I curiously asked, “What middleman? Oh~ you are talking about that year when Ma Ke pursued you. You don’t need to worry about that. You still hate him after so many years? He didn’t do anything to you. We’ve already known each other for so many years. You don’t have to always treat him as though he is an enemy, even if you don’t get along.”
It was Hai Yue’s turn to become awkward. Feng Liang, who was at her side, stood in front of her. “What Zhang Gong said is right. Hai Yue, you don’t need to continue bickering over past things. Class is starting soon, let’s head back.”
Hai Yue snorted and walked away without another word.
Ma Ke’s energy level deflated like a balloon and he lethargically said, “Boss, now you have seen it. I obviously don’t stand a chance.”
I gave him a violent slap on his head and angrily said, “You’re truly worthless! I’ve never seen anyone more cowardly than you. You’ve yet to be defeated but you’re already cowering. How could she fall for you? She doesn’t like a guy who’s only heroic on the outside. I really don’t understand what you’re thinking. When you see Hai Yue, you are just like a mouse meeting a cat. Let’s go! Class is starting.”
Ma Ke followed me in frustration back to the classroom, but did not go back to his. He sat in the same back row as me in my classroom. I did not listen much to the lesson. I started to ask Ma Ke, “Please continue to tell me about the academy’s situation? Let’s leave the talk about Hai Yue for next time.”
Ma Ke regained some of his mood. “The three main powers are the Ri, Yue and Xing families who formed an alliance to form an elder group. As all of the families held powers over the kingdom for several generations, they all are already deeply rooted to the country. They could also influence all of the territories in the country, making it impossible to ignore them.”
I curiously said, “If they are allies then why did Hai Ri still encourage you to chase after his sister? If Hai Yue marries the eldest son of the Ri family, won’t it lead to a more beneficial marriage?”
Ma Ke bitterly smiled. “You think Feng Liang is such a good guy? I heard that he has already gone out with many girls and that they’ve ended up the same way. He plays with them and then dumps them. Brother Hai Ri knows I’ve been chasing after his sister for many years, so he knows that I’m seriously in love with Hai Yue. He doesn’t care about Feng Liang at all so he encouraged me to chase after her.”
“Oh. So it’s like this! Ok now tell me who the last big power is.”
“The last big power is the Emperor’s blood related younger brother, Prince Ke Zha. He was also a great general in the Wang Kingdom so he holds lots of influence in the military. When comparing the Emperor’s strength to his, he is definitely stronger. Brother, I have been hiding something from you. Please forgive me after hearing me out.”
I seriously looked at him. “Just say it. Is it about your family?”
Ma Ke was surprised and said, “How did you know?”
I smiled. “When you previously refused to head out with me to gain experience, I’d already guessed that your family was not that simple. You can just tell me directly that you are from one of the three families.”
Ma Ke looked at me in shock and was flabbergasted.
At that moment, I sensed some danger and hurriedly cast a Light Shield. “Pu~” After that sound, I could tell from the fire sparks that it was just a small fireball.
I looked in the direction where the attack had come from. At the lecturer’s platform, there was an elderly magician. He seemed to be the teacher for the current lesson. Judging by his angry expression, we may have provoked him. In his angry expression, there was also a sign of surprise, as he did not think that I would be able to thwart his sneak attack so easily.
The old magician scolded, “Did you come here for a lesson or just to chat?”
Ma Ke whispered to me secretly. “He’s known to have an extremely bad temper. We shouldn’t continue to provoke him.”
At that moment, the entire class of students was looking in our direction, including the ordinary female student sitting beside me. She seemed to have heard what Ma Ke was talking to me about before. I did not care about it at all as the facts should have been known to everyone already. She was not hearing anything new so it shouldn’t have mattered much.
I awkwardly smiled. “Ah~ Sorry, teacher. I will stop chatting and start to seriously focus in class.”