Chapter 21

Chapter 21 – I Am The Best (1)

Upon expressing his refusal to send his third sister to the Academy for Women, Lu Lingzhi thought he saw murderousness and resentment in the girl before him.

However, when he looked carefully, he only saw a face of innocence, which was clearly disappointed and hurt.

Was it just an illusion? Or, only a trick of the light? 

Sighing to himself, he thought that because he had killed too many recently, he was perceiving things falsely, like some form of self-mockery.

“Yaoyao, you didn’t do anything wrong! I just don’t see the point of this. Even if you don’t go to the academy, I can just ask your husband to teach you at home. You are the Third Miss of the Lu Family, any man would be a fool to refuse to wed you! As your eldest brother, I know what is good for you.”

Lu Lingzhi softened his voice. He had just been to his grandmother and was informed that his third sister was going to the Academy for Women. He wouldn’t have stopped her from going to the academy if it wasn’t for the fact that she looked too much like Ye Zhen.

Ye Zhen sneered in her heart, but still played coy and pouted. “Second and Fourth Sister went to the academy too. Grandmother said that it would be good for me if I go to the academy as well. Don’t lie to me.”

Don’t you lie to me!

Lu Lingzhi’s expression was vague as he thought he saw the beautiful girl he knew with the delighted and expectant voice in her. She told him not to lie to her. He had lied to Ye Zhen for two years and now he was doing the same thing to Lu Yaoyao.

“Do you really want to go to the academy so much?” Lu Lingzhi asked in a low voice.

“Yes, I want to go.” Ye Zhen nodded and looked at his warm eyes firmly.

If she wouldn’t, how would she become a physician? How would she enter the imperial palace? How would she avenge herself?

Lu Lingzhi sighed, exhaustion evident on his face. He didn’t wish to wound her heart but he couldn’t let this subject go. He didn’t want her to go to the Academy for Women. He didn’t want people to see her. Her appearance would remind people of Ye Zhen. This, he was afraid of.

Although he did not know how many people still remembered what she looked like, given that Ye Zhen had almost lived the life of seclusion inside her palace, she had a reputation and beauty that was hard to forget.

Even though she was dead now, her remains turned to ashes by the fire that engulfed her home, many people secretly sympathized with her and missed her.

On that note, he couldn’t imagine the kind of influence Yaoyao would bring to the academy.

“If Third Sister can pass the exam on her own ability, go ahead. Eldest Brother will not back you, ” Lu Lingzhi said flatly, hoping the girl would withdraw from the exam now that she didn’t have his support and blessings.

Ye Zhen’s eyes looked slightly red out of frustration at Lu Lingzhi’s statement. She wanted to know his reasons for his insistence to stop her from admitting herself to the academy.

“If I pass the entrance examination based on my ability, will Eldest Brother stop me?” she asked.

She did not want to hit a dead end after everything was done and dusted. She knew too well this man was treacherous, so it would be best to sort things right now, in the very beginning.

“Of course not. Eldest Brother is not that heartless.”

As he uttered those words, Ye Zhen suddenly had the urge to puke, disgusted deep in her gut that a vile man deemed himself as ‘not heartless’.

“Moreover, the entrance examination is not easy, Yaoyao.” He reminded her in a bid to dissuade her.

Aside from her frightening resemblance to Ye Zhen, Lu Lingzhi didn’t want her to be hurt in the future and feel even more inferior as he was certain that she would fail the exam.

He had heard that she was from the border town, where people lived a much simpler life. No hassle and fuss, just a bunch of ships and boats coming by every day and folks who worked just enough to fill their family’s bellies. She could literally do anything without people condemning her for her flaws.

But in the capital, her mistakes would not go unnoticed.