Attending the Teacher Appreciation Banquet

Mrs. Thompson's death was the result of her own misdeeds; she brought it upon herself.

But that's only from the perspective of Lily Evans and Arthur Evans.

If you look at it from Henry Thompson's perspective, it's that someone else killed his mother.

"Now that Henry Thompson has become the Top Scholar and is entering officialdom, if he uncovers the truth behind Mrs. Thompson's death, what do you think he'll do?" Alexander Hayes said.

Lily Evans sat in her chair, never expecting that the mischievous little Zhang Zhaocai from back then would grow up to become today's mature Top Scholar, Henry Thompson.

Alexander Hayes patted Lily Evans on the shoulder and said, "Don't worry, my dear. With me here, he's just a civil official—he can't stir up much trouble. If he truly serves the people and does his job, let him be. But if he uncovers the truth and insists on revenge, as long as I'm around, there's nothing he can do."

Lily Evans responded with a quiet 'mm' and nodded.

With Alexander Hayes's influence at court, a scholar from a humble background like Henry Thompson couldn't possibly shake him.

Besides, now that Alexander Hayes has helped Emperor Jin ascend the throne and has earned the Emperor's trust, he's second only to the throne itself. For a mere Top Scholar to challenge him would be like an egg striking a rock.

Even though she understood this perfectly well, Lily Evans still felt uneasy.

After all her hard work, Phoenix Academy finally managed to produce a Top Scholar, but who could have guessed that he’d turn out to be a hidden time bomb? No one knows if he’ll explode—or when.

Henry Thompson is extraordinarily gifted and hasn’t done anything truly wicked, so Lily Evans can’t bring herself to make the first move against her own student.

Back when she handled Mrs. Thompson’s affair, Lily kept everything under wraps. She figured Henry Thompson wouldn’t be able to sniff out any clues. On second thought, she realized she was just borrowing trouble—worrying too much over nothing.

The next day, the Teacher Appreciation Banquet was held inside the Imperial City. Emperor Leonard the Enlightened graciously made an exception, clearing out the banquet hall in the Imperial Garden for the students to host their celebration.

And today, the chefs preparing the banquet were all from the Imperial Kitchen.

Emperor Leonard the Enlightened was giving both the students and Professor Jade Evans plenty of honor and respect.

At this moment, all the civil and military officials were singing Emperor Leonard’s praises, declaring that he honored teachers and valued learning—a true enlightened ruler of his time.

This time, the Teacher Appreciation Banquet wasn’t just for the top students of Phoenix Academy; even ministers joined in, and the event quickly turned into a grand literary gathering in the name of honoring teachers.

The stars of the day were the deans of Phoenix Academy and the Royal Academy of Mathematics—most notably Professor Jade Evans.