Chapter 646
The black carriage drove past the opening of Dongchuan street . Fan Xian had just drawn back his gaze from his family's bookstore and medical shop . With a twist of his head, he saw the ancient-looking front doors of the Imperial Academy .
The Imperial Academy was a rather loose collection of buildings . It was not the kind of building with a public hall by the street . There were no tall courtyard walls . Even the large front doors were never closed . Inside, the green trees stretched out . The sound of books being read rang out from various areas . It was filled with a scholarly air .
Like how the Bureau of Military Affairs was once known as the Department for Army Affairs and was still confused with the Ministry of War in the six ministries, the Qing Kingdom had passed new policies numerous times and had changed the name of the Imperial Academy over and over again . Tongwen Institute, the Ministry of Education… In any case, whatever was difficult to say, the Emperor would change it at random to it .
The scholars were used to referring to this area as the Imperial Academy . The court documents also followed the natural course of things and acknowledged this . The scholars from each province and county, as well as the talented disciples recommended by the noble and powerful manors in Jingdou, were all gathered in this collection of buildings, learning the classics and history, as well as the way of governance .
This was the Qing Kingdom's highest institution of learning . The teachers were the best of the best . For example, the calligraphy master of the Palace's imperial newspaper, Pan Ling, or the teacher of the present scholar of the Hall of Governmental Affairs He Zongwei, Zeng Wenxiang . A few years ago, Shu the Scholar had been a professor in the Imperial Academy . Even the foremost civil official in the court at present, Hu the Scholar, occasionally came to the Imperial Academy to lecture to these scholars .
With such incredible teachers, in addition to the Imperial Academy's special status and great futures the students already had, it was inevitable that the students of the Imperial Academy became haughty . Common officials and yamens did not like to interact with the Imperial Academy . The Qing Kingdom's somewhat open-minded style of learning further made it so that common officials refused to enter, . They were afraid that these students would forcibly question them, then they would have to escape miserably .
Fan Xian never had such fears . His relationship with the students of the Imperial Academy had always been good, particularly after the fourth year of the Qing calendar when he took on a position at the Imperial Academy as a deputy assistant professor . In addition, Fan Xian astounded the world with his talent and also brought back to the Imperial Academy a carriage of books from Northern Qi that belonged to Master Zhuang . Following this, his status in the Imperial Academy rose to a sublime level . He was greatly admired by the students .
The carriage stopped quietly at the doors of the Imperial Academy . Someone had already come out to receive him . Fan Xian got down from the carriage . He looked at the front doors he had not seen for half a year and smiled . The ancient-looking doors were actually built later . A sense of age had been forcibly added in . So much money was spent because the Qing Kingdom always felt slightly inferior from the depths of its heart when it came to matters of learning and knowledge, particularly when it came to certain areas where history was similar .
It suddenly began to rain . Although it was not raining heavily, the scattered raindrops landed on the dark wooden doors of the Imperial Academy . It made it particularly striking as it gradually stained in a mottled pattern . The stone pavement on the ground also rapidly accumulated water .
An official of the Qinian Unit silently took out a raincoat from inside the carriage, wanting to help Fan Xian put it on . Fan Xian shook his head . Although he liked to wear the black raincoat to lead his closest subordinates in a triangular formation and walking out like ghosts through Jingdou's silent autumn nights, he was at the Imperial Academy . He didn't want to appear too special and startle the hot-blooded and pure students .
Mu Feng'er raised the umbrella and walked with him through the doors of the Imperial Academy .
It was already afternoon . The sun was moving east . It was covered by a patch of cloud . With the rain sweeping by, the light became dimmer . The entire expansive courtyard was filled with a sense of gloominess . Not a single person could be seen . It was extremely empty and silent .
Thousands of Imperial Academy students were in class . As a professor of the Academy, Fan Xian knew this . However, he furrowed his brows and wondered why the sound of reading had stopped so uniformly .
Like a flock of bees suddenly moving in unison or a mountain wind funneling through a narrow and natural bottleneck, a wave of buzzing suddenly rang out in the Imperial Academy's silent courtyard . It grew louder and louder . It was the sound of countless people's discussions and laughing chatter that had mixed together .
Class was over . Hundreds of young scholars walked out from various courtyards of the Imperial Academy at the same time . They walked to the broad path in the center, squeezing tightly together . A wave of new energy immediately filled the entire space .
Some of the young people had forgotten to bring umbrellas . Yelling loudly, they leapt across the wet stone pavement, breaking through layers of raindrops as they ran toward their residences . More of the students were calm and unruffled . Wearing a calm smile, they opened the umbrellas at their sides . All of a sudden, countless umbrellas of all colors bloomed in the courtyard . There weren't any bright colors . Blue, grey, simple, and light were the main palette .
Fan Xian, who had not wanted to draw attention to himself, immediately attracted everyone's attention because of the black cloth umbrella above his head, making him an anomaly amongst the sea of plain and pale colors .
"Sir Fan junior!"
"Teacher!"
"Sir!"
The students crowded around with surprise and bowed toward Fan Xian . Most of the students had only seen him from a distance . Some had been fortunate enough to work with him on editing the writings of Master Zhuang and called out with particular energy .
Fortunately, it did not create a traffic jam . It was probably because the students knew Fan Xian had been busy in court and with the Dongyi matter . They forcibly suppressed the joy in their hearts . After bowing and giving their greetings, they cleared out of the path in the middle .
Fan Xian smiled and nodded at all of them . He said a few words with the students and teachers he was familiar with . He raised his head to look at the fading light . He did not waste any more time giving his farewells . He headed to the hall in the depths of the Academy .
Behind him and the officials of the Overwatch Council, the students of the Imperial Academy could barely contain their excitement . They whispered curiously amongst themselves . They were all guessing as to the reason Sir Fan junior had come to the Imperial Academy . Was the Emperor going to return Sir Fan junior to the Imperial Academy after the Dongyi matter concluded? Was he going to come back and teach?
…
…
Closing his black umbrella and putting it by the door, a trickle of cold rainwater flowed down to the tip of the umbrella and left a long line on the ground, wetting the tall wooden threshold . Fan Xian accepted a towel from an instructor and wiped haphazardly at his slightly wet hair . He then entered the room . Bowing to the scholar behind the table, he said with a smile, "I'm here to see you . "
Hu the Scholar took of the glasses on his nose and looked at him suspiciously for a moment before recognizing him . With a smile, he said, "It is rare that I don't need to be in the corner room today . I had wanted some peace and quiet . Can you not let me relax?"
Hu the Scholar headed the Hall of Governmental Affairs . The Emperor was gradually growing older . His energy couldn't compare to that of his prime . Furthermore, it seemed that this ruler had become more open-minded and threw many state affairs to the Hall of Governmental Affairs . He no longer attended to everything personally . Thus, the powers of the Hall of Governmental Affairs grew, and it had become busy . In the private words of some sharp-eyed officials, the Hall of Governmental Affairs of the present day was gradually becoming the Prime Minister's manor of the past . The power in the hands of Hu the Scholar seemed to be approaching that of Lin Ruofu's day by day .
Fan Xian did not believe this . Since the Emperor had worked so hard to topple his father-in-law, he would not allow another Lin Ruofu to appear . He knew Hu the Scholar toiled all day on affairs of the state . With a smile, he walked forward and bowed again . "If it was not an important matter, I would not dare to come bother you . "
He and Hu the Scholar had a good relationship . During the debate on old and new characters, the two people's stance had been very similar . Both admired the other's personality and had become good friends in private . Additionally, during the Jingdou rebellion, Hu the Scholar had done a great favor for Fan Xian . In the end, Fan Xian had taken the lead in rescuing his life .
"Speak . " Hu the Scholar placed his glasses on the table with a gentle clink . After pausing for a moment, he sighed and said, "If it requires you to come personally, it's probably nothing good . "
Fan Xian smiled and looked at the glasses on the table but didn't immediately say why he had come . Instead, he said, "Are these crystal lens still good?"
Hu the Scholar was like he always had been . He had a youthful appearance that was completely at odds with his age . Fan Xian knew that this leading civil official had some small problem with his eyes . Two years ago, they happened to talk about it . Fan Xian remembered it and had the palace treasury work on it for a long time . They had found some foreign crystals from Dongyi and made a pair of unique glasses for him .
Hu the Scholar had always been grateful for this . As he was always toiling away at state affairs and auditing memorials, bad eyesight was a big problem .
Ground by hand and without optometry equipment, Fan Xian only knew that Hu the Scholar was long-sighted . He had no idea how much the glasses would help .
"Very good, very good," Hu the Scholar said with a smile . "Alright, just for the matter of these glasses, I'll help you with whatever you want . In any case, you wouldn't make me do any muddled-headed nonsense that was against the law and edicts . "
With these words, Fan Xian almost burst into laughter . He thought that this scholar appeared loyal but was unexpectedly cautious and cunning . Both of them knew that a problem Fan Xian could not resolve with his own powers had to be something concerning the internal workings of the court . Hu the Scholar's words were extremely sly .
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