"What seems to be the problem?" Si Yinchuan asked, his heart pondering the dean’s attitude towards the incident.
If the problem fell on the cleanliness of the cafeteria, that would be the simplest and most feasible solution.
At most, the head chef of the cafeteria would suffer some grievances, and everyone else would be safe...
Worst case scenario, just compensate him afterwards.
Aren’t temps and head chefs the best scapegoats when things go awry?
It’s the international norm; that’s how everyone operates.
But if the dean is unwilling to admit that the problem was with the cafeteria’s hygiene, where did the problem arise?
If they don’t come up with a result here, it’ll be hard to explain to the Royal Family.
After all, the Eldest Prince had... an incident right on the spot.
If nobody had seen it, that would have been one thing.
They could have minimized the issue, as if it never happened.
But with so many eyewitnesses at the scene, it would be hard to cover it up.
What if the incident escalated? What then?
That man is the most likely future Emperor of the Phoenix Empire. When he secures the throne, what will he think of everything he experienced today at White Crane Academy...
He can’t do anything to Xuanyuan Mingjing, the Great Grandmaster, but what about me, his deputy dean? Is there only one fatal path left for me?
Which Emperor would tolerate such an incident?
Why do I feel like laughing when I think about it?
My natural reaction is probably what I fear most.
Xuanyuan Mingjing didn’t answer Si Yinchuan’s question but looked at him seriously and asked, "Has the Eldest Prince returned?"
"He has," Si Yinchuan said. "I had suggested that our academy’s doctor could examine him to find out what the problem was..."
"But the Eldest Prince insisted on leaving... I don’t know if he doesn’t trust our academy’s medical standards, or if... if he just needed more privacy."
"What’s their stance on this?" Xuanyuan Mingjing inquired.
"So far they haven’t shown any clear stance, but when the Imperial Guard left, they took away all the dishes and food the Eldest Prince had used, as well as the cups we used for drinking tea in the courtyard... The dean knows this... It seems they are going to have them tested..."
"Given what happened, the Royal Family will naturally conduct a thorough investigation..." Xuanyuan Mingjing said. "The Eldest Prince is also a Cultivator, and logically shouldn’t have such a severe physiological reaction..."
"Isn’t that the truth? No one expected this to happen before the meal. If I had known, I wouldn’t have let the Eldest Prince stay for a meal at the academy... Now that he has upset his stomach, our academy might bear the consequences..."
Xuanyuan Mingjing looked at Shen Xinglan and asked, "What do you think?"
"I find the incident quite fishy, but as a student, I do not know what caused it, and it wouldn’t be right for me to speculate without evidence," Shen Xinglan replied flawlessly.
He felt there was definitely something wrong, but as to what it was, without evidence, he could not guess.
Xuanyuan Mingjing nodded, then turned to Tang Fei and asked, "What about you? What do you think?"
"I think my senior brother is right; my thoughts are the same as his," Tang Fei said.
Walking with the wise, being repudiated by the foolish.
Shen Xinglan was extremely intelligent. Having no fresh insights of his own, he chose to echo Shen Xinglan’s opinions.
This way, he had answered his master’s question without making himself stand out too much.
Shen Xinglan gave Tang Fei a thoughtful look but said nothing more.
Xuanyuan Mingjing laughed and said, "You two are on the same page, that’s quite rare..."
Si Yinchuan looked at Xuanyuan Mingjing and asked, "Dean, what do we do now? If the Royal Family inquires..."
"They’ve taken the food and tea back for testing, haven’t they? Then let’s wait for the results from the Royal Family," Xuanyuan Mingjing responded.
"Perhaps, the Eldest Prince genuinely suffered a sudden bout of diarrhea? We can’t admit guilt and hand someone over before their side has even produced results... That wouldn’t be appropriate."
"Yes, Dean," Si Yinchuan replied respectfully.
Now that the dean had set the tone for the situation, Si Yinchuan breathed a sigh of relief.
After all, when the sky falls, there’s a tall person to hold it up...
"And, as much as possible, let’s maintain the dignity of the Royal Family," Xuanyuan Mingjing reminded.
"Yes, Dean. After the incident, I immediately instructed everyone in the cafeteria not to release any photos or videos related to the event, nor any text about the Eldest Prince... Otherwise, they’d be dealt with by school discipline."
"There’s no need to go to that extent. The Eldest Prince’s visit to the academy is a matter of political news... If you forbid them from releasing any information related to the Eldest Prince, isn’t that like saying ’here is the silver hidden’?"
"Dean, concerning those students... you know they are hard to manage. I fear they might hint at something in their words..."
"Just a hint of something in their text or pictures, and all sorts of speculation and rumors will start... At that time, we won’t be able to contain it..."
"You worry about these matters," Xuanyuan Mingjing stated.