“I am none other than the renowned Shi Kun!” Zu An thumped his chest as he declared proudly.

Shang Liuyu was dumbfounded. 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 you’re just a shameless pervert, huh?”

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

Wu Qing was taken aback. She hadn’t expected him 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 chimed in with a whisper, “Young miss, that man is Zu An.”

Zu An had caused such great upheaval in the academy over the last few days, so there was hardly anyone left who didn’t know of him. Wu Qing failed to recognize him only because she’d had her hands full with other matters, and hadn’t been to the academy in some time.

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

You have successfully trolled Wu Qing for 600 Rage points!

“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 scoffed in response.

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

Wu Qing’s mouth fell open, but no words emerged.

You have successfully trolled Wu Qing for 666 Rage points!

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

Zu An was surprised. “You and Chuyan are close?”

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 couldn’t be any closer with one another!” sneered Wu Qing. “When I heard that she had chosen a good-for-nothing as her husband, I thought that it was merely exaggeration. However, from the looks of it, 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. Thank goodness they aren’t close friends. He belatedly remembered how it had been mentioned that the Clans Tournament would be different this year because the Yuan clan had a ducal clan backing it, that clan being the Wu clan.

He walked over to Wu Qing to assess her carefully. He had to admit that she was beautiful from the outside despite her horrible temper. “Young miss Wu, you kept calling me a shameless pervert, but what have I done to show myself a pervert? Or could it be that it’s your own mind which is filled with that kind of stuff?”

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

She instinctively began to berate Zu An, but found herself at a loss for words as she finally processed his words. If she were to insist that Zu An was a pervert, it would merely confirm that she was harboring those sorts of thoughts in her mind.

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

Zu An eyed the two men standing before him with interest. “May I know who you two are?”

The man on the left raised his chin 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. While they couldn’t compete with the massive Wu and Chu clans, they were at least on par with the Zheng, Yuan, and Wang clans.

These two had grown up with Wu Qing, and had been awed by her beauty from their very first meeting with her. On top of that, the Wu clan’s status as a ducal clan prompted the two of them to fawn on her, hoping to one day win her favor and rise to greater heights.

These desires fueled their intense reaction to Zu An ‘bullying’ 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 scribbled something out. Then, he showed them to the two men and asked, “Is it this ‘Pan’ and this’ Fu’?”[2]

“Urk, that’s not correct. This is how they are written.” The two of them instinctively moved to correct Zu An. 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 and Fu Feng exchanged bewildered looks.

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

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 with tearful expressions. “Actually, he does have the authority. He’s our newly-appointed arithmetic teacher.”

It was Wu Qing’s turn to be left speechless.

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 forgiving you for your offense.”

Wu Qing gritted her teeth in anger, “What’s a mere arithmetic teacher like you acting all pompous 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 points!

Zu An smiled slyly. “While it is of lesser importance, if a proud young miss of a ducal clan like you were to fail her class, wouldn’t you become the laughingstock of the entire academy?” 

Wu Qing gulped. Zu An was right. She had a competitive streak in her, which was why she was determined to compete with Chu Chuyan in everything. Failing a class 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 her initial fluster, Wu Qing regained her composure as she figured that there was no reason for her to fear Zu An.

“That might be true for other teachers, since their careers are at stake. 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 knew how office politics worked in his previous world. As long as one bore no expectations of career progression, there was no need to fear one’s superior.

Wu Qing was stunned. If Zu An really didn’t care about his own future prospects, there was nothing she could do to him. However, there was no way she would lower her head and apologize to him either. She turned her head away sharply in a disdainful huff. “Hmph! I didn’t come to look for you today!”

She turned her attention toward Shang Liuyu. “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 a while before she found her voice once more. “You aren’t as shameless as that fellow. Besides, you can’t possibly be as uncaring about your own future too!”

“That’s true. It looks like I can’t learn his tricks after all.” Shang Liuyu glanced at Zu An and smiled faintly. 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 that, and she couldn’t help but burst into laughter. “Who’s your boyfriend?”

“Have you stolen so many men that you can’t even remember their names anymore?” exclaimed Wu Qing. “It’s none other than 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. “I’m afraid you’re mistaken. I have no relations with him. In fact, 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 have possibly abandoned me if you hadn’t seduced him?” roared Wu Qing.

“Young miss, you aren’t officially together with Xie Xiu,” Pan Long and Fu Feng chose this moment to remind her softly.

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

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

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

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

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

This was their first time hearing 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 at a teacher, and resorted to cursing him in their hearts.

You have successfully trolled Pan Long for 444 Rage points!

You have successfully trolled Fu Feng for 444 Rage points!

After dealing with the two annoying bootlickers, Zu An felt a need to help Shang Liuyu clear the air, 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, her tone frosty. No matter how good-tempered she was, there was no way she could tolerate these three running all the way here to accuse her of being a vixen.

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

She had stomped here in a fit of righteous anger, only to lose her confidence upon hearing Zu An’s words. It had been a bad day for her.

As she walked away from the residence in disgrace, Wu Qing suddenly paused to look at Pan Long and Fu Feng. “Tell me the truth. Who is more beautiful, me or Shang Liuyu?”

“Of course you’re more beautiful!” Pan Long and Fu Feng replied without any hesitation. Despite their words, it was Shang Liuyu’s beautiful collarbone and fair skin that lingered foremost in their minds.

“Hmph, useless!” Women tended to be sensitive toward the insincere remarks men made, which could explain why Wu Qing had sensed their true thoughts straight 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!”

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

Wu Qing’s lips curled up in a wicked smile. “I want you to spread the word that Shang Liuyu has been meeting Zu An in her residence while dressed inappropriately.” 

Hmph, let’s see whether Xie Xiu will continue to favor 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 come up with a perfect plan to kill two birds with one stone!

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

“What’s so bad about that? It’s not like we’re lying, anyway! Wasn’t she dressed inappropriately earlier?” Wu Qing did little to hide her contempt. “I’m only asking you to speak the truth here, but you can’t even do that much? What a disappointment!”

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

Wu Qing’s mood finally lifted. “That’s more like it!”

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

2. He’s changing the Chinese characters of their surnames to other homonyms that suit the saying ‘Pan Long Fu Feng’.