A glimmer of hope flickered in Xiao Jingnan's heart.
Judging from the behavior of the two constables, the Jingzhao Prefecture clearly didn't want to get involved.
Perhaps things weren't as bad as he'd imagined.
Princess Danyang was right. If you want to use someone as a pawn, you have to see if the pawn is willing.
When the hooligans below saw the constables leaving, they clearly looked stunned.
What was going on?
This was different from what they'd been told!
Weren't they supposed to start causing trouble as soon as they saw the constables coming?
Now that the constables were gone, should they still go on...
Screw it. They'd follow the original script first.
"This academy abducts women! The academy head has already been arrested by the constables!"
Li Wanming stared at them coldly, as if looking at a bunch of fools.
Qinglan stepped forward. "I'm the head of Zhaoyu Academy. Who said I was arrested by the constables?"
"But those constables just now..." a hooligan persisted.
Qinglan replied, "Oh, they heard that the tea in our academy is good and came here specifically to have some. What, don't you believe me? You can go and ask at the Jingzhao Prefecture to see if that's the case."
The hooligan was rebuffed and flew into a rage. "What tea? I think your academy is a den of thieves that abducts innocent women!"
A fierce glint flashed in Li Wanming's eyes. "Think twice before you speak!"
"Both the daughters of Grand Tutor Lü and Prime Minister Fang have enrolled in our Zhaoyu Academy. If you keep spouting nonsense, have you thought about the consequences?"
She stared intently at the one who had been shouting the loudest. "What did you say about our Zhaoyu Academy? Have the guts to say it again?"
The hooligan was immediately at a loss for words, and his face turned deathly pale.
He'd spoken too quickly and had actually forgotten that the daughters of Grand Tutor Lü and Prime Minister Fang were also studying here.
If he said this place abducted innocent women, wasn't he just ruining the reputations of the daughters of the Lü and Fang families?
He shrank his neck and didn't dare to say a word.
From behind the crowd came an old and imposing voice. "So what if they're the daughters of Grand Tutor Lü and Prime Minister Fang?"
Li Wanming looked up and saw the crowd part on both sides, revealing a group of officials in official robes and scholarly attire.
The one in the lead was an acquaintance. She recognized him as Chen Jinde, the Director of the Imperial College, who had once said that her idea of running an academy was overreaching, a publicity stunt, and self - humiliation. He was also the father - in - law of her eldest sister.
A barely perceptible glint flashed in Xiao Jingnan's eyes.
Here they come.
After all this commotion, the mastermind had finally been forced out.
Chen Jinde walked out of the crowd with measured steps.
His square, national - face was expressionless, and the deep frown between his eyebrows added to his imposing manner.
"Grand Tutor Lü and Prime Minister Fang were deceived by you, which led their daughters astray. Fortunately, their daughters are intelligent and saw through your scheme. They've already dropped out of your academy."
Li Wanming was furious. "Nonsense! Lü Songyuan and Fang Zhi haven't dropped out. They've just been absent from classes recently..."
"If your academy is really a place that can educate and cultivate people, a good place for self - cultivation and learning, why haven't they come to class?"
Chen Jinde stroked his beard. "It's obvious that your Zhaoyu Academy is all talk and no substance. You're just using the name of teaching to swindle people out of their money."
Those bastards from the Jingzhao Prefecture were really unreliable!
He'd risked offending Grand Tutor Lü and Prime Minister Fang and provided such a good handle, but they'd only sent two constables secretly?
People might even think they were here to tip them off!
He'd originally planned to use the incident of Su Xiaozhu to stir up trouble and solidify the accusation of Zhaoyu abducting women in front of the common people, so that even if Zhaoyu was innocent, it would still be smeared...
Who would have thought those two constables would just leave!
He'd been forced to abandon that plan and step in personally to execute another one.
Li Wanming was taken aback. "How could I swindle people out of their money? I only charge one coin per class, and I even allow them to defer the tuition fee..."
"It's just a trick!"
Seeing Li Wanming fall into his verbal trap, Chen Jinde immediately became complacent, and his gaze became even more aggressive.
"Miss Cheng is just playing the long game. First, she uses low tuition fees to gain a good reputation. Once the academy becomes well - known in the capital, she can raise the prices and make huge profits..."
"If low tuition fees mean playing the long game, then according to you, Director Chen, Cangshan Academy, which doesn't charge a single coin, must be making even more huge profits?"
Xiao Jingnan smiled slightly and stepped forward to interrupt.
He'd already noticed that there were traps everywhere in Chen Jinde's words.
First, he used the excuse of "being deceived" to absolve Lü Songyuan, Fang Zhi, Xiao Yingchu, and even Pei Yanqi, removing the academy's most powerful backers and supporters.
Then he accused the academy of using this opportunity to amass wealth, putting Li Wanming in a situation where it was difficult to defend herself.
Since Zhaoyu Academy had only been in operation for less than two months and classes were held in batches, it was still too early to tell if it had really educated its students.
However, it was true that the academy had made a big splash and had collected tuition fees. This made it impossible to clarify the issue of tuition fees, and it couldn't be a "perfect victim".
Finally, Chen Jinde put a label of "playing the long game" on the academy, filling in the only loophole of Zhaoyu's low tuition fees, making all his accusations form a logical closed - loop and become flawless.
When arguing with such a person, the first step was not to be led into his context. Otherwise, you'd be led by the nose throughout and be unable to defend yourself.
Xiao Jingnan saw this clearly, so he brought up Cangshan Academy when Chen Jinde mentioned the issue of tuition fees.
When it came to low tuition fees, Cangshan Academy was second to none in the entire capital!
It relied entirely on the funds allocated by the Ministry of Revenue and didn't charge students a single coin for tuition.
It even often invited masters of Go, music, calligraphy, and painting to give free lectures to the students.
If "low tuition fees" were for the sake of seeking fame, then Cangshan Academy would definitely be the leader in this regard!
When Chen Jinde heard him mention the name "Cangshan Academy", his face changed. "How dare a small Zhaoyu Academy compare itself to Cangshan?"
Xiao Jingnan sneered. "Why not? Cangshan is an academy, and so is our Zhaoyu."
"Sir Chen is targeting Zhaoyu but says nothing about Cangshan. Could it be that you're being so double - standard because Zhaoyu is run by ordinary people while Cangshan was founded by the Lady of the Duke of Qing?"
"Is it an innate fault for us commoners in Sir Chen's eyes?
"Do we even have to endure slander just for running an academy?"
By this time, the surrounding common people had been attracted by the commotion.
With more people around, the voices of the dozen or so hooligans who had deliberately come to cause trouble were drowned out.
The discussions of the ordinary people gradually drowned out their responses to Chen Jinde.
"That's right! Why only target Zhaoyu and not say anything about Cangshan?"
"Exactly! Why is it virtuous for Cangshan not to charge tuition fees, but it's a sign of trying to swindle money for Zhaoyu?"
"You officials just look down on us common people!"
"We common people finally have a place to learn a skill, and you still don't like it. Isn't it just because Zhaoyu wasn't opened by you officials?"
...
Beads of sweat gradually appeared on Chen Jinde's forehead.
"N - nonsense... nonsense!"
He was always old - fashioned and believed that women should follow the ancient virtues and be good wives and mothers at home.
Cangshan Academy taught women the four arts of the Chinese literati. After all, it didn't go beyond the circle of chastity, virtue, and elegance, so he didn't really care. Moreover, since it was founded by the Lady of the Duke of Qing, he didn't dare to say anything.
But how dare a small Zhaoyu?
However, he had underestimated the influence of Zhaoyu on the common people.
He thought that everyone, just like the high - ranking officials and nobles, hoped to keep their wives and daughters at home, following the husband as the leader, doing laundry and housework for men.
He didn't understand that it was already very difficult for ordinary people to make a living. How could they afford to care about so many things?
Whether male or female, the most important thing was to be able to earn money!
Chen Jinde wiped the sweat from his forehead, pointed at Xiao Jingnan, and shouted to the surrounding common people, "Zhaoyu is just using this opportunity to amass wealth. It's all talk and no substance. Don't be deceived by them!"