APSIL -Chapter 147 Good and Evil Will Eventually Be Rewarded, Lu San Makes Things Difficult for Others

There was no grain allowance, no food subsidies, and no money for books. In the end, Zhang Shou put on an expression as if he had compromised and settled for the next best thing, finally obtaining ten dormitory rooms from Zhou Xun for the students of Jiuzhang Hall.

As for how Zhou Xun would make room for them, Zhang Shou had no intention of worrying about that.

After confirming once again that he could not get any support from Zhou Xun, Zhang Shou thought to himself that fortunately he had expected such a poor situation long ago. His visit today was merely to complete the necessary formalities. Otherwise, if he had nothing and wanted to teach classes, how could he possibly manage?

Thankfully, there was Lu Sanlang, a wealthy head of the dormitory, supporting him. Many problems could still be solved.

Seeing Zhang Shou silently bow in farewell before turning to leave, Zhou Xun knew that he had done nothing but evade or refuse. His attitude was indeed difficult to justify, so he hurriedly called out: “Doctor Zhang, since you are also in charge of Half-Mountain Hall, and the students there are all from wealthy and noble families… Since they respect you so much, if you simply say a word, the cost of books and grain—”

Before he could finish speaking, Zhang Shou interrupted him in a deep voice: “Chief Director Zhou, that is not the right way to look at it. Since they are all students of the Imperial Academy, their status should be equal. How can one shamelessly accept aid from others for no reason?”

“A gentleman does not accept food given out of pity. Perhaps the future students of Jiuzhang Hall may not all be gentlemen, but if they enter the academy already feeling inferior to others, it will not be easy for them to straighten their backs in the future.”

He turned around, and seeing Zhou Xun looking slightly uncomfortable, he gave a small bow.

“I will find a way to handle this matter myself. Thank you for your concern, Chief Director.”

After leaving the eastern room, Zhang Shou saw the group of officials outside all sitting upright, each one pretending to be deeply focused on their work.

He could not help but laugh inwardly.

He had deliberately come during the lunch break to report and ask for approval in advance—so that if he caused trouble later, his superiors would not lose face.

Yet these people had all refused to go eat and instead stood around outside.

Wasn’t it obvious they wanted to know what he was planning and watch the show?

Zhang Shou gave them a slight nod and walked straight out of the Doctor’s Hall.

Originally, he had never expected much from official resources.

Now he could completely give up on them.

When Zhang Shou returned to his temporary residence in the dormitory, he pushed open the door and immediately saw a table full of delicious dishes.

Little Fatty Lu Sanlang was sitting there staring at the food greedily.

The moment he saw Zhang Shou, he quickly came forward.

“A-Liu just delivered them. He said the Duke of Zhao’s residence prepared them specially.”

After explaining that, Lu Sanlang eagerly asked: “How did Chief Director Zhou react? On the day Jiuzhang Hall officially reopens, are we going to hold a grand ceremony?”

“A grand ceremony? We might as well just eat cold leftovers.”

Zhang Shou lazily sat down beside the table.

He then roughly repeated his conversation with Zhou Xun.

Seeing Lu Sanlang’s disappointed expression, he pointed at the food with his chopsticks.

“Sit down and eat. As for the textbooks, prepare them first. But don’t worry, I won’t take them for free.”

Even if you did take them for free, this little amount of money wouldn’t matter to me…

Lu Sanlang thought this inwardly, but his face showed none of it. He simply nodded repeatedly.

“As for the opening day, the morning will be registration, and formal lessons will begin in the afternoon.”

At this point, Zhang Shou gave a strange smile.

“Before that, as the head of Jiuzhang Hall, you should establish your authority properly.”

“As for guests, don’t invite anyone publicly. When I visit Teacher Ge’s residence one evening, I’ll casually mention it to him.”

That night, after returning to the dormitory, A-Liu slipped in and reported the results of the court cases handled by the Shuntian Prefecture that day.

The little eunuch who had framed others confessed in court that he had acted under Qiao Huaien’s orders. He was immediately sentenced to eighty heavy strokes and sent to plant trees at the imperial mausoleum.

General Liu and Master Ma were, as expected, sentenced to immediate execution.

As for the miscellaneous people from Zhao Garden, Qin Garden, and other places who had been dragged into the matter, their punishments ranged from light beatings to heavier canings.

But the person Zhang Shou was most curious about—the royal clansman Qiao Huaien—had directly collided with Wang Jie’s temper.

That dignified Prefect of Shuntian actually ignored the pleas of Qiao Huaien’s father, the Prince of Hesi, despite Qiao Huaien being the grandson of Emperor Yingzong and a member of the imperial family.

Relying on the emperor’s decree giving him authority to handle the case, Wang Jie sentenced Qiao Huaien to twenty strokes.

The beating left him half dead.

And that still wasn’t the end.

Wang Jie even declared that he would submit a memorial to the emperor requesting that Qiao Huaien be removed from the imperial clan registry.

His reasoning was quite forceful: “After all, Prince Hesi does not have only one son!”

Hearing this, Zhang Shou could not help but wonder:

Was the emperor deliberately assigning all troublesome matters to Wang Datou because he knew exactly how stubborn this man was?

Since Wang Jie had already dealt with everything, Zhang Shou put the matter aside.

On the morning of the day Jiuzhang Hall officially reopened, Zhang Shou began another normal lesson in Half-Mountain Hall.

Meanwhile, Lu Sanlang and Qi Liang had clearly divided their responsibilities.

Qi Liang supervised servants in Jiuzhang Hall, having them clean the inside and outside again and check the desks and chairs.

Lu Sanlang, meanwhile, had arrived early beneath the university archway.

After all, he had participated in every interview with Zhang Shou and recognized every admitted student.

Today, he had deliberately dressed and groomed himself carefully.

Although Imperial Academy dormitories were technically only for students and did not allow family members or servants to live there, Lu Sanlang had his own ways.

He arranged for two personal servants to rent a nearby room. Every day they came over pretending to visit as family members, while actually taking care of all his daily needs. At night, they returned to the rented room to sleep.

Thus, under the careful attention of his servants, the round and chubby young master looked extremely energetic and presentable.

He also fully displayed his talent for adapting his speech according to the person in front of him.

No matter what attitude others showed toward him, he could calmly deliver a long welcome speech before instructing the servants beside him to guide them into Jiuzhang Hall.

Originally, he expected to stand there for an entire morning.

But unexpectedly, all twenty-one admitted students arrived extremely early.

Within less than half an hour, everyone had already gathered.

“Didn’t Teacher say that we could arrive anytime in the morning? Why did you rush here so early?”

“Better early than late. What if Doctor Zhang is testing us with this?”

Yan Fang, who was older than most of them, gasped for breath before lowering his voice.

“I never imagined in my entire life that I would be able to enter the Imperial Academy. Now that I have the chance to become part of it, how could I possibly arrive late?”

Lu Sanlang had always looked down on the title of Imperial Academy student.

He had even considered it meaningless.

But thinking of Yan Fang’s background and hardships, he ultimately did not laugh at him.

“Alright, you’re the last one. Everyone else has already arrived.”

Seeing Yan Fang’s expression change slightly, Lu Sanlang said impatiently: “Don’t overthink it. Teacher is still teaching in Half-Mountain Hall. Whether you arrived early or late really doesn’t matter. As long as you are here before afternoon classes begin, that’s enough.”

“Oh, and one more thing. Imperial Academy students no longer receive grain allowances, meals, or free books. Teacher only managed to obtain ten dormitory rooms.”

Yan Fang calmly nodded.

“I am from the capital, so of course I understand the Imperial Academy’s current situation. Having a place to live is already more than enough.”

“I just sold my ancestral house. The money should be enough to support me while studying here.”

Even though Lu Sanlang had accepted Yan Fang mostly because he understood Zhang Shou’s intentions, he still could not help taking a small breath after hearing this.

“You invested so much. Aren’t you afraid that you might gain nothing in the end?”

Yan Fang was silent for a moment before answering: “I have lived more than half my life. Doctor Zhang is the first person who, despite knowing that I had done something wrong, still treated me kindly, gave me books, and encouraged me.”

Zhang Shou is really that good of a person?

Although Lu Sanlang deeply admired Zhang Shou’s talent and foundation in mathematics, and also held his methods of dealing with people in very high regard, he had never considered Zhang Shou a truly good person.

In Lu Sanlang’s mind, “good people” and “overly kind fools” were basically the same thing.

Therefore, he stared at Yan Fang for quite a while before finally chuckling.

“Having the courage to stake everything and walk across a single-plank bridge… That courage is admirable.”

“Alright, alright. Let’s go.”

When Lu Sanlang brought Yan Fang to the entrance of Jiuzhang Hall, he saw Yan Fang looking up at the newly renovated lecture hall.

The plaque of Jiuzhang Hall, covered by a red cloth and hanging high in the center, was clearly the imperial inscription of the founding emperor.

The excitement on Yan Fang’s face was obvious.

Lu Sanlang then looked at the other students who had yet to enter.

There was no doubt about it.

Compared to the wealthy noble youths of Half-Mountain Hall, who disliked rules and discipline, most of the people here had experienced hardships and setbacks.

As a result, they were much more cautious, careful, and respectful.

But right now, Lu Sanlang did not want these people to simply become obedient and timid.

He walked directly to the front and stood beneath the Jiuzhang Hall plaque.

Then he cleared his throat loudly.

“This Jiuzhang Hall has been reopened under His Majesty’s imperial decree. The examination questions used for admission were also personally arranged according to the imperial order.”

“So regardless of what you were like before, from today onward, you are all students of Jiuzhang Hall.”

“Teacher is still teaching in Half-Mountain Hall. He is a very easygoing person. He has only one principle when it comes to his students.”

“Study hard, improve every day!”

These eight words were something Lu Sanlang had heard Zhang Shou say before, so he directly captured the core meaning.

Then he began introducing himself.

“As for me, I am the head of Jiuzhang Hall personally selected by Teacher.”

“I know some of you are older than me, and perhaps you think your knowledge is deeper than mine.”

“If you want to replace me, it is very simple.”

“You ask me a question. I answer. Then I ask you a question, and you answer.”

Lu Sanlang stood proudly, looking around confidently.

“Whoever falls behind by two questions loses.”

“Who wants to try?”

Someone like Yan Fang, who had already been tormented by cruel reality many times and had personally experienced Lu Sanlang’s terrifying questioning during the interview, naturally had no desire to compete.

However, Lu Sanlang’s appearance was extremely deceptive.

His round body, chubby face, and cheerful expression made many people instinctively think he was just another spoiled young master from a wealthy family.

Although some recognized him as the fat youth who had accompanied Zhang Shou during the interviews, they still assumed he was the type of rich young man who did nothing but eat and enjoy life.

Even so, no one immediately stepped forward.

This situation was completely different from what Lu Sanlang wanted.

He frowned unhappily.

“Literary studies have no first place, martial arts have no second place. Mathematics is the same!”

“Many of you are already no longer young. If you didn’t have confidence in your own talents and weren’t hoping to improve further, why would you have worked so hard to enter Jiuzhang Hall?”

His words successfully provoked someone.

A plainly dressed scholar stepped forward and loudly said: “Fine. I’ll do it!”

He immediately asked: “There is a bamboo tube with nine sections. The bottom three sections can hold four sheng, while the top four sections can hold three sheng.”

“Suppose the two middle sections are to hold equal amounts. How much does each section contain?”

Hearing this question, Lu Sanlang was speechless.

Was this really a challenge?

Or was this person deliberately flattering him?

He sneered.

“I can recite the Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art backwards.”

“You actually dare use a problem copied directly from Volume Six, Equal Distribution, to test me?”

Without hesitation, he began giving the answer.

“The first lower section contains one sheng and twenty-nine sixty-sixths.”

“The second contains one sheng and twenty-two sixty-sixths.”

“The third contains one sheng and fifteen sixty-sixths.”

“The fourth contains one sheng and eight sixty-sixths.”

“The fifth contains one sheng and one sixty-sixth.”

“The sixth contains sixty sixty-sixths.”

“The seventh contains fifty-three sixty-sixths.”

“The eighth contains forty-six sixty-sixths.”

“The ninth contains thirty-nine sixty-sixths.”

He recited the numbers as if they were engraved in his memory.

Seeing the scholar’s shocked expression, Lu Sanlang unhappily continued: “Now I’ll ask you a question.”

“A carriage pulled by an inferior horse travels forty li a day. It sets out first and travels for two days.”

“Another carriage pulled by a fine horse travels eighty li a day.”

“How many days does it need to catch up with the first carriage?”

The scholar carefully calculated.

“Only two days!”

Lu Sanlang nodded.

“Correct.”

But before the scholar could ask another question, Lu Sanlang suddenly revealed a sinister smile.

“Then let’s change it.”

“There are three carriages—A, B, and C—leaving the capital for Tongzhou at different speeds.”

“Carriage B leaves fifteen minutes after C. After departing, B catches up with C after half an hour.”

“Carriage A leaves two quarters of an hour after B. After departing, A catches up with C after one hour and fifteen minutes.”

“How many minutes after A departs will it catch up with B?”

He looked around at the students who were already frowning while calculating.

Then he smiled.

“The rest of you can calculate it together as well.”

“As long as you solve it, it counts as winning one question against me.”

“See? Isn’t this a good deal?”

Qi Liang, who had just brought these twenty-some people inside, could only laugh helplessly.

People always said: “Do not force others to suffer what you yourself do not wish to endure.”

But Lu Sanlang’s personality was completely different.

The hardships he had suffered before…

He absolutely wanted others to experience them too!

Back when he had first entered Cuiyun Room, these pursuit problems had tortured him until he was exhausted and miserable.

Now?

It was finally his turn to use those same problems to torment others.