Chapter 15 (1/2)
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
“What are you doing?” Just then, the teacher who had left earlier rushed back after hearing the ruckus.
Yet, what the teacher saw was that all the ironwood stools had run to the fighting arena and a dozen or so people had run forward as though they were trying to save someone.
They were all confused as they watched, not knowing what was going on. It was not like the ironwood stools could have collapsed on someone, it hadn’t even been that long. Who could tell him what was going on?
“This is too much fun…” Gao Ren was having his fill of fun as he looked around with a sense of lingering, trying to see if there were still ironwood stools.
“Yeah, yeah, I gave him quite a few blows and it was the best feeling ever.” Tie Ta laughed as he nodded his head vigorously.
“That’s enough fun. Let’s leave quickly, the teacher is here.” Seeing that the two of them had yet to have their fun, Ren Jie hurriedly dragged them off the fighting arena.
The others also came back to their senses and slinked away even though some of them had yet to receive their money.
“Wha-what, 15,000 taels of… you just said that you… threw down 15,000 taels of gold just like that?” Back at the dorms, when Gao Ren heard that Ren Jie had thrown down an entire month of allowance as well as the largest advancement ever, he was stunned.
He was planning on buying a lot more herbs and had thought of ideas for new recipes. Oh no, what was he going to do now?
“How are you going to get big returns if you’re not willing to invest a little in it? What’s more, we just earned 500,000 taels of silver.” Ren Jie now understood that Jade coins were the true transactional currency in the real world and that gold and silver were significant because they were the common currency. Based on what Ren Jie knew, a silver tael had the worth of a cent from his past world and a tael of gold was 10 cents, while a Jade coin was like a dollar. However, they were somewhat similar to the 80s of the previous century in terms of purchasing power as 500,000 taels of gold was more than enough for an average family to spend in their lifetime.
But to someone of a higher status, that was only worth 50,000 Jade coins.
“We should be glad that Gao Fei didn’t come after us. How are you going to expect him to give us 500,000 taels of gold?”
“Are you kidding me? Our family head is the boss, getting this money back is no big deal.” Ren Jie already had everything thought out. “Get back at us? He was the one who wanted to gamble, so he should pay up what he owes. The academy can only blame us for destroying a few ironwood stools, and we didn’t thrash that many. We don’t have to worry that he won’t pay up, either. It’s the palace feast tomorrow, I can just ask the Gao family head for it.”
Asking the Gao family head for money at the palace feast. When Gao Ren pictured the scene in his head, all he could say was this was too bold a move. But… it must be interesting too.
He never left the academy and never accompanied Ren Jie to any feast before. Hence, the first time he asked to go along, Ren Jie agreed immediately.
Tie Ta originally wanted to go back after staying a while, but Ren Jie was worried that these underlings would look for trouble with Tie Ta instead of him and thus, he had Tie Ta stay behind at his place with him for a few days. Tie Ta received guidance from him from a young age and had long thought of himself as Ren Jie’s guard and thus, he would not disagree with Ren Jie.
What happened in the fighting arena sent all the first years of the Jade Imperial Academy into a flurry as news spread that Gao Fei could have died if not for the timely intervention of the teachers. Everyone was discussing about it, but as the one behind this incident, Ren Jie acted like nothing was out of the ordinary as he simply went about his daily tasks.
The five family clans of the Jade Capital had property all around and their business transactions were even larger in number. However, the palace took the center spot in the Jade Capital while the other four family clans were each based in either the north, south, west or east.
The Fang family was south of the Jade Capital and they were currently in a mess.
“Bam!” Fang Tianen, the Fang family head, slammed his teacup onto the floor, his brows shaking slightly as he frowned. He only had Fang Qi after the age of 50 and Fang Qi was also exceptional in many aspects. Thus, she was especially doted on by him. Yet, she was just poisoned by someone.
“What have all of you been doing? It has been more than a day, yet she is still unconscious.” Fang Tianen got more worked up as he spoke and looked up suddenly to glare at the young man in his twenties who just brought the news. “Some brother you are, fancy being the commander of the Imperial Front Guard. I doubt you amount to anything. If not because your sister helped you get close to the Seventh Princess, you wouldn’t have been holding this position.”
Fang Yan, the commander of the Imperial Front Guard, was only in his early twenties and was one of the most prominent figures of his age in the Jade Capital. He had graduated from the Jade Imperial Academy three years ago and had many achievements in the one year he served in the army. He was already a Captain when he joined the Imperial Front Guard and climbed the ranks every year for the next couple of years. Now, he was one of the 12 commanders of the Imperial Front Guard.
The year before he would have won the title of Martial Arts Scholar if not for the arrival of that god-forsaken fellow. He would not have just been a second place in other circumstances. Moreover, he was close to the Seventh Princess and rumors were rife that he would become a Prince Consort and he would then become the youngest ever Lieutenant-General of the Imperial Front Guard.
Fang Yan looked as mighty as ever decked in a suit of armor, but now, he looked ridiculous being scolded so harshly by Fang Tianen. What had this got to do with him, he had already sought for the Imperial Physician at the first moment he could. While Fang Tianen was not his father, he was still the family head of the Fangs and thus, Fang Yan did not show what he was thinking and even looked rather remorseful.
“It’s all my fault, but it’s just that even the Imperial Physician and the brilliant physicians from our family clan are at their wit’s end. They’re only able to delay it for a while. Our topmost priority now is to save sister Fang Qi. The Seventh Princess has already asked His Majesty for a middle-grade Life-preserving Panacea which the Imperial Physician says will be able to buy us a few days. Hence, we must make use of this time to quickly think of other solutions.” Fang Yan vigorously nodded his head to acknowledge his faults while carefully shifting Fang Tianen’s attention elsewhere.
“A middle-grade Life-preserving Panacea…” Fang Tianen’s anger subsided slightly when he heard. He was aware of how precious a middle-grade Life-preserving Panacea was; even the palace did not have many of it. It seemed like Fang Yan had indeed put in some effort.
“Even the Imperial Physician is at his wit’s end, and the Life-preserving Panacea can only buy us a few days. Who would do something so vicious…” Anger burned in Fang Tianen’s eyes as the thought of murder flashed in his mind. He would pursue it to the end if he knew who had done that.
“Family head, according to what the Imperial Physician said, the person who was able to come up with such poison could not have been just a nobody. Furthermore, it would have been much easier for him to just kill sister Fang Qi if they wanted, so he must have his intentions for doing so. Hence, I think that we should announce a reward. The person who is able to come up with the antidote of the poison must be the one who poisoned Fang Qi.” While Fang Yan was quite young, he was able to hold the position, not only because of the fact that he was from the Fang family.