Chapter 191 - Reporting a Crime (1/2)

Yu Xiaocao took out the piping hot roasted chicken and the osmanthus duck, wafting out a tantalizing aroma, and placed them in front of Headmaster Yuan. Yuan Sinian was about to abandon his elegant and scholarly pretense in order to take the food into his hands when he suddenly noticed a few teachers in the vicinity out of the corner of his eye. He hurriedly reinstated his classy mask and said, “Ahem ahem, I, the headmaster, am an honest person who doesn’t take presents!”

Xiaocao roasted him endlessly in her mind, ‘I wonder where all of that food I brought over previously went, hm? Now he says he doesn’t take gifts, he’s truly a sly old man!’

Argh! Her younger brother needed to rely on this old man for his future, right? She had no choice but to continue this play, “Headmaster, I must tell the truth. I came over today because I had something to ask. Do you have time to talk with me?”

Headmaster Yuan raised his head even higher as he stroked his beard, “You’re only just asking me about something, no need to bring gifts over right? What’s going on? Just tell me directly! A gentleman must be magnanimous and understanding, there’s nothing you can’t discuss with me!!”

Psh! Still pretending, does he like to act that much? Xiaocao deliberately placed the two packets of oiled paper filled with food back into her basket as she smiled, “Headmaster Yuan is truly honest and magnanimous. So admirable!”

Although Yuan Sinian’s head was angled forty-five degrees up, his eyes were still blatantly fixed at the food. When he saw that Xiaocao putting the food she was going to send him away, he immediately became anxious. However, he couldn’t reveal his inner turmoil and could only use his eyes subtly to hint at her.

Yu Xiaocao deliberately pretended to not understand his unspoken plea and continued to speak in a louder voice, “Headmaster, I overheard people saying that someone could pay five hundred taels to get on the admission list for Rongxuan Academy. If that’s true, you need to leave me a spot. My younger uncle is also a scholar. Although his talents are average, he tries very hard…”

The expression on Headmaster Yuan’s face immediately changed. He didn’t care about food anymore and looked sternly at Yu Xiaocao, “Where did you get that news from? Since the start, my Rongxuan Academy has always only cared about the aptitude of potential students and not the depth of their pockets. I, Yuan Sinian, founded this school for the sake of finding worthy talents for the imperial court and not for getting rich! Let’s not talk about just paying a paltry five hundred taels, even if someone who couldn’t pass the admission examination came over with a mountain full of gold and silver, I still wouldn't let him into the school!”

Once there was a young son of a wealthy family from Jiangnan who had just missed passing the entrance exam by just a smidge. The father was willing to give the school half of his assets for the sake of his son’s admission. However, they refused it. Luckily the man’s son was hardworking and studied very hard for another year before he managed to pass the entrance exam.

“Headmaster Yuan, don’t be angry! This is what happened. My grandmother went to the melon store and told us she wanted five hundred taels from us. From what I can tell, she wanted to use the five hundred taels to have my younger uncle enter Rongxuan Academy. So I did my best to placate her and told her that I would come to the academy to ask you if that was true!” Yu Xiaocao briefly described the situation to the older man.

Headmaster Yuan very quickly calmed down and frowned, “Let me think about this for a bit. I think there are two situations. The first is that Rongxuan Academy may have a spy who's using the admission quota for his private gain.The second is that your family encountered a swindler who is using your younger uncle’s desire to enter the academy to cheat him of his money. Come with me to rest in my office for a bit, I need to talk to the head lecturer and school administrator about this…”

Xiaocao agreed with him and followed Yuan Sinian’s personal assistant into the headmaster’s office. This wasn’t the first time she had entered this room, which was steeped in a scholarly atmosphere and was full of interesting antiques. She placed the oiled paper bag full of food onto the table and then took a book from one of the shelves to browse through.

The servant brought in a cup of fragrant tea and saw the oiled paper bag oozing oil onto the piece of paper that the headmaster had just written on. He felt his heart ache at the sight: the characters that his headmaster wrote were more valuable than gold! He then noticed Xiaocao casually flipping through the only book that was said to be written by Wang Youcheng and a feeling of nervousness bubbled up in his heart. He was afraid that the little girl wouldn’t be careful and damage the book.

Yu Xiaocao, who hadn’t finished middle school before she dropped out in her previous life, felt like her head was going to explode as she looked at the traditional characters in the book. Although she had spent a little time studying along with Little Shitou, so she could recognize some more commonly seen characters, most poetic verses had more obscure characters that were impossible to guess. She managed to find a few verses she had seen previously in school and did her best to appreciate it while scratching her head.

Yuan Sinian, along with the head lecturer and administrator, entered his office and saw this exact scene in front of him. A young girl, plainly dressed, with an old book in her hands. Her large and lively eyes seemed to take in everything.

“Little girl, looks like you have read books before too!” Yuan Sinian revealed a gentle smile on his face.

Xiaocao hurriedly placed the book back in its original place on the shelf and grinned, “I only learned a few words with my younger brother. I took a book off of your shelf without asking your permission first, please accept my apologies.”

Yuan Sinian laughed, “What’s wrong with liking to look at books? However, let’s first talk about what you told me earlier!” Head Lecturer Liang’s face was solemn and serious as he said, “Our academy doesn’t have anyone here who is selling admission spots for money! Miss Yu, I’m afraid you must have encountered a swindler, right?”

The administrator had seen Xiaocao a few times before and had a good impression of her. He proposed, “I think that you should probably report this to the authorities, ok?”

Headmaster Yuan sonorously proclaimed, “We absolutely cannot tolerate a criminal who is using the school’s name to defraud people!! Shishu, take my message to the county yamen. This concerns our school’s reputation, we absolutely need to get to the bottom of this!!”

When Yu Xiaocao saw that what she had wanted had occurred, she said her farewells. She looked at the time and noticed that it was about time for classes to get out. That group of little fellows, who constantly cried piteously for food, must have been waiting for so long!