The Lucky Farmgirl

Chapter 1036: Chapter 1015: Grudges II

Bai Shanxin looked at their teacher with concern and asked softly, “Teacher, do you hold a grudge against your teacher?”

Mr. Zhuang paused for a moment before smiling shallowly and said, “I did hold a grudge when it happened, but Mr. Huang took good care of me. After receiving the response from the academy, I didn’t speak out about it. I thought that even if there were no guaranteed spots for further study, I could simply take the examination myself. Unexpectedly, some unfavorable rumors began to spread around the academy, suggesting that I had taken money from the Chen Family to give up my spot, which was clearly unfair to the other students. Ultimately, the academy decided to remove my nominated spot for the imperial examination.”

The third disciple looked at their teacher with an expression full of distress.

Seeing their looks, Mr. Zhuang smiled and patted their little heads. The events had passed so many years ago; discussing them brought nothing but a bit of embarrassment in front of his disciples, while deep down, he felt very calm.

However, “In those days, as a young man, my pride was strong. I felt that staying at the prefectural school might not secure me a spot for next year’s imperial examination, so I left the prefectural school and returned to Luojiang County. There, I took part in the examinations held in Mianzhou, securing a spot for the following year’s imperial examination.”

“I met Chen Fulin there,” Mr. Zhuang shook his head and said with a hollow laugh, “Our relationship in the prefectural school was average. Although he was older than me, he came from a wealthy family, so I used to take extra care of him in some matters, never expecting…”

Never expecting to become a target like this.

This was the biggest blemish of Mr. Zhuang’s life. Therefore, after a long silence, he continued, “In the capital, while waiting for the imperial examination, in an effort to gain fame, I sent poetic works to two officials. Three days after my poetry was sent out, it was returned to me because, unfortunately, the night before, Chen Fulin had gotten drunk at a small poetry gathering and composed two poems—it just happened to be the two poems I had submitted.”