The Lucky Farmgirl

Chapter 1617 - 1592: Driven by Self-Interest

The Chongwen Pavilion is the Crown Prince’s accompaniment in studies; if the attendants are lazy, how can they properly accompany the Crown Prince?

Thus, this time, all the students in the Chongwen Pavilion were impeached by the censors, and the Crown Prince was also criticized by the officials for not managing his subordinates well.

Therefore, Chongwen Pavilion punished Bai Shan and others by sending them to the martial training ground for reprimand today.

When Libationer Kong returned to the Chongwen Pavilion from the Taiji Hall, Bai Shan and the others had already been standing under the scorching sun for more than half an hour.

Libationer Kong frowned and asked, "Who sent them to be reprimanded?"

"It was Assistant Lecturer Yuan."

"Call them back, look at this sun, why did you send them out earlier for summer relief? Aren’t you afraid of people getting sunstroke?" Libationer Kong said tightly, "Let them copy books in reflection."

The officials: ...We all know Libationer Kong loves to punish students by making them copy books.

Mr. Zhuang, who was standing at a distance, quietly breathed a sigh of relief. Copying books is much safer than being reprimanded at the martial training ground.

After ordering the students to be called back, Libationer Kong picked up the document on the table and read it, frowning as he went along. It was clearly only Wei Zhi and him who saw it this morning.

He knew Wei Zhi well. Although strict with others, he’s not unreasonable. They had clearly reached a consensus before entering the Taiji Hall this morning.

He would punish his own students, and he would punish his own officials. They wouldn’t interfere with each other, teaching the children a lesson without blowing up the matter.

How did it end up being an impeachment of the Chongwen Pavilion directly to His Majesty and the Central Secretariat?

Is this targeting the Chongwen Pavilion or the Crown Prince?

Libationer Kong, already in a bad mood, felt even worse.

When Bai Shan and the others were called back from the martial training ground, they were soaked through, faces flushed red from the sun, their expressions tightened, hearts seething with anger.

Who’s being bullied here? Haven’t they been late before when entering the palace? Yet nothing happened then.

Why such a big fuss this time in punishing them?

Zhao Liulang soon returned from some older classmates, who are the Crown Prince’s trusted associates, and angrily said, "This time, His Highness the Crown Prince managed everything well. In the capital, Yongzhou, and Shangzhou, the summer relief and disaster relief went without a hitch. In fact, distributing cooling herbs by the court even stabilized the public mood, which was somewhat resentful due to consecutive droughts."

"I heard that when the news reached Shengzhou, even the public sentiment there improved a lot. Some people couldn’t stand His Highness getting all the credit, so they’re using us as a test case." Zhao Liulang angrily said, "Zhang Er told us to bear it and put the big picture first. To hell with the big picture, we’re here to study, not to be tools for their glory."

Shengzhou is currently in disaster, unlike the drought here; it’s a flood disaster. It’s said that several villages have been washed away. With Yizhou City as a precedent, the emperor has already sent court officials early to oversee the disaster relief this time.

But the officials sent this time clearly don’t have the presence of Lord Wei. Although the work is ongoing, the situation hasn’t stabilized.

Shengzhou’s situation is more complicated; it’s a turning point of the Yellow River. To ensure the safety downstream, some sacrifices must be made upstream. Clearly, the officials sent did not coordinate well with the local officials in Shengzhou.

It’s said that while they were building reputations, Shengzhou was in chaos. The court severely impeached both the sent and local officials.

Bai Shan, not expecting this to involve a struggle of interests, frowned. Bai Erlang exclaimed, "We’re just students, why drag them into this?"

Feng Zongping glanced at him and said, "From the day we entered the Chongwen Pavilion, we were no longer just students. Whether you like it or not, we’re labeled with the Crown Prince. Besides, wasn’t it you who wrote the petition in the first place?"

Bai Erlang looked a bit guilty at Bai Shan, "So it’s our fault?"

Bai Shan gave him a glance and said, "It’s not. It’s the fault of those who suppress us for the sake of profit without regard for right or wrong. Don’t take the blame on yourself for nothing."

Those people don’t care about the truth of an affair, nor whether the people involved are innocent. They only care about profit. As long as it’s beneficial to them, they’ll act. So it’s their fault. What business do innocent people like them have with it?

Other students, somewhat resentful towards Bai Shan and Bai Cheng after being sunburnt, paused upon hearing this, and after thinking about it, couldn’t help feeling a bit ashamed. It seemed it was indeed like that.

However, one of them lacked such magnanimity, questioning, "Why is Yin Huo not punished? Speaking of which, he also had a part in that petition, didn’t he?"

Bai Shan gave a cold glance and said indifferently, "He can withstand the sun, but I’m afraid the Chongwen Pavilion can’t bear the consequences of his exposure."

Everyone knew Yin Huo wasn’t in good health. Just walking from the palace gate to Chongwen Pavilion, he would pant if he walked slightly quickly. Except for his first entrance, every time he returned from leave, he was always brought by Lord Yin to the West Inner Court and then from there to Chongwen Pavilion, reducing the journey by two-thirds.

Earlier, Assistant Lecturer Yuan did call all the students to the martial training ground for admonition, but Bai Shan gave Yin Huo a look, and Yin Huo, after thinking about it, closed his eyes and fainted.

Did Assistant Lecturer Yuan not see through his act?

Of course, he saw through it, but would he dare really let Yin Huo be baked in the sun for an hour?

He wouldn’t dare.

If anything happened to Yin Huo, even if the admonition was intended well, it would turn bad.

It’s the same for everyone there. The reason he dared to reprimand them was that their exposure wouldn’t result in big trouble; at most, it was punishment. But Yin Huo would indeed be affected.

The group murmured as they headed back to the Chongwen Pavilion. Yin Huo, who was drinking tea and reading in the classroom, hearing the commotion, immediately packed his things, had the eunuch serving him quickly take them away, then sat upright with a worried look. Seeing them, he greeted them with concern, asking, "Are you alright?"

Seeing he was panting after just a few steps, and thinking he got the best deal, the classmates had no more complaints.

Forget it, forget it. Yin Huo is different from them. He came to study at Chongwen Pavilion purely to study. He won’t enter officialdom in the future, so why compare with him?

Everyone waved their hands, indicating they were fine, then went inside to gulp down water.

Manbao only learned of their reprimand during lunch because she had to write a petition. So, she willfully sent word to Daming Palace that she was too busy today to visit the Crown Princess and Prince Gong.

The Crown Princess, upon receiving the message, felt a bit regretful. Her fetus had been moving vigorously these past two days. Sometimes, merely a sip of soup would make the child in her belly leap excitedly, and she didn’t know if that was a good or bad sign. She had wanted to ask Manbao.

On the other hand, Prince Gong, whose nerves had been tight since morning, discreetly sighed in relief, feeling that another day had passed.

Although he still had to walk and climb today, it felt less burdensome. It must be because he was quite happy that Zhou Man didn’t come today.