Chapter 170: Chapter 168: Seventh Elder, the Leading Spearman Di'er (Third Update)_1
A group of aristocratic students looked at each other, all remaining silent. If they said anything that the Seventh Elder overheard, they would probably be in for another scolding.
Yet, they couldn't understand why the Seventh Elder, who had just been hinting at cheating by two Yangming University students, rebounded back as if he wanted to hit a wall at high speed?
First, he demeaned their talent and background, only to then praise their efforts as noble and commendable.
No matter how you heard it, it sounded like the Seventh Elder was lecturing them and salvaging face for the Yangming students.
There's something wrong with this thought process.
Ah Si, standing by, was also baffled. How could the Seventh Elder suddenly seem like a completely different person?
Could it be that even a master in the mid-stage of the Azure Sky Realm couldn't avoid the ravages of time that bring about senile dementia?
"Recognized...?"
Bai Qi stared blankly at the distant Seventh Elder, then glanced at Fang Ren.
"You're still talking." Fang Ren patted her hat lightly, not very forcefully.
After hearing Bai Qi's words, the Seventh Elder's entire face soured, and his gaze immediately became pleading as he looked toward Bai Qi, as if silently conveying a message.
Princess, oh Princess! Why, with nothing better to do, did you bring your fiancé here to play at cheating? Is Tianjiang no longer fun, or is the school unwelcoming, that you must disguise yourself as a student of Yangming University?
"Dismissed!"
The Seventh Elder hurriedly announced the end of the address and, after those two words, didn't forget to add, "Would the two students from Yangming please come with me this way."
Upon hearing this, everybody was stunned again. Dismissed? He had just been energetically criticizing, so why the sudden extinguishment?
Please? The two from Yangming?
Was this manner of speaking not a bit too polite?
Or do the powerful beings of the Azure Sky Realm also suffer from senile dementia?
Everyone stood there, dumbfounded, watching as Fang Ren and Bai Qi walked toward where the Seventh Elder had departed, their minds filled with a thousand unspoken complaints, yet none dared to voice them.
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"Your Highness the Princess, I was truly blind as a bat! I beg you not to hold it against this humble one..."
No sooner had Fang Ren and Bai Qi followed the Seventh Elder to a deserted corner than the Seventh Elder performed a 720-degree spin in mid-air, kneeling, and began repeatedly kowtowing with a posture indicating an earnest plea, all the while loudly exclaiming.
This more than a hundred-year-old elder suddenly performing a 720-degree spinning kowtow was something Fang Ren dared not accept. He swiftly stepped aside, leaving Bai Qi still dumbfounded, standing in front of the Seventh Elder.
Bai Qi's crystal-like, large eyes stared blankly at the Seventh Elder, who kept kowtowing and shouting in front of her.
Although she had been knelt to numerous times from her childhood, she had never seen anyone hit their head against the ground with such force, even to the extent of creating a hole, until now.
Boom, boom, boom—
The frequency of the Seventh Elder's kowtowing reached an intense ten times per second. The speed was so fast, the force of the impact so severe, that even the ground beneath Bai Qi's feet trembled with the continual impacts from the Seventh Elder's head.
The shadow that slashed through the air formed an arc—it was the aged head of the Seventh Elder.
"Hey hey hey, stop."
Bai Qi, seeing his kowtowing was almost comparable to a pile driver, immediately stepped forward to help him up.
"No no no, I shan't stop until Her Highness forgives me!"
The Seventh Elder continued to bang his head on the ground with such ferocity that it seemed as if he had downed 10 bottles of energy drink, utterly unstoppable.
"You haven't done anything wrong from start to finish, why are you asking for forgiveness in vain?" Bai Qi frowned and said.
"Ah?" The Seventh Elder kneeled on the ground, his tousled hair looking at Bai Qi: "But I actually slandered Her Highness on the spot by saying you cheated during the exam..."
Bai Qi, with a face full of embarrassment, blinked and said, "I did indeed talk about cheating at that time, but... it was just a joke. However, it was from my mouth that the misunderstanding arose, and as the proctor, you naturally must prevent all cheating. That is what you should do, and it's not your fault."
"No no no, Your Highness, it is my fault for not realizing that you were joking with Young Master Fang at the time!" The Seventh Elder quickly denied.
"Are you denying what I said?" Bai Qi said.
"Dare not!" The Seventh Elder quickly shook his head again.
"Then I say you have done nothing wrong."
"Then... thank you, Your Highness, for your forgiveness!"
The Seventh Elder immediately got up and bowed, dusting the dirt off the top of his head. In his heart, he couldn't help but label this princess as "approachable and humble" and "firm in her principles."
After hearing Bai Qi's words, Fang Ren's impression of her deepened, realizing that this girl was not always so naive and did handle matters with care.
When it came to cheating, as a proctor not allowing the students to cheat was, of course, a perfectly normal expectation.
Frankly speaking, even if the Seventh Elder had directly criticized the two of them in public, that would still have been what the Seventh Elder was supposed to do.
It was because Bai Qi's words were inseparable from cheating, and he, too, had failed to clear up the misunderstanding when he replied, that the Seventh Elder was led to misunderstand.
Seeing the Seventh Elder stand up, the embarrassed look on Bai Qi's face began to turn serious. Although the cheating matter was indeed not the Seventh Elder's fault, there were other things that made her extremely angry.
"Although this matter is not your fault, there are two things here that I am very dissatisfied with," Bai Qi said in a serious tone.
"Your Highness, please speak! I will definitely take it seriously and change my ways!" The Seventh Elder said.
"Firstly, you, as the chief proctor of this exam, didn't even know whether the campus signs were complete on the field. That is your mistake."
"I'm sorry, Your Highness. It was indeed my oversight! I will certainly repent thoroughly! I will never commit such errors again!"
The Seventh Elder immediately bowed and apologized, but his heart was filled with fury towards the alchemist named Ah Si. That segment of work was supposed to be done by Ah Si, but since he was the chief proctor of the exam, any problem could be traced back to him.
Subordinates' mistakes cause superiors to suffer—that's just the way it is.
Bai Qi clearly understood this principle. The matter couldn't be entirely blamed on the Seventh Elder, so setting it aside, Bai Qi continued, "Let's put this incident aside for now. The second thing I'm very dissatisfied with is that you, as the chief proctor here, saw students ridiculing and mocking each other and did nothing appropriate.
Even though you criticized some of the students with bad behavior in the end, I think if you didn't know the identities of the two of us, that is to say, if Yangming University had sent two ordinary students today, I don't think you would have spoken the words you did at the end."
Upon hearing this, the Seventh Elder quickly wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. His back almost bent to the ground as he apologized sincerely, "Your Highness is right! I must reflect and renew myself! Should I encounter such situations again, I must set an example as a teacher should!"
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