Chapter 45

Chapter 45: Preparing the Academy

Gu Nan Xi failed to buy any books. After rousing two different groups in a row, she was drained down to the bone. Lying there, she swore in silence that the next time anyone tried to drag her out, she would refuse to step beyond the manor gates—no matter what.

She flopped onto the bed. Su Yun Yan stayed busy with household matters, kept an eye on the small kitchen, and even made sure something nourishing would be served to help Gu Nan Xi recover.

“Little Sister,” a voice called from the doorway, cautious and probing. “Is Mother asleep?”

Su Xuan Ming hovered at the small kitchen entrance, craning his neck like he might spot trouble lurking inside.

Su Yun Yan was in the middle of giving instructions to the cook. “This ginkgo, southern apricot, and crucian carp soup—keep it on a low simmer until the broth turns milky white. Then turn off the fire.”

Only after washing her hands and drying them carefully did she step out. “Brother, Mother isn’t asleep yet. But she was tired today, so she lay down early.”

Su Xuan Ming’s guilt hit him all at once. He waved his hands quickly. “I won’t disturb Mother. Little Sister… I’ve decided to open my own academy.”

Su Yun Yan halted mid-step. She glanced left and right. Once she was sure no one was listening, she seized Su Xuan Ming by the collar and dragged him into the shadowed corner by the wall.

“Brother, what nonsense is this? Do you have a fever? Or did Li Shao Yan beat you up?”

As she spoke, she pressed the back of her hand to his forehead, checking him like an anxious nurse.

Su Xuan Ming couldn’t break free, and he didn’t want anyone to witness this humiliating scene. He lowered his voice and explained with forced patience. “Little Sister, I’m not sick, and I didn’t get beaten. I’ve thought it through.”

“You said that last time too,” Su Yun Yan shot back. “When you wanted to quit school—‘thought it through,’ ‘no regrets,’ all of it.”

Su Xuan Ming choked. “I swear, this time I’m serious!”

Su Yun Yan gave him a flat look. “As if you haven’t sworn enough already.”

“Don’t say that,” he blurted. “Or I’ll cry right here for you to see!”

Hiss.

A vicious threat.

Su Yun Yan released him at once, as if she’d been burned. One second slower, and she’d be facing a flood.

Su Xuan Ming regained his freedom and tried to slip away, but he still needed something. He lingered, rubbing at his collar. “Little Sister, Mother agreed to the academy.”

Su Yun Yan eyed him from head to toe, suspicious. “Don’t think you can fool me just because I’m not clever.”

Su Xuan Ming bowed repeatedly, earnest to the point of ridiculous. “How would I fool you? Do you remember what Mother said today? Mother said she believes in the Dao! What is the Dao? The Dao follows nature—everything comes from the heart! My heart tells me I don’t want to go to that lousy private school. I want to open my own academy!”

Su Yun Yan kept glancing back toward the kitchen, clearly more worried about the soup than his grand declaration. “If you want to open it, then open it. Why are you telling me?”

Su Xuan Ming’s face turned red as sunset. He stumbled over his words. “Well… Little Sister… Brother’s a bit tight on money. Could you maybe—”

“No.”

The answer was sharp as a blade.

Su Yun Yan didn’t soften. “We can’t touch the household funds. And my private money has other uses.”

Su Xuan Ming finally ran out of shamelessness. He lowered his head and trudged into the night, each step heavier than the last.

“Wait.”

Su Yun Yan caught up and pressed a pouch into his palm. “I forgot to give you this. Mother prepared the silver long ago and told me to pass it to you.”

Then she spun back to the small kitchen, all brisk urgency, and went to guard the crucian carp soup.

He stood there, dazed.

The bright red satin pouch, embroidered with the Three Friends of Winter, was heavy and bulging in his hand…

The next day, the ten sworn young men gathered at Chen Yi Xuan’s home.

On the round table sat the embroidered pouch and a neat stack of banknotes.

Jiang Guang Hai looked openly envious. “Brother, Godmother is telling you this: without bone-chilling cold, how could plum blossoms smell so sweet? She believes in you!”

Chen Yi Xuan counted the notes and clicked his tongue in disbelief. “A full one thousand taels! Brother, Godmother treats you too well! You didn’t even ask, and she handed you a thousand taels.”

He didn’t have the heart to say it outright: using banknotes to start a private school was no different from tossing them into a river and watching them skip.

Su Yun Ting’s voice went sour. “Hmph. Mother really plays favorites. I can barely pry a hundred taels out of her, but she didn’t even blink before giving you a thousand!”

Li Ming De slung an arm around Su Yun Ting’s shoulder, grinning. “Fourth Brother, don’t be mad. Our private school can hire martial instructors too. Even the Imperial Academy has a Martial College—we can’t fall behind!”

“Haha, right!” someone laughed. “We’ll punch Mount Song Academy and kick the Imperial Academy! We’ll run this academy properly and fight for first place. Then Li Shao Yan and the rest will have to look at us differently!”

“Shouldn’t we give the academy a name?”

“Sworn Brotherhood Hall?”

Su Yun Ting objected instantly. “That sounds like an escort bureau, not an academy.”

“What about Nan Xi Academy? Godmother is the one paying for it.”

Su Xuan Ming refused without hesitation. “If it thrives, it brings honor to Mother. If it fails, it drags Mother down. No.”

Jiang Guang Hai tapped the table, eyes bright. “Then call it the Hundred Rivers Academy. The sea takes in a hundred rivers. There are ten of us brothers, all different, yet here we are together—doesn’t that fit?”

“Good!” someone shouted. “That name is good!”

Chen Yi Xuan clapped hard, delighted. “A hundred rivers rushing, all returning to the sea. One, it shows the academy’s open, welcoming spirit. Two, there are countless students—each with their own ladder to the heavens!”

…

Gu Nan Xi slept through the night. When she woke again, Su Yun Yan was sitting at her bedside, guarding her like a dutiful shadow. In her hands was Book Two of *The Marchioness and the Men Behind Her*, and she was reading with hungry focus.

[Huh?]

[Book Two?]

[What?!]

“Yun Yan!” Gu Nan Xi snapped, suddenly wide awake. “Where did you get that storybook?”

Su Yun Yan frowned, still staring at the page as she tried to recall. “Early this morning a servant boy delivered it. He said Wen Yu sent it. Mother, you and Wen Yu both said there’s unbending backbone in this book… but I can’t see it at all. Where is it?”

Gu Nan Xi leaned over—Su Yun Yan was still on the first page.

Thank heavens. Scentseeker hadn’t continued from the previous volume. Instead, she wrote about an assassin bursting into the tavern, shattering the heavy, intimate mood.

“Her resistance was never spoken aloud—and she didn’t dare speak it aloud.”

Gu Nan Xi snatched the book back and hid it under the bedding like a treasure.

Before Su Yun Yan could dig deeper, Gu Nan Xi hurriedly changed the subject. “What are your brothers up to? If he’s not planning to go study out of town, make him return the banknotes.”

Su Yun Yan blinked, honest as a child. “I only gave him the banknotes yesterday. Brother wants to build an academy himself. Mother, you don’t need to bring up studying out of town just to push him. This time his resolve is really firm! He definitely won’t let you down!”

For the first time, Gu Nan Xi couldn’t make sense of what Su Yun Yan was saying.

So Yun Yan supported Xuan Ming building an academy?

[!]

“They’ve already started preparing?” Gu Nan Xi’s tone went heavy.

Su Yun Yan helped her sit up. “Mm-hmm. Brother left early and said he’s going to look for a site.”

“Have you hired any teachers?”

Su Yun Yan shook her head. “Not yet.”

“Recruited any students?”

Su Yun Yan nodded hard. “So far it’s just Brother. He said if my other brother and I want, we can enroll for free.”

Gu Nan Xi tipped her head back and stared at the ceiling, as if the sky might hold her up. Only like this could she keep the tears from rising.

Those one thousand taels had died such an unjust death.