On the second floor of the inn, in a room.

Everyone quietly digested Zhao Rong's words.

At this time, Gu Yiwu seemed to remember something and asked:

"Zi Yu, you said before that we will set off tomorrow morning and go straight to Hanjing... So you mean that we won't go to meet Zhou Dufu, who we haven't met yet?"

He nodded to himself and said:

"Well, that's good. We should make a choice between them as soon as possible. Besides, we were originally invited by Empress Dowager Dugu to perform the Fengshan ceremony. Now we know the situation clearly. Dugu and Li Mingyi are allies and now they really control the court of Dali. There is no need for us to waver. Our interests are consistent with Dugu's, so we can just do our best to help her perform the Fengshan ceremony."

Zhao Rong smiled and waved his hand.

"We don't need to go see Zhou Dufu on purpose, but we don't have to avoid seeing him either. We're leaving tomorrow to save time for the Fengshan ceremony, but that won't stop them from coming to us.

"Brother Yiwu, I don't think Zhou Dufu can sit still. Let's wait and see. Who knows if they are in the guest room next door. Why don't we go and knock on the door? Also."

Zhao Rong paused and smiled at Gu Yiwu, "Besides, who said that our interests are aligned with the Dugu family and we should do our best to help her?"

Upon hearing this, the burly scholar and other students frowned and looked at each other in bewilderment.

Wasn't the purpose of their trip down the mountain for the successful completion of the Fengshan Ceremony so that Meng Zhengjun would have to give them high scores?

And Dugu invited them to offer sacrifices to the young emperor. Could it be that she wanted to fail? How could they not help them with all their strength? Look, she has sent the gifts.

Gu Yiwu was really confused by his friend's words. He wanted to ask something with a bewildered look on his face, but at this moment, Zhao Rong spoke again.

He, who had enjoyed the company of two gorgeous fairies tonight, sighed and pounded his fists, saying angrily, "Hey, Mr. Zhou, why hasn't he come yet? I wonder if there are any beautiful fairies like the proud daughter of heaven in the Nanchen Palace."

Gu Yiwu and a group of students: "..."

Zhao Qianer: “!!!”

Zhao Rong smiled awkwardly and waved his hand at them, "Actually, I don't have any other intentions. I'm just curious and want to get to know you."

Gu Yiwu opened his mouth, looked at Zhao Rong who was sighing, and uttered: "Ziyu, people can't do this, at least they shouldn't."

Zhao Rong smiled for a while, then gradually straightened his face. He glanced at everyone and said leisurely:

“We deliberately stayed in Xingzi Town, not only to understand the current situation in Dali and the interests of various forces, but also for the most important reason.

"Achieving the former is only half of our goal, and it's just a by-product. The latter is our real purpose for coming here."

Zhao Rong paused and gave Gu Yiwu an expectant and encouraging look.

The burly scholar with thick eyebrows and big eyes frowned, and then suddenly realized something, "Zi Yu, you mean, the most important purpose of our coming here is... to get something for free!"

Zhao Rong's smile froze slightly, and the corners of his mouth that had just curled up could not help but twitch. He looked at Gu Yiwu in silence, and the next second, his face became stern and he said firmly, "No!"

"Not for free? Then why are you so enthusiastic about it tonight... OK, then what is it? Tzuyu, stop keeping me in suspense and tell me now!"

Everyone was confused and urged him on.

Zhao Rong felt that he shouldn't have gone through these Crouching Dragon and Phoenix modes with them, wasting his emotions. Oh, being invincible is so, so lonely...

He said directly: "Everyone, what is our status in coming to Dali?"

A student from the Hall of Justice analyzed, "We are here for an assessment, so we are... assessing students?"

"It's too small, the pattern is too small." Zhao Rong shook his head.

Gu Yiwu relaxed his brows at this time, nodded slowly, and realized: "In the eyes of the officials in the Dali court and the people, we represent Linlu Academy, the authority among the authorities of the Fengshan Ceremony..."

There was another more witty student who quickly summarized, "So we are the immortal messengers sent down the mountain by a powerful force, and we also like to get free stuff, so they have to come and show their respect."

Zhao Rong shook his head. This time he was not joking and explained seriously: "Everyone, freeloading is just a means, not an end."

Then, without waiting for his classmates to react, he changed the subject and agreed:

"You are right. The identity of the Great Immortal Family's Immortal Envoy is our role on the chessboard of Dali. If we want to maintain the greatest influence, make all parties afraid to please us, and influence the direction of the situation in Dali, we must maintain this role. In the eyes of everyone in Dali, there cannot be the slightest deviation.

"As for what we really think in private, that's another matter. But we can't show it now, so that they can find out the truth. This is the case until the Fengshan ceremony is successfully held."

Gu Yiwu was dazed and concluded:

"So we must be impartial at first? At least we should act like that on the surface. Then let those who have interests to pursue come to us and seek our support. In the end, they will be manipulated by us at will like tonight?"

Suddenly, another student from the Hall of Justice spoke up in a calm tone:

"Mr. Zhao, I have a question. Although this is the case, as students of Mochi, we are the ones who will be conducting the Fengshan Ceremony of Dali as part of our monthly assessment. I'm sure the people in Dali should have heard about this clearly. How can we hide our true identity from them?"

Zhao Rong raised his eyebrows.

At this moment, Gu Yiwu nodded in agreement with his colleague's question, and asked in confusion:

"And Ziyu, why did you accept Fairy Su and Fairy Luo tonight? You may be romantic, but you are being irresponsible. According to what you just said about our roles, doesn't this damage our image of being upright and impartial?"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Rong looked around and curled the corners of his mouth slightly.

He first looked at the student who had raised the question, with an admiring look and a half-smile on his face, and asked back:

"Who says that as students taking the exam, we can't be impartial about the Fengshan Ceremony? Do we have to get high scores in the exam? Can't we just not care?"

It's obvious that he has never been a bad student. In this regard, Brother Yushu has done a good job. Well, the days of slacking off with Brother Yushu are really nostalgic. I miss him for the fortieth day...

Zhao Rong narrowed his eyes, leaned forward slightly, and looked at everyone:

"And precisely because we don't care, we are not in a hurry to Fengshan Dali. Whoever wants to be anxious can be anxious. Anyway, we will definitely not be the most anxious one. Right under the noses of the various forces in Dali, we will travel slowly and leisurely to visit Xingzi Town and drink wine at Zuixianlou...

"We who are not in a hurry can just wait slowly and see who gets anxious first. If, on the contrary, we rush to Hanjing, we will expose our true colors, and the enemies and friends will be naturally divided. Moreover, they are the local tyrants hiding in the dark, and we will definitely be confused." He shook his head.

At this moment, Zhao Rong became the focus of everyone in the room. His words were like an invisible big hand, grabbing their gazes and making them stare at him.

“…Moreover, a great man once said that human nature is cheap, and it is difficult to cherish things that are easily obtained.

"The more you approach them and help them enthusiastically, the more suspicious or indifferent they will become. If you keep them hanging, and let them come to you and beg you, but you just don't let them go, and let them scratch their heads and beg you, then when they finally get the help, they will be more cautious and cherish it. After it's done, they will be even more grateful and remember your kindness forever."

Zhao Rong, sitting on the chair, chuckled, leaned to the other side, and supported his chin with his other hand.

He paused and looked around the room. Gu Yiwu and the others were either frowning in thought or having a sudden epiphany.

"Hiss, that makes sense. Ziyu, which great man is this sage who said this? He actually said such wise words." Gu Yiwu's eyes widened.

"Well, to be honest, it's me." Zhao Rong looked a little embarrassed.

Everyone in the room: The great man is actually you!

"Brother Yiwu, thank you for your praise. I don't deserve it." Zhao Rong cupped his hands.

Don't you dare to accept the title? You are a great man, so why wouldn't you dare to accept the title...

Gu Yiwu's face was filled with black lines.

After letting everyone digest it for a while, Zhao Rong cast his calm eyes, like a three-foot-long sword, at Gu Yiwu and asked again with interest:

"Who said that people who do official business must maintain an upright attitude and not take advantage of others for free?

"We try hard to be upright people in their eyes and maintain our so-called impartial authority, but this is a self-defeating burden, making all parties feel that we are impartial and incorruptible and difficult to deal with. This is contrary to our ultimate goal."

Gu Yiwu straightened his back and said, "Ziyu, you mean..."

Zhao Rong turned around and looked at everyone:

“I just said that whether it’s freeloading or the initial stance of doing things impartially, they are just means, not ends.

"We are here as envoys from the academy, and we are neutral authorities in the Fengshan Ceremony. Why should we be so foolish as to take sides in public?

"And secretly, no matter how many forces they are, no matter what grudges they have, we don't care, and we welcome them to contact us, give gifts, and express their interests.

"Which of them wants the Fengshan Ceremony to succeed, which one wants it to fail, or some other weird result? They can speak freely. We will just listen with a smile and figure it out. Then we can gradually give them some vague and ambiguous 'definite answers'. However, until the Fengshan Ceremony is successfully completed and the truth is revealed, we will not completely lean towards any side."

Zhao Rong opened the palm of one hand, reached forward, and grabbed with force through the air.

"Just like this, balance all the forces and keep them from doing anything rash. During this process, we only need to prepare for the Fengshan ceremony with all our strength. The success or failure of the Fengshan ceremony will all be up to fate. This is the purpose of our trip.

"But they don't know this. They are outsiders to Fengshan. We are Confucian scholars who study rituals and are experts in their eyes. But in fact, we are not sure.

"Whether it's the Dugu clan, Zhou Dufu, Li Mingyi, or some other messy forces, in order not to offend us, they want us to completely side with their enemies. They dare not disrupt us while we are preparing for the Fengshan Ceremony.

"As for their constant gift giving and emotional talks in private, we can give them some light hints or promises according to the situation. Who knows, they may even volunteer to provide us with some help, so that the Fengshan event will go more smoothly."

Gu Yiwu and other classmates' eyes lit up and they couldn't help but look at each other.

They all saw the amazement in others' eyes.

Zhao Rong rested his chin on his hand and said slowly:

“In short, all of our actions in this Dali Fengshan have only one guiding principle – jumping back and forth!

"Whether they are enemies or friends, we will know at the last moment. However, by then, we will probably all be back to the academy with Meng Zhengjun, so it doesn't matter what happens to them."

After listening with bated breath, Gu Yiwu looked at Zhao Rong deeply.

Most of the people in the room were like this.

Zhao Rong was slumped in a chair, sitting in an awkward position. Behind him, the selfless and selfless fairy Zhao was concentrating on giving him a gentle massage.

The sight of the love-struck fairy Zhao taking care of her lover wholeheartedly often made them sigh and feel envious of someone else.

At this time, the burly scholar raised his hand and rubbed his face, then he let out a long breath, and said with a slightly worried tone:

"Tzuyu, your plan is really ingenious. Sigh, I am not as good as you... However, for this kind of attitude swing, it is difficult to get the best of both worlds. If the relationship is not handled well once, it will lead to serious consequences and even put us in danger."

Zhao Rong nodded, then shook his head.

His face was calm, and his tone was calm as well. "So, I will be in charge of this matter. I will be solely responsible for handling the relationship and communication with them."

Gu Yiwu and the others finally figured out some of the context of what happened tonight, especially the so-called freeloading. Looking at the young scholar with lowered eyes in front of them, they sighed and seemed to be hesitant to speak.

Gu Yiwu: "Ziyu."

A group of students from the Justice Hall: "Mr. Zhao..."

Zhao Rong lowered his eyes and suddenly smiled, interrupting them as they were about to say something:

"Look, everyone. The Empress Dowager Dugu and Prince Li Xian actually sent me a beauty. A pretty beauty, an interesting beauty... Well, it suits my taste very well."

Everyone looked at each other in silence.

Zhao Rong smiled and said slowly:

"They have figured out my Zhao Ziyu's preferences. They know that I am a seven-foot-tall man who married into a woman's family to enjoy the life of a woman. I am probably very lustful. Now I sent the beauty to test her. I didn't expect that not only did I succeed in getting into her arms, but I, Zhao Ziyu, also shamelessly hugged the fairies and took advantage of them for free without even paying for a meal... They investigated very carefully."

He turned around and said to Gu Yiwu and the others in a joking tone:

"Tell me, if the Empress Dowager Dugu, who is the mother of the country in Hanjing, knew from the people in the Music Bureau that I, Zhao Ziyu, was a lustful and greedy person, would she be happy or worried? Or maybe it's both, with more of the former."

Everyone was speechless.

It turns out that Tzuyu is also acting... Tonight on the first floor of Zuixianlou, they were really competing with each other in acting skills.

Gu Yiwu sighed.

It's also 'business as usual'.

A gentleman who is stubborn and unyielding, and a cunning Confucian scholar who is greedy, lustful and eager for more. It goes without saying that in the eyes of all forces in Dali, the latter is obviously more to their liking.

We respect gentlemen who are upright and do things in a rigid manner, but most people stay away from such noble people because they are unyielding.

But he was just a cunning Confucian scholar who was unsatisfied, so everyone was not afraid of him. They even cursed him in their hearts but felt very friendly with him at the same time, because he was just making an estimate based on the price.

If the interests of the latter are given, everything can be negotiated. The fear is that the former will not even talk about it.

The burly scholar looked at Zhao Rong and pursed his lips.

Ziyu's current intention is to pretend to be the latter in order to delay time, ease the conflict, and buy time and space for the Fengshan ceremony.

How could he be taking advantage of the beauty for free? He was clearly defiled by taking advantage of the situation and taking the blame himself.

Because it is not so easy to receive a gift...after all, it is an unknown hidden danger.

So tonight he didn't let them accept gifts for free.

Gu Yiwu said sternly, "What if we accept the gift together? If something happens at the academy, we can just share the responsibility. What do you mean by taking the risk alone and removing all of us?"

He had a somewhat rough square face with some indignation. He turned his head away, pounded the table, and said in a deep voice:

"Since we took the initiative to stand up for you in this etiquette assessment, we have been sharing the difficulties and happiness together. How can we feel embarrassed when you make the decision alone?"

Zhao Rong couldn't help but look up, feeling a little warm in his heart.

He shook his head and said seriously:

"Brother Yiwu and the others don't have to blame yourselves. You came down the mountain because of me. I, Zhao Ziyu, have the responsibility to ensure that you pass the assessment smoothly. Otherwise, I will not be able to get over it... Well, I may have been a little inconsiderate this time, but now that things have come to this, there is no point in saying more. If there is a next time, I will definitely discuss it with you in detail."

Gu Yiwu and others still felt a little uncomfortable, sighed deeply, and finally had to give up.

Not long.

Gu Yiwu couldn't help but shook his head:

"Tzuyu, why has it come to this?"

Zhao Rong smiled, "This Dali is quite interesting. Let me, a vulgar and shameless Confucian scholar, have a good time with them."

Gu Yiwu sat upright, his face solemn, and said: "Zi Yu, you are not a greedy and lustful despicable scholar. They are short-sighted and do not know a real man. But in front of us, you must never say such things in the future."

This burly scholar spoke in a rare serious tone.

The students of Justice Hall followed suit.

Zhao Rong, who was just joking, was slightly stunned, restrained his smile and nodded slightly.

At this moment, the little girl's hand on his arm had stopped rubbing his shoulders for a long time.

Zhao Rong raised his right hand and covered her soft jade-like little hand.

Patted it lightly.

…

Soon, Zhao Rong and other students including Gu Yiwu discussed some matters concerning their departure tomorrow.

Then they went their separate ways.

Zhao Rong led the silent Xiao Qian'er back to the third floor...