Zhou Meiren

Ye Sheng and Fang Conglong walked out to see who had said that outrageous thing. Someone was standing at the door. This person had a beautiful face and skin as white as porcelain. No matter how many times Ye Sheng looked at this person, he was sure that this person was a woman. But once he looked at this person's chest, he figured out the situation.

This was a man who had great potential to become a woman.

Fang Conglong exclaimed in surprise, "Zhou Meiren, were you the one shouting just now?"

Ye Sheng stared even harder. That was an appropriate name. Meiren meant a great beauty, which was exactly what this man was.

"I've got my eye on this house, so both of you, move aside," said Zhou Meiren, moving his hands about and maintaining a cold demeanor.

"Zhou Meiren, it's only the first day of school, and you're coming round to snatch a house from a classmate? What will happen if the teachers find out about that?" said Fang Conglong with a cold smile.

"Fang Conglong, there are many people in Xianyang, but I still remember you. You're the eldest son of the Fang family, and you don't care about making a name for yourself in martial arts. You prefer the philosophies of Daoism. Are you going to try to block my way?" Zhou Meiren raised an eyebrow and looked much like a valiant heroine.

Fang Conglong wanted to say more, but Ye Sheng stopped him. He quietly stood in front of the house and asked, "There are so many houses here. Why must you pick the one I'm in?"

"No particular reason. Fate brought me here." Zhou Meiren stared at Ye Sheng with his weird eyes.

Ye Sheng laughed quietly and replied, "That's too bad, because standing outside the door is all the fate that you're going to have with this house."

Zhou Meiren pursed his lips and looked a little frustrated. He'd really had his eye on this particular house because it was quiet, and he hadn't expected Ye Sheng to refuse to give it up.

Ye Sheng quietly observed Zhou Meiren. His pursed lips and frowning look had unconsciously put his effeminate charms on display. If he had been in women's clothes, this fellow would have been a femme fatale who could bring nations to their knees.

Fang Conglong coughed and quickly looked away as he blushed slightly. He had actually started to become mesmerized by looking at him, and that was really unforgivable.

Zhou Meiren looked at Fang Conglong in disgust. He was well aware that this pretty face of his could ignite some people's special inclinations, and that's why he wanted the house that Ye Sheng was in. He didn't want to live with a group of people.

"Name your price, and let me have this house," said Zhou Meiren after taking a deep breath.

Jixia Academy's rules stated that students could engage in friendly duels and debates, but they were not to actually fight to the bitter end. Zhou Meiren didn't want to be reprimanded on the first day of school.

"I'm really sorry, but I really like the quiet of this place and how it's not connected to any of the other houses." Ye Sheng shook his head. He was now in Jixia Academy and having money wasn't important. He wasn't interested in money.

Zhou Meiren gently bit his red lips and shut his eyes in frustration. He turned to look at the other houses that were all lined up next to one another and became even more frustrated.

If he had to live among all those people, he'd probably never hear the end of their gossiping about him.

This particular intake had a lot more males. There were only a few females in this batch. After spending a hard year of studying in Jixia Academy with more wolves than meat available, Zhou Meiren could be in a very dangerous position.

All boys like pretty things. It didn't matter whether it was an object or a human. As long as it was pretty, someone would like it.

"Tell you what. This house of yours is very big, so let me have two rooms," said Zhou Meiren after taking a deep breath and squeezing out a smile.

Between living with a whole bunch of people and living with just one other person, he would choose the latter.

Ye Sheng shook his head and was going to reject him on the spot.

But Fang Conglong suddenly pulled Ye Sheng aside and whispered, "This Zhou Meiren is from the Zhou family in Xianyang. His father is the Second Sage, and he wields great power among the Confucianists and represents the dignity of all the scholars. I think it's better to get along with Zhou Meiren than to fall out with him."

Ye Sheng blinked a few times. He hadn't expected Zhou Meiren's father to be the Second Sage. The Second Sage was well-known and an important figure in both the palace and in literature.

He had never expected that the legendary scholarly and elegant Second Sage would have such a beautiful child.

"There are four rooms in this house, so we can each take half. However, we shall not get in each other's ways," said Ye Sheng after thinking about all this for a moment.

Zhou Meiren nodded satisfactorily and replied, "Fine. I will owe you a favor then."

"No need for that. I just hope that you won't bother me in the future." Ye Sheng shook his head to show that he was serious.

Fang Conglong looked in shock at Ye Sheng. The Second Sage was the one backing Zhou Meiren, and Ye Sheng didn't want a favor from him?

Ye Sheng really didn't want any favors. He let Zhou Meiren have half of the house because he didn't want to disrupt the peaceful time he was enjoying right now. As for getting the help of the Second Sage, he believed that if he was given enough time, he wouldn't have to worry about someone at the Second Sage's level either.

Ye Sheng's target was his disgusting father, Lord Ye of Great Qin. Ye Sheng had vowed to himself to defeat him in order to properly investigate the reason for his mother's death.

Zhou Meiren looked in surprise at Ye Sheng and said, "I've already decided to owe you a favor, so I'm not taking that back. We'll split this house in half, and then nobody is allowed to cross over the line."

Zhou Meiren used a long sword to draw a line across the floor. The energy of the sword was lit by a fire that actually burned a mark into the floor that couldn't be erased.

Ye Sheng looked at the line and thought of the sword energy that Zhou Meiren had just displayed. He immediately looked at Zhou Meiren with more respect. This boy was powerful, even more powerful than Ye Qing had been.

But he felt like laughing when he looked at the line on the floor. "Are you a girl? Are you seriously drawing a 38th parallel with me?"

Zhou Meiren raised his eyebrows angrily and was about to shout at Ye Sheng. He didn't understand what a 38th parallel meant, but since Ye Sheng had asked if he was a girl, then Ye Sheng was clearly teasing him. Of course Zhou Meiren was furious.

But once he looked up, he saw that Ye Sheng had already run off with Fang Conglong and disappeared from sight.

"At least you know how to behave." Zhou Meiren scoffed effeminately, and his anger dissipated. He looked down at the mark on the floor and started frowning. "But what is this 38th parallel?"

...

Ye Sheng and Fang Conglong went to get dinner together. Jixia Academy provided all students with free meals, and they could eat and drink however much they wanted. This was part of the agreement when students enrolled in the school.

Jixia Academy's school fees were very expensive, especially for those who came from rich families. The school fees were 10,000 gold pieces a year, so the 300 gold pieces that Ye Sheng had were nowhere near enough. But thankfully, his admission had been taken care of by the emperor.

Those who came from poor families didn't need to pay school fees, but once they had graduated, they had to remain in Jixia Academy and work for the school for the next ten years. Once your ten-year bond was up, you could decide to remain or leave.

It was a way of reaping the rewards of training these students, but it was also a way of making sure that these students from poorer families had somewhere to go as well.

Ye Sheng and Fang Conglong reached the canteen. It was supposed to be a canteen, but it felt more like a restaurant. The fragrance of food filled the air.

Fang Conglong walked around like he knew this place very well. He ordered all the food very naturally and found a seat.

"You've come here before?" asked Ye Sheng.

"I came here before with my brother once. Back then, he also ordered these kind of dishes. All the food here has been marinated according to ancient methods, and even the rice is filled with large amounts of Qi. Eating one bowl of rice is as good as eating an entire vat of rice out in the world, and things like beef and mutton are even more amazing," said Fang Conglong with a smile.

"Is it really that incredible?" exclaimed Ye Sheng in surprise.

"Of course. The rice they use here is filled with Qi, and not ordinary rice that people outside the Academy eat. Jixia Academy rears their own cattle and sheep too. The mountain behind the academy has a huge plantation and farm, so all the food is brought over from there every single day," said Fang Conglong as he nodded.

"How many workers are there in Jixia Academy?" asked Ye Sheng.

"Not many. Maybe about 100?" said Fang Conglong after thinking carefully about it.

"And those few people get all this work done?" said Ye Sheng in shock.

"How could that be? Don't you know that Jixia Academy has a Puppet Master? His Puppetry Technique is at such a high level that he can create puppet workers, so they don't need humans to work around here," said Fang Conglong.