Yang Chengning said, without a hint of embarrassment or breathlessness, "I was never cut out for studying; listening to those pedantic scholars drone on all day makes my head spin."
"I am naturally heathen and cannot bear the constraints of academia," Yang Chengxuan sheepishly admitted his shortcomings.
Looking past Yang Chengrong towards his other brothers, Yang Mengchen knew that as the eldest brother of the most senior branch, he bore a heavier sense of responsibility. He did not attend the academy in order to take care of the family. "What reasons do you all have?"
"The academy in town is full of officials' sons and wealthy gentlemen who look down on sons of farmers, often mocking and bullying us. The teachers turn a blind eye; we won't subject ourselves to such humiliation," Yang Chengyu said, his lips curling in undisguised disdain.
