Chapter 345 The Master's Embrace
The Zero Ring Line of the imperial capital is a very magical place.
As the highest power center of the empire, it should represent the most modern aspect of the empire and its most advanced technology.
Indeed, many buildings in the Zero Ring Line are like this. Art masters have tried their best to display their talents here. Various strange and postmodern art-style buildings emerge in the Zero Ring Line, and the empire's most advanced technological elements also appear on these buildings.
Thanks to breakthroughs in laser technology, more and more buildings are becoming shrouded in light and mist. Even the Emperor's Tower has undergone several renovations and has become dazzling and colorful.
But there are still a few buildings that still maintain a stubborn, even incompatible style, such as the Winter Palace, the headquarters building, and...
Elders' Courtyard.
This is the exclusive villa of the Great Elder. There is not a trace of modern creation. The old walls, red stone tiles, lush big sycamore trees, and the old stone table and old wooden chairs under the trees all seem out of place.
It is ordinary, common, and without any highlights, but it is the courtyard of the highest authority in the empire.
The Great Elders are extremely special. They basically never show up during prosperous times. They only come out to take control of the situation when the empire is in trouble.
When the empire stabilizes again, they will retreat into the background.
Initially, they were the first emperors who created the modern empire and existed to limit imperial power and prevent the restoration of the old empire.
But later, extremely sharp contradictions emerged in the system of the eight elders' meeting.
The authority of the elders meant that they were not subject to legal constraints. As long as they squeezed out the imperial power, they could expand indefinitely and eventually formed eight huge groups.
When these eight groups could no longer expand, irreconcilable sharp conflicts arose.
In order to prevent the empire from splitting, the great elders produced by a special system changed their direction and no longer restricted the imperial power, but instead restricted the elders.
The authority of the elders was all split from the imperial power, and the two sides were in sharp opposition that was irreconcilable.
Even if the emperor does not fight for it, the Senate and the imperial branch that are dependent on the imperial power will also strive to gain their power.
When the imperial power becomes too strong, the great elder will restrict it again.
Among the great elders, it is called the art of balance, with the left end being the imperial power and the right end being the elders.
Over the course of the empire's century-long history, the powers of the Great Elders have evolved several times, gradually forming the current state, but their core mission has remained unchanged.
Maintain the empire's system, maintain the empire's stability, and maintain the empire's balance.
This is also the reason why Li Longxing appeared here today.
Under the paulownia tree.
The Great Elder did not comment on Li Longxing's proposal.
A great elder politely declined, "Your Majesty, the Emperor is the symbol of the Empire. A foolish and weak Papal State is not worthy of your personal expedition. It would be a loss of face."
Li Longxing said calmly, "Letting them roam the empire for another day would be truly disgraceful."
Another great elder said, "The Royal Guards are an important component of the Supreme Council."
Li Longxing said with a smile, "Your Excellency Xingling, the fighting is raging in the local areas. Shizhou, backed by the Qin Group, can't even defeat a small county. This shows how weak the local forces are. The presence of the Imperial Army is enough to deter them."
The third elder asked, "Your Majesty, is that kid from Changshan Commandery your illegitimate son?"
Li Longxing laughed and said, "Impossible. I was planning to take Lin Yue... ahem, I'm so tall, mighty, and handsome, but that guy is still not that good enough."
The fourth great elder put forward their real conditions.
"A crown prince must be appointed before going to war."
Without waiting for Li Longxing to answer, he placed a black card on the table.
"This is a list of three candidates for crown prince."
Li Longxing looked at the candidates on the list and fell into a long silence.
——
Taiming Palace.
Hanyuan Hall.
Li Linyue explicitly rejected the proposal of the Council envoy.
"Tell Yu Zhongxian that we no longer have a basis for cooperation."
"Your Highness..." The envoy was anxious and incredulous. "We can talk about it again. Tenglibaba Company's monthly revenue is at least over 1 billion. After we take it over, we don't want a penny. We will give it all to Your Highness. As long as we can bring down Changshan County..."
Li Linyue ignored him.
"Xiao Zhizhong, show the guest out."
The tall and strong Xiao Zhizhong stood up.
"please!"
Although his words were polite, he simply grabbed the envoy's neck, who didn't want to leave, and threw him out.
Liu You, who was on the other side, saw this scene and felt complicated.
Among the princess's confidants, no one except him knew that the first princess had already selected the candidate on the stage.
Everyone was still saying happily: "Your Highness, we finally don't have to deal with these disgusting guys."
"Is it time to seize the all-important right to interpret and audit Imperial Law?"
"We've been waiting for this for a long time."
If the imperial power wants to expand, it should first obtain the Council's right to interpret, review and inspect imperial laws. This is the consensus within the princess faction.
As long as these two powers are possessed, the imperial power will have the ability to deter. Coupled with the natural authority and justice of the emperor, it will be difficult for anyone to restrain the expansion of the imperial power.
Only Liu You knew that this was one of the reasons. He couldn't even tell whether it was the main reason or the secondary reason.
As expected, Li Linyue did not answer their questions, making Liu You's worries come true.
"Chang Yuankai."
A young general stood up from the crowd and bowed respectfully: "Your Highness, Yuan Kai is here."
"You are the Chief Inspector of Shenjing. You used your position to spread the negative information about the Council throughout the Imperial Capital."
Chang Yuankai's face was full of excitement. He hurriedly trotted up, half-knelt to take the black material from Li Linyue's hand, and leaned over to kiss the princess's fingertips.
But the white jade-like fingers retracted.
Chang Yuankai was stunned and looked at Liu You beside him for help.
Liu You gave him her usual look, indicating that the princess was in a bad mood today. Only then did Chang Yuankai feel relieved and quickly retreated.
Afterwards, all the followers knew that Her Royal Highness the Princess was in a bad mood today, and they immediately became simple gentlemen, having no objection to any arrangements and orders made by the Princess. They became efficient in their words and deeds, focusing on showing their elegance and extraordinary qualities through their temperament.
In the following meetings, all arrangements were made for the review committee.
Everyone had no doubt that the Council itself was the archenemy of the Princess's faction. The two sides had come together several times because of common interests, but they quickly separated as their interests diverged.
I just didn't expect that the day of complete hostility would come so soon.
Before the meeting ended, Li Linyue casually said, "Feng Guang, I remember your father was the chief engineer of the Imperial Shipbuilding Corporation, right?"
A young man at the end of the line suddenly jumped up, so excited that he couldn't even speak clearly: "I, I, no, it's not..."
Seeing the goddess in his mind raised her eyebrows slightly, he got so anxious that the rest of the words got stuck in his heart and he couldn't say them. In his anger, he fainted on the ground.
His friend beside him quickly replied, "Your Highness, his father has been promoted to general manager. He is now the general manager of the Imperial Shipping Company, not the chief engineer."
Li Linyue glanced at the fainted young man and said calmly, "When he wakes up, tell him to ask his father to sell some of the Empire's advanced cargo ships and inland patrol vessels to Changshan County at a relatively reasonable price."
Although his friend felt a little strange, he still bowed and accepted the order: "Yes, Your Highness!"
The new princess's head maid, Ling, came up with a group of personal maids and escorted Li Linyue out of the venue.
After the princess left, several people came up and respectfully asked, "Liu Zongguan, why should we help the ungrateful Changshan Commandery?"
There are many princesses who are dissatisfied with the mayor of Changshan County.
The princess had extended an olive branch before, but this guy not only didn't come up and lick her lips, but he even asked for money. Not only did he do it once, but he asked for it three times. It's simply ridiculous.
Liu You scolded impatiently, "Fools! All the local factions that haven't surrendered to the imperial power are our potential enemies. The Qin Group is the largest of these local factions, and naturally our biggest enemy. The enemy of my enemy is my friend. You don't understand this. How can someone with this kind of character become a follower of the princess?"
Several people's faces flushed, and they kept blaming themselves and apologizing. Liu You snorted coldly, and one of them immediately understood. He took out a pure gold plate from his arms and stuffed it into Liu You's hand. The others followed suit.
Liu You weighed it lightly, feeling slightly satisfied, and put it into his sleeve. He whispered to them, "Put yourself closer to Changshan County in the near future and learn more from County Chief Lin's strengths."
After saying that, he turned and left.
Some people seemed to understand something, but also seemed confused.
But when faced with their colleagues coming over, they pretended to have gained a lot.
Because only in this way can they avoid losing money and even make a small profit.
——
Yun Zhixing wandered outside his master's courtyard for a long time before finally mustering up the courage to go in.
The compound has been expanded tenfold and completely transformed into a library, which is filled with personnel files. Xia Xiaoxiang sits in the deepest part of the library like the final boss.
Although Yun Zhixing felt that he had reached the maximum level and had put on the best equipment, he still felt the pressure from the final boss constantly being released from deep within.
He mustered up all his courage, crossed the last row of bookshelves, and faced the biggest boss in his life.
The boss sat behind her desk, wearing a pair of large glasses. She had her hair deliberately combed into a serious apple head, had a cold, old-woman makeup on, and wore a gray robe that almost completely concealed her figure.
This woman who deliberately concealed all her advantages was still dazzling and beautiful in his eyes.
He approached carefully, not disturbing his master who was busy at work.
Just by staying beside his master like this, he could feel at peace and his frantic heart would calm down a little.
After a moment, she seemed to realize something, turned her head, and saw Yun Zhixing standing quietly beside her.
The smile on her face spread slightly, and her peach blossom eyes, which were charming and attractive no matter how she tried to hide them, were slightly curved, like a crescent moon reflected in the tranquil lake.
It was a beautiful, healing smile.
"Zhixing, why are you here? Did you encounter anything unhappy?"
At that moment, Yun Zhixing was about to cry.
He felt ashamed of his own wavering. County Governor Lin's unintentional words had dealt him such a great blow, proving that his love for his master was not firm enough and that his self-proclaimed unshakable faith was not solid.
He lowered his head in shame and whispered, "I, I, I just missed you."
He felt a warm sensation on his forehead. It was the master's soft hand that brushed away the loose hair on his forehead.
"Zhixing, if you're unhappy, just cry."
In an instant, all the grievances accumulated so far burst out in tears.
I heard the master's gentle comfort.
"Don't be afraid, Xiao Zhixing, I'm here, I've always been here..."
At this time, Lin Wen had just returned from the water battle and stepped into the courtyard. He saw Xia Xiaoxiang stuffing the cushion under his buttocks to Yun Zhixing, who was crying.
The latter hugged the cushion and cried bitterly, rubbing it wildly as if it were the embrace of its master.
(End of this chapter)
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