Chapter 9: A Thorn in the Eye

Lu Yuner noticed this subtle movement, thinking he had some resistance. She decided to wait for a moment, so she turned her gaze towards the lotus pond.

At this time, the lotus pond was a sea of emerald green ripples. The slender lotus leaves swayed under the spring light, appearing as translucent as jade, lush and beautiful, enchantingly graceful.

If it were summer, with the fully bloomed lotus flowers reflecting each other, it would surely be a sight to intoxicate both eyes and spirit.

Lu Yuner kept her gaze fixed, then slowly opened her mouth, gently persuading: “I am now the Doctor of Classics at the Lexin Hall of the Men’s Academy. By rights, the young heir should address me as Doctor Lu. Today, the young heir has skipped my class without reason, which is already a violation of school discipline. Following the rules of fair reward and punishment, young heir, you should be punished by copying…”

“What? Does Doctor Lu want to punish this heir?” Su Qingwan cast a cold glance at her, his icy gaze containing hidden disdain.

Lu Yuner seemed to have anticipated what would happen. After weighing the pros and cons, she met his displeased gaze and truthfully replied, “Yes, according to the rules of the Imperial Academy, the young heir should be punished.”

Regarding rules, once there’s a first time, there will be countless times. It would be unfair to other students, and if other students followed suit, wouldn’t Lexin Hall descend into chaos? So this rule must be upheld no matter what.

As for how to persuade this noble and somewhat prideful young heir, it was indeed a thorny problem.

“You dare!”

Su Qingwan’s ink-black eyelashes trembled slightly, a flash of shock passing through his eyes. He never thought she would actually want to punish him. From childhood, no one had dared to confront him like this.

Suddenly, an authoritative and deep female voice came, “Su Qingwan, don’t be rude!”

Lu Yuner raised her eyes to look at the newcomer. Her eye corner twitched slightly, and she immediately knelt on one knee to pay respects, saying respectfully, “This one, Lu Yuner, greets Yun Qinwang.”

This Yun Qinwang had always stayed out of court politics, living in seclusion. However, Lu Yuner had met her once before, during that competition with General Liu. It was also then that General Liu became a supporter of Yun Qinwang. If General Liu knew Yun Qinwang had come to the Imperial Academy, she would probably be overjoyed.

“Doctor Lu, please rise.”

Su Bai’s usually stern face actually showed a trace of pleasure. The memory of those three arrows fired simultaneously was still fresh in her mind. She hadn’t expected Lu Yuner to now hold the position of Doctor at the Imperial Academy.

Then she narrowed her eyes slightly, her gaze as sharp as a blade, coldly staring at Hu Lanzhen, “Jiu Xiu, this situation seems quite different from what you told this wang!”

Hu Lanzhen looked panickedly towards the young heir Su, immediately kneeling down: “This one knows her mistake.”

Su Bai turned her deep gaze to look at Su Qingwan, then spoke to Lu Yuner: “Today my child has been inconsiderate and caused trouble for Doctor Lu. In this Imperial Academy, the teacher has always been respected, following rules and regulations. If such a situation occurs again in the future, please, Doctor Lu, handle it impartially without any hesitation.”

Although Su Qingwan’s face remained expressionless, his fingers inside his sleeve were tightly clenched, turning white.

Lu Yuner noticed that the relationship between this mother and son seemed a bit peculiar, and the young heir kept staring at her too calmly. Well, that look meant he had taken a dislike to her. But since Yun Qinwang had spoken, this matter should be easier to handle.

“Yes.”

Su Bai’s face was indifferent: “Jiu Xiu, let’s go to your Jingyi Pavilion to have a good talk.”

Hu Lanzhen felt a chill down her spine, goosebumps rising on her arms. Her voice trembled, “Yes, yes.”

After respectfully seeing off Yun Qinwang, Lu Yuner turned around to find Su Qingwan no longer concealing the disdain in his heart, glaring at her fiercely.

It felt like they had just finished a parent-teacher meeting, and the teacher and parent were on the same side. Lu Yuner didn’t mind at all, smiling ambiguously, “Young heir, shall we go back now?”

Su Qingwan’s lips curled, letting out a light laugh, “What if I don’t go back?” He stepped towards the center of the lotus pond.

Lu Yuner shook her head helplessly. He really was a proud and willful young noble. The class was already skipped anyway, but there still needed to be punishment. She followed behind him.

Without realizing it, the two had walked to the center of the lotus pond. Su Qingwan had no heart to appreciate the scenery, instead lost in thought. The person behind him no longer tried to persuade him to go back, but quietly followed him, truly puzzling.

Su Qingwan finally couldn’t help but turn to look at her, only to find that she was leisurely enjoying the scenery, occasionally reaching out her fair, slender hand to gently stroke the tender green lotus leaves. Her exquisitely beautiful profile was bathed in sunlight, glowing with specks of golden light.

Lu Yuner noticed his gaze, stopped her movements, and smiled lightly, asking, “What’s wrong?”

In that instant, those long phoenix eyes, with their flowing charm, silently and gently fell upon his heart.

Su Qingwan didn’t know what was wrong with himself. This person was clearly very annoying, yet his heart was stirred with countless waves, rising and falling. He suppressed the strange emotions in his heart, immediately shifting his gaze, his eyes downcast, showing no expression.

Lu Yuner walked in front of Su Qingwan and teased, “Have you had enough fun now?” Seeing he didn’t speak, she continued, “Since you’ve had enough fun, then write an 800-word reflection on what you’ve seen, heard, and felt along the lotus pond. This is your punishment for skipping class today. Give it to me within three days at the latest. Remember, it must be sincere, with clear handwriting, clean and neat, otherwise it might be returned for rewriting. Oh, and don’t be late for the next class.”

She finished in one breath and turned to leave, not caring about his expression. Anyway, he must hate her now.

After a few steps, she turned back, smiled and said, “Oh! Right, if you don’t want to write, then I might have to pay a visit to Yun Qinwang’s mansion!”

Su Qingwan gritted his teeth secretly, frowning as he looked up at Lu Yuner. Indeed, this person was still annoying.

Lu Yuner returned to Lexin Hall, saw that there wasn’t much time left and decided not to start a new lesson. She might as well wait until the afternoon to begin, so everyone’s learning progress would be the same.

After class, Lu Yuner returned to the Doctors’ Hall and saw Sheng Qingzi alone there. She curiously asked, “Doctor Sheng, why are you alone? Where are the others?”

“Oh, after they finished teaching, they went directly to the dining hall,” Sheng Qingzi said a bit embarrassedly. The others had planned to wait for her, but he had shooed them all away.

“I see.” Lu Yuner put down her textbook, preparing to pick up her lunchbox, and continued to ask, “Then why didn’t you go to eat?”

Sheng Qingzi said somewhat shyly, “I was waiting for you!”

“Waiting for me?” Lu Yuner was slightly stunned, raising her eyes to look at him.

Sheng Qingzi covered up his little thoughts and quickly said, “I was afraid you weren’t familiar with the dining hall, so I wanted to take you there. By the way, how did you feel about your first day of teaching?”

Lu Yuner thought about the various events of the morning and smiled, “Let’s talk as we walk.”

“Alright,” Sheng Qingzi didn’t understand why she suddenly smiled, but still shyly responded.