Chapter 884 - 886: Those Who Insulted Me Must Apologize!_1
Teacher Wei’s expression was somewhat embarrassed. After coughing lightly twice, he said, "Ruozhu, you’ve been wronged today. I will certainly punish the student who committed misdeeds today and uphold justice for you."
After he finished speaking, he looked at Wang Nianqing with a stern voice and said, "Speak, why did you publicly humiliate Ruozhu? Or was someone instructing you to do so?"
Bai Ruozhu turned her eyes and couldn’t help but take another look at Teacher Wei. If she wasn’t mistaken, was Teacher Wei subtly supporting Li Jingwei?
Perhaps it was because Li Jingwei was arranged by the organizing committee. If they really pursued the matter, it would embarrass the organizing committee as well, wouldn’t it?
Thinking this over, Ruozhu decided to let Li Jingwei off for now. Having publicly scolded him today, it would be difficult for him to continue in Xuanlang City in the future.
Being questioned by Teacher Wei, Wang Nianqing was so frightened that her whole body shuddered. Today, Sun Lin shared Ruozhu’s "disgraceful act" with her in an infuriated manner, claiming that Ruozhu’s conduct was a disgrace to all women and that it was utterly unfair for someone like her to compete in the contest. Wang Nianqing herself came from an average family and had only recently become a student at Xuanlang Academy’s female section. She had always wanted to find an opportunity to form connections with aristocratic girls. Unfortunately, coming from a humble background, her learning did not compensate for her lack of status; despite her efforts, she often found herself cold-shouldered.
Today, when Sun Lin came to her, she thought her chance had arrived. However, it now seemed that this was not a chance, but a trap, and she had already jumped into it.
She could imagine herself being disqualified from the competition, even expelled from the female section of the Academy, and all her previous efforts would be in vain!
Her father was just a private school teacher and her family was counting on her marrying into a good household for a change in fortune. If she were expelled, she feared she wouldn’t have a chance to marry into a reputable family for the rest of her life.
Thinking of this, Wang Nianqing, her voice trembling, said, "Teacher Wei, I was deceived by others, not clear on who I was dealing with. It was...it was Sun Lin who told me, saying that Ruozhu had lost face for all the women participating in the competition, and asked me to take a stand for everyone."
Sun Lin suddenly yelled from the side, "Wang Nianqing, are you tired of living?"
Teacher Wei glared at her and said fiercely, "Impudent! Didn’t you just admit in public that it was you who had seen it? Dare to harm someone and now you dare not admit it?"
If only Sun Lin saw it, then the rumor must have spread from her, and now with Wang Nianqing also pointing at her, wasn’t it obvious?
"Teacher Wei, don’t listen to Bai Ruozhu’s sophistry. It’s not that I’m slandering her; she’s just making excuses for herself. If that were the case, she should have explained clearly back then, why did she stubbornly block people from entering?" Sun Lin said unwillingly.
It was Lin Xufei who spoke up this time, "Unique skills are indeed inconvenient to be seen by outsiders. Miss Bai must have been focused on her needlework and had no time to talk to others. Such statements Miss Wu surely could not say directly, for fear of appearing defensive, which could easily cause trouble for Miss Bai."
"She was performing needlework in front of everyone on the field just before, why didn’t she avoid onlookers then? This is clearly just an excuse!" Sun Lin persisted unwillingly.
Ruozhu looked at her and started to sneer, "Miss Sun’s insight is rather shallow. Do you know how many types of needle techniques there are in medicine? The needle technique I used in public was naturally one that is convenient to use in front of an audience. As for the unique needle technique of our sect, naturally, I must strictly follow my Teacher’s orders."
The first judge to read Bai Ruozhu’s poetry, Kou Qiwei, echoed from the side, "Respecting one’s teacher and valuing the way is proper. What Bai Ruozhu did was correct."
Sun Lin’s face contorted with anger, unable to find a reason to refute Bai Ruozhu’s words, but still stared fiercely at Ruozhu with unwillingness.
Teacher Wei coughed once and said sternly, "Sun Lin, the incident today started because of you. Effective immediately, your qualification to study at the female section of Xuanlang Academy is canceled. I hope you return home to reflect behind closed doors and learn your lesson thoroughly. In the future, be careful with your words and actions and do not repeat the same mistake!"
Having said that, he turned his head to face Wang Nianqing, "Wang Nianqing disrupted the calligraphy competition, treated its rules as if they were nothing, I, as the elder, decide to cancel her qualifications for this competition, and all her obtained results will be rendered invalid! If the head of Xuanlang Academy has any objections, he may complain about me to the organizing committee!"
Not far away, the face of the head of Xuanlang Academy, Li Yuanming, looked extremely grim as he bowed to Wei Lao and said, "Elder Wei’s handling of the situation is extremely proper, I have no objections as a student."
Upon hearing this, everyone realized that this Elder Wei was also the teacher of the head of Xuanlang Academy, no wonder he didn’t dare say half a word of dissent.
However, it was useless to say anything, for Wang Nianqing indeed made the first mistake. Let alone the fact that Bai Ruozhu was wronged; even if those things were true, Wang Nianqing would still be punished all the same.
In desperation, Wang Nianqing started crying, "Elder Wei, I was wrong, I won’t dare to do it again ever, please give me another chance, I don’t want to leave the female academy, I still have so much to learn, I beg you!"
Tears streamed down her face as she wept, looking especially pitiful. Elder Wei sighed and said, "If you knew this day would come, why did you do it in the first place? The female academy has nothing left to teach you, you might as well go home and properly learn how to be a person. No matter how much you read, without proper conduct, it’s all in vain."
Wang Nianqing collapsed to the ground, tears gushing out like a breached dam. She knew that after Elder Wei said these words, she had no more chances.
Yet, Sun Lin was not willing to give up and shouted, "Why should I be driven out of the academy for this lowlife? My father is the city magistrate, can she even compare to me?"
Elder Wei’s face became even uglier, "Even a princess would be punished for her mistakes. The current sage emperor values just rewards and punishments very much. You’re so arrogant just being the daughter of a city magistrate? It seems that I need to have a talk with Magistrate Sun from the Sun Residence. It’s already lenient that the academy is expelling you, in addition, you will be grounded for three months."
"What right do you have..." Sun Lin was about to curse when a young man rushed over and slapped her face, "Shut up! If you disrespect Elder Wei again, don’t even think about stepping out of the house ever again!"
"Big brother, you..." Sun Lin, covering her face, looked at her brother in disbelief.
The man bowed to Elder Wei and said, "It is my fault as Student Sun Dai for not teaching my sister well. I hurried over as soon as the servants informed me. My little sister is willful and has caused trouble for Elder Wei."
"Take your sister home and discipline her strictly. Don’t let me hear that she has gone out during the next three months!" Elder Wei’s face grew cold, clearly very dissatisfied with Sun Lin.
Sun Dai bowed once more, then quickly pulled Sun Lin away.
Bai Ruozhu clenched her teeth; it seemed Sun Lin got off lightly. She was too far away to take action herself.
Elder Wei then turned to Li Jingwei and said, "You are also at fault for not being cautious with your words and actions. Go back and let your teacher punish you with twenty hits of the cane."
Li Jingwei’s mouth twitched, and he immediately bowed, "I acknowledge my mistake and will report to my teacher at once." After saying that, he also bowed to Bai Ruozhu to apologize and then left the testing ground.
Elder Wei then looked towards Bai Ruozhu, his face now wearing a warm smile, "Bai Ruozhu, are you satisfied with my handling of the situation?"
"Thank you, Elder Wei, for upholding justice for this student. However, I remember that just now there were many in the VIP seats who insulted me. Now that the truth has come out, shouldn’t they also apologize to me?" Bai Ruozhu said.
Elder Wei was stunned for a moment, then burst into laugher, "Good, such candor is also commendable."