A few days ago, Chu Fan summoned his third uncle and the elders of the clan and gave them a peerless secret book called "The Smiling, Proud Wanderer".
After learning that Chu Fan had also given the eunuchs in the palace a powerful secret book for them to practice, the third uncle decided to visit Wei Zhongxian in person.
Since the elders of the royal family have not received any news about His Majesty bestowing them with the secret book, Third Uncle felt it necessary to confirm whether the eunuchs and palace maids in the palace are still serving the royal family loyally.
Although they have a deep friendship of decades, human hearts are unpredictable. If the eunuchs and palace maids in the palace have other intentions, they may harm Chu Fan in the future. Chu Fan is the person destined to be fulfilled in the prophecy. His safety is directly related to the future of the royal family. If he encounters an accident, it will be a huge loss that the royal family cannot bear.
Of course, Third Uncle was also aware that the forces within the palace and the royal family had coexisted peacefully for hundreds of years. As a key figure within this, Wei Zhongxian naturally wouldn't easily make any move that might disrupt this balance. Therefore, Third Uncle, under the pretext of drinking, sought out Wei Zhongxian, hoping to use this opportunity to have an in-depth conversation with him.
Third Uncle and Wei Zhongxian sat across from each other and drank. After a few drinks, Third Uncle cleverly raised a probing question: "Wei the eunuch, I heard that His Majesty has bestowed a martial arts secret manual on the eunuchs in your palace?"
Wei Zhongxian smiled slightly. As an old fox in the palace, he naturally understood the deep meaning of his third uncle's words.
He took a sip of wine and responded slowly, "Are you being overly suspicious, Little Third? Since you already know that His Majesty has bestowed upon you the secret manual, you should also know the conditions for practicing it. If I had told your royal family about the Sunflower Manual when I obtained it, you wouldn't have been unaware of what would have happened, right?"
There was a hint of irony in his words, as if he was saying that if he had revealed this secret at the time, then those power-hungry children of the royal family would have cut off their own genitals in order to gain powerful strength and then practice this technique. What a chaotic and unbearable scene that would have been.
Third Uncle just smiled and said nothing. After all, Wei Zhongxian was telling the truth, and His Majesty had also mentioned this issue. If His Majesty hadn't just taken out a more powerful secret manual, I'm afraid those disciples would have long been unable to restrain themselves from practicing the Sunflower Manual.
After all, in this world, strength comes first; everything else is but fleeting. This is the golden rule for all the people in the martial arts world. Everyone strives to improve their strength, and those so-called beauty and desire seem to become insignificant in the face of strength.
Wei Zhongxian continued, "You are only here to ask whether His Majesty has granted me the secret manual, but you haven't asked me to hand it over directly. I guess your royal family has already obtained a better martial arts manual from His Majesty, right?
Otherwise, if you, the royal family, knew that we possessed a secret manual that could quickly enhance our strength, you would have me hand it over even if the training conditions were somewhat harsh."
After hearing Wei Zhongxian's evaluation of the royal family, the third uncle felt a little guilty, because he knew that if there really was no peerless secret book "The Smiling, Proud Wanderer" bestowed by His Majesty, then their royal family would indeed ask Wei Zhongxian to hand over the original copy of the Sunflower Manual. Of course, the handwritten copy would still be left to the eunuchs in the palace for practice.
Third Uncle smiled calmly, trying to change the subject. He said, "Eunuch Wei, our royal family and the forces within your palace are interdependent. We naturally trust you. But Your Majesty is too important to our royal family. We dare not let His Majesty make any mistakes."
Wei Zhongxian poured himself a glass of wine and said slowly, "Your Majesty is the foundation of your royal family. Isn't he the foundation of our power within the palace? Master Puhong's prophecy is also known to those within our palace. Even if we are no longer loyal to the royal family, we will not do anything that would harm Your Majesty for our own benefit."
When the Third Uncle heard this, he couldn't help but laugh. Eunuch Wei's answer had completely reassured him. After the two of them clinked their glasses and drank a glass of wine, the atmosphere of the conversation became harmonious.
For the third uncle, as long as Wei Zhongxian and the palace forces do not threaten His Majesty, the royal family will not have any worries. After all, the royal family's high-end combat power is far greater than that of the palace forces.
Then the two of them started to plan Chu Fan's business. After all, His Majesty has too many good things in his hands.
Uncle San said publicly, "According to the news from the Royal Government Affairs Office, His Majesty seems to have issued an order requiring the Ministry of Industry to start producing a low-cost Xuan paper. If the price of paper can be significantly reduced, then the cost of producing martial arts secret manuals will also be greatly reduced.
In this way, whether it's a member of the royal family or a disciple or child within the imperial palace, everyone will be able to easily obtain a martial arts manual. This will greatly improve both the efficiency of teaching martial arts and the speed of cultivation, and the strength of the entire Wei imperial court will surely see rapid growth."
Wei Zhongxian responded with a smile: "It seems that your royal family and our palace forces have the same ideas."
As he spoke, he took out a carefully carved engraving from behind his back, which was engraved with intricate martial arts diagrams.
Wei Zhongxian handed the engraving to his uncle and then began to taste the wine. After taking the engraving, the uncle examined it carefully. The lines on the engraving were clearly visible, and the engraving technique was quite familiar to him.
Although Third Uncle had roughly guessed the purpose of the engraving, he still couldn't help but ask Wei Zhongxian, "What exactly is this engraving used for?"
Wei Zhongxian gently put down his wine glass and slowly explained, "This is a skill that Your Majesty wants to teach the young eunuchs in the palace. It's called woodblock printing. Once the template is carved, it can be used to mass-produce martial arts manuals, saving both time and labor.
However, His Majesty also pointed out that this engraving printing method has an obvious flaw, that is, if a mistake is made during the engraving process, the entire plate must be re-engraved, which will waste a lot of time and materials.
After hearing this, Third Uncle glanced at Wei Zhongxian with a hint of disdain and retorted, "If a warrior of the second rank or above were to be in charge of the carving, would there still be mistakes?
Besides, the eunuchs in your palace may not have much else to do, but they definitely have plenty of time, so you won't mind wasting that little bit of time. On the contrary, once a copy is carved, it will be much more convenient for future use than hand copying."
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