William Bolton immediately felt enlightened the moment he saw Edward Grant.

It seemed… his reputation might just be saved.

With this thought, William Bolton's eyes grew brighter as he looked at Edward Grant, and he laughed heartily: "You came at the perfect time. Come on, let's go enroll in school."

"Enroll in school?" Edward Grant was so shocked his eyes nearly popped out. He exclaimed, "The two of us have been skipping school for half a month. William, have you gone mad…"

But William Bolton looked at him with a strange expression: "No way, no way, are there really people in this world who don't like studying?"

In the early morning, the city of Nanjing was shrouded in mist. The thin fog lingered, refusing to disperse, mingling with the morning dew and giving a sense of coolness.

William Bolton and Edward Grant rode in a carriage, its wheels rolling over the bluestone road.

Though it was still early, many people were already hidden in the mist, beginning their day's work.

The school where William Bolton and Edward Grant used to study was actually set in a secluded corner not far from the Confucian Temple. This was also the residence of the Imperial College's chief, Charles Howard. The courtyard had two sections, but since there weren't many noble sons coming to study, the school was only temporary, and Charles Howard's teaching took place in the front yard.

The Yongle Emperor deeply valued the education of his sons and nobles, so he specially decreed that the Imperial College's chief, Charles Howard, open an inner school here to recruit the sons of meritorious officials and nobles to study.

It was still very early, but a few boys had already arrived in twos and threes.

According to custom, at this time Charles Howard would be seated in the Minglun Hall, sitting steadily, while all the boys coming to study would file in and first pay their respects to Charles Howard.

When William Bolton and Edward Grant arrived, they immediately caused a stir. Clearly, these two were old hands, and their coming to school was as rare as the sun rising in the west.

William Bolton didn't mind at all. He entered the Minglun Hall and, imitating the others, bowed to Charles Howard: "Student William Bolton greets the honored teacher."

"William Bolton…" Charles Howard remained expressionless. This was the crown prince's brother-in-law, just another playboy. He had come to study for a few days before, but soon stopped coming.

Of course, Charles Howard didn't care. Most of these imperial relatives and sons of meritorious officials relied on their ancestors' merits to idle their lives away. His Majesty had ordered him to teach here, but no one really expected them to learn anything useful. As long as they didn't cause trouble for the people of Nanjing, that would be enough.

Charles Howard nodded woodenly.

From the start, Charles Howard was like a wooden post, showing no sign of joy or anger, his face utterly calm.

When seventeen or eighteen boys had arrived, Charles Howard finally said, "The time has come. There should be thirty-nine present, but only seventeen have arrived…"

Charles Howard didn't seem at all angry about the high absentee rate, remaining calm and composed.

Self-restraint—do you understand?

He couldn't manage this batch of students.

Without enough self-restraint, he would have died of anger long ago.

Charles Howard casually picked up a book from the tea table and said, "Today… we will still discuss the Book of Documents. In the Book of Documents: the meaning of arrogance, self-importance, and the consequences of going against the Way and losing virtue."

Charles Howard was like a moralist, and it seemed his favorite thing was to lecture these boys on the moral essays from the Four Books and Five Classics.

One by one, the boys began to doze off.

William Bolton's eyelids also started to droop.

Until the sound of a clapper startled William Bolton awake.

It seemed Charles Howard was even more eager for this sound than William Bolton. He said, "Alright, class is dismissed."

With that, he strode off without looking back.

Cheers immediately erupted in the Minglun Hall.

The boys all sought out their friends and began to chatter noisily.

William Bolton hadn't expected that he would actually be quite popular at school. A group of boys immediately gathered around him. Relying on his memory, William Bolton first recognized a short boy, Robert Bolton.

Robert Bolton said, "Brother Zhang, why did you come to school today?"

This Robert Bolton was, of course, obscure in history, but his father, Prince Zhang Yu of Hejian, was a famous general during the Yongle Emperor's campaign. Zhang Yu died in battle protecting the Yongle Emperor, who was deeply grieved and posthumously honored Zhang Yu as Prince of Hejian.

Robert Bolton was just Zhang Yu's youngest son. His elder brother, David Bolton, was now a deputy commander of the Five Armies Command, and besides that, his aunt was a favored concubine of the Yongle Emperor.

But this boy was still young and considered a junior at school. At this time, he most admired people like William Bolton who dared to skip school.

William Bolton grinned and said, "Of course I came to school to study. I want to master both the civil and military arts and become a useful person."

As soon as he finished speaking, Edward Grant had already pulled out his lacquer box from his sleeve and said, "Come, come, everyone, take a look at my cricket."

Everyone was immediately drawn to Edward Grant.

William Bolton shook his head and said, "What's so fun about crickets?"

Edward Grant, being William Bolton's best friend, immediately said, "What, William, do you have something more fun?"

William Bolton sighed and said, "These days, I've been studying at home…"

The boys all looked at him in disbelief.

William Bolton continued, "After studying at home, I suddenly had an epiphany. I realized, as imperial relatives, how can we just idle our lives away? We can't. We are meant to accomplish great things in the future."