EHW Ch18

Pei Xin had a long list of subjects to study, the Four Books and Five Classics, history, the art of rulership, taxation and finance, military strategy…

Still, he wasn’t completely ignorant.
Even if he’d spent most of his life on the battlefield, he’d once been a prince, and princes always had tutors.

In short, this was more like distance learning.

All he really needed now was to review and organize what he already knew.

That day’s instructor, Master Li, was in charge of the Confucian classics, and his long, droning recitations soon left Gu Fangzhi’s head spinning.

From his seat at the side, Gu Fangzhi watched Pei Xin’s expressions.

Most students wear their emotions openly, bright-eyed when they understand, blank when they don’t, especially in math class.

But Pei Xin maintained a single, unchanging expression the entire time: no expression at all.

Only when the teacher digressed into military examples did Pei Xin occasionally frown in disagreement.

Gu Fangzhi couldn’t tell whether he was paying attention or not, so he memorized a few key points that sounded important and decided to quiz Pei Xin afterward.

After one full hour, the trembling teacher finally concluded the day’s lesson.

Pei Xin rubbed the bridge of his nose and was about to dismiss everyone, when Gu Fangzhi suddenly stepped forward.

“Your Majesty,” said Gu Fangzhi, “A gentleman follows the Way, walks the Middle Path, withdraws from the world… withdraws from the world… withdraws…”

He froze mid-sentence.

Pei Xin: “……?”

Puzzled and wary, Pei Xin looked at him, wondering what he was up to.

Then Gu Fangzhi burst out laughing. “Ah, dammit, I forgot the line.”

The teacher, who’d been gathering his scrolls, jumped so hard he nearly cried. He darted glances between the two, stammering in panic, “Lord Gu!! Lord Gu! Your Majesty, Lord Gu, Your Majesty, ”

Pei Xin rested his chin on one hand. He wasn’t angry, if anything, he wanted to laugh.

He almost wanted to tell the poor teacher: See? Look carefully. This is the real Gu Fangzhi.

That calm, courteous, good-tempered image? All fake. Completely fake!

At his core, Gu Fangzhi was nothing but a disrespectful rascal.

Just as Pei Xin was enjoying the thought, the world went black again.

Before his vision cleared, he heard the teacher’s voice repeating from earlier:
“A gentleman follows the Way, walks the Middle Path; withdraws from the world, unrecognized yet unrepentant…”

It was the same moment from class.

Pei Xin: “……”

So he could even cheat like this?

Truly, Gu Fangzhi had mastered the art of abusing his time magic. Should he be impressed?

Pei Xin snorted quietly, and the teacher, seeing him smile, stopped at once and asked timidly, “Your Majesty…?”

Pei Xin couldn’t be bothered to answer.

Based on experience, he expected Gu Fangzhi to rewind again, to the point where he’d been questioned earlier.

But…

Several breaths passed, and Gu Fangzhi didn’t act.

The teacher’s expression stiffened. Then, trembling, he asked, “Your Majesty… did I… did I say something wrong?”

Pei Xin: “……”

He didn’t understand.

Why wasn’t Gu Fangzhi rewinding this time? What on earth went through that lunatic’s head?

“No,” Pei Xin said through clenched teeth. “I just thought of something funny.”

Thanks to Gu Fangzhi, he now looked like some idiot who randomly thought of happy things and grinned to himself.

At Pei Xin’s side, Gu Fangzhi sighed quietly.

Save File #1 was his emergency backup. Unless something major happened, he didn’t plan to touch it. That meant he only had one usable save left.

Too few, very inconvenient.

If only this world worked like a real game, with ten or twenty slots, things would be easier.

Then he could jump backward and forward at will, instead of being stuck with just one direction.

Fortunately, there were only about ten minutes left in class; spacing out would get him through it.

Hearing Pei Xin mutter about being happy, Gu Fangzhi perked up and offered a flattering grin.

“If His Majesty is pleased, then your ministers rejoice as well! Your Majesty’s smile adds color to ten thousand miles of our realm!”

Pei Xin: “…………”

He truly… had no words.

Soon, the teacher announced the end of class.

Once again, Gu Fangzhi stepped forward and asked, “‘A gentleman follows the Way, walks the Middle Path; withdraws from the world, unrecognized yet unrepentant.’ Your Majesty, what are your thoughts on this line? If you were to meet such a virtuous man, how would you treat him?”

If anyone else had asked, Pei Xin wouldn’t have bothered to answer. But since it was Gu Fangzhi, he knew that refusing would only lead to endless pestering, possibly with time magic involved.

Unwilling to suffer further, he gave a curt hum and repeated the interpretation the teacher had explained earlier.

But Gu Fangzhi wasn’t done.

After praising him twice with satisfaction, he continued, “‘The people are most precious, the altars of state come next, and the ruler…’”

Then Gu Fangzhi’s speech began to falter.

Pei Xin’s heart sank…Don’t tell him Gu Fangzhi forgot his lines again?!

He’s not planning to sit through another round of lessons, is he?!

A faint wave of despair washed over Pei Xin.

Just as he was about to cut him off, Yang Luhai’s voice came from outside: “Your Majesty… The envoy from Xihu urgently requests an audience.”

“Summon him,” Pei Xin said without hesitation. “At once.”

Honestly, even if Yang Luhai had said a cat was about to give birth, Pei Xin would’ve gone to deliver the kittens himself, anything to escape this class.

Hearing someone approach, the tutor hastily gathered up his scrolls.

“Your Majesty, this humble servant shall take his leave first.”

Pei Xin waved his hand in assent.

Gu Fangzhi added brightly, “Then this minister will take his leave as well.”

His tone was light, almost cheerful; every syllable ended with an upward lilt full of “Finally, I get to clock out” energy.

Pei Xin: “……”

Why?

Why was he the one tormented for an entire evening, dazzled by candlelight, forced through two rounds of lessons,  while Gu Fangzhi got to walk away happy and carefree?!

The more Pei Xin thought about it, the angrier he became. “Teacher,” he said at last, “stay. You may as well listen in.”

The moment the words left his mouth, Gu Fangzhi froze.

Watching him deflate gave Pei Xin a perverse flicker of satisfaction.

Of course, keeping him there wasn’t purely for fun.

Gu Fangzhi’s so-called “Evil Academic Overlord” strategy from before had been cruel but undeniably effective, proof the man actually had a brain. A strange brain, yes, but a useful one.

The Xihu envoy had already met with Pei Xin several times before. The subject, however it was phrased, always boiled down to one thing, borrowing troops.

A small border kingdom under Xihu had suddenly raised a formidable army, almost supernaturally strong, claiming to act under the banner of the “Faith of All Living Beings” as they conducted purges.

Great Qi and Xihu had been allies since the late emperor’s reign, fighting side by side many times. Now, with Xihu in trouble and asking for aid, the Ministry of War was divided.

Pei Xin had already decided not to lend troops, Qi had only just stabilized, and its soldiers were weary of war.

If the campaign went badly under Xihu’s command, it would demoralize the army and shame the empire.

Still, this was a perfect chance to test Gu Fangzhi’s judgment.

The Xihu envoy was a dark-skinned middle-aged man, less rugged than most of his countrymen, even a little scholarly, and fluent in the common tongue.

He wasn’t one for pleasantries. After a few formal words, he went straight to the point.

As Gu Fangzhi listened to the explanation, the “Faith of All Living Beings,” Xihu, a mysterious rising army in a small border nation,  the more he heard, the more familiar it sounded.

Wait… Could that army be the protagonist’s army from The Founding Emperor?!

He asked the envoy, “What is the name of this army’s general?”

“His family name is Li,” the envoy said, his accent thick. “Li Hao.”

Confirmed.

That was the very officer under whom the protagonist first enlisted.

So the game’s main storyline was still progressing, smoothly, in fact.

He’d always known he’d transmigrated into a game world, but this was the first concrete sign of the main character’s presence.

It made everything feel uncomfortably real.

Bad news: the plot was advancing as scripted.

Worse news: he was on the villain’s side.

Gu Fangzhi couldn’t even describe his mood.

If he had to compare, it was like staying up all night to finish a project, sending it to the client, and waking up to a 3,000-word list of revision notes.

Complicated, but unsurprising,  He’d known it was coming.

After asking his question, Gu Fangzhi fell silent for a long while. Pei Xin found it odd and glanced sideways at him.

The candlelight reflected off the tiny mole on Gu Fangzhi’s cheek, tinting it crimson and lending his gentle face a hazy softness. But that beauty didn’t match the sudden paleness of his complexion.

Pei Xin narrowed his eyes. “You know this Li Hao?”

Gu Fangzhi immediately shook his head. “Never heard of him, just curious.”

Pei Xin raised a brow, unconvinced, then casually ordered the envoy escorted back to his quarters.

Once the envoy left, only Pei Xin and Gu Fangzhi remained in the inner hall.

Pei Xin rose, took up the candle-picker, and idly adjusted the flame.

“What does the teacher think?” he asked. “Should we lend troops? How many? Or not at all?”

Gu Fangzhi: “……”

Gu Fangzhi: “…………”

Gu Fangzhi: “………………”

Pei Xin waited a long time. “?”
What, had he gone deaf from the silence?

He turned to look. “Teacher?”

Gu Fangzhi drew a deep breath, then spread his hands in resignation.

“How should I see it? Fine then, my advice is for Your Majesty to send troops! March wherever you like and hit whoever you see! Conquer the world! North, south, east, west, flatten it all! Let’s unify the realm! Standardize weights and measures! Hahaha!”

Pei Xin: “……”

Honestly, he almost preferred it when the man was silent.

Had Gu Fangzhi lost his mind completely? What nonsense was he even saying?!