The Villainous Classmate is My Lucky Star

Chapter 27: First Snow Approaching

The doubts in Chi Jingxi's eyes were fleeting, and his eyes didn't stop at Wen Yantong for long.

General Mu was so angry that he blew his beard and glared. "You idiot! It seems that you still didn’t remember your lesson from last year! You dare to be late again this year?!"

Mu Yang grimaced. "Father, why didn’t you call for me when you were leaving?"

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General Mu was furious, but thinking about the people around him, he looked left and right before saying in a suppressed voice, "You unfilial thing! Are you blaming me now?! I wanted you to sleep some more! Before leaving, I arranged three servants to wake you up. Is that still not enough!?"

Mu Yang knew that he was in the wrong, so he did not dare talk back.

General Mu then swept his eyes over the people around his son and saw Wen Yantong leaning on crutches behind Mu Yang. When he saw that her right leg was wrapped in a cast, he immediately said in fright, "What happened?! You actually hit and crippled someone on the way here?"

When Wen Yantong heard that, she knew that it was her turn.

She carefully took two steps forward with her crutches, gave him a salute with some difficulty, and then said, "Greetings to the General. This commoner's name is Wen Yantong; Young Master Mu’s classmate and also a student of Songhai Academy. My leg was injured a couple days ago. I wanted to come to the Snow Prayer Festival, but it is inconvenient to travel. Young Master Mu kindly helped this commoner fulfill his wish, so he was forced to be delayed. Please pardon Young Master Mu, General Mu. It is all this commoner’s fault."

Wen Yantong said all that she needed to say. Anyway, Mu Yang dragged her here for this reason. Seeing that the Snow Prayer Festival was about to start, General Mu probably won't ask any more questions.

This General Mu's real name was Mu Yuan, while his courtesy name[1] was Xuewen[2]. This name gave the impression of a learned person. The funny thing was before the age of 20, he was just a muscle head. It was only later, after being forced by the emperor did he become a more cultured person, thus earning his well-deserved courtesy name. Living up to his name, he himself liked students who studied the most, especially the ones from Songhai Academy.

Hence, he instantly became friendly to Wen Yantong and smiled. "You and Xiao Yang are classmates, so it is only natural that he should help you if you are injured. Do not worry about it."

"Thank you for your generosity, General. This commoner is extremely grateful."

Fu Zixian had only just made his way up to where they were. He was still panting when he arrived but quickly saluted Mu Yuan after he recovered.

Seeing that his crisis was resolved and knowing that the Snow Prayer Festival was about to begin, Mu Yang said to Wen Yantong, "Stand back. Be careful, and don’t let anyone push your leg."

After speaking, he whispered so that only she could hear his words. "Thank you very much for what you did. Count it as I owe you a favor."

A favor from the young master of the Mu Residence was quite valuable. Wen Yantong smiled in satisfaction, nodded at him, and said goodbye. "General Mu, Little Marquis, this commoner will leave first."

After seeing Yantong's departure, Mu Yuan's face suddenly changed. He nodded sarcastically at Mu Yang. "Fake kindness regardless of time and occasion, I'll take care of you when we go back."

Mu Yang shrunk his head back like a turtle. Faked kindness is also kindness. It's better than oversleeping and missing the event.

Chi Jingxi helped him relieve the situation, "Uncle Mu, the sacrifice is about to start. We should stop chatting for now."

Mu Yuan glared at Mu Yang angrily, but when it came to talking with Chi Jingxi, he smiled kindly and said, "You are still sensible. If my son was half as good as you, it would save me a lot of worries."

After speaking, the two walked toward the stone platform. The dog son Mu Yang was half a step behind them and did not dare to make trouble.

Wen Yantong and Fu Zixian stepped out of the crowd. They found a spot that was farther back and less crowded. Standing in such a remote location, Wen Yantong couldn't see the faces of those people near the platform clearly and felt that it was a pity.

A long bell rang in the distance, and then a very powerful voice sounded. "The Emperor has arrived—"

Everyone knelt on the ground and shouted at the same time, "Long live the Emperor—!"

Wen Yantong knelt down with some difficulty, as she only had one leg to support her weight. With everyone lowering their heads in respect, she didn't dare to look up, and as a result, she only heard a series of footsteps passing not far ahead. Then she heard a solemn voice. "Rise---"

Only then did she slowly stand up. She raised her head, only to see the emperor wearing a black and gold cloak with red sable fur and a dragon embroidered on it. He wore a very dazzling crown on his head and was surrounded by eunuchs.

This was the emperor of Shao Jing. Several imperial princes stood beside him.

Wen Yantong could not see what he looked like, but she could still feel his authoritative and majestic aura from such a distance.

He stood on the stone platform and said a series of words, but Wen Yantong couldn’t hear any of them. After he finished speaking, four people suddenly walked up to the stone platform, grabbed a tool, which looked something like a mallet, and used it to knock on the big cauldron.

Suddenly, a faint sound came from afar, followed by the sound of singing. Hearing these, many people started folding their hands and praying sincerely.

In the back, several guards were holding trays. A white porcelain bowl and silver needles wrapped in brocade cloth were on top of each tray. The guards walked to the officials in black and gold clothes one after another.

"What's that for?" Wen Yantong couldn't help it anymore. She couldn't see clearly and couldn't understand at all what was happening, so she had to ask.

Fu Zixian said in a low voice, "This part is to gather the blood of the hundreds of families as a sacrifice for the Heavens. This is to pray for the first snow to come. The people in the sacrificial clothes are all important officials and direct descendants of the imperial family. They are the blood of Shao Jing."

Wen Yantong nodded. She now had a vague understanding about the sacrifice, so she wasn’t as lost as she watched the guards holding the white porcelain bowls walking towards the big cauldron. In an orderly manner, they poured the contents of the porcelain bowls into the cauldron.

In the end, there was another musical performance with singing, drums, and qins. After listening to the sound, all the people knelt down again. The emperor and officials put their hands together, bowed in salute, and worshiped the cauldron together.

When Wen Yantong got up, she saw a golden light in the eastern sky. Half the sky seemed to have lit up. The figures of the emperor and everyone around him were shrouded in golden light, and their outlines became blurred.

Basked in half of golden light and half of azure blue, under this incomparably magnificent sky, Shao Jing was still a peaceful, flourishing, and prosperous empire

In a trance, she seemed to have seen the silhouette of Chi Jingxi's back.

In a few years, the emperor will die, and the forces in the dynasty will be severely divided. In the battle for the kingship, only the Seventh Prince’s faction headed by Cheng Xiao and the Marquis’ faction headed by Chi Jingxi would be left.

Wen Yantong breathed a sigh of relief. As long as she left Chaoge before the fight began, she would not be in any danger. She would never claim to have the ability to change the fate of those people and the direction of the story. As long as she can save her life and her Wen family, it was enough.

At the end of the Snow Prayer Festival, Wen Yantong knelt down again along with the crowd to send off the emperor and the imperial princes. After that, the officials left one after another, and the people gradually dispersed.

Wen Yantong and Fu Zixian slowly left with the crowd. After they came down the stone stairs, the attendants left by Mu Yang stopped them from leaving and relayed their Young Master’s invitation for them to ride his carriage back to their respective homes.

It turned out that Mu Yang still remembered that their carriage was damaged, so he rode back in Chi Jingxi's carriage and left his own carriage to send the two back.

After arriving at the academy, Wen Yantong said goodbye to Fu Zixian, went back to her bedroom, and instantly fell asleep. She had developed a sleeping schedule these days, but since she woke up especially early today, she felt a little tired.

She slept until the evening and woke up because she was hungry.

Getting up in a daze, Wen Yantong stretched before calling for someone to come in and prepare food for her.

The maid who was guarding the door entered the room and saluted. She then said, "Wu gongzi is at the door, saying that he wants to see gongzi."

Wen Yantong's mind was still a little groggy but quickly realized that Wu gongzi was Wu Yutian.

Why is that little bastard looking for her?

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Footnotes:

[1] courtesy name - is a name usually given to a man when he reaches twenty years of age. Read more HERE

[2] Xuewen - literary meaning is to learn, to study. So basically a well versed person; a scholar.