Opening the envelope, the letter inside was filled with a long string of flowery words welcoming the new disciples to Chu Feng Academy. Bai Li Gelin read it while muttering, “They even tell us to treat this place as our new home… Hmph, a home wouldn’t use meals as an excuse to extort money! One tael per meal, they might as well rob us directly!”
The other children didn’t seem to mind. Ye Ye, while surveying the island’s scenery, said, “As long as we learn to fly early, we can fly to the northern island and get free food with our name tags. Stop complaining. We didn’t come here to play anyway.”
The children gathered in front of the island gradually dispersed, all going to find their rooms. Soon, the voices faded, leaving only the sound of wind in the courtyard. Not even bird songs or insect chirps could be heard. Standing there for a while, one could almost hear their heartbeat.
“It’s so quiet here,” Li Fei took a deep breath. This was where she would live for a year, a hundred times more grand than the wooden cabin in Qingqiu. But for some reason, she still missed that poor and lonely time.
“I’m number eleven. What are you?” Bai Li Gelin waved her envelope, which had a large “11” written in cinnabar on it.
Ye Ye said, “Coincidentally, I’m ten. We should be living in the same courtyard, right?”
Bai Li Changyue took out her envelope, which clearly showed “12”.
Each small courtyard in the disciple quarters had three large houses, meaning three disciples usually shared one courtyard. With their numbers being consecutive, they would certainly live in the same courtyard. Bai Li Gelin finally cheered up: “Sister! The three of us will live together! That’s great!”
She then went over to Li Fei: “What number are you? What about Xiuyuan? Hey, where’s Xiuyuan?”
Everyone then realized that Lei Xiuyuan had disappeared somewhere. He usually didn’t have much presence, and they only noticed his absence now.
“He probably went off on his own,” Li Fei didn’t seem concerned. “I’m number seven. I don’t know if I’m close to you guys.”
“Let’s go, let’s go see what our place looks like,” Bai Li Gelin impatiently pulled everyone towards the disciple quarters.
The disciple quarters on the island were arranged in a spiral. The courtyard walls were snow-white, but the tiles were dark blue. The walls were covered with various vines and creepers, and outside the courtyard hung heavy clusters of wisteria. Even before entering the courtyard, the cool, exotic fragrance was enough to refresh one’s mind and spirit.
Turning a corner, an exquisite wooden door appeared on the wall, engraved with the numbers “7, 8, 9”. Under each number was a small line of text: “7 – Chamber of Thousand Fragrances; 8 – Chamber of Qilin; 9 – Chamber of Tranquil Mystery”.
“Wow, each room even has a name?” Bai Li Gelin was both surprised and delighted. “Chamber of Thousand Fragrances, Li Fei, your room name sounds so nice. It sounds fragrant. I wonder if it’s full of flowers inside?”
She eagerly pushed open the courtyard gate, only to find several people already inside. Hearing the door, everyone turned around. Both parties were surprised and annoyed at the unexpected encounter.
“Did you come to the wrong place?” Ji Tongzhou found it unbelievable that these lowly beggars dared to intrude into his courtyard. Although the other two rooms were meant for others, he had already decided that the entire courtyard belonged to him, Ji Tongzhou.
“You’re the one who came to the wrong place,” Li Fei coldly looked at him, raising her envelope. “I’m number seven. This room is mine.”
The east-facing room in the courtyard had “Chamber of Thousand Fragrances” written on it, which was indeed the room assigned to her by the academy. However, the door was already open, and Princess Lan Ya, with her stunning beauty, stood at the entrance, looking down at them haughtily.
“I like the name of this room,” her voice was like an oriole singing, very soft and pleasant to hear, but her tone was lofty and full of arrogance as if issuing a command. “I want to live here. You choose another room.”
Li Fei calmly said, “I don’t want to. Please leave.”
Princess Lan Ya’s face turned cold. Considering her status, she didn’t want to argue with commoners. She just turned to look at Ji Tongzhou.
Ji Tongzhou was getting angry. He was a hundred times unwilling to live in the same courtyard as this neither male nor female beggar. But Li Fei was formidable, and they had gone through the second selection together. He didn’t want to say anything too harsh. However, as a prince, with beauty in front and lackeys behind, he couldn’t back down either. After pondering for a moment, he said, “Consider this courtyard as reserved by me. You all go live somewhere else. I’ll compensate each of you with a thousand taels of silver.”
A thousand taels of silver—he didn’t believe these paupers would refuse to leave.
Indeed, even Bai Li Gelin was moved. A thousand taels! It was enough to buy several courtyards outside that were even prettier and bigger than this one!
Li Fei wasn’t moved at all: “I don’t lack money. You, move aside.” She raised her chin, pointing at Princess Lan Ya.
The princess was both angry and annoyed. She called out softly, “Your Highness.”
Ji Tongzhou was furious. They didn’t know when to quit! Last time in Lu Gong Town, he was caught off guard, and she managed to get the upper hand by attacking first with a stone. This time, he didn’t believe he couldn’t handle her! He was about to signal his lackeys to make the first move and take down these ungrateful beggars when suddenly, Li Fei cracked her knuckles loudly and walked straight toward Princess Lan Ya. The princess was so frightened that her beautiful face turned pale, and she had to run away from the doorway.
Li Fei entered the room and saw several bundles piled on the table, probably belonging to the princess. She picked them all up and threw them out, ignoring the livid faces of Ji Tongzhou and the others. She waved to Bai Li Gelin and the others: “Come in.”
The door was closed. Bai Li Gelin was a bit worried: “Li Fei, you’ve offended that little prince again. When we leave, you’ll be alone, and there are so many of them! Why don’t we just give the room to the princess?”
Li Fei shook her head: “I’ve already had conflicts with them before. If I give in this time, there will surely be a next time and a time after that.”
If she hadn’t stood up for Lei Xiuyuan in Lu Gong Town, she might have given in this time. But the grudge had already been formed, and backing down now would not only be meaningless but would make others look down on her even more. Moreover, she was no longer the useless Xiao Bang Chui from before. She was now Jiang Li Fei of Chu Feng Academy, who would from now on hold her head high and become immortal.
“The room smells so good,” she looked around. The room wasn’t large, very similar in layout to the rooms in the courtyard of the Hong Lu carriage. However, all the furniture was made of rattan, and while it was scorching hot outside, the room was cool. Creepers covered half the window, and heavy wisteria hung from the eaves. Below the windowsill was a riot of colors—roses, purple jasmines, balsams… blooming in profusion. When the wind blew, various fragrances mingled together, intoxicating the senses. The Chamber of Thousand Fragrances truly lived up to its name.
“There’s a mirror here,” Bai Li Gelin picked up the bronze mirror on the bedside table. “There wasn’t one on the carriage.”
Bai Li Changyue noticed a sword hanging on the wall and took it down, gently unsheathing it. The blade was dull all over and felt very rough to the touch. It was a thin stone sword.
“Why is there a sword made of stone?” Bai Li Gelin reached out to touch it. “Stone can’t be sharpened. Is this sword just for decoration?”
“No,” Bai Li Changyue shook her head. This sword was half-worn, not artificially aged. The handle and scabbard showed obvious white marks from frequent use, suggesting it was something commonly used by previous disciples of the academy. However, she couldn’t guess what it was used for.
Ye Ye thought for a moment and said, “Perhaps it’s for sword flying?”
“Flying doesn’t have to be just with swords,” Bai Li Changyue hung the sword back on the wall.
“The sword is the king of all weapons. Sword flying is the most basic cultivation. Those immortals who use various magical treasures to fly in the sky all start by learning sword flying. I’ve heard that the elders and disciples of Xing Zheng Guan never use magical treasures. They all fly with swords. The more genuine an immortal’s sword is, the easier it is to gather spiritual energy and become one with the wielder when controlled.”
Just as Ye Ye was getting excited talking about this, Bai Li Changyue suddenly frowned and turned to look out the window. The next moment, a commotion erupted in the courtyard outside. A boy was shouting arrogantly: “You filthy beggar! How dare you trespass into the princess’s fragrant chamber! I’ll break your legs!”
A familiar voice mumbled something inaudibly, and Ji Tongzhou’s furious voice immediately exploded: “You’ve got some nerve! Get him! Beat him out of here!”
The lackeys immediately started barking along, emboldened by their master: “Beat him up!”
“Don’t think you can become a dragon or phoenix just because you’ve entered the academy! Look at yourself in the mirror!”
Lei Xiuyuan’s voice rang out, panicked and helpless, seemingly on the verge of tears: “This… this is my room… Why can’t I enter?”
“You dare talk back!”
There was a splash of water, accompanied by Lei Xiuyuan’s startled cry. The people in the room couldn’t stand it anymore and rushed out. They saw Ji Tongzhou and Princess Lan Ya standing at the door with their arms crossed and cold faces. One of his lackeys was grabbing Lei Xiuyuan and beating him violently, while others were drawing water from the well and pouring it on him.
Seeing people coming out, Ji Tongzhou deliberately said loudly: “Wash him harder! The stench of the beggar is too strong!”
It was infuriating.
Li Fei, expressionless, slammed the door shut and cracked her knuckles. She first knocked down the boy who was holding Lei Xiuyuan, then stepped forward and punched him right in the nose bridge, causing a nosebleed that left him unable to get up for a long time.