CH 34

Deafening applause and cheers erupted from the audience. The girls couldn't hide their blushing faces, their emotions high. When they got off the stage one by one, Hua Mo reacted quickly and helped Wen Yantong down. She took the mahogany qin and returned the crutch to Wen Yantong.

Hua Mo kept complimenting her, not giving Wen Yantong a chance to thank her. Finally, Wen Yantong scratched her head and said, "Teacher Hua's guqin composition was also very nice."

Hua Mo was quite happy and wanted to chat more with Wen Yantong, but suddenly, they heard a girl's exclamation in the room. The two looked over at the same time.

They saw a girl rudely reach out and sweep something off the table, causing it to fall on the ground. Everyone around her took a couple steps back. 

translate(d) by puretl . com / do not steal / re po/st

One of the girls persuaded, "Sister Lanlan, don’t get too anxious. You’ll hurt yourself."

The girl called Sister Lanlan's tone was very bad. "It's not you who lost something, so of course, you aren’t anxious!"

Hua Mo walked over and said, "What's wrong? What did you lose?"

Wen Yantong craned her neck out to watch the excitement. The girl called Sister Lanlan seemed to have a fiery temper and said to Hua Mo, "I put my bracelet on the corner of this table before I came on stage. When I came back, it was missing. Someone must have stolen my bracelet! Unexpectedly, there are people with dirty hands in the academy!"

Hua Mo tried to calm her down. "Don't worry. First, tell me what your bracelet looks like."

"It’s a white jade bracelet with golden lines on it. It was wrapped in red cloth."

Teacher Hua thought for a while and said, "First search this room carefully. I will report the matter to the Academy. If someone were caught stealing your bracelet, they would definitely be dealt with severely."

"If they are caught, Teacher, please let me know, and I will hand them over to my father to be dealt with. It just so happens that my father is part of the Ministry of Punishment. He has the means to teach that person not to steal again!" The girl said fiercely with pride and a sneer on her face.

Wen Yantong pursed her lips and guessed the identity of this person. She should be the concubine-born daughter of the Minister of Punishment named Wang Lan. This girl was the only daughter in the family, so even if she was born from a concubine, she was quite favored. Due to her family’s pampering, the girl had a temper and was a little arrogant.

"Could it be Fu Shi? I saw her leave as soon as we came back..." someone whispered.

Wang Lan immediately shouted, "Fu Shi? We never really got along. Could it be that she took my stuff?!"

After hearing their accusations, Hua Mo's face became very stern, and she said solemnly, "Do not blame someone without evidence!"

With an ugly expression on her face, the girl who suspected Fu Shi closed her mouth tightly and did not dare to speak again.

The other girls in the room also helped to search for Wang Lan’s bracelet. Meanwhile, Hua Mo handed Wen Yantong a package and said, "You go and change your clothes first. Then go directly to sit in the hall. Attendance will be taken at the end of the First Snow Banquet, so you must not be absent."

Wen Yantong stopped paying attention to the commotion after she accepted the package. She turned around and went out through the side door. She then proceeded to enter a rest room beside the hall.

She didn't dare to go into Chi Jingxi's room this time but chose a room that didn't even have any lights on. It was dark inside, and there was no heater. She endured the cold and quickly changed her clothes. To remove her makeup, she dipped a brocade cloth in water before she wiped her face clean.

After tying the package to her crutches, Wen Yantong was about to leave when she heard a loud slap. It was a very clear-sounding face slap, so she immediately turned around and walked towards the window.

Behind the rest room was a small forest. Usually, no one dares to go there, especially at night. However, based on that loud sound just now, she knew that someone was in the forest, and they were causing trouble.

When she walked toward the window, Wen Yantong heard Fu Shi's voice. With a disgusting arrogance in her tone, she commanded, "If it’s not yours, then don’t think of possessing it! Give it to me!!!"

Wen Yantong's heart skipped a beat. Quietly and carefully, she pushed the window open, leaving a crack where she could peek out with one eye.

Fu Zixian was standing across Fu Shi with his head lowered, handing out a long black box. His face was facing Wen Yantong's, allowing her to see the striking red mark on his face.

Fu Shi was beating Fu Zixian?! Wen Yantong gasped in surprise.

Fu Zixian was an extremely unloved child in the Fu family. His mother was a low-ranking chambermaid, who died during childbirth. He had always been a dispensable presence in the Prime Minister's Mansion. So a few days ago, when he said that he had received a gift from his father, Wen Yantong was a little puzzled. 

She hadn’t expected Fu Shi would dare to take action against Fu Zixian while in the Academy. And looking at Fu Zixian's appearance, it seems this was not an uncommon occurrence.

Fu Shi grabbed the long box in his hands and sneered. "This pen was what father wanted to give to Yu'er! If you hadn't come back in the Mu Residence's carriage that day, would anyone give you a second look? Are you oblivious of your own status and dare covet Yu'er's things!?"

Fu Zixian lowered his head and let Fu Shi humiliate him. Wen Yantong looked extremely distressed, but she also knew that this was a private matter of the Fu Residence. She was also a commoner, so she had no right to meddle.

Wen Yantong turned around and left quietly. Instead of going to the main hall, she returned to where the rest of her bandmates were. Once she reached the room, she saw Wang Lan was still searching for her lost bracelet, looking quite anxious.

Wen Yantong passed by her, quietly muttering to herself. "How strange. Fu Shi seemed to be in a hurry to leave. I wonder what she’s doing?"

Hearing this, Wang Lan suddenly stopped and grabbed Wen Yantong's crutches. "What did you say!?"

Wen Yantong pretended to be afraid, flinching and stammering, as she said, "I, I just saw Fu Shi carrying something and went to the small forest behind the resting rooms. Maybe, maybe… She’s there to bury something?"

Wang Lan didn't ask any more questions and instead rushed out the door angrily, followed by a few girls.

Wen Yantong followed them out the side door, but once she saw the several girls heading towards the small forest, she turned around and walked into the hall.

There were a lot of people sitting in the hall, but since Chi Jingxi and the others were at the center of the front rows, she could easily spot them amongst the crowd.

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Amidst everyone's gaze, she quickly walked to them and shouted, "Mu Yang!"

Mu Yang, who was discussing something with Cheng Xin, heard her voice and immediately turned his head in her direction. When he saw that it was Wen Yantong, he burst into a smile, planning on teasing her for dressing up as a girl. "So you..."

However, Wen Yantong didn’t give him the chance and interrupted him before he could finish his sentence. "Didn't you always want to know how I hit the bullseye? I remembered the secret method."

As soon as these words came out, Mu Yang was stunned, and his eyes lit up. Chi Jingxi also raised his eyes, looking at her suspiciously.