"I can't believe I actually set foot in this place in my lifetime..."
Passing by the golden stone pillars and gazing up at the solemn Grand Ancestor statue, Shi Huaifeng almost broke down in tears.
Le Yuxin, wearing a 'Temporary Visitor' badge, reminded him, "You're stepping in a puddle."
"But this is the Royal Academy's puddle!"
"Well... Please don't mind me, I won't get in the way of your dining experience."
Seeing Shi Huaifeng's face turn bright red as if he actually wanted to kneel down and lick the ground, Le Yuxin couldn't really blame him. After all, the ground they stood on now was the Yanjing Royal Academy.
The status of the Royal Academy in the hearts of Glory's people was way more important than Tsinghua or Peking University was for people of Earth—to put it another way, it would have to be Tsinghua + Peking University + Minzu University + University of Political Science and Law + National Defense University. Its history stretched back through the ages, as old as the nation itself. A thousand years ago, it was the Imperial College; a thousand years later, it became the Royal Academy. It had produced countless ministers, generals, political entanglements, and lovers' quarrels. It had witnessed more of history's secrets than anyone could count.
If 'Glory' was the totem in their hearts, then the Royal Academy was the totem's one and only spokesperson. No matter how many coups or dynastic changes there were, the Academy endured. Quite a few rebellions had even started here, right in these halls.
Every student had dreamed of the Royal Academy at least once—Le Yin and Shi Huaifeng included. Le Yin hadn't applied because his main mission was in Dongyang, so applying would have been pointless. Shi Huaifeng, on the other hand, did apply, but failed the exam.
Seeing Shi Huaifeng's "Teacher, I really, really want to study here" face, Le Yuxin suddenly realized that Bai Ye's original offer wasn't so low after all—letting Qian Yuya get into the Royal Academy with a 100% guarantee was basically handing her a direct class leap, like getting a +150 boost on the college entrance exam.
Even if Qian Yuliu died, the investment had paid for itself!
Le Yuxin sighed inwardly and glanced at the pocket watch. "Hurry up, or we're going to be late."
"Uh-huh!" Shi Huaifeng followed Le Yuxin into the tree-shaded lane, head swiveling left and right. "Why does it seem like there aren't many people here?"
"Honestly, you look like you've never even been in school, not just failed the entrance exam," Le Yuxin teased, "It's summer break now, so obviously there aren't any students around."
Glory had summer and winter vacations, too, although the reasons were different from Earth. On Earth, breaks were for weather—too hot or too cold. In Glory, it was all about the sun. When daylight was too short, it wasn't good for training, so they had winter break; when the sun was too intense, also not good for training, so they had summer break.
From birth to death, light was everything for the people of Glory.
Still, Le Yuxin felt relieved—at least there was no reason to worry about whether he'd be blushing or near tears if he happened to run into Qian Yuya.
He had considered whether he should go see Qian Yuya, but after going back and forth, he felt there was really no need. Qian Yuya had already gotten used to living as an orphan, and him showing up would only give her extra attachments.
Besides, Qian Yuya was not the same as Qing Lan. Totally different.
Qing Lan liked him as a person. Whether that person was called Le Yuxin, Jing Zhengwei, or Le Yin didn't matter—because the memories of their love, they'd made together from scratch.
But Qian Yuya wasn't like that. The only person she recognized as family was Qian Yuliu, not Le Yuxin who'd hijacked Qian Yuliu's account.
No matter that Le Yuxin ended up protecting her as well, if the truth about the body double came out, Qian Yuya would definitely realize—Qian Yuliu had long since died, and it was Le Yuxin who took his place.
Le Yuxin could have lied to Qian Yuya, but he didn't believe Qian Yuya could really be kept in the dark. "Could Qian Yuya really have missed how Qian Yuliu turned into a whole different person in just fifteen days? The two siblings were never all that close at first, then their relationship got better at the end, but then she was sent away by him, so she never really had time to see the truth."
Besides, what's the point of a bond built on lies, a relationship founded on deception?
"Better to let Qian Yuya be conflicted, get myself an ulcer, let Qing Lan pick up a new little sister-in-law, than just go our separate ways. Yanjing is such a big place anyway—we might never run into each other."
"Cut all ties and let things drift apart."
"A boundless future, with nothing more to do with each other."
This was actually the best help Le Yuxin could offer Qian Yuya.
"Ah, that's the statue of the Fiery Emperor's Prime Minister, Marquis Wu!"
"Ah, that's Grandmaster Chen in the White Robe's spear!"
"Ah, this light!"
"Ah, this water!"
Le Yuxin clicked his tongue and said, "You want to go to school so badly, we could swap places. I'll go infiltrate the National Relief Association, and you can come study at the Royal Academy?"
Shi Huaifeng shook his head, "I don't think that's going to work. I look way too old—plus, Hongle, you've got that androgynous vibe, nice fair skin. If we walked in together, people might even think you're my girlfriend. Seriously, you're the perfect choice."
Le Yuxin blinked.
"So this is how people see Jing Zhengwei and Le Yin, huh? No wonder Qing Lan sometimes asks me about Le Yin during afterglow conversations..."
"And you don't really have to enroll just to get into the Academy. Normally outsiders aren't allowed, but if there's a good reason, that's different." Shi Huaifeng rubbed his hands like a fly. "As long as you call me over when you're going to class, and we go in together, the guards won't stop us."
Le Yuxin gave him a kindly look. "Bro Feng, I want you to be happy too."
"Just not enough to actually do anything about it."
Shi Huaifeng's face went dark.
While chatting, they arrived in front of a small old building. Most of the Royal Academy's buildings were honestly pretty run-down—Le Yuxin actually thought even Xuanzhu County's outer districts looked better. Makes sense, thousand-year-old academies can't remodel every year—patch it up for another three years, then again three more, and it's not the leaders who have to suffer, anyway.
When they reached the agreed-upon spot—Room 203, second floor—Le Yuxin and Shi Huaifeng glanced at the door plaque that read "Office of the Head Teacher and Blade Class Instructor," both wearing the "Just as I expected" look.
Back when they'd first heard the location for their next meeting, they'd already had a feeling, so there wasn't much surprise now.
Knock, knock.
"Come in."
They pushed the door open to see a well-dressed, serious-faced middle-aged man working at his desk. He looked up at them and said, "Close the door, have a seat."
Le Yuxin closed the door, sat down, and said, "Good afternoon, Fire Prison."
"Good afternoon, Hongle, Sad Wind."
The Ritual Guard division contact, "Fire Prison" Bai Yu, turned out to be none other than the Royal Academy's head teacher and the teacher of the Blade Class!
Le Yuxin hadn't even sat down properly before he blurted out, "Fire Prison, I think I'm much better suited than Shi Huaifeng for going undercover in the National Relief Association."
Shi Huaifeng stared at his old buddy, completely shocked—"Dude, can't you say that in private? You really have to snatch my job right to my face?"
Bai Yu put down his pen, looking interested. "I trust you, Hongle, must have prepared some compelling reasons to persuade me,"
"First, I'm really good at infiltration. Like, really, really good." Le Yuxin spoke with total confidence; he honestly thought nobody in this world could beat him at infiltration—the Statistical Department, White Night, Silver Blood Association, the Four Guards of Glory—calling himself a five-faction lackey wouldn't even be overkill!
"Second, I have a brilliant business idea, and the National Relief Association is bound to try and pull me in because of it!"
"And what's the idea?" Bai Yu asked, just the right amount of interest in his tone.
"Rank-ings!" Le Yuxin enunciated every word clearly. "We can use the intelligence capabilities of the Four Guards of Glory to create ranking lists to steer public opinion!"
Bai Yu raised an eyebrow—he was genuinely intrigued, "Sounds pretty interesting. Can you give me an example, Hongle?"
Le Yuxin's eyes lit up. "Like, we could put together a 'One Versus a Thousand' Ranking, specifically to judge the martial strength of generals across the districts. Then, we could just straight up designate the strongest martial artist outside of Yanjing as Chenfeng District's General Zhengxuan—Lan Yan!"