Chapter 112: My Good Brother, Who Is Your Master?

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Wei Shi’an saw the delight on Li Su’s face. He could not understand a word of what Li Su was saying about objective lenses, and hurriedly asked, “Have you finished making the far-seeing scope?”

Li Su shook his head innocently. “No.”

“Then why are you so excited?” Wei Shi’an asked irritably. He had thought the boy had truly managed to make the far-seeing scope.

“According to my plans, once I finish this lens, the far-seeing scope will be one-third complete.”

“You’ve only just begun, and you already have a plan?” Wei Shi’an asked doubtfully. Li Su’s words sounded highly unreliable.

He had completed one-third in only three or four days. Wouldn’t that mean he could finish the far-seeing scope in a little over ten days?

Wei Shi’an did not believe Li Su could make one at all, much less in ten days.

“I do have a plan, but I don’t yet know whether it will work.” It was certainly possible to make one. If everything went smoothly, it would take around ten days. If not, he would simply need a few extra days to grind the glass. It was hardly a serious problem.

“Actually, if you studied the principles of investigating things with me for a while, the two of us could definitely make it,” Wei Shi’an told him.

The moment Li Su heard this, he knew Wei Shi’an was trying to coax him into studying investigative principles again. He pretended not to hear and carefully set the polished objective lens aside.

Li Su rose and went to the side to ponder the day’s policy essay and poetry assignment.

Wei Shi’an calculated the time. Even if Li Su spent all the days ahead completing Xi Sheng’s task, the schedules would still be roughly the same.

With that in mind, Wei Shi’an did not continue nagging him.

…

After Yun Qin heard about what had happened between Li Su and Wang Tao, he silently took note of it.

Yun Qin never asked Li Su what he was doing when he left early and returned late each day. He merely seized every opportunity, whenever they were together, to discuss things with him.

“See? I wasn’t lying. I really did see Yun Qin. It really was Yun Qin!”

“Why has he come here? Could he also be here for Dean Wei?”

“Certainly not. My father has nothing but praise for him, but he’s rather proud by nature. I doubt he could bring himself to flatter anyone.”

Several students from the Earth Hall were discussing the matter outside the entrance to the Yellow Hall.

“One of the people beside Yun Qin is Song Sheng. The other seems to be Li Su.”

“Does Yun Qin know Li Su? Didn’t Wang Tao say Li Su was an ordinary student from the countryside? Li Su seemed to admit it himself. How could the two of them know each other? They look quite close.”

“Wang Tao? If you believe what he says, you ought to see a physician. You know what sort of person he is.”

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In their eyes, Wang Tao was always doing foolish things. The fact that he had survived to this day was entirely due to the Wang family’s skill at cleaning up after him, not because Wang Tao was particularly clever.

The others fell silent for a moment. That was true. It was impossible to say how much of Wang Tao’s information was true and how much was fabricated.

“Shall we go over and greet Yun Qin?”

The others nodded in unison, deciding it was a good idea.

The students of the Yellow Hall had noticed the few students from the Earth Hall outside the entrance long ago. All of them had come from the capital and were fairly well known at the academy.

The Earth Hall students walked toward Yun Qin. “Young Master Yun, long time no see. What brings you to Bright Mountain Academy?”

Yun Qin looked at them and nodded. “Young Master Guo, long time no see. I’ve come to exchange ideas and study for a while.”

The Yellow Hall students looked at one another. Only then did they learn that the new student was named Yun Qin.

Was he the Yun Qin they knew of?

Yun Qin of the Yun family in the capital?

The man known as the foremost of the capital’s three great talents?

They had seen Yun Qin and Li Su coming and going together all the time, and the two clearly seemed to have known each other for quite some time. Could Li Su also be…

After exchanging a few pleasantries with Yun Qin, the Earth Hall students asked, “Young Master Yun, who is this beside you?”

Yun Qin introduced him. “This is my good friend, Li Su.”

The few of them exchanged a glance. A good friend? Then Li Su was certainly no ordinary person. Moreover, people had recently begun saying that they often saw Li Su leaving Dean Wei’s residence.

This time, Wang Tao might truly have kicked an iron wall.

The group treated Li Su with considerable friendliness, and Li Su treated them in kind.

Their conversation proceeded pleasantly enough, and they even agreed to go down the mountain for a meal together during the academy’s examination break later that month.

Song Sheng spent the entire time listening without uttering a single word. Li Su handed him an arithmetic problem so that he would not be bored.

Song Sheng smiled at Li Su.

Guo Chi and the others noticed the exchange. They were not particularly familiar with Song Sheng, and in their impression, he disliked speaking.

When Song Sheng was young, he had suffered an accident. It was said that the Song family had given up on him, but later Song Sheng had escaped and returned on his own.

After returning, however, he no longer liked to speak. At the time, Wang Tao had often called him “Little Mute.” He no longer used the nickname, but the two of them were still on poor terms.

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Song Sheng now seemed to receive little attention from his family. At gatherings of the great clans, it was usually his younger brother who appeared. The Song family clearly intended to cultivate Song Rong.

In their eyes, the difference between Song Sheng and themselves was that he had been sent to his ancestral home with something of the sense that the Song family was exiling him, whereas they had merely come to study and, incidentally, cultivate a relationship with Dean Wei.

After speaking with Li Su, Guo Chi and the others could not help thinking that Li Su’s identity was certainly far from simple. There was far too much revealed in his manner of speech. They were not idiots like Wang Tao.

Li Su, too, had gained something from his conversations with Guo Chi and the others.

The next lesson was about to begin, so Guo Chi said, “Let us arrange another time to meet. Young Master Yun, Young Master Li, Young Master Song, we’ll return to the Earth Hall first.”

Once they had left, Guo Chi and the others exchanged glances. They shared a single understanding: do not provoke Li Su; cultivate his friendship instead.

When they looked back and saw Li Su explaining arithmetic problems to Yun Qin and Song Sheng, they strangely found themselves wondering who would truly hold power in the Song family in the future.

Before, they had assumed it would certainly be Song Rong. Now, however, they could no longer say so with certainty. Song Sheng had formed close ties with Yun Qin and Li Su. Perhaps a great opportunity awaited him.

…

Yun Qin still learned from other people that Li Su’s early departures and late returns were because he had been going to Dean Wei’s residence.

When Li Su returned that evening, weariness written all over his face, Yun Qin could not help asking, “Virtuous Brother, is Dean Wei your master?”

In Yun Qin’s view, given Li Su’s learning, it was only natural that Dean Wei would wish to take him as a disciple.

Li Su shook his head. “No. I already have a master, as you know.” If his master learned that he had taken a second master, he would skin him alive.

He intended to cling tightly to his master’s leg for the rest of his life!

“Then what is your relationship with Dean Wei?” Was Dean Wei really the sort of person who would teach someone for free without seeking recognition or reward?

“You could say that my master asked him to look after me and make sure I study diligently.” His master had sent him here with precisely that intention from the beginning, hadn’t he? He wanted Li Su to learn everything he could while also building a good relationship with the dean.

His master was truly his master. Dean Wei had been calculated into this arrangement without realizing it.

Yun Qin asked in shock, “Virtuous Brother, your master asked Dean Wei to look after you?”

There were scarcely more than a handful of people in the world who could ask Dean Wei to take care of someone.

Yun Qin suddenly recalled Li Su’s earlier claim that his master was extraordinarily capable. “Virtuous Brother, who exactly is your master?”

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