Chapter 1386: Are You Right? (Part 2) [Requesting Monthly Tickets]
With all grudges between the ruler and his ministers gone, it was a time of deep affection.
It was already late, so Shen Tang didn't let Luan Xin go back. Instead, she had someone prepare a side hall. As a single person, she had plenty of guest rooms. When the workload was heavy, the emperor and his ministers would often stay up late, drinking strong tea, and frequently wouldn't finish until the wee hours of the morning. Going home at that time, considering the commute, late-night snack, and shower time, would mean barely getting an hour of sleep before having to get up again to prepare for court. It was too exhausting. In such cases, Shen Tang would simply have someone stay overnight in the outer court.
As for the side hall—
Over the years, only a few people like Gu Chi have had this experience.
The side hall was too close to the main hall; only the lord's most trusted confidants had this privilege. Luan Xin, however, said, "No need for such trouble. I have many important matters to report today..."
It's going to be another sleepless night.
Shen Tang said, "Talking by candlelight late at night is also a refined pleasure."
She knew something about Luan Xin's trip, but the correspondence was limited, and the specific details still need to be told by him personally.
These are exactly what Luan Xin wanted to tell Shen Tang.
Although he only stayed in the enemy camp for a few days, he gathered a considerable amount of intelligence. This intelligence allowed them to quickly establish a foothold in the early stages and avoid being caught off guard by the enemy.
"...The Assembly of the Gods, tsk, it's the Assembly of the Gods again."
The Northwest branch has always been controlled by Qi Shan, who also began purging dissidents early on, nipping any potential crises in the bud. This has resulted in the Northwest branch having a low profile, little offensive capability, and being unable to cause any trouble for Shen Tang, exuding the aura of a legitimate gang.
The Southwest Branch, led by Cui Zhi, also employs the same tactics of power struggles among aristocratic families. However, the intervention of the Eternal Life Cult has made the already murky situation even more unpredictable, indirectly causing disunity among the aristocratic families, with everyone preoccupied with petty squabbles.
The middle section went directly to another level.
The allure of immortality brought them together.
They actually managed to come up with some unorthodox and unorthodox remedies.
"...Even with the most stringent conditions for 'body possession,' there are always successful examples." For someone nearing the end of their life, even if the chance of successfully "possessing" a body is only one in ten thousand, they would still take the gamble. Not to mention that the probability is not small once the stringent conditions are met. The higher the position and the more powerful the individual, the more likely they are to go mad for it. "These people are not good people to begin with, and the 'body possession' vessels are carefully selected, so excellent of the excellent... I dare not imagine how many hidden tricks they have up their sleeves..."
Literary figures with a refined literary mind are rare, and those with the true essence of literature are even rarer. Luan Xin claimed that there were as many as five such individuals with unusual literary skills in the camp that day. And this army is just the tip of the iceberg in the central region!
Shen Tang has always been an optimistic person.
A powerful enemy is indeed troublesome, but let's look at it from another angle—
"If there were more perfect ones, justice would save a lot of trouble."
Luan Xin's completion ceremony, like Lin Feng's, is a high-difficulty task. Lin Feng has only cultivated 200 million mu of land. The land won't grow legs and run away. As long as he is strong, he will eventually be able to take it all over. At that time, he can cultivate as much as he wants. Luan Xin is in a tough spot. First, the requirement of 99 completions of the Path of the Literary Master is too high. Second, the Literary Masters of the Literary Heart will grow legs and run all over the world.
Collect ninety-nine of them?
How difficult!
Luan Xin: "..."
Optimism is a good thing, but there's no need to be overly optimistic.
Luan Xin recounted the story in a selective order, starting with Xiang Zhao, then Lin Su, and finally "Lin Su's friend." Luan Xin wasn't sure if this "friend" was Lin Su herself, but he was certain that the idea of "attempting to become an immortal sage" was dangerous.
Even more dangerous is that the central branch is trying to take this path—to become the "wise man" and forever rule over the "fools".
Shen Tang sneered, "These people are greedy."
Greed knows no bounds; even a snake can swallow an elephant!
The so-called "body snatching" allows them to gain immortality of the soul, and the available carriers make the gene lottery change from random to fixed—cultivation talents cannot be transmitted from mother to child and are triggered completely randomly, but with enough carriers, they can always find one that suits their taste.
"On one hand, they say 'the upper class has no poor families, the lower class has no noble families,' while on the other hand, they fear 'the blessings of a virtuous person will end after five generations; the blessings of a petty person will also end after five generations.'" Even aristocratic families can lose their wealth and status one day, and even ants in their eyes can replace them. How can this not terrify aristocratic families? The greater their fear, the greater the temptation of immortality.
Shen Tang dared not imagine just how many lunatics were in the central region.
Sometimes, she really wanted to call the police.
Shen Tang's eyes revealed approval: "However, Gongyi understands this issue very well. Relying on ancestral blessings is not a long-term solution, and trying to ensure the wealth of future generations through one's own achievements is also unrealistic. Whether it is ancestral blessings or the family fortune one has accumulated for future generations, it is like a pond. If descendants do not add water to it and only know how to draw water, the pond will dry up sooner or later."
Otherwise, how could one "sit and eat one's savings" come about?
Luan Xin murmured, "The blessings of a virtuous person will only last five generations?"
Shen Tang asked in confusion, "Yes, what's wrong?"
She remembered that this wasn't some obscure Word of Power.
"Xin was just thinking about whether he could use it to subdue the enemy."
"It's worth a try, to defeat magic with magic."
The words of the Second Sage are definitely more effective than the Nine-Rank System.
As if inspired by something, Luan Xin also occasionally drifted off into a daze in front of Shen Tang. She glanced at the water clock and told Luan Xin to go to the side hall to rest: "Whatever it is, we can think about it tomorrow."
The response is already slow; what if it gets overloaded?
Luan Xin did not refuse this time.
He went to sleep, but Shen Tang couldn't sleep.
It wasn't that she wasn't sleepy, but rather that she hadn't finished her work for the day—Luan Xin had interrupted her, and their late-night conversation had taken up a lot of time. With dawn fast approaching, she still had a pile of memorials to review. Once she finished reviewing these, new ones would arrive as soon as it was light. Shen Tang sat at her desk, her face contorted with bitterness and resentment, wishing she could bury her face in her hands and scream.
"Those damned bastards in the Southwest—"
After years of adjustment between the ruler and his ministers, officials in Kangguo all knew that memorials had to be substantive and not filled with nonsense. The handwriting had to be neat and legible, not illegible. They avoided writing about strange tales such as a cow giving birth to triplets, an octogenarian woman giving birth to a baby, or a septuagenarian man losing his virginity to a young man. Shen Tang had put a lot of effort into correcting the officials, and things had improved considerably in recent years.
Unexpectedly, the situation in the southwest is even worse.
The content of the memorials was absurd and tedious enough, but some were even written in dialects, leaving Shen Tang frowning and unable to understand them for a long time. And that wasn't all; ten officials could have ten different memorial templates. The officials responsible for copying the memorials were all full of complaints.
"This is utterly upside down!"
This battle was a complete disaster.
Paying for reconstruction will also kill a lot of brain cells.
Shen Tang covered her face in pain with both hands, letting out two groans before stopping. The fingers that had been blocking her eyes parted, revealing Gu Chi peeking in. Seeing that Luan Xin was not in the hall, Gu Chi strode in after receiving a signal from Shen Tang: "Where is Luan Gongyi? Has he just abandoned His Majesty like this, leaving you to face these memorials alone? I am different; I am willing to share the suffering with His Majesty."
He doesn't even mention sharing the good times anymore.
Shen Tang called him out: "Why don't you just say you're worried?"
Gu Chi brought his icy hands to the candlelight to warm them, and once his fingers were less stiff, he rubbed his hands together a few times: "What are you worried about? Even if you don't believe in anything else, you should believe in God."
She's got a knack for sweet-talking people; who wouldn't be confused by her charm?
Gu Chi was puzzled. If he had such abilities, why was he still single?
So he used all his skills on his ministers?
"Since you're going to suffer with me, then write me a letter."
Shen Tang ordered Gu Chi around without any hesitation.
Gu Chi's calligraphy is better than Shen Tang's.
"To whom is it written?"
"I thought you were going to ask what to write." Bai Su was so jealous; she didn't know how she could stand it. "Give it to Wei Lou."
Gu Chi unfolded the letter and asked in surprise, "Give it to him?"
Wei Lou's personality is unlike Wei Cheng's.
Wei Cheng is two-faced; he says he won't do this or that, but his actions betray him, getting things done. Overall, he's a fairly reliable person. Wei Lou, on the other hand, is true to his word. People say they won't help Kangguo, and all these years he hasn't made a single move. If it weren't for his master's good character, how could he tolerate Wei Lou's leisurely lifestyle of living a life of leisure after serving time in prison?
Most of the time, letters sent to the recipient will disappear without a trace.
Shen Tang said, "Hmm, he might be interested."
Wei Lou and that leader surnamed Zhao are complete opposites.
The latter's ambition for immortality, to perpetuate wealth and power for millennia, and to control the "fools" of the world, is no different from creating a god. This is precisely what Wei Lou detests most; it's a complete minefield for him. Sending this letter will undoubtedly send Wei Lou's blood pressure soaring.
If Lao Deng were willing to come out of seclusion, his scholarly wisdom would definitely be of great use on the battlefield. However, this is just Shen Tang's wishful thinking; whether Wei Lou would take the bait remains to be seen.
"Instead of inviting me by letter, it's better to visit me in person."
Wei Lou is a man of the old era, and he is still very particular at heart. A letter is not as sincere as a visit.
Shen Tang sighed: "I would like to, but we don't have enough manpower."
She's busy until this time every day.
The sudden attack on the Kang Kingdom's enclave from the central region, coupled with the troop buildup on the border, clearly indicates preparations for war. Shen Tang had finally managed to secure some time to recuperate from the Qu Kingdom; if she didn't seize this opportunity now, she might miss her chance.
Gu Chi: "..."
Very practical reasons.
but--
Gu Chi racked his brains and actually found a suitable candidate, someone who had a connection with Wei Lou.
Shen Tang was taken aback: "Who are you referring to?"
Gu Chi asked, "How is Wu Zhaode?"
Shen Tang: "..."
It took her a while to react. Rubbing her forehead, she said, "You little rascal, I wouldn't be surprised if the Censorate got smashed up one day. How did you come up with the idea of sending Wu Zhaode to deliver this letter?"
Wei Lou and his nephew helped Gao Guo back then.
Wu Xian was once the king of Gao.
The two sides do indeed have some history.
However, doesn't this combination of words sound a bit like a hellish joke? Shen Tang can imagine that if this task were assigned to Wu Xian, he would berate her from the first day of the Lunar New Year to the thirtieth.
Gu Chi couldn't help but chuckle and said, "This is called a subject resembling his master."
Now that the beam is crooked, the person who installed it should start looking for the problem.
Shen Tang: "..."
In the end, she assigned the task to Wu Xian.
Wu Xian had rendered meritorious service last time, and as the Duke of Lu of Kang, the awkward atmosphere between him and the Kang court had eased considerably, and he was no longer a nobody in the court. He gradually developed relationships with other civil and military officials, especially Duke Yang, and no longer took his children on trips all over the country. However, he remained cautious and careful, unwilling to give Shen Tang any opportunity to find fault with him, and his presence was extremely low.
He didn't know why Shen Tang suddenly remembered him.
When he saw the job description, he immediately felt an urge to curse.
He knew that a weasel paying respects to a chicken was up to no good, and Shen Youli would never visit without a reason. Send him to see Wei Lou and try to get him out? Didn't Shen Youli listen to the nonsense she was spouting before giving the order? It's utterly insane!
Wu Xian's face twisted and contorted with rage, its colors shifting freely.
In the end, he still felt humiliated.
When you're under someone's roof, you have to bow your head.
"Please!" Wu Xian gritted his teeth, the force so great it seemed he wanted to grind down his teeth roots. "I'll go and ask him right now, okay?"
This matter should be handled as soon as possible, and Wu Xian cannot delay for even a moment.
Wei Lou and his nephew had originally trapped themselves underground.
Even when going out occasionally, the avatar does it on their behalf.
Later, due to land expropriation, he had to move and continue to live in seclusion in the deep mountains not far from the underground city.
Yes, land acquisition.
A main road is to be built nearby.
As for why the land requisition was targeted at the uncle and nephew?
The underground city needs to be filled in, so these two can no longer live there.
Living in seclusion deep in the mountains was austere and boring. After some discussion, the uncle and nephew decided to move from the mountains to a small town at the foot of the mountains to serve as a form of "seclusion" (or "imprisonment"). The official roads within Kang State were well-connected, greatly reducing travel time for Wu Xian, and he found his destination effortlessly.
Wei Lou had no job in town and didn't need to work a nine-to-five job. He spent his free time practicing and studying the power of words, or going for walks, and occasionally watching people play chess in the streets and alleys. After watching so many times, he became familiar with his neighbors.
When Wu Xian arrived, travel-worn, Wei Lou was sitting on a stone stool, holding a rough piece of wood in his hand. In front of him was a crude stone table, with a clear division between Chu and Han on it. Opposite him sat an old man in plain clothes with white hair and beard. A circle of onlookers surrounded them.
Unexpectedly, Wei Lou was the one who frowned.
The situation on the board was not in his favor.
Wu Xian's imposing presence and imposing stature made him stand out among the group of elderly people. Aside from a few engrossed in the chess game, the other elderly women sitting on the stone benches, basking in the sun and chatting, all noticed this unfamiliar face: "Young man, who are you looking for?"
Wei Lou's tone was unfriendly when he was interrupted while playing chess.
"Tell the person who's looking for me to wait."
Wu Xian: "..."
He was, after all, the Duke of Lu!
I also briefly collaborated with Wei Lou!
Is that all the old man can do?
I was furious, but I could only vent my frustration.
Patiently waiting for Wei Lou to win the game after a fierce battle, Wu Xian watched him bid farewell to the old men who wanted to play another round. Finally, Wu Xian followed him to the secluded courtyard where the uncle and nephew lived, a place with white walls and black tiles, quite elegant: "Wu Zhaode, what brings you here?"
Surely they're not still harboring wicked intentions and have some other scheme in mind?
Wu Xian: "..."
What an impolite old man.
()
So, what do you all eat on the Little New Year?
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
