Great, it's just a lackey, we're saved!

Chapter 241 I come from Zhengshan Academy!

The next morning, Wang Shu brought Tan Lin to their door.

The princess and Zhou Wei finally met this down-on-his-luck scholar who appeared to be a cultivator from a blessed land.

Tan Lin looked to be in his thirties. Although he followed behind Wang Shu, his expression was neither humble nor arrogant, quite different from that of ordinary retainers.

Wang Shu felt uneasy, puzzled as to why the Princess wanted to see Tan Lin.

However, after inquiring with Tan Lin, he only received a vague answer: "Why should Your Excellency worry? I have followed Your Excellency for many years, and no matter what happens, I will always remember Your Excellency's kindness."

Wang Shu had never seen Tan Lin so aloof. It seemed that Tan Lin's temperament had changed drastically after the eldest princess became the crown princess.

However, having promised to take Tan Lin to visit the Princess, Wang Shu dared not go back on his word.

After Ziyu served the tea, the eldest princess spoke first: "Lord Wang, there are no outsiders here, so I will speak frankly."

"You have rendered great service in this grand court assembly, where the Crown Prince staged a coup. I will not forget that. However, I am currently only the Crown Princess, and your position as the Prefect of the Capital is just right. I cannot touch you. Do you understand what I mean?"

Wang Shu immediately stood up, cupped his hands in a gesture of loyalty, and said, "Your Highness understands! If there is anything Your Highness needs from me, I will do my utmost."

The eldest princess smiled and said, "There's no need for that. Lord Wang is wise, and it's not impossible for him to become one of the Three Dukes, or even be granted a title and the position of prime minister."

It was just a pie, but it made Wang Shu extremely excited!

Although it was just a verbal remark from the eldest princess, the decisiveness she displayed at this grand court assembly made Wang Shu understand a principle.

This princess is not stingy in rewarding merits; she has her own considerations in mind.

Thinking of this, Wang Shu took the initiative to say, "Your Highness, this is Tan Lin, my retainer. He is skilled in chess. If Your Highness is interested, you may arrange for Tan Lin to play a game with you."

"I have brought some fine tea from my hometown and would like Your Highness to try it. However, there is a trick to brewing this tea, and I need to supervise it personally."

The princess understood and called out, "Ziyu, go prepare the tea set so that Lord Wang can show off his skills. Also, set up the chessboard over by the waterside. Once Lord Wang's tea is ready, I will play a game of chess with Mr. Tan."

Ziyu agreed and led Wang Shu out.

The room fell silent. The princess remained silent, while Zhou Wei observed Tan Lin.

Tan Lin remained calm, showing none of the embarrassment one would expect from a commoner meeting a powerful figure.

"Mr. Tan, did you come from a blessed land?"

The princess asked directly, and Tan Lin didn't beat around the bush either, nodding and saying, "Your Highness has a discerning eye. I come from Zhengshan Academy."

The name Zhengshan Academy left the eldest princess somewhat bewildered.

"There are still people from Zhengshan Academy who have entered the secular world? I remember that more than ten years ago, Zhengshan Academy closed its gates, not only prohibiting its disciples from entering the secular world, but also stopping the triennial enrollment."

In the past, Zhengshan Academy held a very special position within the blessed land of Dongtian.

It is not only a sect, but also a legitimate academy, which recruits students from other sects in the blessed land every three years.

Students enter Zhengshan Academy to study the classics, graduate after three years, and then recruit a new batch of students, and the cycle continues.

Those who studied at Zhengshan Academy are not considered disciples of the academy; they merely have a connection with the academy.

Furthermore, the academy does not restrict admissions to men or women, so cultivation sects and powerful clans in blessed lands are very willing to send their disciples there to study!

However, just over a decade ago, things changed dramatically, and Zhengshan Academy suddenly announced the closure of its gates.

Not only did they drive away students who had not yet completed their studies, but the disciples within the sect also had no contact with the outside world for more than a decade afterward.

Therefore, the princess was quite surprised when Tan Lin said that he came from Zhengshan Academy.

"Is Mr. Tan a disciple of the academy, or a student of the academy?"

If one knows the origins of Zhengshan Academy's decision to close its gates, this question becomes much easier to answer.

"I am a student of the academy."

That's even more surprising.

"I've heard that Mr. Tan has been following Wang Shu for almost ten years. When did he graduate from Zhengshan Academy?"

Tan Lin said quite frankly, "After the academy locked its gates."

The eldest princess continued, "In all these years, have you been the only one who graduated from the academy?"

Tan Lin nodded. "As far as I know, I'm the only one."

The conversation between the two was very brief and easy to understand, but Zhou Wei felt a sense of unease as she listened.

She couldn't help but ask, "Mr. Tan, even if Zhengshan Academy locks its gates, you wouldn't be the only one coming out, would you?"

Tan Lin's expression turned somewhat pained, as if he didn't know how to explain.

Zhou Wei and the princess exchanged a glance, but did not urge him, and waited quietly.

After a long while, Tan Lin said, "Gentlemen, what I am about to say may be very strange, so strange that even after ten years, I myself have not figured out the reason behind it, but I guarantee that everything I say is true."

The eldest princess smiled and comforted him, "Mr. Tan, there's no need to be so careful. For us mortals, blessed lands are like otherworldly places! In otherworldly places, even the most bizarre things can happen."

Zhou Wei echoed her sentiments repeatedly.

One of them was reborn, and the other traveled through time. Could there be anything more bizarre than this?

Tan Lin took a deep breath and slowly said, "The Princess already knows about the sudden closure of the academy's gates more than ten years ago, so I won't go into details. I'll just talk about what happened after the gates were closed."

Upon hearing this, the eldest princess immediately sat up straight, her face full of curiosity.

What happened after Zhengshan Academy locked its gates is unknown even to the people of Dongtianfudi.

This is probably the first time in over a decade that Tan Lin has told an outsider about this!

It turns out that after sending off the last student from Tianji Pavilion that year...

Tan Lin, together with his fellow students at the academy, locked the mountain gate.

That day, the headmaster also announced to everyone that from today onwards, no one in the academy shall step out of the mountain gate!

"We disciples naturally obey the headmaster's instructions. However, I was young and playful at the time, so I asked my senior brothers whether we still had to do the morning lessons tomorrow since the mountain gate was locked."

"My senior told me that I should definitely do it! I can't miss a single day of my studies, otherwise the headmaster will be unhappy."

"Since my senior brothers all say so, I naturally dare not say anything more. I'm thinking of going to bed early tonight so I won't be unable to get up for the morning class tomorrow."

"Even lying in bed, I still felt a little sad. Among those students who left the blessed land, there were some who were good friends with me. We even discussed going down the mountain to the market to buy some fun things during our break, but now everyone has left."

As Tan Lin spoke, his tone was wistful; even though more than a decade had passed, he still couldn't let go of the past.

Zhou Wei was curious about the reason why Zhengshan Academy had suddenly locked its gates.

However, judging from Tan Lin's state, if he is not allowed to finish his story, he may not be able to release the emotions that he has suppressed for many years.

The princess and Zhou Wei patiently listened to Tan Lin continue.

"I drifted off to sleep in this hazy state, but it was a very restless sleep; I seemed to have many terrible dreams."

"I don't know how much time passed before my senior brother woke me up, saying it was time for morning class and I would be late if I didn't get up soon."

"I was a little scared when I heard that. I would definitely be scolded by the teacher for being late for the morning class. Seeing that everyone had left, I hurriedly put on my clothes and ran to the Mingzheng Hall of the academy."

“Mingzheng Hall is where morning classes are held. In the past, you could hear the sound of students reading aloud even before people got close. But this time, I walked all the way to the corridor and couldn’t hear anything at all.”

Tan Lin's narration was filled with a depressing and eerie atmosphere, which made Zhou Wei frown involuntarily.

"When I pushed open the door and walked into Mingzheng Hall, I even wondered if the morning service had been moved and if my senior brother hadn't told me?"

"As a result, when I pushed open the door, I saw..."

Tan Lin paused here, looking quite puzzled.

Zhou Wei couldn't help but ask curiously, "What do you see? An empty house, not a single person in sight?"

Tan Lin shook his head and took a deep breath.

"No, I saw that the room was full of people. The headmaster was there, the teachers were there, and the senior and junior students were there too."

"Even...even the students from the blessed land who were driven down the mountain yesterday are here!"

"As soon as I pushed the door open, they all turned around and stared at me without moving!"