Within the not-so-vast confines of the East Hua Pavilion, a pleasant warmth had settled. Every whisper of the wind, every subtle sensation against the skin in this place, was meticulously managed by specialized attendants. To shield the Emperor from any trivial distraction was their greatest contribution to the Great Qi Empire.

The Son of Heaven sat, while Jiang Wang stood with head bowed. Li Zhengshu remained silently at his side, uttering not a word. Qiu Ji stood guard outside the pavilion doors, the distance ensuring no extraneous sounds intruded. Even the lamplight within the chamber held a dutiful stillness, not daring to flicker even a hair’s breadth.

This stillness, this period of waiting, was most suitable for cultivation, Jiang Wang thought inexplicably in his heart. But it was, after all, merely a thought. The passage of time at this moment was difficult to gauge. He knew not how long had passed, until after the rustle of another page turning—

“In the third month of this year, the Crown Prince shot a Dragon Fox.”

The voice of the Son of Heaven descended as if from the nine heavens above – clearly so near, yet so distant. Jiang Wang reacted instantly, immediately continuing: “The Grand Ancestor deemed it inauspicious and banished him to Blue Hill, thus establishing Shang Hua.”

“History Knives Carving the Sea,” compiled by Sima Heng, the Great Sage of the Diligent Academy, was the most complete historical magnum opus recording the histories of various nations since the dawn of the Dao Calendar. It was universally recognized as credible history. Sima Heng had traveled the world, visiting ancient sites, tracing the past, pursuing the present, collecting old news, secret histories, fragmented words of successive generations of famous figures… The history books of various nations, local records of various regions, tales passed down through generations, changes in climate, shifts in mountains and rivers… all served as his materials. Only after mutual verification, upon obtaining credible historical data, did he put pen to paper. Sima Heng’s writing style was concise and precise, his wording unbiased and impartial, revealing almost no personal emotional tendencies. Like the opening sentence of “History Knives Carving the Sea”—

“One named Heng, of the Sima family, a crude and dull person, who only observes history and gains self-knowledge. Without a boat to cross, one uses a knife to carve the sea.”

He said he was a foolish person without innate talent, lacking inborn insight and wisdom. He could only recognize himself by extensively viewing the rise and fall of history. He said history itself was the truest evaluation; he had no qualification to intervene in the affairs of those who came before. He said he was merely a recorder of history, not an evaluator… and indeed, he lived up to this. The entire “History Knives Carving the Sea” spanned millions of words, yet the discarded and reduced texts were far more than merely millions. The effort expended for these millions of words was even more than billions! He spent three hundred years, revising it forty-three times before finally completing the book. Upon its completion, this book immediately became the world’s credible history!

The history recorded in “History Knives Carving the Sea” began with the new dawn of the Dao Calendar and ended in the year 3900 of the Dao Calendar. The rise and fall of nations, the deeds of kings, ministers, and generals, allowed the people of the world to know of ancient and modern affairs, the torrent of the human path, all surging within. According to Sima Heng, every sixty years thereafter, the content would be supplemented once more. Now, in the year 3920 of the Dao Calendar, the histories of various nations after the year 3900 had not yet been completed, but his disciples had long since begun to collect credible related materials.

The entire millions of words formed three hundred and seven volumes. The historical materials of some nations formed a volume in themselves, while those of others could only be bound together with other nations’. Volumes one to ten were all “Jing Summaries”! Among the hegemonic nations that had always endured or were once magnificent, there were ten volumes of “Jing Summaries,” six volumes of “Yang Summaries,” eight volumes of “Qin Summaries,” nine volumes of “Chu Summaries,” six volumes of “Mu Summaries,” seven volumes of “Jing Summaries,” and three volumes of “Qi Summaries”…

The Son of Heaven of Qi recited, “In the third month of this year, the Crown Prince shot a Dragon Fox,” which was precisely the content of volume two of “History Knives Carving the Sea.” And the next sentence was, “The Grand Ancestor deemed it inauspicious and banished him to Blue Hill, thus establishing Shang Hua.” This section spoke of the history of the Jing Grand Ancestor deposing and establishing the Crown Prince. Jiang Wang continued very skillfully, of course, having indeed put in arduous effort.

“Qing Yang Zi, dispense with the formalities,” the Son of Heaven of Qi said casually. “Sit down and speak.”

Jiang Wang thought to himself, so he truly intended to test me. Fortunately, I memorized… a part. Then he thought again, the Son of Heaven of Great Qi is still quite benevolent, only testing a chapter from so early… He let out a breath, but this breath was not entirely released. He straightened his body and said very cautiously, “I have already rested upon my return to Qi. To be summoned by the Son of Heaven is a fortune from the heavens. For this minister to stand and speak is perfectly suitable.”

Joking aside, even Li Zhengshu, the East Hua Scholar, was standing. How could he dare to sit?

This flattery, though straightforward, had no effect on the Son of Heaven. Of course, he did not continue to grant a seat, but only asked again, “Tell me, why do you think the Jing Grand Ancestor viewed it as inauspicious?”

Jiang Wang was stunned! When I initially reported my leave, leaving Qi for Chu, you only told me to memorize the book, not to fully understand it! How am I supposed to know why the Jing Grand Ancestor viewed it as inauspicious? I can’t go and ask him! Why? Why! Sima Heng didn’t write about it either!

Of course, he didn’t have the guts to say these words to the Emperor of Qi. He tried to stubbornly force himself to understand a few sentences. In the end, he could only say, “This minister is crude and dull. I know it is so, but I do not know why it is so.”

When Jiang Wang flattered, Li Zhengshu had frowned slightly, as there was truly no level to speak of. But when these two words, “crude and dull,” left his lips, a hint of a smile appeared in his eyes. Sima Heng, in the opening of “History Knives Carving the Sea,” had also described himself as a crude and dull person. This was precisely an attitude towards history! One could not understand, but one could not pretend to understand. One could not comprehend, but one could not distort. Among the thousands of historians in the world, why did only Sima Heng compile a history that was credible to the world? The answer lay in the title of the book. Nothing more than four words: “History Knives Carving the Sea”! In every inch, in every stroke, in seeking truth from facts. Regardless of whether Jiang Wang was intentional or unintentional, these two words, “crude and dull,” used at this time, in this moment, in this situation, were precisely clever and not overly so.

Li Zhengshu praised him in his heart but remained silent. He only heard the Son of Heaven of Qi laugh and scold, “Indeed not clever, without wisdom and with little knowledge! What books have you been reading!”

Jiang Wang lowered his head and said, “This minister is ashamed. I will strive to improve in the future! However, this minister was young and had no good teacher, and as an adult had no leisure. I’m afraid I cannot satisfy Your Majesty in a short time.”

The Son of Heaven turned his head and looked at Li Zhengshu: “Look, now he still knows to leave a back door for himself when speaking. Is this a crude and dull person? I see him as very cunning!”

Li Zhengshu laughed: “Cunning or crude and dull, it is all within the Emperor’s net!”

The Son of Heaven said: “You are also a cunning one!”

This ‘Jade Lang Jun’ only said, “When has Li Zhengshu not been a minister of the King?”

The Son of Heaven pointed a finger at him and finally laughed again: “Then you, this great cunning one, shall teach this little cunning one!”

The closeness between the Son of Heaven of Qi and Li Zhengshu was truly extraordinary. No wonder it was said that the East Hua Scholar in recent years was almost Li Zhengshu’s sole title. And no wonder Li Zhengshu, though clearly without any real power, held considerable influence in the state of Qi.

Jiang Wang pondered in his heart, but his actions were not slow. He hurriedly bowed and said, “This is Jiang Wang’s greatest honor, to have the Scholar’s guidance!”

Li Zhengshu smiled. “Guidance” was sometimes a very taboo thing, especially for a great scholar like him who did not formally serve in the court and always maintained a respectful distance from trouble. But Jiang Wang was a junior who could participate in the family banquet of the Marquis of Destroying the City. Emotionally and rationally, it was not a problem for him to offer some guidance.

Without any preparation, he opened his mouth and said: “To understand this piece of historical material, you only need to understand one place—’Blue Hill’.”

“What kind of place is Blue Hill?”

“This place, beyond the Ten Thousand Demons Gate, is the holy land of the Fox Clan. The Jing Crown Prince shot a Dragon Fox, yet the Jing Grand Ancestor banished him to Blue Hill. This is not a simple banishment; it is sending him to his death. A punishment of this severity absolutely cannot be explained away by a simple ‘deemed it inauspicious’. Why to this extent?”

“Let us examine the cause of this matter again.”

“The Jing Crown Prince personally went beyond the Ten Thousand Demons Gate, shot a Dragon Fox, and made its fur into a fur coat to present to the Empress of Jing. Firstly, to boast of military exploits, and secondly, to express filial piety. This was originally a blameless matter, even one that should be praised. Why did the Jing Grand Ancestor actually hate him so much, wanting him to die?”

Li Zhengshu’s demeanor was composed, and he narrated at a leisurely pace, skilled at inspiring the listener’s thinking. Every word, every thought, truly possessed a kind of timeless charm.

“We should take note. In the first volume of ‘History Knives Carving the Sea’, Sima Heng recorded a detail, saying, ‘The Grand Ancestor suppressed demons, divided and transformed them, gathered and annihilated them, in seven years expelled tigers, in nine years repulsed Chai.'”

Jiang Wang, of course, remembered this passage. He had memorized it fluently, but indeed had not thought of its relation to the Jing Crown Prince shooting a Dragon Fox.

Li Zhengshu said very patiently: “The Ten Thousand Demons Gate was constructed in ancient times, thoroughly isolating the demon clan’s hope of returning to the present world. It was truly a supreme achievement of the Human Emperor. However, the killing beyond the Ten Thousand Demons Gate has never ceased. The demon clan has also never given up on counterattacking the present world.”

“Building the Ten Thousand Demons Gate does not mean one can rest easy; it requires continuous maintenance and reinforcement. The extinction of the One True Era marked the end of the Near Ancient Era. The Jing Grand Ancestor established the Heavenly Capital City atop the Ten Thousand Demons Gate, thereby founding the state of Jing, known as the Son of Heaven guarding the nation’s gate, and at one point even held the prospect of becoming the Human Emperor.”

“And indeed, he established extraordinary merits beyond the Ten Thousand Demons Gate. Beyond the Ten Thousand Demons Gate is another vast world, to us, still holding too many unknowns and dangers. Of course, the greatest danger has always been the demon clan.”

“The killing between the human armies and the demon clan there has continued through the Middle Ancient, Near Ancient, and up to the present, never stopping. ‘History Knives Carving the Sea’ records ‘seven years expelled tigers,’ meaning the Jing Grand Ancestor used seven years to expel the tiger clan that was then occupying the front line of the battlefield, greatly advancing the human clan’s front line beyond the Ten Thousand Demons Gate and winning more strategic space for the human armies.”

“And Chai is the strongest among the dog clan. The Jing Grand Ancestor used nine years to repulse him. The key point recorded here lies in the Jing Grand Ancestor’s policy towards the demon clan… lies in this ‘divided and transformed them’.”

“In the era when the Jing Crown Prince shot the Dragon Fox, the fox clan was precisely the main target of the Jing Grand Ancestor’s efforts to divide the demon clan. The Dragon Fox was the most famous strong one among the fox clan at that time.”

Jiang Wang was somewhat enlightened.

Li Zhengshu continued: “The surface reason for this matter is that the Dragon Fox was the demon clan strong one that Jing Country was currently striving to divide beyond the Ten Thousand Demons Gate. The rash actions of the Jing Crown Prince destroyed Jing Country’s efforts to divide the demon clan. Thus, the Jing Grand Ancestor ‘deemed it inauspicious’.”

Jiang Wang seemed to be in thought: “Not inauspicious, but unwise?”

Li Zhengshu said again: “But in the situation at that time, dividing the demon clan was originally an impossible matter. There are many historical materials recording the demon clan situation in that era. The Dragon Fox was a greedy and insatiable character, demanding without limit, fundamentally without sincerity. Otherwise, even if the Jing Crown Prince shot it, it wouldn’t have led to the army cheering ‘eternal life’—this matter is not recorded in ‘History Knives Carving the Sea’, nor in the history of Jing, but it is recorded in the history of Chu.”

As he spoke, he casually recited a passage: “Bo Yong shot the Dragon Fox, thereby gaining the hearts of the army, the mountains calling out ‘eternal life’.”

“So that’s how it was!” Jiang Wang suddenly understood: “A short passage of text, containing such depth!”

Li Zhengshu smiled: “Those who can leave their names in the blue history naturally all have magnificent lives.”

Bo Yong was the name of the Jing Crown Prince who shot the Dragon Fox. Generally speaking, only when respectfully congratulating the Son of Heaven would the word “eternal life” be used. The army cheering “eternal life” was both contrary to ritual and seemed to suggest that Bo Yong had the suspicion of winning over the hearts of the army, truly too presumptuous.

So to speak. The Jing Grand Ancestor, under the guise of inauspiciousness, banished and killed Bo Yong. It was likely still a matter of heavenly family power struggle. The history books of Jing Country naturally had to avoid this, while the history books of Chu Country would not cover for Jing Country at all. And why Sima Heng did not include this matter in “History Knives Carving the Sea” was likely because he could not completely trust the Jing Country history recorded in the history of Chu…

Reading a history book is truly complex! Jiang Wang felt it might be much more difficult than cultivating Dao techniques like Contemplating the Self Ear. Li Zhengshu quoted widely from sources, picking up anything casually, a true great scholar indeed! Worthy of being a great scholar of the Blue Cliff Academy… wait? Blue Cliff Academy? Jiang Wang inexplicably had a bad premonition.

Indeed, he heard Li Zhengshu say again: “But these are not the most fundamental reasons. The most fundamental reason lies in… the Jing Grand Ancestor had long intended to depose the Empress!”

On his handsome and extraordinary face, the expression was innocent and tight. As if saying, if your own brain is not enough, suddenly left, suddenly right, you cannot blame me. He smiled: “I will only say one thing. The Empress at that time was of Great Luo Mountain origin. The Empress established later, however, was of Jade Capital Mountain origin.”

Throughout the entire process of “teaching,” Jiang Wang’s perspective completely fluctuated with the waves, following Li Zhengshu’s narration, wandering up and down, frequently turning. Every time he thought he understood, he would discover that he did not… until finally, that person suddenly announced the truth! It’s not that he had any malicious intent, but this bad taste was truly too much like the Blue Cliff Academy… Truly boring enough!

And thus, pushed… The Son of Heaven of Qi deliberately asked such a complex question that made people’s heads explode. How was he a benevolent Son of Heaven? He clearly intended to see Jiang someone make a fool of himself! But under the eaves, how could one not bow one’s head? Jiang noble lord could only cooperate, feigning confusion and saying, “The matter involves the struggle of the three veins of the Dao Gate? It concerns the undercurrents between the Jing Country imperial family and the three great holy lands of the Dao Gate?”

Li Zhengshu smiled: “If you had finished reading the ‘Jing Summaries’, then you would know. The Jing Grand Ancestor’s Crown Prince, first established the eldest son Bo Yong, after Bo Yong established Shang Hua, and after Shang Hua established Zi Zhao. But ultimately, the one who inherited the great position when the Jing Grand Ancestor retired to cultivate was Fu Ren, the so-called Jing Wen Emperor.”

He stopped here, naturally finding it inconvenient to elaborate, and simultaneously finding it unnecessary to elaborate. m.6zw.net

Jiang Wang seemed to be in thought. After thinking for a while, he said, “I am truly confused!” He said to the Son of Heaven of Qi, “Your Majesty, you see, Jiang Wang truly is not material for reading! I recognize these characters, but when they are put together, I find it difficult to understand.”

To his earnest desire to shake off the shackles of reading, the Son of Heaven of Qi only returned with casual, uncaring eyes: “Do you remember the words I said to you before you went to the state of Chu?”

Jiang Wang said, “This minister dares not forget!”

“Tell me yourself. How much have you memorized?”

“This minister has… memorized some.”

“Some?”

“Approximately one-third.”

“Approximately?”

Jiang Wang said categorically: “Exactly one-third!”

“Jade Lang Jun, come and test me, just test the content of the first hundred volumes,” the Son of Heaven said casually, and then asked again, “Is there enough time?”

Li Zhengshu replied with a smile: “The morning court is still early.”

The Son of Heaven then waved his hand, and amidst the laziness, there was truly a momentum of deciding mountains and rivers, of establishing the tripod eternally: “Begin!”

After writing this chapter, the author is bald.

The fastest update of the great god’s deeply emotional tale.