I want to make progress

Chapter 85 Troubled Times
Although the second son was not what he expected and was adopted away, and had various problems, he was still a young talent, much better than those criminal young men in the capital.

The third child is frail and sickly, and he is the child he owes the most and the one he feels most guilty about. However, this child has a gentle and graceful appearance and a clever mind. If it were not for his physical condition, his achievements would not be worse than his eldest brother.

It is said that no one knows a son better than his father. As a father, he knows most of the personalities of his sons, although he doesn't know them all.

Although their Duke of Yingguo's Mansion has been growing in power in recent years, the Emperor's fear of him has also been increasing, and they are all well aware of this.

So they have paid special attention to it over the years. Except for the eldest brother, the second and third brothers are not very outstanding. The second brother is not capable enough, and there are some bad things going on.

But the third brother was different. He had real talent and knowledge. Although such an excellent child could not go far in the imperial examination due to physical reasons, he had to consider the entire Duke's Mansion and could only stop at the level of a scholar. He devoted himself to landscapes, calligraphy and painting, and worked as a teacher in Mingxin Academy.

Changning has been a sensible child since childhood. Although he has been teaching at Mingxin Academy in recent years, he would rather outsiders misunderstand him as having a high opinion of himself than ever accepting disciples. As for those students taking the autumn examination, he does not teach them at all except for his usual teaching, for fear of arousing the emperor's suspicion.

But this time he didn't even come back for the Mid-Autumn Festival, but came back for the Autumn Examination, which was unusual for him.

The old Duke was worried. He had not slept well since he received the letter from his son that he was coming back. His son's pale face made him have to continue to endure. Finally, he waited until his son had rested well and had enough food and drink before he started to ask.

The old Duke, who has fought wars all his life and is used to being quick and decisive, said he was tired, and only this son could make him worry so much.

"It's not that I want to come back, it's that I have to come back."

Gu Changning also smiled bitterly, and faced the puzzled looks of his father and brother and said, "Dad and big brother also know that many children of powerful families in the capital come to study at Mingxin Academy, but the teacher's philosophy is Confucius' teaching that there is no distinction between the classes, so there are many students from ordinary or even poor families."

"Due to their different status and family backgrounds, there are often frictions among the students in the academy. Even though there are rules in the academy, the teacher will try his best to be fair and just, but these things will not stop despite repeated prohibitions. Those students with lower family backgrounds often swallow their anger."

"Although the teacher is troubled by this, he also thinks it is a good training. The academy is bound by the rules, so even if there are conflicts, it won't be a problem. If even these things in the academy cannot be handled, what will happen to those students of humble origins who will take the imperial examinations and become officials in the future when there is no longer the protection of the academy rules in the officialdom?"

Although he couldn't stand those students who took advantage of their power to bully others, he couldn't deny that what his teacher said was correct. Born in the Duke of Yingzhou, he knew very well how dangerous the court was. Those students with ordinary family backgrounds would encounter many more injustices when they entered the officialdom in the future.

Therefore, he never cared about the disputes among the students in the academy, and only treated every student fairly and impartially according to the academy rules.

Over the years, although there have been occasional frictions among the students of Mingxin Academy, they have never been serious.

But things have been different in the past two years. Somehow, the friction between students has escalated. Those students with ordinary family backgrounds seem to have become irritable and impulsive, and even almost killed people. Even he, who doesn't care about anything, feels that something is wrong.

The teacher quietly investigated in the academy, and accidentally discovered that at some point, most of the students with ordinary family backgrounds had joined an organization called the Liangyi Sect.

The Liangyi Sect was quite capable, and helped those students a lot, teaching those children of the rich and powerful who bullied them because of their family background a lesson, and protecting them, so that more students joined the Liangyi Sect. If the Liangyi Sect was really like this, it would be good, but the Liangyi Sect acted very radically. It was just a small friction, but under the interference of the Liangyi Sect, the conflict between the two sides became more and more acute, and finally even reached the point of life and death.

At this time, news came from the capital that the members of the Liangyi Sect had become wanted criminals of the imperial court. The teacher took this opportunity to make the students who had joined the Liangyi Sect withdraw from the sect and expel them from Mingxin Academy.

The students who can enter Mingxin Academy are well-educated, well-mannered and virtuous, and none of them are fools.

The reason why he joined the Liang Yi Sect was just because he was angry at the moment. After joining the Liang Yi Sect, he was instigated and brainwashed in various ways, and was mixed with going with the flow. Naturally, he was overwhelmed with passion at the moment and didn't think too much about it.

But now that the incident was over and everyone had calmed down, they naturally realized that something was wrong. With the imperial court's clear ban and the advice of their teachers, those students who had married into the Liang Yi Sect suddenly came to their senses and withdrew from the sect one after another, or even avoided it.

But where there are sober people, there are also stubborn ones. On the surface, they seem to be sober, blaming themselves and feeling annoyed, but in fact they are still secretly interacting with the Liangyi Sect.

“After being oppressed and feeling powerless, and then experiencing the pleasure of fighting back, you can never go back to the way it was before.”

With a calm expression, Gu Changting did not think there was anything strange about this. It was just human nature. Having experienced the taste of victory, how could he be willing to lose?

"So your return this time is related to the Liangyi Sect."

He frowned, having thought that the Liangyi Sect only stirred up trouble in the capital, but he did not expect that they would even be present in the academy. What exactly was the Liangyi Sect trying to do?

"Yes, teacher is worried that the Liangyi Church will instigate those students to do something during the Autumn Examination. Those students have studied hard for many years, and teacher cannot bear it if the Autumn Examination of any one of them is ruined because of the selfishness of the Liangyi Church."

Gu Changning sighed. He really didn't want to get involved in this mess, but since his teacher rarely spoke up, he, as a disciple, should share his teacher's worries.

Besides, he was not allowed to get too close to the examinees. He was just asked to take care of them and not let anything happen to them before the exam. The servants in the mansion could be sent to watch them. The teacher also thought that the name of the Duke of England's Mansion could intimidate them a little.

He has had many concerns over the years, but his teacher never forced him and helped him to overcome all the troubles, allowing him to teach in the academy in peace and stability. The teacher has been very kind to him, and he cannot refuse such a request now.

Moreover, he didn't want anything to go wrong in the autumn examination. After all, he was also a teacher at Mingxin Academy, and those students taking the imperial examination were also his students.

"The imperial examination in autumn is of great importance, and we must pay attention. Those people from the Liangyi Sect are so bold that they dared to assassinate the empress dowager and the emperor, and dared to cut off Meng Xichen's leg just to warn the Duke of Huguo. There is no guarantee that they will really take action in the autumn examination."

(End of this chapter)