As soon as those aged words were spoken, almost everyone came to their senses.
Immediately, another old man glared at him and verbally assailed him, his spit practically flying into the speaker's face:
"Shameless! Liu, if you hadn't focused all your energy on such opportunistic scheming, you would have broken through the Gentleman Realm and become a Great Confucian Scholar long ago!
"Quan Fu, do not easily trust the words of such a shameless scoundrel! Take me as your master instead!"
Saying this, the old man approached Zeng Anmin and suddenly lowered his voice to tempt him, "I have some ties with Governor Zeng. If you take me as your master, I can ask his venerable self to personally guide your cultivation."
"You're no better!" another voice interjected. "How dare you borrow his prestige? You merely studied alongside the Governor for a couple of days in your early years. It's debatable whether Mr. Zeng even remembers you, yet you have the nerve to show off about it?!"
Someone immediately stepped forward, harshly berating the previous old man. Then, he bent down and wiggled his eyebrows at Zeng Anmin. "Quan Fu, I have a daughter at home who is not yet married. She is about your age. If you are interested..."
"Get lost! Your daughter looks like an Earth Dragon. Stop bringing her up and polluting our ears!"
"Oh? And is your son any better?! He lingers in the Imperial Music Bureau all day long, completely disgracing your old face!"
"Ahhh! You white-headed fool, you gray-bearded old thief, you broken-backed dog! I will fight you to the death today!"
"Bring it on!"
The entire dormitory descended into complete chaos. Zeng Anmin watched the teachers, his mouth twitching uncontrollably. Weren't followers of the Confucian Dao supposed to be elegant and refined? How could they be even more vulgar than uncouth Martial Artists?
"Everyone, shut up!"
A loud shout rang out from the doorway. The room fell completely silent as everyone looked toward the door. They saw the academy dean's steward walking in slowly, his face extremely gloomy.
"You are all teachers, yet none of you know the meaning of shame!"
The dean's steward had been at the academy for many years. In the eyes of the teachers, he was considered part of the academy's leadership, so naturally, they all lowered their heads.
"Get out!" The steward pointed at the door with a cold expression. "Once you walk out this door, I will pretend I never saw you here. But if today's incident happens again, I will not let you off lightly!"
"This..."
All the teachers looked at each other in dismay. After a long while, someone finally let out an unwilling sigh and walked out. With someone taking the lead, the rest could only beat their chests and stomp their feet in frustration as they filed out.
When only the two of them remained in the room, Zeng Anmin stood up and bowed to the steward. "Thank you for bailing me out, Mr. Steward."
"Hehe, congratulations on your breakthrough, Mr. Zeng. If the Governor hears this news, he will surely be overjoyed."
The steward knew Zeng Anmin's true identity; therefore, he had always been extremely respectful to him.
"Yes." Zeng Anmin nodded expressionlessly. "Has Brother Tongyu's mother been sent back home?"
The steward's face stiffened for a moment. He naturally knew what Zeng Anmin meant by this sudden question. It was nothing more than pure sarcasm.
"She was already sent back yesterday." After replying, the steward seemed to remember something. His eyes landed on Zeng Anmin's face as he asked, "Mr. Zeng, did you know that Wang Lin, the Crown Prince of Prince Jiang's Mansion, was assassinated yesterday and died in the snow?"
After speaking, he stared intently at Zeng Anmin.
Hearing this, Zeng Anmin was initially stunned before his head jerked up. His eyes were filled with absolute shock as he exclaimed, "Are you telling the truth?!"
"I wouldn't dare deceive you, sir," the steward replied, still keeping his eyes fixed on him.
"Hahahaha! Good, good, good! Heaven has eyes!" Zeng Anmin suddenly threw his head back and laughed aloud, even unable to resist clapping his hands in admiration. "He died well!"
Following that, Zeng Anmin excitedly reached out, grabbed the steward's shoulder, and asked, "Who did it? For such a righteous act, I must know the hero's name!"
The steward furrowed his brows. Unable to tell whether Zeng Anmin was faking it or not, he simply said, "We don't know. According to eyewitnesses, it was the work of a Martial Artist wearing a cat-face mask..."
"Is that so..." Zeng Anmin said after listening, then abruptly looked up and asked the steward, "Where did Wang Lin die?"
"Right in front of Prince Jiang's Mansion... Why?" The steward was baffled by the question.
Zeng Anmin's expression turned reverent. "I would like to call that Martial Artist the Royal Mansion Judge."
The steward's mouth twitched. He could tell that he wasn't going to pry anything out of this kid. Changing the subject, he asked, "What are your plans next, Mr. Zeng?"
Zeng Anmin looked up excitedly. "Naturally, I will take a leave of absence first, go to Brother Tongyu's house, and tell Mrs. Zhang this exciting news!"
Well then. Such behavior didn't seem at all like someone who could have sent an assassin to kill Wang Lin. The steward slowly relaxed and took his leave.
After the steward left, Zeng Anmin's eyebrows slowly rose. How could he not see through the steward's probing intentions? It seemed someone had already started suspecting him.
"Hehe," Zeng Anmin chuckled lightly.
Who could have imagined that the true identity of the Governor's son, a recognized genius of the Confucian Dao, was actually an accomplished Martial Artist? Even if they had eight hundred extra brains, they still wouldn't be able to guess it. Although breaking through to the Seventh Grade of the Confucian Dao would gather all eyes on him, this was exactly the perfect way to hide in plain sight!
"Dachun, we have the day off today! Come take a trip with me!" Zeng Anmin shouted at the top of his lungs toward the outer room.
"Coming!" Qi Dachun's naive voice called out.
The entirety of Liangjiang Commandery had fallen into a tense atmosphere because of Wang Lin's death. The members of the Observation Department were mobilized in full force, shouting on the streets as they tracked down the murderer. Similarly, because of the official's drastic actions, the news of Wang Lin of Prince Jiang's Mansion being assassinated by a righteous hero spread incredibly fast among the common people.
Tong'an Street was a relatively underdeveloped street in Liangjiang Commandery. Most of those who settled down here were ordinary commoners. Although the funds from the Court had not yet arrived, repair work had already begun under the arrangements of Zeng Shilin, the Governor of Liangjiang. Prefect Qi Xiande was the person in charge of overseeing this project.
On the street, Zeng Anmin and Qi Dachun each held a large flatbread, eating as they watched a fully equipped squad of Red-clothed Guards from the Observation Department march away.
"Tsk, truly worthy of Prince Jiang's Mansion. The death of a Crown Prince has left everyone in Liangjiang Commandery fearing for their lives," Zeng Anmin sneered.
Qi Dachun looked on with a seemingly wise gaze and laughed foolishly. "Hehe, it's just a Vassal Prince. If it were you who died, young master, the master would definitely turn the entire County City upside down."
Zeng Anmin cast a sideways glance at Dachun. Dachun gave a sheepish grin.
Fine. Zeng Anmin couldn't be bothered to entertain him and prepared to step toward Zhang Lun's home.
Right at that moment, they heard an extremely familiar voice.
"Mr. Zeng? What are you doing here?"
Zeng Anmin turned toward the source of the voice. He saw Commander Wang Deli of the Observation Department, fully armed and looking at him with immense curiosity. Dressed in his military uniform, his classic Northern facial features—thick eyebrows and large eyes—left a deep impression. He stood in front of over a dozen Red-clothed Guards of the Observation Department.
"Commander Wang?"
Zeng Anmin had an impression of this crude man. He was the one who, when Zeng Anmin was released from prison that day, envied his father for raising a better son.
His father didn't seem to like him very much, either.