Chapter 420 - Feud
The Xie family... Although their status was not high, Xie Qiao was Li s.h.i.+yan"s grand-disciple. It was a good choice for him.
Xie Qiao took a few days off. The next day, she immediately went to the academy to report her.
However, as soon as she arrived at the academy, Mr. Lu called her over.
The old man actually took out a bill directly.
Xie Qiao took it and looked at it.. Her hand trembled, and her expression instantly became much more interesting.
"Sir, I took a leave of absence..." Xie Qiao wanted to cry, but no tears came out.
She took a leave of absence for three days, and she was deducted 8,000 silver beans?!
Old Master Lu stroked his beard with a face of decency, but his words were especially cruel, "This academy has its rules. Ever since you entered the academy, you have taken leave of absence over and over again. Other than my cla.s.s, you have almost never attended any of the other cla.s.ses. Therefore, all the teachers are somewhat upset."
Xie Qiao did not believe it.
The academy had deliberately taken her silver beans.
"You have signed up for eight courses, but you have only attended three. As for the remaining five courses... you"ll be deducted 5,000 silver beans from the examination fee," Master Lu saw that she looked pitiful, he explained further, "It"s also because I find it troublesome, so the upper echelons wrote the deduction as 8,000 silver beans."
"I only got a total of 8,000 silver beans in the last examination. Later on, when I went out to do charity, I spent almost all the silver beans..." Xie Qiao was dumbfounded.
Earlier, she had more than 10,000 silver beans in her hand.
It was quite expensive to go out of the city. She needed to buy some clothes and herbs, so she only had about 1,000 silver beans left. Later, she won the bet with Xia Yayun, so she became richer.
These 6,000 silver beans looked like a lot, but it was nothing as there were many good stuff sold at the academy.
Even cinnabars were available, and they were of superior quality.
She had bought some before, and the remaining 2,000 silver beans were to be used for her daily expenses, so there was no need to be worried.
However, now, Master Lu had deducted 8,000 silver beans from her!
Xie Qiao almost let out a breath.
"You"re being unreasonable. The prize money for each exam is only 1,000 silver beans. If I didn"t win first place, would I have to pay for the exam?" Xie Qiao exhaled and tried to calm down.
"Of course. We set the questions, didn"t we? It"s reasonable to give it to the students who usually attend cla.s.ses on time. But you... have never partic.i.p.ated in the cla.s.ses of those teachers. In order to show respect, you have to pay some fees. For instance, students from other academies in the capital who want to enter the library of the Royal Academy also have to pay. It"s reasonable," Master Lu explained.
Xie Qiao could not smile.
At that moment, all the silver beans had been spent, and she still owed 6,000 silver beans!
How many books would she have to copy to pay it off?
Xie Qiao was completely listless.
"You don"t have to be discouraged. The academy figured you had handed in a lot of silver beans, so they gave you a special treatment and promoted you to the Peony Courtyard for free..." Master Lu was quite regretful. It was rare for the Orchid Courtyard to have such an intelligent person.
However, he did not decide that matter on his own.
"The Peony Courtyard..." Xie Qiao"s face was stiff, and she sneered, "Sir, just tell me directly, who did I offend?"
Master Lu looked at her sympathetically.
After a moment of hesitation, he said, "Deputy dean, Teacher Qiu... his youngest daughter is the daughter-in-law of the Zhou family, but she"s not a direct descendant."
Master Lu only said that, and Xie Qiao understood.
The Zhou family"s mastermind was to be executed after autumn, and the rest were also exiled. Such a huge crime would usually implicate the three clans.
It was quite a feud.