Chapter 102: Chapter 102: Rumors

“I am no other than the renowned Shi Kun!” Zu An thumped his chest as he declared proudly.

Shang Liuyu was dumbfounded by what she had just heard. This fellow is far more shameless than I thought.

“Shi Kun? You’re the Sixth Young Master of the Shi clan?” asked Wu Qing. “You do have a pretty face, but it turns out that you’re just a shameless pervert, huh?”

Zu An nodded in agreement, “That’s right, Shi Kun is a shameless pervert! Get that fact in your mind!”

Wu Qing was taken aback. She didn’t expect the other party to admit it so candidly. “It looks like you still have some self-awareness.”

Seeing that she was about to be led astray, the two lackeys quickly reminded her with a whisper, “Young miss, that man is Zu An.”

Zu An had been causing a huge commotion in the academy over the last few days, so there was hardly anyone who didn’t know of him. Wu Qing only failed to recognize him because she had her hands full with other matters and couldn’t come to the academy.

“You dare to lie to me?” Wu Qing’s face immediately reddened in anger. Just thinking about how she was taken for a fool earlier made her anger rage like an inferno.

You have successfully trolled Wu Qing for +600 Rage!

“Have you never been fooled before in your entire lifetime?” asked Zu An curiously.

“Of course not! Who would dare to lie to me?” Wu Qing harrumphed in response.

“Ah, that explains why you’re so gullible.”

“…” Wu Qing.

You have successfully trolled Wu Qing for +666 Rage!

Wu Qing took a deep breath to calm herself down before saying, “So, you’re the man chosen by Chu Chuyan?”

Zu An was surprised. “You’re close with Chuyan?”

If the two of them were close friends, it didn’t seem too appropriate for him to be earning Rage points from Wu Qing.

“Of course we’re close. We can’t be any closer with one another!” sneered Wu Qing. “I’ve heard that she has chosen a good-for-nothing as her husband, and I thought that it was just exaggeration. However, from the looks of it now, it seems like there’s some truth to the rumors. Other than a good-for-nothing, you’re also a shameless pervert too. It’s no wonder you’re so scorned in Brightmoon City!”

Hearing those words, Zu An heaved a sigh of relief. It’s good that they aren’t close to one another. Now that he thought about it, the Chu clan had mentioned that the Clans Tournament would be different from before because the Yuan clan had a ducal clan backing it, and the ducal clan seemed to be the Wu clan.

So, he walked up to Wu Qing and assessed her carefully. He had to admit that despite this woman’s horrible temper, she did have a beautiful appearance. “Young miss Wu, you kept mentioning that I’m a shameless pervert, but how have I acted perverted in any way? Or could it be that your mind is filled with that kind of stuff?”

Standing in such proximity with a man left Wu Qing feeling flustered. She quickly backed off and said, “Just listen to your filthy mouth! What else could you be if not a shameless per…”

She wanted to berate Zu An, but recalling what she had just said, she suddenly found herself at a loss for words. She realized that if she were to insist that Zu An was a pervert, it would mean that she was harboring that sort of thoughts in her mind.

Seeing that their young miss was losing the fight here, the two men beside Wu Qing quickly stepped forward to back her up. “Zu An, how dare you make light of our young miss?”

Zu An looked at the two men standing before him in interest as he asked, “May I know who are you two?”

The man on the left raised his head proudly and declared, ‘I am Pan Long from Sunspring City’s Pan clan!”

The man on the right also stuck his neck out and said, “I am Fu Feng from Sunspring City’s Fu clan!”

The Pan clan and Fu clan were prominent clans, which was why the two of them could hold their heads up high. They couldn’t compete with the massive Wu clan and the Chu clan, but they were at least on par with the Zheng clan, Yuan clan, and Wang clan.

The two of them had grown up with Wu Qing, and they were awed by her beauty from the very first meeting. On top of that, the Wu clan was a ducal clan too, which prompted the two of them to fawn on her in hopes that they could one day win her favor and rise to greater heights.

This was also the reason why they reacted so strongly when Zu An ‘bullied’ Wu Qing.

“Pan Long, Fu Feng?” remarked Zu An contemplatively. “Great names. They sound perfectly appropriate for the two of you!”[1]

Zu An took out a notebook from his robe and wrote down a few words. Then, he showed them to the two men and asked, “Is it this Pan and this Fu?”[2]

“Urk, it isn’t. It’s written like that.” The two of them subconsciously went along with Zu An’s flow and corrected his writing. However, they soon noticed that something was amiss. “Wait a moment, why are you trying to remember our names?”

“Hm? It’s nothing much,” replied Zu An calmly. “I’m thinking of failing you for your arithmetic class. I’m afraid that I might forget your names, so it would be good to jot it down in advance.”

“…” Pan Long.

“…” Fu Feng.

What the hell! Isn’t this an abuse of power?

It was also then that Wu Qing finally snapped out of her daze. Looking at the two petrified men beside her, she asked with a frown, “What are the two of you afraid of? He doesn’t have the authority to decide the scores of our arithmetic grades anyway!”

The two of them turned to Wu Qing and said with a tearful look on their faces, “Actually, he does have the authority. He’s our newly-appointed arithmetic teacher.”

“…” Wu Qing.

You fools! Why didn’t you tell me in advance?!

Zu An put on a smile and said, “Young miss, have you realized that you’ve offended someone you shouldn’t have? If you apologize to me right now, I might consider being the better man and forgive you for your offense.”

Wu Qing gritted her teeth in anger, “What’s a mere arithmetic teacher like you acting all pompously for? In the first place, arithmetic isn’t important to students from the Sky class at all!”

You have successfully trolled Wu Qing for +233 Rage!

“It’s of lesser importance, but if a proud young miss of a ducal clan like you were to fail her class, I reckon that you’d become the laughingstock of the entire academy, right?” Zu An smiled slyly.

Wu Qing gulped. The other party was right. She had a competitive streak in her, which was why she was determined to compete with Chu Chuyan in everything. If she were to fail a class, that would be a huge blow to her pride.

“I dare you to fail me then! You should know that my father is the Sunspring Duke. Even the academy dares not to take him lightly!” After the initial fluster, Wu Qing soon calmed down and realized that there was no reason for her to fear Zu An at all.

“That might be true for other teachers since their careers are at stake here. However, I’m just a temporary teacher. Once the royal palace sends a teacher over, I’ll be relieved of my duties. I don’t have any future here anyway, so what do I have to fear?”

Zu An thought about how office politics worked in his previous world. As long as one bore no expectations of career progression, there was no need to be scared of one’s superior.

Wu Qing was stunned. If Zu An really didn’t care about his own future, there would really be nothing she could do to him. But at the same time, she couldn’t possibly lower her head to apologize to him either. So, she could only turn her head away and harrumph, “Hmph! I didn’t come to look for you today!”

She turned her attention toward Shang Liuyu and said, “Shang Liuyu, it’s time to settle our scores!”

Shang Liuyu smiled back at Wu Qing and asked, “Have you forgotten that I’m a teacher too? Aren’t you afraid that I’d fail you for your foreign language class too?”

Wu Qing was rendered speechless. It took her awhile before she found her voice once more. “You aren’t as shameless as that fellow. Besides, you can’t possibly not care about your own future too!”

“That’s true. Looks like I can’t learn his tricks after all.” Shang Liuyu shot a glance at Zu An and smiled faintly. Then, she turned back to Wu Qing and asked, “So, what business do you have with me?”

“You’re asking the obvious, vixen! Why are you acting all innocent after stealing my boyfriend?” roared Wu Qing.

“Vixen?” This was the first time Shang Liuyu was hearing anyone calling her as such, and she couldn’t help but burst into laughter. “Who’s your boyfriend?”

“Have you stolen too many men that you can’t even remember yourself anymore?” exclaimed Wu Qing. “Needless to say, it’s Second Young Master Xie Xiu!”

Upon hearing Wu Qing claim that Xie Xiu was her boyfriend, both Pan Long and Fu Feng lowered their heads in disappointment.

“Xie Xiu?” Shang Liuyu repeated calmly. “You’re misunderstanding something here. I don’t have any relations with him. Putting him aside, I’m not in a relationship with any man at the moment.”

“But he told me that he has fallen in love with you! How could he possibly abandon me if you hadn’t seduced him?” roared Wu Qing.

Pan Long and Fu Feng couldn’t help but remind her softly, “Young miss, you aren’t officially together with Xie Xiu.”

Wu Qing glared at the two of them sharply. “Shut up!”

Pan Long and Fu Feng quickly zipped up their mouths with bitter smiles.

Zu An shook his head and said, “You and you, come over here.”

“What?” Pan Long and Fu Feng were wary as to what Zu An was up to, but they still did as the latter said anyway.

“As your teacher, I feel obliged to educate you about some life lessons. Have you ever heard of the phrase ‘bootlickers eventually get trampled by the boots they are licking’?” asked Zu An.

This was Pan Long and Fu Feng’s first time hearing about such a phrase, but they could easily guess what Zu An was driving at. Their faces flushed red, but they knew that they couldn’t afford to blow their top against a teacher. So, they could only curse him in their hearts.

You have successfully trolled Pan Long for +444 Rage!

You have successfully trolled Fu Feng for +444 Rage!

After dealing with the two annoying bootlickers, Zu An felt that there was a need to help clear the air for Shang Liuyu, so he turned to Wu Qing and said, “I’m familiar with Xie Xiu, and I’ve seen him breaking up with other women on many occasions. The reasons he offers are always varied. Are you sure that he isn’t just saying those words just to ditch you?”

Wu Qing was taken aback. Now that she thought about it, there was indeed such a possibility. Her face immediately reddened in embarrassment.

“The rest of you can leave now,” Shang Liuyu said with an utterly cold tone. No matter how good-tempered she was, there was no way she could tolerate these three running all the way here to criticize her as a vixen.

“I’ll look into the matter properly.” Wu Qing harrumphed before leaving awkwardly.

She had stomped here angrily, only to lose her confidence upon hearing Zu An’s words. It sure was a bad day for her

Not too long after heading out, Wu Qing suddenly paused a brief moment to look at Pan Long and Fu Feng. “Tell me the truth. Who is more beautiful, me or Shang Liuyu?”

“Of course it’s you!” Pan Long and Fu Feng replied without any hesitation. Despite saying so, the sight of Shang Liuyu’s beautiful collarbone and her fair skin was still lingering in their minds.

“Hmph, useless!” Women tended to be sensitive toward the insincere remarks men made, which was probably the reason why Wu Qing was able to see through their true thoughts right away. “That Shang Liuyu is indeed a vixen! How could she wear such indecent clothes to seduce men? Listen up, I have a mission for you two!”

“Young miss, feel free to pass down any instructions you have!” Pan Long and Fu Feng immediately straightened their posture.

Wu Qing’s lips curled up as she said, “I want you to spread the word that Shang Liuyu has been meeting Zu An in her residence dressed inappropriately..”

Hmph let’s see whether Xie Xiu will continue to like her once her reputation sours. Also, if others were to learn that Chu Chuyan’s husband has been cheating on her outside, it would surely be a huge blow to her!

Why am I so smart? I was actually able to think of a perfect plan to kill two birds in one stone.

“Ah? Is it really good to do that?” Pan Long and Fu Feng glanced at one another hesitantly. Both Shang Liuyu and Zu An were teachers, and they had a good impression of Shang Liuyu too.

“What’s so bad about that? It’s not like we’re lying anyway! Isn’t she dressed inappropriately earlier on?” Wu Qing harrumphed. “I’m only asking you to relay the truth here, but you can’t even do that much? What a disappointment!”

Pan Long and Fu Feng quickly replied anxiously, “Please leave it to us! We’ll definitely accomplish the task to your satisfaction!”

It was only then that Wu Qing’s mood improved a little. “That’s more like it!”

1. Pan Long Fu Feng is a saying that translates to ‘Climbing onto the back of a dragon and leeching off a phoenix’. It refers to someone who gets into the good graces of someone prominent and rises to high standing.

2. He’s changing their surnames to another homonym which suits the saying ‘Pan Long Fu Feng’.