Chapter 364: Chapter 266: The ntal Exhaustion of an Academic Underachiever
The expected turmoil ca even faster than Zhao Yi had anticipated.
But that was to be expected.
The Great Xia Dynasty, established for a thousand years, had long made its capital, Shengjing City, the center of the cultivation world.
Aside from those cultivation sects that didn’t want to be too close to the Zhao Clan, all the other noble families and powerful clans were concentrated in Shengjing City.
To say the least, Shengjing City gathered half of the cultivation world’s resources and talents.
There were many people, but the resources were limited.
Thus, Shengjing City gradually ford a survival of the fittest jungle law ecosystem.
After more than a millennium of sifting, those still surviving in Shengjing City were either very powerful themselves or belonged to a strong family; none were fools or weaklings.
In this place where resources and intelligence were highly centralized, fools and weaklings had long been played to death.
Therefore, when Xuanzhen Temple began to zealously summon vassal disciples back, and the Armor-Breaking Army and Iron Armor Army started transporting important materials to Shengjing City, the smart ones in Shengjing City imdiately beca alert.
Compared to the military’s actions, what shocked the noble families most was Xuanzhen Temple’s behavior.
Many families and clans were horrified to discover that the guards, advisors, servants, maidservants, and even the cooks they had always trusted had all co from Xuanzhen Temple.
At this mont, the heads of many families were instantly petrified with fear.
Especially those families that had once corresponded with the Kong Clan. Though they hadn’t participated in the Kong Clan’s final rebellion, they hadn’t explicitly refused either. Instead, they held a two-sided betting mindset, waiting to watch the Zhao Clan suffer.
Now, with the vassals of Xuanzhen Temple’s identities exposed, those family heads suddenly realized that the advisors they had been conspiring with were actually from Xuanzhen Temple.
In other words, everything these families said and did had always been under the Zhao Clan’s watchful eyes.
For a mont, a shadow of death seed to loom over those families, and everyone waited for death to arrive.
After all, Xuanzhen Temple wouldn’t expose its mbers without reason.
Since they did, it ant they were ready to close the net.
Shengjing City, Wang Family of the Locust Tree.
Wang Huairen sat stiffly in the main hall of the Wang family’s ancestral ho, staring at the middle-aged scholar coming in from the door. Although he tried hard to straighten his spine, his trembling hands betrayed the extre terror in his heart.
The middle-aged scholar wore a white long robe, a wooden hairpin inserted in his hair, and nothing more. He appeared both clear and clean.
Wang Huairen’s gaze on the scholar was extrely complex.
He initially recruited the scholar because of his pure and unworldly deanor.
After several tests, the scholar did not disappoint him. Wang Huairen grew increasingly trusting of him, to the extent that he didn’t hide his correspondence with the Kong Clan from the scholar.
Who would have thought...
Wang Huairen sighed inwardly but quickly composed himself, a sliver of hope rising in his heart.
Wang Huairen had treated the scholar well over the years.
After the Kong Clan’s downfall, Wang Huairen knew he was dood.
With the Great Xia Zhao Clan’s power, they couldn’t possibly overlook his dealings with the Kong Clan.
Thus, Wang Huairen spent these days not thinking about saving himself but about preserving the entire family.
The Wang Family of the Locust Tree, with its legacy spanning millennia, had roots as deep as the Kong family.
If the Wang Family were to perish under his hand, Wang Huairen would have no face before the ancestors even in the afterlife.
To ensure the Wang Family’s survival, Wang Huairen had been hustling about, yet sohow the Zhao Clan didn’t respond to any of his probes.
At that mont, Wang Huairen harbored a glimr of luck, thinking that the Zhao Clan hadn’t uncovered his collusion with the Kong Clan, that he might escape this catastrophe.
Until the scholar’s identity was exposed.
In shock, Wang Huairen’s slight hopeful delusion completely dissipated.
He now just hoped that the scholar would spare a bit of the Wang Family’s bloodline out of their long-standing relationship, so that the Wang Family’s millennia-old legacy wouldn’t end abruptly.
As Wang Huairen was pondering this, the middle-aged scholar entered from outside.
"Wenyuan greets the Patriarch."
The middle-aged scholar ca in from outside the main hall, as respectful as always, bowing to Wang Huairen.
Wang Huairen’s mouth twitched; he raised his hand a few tis, but it had gone numb from disuse and wouldn’t move.
"There’s no need for formalities, Brother Wenyuan."
"Thank you, Patriarch."
Seeing Wenyuan’s composure, with not a hint of guilt that a traitor should have, fury surged in Wang Huairen’s heart.
But considering the Wang Family’s current situation, he hesitated a mont and swallowed back his words.
Angry?
Certainly.
Rembering how much he trusted Wenyuan over the years, Wang Huairen felt as though his sincere heart had been fed to the dogs.
Disappointed?
Yes.
Wang Huairen was inherently skeptical, rarely trusting even his Wang family mbers, with Wenyuan as a notable exception.
Even when outsiders gossiped about their special relationship, Wang Huairen didn’t alienate Wenyuan.
And yet Wenyuan betrayed him?
After a long silence, seeing Wenyuan waiting respectfully as usual for him to speak first, Wang Huairen sighed in his heart and said, "Brother Wenyuan, what brings you here today?"
Wenyuan imdiately responded courteously, "Reporting to the Patriarch, I am here to take my leave."
Wenyuan and Su Qianqian were two extres.
Su Qianqian excelled in exquisite essays. Though it was easy for her to achieve academic fa, she was utterly inept in practical matters.
Wenyuan was the opposite.
Wenyuan possessed astonishing intelligence and strategy, even earning Wang Huairen’s admiration and making him a chief advisor, yet his path in the imperial exams was wrought with difficulty.
Wenyuan learned to read at three, compose poetry at six, and beca a "xiucai" at sixteen, yet he never passed further exams.
Not because anyone intentionally made it hard for him, but rather he overthought the exam questions, often deviating far from the topic.
Unlike Wenyuan, Wang Huairen was a bona fide grand scholar. The Wang Family of the Locust Tree was a literary giant on par with the Kong Clan within the Great Xia Imperial Court.
Therefore, when Wang Huairen extended an olive branch, Wenyuan accepted without hesitation.
Wanyuan held nothing back with Wenyuan, patiently explaining both scholarly pursuits and examination insights whenever Wenyuan sought advice.
But Wenyuan’s problem wasn’t with knowledge or experience, but with his inability to control his wandering mind.
Thus, even under the Wang Family’s tutelage, Wenyuan made no progress in the imperial exams.
Originally, Wenyuan had thought to loaf around the Wang Family, but unexpectedly received a secret ssage from Xuanzhen Temple.
Upon reading its contents, Wenyuan hesitated not and decided to leave with the Crown Prince.
Because Lord Sect Leader had said they were heading to a New World, where perhaps everything would start anew.
Starting anew.
This ant no imperial exams in that world!
The thought of never facing those peculiar stares again in the New World made Wenyuan eager to depart imdiately!
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