The Glory After Rebirth

After Zhao Jiusi and the other four classmates of Ling Zhang’s had an outing with him during the one-day vacation, their acquaintance with him had developed by leaps and bounds. They’d been keeping each other’s company all the time during the last few days. Ji Feng and Zhao Turui were relatively out-going, and Zhao Jiusi was poised, while Xie Qing and Xun Huo were somewhere in between. With their company and Yuwen Jin’s quips and jokes, Ling Zhang’s campus life in the Imperial College finally brightened up.

News of the matter of Professor Du had spread through the whole college and nobody dared to mess with Ling Zhang now. This allowed Ling Zhang some quiet days, which were not something he had enjoyed very often.

These days, he attended classes during daytime and cultivated internal energy at night. In the morning Yuwen Tong would instruct him in palm technique. Though his cultivation of the second layer of internal energy was progressing rather slow, his foundation was becoming increasingly solid. Yuwen Tong was the most experienced mentor and also a sparring partner whom he could attack with all his strength without any misgivings. On top of this, there were also a lot of guards he could spar with, so his foundation was inexorably getting firmer.

This afternoon the lesson was about the Six Arts (six subjects taught in an aristocratic school in feudal China: etiquette, music, archery, carriage-driving, reading and calculation). The professor giving this lesson was a new face. Ling Zhang didn’t pay any special attention to him until he found that this new professor was an acquaintance of his...

It was that mysterious old man who gave him the handbook on a mental cultivation method of internal energy of the Millennium Pavilion on that day.

Ling Zhang sat bolt upright and stared unblinkingly at the old man in astonishment.

The look in the old man’s eyes was calm and mild, which showed a contrast with Ling Zhang’s amazement. He gave a slight inclination of his head at Ling Zhang, as if having been aware of Ling Zhang’s presence in this place for quite some time.

After that brief meeting in the Wu City, Ling Zhang had tried to seek out the old man but failed. Afterwards, he’d started cultivating internal energy according to the handbook given to him by the old man, and Yuwen Tong had reminded him that the one who’d gifted him with the handbook was probably keeping a close watch on him covertly. Now he had mastered skills of the first layer and was temporarily stranded in the second layer. It didn’t really surprised Ling Zhang that the old man showed up again. What he did find surprising was that the old man’s new identity as a professor of the Imperial College. Not everybody could land a job as a professor of the Imperial College. The job required great learning and also fame, but Ling Zhang had never heard of this old man before.

Apart from Ling Zhang, other students also eyed their new professor in astonishment.

“My surname is Li. I’m a substitute teacher who’ll be taking your professor’s place teaching you the Six Arts. For the duration I’ll do my best to instruct you and answer your questions. If there’s anything you don’t quite understand or if you have any queries, feel free to ask me. I’ll do whatever I can to see your questions answered.”

‘His surname is Li?’ Ling Zhang remained skeptical. Since this old man had given him a handbook on internal energy of the Millennium Pavilion, he must be a member of the Millennium Pavilion, but in the letter his uncle had told him that members of the Millennium Pavilion were forbidden to get involved in earthly affairs. He didn’t know why this old man had come to the Imperial College and how he’d managed it, but since he was a member of the Millennium Pavilion, would he really expose his true surname so easily?

The old man’s voice was unhurried and composed, and it sounded neither light nor loud, but even those sitting in the last row could hear him distinctly. Students sitting in the rearmost row subconsciously sat bolt upright, amazement washing over their faces.

Retaining their curiosity about their new professor, students waited to see how this new professor was going to give a lesson.

At first, all students, including Ling Zhang, were just curious about how this old man was going to give a lesson, bur gradually they were absorbed by the content of the lesson. Every one of them was listening attentively.

Ling Zhang was slightly more astounded than his classmates were, for the old man was lecturing on this subject from a perspective different than that of the previous professor, which helped him come to a new perception of calculation. Most importantly, without him noticing it, diagrams of the martial formations he’d learned appeared in his mind, resonating with the content of the old man’s lecture in a subtle fashion, which enabled him to grasp those formations from a different, intriguing angle.

It was just that this intriguing inspiration vanished before he could form a perception, which brought a slight frown to his face. He felt that there was definitely more to this point that the old man was trying to impart, but the old man seemed to have no intention of explaining it in depth. Gradually, the lecture returned to the normal course.

Ling Zhang had very complicated thoughts in his mind. He didn’t know whether the old man was doing this intentionally or unintentionally, though he faintly felt there was a bigger chance that the former was the case.

However, because of what his uncle had told him about his mother in that letter, he’d been having feelings of hostility towards people of the Millennium Pavilion all along, and subconsciously, he was also very wary of them, which was why he still kept a vigilance over the old man, though he had gifted him with a handbook on internal energy.

After all, back in that year, his mother defied rules of the Millennium Pavilion and was hunted by the organization, which showed that his mother’s conduct was deemed intolerable. As her son, he wondered what people of the Millennium Pavilion thought of him. Giving him the handbook on internal energy had been a gesture of goodwill, and so had been the seemingly unintentional interpretation just now, but he didn’t know what the old man’s intention was.

Ling Zhang couldn’t help but give it a lot of thought. He conjectured what the old man would say to him after the lecture was over; he even worried that if the old man intended to do him harm, he wouldn’t be able to protect himself, given his current kung fu skills...

Finally, the lecture was over. Students respectfully stood up and followed the old professor with their eyes as he left the classroom. Ling Zhang, seeing the old man had given no particular signal from start to finish, couldn’t help but feel confused once again. ‘He has nothing to talk with me about? That was really just a coincidence?’

“Brother Zhang? Brother Zhang?” Yuwen Jin’s voice interrupted Ling Zhang’s train of thought. He asked Ling Zhang, “What are you thinking about? You’re not leaving?”

The lecture in the afternoon was over. All other students had left their classrooms, either going back to their dormitories or returning home. Yuwen Jin, Zhao Jiusi and the other four had put away their things and were waiting for him. Miao Shiba had also entered the classroom and cleared away his school supplies on the desk for him, standing by on the side.

“Professor Li is a total stranger to me. Do any of you know him?” Ling Zhang inquired of them.

Yuwen Jin shook his head. He barely knew any men of letters.

Zhao Jiusi and the other four also had a puzzled face. “None of us have ever seen this professor before. It seems that he’s really new. Ji Feng, you’re more informed than us. Do you know the background of Professor Li?”

Ji Feng contemplated for quite a while and then shook his head. “No. Just now I was also amazed when I found that this new professor was a complete stranger to me, that I hadn’t even heard of his name before. Maybe he came to the capital city not long ago.”

“He came to the capital city not long ago?” Xie Qing asked in confusion, “but the Imperial College would never hire anybody without fame, talent and learning. Is he by any chance a quite renowned scholar somewhere else?”

“If that’s the case, then all this would make sense. If he’s a local in this city, we’d probably have recognized him; if he’s from some provincial city, it’d be normal that we’ve never heard of him, but given that he’s landed a job in this college, he’s definitely achieved some academic success, which means he’s no doubt won fame. I’ll make a few inquiries,” said Ji Feng.

All others nodded. From the vantage point of the present, this seemed to be the only way.

Though the old man’s identity was still unknown, at least some things were now clear: first, the old man was a newcomer; second, the old man was not a local in the capital city, and neither was he widely known in this city, which was almost confirmation of Ling Zhang’s conjecture that the old man’s coming to the Imperial College had not been a coincidence.

‘This means that it’s very likely he’s really after me.’

Ling Zhang, retaining his vigilance, left the classroom with the others, but until he walked through the front gate of the Imperial College, there’d still been nobody showing up to stop him. He couldn’t help but get more confused and skeptical. Just like this, he returned to the Ling Mansion.

Yuwen Tong happened to have gone out in the afternoon and wasn’t back yet. Unable to consult with Yuwen Tong about all those matters that had been troubling his mind, Ling Zhang gave them a lot of thought and then started reading the handbook on mental cultivation method of internal energy.

Finally, at dusk, shortly before night fell, Yuwen Tong returned. Ling Zhang told him about the old man.

“He’s in the Imperial College?” Yuwen Tong had a thoughtful look. Because of his previous conjecture, he had checked all ancient books and notes left by his grandfather during the past few days but still hadn’t found any sentences similar to the one in the handbook on internal energy of Ling Zhang’s, and neither had he found any clues to the origin of the formations. He’d been meaning to open his grandfather’s book chamber and scour it, but now the old man had shown up, and he’d become a teacher in the Imperial College, which was something that couldn’t have been done without both connections and finesse.

“Almost all teachers of the Imperial College are distinguished scholars. This guy has never shown his face in this city, but the Imperial College still hired him to be a professor. There’s no way he could have done this without the principal’s assistance. I’ll do some digging into this,” said Yuwen Tong.

Ling Zhang inclined his head in the knowledge that this was the only thing they could do at the moment. He had no connection whatsoever in the capital city, so Yuwen Tong was the only one he could rely on to inquire into this matter, but currently, what confused him more was the old man’s intentions as well as whether there would be any serious disruptions if the old man was found to be a member of the Millennium Pavilion...

Ling Zhang was very hesitant about informing Yuwen Tong of the Millennium Pavilion. After giving it some thought, he decided to wait until Yuwen Tong finished the inquiry into the role of the principal in this matter.

Given that the old man had dared to show his face in the Imperial College, he clearly had taken precautions against investigation into his true identity, so Ling Zhang suspected that an inquiry into the principal’s role in this would eventually lead to nothing.

Besides, now that the old man had shown up, Ling Zhang believed he definitely would try to make contact with him again, either tonight or tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, and his intentions would surely be exposed.

On this very night, Yuwen Tong instructed Yao Yi to conduct an inquiry into the background of this new professor as well as the role of the principal in this matter.

The next morning, Ling Zhang arrived at the Imperial College at an early hour. The old man who gave them a lecture the day before was still nowhere to be seen, but Ling Zhang was a lot more undisturbed now.

He ran into Ji Feng and the other four who happened to have just arrived at the college as well, and they talked about what happened the day before.

“It’s so weird. Last night I made a few inquiries after returning home, but none of them had ever heard of that professor who gave us a lecture yesterday.”

“Me, too.”

All five of them had made a few inquiries after going back home but had found nothing.

“Do we have to ask the principal about it, by any chance?”

“It seems to be the only way.”

Ling Zhang quietly listened to them and thought, ‘Yesterday nobody knew about the background of the new professor. Today there’s got to be some news.’

At noon, there’d still been no hearsay about the background of the new professor surnamed Li, but news about something else came.

“Jiang Yu’s father was impeached because of his subordinate’s deeds. The prefectural governor of the Xiang City in Cangzhou, whom he once highly recommended, arbitrarily had over ten commoners executed without a fair trial, which resulted in a riot. It was brutally suppressed and a lot of people lost their lives. Originally this matter had been hushed up well, but somehow it was suddenly brought to light. Such was the severity of this incident that even Jiang Yu’s father was harshly rebuked by His Majesty. Now he’s already been removed from office and instructed to introspect about his faults at home.”

“You don’t say! When did that happen?”

“This morning, at the court meeting. News of it has spread through the whole city.”