Chapter 32

And so, Su Yao walked in front, leading Rong Yang along several small paths planted full of paulownia trees. Just then, a gust of wind blew over, and white blossoms rustled down like falling snow.

“Stop.”

An displeased voice came from behind her again.

“Come here. Walk side by side with me, Fifth Princess Consort.” Rong Yang suddenly came to her senses. They were going to meet Headmaster Chen.

This Headmaster Chen was a snobbish opportunist who fawned on the powerful. In the original book, after he learned that Su Yao had no one to rely on, he deliberately leaked the excellent essay she had written to someone else to copy, causing Su Yao to be delayed at Donglin Academy for a long time.

Speaking of which, Headmaster Chen was completely at odds with the reputation of this century-old academy. But he had accomplished one thing: he had built one solemn and elegant pavilion after another for Donglin Academy.

Su Yao had no choice but to stop. She pressed her lips together and waited for the person behind her to walk beside her.

Inside Xingyue Pavilion, Headmaster Chen was waiting to receive them. Rong Yang, in the name of Rong Yang residence, donated a batch of gold for the academy to repair and build a new library pavilion. Headmaster Chen immediately beamed with joy and very warmly invited Rong Yang to stay for tea.

“There is no need for tea. I will walk around with the princess consort.” Rong Yang spoke coldly. When she said this, she deliberately reached out and took Su Yao’s hand.

Their palms touched, bringing a soft, warm sensation. But only a moment later, pain followed.

Su Yao deliberately tightened her grip, hinting for Rong Yang to let go.

Rong Yang endured the pain and did not release her hand. Her expression remained unchanged, while in private, their two hands secretly wrestled against each other.

Headmaster Chen was not annoyed by Rong Yang’s refusal to drink tea. He was already used to such things. After all, among the imperial relatives and nobles who came here, which one of them did not carry themselves as if they were high above everyone else? But he truly had not expected that Su Yao was her princess consort…

Looking at their tightly clasped hands, they seemed extremely loving.

Thinking carefully, cold sweat instantly streamed down his back. He had nearly made a grave mistake…

After leaving Xingyue Pavilion and reaching a place where Headmaster Chen could not see them, Rong Yang released Su Yao’s hand. If she did not let go, she felt as if her hand would be crippled too.

Why was her grip so strong!

She couldn’t even hold her hand for a moment… It wasn’t as if they had never held hands before.

“Why did you deliberately reveal our relationship in front of him?” Su Yao asked with an unreadable expression.

Rong Yang raised her brows. Since she knew it was deliberate, why did she squeeze her hand so painfully!

“Obviously, to save some unnecessary trouble,” she said coldly, glancing sideways at Su Yao.

Su Yao lowered her eyes. Her cold gaze swept over the hand Rong Yang had just ​bailiantales.com​gripped. Headmaster Chen’s character was somewhat known in the academy. Money could make ghosts turn millstones—that phrase referred exactly to people like him. Was Rong Yang trying to tell Headmaster Chen not to set his schemes on her?

Would she be so kind?

The two in confrontation heard two sets of footsteps approaching and lifted their eyes at the same time. They saw Rong Huan walking toward them, her arm linked with an unfamiliar woman.

Rong Huan was slightly surprised to see her. “You came too.”

Not only had she come, she also seemed to be in some kind of standoff with Su Yao. Could they be planning to argue at the entrance of Xingyue Pavilion?

The woman beside Rong Huan smiled faintly at Rong Yang. Her smile was cool and clear. After respectfully bowing, she withdrew behind Rong Huan.

“Greetings, Eldest Sister.” Rong Yang put away her emotions. Su Yao gave a shallow bow at her side.

“Mm. Wait for me a moment,” Rong Huan said, then brought the woman into Xingyue Pavilion first.

“I still have other matters. I’ll leave first,” Su Yao said to Rong Yang, unwilling to waste time waiting here.

“Just what is the princess consort so anxious about?”

“Are you anxious to go find another Qianyuan?”

Rong Yang pressed her lips together faintly, her face turning a few degrees Read on BaiLianTales colder. Her words, neither heavy nor light, struck Su Yao’s heart.

In the original book, this seemed to be what Rong Yang had said when she discovered the female lead had come into contact with the Third Princess…

Su Yao stood frozen in place, her brows and eyes full of frost.

“From the moment I leave the residence to the moment I return, you have people watching me the entire time I am outside. Do you not know everything about me clearly?”

After speaking, she turned and swept her sleeve away, unwilling to say another word to Rong Yang.

Rong Yang was left standing there, stunned.

She just left?

But those original words really were a little unpleasant…

It was good that she left. What came after was even worse…

She was the one who left on her own. It had nothing to do with me. That shouldn’t count as violating the persona, right!

Behind her, Chunxi looked at Rong Yang’s back and shook her head. When would the princess stop being so stubborn with her words?

If she wanted the princess consort to forgive her like this, it would be too difficult.

Half an incense stick later.

Rong Huan walked out and smiled faintly at her. “Rong Yang, did you wait long?”

Rong Yang answered, “I had nothing to do anyway.”

Seeing that the woman who had entered with Rong Huan did not come out, Rong Yang asked in confusion, “Where is the person who went in with you?”

“She wants to enroll in Donglin Academy. I brought her over to greet the headmaster in passing. She will discuss the remaining matters with the headmaster herself.”

“Oh.” For the Princess Royal to personally greet someone on her behalf, this greeting was rather extraordinary.

The two walked outside side by side. Beside the small forest path, petals fell in profusion.

Rong Huan glanced at her. “Why did you come to attend the banquet today?”

Rong Yang thought about it. The original owner rarely left the residence for crowded places like this. No wonder Rong Huan found it surprising. “I stayed in the residence for too long, so I came out for a walk.”

“It was for Su Yao, wasn’t it?”

Rong Yang furrowed her brows slightly. This excuse was not impossible.

“I heard the headmaster earnestly invited you to serve as a judge?” Rong Yang changed the topic and asked.

Rong Huan said helplessly, “Because of this matter, he has come to my residence asking to meet me for more than a month.”

“He truly spares no effort in these superficial formalities,” Rong Yang said.

Rong Huan scoffed. “If no one did them, that would not do either.”

As they spoke, the two arrived at the entrance of the school building where the academy students attended class. Several teachers and students saw them and hurried over to bow and greet them.

“Greetings, Princess Royal and Fifth Princess.”

“Let’s go,” Rong Huan said.

The group respectfully welcomed them inside.

Many students had already gathered in the lecture hall, and quite a few noble families had also taken their seats. When Rong Huan and Rong Yang appeared, it caused quite a stir.

“The Princess Royal really came?”

“That’s right. The headmaster is impressive!”

“Heavens! Who is the Qianyuan beside the Princess Royal?”

“She’s the Fifth Princess. I saw her at the empress’s birthday banquet last time.”

“So beautiful. How was she born even more beautiful than Kunze?”

“She just looks so cold. It makes people not dare go near her.”

The judges’ seats were on the raised platform, in the center where the view was best.

Su Yao listened to the words of the people beside her, then lifted her eyes and looked at Rong Yang sitting on the platform.

That person still had that same arrogant posture, overbearing and unapproachable.

“The Fifth Princess seems to be looking this way.” One student looked left and right, front and back. Seeing nothing strange around her and subconsciously ignoring the very beautiful Kunze in front of her, she said, “Could she be looking at me?”

Rong Yang casually swept her gaze over the students below and saw Su Yao, who happened to be looking up in her direction.

Their gazes met, then turned away in an instant.

There were four judges in total. Aside from Rong Huan, Deng Xi, who arrived late, was [bailiantales.com]also there. Her appearance caused no small commotion either.

At Donglin Academy, there was almost no student who had not heard of Deng Xi. The five characters she had once inscribed—“read until one has broken through ten thousand scrolls”—still remained on the white wall of Jia school.

Deng Xi sat upright, her words relaxed and unrestrained. In her free and flowing manner, she paid little attention to trivialities. Her white-and-blue dress was like the sky after rain, clouds and mist scattering, blooming before people’s eyes in a restrained way.

“Lord Deng Xi came too. I have to perform well.”

“Yes. I heard Lord Deng Xi has gone so long without any Qianyuan she likes appearing by her side.”

“Even if you perform well, you won’t have a chance.”

“Why?”

“Because I have more of a chance than you.”

“…”

Only as the competition time approached did the lecture hall gradually quiet down.

Rong Yang waited in boredom for a long time before finally waiting for Su Yao’s chess match.

Su Yao’s posture was elegant, her back straight, and her eyes faintly [Read on BaiLianTales]bright. She held the black stones, and black moved first.

The two sides began arranging their pieces back and forth. White responded to each move and attacked black, but every time, it fell short by one move.

Black was meticulous and cautious. With everything planned, it pushed white back step by step.

The two people onstage were evenly matched.

Every time the match reached an exciting point, the people in the viewing seats could not help lightly applauding.

From the corner of her eye, Su Yao saw that woman also casually clap a few times along with the crowd.

That movement distracted her slightly, but in the blink of an eye, all emotion scattered.

Rong Yang stared at Su Yao without blinking. In her light brown eyes was reflected Su Yao’s figure.

Rong Huan glanced at her thoughtfully.

In the end, black won. Su Yao won this round and received a fine set of weiqi pieces. The black stones inside were made of black jade, while the white stones were made of mutton-fat white jade. They felt cool to the touch, clear and lustrous.

When Su Yao returned below the platform and lifted her eyes again, Rong Yang had already left that seat.

Su Yao tightened her grip slightly around the weiqi set in her hand and stared at the now-empty seat, dazed for a moment.

Rong Yang had gotten tired of sitting and found a place with fewer people to walk around. She had Chunxi and Xiaqing stay inside to keep an eye on Su Yao, afraid something would happen to her again.

Two female Kunze walked over shyly, their eyes full of bashfulness. “Greetings, Fifth Princess.”

“Mm,” Rong Yang answered lightly.

“We have admired the Fifth Princess for a long time. May we walk with the Fifth Princess for a while?”

“No.” Rong Yang coldly and mercilessly refused the two female Kunze.

The delighted expressions on their faces froze. Then they hurriedly spoke in panic. “We were presumptuous. We will withdraw now.”

Rong Yang nodded. Only after seeing them turn and leave did she shake her head. Little sisters, don’t be fooled by appearances. The original owner really wasn’t that great.

Just as she was thinking that it was about time and turning back, she met Su Yao’s calm, water-like gaze behind her.

Rong Yang: “…”

Does Su Yao make no sound when she walks!

Sooner or later, she would be scared to death by her.

She pinched her palm, steadied her emotions, and furrowed her brows. “Why are you here?”

“The competition is over. We can return to the residence,” Su Yao said.

“Then let’s return,” Rong Yang said carelessly.

“Where are Chunxi and Xiaqing?” Rong Yang asked, confused as to why it was not those two who had come.

“The headmaster gave the Princess Royal some good wine. She had Chunxi and Xiaqing help carry it.”