Yi Junhao followed Mei Zhixuan's footsteps to the desk. Following the direction of his finger, he stretched out a pair of large, well-defined, and slender hands to gently pick up the two sheets of paper on the desk and carefully read them aloud one by one by candlelight.

"The true dragon emerges from the sea, the spiritual realm is unified, the phoenix rises from the ashes, reborn from the flames, life is death, and death is life."

"The peach blossoms by the small shop are pink and beautiful, and the willows along the street are green and wispy."

Then, she slowly raised her eyes to look at Mei Zhixuan's face, feigning confusion as she asked, "What is this?"

“Your Highness may not know this, but I heard it from a seemingly profound Taoist priest in a green robe. I feel there is a great mystery in his words, but I have not been able to understand it yet. I wonder if Your Highness has any insights into this?” Mei Zhixuan stood beside him with one hand behind his back and asked in a pained tone.

Upon hearing this, Yi Junhao was momentarily stunned. He turned his gaze back to the powerful handwriting on the paper in his hand, seemingly still pondering it, but inwardly he was making a decision: "Should I tell him about what happened at the City God Temple? I've always heard that Dongning Kingdom is incredibly wealthy and militarily powerful, currently the most powerful of the four kingdoms on the Lingkong Continent. The old king of Dongning is already past his prime, and this Mei Zhixuan is young, promising, and elegant—seemingly more suitable to succeed him as a wise ruler than the legendary extravagant and debauched second prince. Now, he's about to get married. If what the old monk said is true, could it be that he and the Princess of Xiqin are the dragon and phoenix with the power to unify the four kingdoms of the Lingkong Continent?!"

As he was pondering, Mei Zhixuan, seeing that he remained silent for a long time, whispered twice in his ear, "Your Highness, Your Highness..."

Yi Junhao suddenly looked up at him and saw Mei Zhixuan glancing out the window before smiling faintly at him and saying, "It's late, Your Highness, why don't you rest here for the night? We can discuss this later. However, Your Highness must take the matter of finding the person to heart and act quickly. Is that alright?"

“Alright!” Yi Junhao said after thinking for a moment, and then put the words in his hand back on the desk.

At this moment, Mei Zhixuan called out to the guards outside the door: "Someone, take His Highness the Crown Prince to rest and serve him well!"

"Yes." Two guards dressed in black, with their hair tied up and swords at their waists, entered through the door. One of them walked out with Yi Junhao.

The other of Mei Zhixuan's close guards quickly went over and gently closed the door, then returned to his side and asked in a deep voice, "Your Highness, are you really determined to cooperate with the Crown Prince of Nan'an?"

In the candlelight, Mei Zhixuan's face instantly lost all its smile. He did not answer the guard's question, but instead put his hands behind his back and gradually narrowed his deep, piercing eyes to look at the words that Yi Junhao had put back on the desk, revealing an unfathomable expression...

That night.

After a long and arduous journey, Long En finally crossed the border between Xi Qin and Nan An, arriving at Xi Qin Academy, the most famous academy in Xi Qin and even the entire Ling Kong Continent, located at the southernmost border of Xi Qin.

Xi Qin Academy faces south and is a scenic mountain forest built against the mountain. The academy’s main gate is a single gate with double eaves, and the four characters “Xi Qin Academy” are hung on the gate with a magnificent horizontal plaque.

The academy buildings are all uniformly white-walled and blue-tiled, with ancient trees casting their shade in front of the gates and a stream murmuring softly. The entire academy appears extremely quiet and solemn, with pavilions and courtyards bearing witness to the vicissitudes of time hidden among the towering, verdant ancient trees.

To the southeast of the side gate of Xiqin Academy, at the foot of Zuoyi Mountain, there is a pavilion surrounded by steep cliffs and rushing streams.

At this moment, Long En was sitting alone on the stone bench inside, closing his eyes to rest, while patiently waiting for the appearance of a very important person.

A gentle breeze blew by, and in a daze, a wisp of longing rose up, and all the ups and downs of his past life, the bloodshed, the bitterness and suffering, all surfaced in his mind. If it weren't for the quietness here, he almost seemed to have forgotten it all, but how could he really forget?

It turns out that he was once a poor scholar from a remote mountain village, born into an ordinary family and living a somewhat frugal life. He lived a carefree life and was a boy who was loved by his parents.

In my childhood memories, my parents were always so respectful to each other, living in perfect harmony, getting up early to draw their eyebrows together, loving each other without a doubt. It seemed that they had never argued or raised their voices at each other, and the family lived together happily and contentedly.

The saying goes, "Those who excel in their studies will rise to official positions and take up government posts." All the misfortunes that followed stemmed from her father's imperial examination.

Because he didn't bribe the examiner with a large sum of money, his place was taken by someone else. In a fit of anger, the father went to confront the corrupt official, but unexpectedly, he was beaten dozens more times and had to be carried back home.

Seeing this, the young and beautiful mother, who usually stayed at home, was also furious and went to seek justice for her father. However, she never returned and was never heard from again.

Once her father's injuries had healed somewhat and he was able to get out of bed, he was determined to find her mother. However, several days later, he was found dead in the wilderness, his body almost entirely reduced to a pile of bones.

The once sweet and happy family was now left with only a seven or eight-year-old child, who was left destitute and had to beg on the streets, struggling to make ends meet, with no hope of tomorrow.

One day, a stranger who seemed to be someone important found him shivering in the snow on a street corner. The stranger took him to a luxurious restaurant he had never seen before and gave him the best food and drinks he had ever had.

Not only that, but they also meticulously arranged for people to teach him to read, write, and practice martial arts...

At that moment, he suddenly felt as if he were a wandering soul about to embark on his journey to the underworld. He must be about to die to have such a blissfully unreal feeling.

Then one day, he was suddenly told a shocking message by the mysterious man: "The reason you are required to study so hard is because one day in the future you will be the true master of this Western Qin land."

At that moment, he was truly stunned, and asked blankly, "But...why? Why me?"

The man coldly replied, "One day you will know. Prepare well! Let's wait together for this great opportunity to arrive."

So he really did try every means possible, even resorting to deception and fraud, to raise money everywhere, recruit soldiers, and carefully build up his reserves.

For a beggar who can't even afford three meals a day, has no home, and is struggling to find food and clothing, perhaps being able to cover his body with clothes and fill his stomach with food would be the greatest satisfaction in life. But fate has other plans for him to be a beggar who is not so simple.

He admitted that the many days and nights he had spent begging with his head down, suffering from hunger and cold, had worn him down to the point that he had almost forgotten who he was. He only knew that he was a pitiful, worthless beggar who could be bullied by everyone.

Yes, since there is a chance for him to become a superior person, even if he might lose his head, who would be willing to be a beggar who is chased and despised like a rat in the street, and who can be easily trampled underfoot!

...

The night was as dark as ink. Just as Long En was still immersed in his deep, dreamlike state, a mysterious man wearing a black cloak and a hood, walking with a staggering gait, suddenly appeared on a tree-lined path in the quiet West Qin Academy.

He walked along, carefully looking around at his surroundings, before heading straight out of the side gate of the academy and towards the pavilion.

Not long after, while Long En was still fast asleep, his expression shifting between light and shadow, he suddenly heard a familiar voice beside him, saying, "Young Master, Young Master..."

The moment he opened his eyes, the figure of the man in the black cloak, with his hood pulled up and his steps faltering, rushed forward and knelt down before him, excitedly saying, "This old servant greets the young master."

Long En quickly got up and helped him sit down beside him, smiling with concern, "Uncle Shou, it's been so many years, how have you been?"

"This old servant thanks you for your concern, young master. Thanks to you, young master, I have been doing well these past few years," the mysterious man said, wiping his eyes.

The man Long En referred to as Uncle Shou was the man of considerable influence who had reached out to him during his most impoverished, lonely, and helpless time, in that exceptionally cold winter when his young life seemed about to be taken away.

The two sat down side by side, and Long En took out a small black box, pushed it in front of Uncle Shou, and said, "This is a small token of my appreciation. I hope Uncle Shou will accept it."

Shoubo hurriedly reached out to decline, saying, "Young master is always so polite. This old servant really doesn't deserve it. This old servant is all alone and really doesn't need these material possessions. Young master should take these to do important things."

"It's alright, Uncle Shou, please accept it without worry. If you don't need it now, you can keep it for your retirement!" Long En insisted, pushing it back to him.

Seeing that he could never refuse, Uncle Shou reluctantly accepted the gift, saying, "Then this old servant thanks the young master for his reward."

Long En breathed a sigh of relief, smiled, and then asked with a puzzled look, "Why did Uncle Shou arrange our meeting in such a remote place as Xiqin Academy this time? Didn't we always meet in the capital city before?"

"well……"

Seeing his sighs and hesitation, Long En said, as if it were a habit, "Is it still inconvenient to say? In that case, I won't ask any more questions. This time, I wanted to ask Uncle Shou when we can finally start our uprising. Now, my brothers are getting impatient and restless. I'm afraid that if things drag on, complications will arise, and then it will be troublesome!"

Upon hearing this, Shou Bo took out a letter from his person and handed it to Long En, saying, "Young Master, please take a look at this first. This is specially prepared for you by the palace."

"What is this?" Long En quickly opened the letter...