“I’ve already told my father that three of us will enter the academy. After I take over Blue Flame Academy, I’ll get rid of this stupid rule.”
Chuling’s eyes turned red as she looked at Luo Yunzhu, then at Feng Tianlan. When she saw Feng Tianlan nod, tears started rolling down her cheeks. “Thank you.”
When she’d heard Miss Luo talk about entering the academy together the day before, she’d thought she would be going as a servant girl. She’d never considered entering as a student. The happiness she felt from being treated so kindly warmed her heart, and she felt very fortunate.
They were both too nice to her. She was only a lowly slave, but they were so wonderful to her, and she didn’t know what to say to them. She didn’t know how she could ever repay their kindness.
Luo Yunzhu saw Chuling crying again and laughed helplessly, “We’re a group of three, united in spirit. No matter what happens in the future, we must never betray this group.”
“Miss saved my life, so I’ll never betray the group,” Chuling replied resolutely as her tears continued to fall.
“Oh, what a coincidence, me too.” Luo Yunzhu looked at cry baby Chuling and didn’t know what to do with her. But she was going to be kind to anyone who was kind to Tianlan.
When Luo Yunzhu mentioned betrayal, Feng Tianlan suddenly felt her heart tighten. In her previous life, she had been betrayed by those closest to her, which was why she’d died so miserably. In this life…
Feng Tianlan looked at Luo Yunzhu and Chuling then down for a moment. When she raised her head again, there was a smile on her lips. She believed that these two would never betray her.
*
Once the sky brightened, Feng Tianlan and her two friends put on their uniforms and took a horse carriage from Feng Manor directly to the Blue Flame Academy, which was far away in the northern countryside. Three hundred and sixty steps made from blue oak and rock led to the large gate in the mountains, and pine trees lined the way. If they looked up, they could see just a bit of the academy itself.
Chuling looked at the grand door and the never-ending stairs and felt like mere dust. A deep sense of inferiority arose in her heart, and she thought that she would be tainting the place if she stepped in.
Feng Tianlan and Luo Yunzhu saw her behaving like this, so they grabbed Chuling’s hands, and three of them went up the mountain hand in hand.
Luo Yunzhu saw that Chuling still felt inferior and didn’t even look up at the surrounding scenery. So, since she loved talking, she babbled non-stop, distracting Chuling with a variety of interesting stories.
Feng Tianlan looked at the two of them. Luo Yunzhu was that sort of person who seemed blunt but was very detailed. She seemed hard on the outside but was very gentle.
“No wonder the crows in the trees are cawing non-stop. I see my little sister has arrived.”
The three of them had just reached the top when they heard a sarcastic voice mocking them.
When she heard this, Luo Yunzhu frowned and decided to ignore him. She continued walking with Feng Tianlan and Chuling.
“My sister is so rude to elders, huh? Your older brother is talking to you, and you’re not even going to respond?”
“Move aside.” Luo Yunzhu glared at the boy blocking them.
Feng Tianlan looked up at the 17 or 18-year-old boy in front of them. He did bear some resemblance to Dean Luo and was reasonably good looking. But that was about it. He was the eldest son of Dean Luo’s concubine and was in constant competition with Yunzhu to inherit the academy.
Luo Zhouquan saw that the three of them were holding hands, so he disdainfully mocked them, “Yunzhu, how you have fallen. Never mind that you hang around with that good-for-nothing, but now you’re even holding hands with a slave.”
Chuling felt like her palms were on fire after hearing this and tried to pull her hands back, but Luo Yunzhu and Feng Tianlan held them firmly.
“That’s my business, not yours. You’d better save this energy to train yourself up, then maybe you can inherit the academy based on merit.” Luo Yunzhu held Chuling’s hand tightly and suppressed her anger so that she wouldn’t hit him.