Great, I'm surrounded by villains.

Those who contradicted the old man were all his good friends.

Although they had never spoken much before, this did not prevent him from treating the eldest princess as his closest sister from that moment on.

"How could that be? It is indeed his mission to recapture the academy, but after all, you are siblings, so he will not kill you."

"How can you confirm that?"

"Of course I know that with your ability, it's impossible..."

The old man stopped talking abruptly. He was a little annoyed by Ying Tian's provocation just now. He was still angry and almost said what he was thinking.

But Ning Ruyue said the second half, "With my ability, I am no match for him. As long as I surrender, he won't make it too difficult for me."

The second prince did say that he would not take her life, but he would leave a scar on her face.

Facing Ning Ruyue's stare, the old man looked away but said nothing, taking it as his assent.

"In this case, the battle between the Second Prince and I is a life-and-death one. If he loses to me, he should stop making excuses."

"That's nonsense. I can see that you can never be his opponent!"

"Calm down, both of you!"

Duan Mingyuan saw that the two were on the verge of a fight, and even Jiu Yue was beginning to get restless, so he had no choice but to come out and act as a peacemaker.

"Student Ning Ruyue, you should understand the old gentleman's difficulties. After you told me the whole story, I understood the reason. This old gentleman never had royal blood, so his lifelong research was realized through you. Teaching you the art of sword control is like polishing a work of art."

Ning Ruyue stared at Duan Mingyuan in a daze. This was an angle she had never thought of before.

Duan Mingyuan continued, "It would be very painful for anyone to realize their hard work through others. Among you, the Second Prince is undoubtedly his most proud work. The more powerful the Second Prince is, the more it proves that his lifelong research is worthwhile. Similarly, if the Second Prince suffers a setback, it means that he suffers a setback."

The old man also lowered his head and said nothing.

Although this was the first time he met Duan Mingyuan, every word the young man said touched his heart.

Everyone in the court knew that the Second Prince's sword-wielding skills had reached the highest level, and he was quite like the First King when he was young, but few knew how much effort he had put into this.

And now, someone finally saw the hard work he put in.

The old man's eyes were filled with tears.

It's rare to meet a soulmate in life!

"Because of this, even if the final result is shit, it is the result of hard work, and we have to grit our teeth and maintain it. This is human nature."

?

All the emotions disappeared without a trace with this sentence.

;? The old man's eyes widened with a fierce look, looking like he might attack and hurt someone at any time, "Fuck you, who are you calling shit!?"

"Don't get excited, old man. I'm not targeting you. I'm just making this comment from a neutral and objective perspective."

Duan Mingyuan patted the old man on the shoulder and said softly to comfort him, "But to be frank, your teaching and the Second Prince's sword-controlling technique are just a bunch of shit."

There will still be four updates today, but the last two will be later.

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 145: Sword Discussion

Mr. Mingyuan was a bit aggressive today.

Since Duan Mingyuan had spoken, Jiu Yue had no intention of secretly tripping up the old man. She obediently walked behind Duan Mingyuan and started learning mode.

In her opinion, Mr. Mingyuan was never the kind of person who liked to show off his words. When he gave the evaluation of "a piece of shit", it was often not a personal attack, but an objective and pertinent evaluation.

But the "Swordsmanship Class" teacher was obviously not convinced, and looked at Duan Mingyuan with eyes that seemed to be spitting fire.

Just now, this person who came out of nowhere not only insulted him, but also insulted his artwork. This kind of attack from a "soulmate" always hits the vital points.

What’s even more infuriating is that this guy even brought his own supporting actor – Ying Tianjue, who was holding the dummy, couldn’t sleep either, and the old man could hear his loud laughter and booing clearly.

"Finally someone spoke my mind!"

Yingtian was happy to watch the fun and expressed strong support for what Duan Mingyuan had just said, so that Duan Mingyuan would understand that there were other people in this classroom who were with him in spirit.

"Leave this classroom, vulgar people like you are not welcome here!"

The old man shouted fiercely. This was the only thing he could do at the moment.

His student status is noble, so even if people make trouble or even insult him directly, he can only endure it.

But sooner or later, someone will understand his greatness and what a precious treasure his hard work is to the world.

That day is coming soon, when the second prince ascends the throne...

"Teacher, you might as well let him continue."

Ying Tian was reluctant to let Duan Mingyuan go. He hoped that Duan Mingyuan would be more aggressive and make the old man angry, so that he could skip classes for the next few days. "You are highly respected, but you can't rush to drive people away just because there are dissenting voices in the class. Isn't that showing cowardice?"

"You can't spit out ivory from a dog's mouth. What kind of wisdom can such a person have?"

The old man snorted coldly, "What do you know about the art of controlling swords? Judging from your appearance, you have never even touched a sword before? The meaning of every move and every action of the art of controlling swords is summarized by me after research!"

He knew that Yingtian and he did not get along well, and he was using outsiders to anger him on purpose. But if they really came to a serious fight, no one in the world except the First King could fight with him in a duel.

Duan Mingyuan took a casual attitude. If the old gentleman didn't want him to stay in the classroom, he would go somewhere else. He just saw an old scholar holding a pile of shit but treating it as a golden rule, and he couldn't help but blurt out what he said.

But now he finally understood that with such a person as their teacher, it was no wonder that Ning Ruyue could not learn swordsmanship.

"If that's the case, why is it that among so many students, only the Second Prince has mastered the sword art you taught him?"

"Of course it's because the Second Prince is gifted and hardworking and willing to study hard."

When talking about the Second Prince Ying Xin, the old man's pride was evident.

Everyone in the court regarded him as the young first king. The century-long inheritance finally bore fruit, and all of this was driven by him personally.

“But in my opinion, every student in this classroom is equally talented.”

Duan Mingyuan's words have scientific basis.

Each successor of the First King was not born naturally, but was a technological product of Universal Company. Apart from their different personalities, there were almost no obvious differences between them.

The old gentleman seemed to have heard something very funny, and laughed loudly, "I didn't expect you to be so stupid as to deny the existence of talent. Then why is it that the eldest princess's sword-wielding skills are far inferior to Ying Xin's in the same class? Didn't she tell you that the First King once personally taught her swordsmanship, a treatment that Ying Xin never enjoyed! She obviously enjoyed the First King's preference, but was easily surpassed by the latecomers. Isn't this enough to make you understand the importance of talent?"

Hearing this, Ning Ruyue lowered her head in shame.

This feeling is not towards the teacher of "Swordsmanship Class", but the feeling of guilt towards his father's careful teaching.

"Because she and the Second Prince have different personalities."

"Personality? Hahaha, that's ridiculous. Are you trying to say that the inheritance of the sword-controlling technique depends on personality?"

"Don't you realize it yet?"

Duan Mingyuan also frowned, which was rare in an academic discussion. He was willing to regard the old gentleman as a well-read professor, but the other party was so stupid as to buy a diploma. He studied the sword-controlling technique for a lifetime and claimed to be proficient in every detail, but he couldn't even notice the problem in front of him. "You completely reversed the logical order. It's not that the Second Prince became the young First King because he mastered the sword-controlling technique, but his own personality is similar to that of the young First King, so he can learn your stuff."

"Obsession!"

Jiu Yue suddenly realized, and now even she understood, "Just like the students in the academy!"

She had previously compared the inheritance of the academy to a bad chess player playing chess, with each generation getting worse than the previous one, but she didn't expect that Mr. Mingyuan could see through the phenomenon and see the essence.

"Only the Second Prince can learn your theory."

The rote teaching method turned the art of sword-wielding into rigid movements, which were then forced upon every student.

But the old man was just a swordsmanship teacher and could not change his students' character.

"Evidence...how are you going to prove it!"

The old man questioned, but his tone was not as condescending as before.

"Ning Ruyue, go get your zither."

"...playing the piano?"

Although she didn't know why Duan Mingyuan said that, Ning Ruyue still did as he asked obediently.

Ying Tian, ​​who was always looking for trouble, spread the news about the quarrel between Duan Mingyuan and the swordsmanship teacher. More and more people gathered outside the classroom, including servants who had received favors from the princess, and more were from large and small forces in the court.

The news that the eldest princess had returned to the court and defeated the second prince spread like wildfire.

This made them hesitant, and the originally clear battle for the throne suddenly became confusing.

Ning Ruyue squeezed her way through the crowd, returned to the classroom, and set up her piano.

The old man no longer mocked, but just stood far away and watched coldly.

The princess didn't even bring a sword, but she wanted to fight him with swords in this class.

It's ridiculous.

He wanted to see if there was anything more ridiculous.

"Do you remember what I said to you in the first class of the advanced class?"

"Sword intent is a reflection of one's state of mind..."

Ning Ruyue murmured to herself, as if thinking about something.

Teacher Mingyuan said that she should be determined to cut off everything in the world, but this sounded very abstract, and she did not have the same courage as Teacher Mingyuan.

She looked at the strings of the piano and suddenly it dawned on her.

That’s it, that’s it!

No wonder Teacher Mingyuan asked her to play the piano!

Ning Ruyue closed her eyes, her long black hair hanging down, blocking out all the noise in the world. She plucked the strings of the zither with her fingers and played the tune she was most familiar with.

Dean Su told her since she was young that playing the zither could cultivate her sentiments and help her see her true self.

The sword intent is a reflection of the state of mind, and this is what Teacher Mingyuan really wants to convey to her.

The gentle melody echoed in the classroom. It was an extremely soft melody, but the old man's heart began to beat violently.

Onlookers noticed the abnormality earlier.

Ning Ruyue did not bring the sword bestowed upon her by the First King, nor had she ever danced with a sword in this classroom. However, wherever the melody of the piano reached, the spirit of sword was everywhere.

This is……

A sword intent completely different from what he knew!

There was no overwhelming murderous intent, but rather a gentle breeze blowing across your face.

The next moment, amid exclamations, all the dummies in the classroom broke apart. Ying Tian, ​​who was holding the dummies, was caught off guard and fell heavily to the ground.

He was as surprised as everyone outside the classroom.

Princess, when did you draw your sword?

Using the sound of the piano as a sword was something they had never heard of, and no one had ever recorded this kind of swordplay.

When the song ended, people stood there in a daze as if they were under a spell.

At some point, he seemed to see it, saw the eldest princess's sword intent passing by them.

This is……

A realm that even the First King had never touched.

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 146 The Third Prince

The old man stared at Ning Ruyue. The melody of the piano had stopped for a long time, but he was still immersed in the lingering rhythm of the sword.

He devoted his entire life to research, calling himself a craftsman, doing his best to carve the future of the court, and regarded every student as a work of art. However, the eldest princess, who he once regarded as a defective product, has now blossomed and borne fruit.

It was the most brilliant fruit he had ever seen.

"Hahahaha, yes, you are right!"

After an unknown amount of time, the old man suddenly woke up from his dream, "I didn't expect that my research went in the wrong direction from the beginning. It is really a piece of shit. You are right!"

It turns out that he has always been a person who only sees the world from a narrow perspective. In his eyes, he can only see the First King and the history written by the First King. He cannot tolerate even the slightest grain of sand in his eyes. Therefore, he follows suit and believes that there should only be one kind of sword-wielding technique in this world.

He is not worthy of the title of craftsman at all. All he does is waste piece of uncut jade by carving them into the same shape.

I am no longer qualified to stay here.