Protect Our Chief

...

"Looking for Patriarch Shouzhe? Don’t even mention looking for Patriarch Shouzhe, even bringing Liua Ruolan here won’t help." The clan academy’s teacher, who was already over a hundred years old, spoke forcefully, "The Clan Academy is a place for teaching and educating children, where everyone is treated equally, whether they’re commoners, the Wang Family’s direct lineage, a wolf, a bear, or a tree."

"Our motto is to resolutely not let a single poor student graduate from the clan academy."

"I don’t care who you are, what your status is, or what your relationship is with Wang Dalang, Wang Erlang, Wang Sanniu, Wang the Fourth, Wang Wuniu. Since they’re entrusted to my teaching, I have the responsibility and duty to educate them to understand culture and discern right from wrong."

Emperor Longchang rolled his eyes. What on earth are these names? Alright, alright, he admitted, the five little wolves did look too similar, and naming them this way makes it easier to distinguish.

"Hmph, just a little clan academy teacher, daring to show off in front of me. I won’t interfere with other things, but I’m sure I’m going to intervene with Wang Dalang and the others." Emperor Longchang gestured invitingly at the five young wolves, showing a kind expression, "Come, come, come to me. I don’t believe that scoundrel Wang Shouzhe can overturn the heavens."

Wang Dalang and the others recognized the very kind and amiable old emperor who had taken care of them before, and excitedly whined, wanting to rush over to pepper him with affection. But they secretly glanced at the stern-faced clan academy teacher.

Then, in unison, they shook their heads, drooping their heads, indicating they were being punished and didn’t dare to act arbitrarily. Those little eyes were utterly innocent looking.

As a result, this naturally made Emperor Longchang’s heart ache even more. Just when he was about to lose his temper, his lapel was pulled by a small tree sapling with a branch, and a childish girl’s voice said, "Old master ya-ya grandpa, please don’t let ya-ya teacher get angry, he’s doing it for ya-ya."

A tree? Or rather, a sapling?

Emperor Longchang looked up and down at that little sapling, his expression gradually becoming serious: "Little sapling, what species of spirit plant are you, you’re so young? How can you speak already? Could it be that Wang Shouzhe, that Great Demon King, forcibly used a Transformation Pill, an Enlightenment Pill, or something similar on you?"

"No ya-ya, daddy’s ya-ya Lun family." The little sapling replied, "Just ya-ya learning not good ya-ya-ya, always arguing ya-ya with daddy, homework is very hard."

Emperor Longchang broke into a cold sweat hearing this, thinking, could this little girl say ya-ya a few less times?

However, he generally understood, this little sapling seemed to be Wang Shouzhe’s daughter, most likely his Lifebound Spirit Plant. But is Wang Shouzhe a pervert or what, even sending his Lifebound Spirit Plant to the clan academy to study?

Such a darling, gentle daughter, how could he bear it?

"What’s your name? Oh. Let me take a look at your homework~" Emperor Longchang gently stroked her branches, speaking in a very tender tone. He was silently thinking, the intelligence of Wang Shouzhe’s Lifebound Spirit Plant doesn’t seem high, even reaching Tier Seven and able to speak, her intellect seems like a three or four-year-old child.

Did something unexpected happen in the circumstances?

"Lun family called, Wang Lixian." Wang Lixian somehow produced a few exam papers, "Maths ya-ya, very difficult, can’t understand..."

Math is indeed a headache!

Emperor Longchang glanced at the exam papers and immediately burst into laughter: "You little girl, these are just basic addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. Come, let grandpa teach you." Even if the Emperor was a school dunce, basic math should be no problem.

Then he enthusiastically started explaining to Wang Lixian, enjoying the pleasure of being an exemplary teacher.

As Emperor Longchang lectured passionately, Wang Lixian’s distressed branches twisted together: "So hard, so hard, arithmetic too ya-ya troublesome, not as fun as fighting ya-ya. No need to calculate, just more will do."

"No problem, no problem, you’re still young, you can learn slowly." Emperor Longchang smiled and reassured Lixian, thinking to himself, the Wang Clan Academy isn’t as impressive as its reputation, his confidence swelled instantly.

Then he approached the five dejected little wolves, full of confidence he said, "Give me a look at your graduation exams, if you don’t know anything, I’ll give you some guidance, ensure you graduate quickly."

"Woo woo woo~" The five little wolves instantly became excited, feeling like a savior had fallen from the skies, and at the fastest speed they could, they ran back to their desks, picked up their exam papers, and brought them to Emperor Longchang.

Then they panted with their tongues out, eagerly looking at Emperor Longchang to rescue them from their plight.

"Come, let me..." Emperor Longchang flipped through the exam papers, and his smile gradually froze, then stiffened. On it were dense characters and symbols he both recognized and didn’t. He didn’t recognize many, to begin with.

But when mixed together, it looked like a heavenly script, muddling his mind into a mess.

Wang Dalang’s paper scored forty-nine out of a hundred. The rest of the little wolves had varying scores, but none passed.

However, after Emperor Longchang quickly went through the questions, he realized he might score in the single digits...

What does this mean?

It means that he, the dignified Emperor Longchang, was not even on par with Wang Dalang, Wang Wuniu...

Stunned like a wooden chicken!

To think that he had wanted to explain the questions to them to help them graduate faster.

The five half-grown little wolves were still harboring hopeful dreams, looking forward to the kind old grandpa explaining the wrong questions.

Yet they discovered that the kind old grandpa, the emperor, had fallen into contemplation.

The nearby clan academy teacher didn’t mind them but instead grabbed little sapling Wang Lixian, earnestly and sincerely criticizing her, "You child, I know you’ve only recently gained intelligence, but what you’re learning now is foundational knowledge, if you don’t master even this, how will you face more intense competition in the future? I’m telling you, if you don’t, even fighting won’t be successful."

"Ya-ya, arithmetic is useless ya-ya." Wang Lixian waved her branches, stubbornly arguing back, "Fighting, as long as the firepower is enough, boom-boom-boom, bang-bang-bang! That’s how you win~~"

"How much firepower is enough then?" the clan academy teacher asked.

"The more, the better, ya-ya, explosions are art!" Wang Lixian waved her branches, indicating that with enough firepower, she could conquer every enemy in the world.

"I’ve heard you talk about your combat style, suppose you have ten thousand energy points... alright, the number’s too big, I get it, let’s say you have a hundred energy points, and your dad can replenish ten points per second, and in a normal environment you can recover one point per second, you need two points to catalyze a strengthened Fire Dragon Fruit Tree..." The clan academy teacher started conversing with her about combat strategies, while calculating the results mathematically.

"Let’s calculate how many firepower points you can set up in ten seconds?"

"We have five different firepower value Fire Dragon Fruits... and nine other spirit plants... how to arrange them to produce the most firepower."

"Lixian girl, you can’t calculate it, can you? Getting good at math can make your firepower even stronger and more formidable. And unlike those five of Wang Dalang, who can’t graduate even after thirty years, even that dumb bear graduated last year!"

A bear can graduate?

Emperor Longchang’s old face heated up, holding the exam paper like it was a hot potato. He immediately pretended to close the paper with a serious expression and clasped his hands behind his back: "Actually, what the clan academy teacher said is right, the knowledge and culture you learn are yours alone."

"Making mistakes is not scary; what’s scary is not willing to work hard to correct them. Therefore, I think with your current level, you should continue to pursue higher studies in the clan academy. If I help you recklessly now, that would be harming you."

"With your limited amount of knowledge, what can you do if you barely graduate from the academy? Are you going to howl and hunt on the grassy plains?"

"Howl howl~~" Wang Dalang and the others lowered their heads, showing ashamed expressions. The kind old grandfather Emperor was right, they really should reflect more deeply.

Even the clan academy teacher gave him an approving look: "Wang Dalang and the others are fortunate to have an elder like you; graduation can be expected in the future."

"Oh, I dare not, I dare not, everything depends on the teacher." Emperor Longchang did not dare to belittle the clan academy teacher any longer.

...

Meanwhile.

Wang Shouzhe had already dealt with the aftermath of Brother Zhong Xingwang and had rested at home for several days to adjust his mindset.

On this day, he was stealing half a day’s leisure in a small courtyard, half-lying on a master’s chair, sunbathing and drinking spirit tea, reading letters from Emperor’s Son An that came every now and then.

After several decades of regency, Emperor’s Son An had become increasingly mature and stable, handling various state affairs in an orderly manner.

However, being the ruler of a nation, there were indeed too many trivial matters, which made three-tenths of his letters filled with complaints about being too busy and mentally exhausting. Then, another three-tenths tried to entice Wang Shouzhe to move to Gui Long City to assist him in handling political affairs.

Otherwise, he would move to Ping’an Town himself.

Only about four-tenths of the letters contained recent troublesome things in government affairs that he was discussing with him.

Kidding.

Gui Long City was not a place he would go, not even if you killed him, not even for the position of Prime Minister.

Isn’t it better to stay home with his wife and kids and enjoy the sun?

Instantly.

Wang Shouzhe picked up his pen and flamboyantly wrote a letter back, once again firmly rejecting the invitation to serve, and then soothed Emperor’s Son An’s emotions.

After proposing a few constructive suggestions, he reclined back into the master’s chair to soak up the sun again.

He half-closed his eyes, enjoying this rare moment of leisure.

But at this moment.

A household general hurriedly reported: "Reporting to the Patriarch, urgent news from Xinping Town’s patrol team. They discovered a group of suspicious spies engaging in espionage and instigating rebellion. When the patrol team attempted to arrest them according to law, one of the suspicious individuals tore through space to escape."

"Pfft!"

Wang Shouzhe spat out a mouthful of spirit tea, glaring and asked, "What do you mean tore through space to escape?"

"It’s just as it says..." the household general handed over the urgent message awkwardly, "tore through space to escape, that’s what the message says."

Wang Shouzhe took a look at the message, and it did indeed say so.

Some cultivators with exceptional spatial talent in the Purple Mansion Realm could use certain spatial principles for techniques like Shadow Escape, which was already quite impressive.

And if some Divine Power Realm cultivators mastered space techniques, they could achieve short-distance instant teleportation, but it wasn’t tearing through space to escape.

Legend has it that only at the level of Emperor Lingxu could one possess the terrifying ability to shatter the void.

To tear through space to escape? What level of spy is this?

A Lingxu-level spy?!

What merit does the Wang Family possess to attract a Lingxu-level spy to pry?

In this case, there can be only one truth.

Wang Shouzhe slapped his forehead, utterly speechless, thinking that dignified Emperor Longchang sneaked onto the Wang Family’s territory to act as a spy?

Is he so bored and idle that he’s doing this for entertainment?

Engaging in espionage and inciting rebellion?

Wang Shouzhe’s mouth twitched slightly, wondering if the Wu Family’s genetic inheritance is faulty? Always with a tendency for mischief...

Shouldn’t he seriously reconsider the matters of alliance with the Wu Family?

...