Chapter 86: White Susu

The oppressive gaze in his eyes in that instant made Wei Suo and others too afraid to remain near Zu An, so they scattered to the sides.

Zu An cursed them under his breath for their disloyalty, then calmly looked back at him. "Yang Wei has been deliberately targeting me, and he was the one who proposed this bet. How does that make me the troublemaker?"

"Have you forgotten our school rules? The most important rule is to respect teachers and value the Way. No matter how capable a person is, if they don't respect their elders and teachers, they often become a great menace once they leave the academy," Lu De said with a serious expression.

"Dean, I don't like what you're saying. The premise of respecting teachers is that they must set an example. Do those who deliberately target and suppress students out of personal desire deserve to be called teachers?" Zu An frowned.

"He is still your teacher, after all! Even if he has problems, it's up to the school to investigate and handle them, not for a student like you to take matters into your own hands!" Seeing that he dared to talk back, Lu De let out a heavy snort.

"I didn't take matters into my own hands. Our bet just now completely followed the principles of fairness, impartiality, and transparency. Everyone present can testify for me." Zu An pointed to the people around him. "Furthermore, Teacher Shang was the notary invited by both Yang Wei and me."

Shang Liuyu nodded. "That's right, Teacher Yang also agreed to this matter, and I was invited to be a witness."

"Teacher Shang, don't be misled by this fellow," Lu De said, smiling at Shang Liuyu before turning a stern face back to Zu An. "You really haven't changed your gambling ways. One of our school's top ten rules prohibits gambling. Just a few days ago, you openly went to the Silver Hook Casino to gamble, causing a huge uproar and bringing a terrible reputation to our school. I haven't even settled that with you yet, and today you're openly gambling with a teacher at school? Hmph, our school can't keep someone like you. Go back to the Chu Manor yourself."

Hearing his words, the surrounding crowd gasped in uproar. No one expected Lu De's punishment to be so severe – direct expulsion from school.

Given Lu De's power and his position in the academy, no one doubted that he could enforce this.

Hidden in the crowd, Hong Xingying sneered inwardly. As the saying goes, a villain becomes arrogant when they succeed. Now, he's finally getting his comeuppance, right? Expulsion from the academy would be a huge disgrace. The Chu family valued their reputation above all else; by then, Lord and Madam Chu would certainly not let him off lightly.

His father had specifically sought him out and warned him a few days ago. To avoid making things difficult for his father, he had become more cunning and no longer directly confronted Zu An. Instead, he focused his energy on cultivating and improving himself.

He was cultivating today when he suddenly heard the commotion. Everyone rushed to see what was happening, and he followed out of curiosity. Seeing Zu An basking in glory made him feel as if he had eaten dirt. Just as he was about to leave, he witnessed this dramatic turn of events and couldn't help but feel utterly delighted, resolving to add two extra dishes to his lunch at the cafeteria to celebrate.

Yuan Wendong, on the other side, shared the same sentiment. For years, he had been so spirited and dazzling in the academy, and had just broken through to the fifth rank. He was about to make a spectacular debut, but instead, he fell into Zu An's hands.

In truth, he wouldn't have reacted so strongly if he had lost to a master, but to be defeated by a waste whom he had always looked down upon—that feeling of humiliation was truly worse than death.

When he had just arrived, he saw Zu An showing off again, which made his teeth itch with anger, and he considered going out to teach him a lesson. However, he noticed Pei Mianman mixed in with the crowd. Remembering his previous humiliating defeat, he could easily imagine that if he went to confront Zu An, the shameless fellow would undoubtedly flaunt his reliance on a woman again. He had no choice but to forcefully stop himself.

He had been sulking, but Lu De's appearance caused the situation to take a dramatic turn, immediately dispelling the gloom in his heart.

Zu An saw the sporadic rage values coming from Hong Xingying and Yuan Wendong in the background, thinking to himself that these guys were truly persistent ghosts. However, he didn't have time to deal with them now. Just as he was about to reply to Lu De, Chu Huanzhao had already jumped out first:

"Dean, you're going too far! You're expelling my brother-in-law just for this? He didn't gamble inside the school, and besides, was that really gambling with that arithmetic teacher? The agreement was proposed by that Mr. Li, so why aren't you punishing him?"

Seeing her face flushed with anger, Zu An couldn't help but give an inward thumbs-up. His sister-in-law truly cared for him; those seven lashes of the Wailing Whip hadn't been endured in vain.

Lu De said blandly, "Yang Wei, despite being a teacher and a role model, gambled privately with a student. He is hereby expelled from Brightmoon Academy. Do you have anything more to say?"

Hearing this news, the classroom immediately erupted again. Although Yang Wei's bet stated that the loser would automatically leave the academy, that was merely a verbal agreement. If he had been shameless enough, he could have stayed. But now, with the academy officially expelling him, the situation was completely different. Not only would Yang Wei be unable to return, but it was also unlikely that he would ever be hired as a teacher by academies in other counties.

Chu Huanzhao was about to say more, but Lu De glanced at her. "Speaking of which, I haven't settled accounts with you yet regarding how you colluded with others to deceive me at the school gate earlier."

Under his hawk-like gaze, Chu Huanzhao instantly felt a pang of guilt. She was still young, after all, and dared not utter another word.

Zu An suddenly realized. No wonder he always felt this guy was deliberately targeting him; it was because of that incident! But this was simply too petty.

At this moment, Shang Liuyu, who had been standing by, spoke up, her expression somewhat cold: "According to the Dean's meaning, will I, who served as a witness to their bet, also be punished?"

"Teacher Shang, you exaggerate. You were simply trying to uphold fairness, so of course, you are not included." Lu De tried his best to put on a smile as he looked at her, but combined with the few stubborn strands of hair remaining on his bald head, his appearance was hardly flattering.

"Tsk~" A chorus of jeers arose from the surroundings. Of course, they only dared to make sounds of disapproval; they wouldn't dare voice their true thoughts.

But just because they didn't dare, didn't mean no one else would. At that moment, a voice rang out:

"Oh my, Dean, your words truly show us what double standards look like."

Zu An blinked. The voice was delicate and sweet, his first reaction being that it should belong to a great beauty, but something felt off.

He keenly noticed that Lu De, who had been like a grim-faced deity, twitched his face upon hearing the voice. It wasn't just him; many male students in the field instinctively swallowed, some even trembling slightly. The female students, however, seemed much more normal.

Next, a strong fragrance permeated the air. It was so overwhelmingly sweet that Zu An even wondered if this world also had a "Fragrant Princess."

Immediately afterward, a slender figure came into view, dressed in white like snow, with long hair falling over their shoulders, delicate eyebrows, eyes like peach blossoms, and an exquisitely beautiful face. If this person wasn't a man, they would surely drive countless people insane.

In terms of looks, perhaps only Xie Xiu, whom he had met before, could compare. Although Xie Xiu had a feminine appearance and delicate features, interacting with him revealed him to be a true man.

However, the person before him exuded a feminine aura, making it difficult to determine their gender.

Especially when walking, their arms were unconsciously bent and held in front of their chest, and their hips swayed, making them appear even more like a woman.

"Who is this person?" Having experienced an age of information explosion in his previous life, Zu An had seen all sorts of strange and disturbing things online, like that magician's effeminate son, EJ-chan, who was far more disgusting than this. At least this person was good-looking. So, he wasn't as flustered as others; instead, he was more curious about their identity.

However, Wei Suo had long since hidden away and couldn't answer his question. Instead, Shang Liuyu, who was closest to him, quietly told him, "This person is Bai Susu, an academy teacher responsible for teaching cultivation. The Yellow Class has fewer cultivation lessons, and you've only been here for a few days, so it's normal that you haven't seen him."

"Bai Susu..." Zu An's expression involuntarily turned strange. What a waste of a name.

"Oh my~" Lu De mimicked Bai Susu's tone from moments ago, then spat twice with a look of disgust. "Can't a grown man stop being so sickeningly effeminate?"

"Just now you were so gentle and polite to little sister Shang, and now you're so rude to me?" Bai Susu "pouted charmingly." "What, am I any less beautiful than little sister Shang?"

"Ugh~"

Finally, someone in the crowd couldn't stomach it and quickly retreated.

Shang Liuyu's usually serene smile stiffened slightly; clearly, she wasn't particularly comfortable being compared to this person.

Lu De's face darkened, and he snorted, "Mr. Bai, this doesn't concern you. Don't go looking for trouble."

"Oh, my, my, what are you saying?" Bai Susu reached out as if to playfully hit Lu De. If they had a handkerchief in hand, they would have looked exactly like a courtesan soliciting customers in a brothel. "They are my students too, so how is this not my business?"

Zu An blinked. He could tell now: this Bai Susu clearly had a long-standing disagreement with Lu De. This "powerful connection" was one he needed to hold onto tightly in the future.

However, thinking of his "effeminate" demeanor, Zu An couldn't help but swallow. This guy wouldn't like men, would he? Wouldn't that mean he'd covet Zu An's good looks?