From the southeastern coasts of the Azure Bottle Continent, two young souls, a man and a woman, emerged from a master craftsman’s shop of painted screens and scrolls, seeking respite in a nearby tavern. They chose a table tucked against the wall, the man ordering a flagon of rough-spun rice wine and an array of simple snacks. The woman, with a discerning palate, requested a dish of plums, preserved in brine and salt.

The man glanced upwards, his gaze lingering upon verses calligraphed upon the wall by the village scholar. The woman, with a flick of her eyes, plucked a pickled plum from the dish, its sour tang causing her to wince.

He reached into his satchel, drawing forth a book, setting it upon the table. While partaking of the wine, he idly perused the pages, his mind delving into the arts of physiognomy and divination.

He bore a fondness for esoteric tomes, dabbling in the forbidden arts of wind lore, avian omens, and the paths of emptiness. He justified this fascination with the adage, “A multitude of skills is no burden.” For in this wide world, each new art acquired might be another bowl of rice.

The woman’s brows, like the gentle curves of spring mountains, betrayed her inner thoughts. When troubled, her eyes, pools of autumnal water, reflected the shifting mists that cloak the mountains.

A shadow of concern etched itself upon her face. She spoke softly, her voice barely above a whisper, “Yu Lu, do you think it possible for me to refuse his request?”

A missive had arrived, borne by a swift-winged messenger, proposing she become his disciple. Not a favored student to be sure, one who’d eventually be allowed to join the inner chambers of the Master, but it did outline that once she ascended to the Upper Five Realms, she’d be allowed to choose another master, or strike out on her own. The more amenable the offer seemed, the more uneasy she felt. The memory of her travels, when she was beset upon by a devious rogue, still lingered in her heart, leaving scars that time had yet to fully heal.

Yu Lu considered this, then replied, “I believe it is a good thing, actually.”

It was a matter destined to be, a path from which there was no turning back, so best not to dwell on what couldn’t be. Yu Lu didn’t say this aloud, lest the acknowledgement cause further torment.

For the one who sent the letter was none other than Cui Dongshan.

Exasperated, she retorted, “You ‘think’ so? Then why don’t *you* become *his* disciple?”

Yu Lu merely smiled, letting the jibe pass. Cui Dongshan had nothing he could teach a mere martialist. He couldn’t take advantage of him, and he was fairly certain that because of his relationship with Chen Ping An that Cui Dongshan wouldn’t even dare *try.*

Realizing her ire was misplaced, she raised her wine bowl in apology.

Yu Lu patiently explained, “His position has shifted. He will soon be the master of a sect, and must temper his ways. Moreover, Cui Dongshan possesses profound power, a vast collection of arcane treasures. Temperament aside, his tutelage would be the envy of any earthbound immortal.”

Yet still, she was filled with unease.

*Normal, usual, as a general rule… none of these sentiments could ever be applied to that great white goose of a man.*

She fought back a smile, her expression now serious, and said, “If it pains you to ask, never you mind. Upon our return to Immortal Capital Mountain, I shall find an opportunity to speak to Chen Ping An in private. Even if you distrust Cui Dongshan, surely you can trust Chen Ping An? I wouldn’t even need to say anything, just a few soft words to his teacher, and Cui Dongshan, as irreverent as he is, would not dare disobey his master’s counsel.”

This brought her some solace. “Let us hope so,” she murmured with a sigh.

She envied Yu Lu’s ease, his casual manner of addressing the ‘great white goose’ by name. She could not bring herself to do so.

At first, she had believed with Cui Dongshan’s ascension to lower sect master, a great distance would keep her safe. But when the letter arrived, it plunged her into a state of constant anxiety, disrupting her cultivation, preventing her mind from finding purchase.

Upon their journey to the Cliffs Academy of Great Sui, Yu Lu had swiftly achieved the Golden Body Realm. Yet, years later, she was still a Feather Immortal treading the path of Wanderer.

Even Yu Lu, with his carefree nature and lack of ambition, felt a twinge of guilt. Nearly thirty years had passed, and he had only ascended a single realm.

Yu Lu possessed a natural aptitude for martial arts, yet the shortcuts he had taken as a martialist had left scars, making the Wanderer Realm an insurmountable hurdle.

In contrast, with the removal of her Binding Dragon Nails by Cui Dongshan, Xie Xie’s cultivation had flourished. Now, she stood on the cusp of the Golden Core Earth Immortal Realm.

One, a prince of a fallen kingdom, of the Lu Dynasty. The other, a celestial prodigy and hope of a once-dominant sect.

For years, Yu Lu and Xie Xie, childhood friends and classmates, had traveled together. Not inseparable, but in constant companionship.

Yet, no spark of romance had ignited between them.

Xie Xie asked, “Do you ever regret that impetuous act?”

“Of course. Keeps me from asking for a fair spar with Chen Ping An, you imagine how angry *you’d* be! The fact that I don’t fret on it is purely because of my wide heart, I’m not the type to pick a nit. I’d be more than regretful, I’d shrivel up, every day would bring embarrassment, I’d probably be an alcoholic by now.”

Yu Lu took a sip of wine, turned the page, and smiled. “But regret is regret. What must be done, must be done. Given the same circumstance, I’d do it again, be impetuous all over again, and regret it just the same.”

Xie Xie, who had once been a criminal outcast, despised no one more than she hated the Dali woman. Not even Cui Dongshan, who had taken her as a handmaid. Most of all, she loathed this prince who felt no pain from the fall of his kingdom, this prince who seemed so unconcerned by it all.

From the Yuan clan’s ancestral residence in Two Gentlemen’s Lane to their journey to Great Sui, Xie Xie had loathed this carefree, carefree prince, this prince who remained unbothered even when the sky was falling.

Until the tempest at Great Sui’s Cliffs Academy. Then, Yu Lu, with his last vestige of martial might, had taken a shortcut to achieve the Golden Body Realm, a path that would see that ‘young sage’ carried away from the academy.

The best choice would have been for Yu Lu to build his own path, to step slowly, but steadily, to the Wanderer Realm, to strive in his Golden Body Realm. Then, when at the peak, as he was about to ascend, he would use that power to break through the ultimate barrier and ascend.

Xie Xie’s impression of Yu Lu improved after that. She saw now that even if he was an airhead, he had a degree of responsibility about him, which could not be denied.

Until Yu Lu, at the academy, spent his days angling, or befriending the prince of the Great Sui, Gao Xuan. Then, Xie Xie became annoyed with him.

Now, Yu Lu still enjoyed fishing, though all his catches were freed. By rivers and lakes, Yu Lu and Xie Xie would cross paths with like-minded anglers. Yu Lu would even watch them for half a day, saying a fisher loved watching other fishers fishing.

Yu Lu smiled, “My Wanderer foundations, forged with years of effort, ain’t all that bad.”

Xie Xie narrowed her eyes and smiled, “Don’t go and compare yourself to Cao Ci, or Chen Ping An. How do you fare against Pei Qian?”

Yu Lu sighed, “I’d rather you compare me with Chen Ping An.”

How many times had Pei Qian won the martial luck with her “strongest” Realm?

Truly, it defied all imagination. That mischievous little urchin, truly had she learned boxing, and become so good at it!

Xie Xie asked, apropos of nothing, “Have you ever considered seeking a mountain path? I hear the Cloud Grass Hall on the Tongye Continent has a secret art by which a martial artist can cultivate immortality. Why don’t you try your luck? We’ve seen most of the Azure Bottle Continent, might as well take a trip to Tongye.”

Yu Lu gave a laugh, then shook his head. “I’ve never considered immortality.”

From the rear of the tavern, someone lifted the bamboo screen and let it drop again. Xie Xie glanced sideways, and spotted a young maiden standing there, her eyes fixed upon Yu Lu.

*Oh, not so subtly after all. Why doesn’t she just rip the screen from the ceiling? Then Yu Lu would be sure to hear.*

Xie Xie asked, “When will you be visiting those girls from Mao and Mu’s?”

At an ancient battlefield, and an immortal ferry crossing, they’d encountered two remarkable young women.

Xie Xie wasn’t blind, she could tell the two of them had fallen for Yu Lu at first sight.

Yu Lu laughed, “It was a polite platitude, you know? Like saying, ‘Let’s do this again!’ or ‘The next time, I’ll take care of the bill!’ Only fools take those words to heart.”

Amused, Xie Xie laughed.

Of their old classmates, Lin Shouyi had become a learned sage of the academy, and even been a temple steward.

Even Li Huai was now a sage.

As for Li Baoping, who was now studying at a college in the Central Earth Continent, even two of the academy’s sacrificial deans had assessed her scholarship as an exemplary gentleman. Now, she could even enlighten the Confucian students of the college.

However, in the history of the Great Vast World, no woman had ever served as the chancellor of the Seventy-Two Colleges, or as an academic overseer of an academy.

Yu Lu closed his book. “When shall we be going to Jiang Province?”

Jiang Province of Great Li was where Xie Xie’s sect had been located.

Her sect was destroyed when her teacher resolutely refused to be recruited by the Dali court.

Xie Xie’s face paled.

Yu Lu said softly, “If we don’t go, it will never pass.”

Xie Xie bowed her head, bit her lip, and finally shook her head.

“No hurry,” Yu Lu laughed.

That was Yu Lu’s finest trait, his seeming indifference.

Relieved, Xie Xie nodded. “We will go, one day.”

This seemed part promise to Yu Lu, part self-reassurance.

Yu Lu focused his energy, speaking in a line, “Aren’t you curious about the letter that Cui Dongshan sent me? Or have you already guessed its contents?”

Xie Xie remained silent.

Yu Lu, for once, revealed a hint of melancholy, mumbling to himself, “To continue a kingdom in foreign lands, can that be truly called a restoration?”

Xie Xie finished her wine in a single gulp, her eyes shining. “Yes, of course it does! When we get to the Tongye Continent, we’ll pick a spot, it doesn’t need to be that big, and carefully plan for a decade or two. When I reach the Infant Soul Realm, you can take the throne, and I’ll be your court wizard!”

***

New Chu Province, Huai Huang County.

Li Huai and the young Taoist threaded through the streets, finding Dong Shui Jing at the mouth of a narrow, secluded lane. They had agreed to meet here.

Dong Shui Jing had returned to his hometown just to meet with Li Huai.

“I hope this doesn’t take you away from making a killing, Half-City Dong?” Li Huai joked.

Dong Shui Jing smiled. “I can make money without having to stare at the books or fiddle with an abacus.”

Dong Shui Jing led Li Huai to his ancestral home and personally cooked them three bowls of wontons.

In the courtyard, a willow tree grew beside a well.

Li Huai pretended not to notice, and thought that it was a pity he only had one older sister.

The young Taoist saw at once that Dong Shui Jing was in the Infant Soul Realm, but it didn’t surprise him. In this old Luminous Pearl Heaven and Earth, one so young in the Infant Soul Realm wasn’t the Flying Ascension Realm, there was nothing to gawk at.

It would be a bad joke if the Young Master’s friends didn’t have some talent or skill.

The young Taoist would be shocked to meet an ancient Infant Soul cultivator that was already centuries old.

Perhaps, face-to-face, he would chastise that old fellow, *How could you do this to the blessed land you were born in?*

Dong Shui Jing seemed to detect the yellow-robed elder’s thoughts, and said, “This is only a Realm that can be bought with money, I hope I have not made Senior Tao Ting laugh.”

That money could make the Devil turn the millstone was no surprise, and Dong Half-City of the Azure Bottle continent was a very rich man.

“No matter how the Realm came to be, Realm is Realm,” the young Taoist said cheerfully. “Who would dare laugh at Lord Liu Moneybags of the Snowy White Continent? The same applies to you, Little Dong.”

The young Taoist sighed when he said “Little Dong,” as he remembered when he was following a “Little Dong” who passed through the Ten Thousand Mountains.

Li Huai clapped the table, and the young Taoist fell silent. Had he said something wrong?

Li Huai gave him a thumbs up. “Good water well! Give me two more bowls!”

It seemed that Dong Shui Jing often visited the old home. After Li Huai ate another bowl of wontons, Dong Shui Jing had already set up a brazier, squatted beside it, and began roasting taro and sticky rice dumplings.

He pulled the string and stripped the leaves. The dumpling that Dong Shui Jing held in his hand turned a golden color. Li Huai grabbed the dumpling and handed half of it to the young Taoist.

Dong Shui Jing had to strip another dumpling. The three of them sat around the brazier, and Dong Shui Jing said softly, “The husband of the braids, Bian Wenmao, has just become the school administrator for our province. He hasn’t been promoted. It’s considered as a golden wash as an outpost from the capital. The noble post of school administrator was newly established a few years ago, and it wasn’t something that the average person could get. Typically, it was an old scholar from the Hanlin Academy’s six ministries of the capital that had no hope of promotion. Before they left the officialdom, His Majesty deliberately gave these civil officials a special grace. The school administrator itself has no rank. For example, the two prefectures of Ling and Qing in the territory of the auxiliary capital are respectively held by an old minister of the Ministry of Works and a secretary of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices. Currently, Bian Wenmao’s official position is the Vice President of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices. After serving a four-year term as the school administrator, he will return to the capital and should serve as the Assistant Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices. In the future, it is unlikely that he will take charge of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, and it is more likely that he will be transferred to the six ministries, or transferred to the auxiliary capital again, accumulating his way to a certain position, and finally obtaining a low-ranking scholar’s title. In the future, he will have hope of obtaining a good posthumous title. As for being given the honor of being worshiped in the imperial ancestral temple, Bian Wenmao himself wouldn’t even dare to think about such a thing.”

Li Huai chewed on the dumpling with a blank expression, “Huh?”

The young Taoist was deeply moved.

Little Dong babbled on for a long time, but all His Young Master had to do was answer with one concise word.

Dong Shui Jing smiled. “You’re a sage of the academy. According to the new regulations of the Confucian Temple, you will inevitably have dealings with the Dali court in the future. Sooner or later, you will come into contact with these seemingly tedious and boring matters of officialdom.”

There were frequent transfers in the Dali officialdom. The post roads were busy from the capital to the regions. To say nothing of the top leaders of the state prefectures and counties within the territory of New Chu, almost all of them had been replaced with new faces.

Wu Yuan, who had once left the position of county magistrate of Huai Huang in dismay, was now the prefectural governor of Chu, which was a beautiful return.

And the former Longzhou prefectural governor Wei Li, who was a civil official from Huang Ting, had now gone to the auxiliary capital of Dali to take over as the Minister of Rites.

Before that, Cao Gengxin, the head of the Kiln Affairs Supervision Department, was transferred from Longzhou to the auxiliary capital as the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Works, and then promoted to the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel in the Dali capital, allowing him to be among the Central Pivot.

Yuan Zhengding was promoted to the position of prefectural governor of Hongzhou, a neighbor to the north.

Jing Kuan, the new prefect of Baoxi County in Chu, was once a secretary in the Ministry of Revenue in the capital, managing the purse strings of the three prefectures, including Hongzhou.

But in fact, Dong Shui Jing, who had a hidden identity as a Mo family knife borrower, envied Li Huai’s drifting with the tide, or was it being content with one’s lot?

Li Huai said timidly, “I know that our classmate Zhao Yao is now the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice of Dali.”

“And the old county magistrate, our former local official, Wu Yuan, has now returned here to serve as the prefectural governor of the new Chu Province.”

“And then there’s that Prefectural Inspector Cao who likes to drink and doesn’t like to sign in, didn’t he get transferred to the Ministry of Personnel in the capital a few years ago to become a high official?”

Dong Shui Jing smiled and asked, “And then what?”

Li Huai sighed. “That’s it.”

The young Taoist began to complain, “Why should Your Young Master be confined to these mundane affairs of the mountains and the villages that are related to the government.”

Li Huai shook his head. “Our Great Li is different.”

Regardless of how his title of sage fell from the sky and landed on his head, since he had become a sage, Li Huai was unwilling to perform worse than others.

During his childhood travels, when Chen Ping An was helping to keep watch, he had shared some of his thoughts with Li Huai in the wilderness late at night, which he couldn’t quite remember now. Li Huai only remembered the general meaning, which was that in the years when a person had only one thing to do, which was to study, one shouldn’t be afraid of not being able to remember the teachings of the sages in the books, but of being unwilling to do this one thing well. Then, after leaving the study and no longer needing to study, it would be easy to not do the next thing well.

At the time, Li Huai said that he wasn’t suitable for studying. Chen Ping An said that he wasn’t suitable for burning porcelain either, that he was too slow to learn and his hands always lagged behind, but as long as he worked hard, there would always be a greater chance of doing the next thing well in the future.

The young Taoist immediately changed his tone and said, “With the Young Master’s humility, what is there to worry about?”

It wasn’t that Tao Ting had no integrity, but that the old blind man was too tyrannical.

For example, for this journey to protect Li Huai, the old blind man left a message for Tao Ting that if his disciple was even slightly frightened, he would break his five legs.

It was a pity that the young Taoist was now afraid that Li Huai would accidentally burn his mouth when drinking tea. A Flying Ascension Realm expert acting as a protector to this extent would be unprecedented.

Even so, the old blind man still seemed to be worried about Li Huai, and he actually used some ancient secret art from afar in the Barbarian Desolation. The old blind man was actually able to directly enter Li Huai’s dream, and then drag Tao Ting, a Flying Ascension Realm expert, into it.

The young Taoist felt as if he had returned to the Ten Thousand Mountains, where the earth was shaking and there was thunder in the night sky. Li Huai put on his clothes and got up in his dream, ran out of the thatched cottage, and saw that the ground around the mountain he was standing on was a golden color, densely packed with golden-armored puppets huddled together.

One of the golden-armored puppets, which was taller than a mountain, knelt on one knee at the foot of the mountain and slowly raised its huge head, gradually leveling with the mountain, and stared at Li Huai.

The old blind man slowly walked to the edge of the cliff, grabbed his disciple’s arm, which he had forcefully snatched halfway, and drew a talisman. Then, he said something to Li Huai that made Tao Ting’s eyelids twitch, “They’re under your control from now on.”

Tao Ting cautiously glanced at Li Huai’s expression, but there wasn’t a hint of high-spiritedness or heroism. There was only fear in his eyes.

Ah.

His Young Master was good in every way, but he just had no ambition in life. He must risk his life to advise him one day…

Ah?

It turned out that the old blind man had stepped on his spine, and it snapped.

In the end, Li Huai only said that he could listen to Chen Ping An’s suggestion first.

The old blind man actually nodded in agreement, and even helped his disciple tidy up his collar. At the same time, he praised Li Huai in a tone of old-fashioned comfort, saying that he was steady and followed his master’s example.

This master and disciple’s question and answer almost made the young Taoist, who was lying on the ground silently mending a spine, stare at the old blind man’s eyes.

There was a knock on the door of the house.

Visitors had arrived.

In order to avoid suspicion, Li Huai was about to get up to say goodbye.

Dong Shui Jing smiled and asked him to stay, “There’s no need to leave. It’s our that Jian Prefectural Inspector, who is single-mindedly trying to achieve merit, but unfortunately, he can’t get it right. He has suffered a lot in recent years.”

Jian Feng took over Cao Gengxin’s position as the new Prefectural Inspector of Kilns in Longzhou. Before taking office, he was high-spirited and only thought that the shiftless drunkard Cao Gengxin could be promoted by muddling along. If he went, he would only handle the official duties of an office in an orderly manner.

In fact, the Kiln Affairs Supervision Department had two official plaques hanging on it, so the chief official had two official titles at the same time. In addition to the Kiln Affairs Supervision Department, there were also several weaving bureaus that Dali had newly built, as well as the logging yard set up in Hongzhou. In fact, they were all the Emperor’s eyes and ears, and the confidential reports of the chief officials could directly reach the Emperor.

But when Jian Feng really arrived at Huai Huang County, he ran into walls everywhere. The major families in the town were all complexly related, intertwined, and extremely united. The Iron Talisman River God, Yang Hua, had a high level and a strong backer. The three River Gods of Embroidery, Tranquility, and Jade Liquid near the Red Candle Town didn’t pay attention to him either. Several Mountain Gods, including the Song Yuzhang of Qidun Mountain, plus the City Gods of the various city god pavilions at the state, prefectural, and county levels, plus the civil and martial temples in the state… Anyway, no one took his Kiln Affairs Supervision Department official, who was ranked fourth, seriously. When he arrived, he was so proud and waited for a full half a year, but not a single person took the initiative to visit the Supervision Department at night. Fine, if you don’t come to me, I’ll go to you. As a result, he was often turned away. Even if he entered, there was nothing to talk about.

Jian Feng had no choice but to write a letter to consult his former friends in the capital, the former local prefectural governor, Yuan Zhengding, who had now been promoted to the prefectural governor of Hongzhou.

When he was a child, he liked to follow Yuan Zhengding, who was a little older, and concentrate on reading, not caring about what was going on outside the window.

Yuan Zhengding did reply with a letter, but it was actually a blank piece of paper without a single word written on it.

However, Jian Feng finally figured out some of the ways of officialdom, so he began to pinch his nose and learn from his predecessor, watching more, listening more, speaking less, and going out less.

Fortunately, there was no limit to the term of office of the official in charge of supervision.

But it wasn’t right to just stare blankly all the time, so when he heard that Dong Half-City had returned to his hometown’s ancestral home, Jian Feng immediately went to pay a visit, of course, in plain clothes.

When he saw the Confucian youth and the yellow-robed old man, Jian Feng was only polite.

He recognized Li Huai as a local from the town, now a sage of the Cliff Academy.

As for the kind-faced old man, he was a stranger, and there were no relevant confidential files in the Supervision Department’s records. Before Jian Feng came, he had someone record the information, and at the same time, sent someone to Niujiaodu to look up the records of the customs clearance documents that Li Huai had taken on the ferry, as required.

Dong Shui Jing seemed to know nothing about the rules of officialdom, and didn’t let Li Huai and the old man leave this slightly shabby house, or even let them move to another place.

If it had been at the beginning of his term, Jian Feng would have been unhappy, but he had eaten too many soft nails and closed doors, and had worn away his sharp edges and temper.

Dong Shui Jing invited Prefectural Inspector Jian to sit down, and then handed him a sticky rice dumpling. Jian Feng thanked him, patted the dust on the sticky rice dumpling familiarly, peeled it open, and ate it. Jian Feng didn’t have to pretend to be approachable, even though he was born into a Dali noble family. He had studied at Chunshan Academy for many years, during which time he had earned a lot of money on the road, so Yuan Zhengding often joked that he should work in the Ministry of Revenue.

But because there were outsiders present today, Jian Feng had to start by talking about some official matters that were barely related to the kiln affairs. After all, many kilns were no longer government kilns, and this Dong Half-City was hiding behind the scenes, but almost monopolized the entire wealth of porcelain exports. For example, the Baoxi kiln, which had been converted into a civilian kiln, was now assigned to a puppet merchant that Dong Shui Jing had personally supported.

Dong Shui Jing talked and laughed with him, and his answers were watertight and appropriate.

Li Huai was very impressed.

Jian Feng had already prepared himself to return empty-handed. While the sticky rice dumpling in his hand wasn’t finished yet, he casually chatted about the construction of local schools, and the road repairs and bridge construction that Dong Shui Jing had secretly funded on behalf of others. Some places were worth discussing, and a lot of money hadn’t been spent on the edge of the knife. These matters had already exceeded the scope of the Kiln Affairs Supervision Department, and they were all trivial matters. Jian Feng just felt bored as a Prefectural Inspector and felt that there were too many details that needed to be improved. Since he had finally met Dong Half-City today, he would just say a few useless words outside of officialdom. Even if it was annoying, it didn’t matter.

As expected, Dong Shui Jing was very perfunctory, only saying that he would ask about it when he had time. Jian Feng knew that there was a ten percent chance that it wouldn’t work out.

After leaving the house and walking alone in the alley, Jian Feng smiled bitterly. He had wasted another day today.

He deserved to be called the most useless Prefectural Inspector in history behind his back.

Li Huai wanted to say something but stopped.

Dong Shui Jing shook his head and smiled, “The dull sound of hitting a wall is conscience.”

Li Huai asked, “Did you read it in a book, or did Chen Ping An say it?”

Dong Shui Jing was amused and annoyed.

Li Huai laughed and said, “You dropped out of school early, read less, and are even worse than me.”

Dong Shui Jing hesitated, but after holding back for a long time, he still couldn’t ask.

But Li Huai knew what Dong Shui Jing wanted to ask at once, “If it’s just a choice between two people, I would definitely choose you to be my brother-in-law.”

Dong Shui Jing was skeptical, “If you saw Lin Shouyi, how would you answer the same question?”

Li Huai burst out laughing.

Dong Shui Jing no longer pursued the matter, but turned to look at the willow tree by the well in the courtyard. The tree was soft and weak, and the man’s eyes were as gentle as the willow tree.

***

A minor office under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of War’s Motorcade, located in the Public Office of the Postal Telegram Office of Mao Dai Hutong, welcomed two noble guests from the officialdom today who had never set foot in this place before.

One was from the Ministry of War, and one was an official from the Ministry of Rites. Both were secretaries, and they were the most powerful secretaries in the Dali court.

The head of the Telegram Office, whose surname was Fu and whose name was Hu, was a young man from a family in the capital. He had a very promising older brother named Fu Yu, who had recently returned to Beijing from a local post to report on his work, and had been removed from the position of Prefectural Administrator of Baoxi County in the old Longzhou. It was considered a lateral transfer, and he had just taken the position of the Assistant Minister of the Imperial College, one of the nine young ministers, in charge of the Spring Workshop. Fu Hu respected and feared this cousin of his, who was also a round older than Fu Hu, and had a bit of the meaning of an older brother as a father.

Today, after Fu Hu finished his official duties, he was originally holding a piece of mutton fat jade handpiece with his legs crossed, when he learned the news from the doorman’s clerk, he was startled and woke up from the Changpu River wine from last night. He mistakenly thought that something had gone wrong with his official duties. In the history of the Lu dynasty, there had been a case of the theft of the great seal box of the Ministry of War, which involved a wide range of people. The Emperor was furious and investigated again and again. In the end, even the spare seal box of the Telegram Office was melted down by the storehouse keeper, which led to the loss of many official hats and heads of the entire Ministry of War in the Lu court. At the time, the Dali Song court, which was a vassal state of the Lu dynasty, only regarded it as a joke.

When he learned that they were here for Old Lin, Fu Hu paced back and forth in the room twice, stomped his foot, and decided to go and prepare to break into the tiger’s den.

Old Lin had been conscientious and hardworking all these years, and had gotten along very well with him. He had done a lot of work, and was content and didn’t fight for power.

Besides, he was the head of the Telegram Office after all, so he had to protect the brothers in his office.

But when Fu Hu arrived outside Lin Zhengcheng’s office, saw the two people inside, he immediately lost his courage. He didn’t even notice that when his Old Lin saw the two uninvited guests, he was just sitting on the chair by the stove, leaning forward, bending over, and reaching out to warm himself. He didn’t even get up to greet them, and his airs were as big as those of a minister of the six ministries.

It should be known that the old man with white hair and the burly man who looked aggressive were the secretary of the Ministry of Rites’ Sacrificial Ritual Office and the secretary of the Ministry of War’s Military Selection Office.

These two official positions had always been important candidates that State Preceptor Cui Dunxu had to personally circle, and there was no need for the ministers and vice ministers of the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Rites to review them.

Just as Lin Zhengcheng stood up, the head official, who had only poked his head out at the door, had disappeared without a trace.

Lin Zhengcheng had no choice but to sit back in his chair and nod to the two secretaries, “I understand His Majesty’s meaning. I will set off for the Logging Office of Yuzhang County immediately.”

The old secretary smiled and said, “It should have been Secretary Cao of the Ministry of Personnel who took the lead in notifying Mr. Lin at the office in person, but as soon as Secretary Cao heard that he was going to see Mr. Lin, he immediately sprained his foot and was busy having people find plaster.”

Cao Gengxin had served as the Kiln Affairs Supervision Department official of Longzhou for many years, and only because he was in that position did he have the opportunity to access a top-secret Dali file.

In that Luminous Pearl Grotto Heaven, there was a very hidden “official identity” without rank, but to the Dali court, it was more important than the successive Kiln Affairs Supervision Department officials.

It was called the “Eunuch,” which meant a gatekeeper.

This person was the Dali court’s real eyes and ears, and was the real confidant of the Dali Song Emperor, or rather, that State Preceptor Cui Dunxu.

And the last Eunuch that Dali had installed in the Luminous Pearl Grotto Heaven was Lin Shouyi’s father, the former assistant official of the Supervision Department, and now the petty official of the Postal Telegram Office in the capital, Lin Zhengcheng.

Moreover, Cao Gengxin had an even bigger guess.

In the former Luminous Pearl Grotto Heaven, now the Dali capital, Lin Zhengcheng was likely to have retained the identity of the Eunuch all along. Once the young mountain master of Fallen Mountain and the Dali Song family broke down one day and completely fell out, this Lin Zhengcheng would be the last flood control dam that State Preceptor Cui Dunxu had left for the Dali capital, and could at least ensure that Chen Ping An wouldn’t start a massacre.

Although Cao Gengxin didn’t understand how a mid-fifth realm cultivator could do this, Cao Gengxin adhered to a principle that he wouldn’t go near anyone he couldn’t afford to offend.

Seeing that the two of them were still standing there, the man asked, “Are you in such a hurry to send me on my way?”

The old secretary laughed dumbly, and after a moment of silence, shook his head and said, “I wouldn’t dare.”

Since there was no place to sit, the secretary of the Military Selection Office crossed his arms and leaned against the door. He was indeed very curious about this deeply hidden fellow. If it wasn’t for this unusual official transfer, he wouldn’t have had the opportunity to know that Lin Zhengcheng had such a background. In fact, he, the secretary of the Ministry of War’s Military Selection Office, was only here today to lead the way for the old fellow who was also standing there. In fact, in the officialdom, he had no jurisdiction over Lin Zhengcheng, the future chief official of the Logging Office of Yuzhang County.

Hongzhou had newly established an office called the Logging Office, which was nominally in charge of arresting those who stole giant trees.

Similar to the Kiln Affairs Supervision Department of Chu and the Silk Weaving Bureau of Wuzhou, the rank of the chief officials varied, but they were almost the same.

To the north of Chu, bordering the border of Hongzhou, was the Yuzhang County, which was famous throughout the state. Besides being the ancestral home of the current Dali Empress Dowager, it had been a place where towering trees had grown since ancient times. In addition, it was said to be the place where the twelve ancient sword immortals had attained the Dao and ascended, so the Dali officialdom had always had the amusing saying that “Big Yuzhang, Small Hongzhou.”

Seeing that the two of them still didn’t seem to be leaving, Lin Zhengcheng smiled and asked, “Or should I set up a banquet here at the Telegram Office