Chapter 11
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“That’s right, it’s him!”
“No, it’s not him.”
Xie An and Xie Jing gave different answers at the same time.
The school bully, Third Prince, looked suspiciously at his two younger brothers.
Xie An and Xie Jing both showed expressions of shock on their faces, then looked at each other with blaming eyes.
The Third Prince narrowed his eyes and asked in a low, ominous voice, “Is he or is he not that junior scholar-official?”
“Yes…” Xie An, unaware that Eighth Brother lied to protect Han Jiao, answered in a slightly aggrieved manner, “He is indeed Master Han.”
“Not that Master Han!” Xie Jing nervously made a final effort to save Han Jiao. “It’s…” he gestured with his hands and feet, “another Master Han, there are two Master Hans at Hanlin Academy.”
Han Jiao turned around and followed Xie Jing’s words. He bowed and said, “This surnamed Han pay respect to Your Highness the Third Prince.”
“Oh.” Seeing Han Jiao’s appearance, the Third Prince lifted his chin and turned to Xie Jing, gently asking, “Hanlin Academy has two Master Hans, and they’re both so young?”
“……” Xie Jing tried to remain calm as he glanced at Han Jiao and suddenly exclaimed in surprise, “What a coincidence! Why are all the Master Hans so accomplished at such a young age? It’s really astonishing! Yaaaaaah!”
Han Jiao was startled by Xie Jing’s sudden tone change, thinking his acting was a bit exaggerated. Taking a quick glance out of the corner of his eyes, he realized that the Third Prince had employed his unique skill, Monkey Stealing the Peach.
It appeared.
A remarkable scene from the novel.
Without a word, it happened so suddenly…
Forbidden technique — Third Prince Stealing Peaches!
Each grasp was accurate, impossible to evade.
Xie Jing’s expression turned fierce when his weakest spot was caught. He gripped his Third Brother’s wrist and pleaded, “I was just joking, Third Brother! He is Han Jiao! He is Han Jiao! Awoohuhuhuhu!”
Han Jiao: “……” Your confession is too quick. Can’t you learn from the will of our heroic ancestors?
The Third Prince released his grip, turned on his toes, and slowly walked up to Han Jiao with graceful steps, resembling the most skilled predator.
Han Jiao swallowed nervously.
“You are Han Jiao.” Before unleashing his authority, the Third Prince used an imposing aura to almost frighten the soul out of the other person. The specific method was to get really close and gaze into his eyes.
His nose was almost touching Han Jiao’s. Neither of them spoke, creating a tension that felt like they were about to kiss deeply.
“Yesterday, I heard many people praise my Ninth Brother’s talents,” the Third Prince whispered close to Han Jiao’s face. “He got beaten up, while the whole world knows you’re a pillar of Great Chu.”
“I dare not…” Han Jiao couldn’t help turning his head slightly but didn’t dare to step back. He felt that if he didn’t turn away, he might really end up kissing this abnormal school bully.
If that happened, his envisioned life as a Prime Minister might veer into a strange direction, like in “Accidental Kiss, the Naughty Side of the School Bully.”
“You dare not? My younger brother asked you for some knowledge, and you went out of your way to write a whole essay, just to showcase your talent, right? Now, are you satisfied?” The Third Prince narrowed his eyes slightly, as if it was a prelude to an attack.
Han Jiao instinctively used his hand to cover his vital area. “Concerning His Highness’ plight, this humble subject is deeply saddened.”
“Then why come looking for him again? Your talents haven’t been fully displayed yet?” The Third Prince began moving his wrist.
Han Jiao’s survival instinct surged. “No, I was sent by imperial decree to Yangxin Hall with some documents. I just happened to pass by here.”
“Happened to pass by?” The Third Prince looked doubtful. “Then why were you standing there with your head down for so long, waiting for someone?”
“N-No, I… I lost my purse. I’m just looking for it.” Han Jiao’s reflexes were a bit slow when he suddenly heard the Third Prince approaching. He missed the perfect moment to escape and could only come up with an excuse to cover up.
“Is that so?” The Third Prince looked around and asked, “What color is your purse?”
Han Jiao hurriedly replied, “I’m afraid I lost it somewhere else. I’ll go check there…”
“What color is the purse!”
“Off-white!”
The Third Prince’s sudden roar caught Han Jiao off guard, making him blurt out the truth.
“Off-white?” The Third Prince returned to an inquiring tone.
“Yes…”
Suddenly, the Third Prince launched an attack, raising his hand and grabbing Han Jiao’s sleeve. In lightning speed, he reached into Han Jiao’s sleeve pocket and pulled out an off-white purse!
“Is this the one you lost?” The Third Prince’s eyes filled with a murderous aura.
Han Jiao struggled desperately at the brink of death. “Ah! So it was here? I thought I had it in my bosom. Look at my memory! Truly… Your Highness, I am truly grateful. I’m relying on these few coins to fill my stomach for the month…”
“You little trickster!” The Third Prince grabbed Han Jiao’s collar in one go.
“Third Brother! Forget it, Third Brother! Master Xiaobai, go back to Hanlin Academy first!” Xie Jing hurried over to mediate, while Xie An stood there, petrified.
“I’ll take my leave! I’ll take my leave!” Han Jiao indeed wanted to leave, but the Third Prince’s iron fist gripped his collar, preventing him from pulling away.
The three of them got entangled, pushing and shoving each other.
With a “thud”, a greased paper package fell out from Han Jiao’s bosom.
All three of them ceased moving as they simultaneously looked down at the greased paper package on the ground.
Third Prince: “What is this?”
Han Jiao: “Tea leaves.”
Third Prince: “Why does it have the name of Yongchang Medicine Shop on it?”
Han Jiao wanted to grab the package and make a run for it, but the Third Prince picked it up before him, sniffed it, and looked at him menacingly. “Did you purposely come to deliver medicine to Old Ninth?”
Han Jiao completely gave up hope of surviving, but he calmly gazed at the Third Prince. “Yes, the Ninth Prince suffered from the beating, and I cannot absolve myself of responsibility. Though this gesture is humble, it carries my sincere thoughts.”
“You want to fawn over my Ninth Brother again!” The Third Prince glared. “Wasn’t that essay enough to seek fame? Now, you’re trying to deceive with this trick! Hurry back to Hanlin Academy! You’re not allowed to come and see him in the future!”
After saying that, he ruthlessly threw the package of medicinal herbs into the corner.
Han Jiao didn’t reply, but suddenly lifted his hand, and the wide sleeves rustled through the air.
Surprisingly, the Third Prince was taken aback by his sudden aura, thinking he was about to attack.
However, Han Jiao simply cupped his fist with a cold expression, bowed to him, then straightened his back, turned around, and walked to the corner. He bent down to pick up the fallen medicine package, dusted it off with his hand, put it back in his bosom, and left with a stern face.
“Master Xiaobai seems upset…” Xie An whispered.
The Third Prince snapped back, “He dares to be upset! A petty person seeking fame! He just deliberately flaunted his writing skills, wanting to make a name in front of Old Ninth, and ended up causing such a big trouble!”
“Third Brother,” Xie Jing couldn’t stand it and argued with an annoyed tone, “Master Han isn’t flaunting his writing skills. He’s a very sincere person.”
The Third Prince glared at him. “How would you know?”
“Of course, I know!” Xie Jing lowered his head and took out a stack of documents from his sleeve, handing them to his brother. “These are excerpts from the Great Plan Strategy that I copied from Father Emperor. It’s the piece Master Xiaobai wrote for Old Ninth. Take a look, every word in here is grounded and practical, full of strategies for governing the people.”
The Third Prince coldly sneered and swiftly snatched the stack of papers from Xie Jing’s hand, ready to scold him at any moment.
However, as he turned to the third page, the Third Prince’s expression changed.
He glanced at Xie Jing, then lowered his head to read another page.
Because he read the beginning too quickly, and the content of this strategy was systematic and logically progressive, he couldn’t understand the earlier part and couldn’t connect it to the later part. So the Third Prince had to go back to the first page and read it carefully.
As he read on, a look of humble admiration appeared in the school bully’s expression, showing a bit of a student’s awe towards a more knowledgeable person. The Third Prince raised his head, looked around but couldn’t find a chair, so he walked to the front of the courtyard door and sat on the doorstep, reading it carefully.
Xie An also sat beside his brother to read together and curiously asked, “Why does it say that to achieve one’s own goals, one must first understand the subordinates’ needs?”
Xie Jing became interested right away and explained to his younger brother, “This is the way of the Confucian gentlemen, as Confucius said…”
“Nonsense!” The Third Prince glanced up and scolded his bookish eighth brother, “Did you even read it seriously? The strategy’s outline already mentioned it. Understanding each person’s needs and incorporating their interests into your goals is the way to make everyone exert more than seventy percent effort in their endeavors. Otherwise, even with more people, it’s just a scattered sand!”
Xie Jing was stunned and carefully recalled the outline part, suddenly enlightened. “So the ‘dominating the desires of subordinates leads to victory’ part was referring to this? Third Brother, your understanding is amazing!”
The Third Prince showed a pleased expression.
Xie An, untimely, played the spoiler, “And it’s all thanks to Master Han’s brilliant writing!”
The Third Prince glared!
Xie An immediately shrank his neck, feeling intimidated.
“What’s this? It’s just an average piece of writing…” The Third Prince mustered up some courage to boast, “With this level, how could they exaggerate it so much? I could… I could write something like this too…”
“Really?” Xie An immediately showed admiration in his eyes towards his big brother.
Xie Jing also became enthusiastic. “We haven’t seen the papers written by Third Brother yet. Do the Hanlin Masters still have them? Let’s find and take a look?”
“No!” The Third Prince immediately stopped them.
The two startled brothers asked, “Why?”
Realizing he was being improper, the Third Prince cleared his throat, and calmly said, “You two are too young for now, so you won’t understand the profoundness in my essays. It’s better to start by reading the ones written by this Master Han, which are more straightforward and easy to grasp.”
“Oh,” Xie An nodded, “then when will we be old enough to understand the essays you write?”
The Third Prince pondered for a moment and patted his less knowledgeable brother’s head. “Maybe in another twenty years.”
•••
Han Jiao was very angry.
The wicked feudal society simply didn’t regard intellectuals as human beings.
He put his heart into writing the policy essay, and yet it was said to be an attempt to fawn and seek fame.
Did he need to fawn on the big boss like that?
They even called it fawning when he delivered the medicine.
But this medicine was bought with borrowed money.
With the meager salary of a commoner like him, it would take him more than half a year of scrimping and saving just to afford such a huge expense.
And it was just thrown away.
It was infuriating, infuriating.
Han Jiao lowered his head and wiped the medicine package once again.
Ironically, back when he was following the serial updates, he quite liked the Third Prince.
In the novel, the school bully, despite being hot-tempered, was actually a person with principles. He just met a tragic end in the end, all for the sake of saving his younger brother.
But today, upon their first encounter, Han Jiao’s illusions shattered completely. The school bully turned out to be an unreasonable bully, nothing like the character in the novel.
And he even forbade him from seeing the big boss.
That was what made him the most furious.
Did he buy that medicine for nothing? It cost more than ten taels of silver.
He hoped the boss’ injury would heal slowly, so he could find another opportunity to deliver the medicine.
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