Chapter 601 Rong Zhen: Ouyang Lianghan, are you trying to teach me how to do things?! [8k5-page compilation, please vote!]
What belongs to the Empress belongs to the Empress, and what belongs to the Primordial Sovereign ....
After Li Yu said this, Lady Rong and Old Yang fell silent for a moment.
Then, a hint of murderous intent suddenly rose in Rong Zhen's eyes, which were full of doubt and confusion.
Rongzhen did not understand why Li Yu, who had always been a law-abiding and good citizen of the Great Zhou, would do such a thing.
Even if Li Yu told her that he supported Li Zhengyan's rebel army, which was fighting under the banner of restoring Ligan, it would be better than being "completely baffled" like this.
At least Rongzhen could understand a little, which made her feel a bit better.
According to the logic of this classical era, if the monarch was truly tyrannical and the people were unfortunate, it would indeed mean that the divinely ordained monarchy had been lost, the state was in decline, and the fate of the nation was uncertain. The Nine Tripods could fall into the wrong hands, and the Mandate of Heaven was no more.
But new mandates, new dynasties, and new emperors will emerge.
In the eyes of the two men, who came from the violent institutions of the Great Zhou Dynasty and had long enjoyed the emperor's favor, the current emperor was the representative of the divine right of kings.
The monarch is the representative and supreme leader of the country, possessing supreme power.
Theocracy and monarchy were combined, forming an almost unbreakable feudal imperial power.
But this so-called "Yuanjun" belief can be met with a simple "no"...
This is one of the reasons why Ouyang Rong stepped forward to save Li Yu.
He was curious.
I'm curious about what kind of faith this Yuanjun has, that she has so many potential followers in this ancient land of Wu and Yue, and that she can rival the feudal imperial power of the Great Zhou Empress.
They even said things like, "What belongs to the Empress belongs to the Empress, and what belongs to the Yuanjun belongs to the Yuanjun."
Ouyang Rong sighed softly.
This Li Yu was a pleasant surprise for him today...
"Ouyang Lianghan, I don't understand, what are you trying to do?"
"Didn't I just say in the water dungeon that I would do my best to see if I could save the people under my jurisdiction and guide the lost sheep back to the right path?"
"I have already tried it, but it didn't work."
“I cannot stand by and watch as if it were none of my business.”
Inside the state prison, along a dark, narrow, and foul-smelling passageway.
After Ouyang Rong pulled Li Yu out of the water pit, he temporarily left the water prison and headed straight for the cell inside the main prison.
Rongzhen caught up and asked the handsome young man walking ahead with a dashing gait, her pretty face showing some confusion.
The two figures walked one in front of the other.
After a while, Rongzhen took the initiative to ask:
Do you have a problem with what I'm doing?
"No."
Ouyang Rong shook his head.
"So... when you were watching the waterboarding, you also felt pity?"
Rong Zhen's icy tone:
"I'm telling you, it's useless. I used to have some pity, just like you, but now I see that there's always a reason why someone is pitiful. Don't waste your time. In the end, you'll just end up dealing with them the same way I did."
Ouyang Rong remained calm:
"No, I'm not trying to correct him, I just want to have a chat. If possible, I'd like to see him off on his final journey, have a few drinks or something. That would be better than dying in this dark, watery dungeon."
"Is it meaningful? It's just a waste of your time."
"Maybe it will, maybe it won't. But if we don't do it, it definitely won't happen."
Rongzhen fell silent.
At this moment, the two arrived at the cell where the jailers were located.
Today, the prison guards were unusually attentive. Those on duty stood up straight, and the guards who went to deliver meals shouted loudly.
Everyone performed their duties diligently.
Facing Ouyang Rong and Rong Zhen passing by, these prison guards did not look at them, focusing solely on their sacred mission.
Ouyang Rong looked around, walked up to a guard on duty who was focused on browsing the roster, and patted him on the shoulder.
He asked in a friendly tone, "Excuse me for bothering you, but where are Li Yu's clothes and other belongings?"
"Ah... Oh, sir, please wait a moment."
The jailer hurriedly nodded, and before leaving, he glanced at Rong Zhen for instructions. The latter lowered her eyes and remained silent. The jailer then jogged away to retrieve the clothes of the most serious criminal at the very back of the prison.
For these jailers, today was truly unprecedented; someone actually managed to stand up and walk out of that water dungeon where death seemed certain.
In the past, people who went in always came out lying down.
"Thanks."
After receiving a small bundle containing Li Yu's clothes and personal belongings, Ouyang Rong bid farewell gently.
But before leaving, he pointed to the roster in the guard's hand, his tone a little embarrassed:
"Um, you're holding the book upside down."
On-duty jailer: ...
A moment later, leaving behind the red-faced jailer, Ouyang Rong picked up his small bundle and returned to the water prison with Rong Zhen.
On the way, Ouyang Rong asked:
"By the way, Lady Rong imprisoned Li Yu in the water dungeon. What will happen to his family?"
On the way back, Rong Zhen stopped following Ouyang Rong, turned her sleeves and walked forward without turning her head, saying:
"How do you think I will handle this?"
Ouyang Rong leaned back slightly and made a vertical palm strike gesture in front of him.
When Rong Zhen turned around and saw it, her chest heaved involuntarily.
"Alright, you'd better not fall into my hands. I'll follow your instructions next time too."
Ouyang Rong blinked:
“Ms. Rong has misunderstood. What I mean is to quietly break their shackles and chains. They are innocent. Release them quietly, without making a big fuss. Hmm, only deal with Li Yu and ignore them.”
Rongzhen's face was stern:
"Are you teaching me how to do things?"
Ouyang Rong replied seriously, "How dare I?"
Rongzhen fell silent for a moment.
After a while, her somewhat deep voice rang out in the dimly lit passageway where their footsteps echoed.
"This time it was Li Yu's fault alone, along with his deceased wife. The others in the Li family didn't know that the distinguished guests from Yunmengze that their master had invited back would be traitors."
"They weren't even accomplices; they were just innocent bystanders... Although the Great Zhou law stipulated that they should be sent to the Jiaofangsi (a government-run entertainment district) as slaves..."
Ouyang Rong sighed, "That's true. It's really tough to get by these days. Even distant relatives and friends might be wiped out along with their entire family one day..."
"Don't ask anymore. I will arrange everything properly. Don't worry. If you directly petition them, things will only get worse and harder to handle."
“That makes sense. Lady Rong is indeed more experienced.”
"There were selfish motives."
Rongzhen corrected.
"This is a selfless act of love. It is not selfishness; Lady Rong is a kind-hearted person."
“Love?” Rong Zhen frowned slightly. “What a strange word. What does it mean?”
"It means... Lady Rong has a cold exterior but a warm heart."
Rongzhen, who was walking in front, seemed to have her head lowered a little.
“Ouyang Lianghan, don’t talk nonsense. I’ve noticed that you’ve been pushing your luck lately, you know that?”
"Okay, I'll definitely change it."
Ouyang Rong was very serious.
Upon hearing this, Rongzhen felt a surge of anger.
Does this guy really listen to what he says, even though he always agrees?
The two walked in silence for a while.
Rong Zhen suddenly spoke, her tone stiff and aloof:
“Ouyang Lianghan, I have noticed that you seem to have lost all the respect you once had for me. This is unacceptable, it must not be allowed.”
Ouyang Rong said helplessly, "Perhaps we've become more familiar, so it's inevitable that we speak more casually. Besides, isn't Lady Rong the same way with me? If we need to change, we should change together."
Rongzhen immediately fell silent.
After a while, a faint sound, squeezed out between teeth, could be heard:
"You...you're going too far."
Ouyang Rong shook his head and asked proactively:
"What do you think about the matter of Yuanjun? Didn't you say that Yue Chuzi is the successor to Yuanjun? She is considered half Yuanjun in the eyes of most people in the Wu and Yue regions. She has a noble status and can be considered half a god."
"Given the current situation, if you really arrest her, once the news gets out, who knows how many more people like Li Yu will come to cause trouble. What will you do then?"
Rong Zhen frowned:
"If he were really a god, how could we have caught him? He's just playing tricks. You southerners are superstitious about ghosts and gods, but I don't believe in that."
She paused, then added:
"If we catch this woman later, and those people really dare to cause trouble, we'll show them what this so-called god is all about. We'll let them know that the so-called Yue Chuzi, the first successor of the Yuanjun, is just an ordinary girl."
"This might also help to eliminate some of the superstitious beliefs about ghosts and gods in your ancient Wu and Yue region."
Ouyang Rong gently shook his head:
"The power of the Primordial Lord does not lie in whether or not he possesses divine power. You are mistaken; that is not how it should be viewed."
Rong Zhen frowned and immediately turned around:
"Then how do we see it?"
Just then, the two arrived at the water dungeon.
Ouyang Rong remained silent.
At the entrance to the water dungeon, Old Yang was sitting under an oil lamp, on the same stool that Ouyang Rong had just sat on inside.
Ouyang Rong noticed that Old Yang had a blue-covered book lying flat on his knees. In the dim light, his only remaining eye was slightly narrowed, its gaze fixed on the book.
He seemed to be concentrating intently.
After hearing the footsteps of Ouyang Rong and Rong Zhen returning, Old Yang immediately put away his book and stuffed it into his sleeve.
Ouyang Rong glanced at the cover of the book and saw the words "Fu Xing" written on it. Ouyang Rong had some recollection of it; it should be a Legalist classic, which was relatively niche.
However, whether it's niche or mainstream isn't the key point; the key point is...
The art style is a bit strange.
A one-eyed old man who is skilled in waterboarding and enjoys torturing prisoners with perverse methods, and who is suspected to have been a cold-blooded and ruthless official, likes to secretly read the classics in his spare time.
No, you're all taking the postgraduate entrance exam today, right?
Ouyang Rong glanced at the expressionless, one-eyed old man who stood up at the door to silently greet them.
He shook his head gently.
Ouyang Rong suddenly continued:
"Lady Rong, to put it more practically and simply, what makes Yuanjun truly remarkable is the immense power that comes with her status."
"that power?"
"Yes, it's power, not her own divine strength. The former comes from others, from the consensus of millions of people."
What does that mean?
"What does Lady Rong think of the power of the imperial court, or rather, the power we currently hold, compared to hers?"
"How can unorthodox, southern-based, and trivial worship of minor deities compare to the nation's most important artifacts?"
"No, no, no, when comparing power, we can't just look at the scope, we also have to consider the depth, after all, we are now standing on the former territory of Wu and Yue."
The three did not enter the water dungeon; they stopped at the entrance.
Rong Zhen and Old Yang saw Ouyang Rong raise a finger, gently wave it, look at them, and speak leisurely:
"There are three kinds of power, which I believe can be divided into three levels, from the outside to the inside."
“The most superficial kind of power is like ours. This kind of power is based on a set of clear legal provisions. The people obey because of their recognition and fear of imperial power and national law. It is maintained by simple and brutal punishments. It is coercive.”
"The power we hold in our official positions is just that—a hat. We exercise this power based on the laws on paper."
"This kind of superficial right is easy to circumvent, because any rule written on paper can be found to be exploited in a reasonable way. So it is not the most powerful."
"The second level of power is more powerful. It is based on some ancient traditions or default rules. It is difficult to develop, but the cost of maintaining it is very low, making it suitable for a one-time solution."
"These are unwritten rules, such as some unspoken rules in officialdom. Everyone knows they exist, but no one dares to say they do. Since they are intangible, they are even more powerful because those who possess this power have the final right of interpretation."
"It's not like a written rule. Everyone is afraid of its intangible nature, fearing the consequences of being the first to break it."
"If the punishment is unknowable, then its power is unpredictable; that's what it means... But the third one is even more powerful."
Ouyang Rong spoke softly, then paused, gazing at the torches hanging on the wall, lost in thought.
Rong Zhen listened intently and eagerly pressed for an answer:
"You haven't told me what the third one is yet."
Ouyang Rong uttered two words:
“The Sage, and... the Primordial Sovereign.”
Rong Zhen frowned, and saw him turn his head:
"Lady Rong, do I need to say too much? Following the principle that the intangible is more powerful than the tangible, the power built by faith and worship is naturally the most powerful."
"It's complicated to explain, so I'll just mention one special feature of this power... The first two types of power are ultimately coercive, while the third type is not coercive; it subtly influences or controls people's thoughts and ideas."
"The hardest thing in the world is to put your thoughts into other people's heads and get them to accept your reasoning from the bottom of their hearts. Everyone says that it is difficult to reason, but the truth is that many people do not have the right to 'put their thoughts into other people's heads'."
"And those who possess this power are extremely rare in the world. Lady Rong must have heard of them... They became sages, kings, and supreme rulers because they possessed this power; that is who they are."
"This power is completely invisible. Scholars throughout history, court officials, common people, and even the people of Wu and Yue today, without anyone forcing them, naturally accept the concepts of sages, kings, and supreme rulers. These beings do not need to say much; believers will naturally help them debate the scriptures. Their minds, subtly influenced, will spontaneously fill in the gaps in their understanding."
"Like the supreme good water in the mouth of the Dao Ancestor, it takes shape upon encountering things and encompasses everything... No, it goes even further, it is an invisible energy, which people breathe and see as normal... Lady Rong, after seeing Li Yu today, are you sure you still want to underestimate Yuanjun and the female cultivators of Yunmeng? Underestimate a hidden sect that has been preaching in the Wu and Yue lands for a thousand years, and whose lifespan is longer than all the secular dynasties after the Qin Dynasty combined?"
The girl in palace attire had opened her eyes wide at some point, staring at his calm face.
Could such "expensive knowledge" concerning the nature of power be spoken in such a dark and damp dungeon?
Judging from Ouyang Lianghan's expression, it seemed as if he had said it casually without any restraint. His expression was so casual that it was as if he found the old topic boring.
Not only was Rong Zhen shocked, but Old Yang, who had only one eye left, stared intently at Ouyang Rong.
Ouyang Rong waved his hand, said no more, and walked into the water dungeon.
A short while later, Li Yu was brought out, and no one stopped him.
Before leaving, Old Yang suddenly said:
“Scholar Ouyang, did you once serve in Longcheng? Is there a Butterfly Stream there, and a Di Gong Sluice Gate upstream?”
"That's right, how did you know you'd been there before?"
Ouyang Rong nodded.
Old Yang didn't answer, so he asked again:
"I heard that a broken-wing canal has been built there now? And the Di Gong Sluice Gate has also been demolished, is that right?"
"Um."
Ouyang Rong said in a gentle tone:
"It looks like you've been there before. Now you have the chance to revisit it. Dragon City is different now; everyone who goes there will love it."
Old Yang looked somewhat dazed, and it was unclear whether he had heard anything or not.
Ouyang Rong didn't care and left with Li Yu.
Looking at his retreating figure, Rongzhen hesitated, wanting to say something but holding back.
Old Yang suddenly said:
"Let the junior scholar give it a try."
"You trust him that much?"
Rongzhen asked.
Old Yang whispered:
“He is different from us. My punishments and the violence of Lady Rong, in his words, are merely to maintain the power of the first level.”
“This junior scholar is very wicked. He didn’t tell you, Lady Rong, what level of power he holds. In any case, he is definitely different from us. This junior scholar is very much like the Master from back then.”
"Master Di?"
Old Yang nodded.
Rong Zhen frowned and asked:
"Does he resemble a master? What's your opinion...?"
Old Yang suddenly said:
"My teacher used to ask me what I thought."
"How can I see it? I'm just an executioner who only knows how to carry out executions, how would I know how to see it? But the Master just likes to ask me."
"During my years in Nanjing, I read some books and thought about some things before I was finally able to truly see the city."
Rong Zhen glanced at him sideways: "Are you very familiar with Master Di?"
"Yes. When the Master was demoted, I and my colleagues escorted him, and we met on the way."
"As cruel officials escorting him, shouldn't you be... supervising his imprisonment?"
"Yes, that's why he's the real teacher."
The old man's eyes showed reminiscence:
"At first, my impression of him was nothing more than that of an old-fashioned Confucian scholar who only knew how to flaunt his power and was pedantic and bound by etiquette."
"There are quite a few old officials like this in the court. They like to talk to us about morality and ethics, and they call us notorious cruel officials. They say that when the history of this dynasty is written, we will have to write down all the bad deeds... During that period, we didn't know how much blood of these kinds of people was on our hands."
"The Master was very honest and cooperated with us from beginning to end. At that time, some colleagues in the escort team publicly mocked him as a cowardly old dog, but he remained calm."
"I only had a general impression of him because I knew he was capable of getting things done. This was evident from the fact that the emperor did not kill him like he did other former officials who had left the capital. So at that time, I simply left him a way out."
"When I first sent Master Fu to Longcheng, I thought he would be disheartened. I heard that this was the place where Tao Yuanming, a hermit of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, once lived a life of leisure in the countryside hundreds of years ago."
"To send a powerful prime minister who wants to get things done to such a small place, such a disparity would be disheartening for anyone."
“This remote Longcheng County is 3,000 miles away from the capital.”
"But the Master said to us at the time that it was just right, that his return was just in time."
“I could tell that he was genuinely happy when he looked at the thatched houses on both sides of Butterfly Creek.”
"I'm puzzled. What's so good about appointing a prime minister as the magistrate of a tiny county?"
"The Master said very seriously, 'Everyone says he is the only one in the south, but to be honest, he has spent most of his life in the north, in Chang'an and Luoyang, rather than in the south. It's good to be back now...'"
"However, I didn't stay for very long. Two days later, I heard that the flood was severe and the Master was busy. The last time I saw him before I left, he looked worried and tired, so I said goodbye in a hurry."
"To be honest, we had ulterior motives during our stay. Before we left, a high-ranking official in the Imperial Prison privately warned us that if this tutor did not behave himself and complained on the way or after taking office, a new charge would appear on the Emperor's desk within a few days..."
Old Yang straightened his clothes, sat up straight, and looked as if he had returned to his youth:
"I was the one who picked up the Master on the day he was exonerated and returned to the capital."
"The city was deserted as people lined the streets to see him off for miles and miles. Let's leave aside these old-fashioned stories about the situation when he left office."
Before mounting his horse and leaving, the Master said with regret that he didn't have much time and could only build a sluice gate, which was only a temporary solution.
"The floods in Jiangnan can't be resolved in a short time. I really hope someone can help him dismantle this sluice gate in the future."
"I'm curious, wouldn't removing the sluice gate cause a flood? Why would you remove it if there's a good reason?"
“I remember that at the time, the Master spoke in a very humble and ordinary tone.”
"Those who dare to demolish must have the courage to manage the floods better, or have already managed them better."
"And the only thing that can be better than Di Gongzha, who took the path of treating the symptoms to its end, is the method of treating the root cause."
"If not, even if it collapses, the Di Gong Gate will be rebuilt again and again. Later generations always rely on the old paths to success. As long as it's still usable, what's wrong with patching it up? Hmm, that's called the ancestral laws cannot be changed... At this point, the Master seemed to smile slightly."
"Therefore, dismantling the Di Gong Gate is certainly better than holding onto it."
"The Master also said that he hoped the sluice gate could be dismantled in his lifetime."
"Although most of us thought it was impossible when we heard it, at least not in our lifetime."
"But now, you know what happened in Longcheng County, Lady Rong."
Old Yang's tone was full of emotion.
Rongzhen remained silent, her sleeves tucked behind her back, standing alone.
Old Yang touched his thinning hair and his one-eyed eye:
"On the way back, I asked the Master out of curiosity, 'Isn't it a pity that the Sage appointed us cruel officials? So many of his colleagues died, including some like-minded political allies.'"
"The Master said without hesitation, 'In chaotic times, severe punishments are necessary; a kind heart cannot govern a country.'"
"I asked curiously, 'Where is the chaos? It's just that the country's name has been changed; the state still exists.'"
The Master smiled but remained silent. I don't know if he was afraid we were trying to trick him into revealing information, but actually, that wasn't the case. I was just asking out of personal curiosity.
Not long after, after dark that day, the Master suddenly said something to me.
He said, "Yes, thanks to the sage, the nation is still here, still here..."
"I don't quite understand his absent-minded expression at the time. It was strange; there was relief, sadness, and a glimmer of hope..."
"Later we sent him to the capital. Before he returned to the Prime Minister's residence, as he got off the carriage, the Master said something to us, the cruel officials who were escorting him."
He said that in times of chaos, harsh measures are needed, but there is actually another saying behind it: in times of prosperity, virtuous governance is needed.
At this point, Old Yang paused, seemingly giving Rong Zhen, who had been silent, time to process the information.
"And then?" Rong Zhen asked, frowning.
"Then...then naturally, most people didn't listen."
"But from that day on, I took the initiative to request to be sent to the south. At that time, the Imperial Prison Administration was in full swing, which can be considered its last peak period. It was even expanded from supervising central officials to supervising local officials, and the staffing in various places was to be expanded.
"I was then assigned to the newly established Imperial Prison Administration of the Jinling Censorate to supervise local officials. Although it was a position with considerable power, my colleagues in Luoyang looked at me as if I were an idiot."
"Because just confiscating the property of a high-ranking official once can make a fortune, and also lead to promotion and wealth. Why wouldn't you live such a good life?"
"I ignored all that and when I got to Jinling, I started to have time to read some of the books that Confucius had recommended during our casual chats on the way. At first, I was really itching to read them..."
"But what happened next, as Lady Rong also learned, was that the Imperial Prison Administration was downsized and reduced to a mere shell of its former self, and the branch of the Imperial Prison Administration in Jinling was naturally also abolished."
"Fortunately, perhaps because I had been away for quite a while, or perhaps because my official position was not high, I did not attract much attention. Later, I was directly assigned to the Jinling Prefecture Prison to sit on the sidelines."
"However, I have a lot more free time, so I can read more books. If I encounter something I don't understand, I can write a letter to my teacher every now and then to ask him. I guess this kind of life is quite leisurely. Anyway, I have no children. Maybe I've done too many immoral things and my karma is too bad."
"Actually, there are smart people among those colleagues. They did expect that the situation would change one day. Those who can enter the prison are not necessarily the smartest, but they are certainly more perceptive and cunning than ordinary people. Otherwise, they would not have been able to grasp His Majesty's preferences..."
"But everyone thought they could catch the last train, seize the opportunity to get promoted and make a fortune, and have time to get ashore and clear their name. But no one expected that the transition between the harsh laws of a chaotic era and the benevolent policies of a prosperous era would be so fast. It was almost as fast as the blink of an eye. It was just a matter of the sage taking a nap. The next day, when he woke up, the wind had changed, and there was no way to escape."
"Over the years, while on duty at the Nanjing prison, I often wrote to my teacher during my spare time when I was reading."
"He was the prime minister of the country, yet he always replied to my letters. Although most of the time his replies were concise, they were all written by his own hand. Moreover, I am not good at reading, and some issues do require a lot of writing. My teacher always pointed out the crux of the matter. Although each reply only contained about a hundred words, I had to think about it carefully for a long time. Perhaps it was because I was too idle in prison, but I was quite content..."
The old man suddenly remembered something, turned his head and smiled. His wrinkled, one-eyed face gave a terrifying smile, but his hoarse voice was joking:
"When we met in Longcheng before, Master had lost some weight. It's been so many years since we last met, I don't know if he's gained weight now, and it's not convenient to ask in a letter."
Have you seen Lady Rong recently?
He said somewhat embarrassedly:
"I... have always held a sense of respect. Even after knowing each other for so many years and writing so many letters, I have always been very formal and rarely exchange pleasantries."
"That's true. A person like Master should be at the forefront of the crowd. It's not about hierarchy, but... any guiding light in the darkest night must face the deepest darkness alone, leaving its shadow to those behind."
Old Yang sighed with emotion.
Rong Zhen stood in the dimly lit corridor, listening intently for a while, then slowly nodded:
"He is a bit overweight, but... I am a junior and entered the palace late, so I have never seen what Master Di looked like before."
"That means you've gained weight. Before, it was just your face that was chubby, haha."
Old Yang waved his hand:
"Ms. Rong, I apologize for saying so much, but I seem to have met another young scholar today, and it has moved me deeply... Also, I haven't spoken much these past few years, and my voice is almost gone."
Old Yang took out his water pouch, tilted his head back, and took a sip of water to moisten his throat.
He stared blankly for a while, and Rongzhen also waited in silence for a while, as if digesting the information.
At this moment, Old Yang broke the silence:
"I am moved to write this today. My teacher once gave me the saying, 'In times of chaos, use severe punishments; in times of prosperity, use virtuous governance.' Today, I would like to pass it on to Lady Rong."
"Or rather, it is what I have given to people like us, to the sage's confidants, well, to the court's lackeys in the eyes of others."
Rongzhen remained silent for a while before nodding slightly.
“Old Yang, you were lucky to meet the Master back then, while I…”
Old Yang paused when he heard this outstanding young woman, whose future seemed far more promising than his own, and said earnestly:
"And I... am also very lucky."
After saying that, the girl in palace attire turned and left.
Old Yang silently watched her walk away in the direction Ouyang Rong had just left.
A moment later.
The one-eyed old man sat down again, took out his book, and slowly turned the pages.
On the wall, a torch stretched his shadow long.
——————
(PS: I updated 8k5k chapters and made up for one more. I still owe 17 chapters!)
I'm begging for another round of monthly votes! (or 2)
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