TGCFNM -Chapter 216 Danbo Academy

Early in the morning.

Chu Ling and Wan Sanjin went to knock on the gate of Fu Qingyu’s courtyard.

After asking about their purpose, Fu Qingyu learned that they wanted to visit Danbo Academy. However, outsiders were not allowed inside, so they had no choice but to trouble him for help.

“You’re going there to make inquiries for a case?” Fu Qingyu asked.

Chu Ling nodded. “I want to find out how Master Qi managed to afford building such a large residence halfway up Feiyun Mountain. His wife has already passed away, and I doubt his son and daughter would tell the truth. So we can only ask his colleagues.”

Fu Qingyu nodded in agreement. “Very well. Come in with me then. I happen to be acquainted with Master Wang there.”

Chu Ling smiled and thanked him, then arranged for Zhang Dong to prepare the carriage.

After leaving the yamen, they boarded the carriage, and Zhang Dong urged it forward at a light trot toward Danbo Academy.

“You seem to know quite a few teachers, Young Master Fu,” Chu Ling said curiously.

Fu Qingyu recalled the past and gave a faint smile. “My grandfather had very high expectations of me. He wanted me to learn the strengths of many schools, so I came to know quite a number of masters.”

Resting her chin in her hand, Chu Ling grew even more curious. “Logically speaking, since your grandfather invested so much in cultivating you, he must have wanted you to enter officialdom. Why did he allow you to travel and study outside for so many years?”

Fu Qingyu smiled and shook his head. “My grandfather was a former Grand Tutor. He stepped down of his own accord, so he does not care much for the official world. As for pouring all his efforts into raising me, it was simply so that I could become someone useful.”

Chu Ling exclaimed in admiration, “Then you’re far more than useful — the number one young master under heaven, accomplished in both letters and arms.”

Wan Sanjin added, “Qingyu’s reputation is known throughout the realm.”

Fu Qingyu waved his hand slightly. “It is all but an empty name. I have merely traveled to more places and met more people. Someone like you, my lord, who does good for the common people — that is who should be known throughout the realm.”

“That would be bad,” Wan Sanjin said seriously.

Chu Ling nodded solemnly. “Yes, that would indeed be bad.”

Only then did Fu Qingyu understand, and he said somewhat regretfully, “Some people deserve great fame yet cannot have it; others should not have it, yet carry empty renown.”

“You’re too modest. When it comes to composing poetry and writing prose, I can’t compare at all.” Chu Ling folded her arms and leaned back against the carriage wall. “If you were to sit for the spring examinations and enter officialdom, you would surely be a good official.”

Wan Sanjin showed his agreement. “If Qingyu became an official, he would certainly be a good one.”

The smile on Fu Qingyu’s face widened. “Then I shall at least strive to be… a good person.”

“Whoa—”

Zhang Dong reined in Zhuifeng, bringing the carriage to a stop.

It was just the break between study sessions, and the entrance to Danbo Academy was bustling with people. Quite a few noticed Zhang Dong and immediately paused in curiosity.

Zhang Dong lightly knocked on the carriage door. “My lord, we’ve arrived.”

From inside, Chu Ling responded with a hum and was the first to lift the curtain and step out.

The students froze for a moment. Instinctively, they called out in unison, “My lord!” Then they all stepped back at the same time, their eyes filled with vigilance.

Chu Ling touched her face and turned back to Wan Sanjin and Fu Qingyu, who had just stepped down from the carriage. “Do I look that frightening?”

Wan Sanjin nodded, then shook his head. After struggling for quite a while, he finally said, “It’s alright, I guess. Not especially frightening. Probably they’re just timid.”

Fu Qingyu walked to the front, half amused and half exasperated. Looking at the students, he said, “I brought the magistrate here to see Master Wang, not to see all of you. Why don’t you return and continue your studies?”

The students all cupped their hands in unison, answered “Yes,” and then scattered in a hurry.

Chu Ling felt rather puzzled. Thinking back to yesterday’s trip up the mountain, she hadn’t done anything at all—so why were these students so terrified of her?

Wan Sanjin suddenly had a realization. “I think I heard something—people were saying that if you were displeased, Your Excellency, you’d set the entire Danbo Academy ablaze with one fire.”

“What?” Chu Ling stared in astonishment. “When did I ever say such a thing?”

“It wasn’t said by you,” Fu Qingyu explained from the side. “No one knows how the rumor started, but it spread wildly. So when you came this time, the students naturally became wary.”

Chu Ling looked baffled but decided to set the matter aside for now. “Lead the way first. Let’s go find Master Wang.”

Fu Qingyu acknowledged and led the two into Danbo Academy, heading straight toward the instructors’ quarters.

When Master Wang saw who had arrived, he was first startled. After examining Chu Ling for quite some time, he finally said, “The students have had their minds anywhere but their studies lately. They keep saying the newly arrived magistrate is like a demon from hell, setting fires everywhere… Utter nonsense. A rumor repeated until it becomes truth.”

Chu Ling’s eyes curved in a smile. “If students love letting their imaginations run wild, then perhaps it’s because they have too little homework. Assign them a few more essays and keep them busy with their studies, and they won’t have the leisure to think nonsense. Perhaps next year’s spring metropolitan examination will even yield good results.”

Master Wang nodded. “That makes sense.” As he spoke, he gestured for them to sit and ordered hot tea to be served.

“Magistrate Chu, have you come today on official business?” Master Wang asked.

Chu Ling nodded. “I came regarding Master Qi’s matter.”

Master Wang let out a soft sigh. “The sudden tragic news—I still can hardly believe it. I had originally intended to suspend classes and take the students to pay respects at the mourning hall. But the Qi family said that Master Qi’s body has been detained by you?”

Chu Ling nodded and admitted directly, “Yes, I detained it because I suspect something suspicious about Master Qi’s death. In the end, Eldest Young Master Qi also agreed to let me investigate. Didn’t he mention that part?”

Master Wang gave a light cough and lifted his teacup as if to cover his reaction. “Magistrate, please have some tea.”

Chu Ling smiled faintly and raised her cup. “Whatever the Qi family says about me is beyond my control. But according to the autopsy results, both Master Qi and his wife died in rather strange ways…”

“Oh? What was strange about it?” Master Wang asked curiously.

Chu Ling frowned slightly and lowered her voice. “Madam Qi had a large amount of sedative in her system. In other words, before she was burned to death, she was already in a deep coma. And the smell of lamp oil on her body was extremely strong. As for Master Qi, his case is even more bizarre. His body wasn’t inside the small hut that was burned—it was found some distance from the entrance to his courtyard, as though he had escaped.”

Master Wang’s eyes widened, and he sucked in a breath. “Escaped? Then that means he didn’t want to die at all? He was murdered?”

Chu Ling knitted her brows and shook her head. “That’s precisely what we don’t know. That’s why I came to ask… By the way, Master Wang, how long had Master Qi been teaching here at Danbo Academy?”

Master Wang set down his teacup and sighed. “Several decades.”

“And what was Master Qi’s monthly salary?” Chu Ling asked.

After a moment’s thought, Master Wang replied, “You’ve seen Danbo Academy, Magistrate—most of the students here come from prominent families. And Master Qi was a senior instructor with a good reputation. So he earned about twenty to thirty taels of silver per month.”

Madam Qi bit her sleeve and wept, saying, “He only gave me two or three taels a month and still blamed me for not being frugal.”

Chu Ling lowered her gaze slightly. “Twenty to thirty taels sounds like a fair amount, but it’s not an enormous sum either…”

Master Wang had no choice but to lower his voice. “Master Qi was advanced in age, and his speech had become somewhat unclear when teaching. This salary was already specially set by the study for him. As for instructors like us, we earn even more.”

Chu Ling nodded, indicating that she understood.