t seriously think I would become the Chess School head, do you?”

“Why would I steal Senior Sister’s inheritance...”

“Hey!” Dot Star Formation raised a hand in refusal. “I’m only the Eldest Senior Sister of the Chess School. That doesn’t mean I’ll necessarily become its head someday. This isn’t decided by seniority.”

“If you don’t want to take over the Chess School, you naturally have your own reasons. Don’t use me as your shield.”

Wen Changjun broke into a smug smile and snorted. “See?”

“And you.” Dot Star Formation turned toward Wen Changjun. “When he isn’t around, you at least act somewhat like one of the academy’s prodigies. Why do you suddenly have so much to say the moment he comes back?”

Wen Changjun choked. “I—”

“Tsk. Quiet.”

Dot Star Formation exerted her full authority as Senior Sister. Her gaze swept across both of them before settling on Wen Changjun.

“Did you only come to pass along Academy Head Wen’s message?”

Wen Changjun nodded slightly. “And to keep an eye on him so he doesn’t cause trouble.”

Dot Star Formation folded her arms. “Did Academy Head Wen tell you to do that too?”

Wen Changjun’s gaze shifted away slightly.

He said nothing.

Dot Star Formation snorted in amusement. “Thought so.”

Then she turned to Scholar Xiao.

“And you. You want a copy of the Sage’s Book, you want points—what else?”

“Wanting the Sage’s Book copy is really just another way of wanting points.” Scholar Xiao’s eyes curved with his smile. “At the end of the day, the problem is still that we’re short on points.”

Dot Star Formation sighed.

“Four Books Academy has existed for so many years, yet it’s been quite a while since we had a student pursue crooked shortcuts this openly and shamelessly.”

She raised a hand and knocked on the Chess School head’s door.

“Are you giving it to them or not?”

Silence held inside for a moment.

Then a window opened.

A pair of slender hands flashed into view, and the Chess School head tossed a book out at them.

Dot Star Formation caught it and handed it to Scholar Xiao.

Wen Changjun froze.

“You’re just giving it to him like that? What if he cheats?!”

Dot Star Formation raised an eyebrow and pointed at Scholar Xiao.

“He needs to?”

“Heh.” Scholar Xiao smiled modestly. “Senior Sister flatters me. Besides, Academy Head Wen will personally write the next quiz. Even if I have a copy of the Sage’s Book, I still won’t have the answers.”

“So naturally, I won’t be cheating.”

“What about their entrance exam?” Wen Changjun glared at Yu Qingtang. “Maybe you won’t cheat yourself, but who says you won’t help them cheat?”

Yu Qingtang confidently raised his chin.

“Why are you staring at me? I already passed! The two who failed aren’t even here.”

“Ah.” Dot Star Formation shook her head slightly and gave Wen Changjun a sympathetic look. “You still haven’t figured it out?”

“Academy Head Wen wants to meet them in the first place. Now they can’t pass the exam, so both sides are getting anxious. It’s just that Academy Head Wen already said what he said, and now he’s trapped with no graceful way out.”

“If you stop them now, you’re actually making things harder for your master.”

“He shouldn’t have said it in the first place.” Wen Changjun looked away. “Either way, I’m watching them today. Don’t even think about cheating.”

“Then Junior Brother Wen may as well watch with us.” Scholar Xiao smiled pleasantly as he opened the copy of the Sage’s Book. He even had the leisure to explain it to Yu Qingtang. “This copy is no ordinary object either. It’s also known as the Wordless Heavenly Book.”

“If it truly possesses a spirit, then when we ask it something, it should answer on its own.”

“Of course, if we touch a sore spot, it might refuse to answer.”

He held the Wordless Heavenly Book out to Yu Qingtang first, then handed him a brush.

“Why don’t you ask it?”

“Me?” Yu Qingtang scratched his head, but still took the brush and leaned against the wall to write.

Wen Changjun pretended not to care, but his eyes were fixed tightly on Yu Qingtang’s hand.

Then he snorted.

“Your handwriting is awful.”

“It’s not that bad.” Yu Qingtang looked back at him. “You’ve just never seen my senior brother’s handwriting. His is really awful.”

Wen Changjun: “...I never said yours was the worst handwriting under heaven. I only said it was bad.”

“Your senior brother’s handwriting being worse and your handwriting being bad can both be true at the same time. Where exactly was I wrong?”

“Hiss...” Yu Qingtang tilted his head. “That actually makes sense.”

“Whatever. It doesn’t matter. I was never cut out to be a scholar anyway.”

He finished writing his question in round, chubby characters with hardly a sharp corner anywhere.

Everyone crowded around to see what he had written.

Dot Star Formation’s expression turned strange.

“You’re really asking it that directly?”

Scholar Xiao laughed helplessly. “Brother Yu...”

“‘Was it you who leaked the exam questions?’” Wen Changjun looked utterly speechless. “You actually suspect Four Books Academy’s supreme treasure, the Sage’s Book? And you just asked it straight out?”

“What else am I supposed to do?” Yu Qingtang looked up innocently. “Most spiritual treasures aren’t exactly geniuses even after developing intelligence. They can only get so smart.”

“Instead of playing games with them, you might as well be sincere. If it refuses to answer, I lose nothing. If it actually answers, then I hit the jackpot.”

Wen Changjun: “...”

Scholar Xiao burst into hearty laughter.

“Brother Yu truly is a remarkable character!”

“So? Has the Sage’s Book responded?”

Under everyone’s expectant gazes, a line of words slowly appeared across the Sage’s Book:

“Copy the Sage’s Stele calligraphy model ten times.”

Wen Changjun snorted.

“Ha. See? Even it thinks your handwriting is ugly.”

Yu Qingtang was not discouraged in the slightest. He wrote another line.

“If I finish copying it, will you answer?”

The Sage’s Book fell silent.

Apparently, few people had ever tried bargaining with it like this.

Yu Qingtang waited a while, but when no response came, he added another sentence:

“Please. This student is dull-witted and humbly asks the Sage’s Book to dispel his confusion.”

Wen Changjun couldn’t help giving him a sidelong glance.

“You think that sort of shameless flattery—”

Before he could finish, a single word flashed across the page.

“Yes.”

Wen Changjun: “...”

“See!” Yu Qingtang looked immensely pleased with himself. “My master taught me that when you’re away from home, it never hurts to sweet-talk people!”

“What do you mean, flattery?” He clicked his tongue and shook his head. “Being able to make people happy with your words is a skill too.”

He patted Scholar Xiao.

“So where’s this stele thing? Come on, come on. I’m going to copy it.”

Scholar Xiao laughed helplessly. “I can’t believe that actually got us somewhere...”

“No need to go anywhere. I happen to have the calligraphy model on me... Wait, you’re planning to copy it directly into the Wordless Heavenly Book?”

“Yeah.”

Yu Qingtang took the calligraphy model and flipped through it.

There were at least several hundred characters on it. Copying the whole thing ten times would be no small amount of writing.

He had no intention of cutting corners. He pressed the book against the wall and was about to start copying when the Wordless Heavenly Book finally lost patience.

Light flickered across its surface in warning.

“Table.”

“Huh?” Yu Qingtang scratched his head. “You insist on a table? I can write anywhere.”

The Sage’s Book patiently replied:

“Body upright. Mind steady. Only then can one write well.”

Yu Qingtang’s eyes widened slightly.

“I didn’t write that last thing in the copy, but it still answered me. So that means it can hear what we’re saying over here too? We don’t actually have to write everything down?”

The Sage’s Book stopped responding again.

Yu Qingtang thought about it, then decided to obediently follow the Sage’s Book’s instructions and find a proper table to copy the stele ten times.

A sigh came from inside the room.

The Chess School head’s door slowly opened, revealing a neat, empty desk.

The Chess School head himself was nowhere to be seen. Only his voice drifted out.

“I haven’t stepped down as school head yet, so you cannot take the Wordless Heavenly Book away.”

“Copy it here.”

“Thank you!”

Yu Qingtang breathed a sigh of relief and stepped inside.

His gaze swept over the Chess School head hiding behind a folding screen.

Then, as though he had noticed nothing at all, Yu Qingtang calmly looked away and pretended not to have seen him.

He simply walked to the desk, sat up straight, and began carefully copying the text one stroke at a time.

...

By evening, Chi Yantian and Ye Chenyan returned from their alliance-building efforts in Central Province and found the others still inside Four Books Academy.

Judging by the smiles on their faces, the trip had gone quite well.

“Where’s Qingtang?” Ye Chenyan had barely asked the question when his gaze swept casually across the room and landed on Yu Qingtang, who was hunched over the desk, writing furiously.

“Shh...” Scholar Xiao motioned for him not to disturb Yu Qingtang. “Brother Yu may already have entered a state of flow. Every stroke is deliberate. He looks almost as though he’s entered meditation.”

“Hmph.” Wen Changjun curled his lip. “It’s still just as ugly. The only difference is that now you can tell he’s putting effort into making it ugly.”

Ye Chenyan narrowed his eyes at him.

“Who’s this?”

“My junior brother.” Scholar Xiao shook his head helplessly, then quietly warned Wen Changjun, “Junior Brother, I suggest you stop saying bad things about Brother Yu in front of him.”

“He really will hit you.”

“And not just on the butt.”

Wen Changjun sneered.

“I—”

“Finished!”

Yu Qingtang excitedly threw both hands into the air and tossed down his brush.

One of his legs had nearly gone numb from sitting so long, and he almost toppled beside the desk. Half stumbling, half scrambling, he rushed over to deliver the good news.

“Friends! Ten times! I finished all ten!”

“Congratulations!” Scholar Xiao was overjoyed. “Well? Has the Sage’s Book answered?”

Yu Qingtang casually wiped his face, smearing the ink on his hand across his cheek.

“Not yet. Probably checking my work.”

Ye Chenyan let out a muffled laugh and pointed at his face.

“Hm?”

Yu Qingtang looked confused and raised his hand to wipe his face again.

Now the ink was symmetrical.

Ye Chenyan laughed helplessly.

He walked over and used his sleeve to wipe Yu Qingtang’s face clean.

“Why are you copying books? Who punished you?”

“No one.” Yu Qingtang answered honestly. “We were asking the Sage’s Book something, but it thought my handwriting was ugly and made me practice first before it would answer.”

“Ah, who knew it could hear us even if we didn’t write anything? If I’d known earlier, I wouldn’t have written my question in the first place, and none of this would’ve happened.”

“How much did you copy?”

Ye Chenyan took Yu Qingtang’s hand and wiped the ink from his fingers too, his gaze passing over the Wordless Heavenly Book.

“Does your hand hurt?”

“Nope!” Yu Qingtang waved dismissively. “I play the qin, remember? These hands are tough!”

“But you always find ways to slack off when you cultivate.” Ye Chenyan looked up at him. “When have you ever worked seriously for this long?”

“When you put it that way...” Yu Qingtang scratched his head. “Yeah, actually. I really worked hard this time.”

“Why is it taking so long?”

Ye Chenyan raised a hand and knocked on the Wordless Heavenly Book.

“Don’t tell me you’re planning to go back on your word.”

Yu Qingtang hurriedly grabbed his hand and pulled it back.

“Shh—show it some respect! And stop looking so hostile. We’re asking it for a favor!”

Ye Chenyan raised an eyebrow, then reluctantly forced a perfunctory smile onto his face.

“Fine.”

Under his breath, he muttered,

“I’ll threaten it after we’re done asking.”

Yu Qingtang immediately clapped both hands over Ye Chenyan’s mouth and glanced guiltily toward the Wordless Heavenly Book.

“You didn’t hear that, right?”

“You don’t even have ears. Your hearing can’t possibly be that good, can it?”

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