63: Imperial College

Outside the Ming Hall.

Qin Chuan still hadn't recovered.

What the heck? What does that mean? What's going on?

How did the task of finding the entrance to the Abyss get dumped on him?

Duke of Lu walked up to him at this moment and patted him on the shoulder.

"I'll send the case files to your manor in the next two days. I have faith in Chen the Immortal's methods!"

Qin Chuan: "I—"

Before he could finish speaking, he saw Duke of Lu scurrying away.

He looked like a primary school student who didn't have homework.

How childlike!

After Qin Chuan grumbled, he immediately thought of the task that had been thrown his way, and his expression instantly turned bitter.

He was still just a Recommended Man!

Furthermore, this Recommended Man had no foundation in the capital, no soldiers, no power, and only a few acquaintances.

How could he face those vicious Abyss spies!

Immediately, his gaze fell upon Wang Zhongshu.

"Teacher, I am still young and have to prepare for the metropolitan examination. Why don't you go and talk to His Majesty..."

Wang Zhongshu still wore that smiling expression.

"His Majesty has already issued the order, and it will be difficult to retract it. You should just obediently go and search."

After a brief moment of thought, he seemed to feel that this matter was a bit too difficult for Qin Chuan, and continued.

"I'll give you a note. You can seek help from the Three Laws Tribunal. If you're willing to swallow your pride, you can also go to the Six Ministries for help."

Qin Chuan: ?

He strongly suspected that Wang Zhongshu was telling him to go get scolded.

Given the attitude of the Six Ministries' officials towards Wang Zhongshu, if he went, it would probably be like a keyboard warrior entering Zu'an.

If he went and never returned, then... his family tree would ascend to heaven!

Things had come to this, and seeing no room for maneuver, Qin Chuan could only resign himself to fate.

What else could he do!

He made up his mind: he would search, but if he genuinely couldn't find anything, it couldn't be blamed on him.

—He just didn't believe that if he couldn't find it, they'd actually chop him down, right?

Duke of Lu's actions were swift.

As soon as Qin Chuan returned to his manor, the case files were delivered.

However, facing several carts full of case files, Qin Chuan really wanted to ask the person who delivered them.

Are you serious?

So the question was: with so much information, how could they not have caught even a single trace of the Abyss?

This doubt was cleared up when Qin Chuan casually opened one of the records.

He suppressed the throbbing veins in his forehead and asked Cheng Lu, who had come to deliver the case files.

"Can you explain to me what 'village sow not giving birth, suspected demonic evil at work' means?"

This young master, Cheng Lu, shrugged at this: "Can't a sow not giving birth also be demonic evil at work? They might be trying to disrupt our Great Zhou's livelihood—"

With that, he quickly left before Qin Chuan could lash out and hurt him.

Qin Chuan took several deep breaths on the spot, finally managing to calm himself down with great difficulty.

Looking up, he saw the carts full of useless case files.

The refined and gentle Qin Chuan went offline, and the cursing Qin Chuan appeared:

"You foolish oafs!!!"

After roughly flipping through all the case files, Qin Chuan confirmed a fact.

That was—he really hadn't cursed them wrong.

In all the records, except for a few confessions from captured Abyss spies that had a little reference value, everything else was trivial nonsense.

The key was that they weren't even certain, mostly using terms like—suspected, possibly, fearing...

While this made Qin Chuan laugh in anger, he also learned a valuable lesson.

Isn't it just slacking off? As if no one else knows how to do it.

If he couldn't find anything by then, it couldn't be blamed on him.

At worst... he'd just fabricate another cartload of case files!

Although his goal was to slack off and do nothing, he still had to at least put on a show.

Just as Qin Chuan was preparing to visit places like the Dali Temple and the Ministry of Justice, and perhaps engage in some verbal sparring, a sudden piece of news disrupted his plans.

Well, it wasn't exactly sudden.

Rather, he had been so overwhelmed by these case files for the past two days that he had unconsciously overlooked it.

—The National Academy.

His enrollment date had arrived!

Upon realizing this, Qin Chuan no longer had any mind for those damn case files; strengthening himself was the priority.

Early that morning, after finishing the breakfast Qing Mo brought him, he wiped his mouth casually and set off.

The Great Zhou's National Academy was located within the imperial city, right next to the imperial palace.

Nine out of ten of those who studied there were children of court nobles.

For example, Cheng Lu, whom he knew, was one of them.

After Qin Chuan arrived, he looked at the students coming and going around him and sighed with emotion.

—While it couldn't be said that he conversed with great scholars, it was certainly true that no arrogant people came and went!

"If I were to rob and kidnap all the students here..."

Just as Qin Chuan was thinking this, a voice suddenly sounded in his ear:

"Brother, are you looking for someone? This place is restricted to non-National Academy students."

He turned his head and saw a young man about his age standing before him, his words and actions very polite.

Qin Chuan shook his head: "No, I am also a student of the National Academy."

With that, he stepped forward and entered the gate.

The young man clearly didn't believe Qin Chuan's words, and seeing his actions, he quickly said: "Brother, there is a grand formation laid out here. Non-National Academy students cannot enter. Please don't hurt yourself..."

Before he could finish speaking, he saw Qin Chuan steadily step through the main gate.

At the same time, Qin Chuan turned back and looked at the young man strangely—?

Qin Chuan gestured for the other party to disappear.

Young man: (｀; )?

He froze for a moment, then immediately ran over.

"Brother, I apologize. I saw you were unfamiliar. Do you rarely come to this National Academy? Why have I never seen you before..."

Qin Chuan: "Mm."

He had figured it out: this young man in front of him was either extremely eager to help or had that social butterfly syndrome.

Oh, and he was a chatterbox.

...By the way, what's your name, brother, and whose family are you from? My name is Cui Jian, you can call me Changfeng. My father is Vice Minister Cui."

"Huh?!"

Qin Chuan instantly stopped in his tracks and carefully scrutinized the young man from head to toe.

Enemies always meet!

Cui Jian: "W-what's wrong?"

"Nothing..."

Qin Chuan casually brushed it off.

It just so happened that he needed a guide now, and it would be better not to reveal his identity.

Thinking of this, he said directly.

"Changfeng, I rarely come to the National Academy. Can you show me around?"

"Oh, oh, okay!"

Next, Qin Chuan followed this enthusiastic young man and became familiar with all the buildings of the National Academy.

At the same time, he also learned about the National Academy's main structure and teaching methods.

It had one Chancellor and two Directors.

It offered seven courses: National Academy, Imperial College, Guangwen, Four Gates, Law, Calligraphy, and Mathematics.

Each course had a Doctor.

In addition, there were also Supervisors, Registrars, and so on.

Most of the students there did not study all seven courses.

Simply put, besides compulsory courses, there were also several elective courses.

As for Qin Chuan, he quickly determined which courses would be useful to him.

Then he said to Cui Jian: "Changfeng, do you know where the Registrar is? Can you lead me there?"

"Oh, okay, brother, are you going to the Registrar to cancel a leave of absence?"

In just a short while, he had already conjured up in his mind that this handsome brother in front of him must have taken leave for some reason and hadn't come, which was why he was so unfamiliar.

Cui Jian thought to himself: Father told me to make more friends with my classmates. This time, I must get along well with this brother in front of me.

Qin Chuan glanced at this diligent young man who didn't even know his name.

He said: "No, I'm going to him to choose courses."