APSIL -Chapter 39 The Last Disciple

Inside Clear Breeze Hall, the young nobles who had been driven back by Ge Yong wandered about like headless flies.

Though they naturally split into their usual cliques based on friendship, the largest crowd had gathered around Qi Liang.

In the past, people called Qi Liang Senior Brother out of respect, but he knew perfectly well that title only existed because Zhu Ying treated him favorably. Now everyone surrounding him wanted the answer to only one question:

What exactly is the relationship between Master Ge and Zhang Shou?

You’re all talking over each other. I wasn’t even there! I don’t even know what happened at the Zhang residence, so how would I know who Master Ge is?

Qi Liang was thoroughly frustrated.

Even more regrettable was the fact that when Zhu Ying had sent Zhu Hong back to Emerald Grove to summon people to support Zhang Shou, she had specifically ordered him to stay behind and guard the place. It showed she trusted him, yes—but it also meant that he was now completely in the dark.

Just as his irritation reached its peak, Lu Sanlang squeezed through the crowd like a rolling ball.

“Move aside! All of you! If you don’t explain things properly, how is Senior Brother Qi supposed to answer?”

Before Zhang Chen could object, Lu Sanlang beamed.

“Senior Brother Qi, you’ve heard that last year’s Provincial Exam Champion Tang Ming and National Academy Prefect Xie Wanquan came to trouble Young Master Zhang today, right?”

Qi Liang nodded.

“Well, that Xie Prefect couldn’t solve a single problem. Then Tang Ming insisted that Xie Wanquan should honor his wager and become the old master’s disciple at Emerald Grove.”

Qi Liang sucked in a sharp breath.

That champion is ruthless… He was trying to force the little master into exposing himself!

“But then Master Ge descended from the heavens, scolded Tang Ming and Xie Wanquan until they couldn’t raise their heads, and declared that Xie Wanquan wasn’t qualified to become a disciple of Emerald Grove.”

Lu Sanlang’s face was full of admiration.

“Master Ge isn’t just some ordinary scholar. He’s the Emperor’s teacher, the tutor of the imperial princes. More than half the Grand Secretaries, Ministers, and high officials in the capital were once admitted through the examinations he presided over. Many of our fathers and grandfathers even have to address him as Teacher.”

After explaining the most important part, Lu Sanlang looked eagerly at Qi Liang.

“Master Ge said Emerald Grove belongs to him. So everyone wants to know—what’s the relationship between Young Master Zhang and Master Ge?”

What?

The old white-haired recluse who used to sigh all day in that bamboo cottage—the one whose two servants always looked worried, and who had moved away after only a few months…

…was actually someone with such overwhelming status?

Qi Liang felt as though everything he thought he knew had been turned upside down.

For a long while, he couldn’t utter a single word.

Ordinarily, these spoiled young nobles would have bombarded him with questions until he answered. But now, even Lu Sanlang, who was dying of curiosity, could only probe cautiously.

The strange scene continued until someone suddenly shouted from outside.

“They’re back! Miss Zhu is back! Master Ge is here too!”

This time, the words “Master Ge” completely overshadowed even Zhu Ying’s magnetic presence.

The noisy hall instantly fell silent.

Then someone shouted,

“Shouldn’t we go welcome Master Ge?”

Before the speaker could say anything more, the crowd surged past him.

In only a few breaths, the previously packed hall emptied like the tide rolling out, leaving Qi Liang standing there all alone, wearing an expression of quiet melancholy.

Back then, he had deliberately come here seeking a teacher.

He had met that mysterious old recluse.

The old man had indeed possessed extraordinary bearing, but he had looked perpetually miserable, sighing endlessly.

Qi Liang had hoped to find a great master, but everything the old man talked about had gone completely over his head.

Not long afterward, the recluse quietly moved away, and Qi Liang had given up.

Now, looking back…

How could the Empire’s Teacher lower himself to waste time explaining things to a village youth like him?

One should not aim beyond one’s station.

For someone of his humble background—or Deng Xiaodai’s—to receive Zhang Shou’s guidance was already an extraordinary stroke of luck.

Having figured it out, Qi Liang hurried outside.

As soon as he emerged from Clear Breeze Hall, he saw an elderly man with snow-white hair approaching, accompanied on either side by Zhang Shou and Zhu Ying.

He still remembered what the old recluse had looked like.

At first glance, the man in his memory had been gloomy and dejected, while the man before him was smiling broadly.

They hardly seemed like the same person.

But as the distance closed, the faded memories gradually came alive.

The forgotten recluse and the celebrated Master Ge slowly merged into one.

Noticing Qi Liang standing there in a daze while the crowd surrounded Ge Yong with endless greetings, Zhang Shou immediately realized something.

Unlike himself, who had never met Ge Yong before transmigrating, Qi Liang had actually encountered the true owner of Emerald Grove.

Thinking quickly, Zhang Shou pointed toward Qi Liang.

“Master Ge, the exercise book you took before belonged to Qi Liang.”

“Oh! So it was that boy.”

Ge Yong narrowed his eyes, studying Qi Liang for quite some time before suddenly laughing.

Then he shot Zhang Shou a sideways glance.

“Unlike this fool here who couldn’t recognize Mount Tai, that boy came looking for me in the bamboo grove several times.”

“It’s just a pity his father led him down the wrong path. His head was full of examination essays and nothing else. I was already in a terrible mood because of this blockhead, so I never paid him any attention.”

The young nobles nearby only caught fragments of the conversation, but that hardly stopped their imaginations.

Moments ago they had abandoned Qi Liang.

Now they all looked at this Senior Brother with newfound reverence.

Qi Liang finally came back to his senses.

Seeing Zhang Shou beckoning him over, he hurried down the bamboo steps.

But when he opened his mouth, no words came.

To his delight—and immense nervousness—the great Imperial Teacher actually walked a slow circle around him.

After examining him thoroughly, Ge Yong turned toward Zhang Shou.

“Deng Xiaodai told me he studied mathematics together with Qi Liang under you.”

“Hmm.”

“Judging from those exercise books, the boy’s mathematical foundation isn’t bad.”

“I suppose I can casually give him a few pointers now and then.”

Before the ecstatic Qi Liang could kneel to thank him, Ge Yong waved him off.

“Don’t thank me yet.”

“I’ll make one thing clear first.”

“I don’t teach examination essays.”

“A person with real substance will naturally master essay writing sooner or later.”

“But if all you know is memorizing dead texts, then even after spending decades studying, you’ve entered through the wrong door.”

“Your foundation is far too weak.”

“Go read several hundred books first.”

Qi Liang’s joyful expression instantly froze.

Watching this, Zhang Shou turned toward Zhu Ying.

“‘Read ten thousand books, and your writing will flow like divine inspiration.’ That’s certainly true…”

“But out here in the countryside, gathering several hundred books isn’t exactly realistic.”

Before Zhu Ying could promise to purchase them, Lu Sanlang eagerly volunteered.

“That’s easy! If Senior Brother Qi needs books, I’ll have several chests delivered from home—”

He never finished.

Ge Yong suddenly turned and glared at him.

“You know nothing.”

“There are thousands upon thousands of books in the bookstores.”

“Most are poorly printed rubbish. Very few are worth reading.”

“The same title can have over a dozen different editions, with worlds of difference between them.”

“Do you even know which books are worth buying?”

“For example, all those talent-and-beauty romance novels…”

“What’s the point of reading those?”

Lu Sanlang shrank his neck, wishing he could disappear.

But Zhu Ying couldn’t help muttering,

“Those romances do have plenty of nonsense…”

“But some are actually quite entertaining.”

“And if you don’t like them… you can always rewrite them.”

Zhang Shou looked at her in astonishment.

At the same time, he heard Ge Yong snort.

“Oh yes, of course.”

“You disliked Du Shiniang Sinks Her Treasure Chest, so you rewrote it into a story where Du Shiniang tricks Li Jia and Sun Fu into sharing a bed, spreads the scandal until both men are ruined, secretly escapes with her treasure chest, disguises herself as a man, passes the imperial examinations, and becomes an official!”

“And then you printed one thousand copies and handed them out across the streets!”

Zhang Shou was dumbfounded.

What an imagination… She turned Du Shiniang into Meng Lijun?

The young nobles around them wanted desperately to laugh but didn’t dare.

Their faces turned bright red from holding it in.

Realizing he had wandered off topic, Ge Yong snorted.

“That temper of yours was spoiled entirely by your father.”

“I’ll make a proper reading list.”

“Have your household buy every book on it.”

“Not just Qi Liang.”

“Zhang Shou needs them too.”

After lecturing the completely unrepentant Zhu Ying, Ge Yong finally turned back toward Zhang Shou.

“As for this bunch…”

“Their elders begged me countless times in the past, and I still refused to accept them as disciples.”

“Now, through a twist of fate, you’ve accepted them.”

“So teach them well.”

“Don’t disgrace my reputation.”

He paused.

Then declared matter-of-factly, “After all…”

“You are my last disciple.”

At that moment, Zhang Shou had the distinct feeling that if eyeballs made a sound when they hit the ground…

…he would be hearing them shatter all around him.

Just like that?

Ge Yong accepted disciples this casually?

I haven’t even formally kowtowed or performed the apprenticeship ceremony… and I’m already his final disciple?