Chapter 1 Tai Xue

Tai Xue has never been a heavily guarded place. In the past, Tai Xue had strict gate controls, and the Imperial Guards were stationed at both the front and rear gates. But since Tan Weishi came to Yunzhou and became more closely acquainted with her sister and brother-in-law-cum-husband's various ideas, she also felt that while formally closing off the school, it was indeed restricting the thoughts of students and teachers to a certain extent. Tan Weishi had a very profound influence among the students in Dongping. Even now, being invited by Tan Weishi to participate in some calligraphy and painting exhibitions, poetry gatherings, and literary theory conferences could still excite those students for a long time. Tan Weishi even replaced her sister in managing various expenditure projects of the Neifu (Inner Treasury). With her active promotion, the entire Tai Xue, except for the most central part of the buildings used for etiquette and sacrifices, has been renovated in batches. And the Neifu did not invest much in this renovation, with most of the funds coming from donations from various aristocratic families.

Ye Tao did not have time to participate in the reorganization of Tai Xue, but the entire architectural complex was designed by Ye Laogeng. Ye Laogeng was honest and down-to-earth, and the architectural complex he designed matched his character. He fully considered the needs of teaching and students' lives, and factors such as earthquake resistance, flood prevention, and fire prevention. He also tried to control the amount of work, basically using the original open space for construction. Almost no ancient trees were cut down during the entire construction process. The entire Tai Xue is still hidden in dense greenery, only slightly increasing the number of buildings and garden features, turning the entire Tai Xue into a model of a college-style garden, and giving Dongping Tai Xue some of the flavor of a modern university. However, now the four gates of Tai Xue are not strictly controlled. Unless they look too unreliable or obviously have problems, the Imperial Guard sentry posts on both sides of each gate generally do not interfere. Only a small part of the buildings on the entire Tai Xue campus have strict guards.

After students and their families and friends could freely enter and leave the school, the area around the school also became lively. Now it has formed two small commercial areas in the north and south. The south is close to the teaching area, with more bookstores, teahouses, rental bookstores, stationery stores, calligraphy and painting stores, and antique stores. Especially worth mentioning is the rental bookstore. Although the profit is not much, it mainly serves those poor scholars who cannot afford to buy books, and most of the rent collected is used for book updates and maintenance. But this rental bookstore system called "Hua Die" (Flower Butterfly) is regarded by the majority of scholars as the most cherished place. On the one hand, students appreciate the convenience provided by the rental bookstore and try to maintain the integrity of the books. On the other hand, there is a general respect for publications in this era, and incidents of book damage are extremely rare. Many students even help maintain the integrity of the books while reading them. The scene at the north gate is another matter. Since the north gate is closer to the living area of Tai Xue, there are more restaurants and taverns, both cheap and affordable, and the business of high-end restaurants is also very good. There are even two brothels at the north gate, which can be regarded as a humanized service. When the commercial areas of the north and south gates were formed, a group of courtiers looked at each other. They did not dislike these facilities for hindering students' studies. Tai Xue is now a typical case of wide entry and strict exit. Those who are eager to learn and those who want to gild themselves can squeeze into it. The north and south commercial areas provide students with many places for communication and discussion, as well as many places for small-scale calligraphy, painting, and literary theory discussion meetings. The achievements of Tai Xue in the past few years are at least not bad. What they really can't understand is that Ye Tao and Tan Weixin actually said that the land would appreciate in value, and it really did. The Neifu did not spend much money to renovate Tai Xue, but made a fortune silently by relying on the appreciation of the land. Now, the atmosphere of "unity, tension, seriousness, and liveliness" blending together in Dongping Tai Xue has even made many great scholars in Chunnan admire it.

Even the lecture system was a way for Tan Weishi to escape from Ye Tao and Tan Weixin. From the beginning, everyone was cautious, thinking that listening to lectures was a waste of time and energy. Now, some Tai Xue students like lectures far more than formal courses, and they are very picky about the content and lecturers of the lectures. Some lectures are so crowded that people are standing in the aisles, and the place is packed with students and people from outside the school. This has only been going on for less than a year. This time, Xiao Qingyin's lecture was no exception.

The stuff that Xiao Qingyin brought out was indeed very interesting, but more students were more interested in why Xiao Qingyin was able to rise to fame in such a short period of time and become a popular figure in Danyang. What was the trick to it? In fact, Xiao Qingyin also understood this. To talk about psychological tests, although he has now mastered some of them, he is not like Ye Tao and Tan Weixin, who were influenced by the works of masters such as Freud, Jung, and Maslow in modern times. Xiao Qingyin had no way to explain the principles behind psychological tests clearly and thoroughly. He originally intended to hide his clumsiness, focusing on how to express himself, express himself, and leave a correct impression on others. And this is his profession as a senior priest of the Lei Yin Mo Zong (Thunder Sound Demon Sect) who never shows his face.

Even with Ye Tao, Dai Yun, and Tan Weishi present, Xiao Qingyin still spoke eloquently, saying whatever he should say. This composure impressed those classmates who had been in contact with him before. Xiao Qingyin always seemed to make people feel like they were bathed in a spring breeze. You know, many young students—some of whom were actually older than Ye Tao—were already so excited that their faces were flushed and they couldn't speak when they saw Ye Tao, who had already established an unparalleled career at a young age.

However, the current Tai Xue, especially the teaching building open to the outside world for lectures, has many safety hazards. Ye Tao dared to come here to listen to the lecture, of course, because he wanted to support Xiao Qingyin, but at the same time, he also considered that Danyang is generally safe. In Tai Xue, poor scholars and aristocratic children are about half and half, which can be regarded as a place where the interests of all parties are intertwined, and no one has ever dared to cause trouble. Even if there is an emergency, Ye Tao, Dai Yun, and Tan Weishi are surrounded by a group of masters, Liu Yong and Jin Ze are both there, Zheluo and others are not far away, ready to act at any time. Even if someone can rush in, Dai Yun, who is still wearing neat clothes every day even after becoming a mother, must wear a sword when going out, and at least carry a short sword with her, which can be regarded as having a short-term defense ability.

However, they never expected that someone would dare to attack them at this moment. Ye Tao came to the classroom just before the lecture started, and the guards such as Liu Yong immediately occupied some key positions around. But after all, they were to avoid disturbing the normal order of the lecture hall, so they cleaned it in advance, and did not expect that the assassins of the Xin Men (Faith Sect) had already ambushed in the crowd listening to the lecture. A dwarf assassin pried open a floorboard on the podium last night and hid in the hollow interlayer full of dust. The other people were also ready. Although they were mixed in with the students, they were not easy to carry any ostentatious weapons. They only carried daggers and short swords, but with the assassins' consistent habits, these weapons were bound to be soaked in poison.

"My lord, the atmosphere is a bit wrong, a bit gloomy." While Ye Tao was listening to the lecture for a while and admiring Xiao Qingyin's humorous remarks, Liu Yong had already noticed a strange atmosphere. He has been working as a guard for many years, scanning the entire venue circle after circle. Although the assassins tried their best to control the aura on their bodies, the attitude of hostility, always being on guard, and being prepared would always be faintly projected from their eyes. When Liu Yong scanned circle after circle, although it was impossible to immediately identify these people from the crowd, he could still detect some strangeness.

"What's wrong?" Dai Yun asked.

"I feel like there are dangerous people mixed in with the people listening to the lecture." Liu Yong said, "More than one, I don't know if they are coming for you, my lord."

Ye Tao ordered: "Don't alert the enemy, let Zheluo and the others be ready at any time. These are all students. Once someone suddenly attacks, the first priority is not to hurt others, you must control them."

Liu Yong nodded. He frowned, and a guard standing on the corner turned around knowingly and walked out as if nothing had happened. "As long as the other party does not exceed ten people, has no heavy military equipment, and no firearms, they can't play any tricks." Liu Yong said lightly. This kind of confidence cannot be cultivated in a day or two, but saying so does make people feel very relieved. Whether it is Liu Yong, Jin Ze, or those guards who can be specially selected, they all have unique skills in their hands.

"Coming at this moment, could it be...that Mr. Sun?" Tan Weishi asked in a low voice.

"Probably, speaking of which, Cao Pojun is really slow, he hasn't finished it today." Dai Yun was not nervous, she glanced at the sword placed at her feet, and said with resentment.

Cao Pojun is that kind of veteran field agent. He won't sneeze even if someone says bad things about him. At this moment, Cao Pojun is arranging the operation to encircle and suppress several people. Cao Pojun's consistent style is not to act unless he is sure, and once he acts, he must do his best. This time, he not only mobilized the elite masters in the Intelligence Bureau, but also brought out many of the Neiwu Shiwei (Internal Affairs Guards) who he used to be most skilled with. He also borrowed an entire battalion of the Imperial Guards from Chi Yun, and secretly blocked off the relevant areas. The Imperial Guards are all trained in street fighting and searching, and with their blockade, even Cao Pojun himself might not be able to break through, which is extremely reassuring. When several areas gradually calmed down, and when those Intelligence Bureau personnel disguised as merchants and servants gradually occupied the streets to be controlled, Cao Pojun ordered the attack. Four teams of people launched simultaneously in four areas not far apart.