Zhao Cheng carefully sensed the flow of principle within Li Shun’s body. It was calm and steady, showing no signs of disturbance. It seed the man was genuinely sincere.
He pressed further, asking several more questions.
Li Shun answered each one with solemn conviction, swearing his loyalty as though he would gladly die to repay their grace. Only then did Zhao Cheng finally put his mind at ease.
“Looks like the enlightennt was a success.”
Zhao Cheng turned toward Fang Xun.
Fang Xun imdiately understood.
“Disciple, go and rest for now. Rember, this matter is of utmost importance. You are not to speak carelessly of it.”
“Master, rest assured. Even if I were to die, I would never reveal a single word to outsiders.”
Li Shun’s expression was incomparably grave.
After Li Shun departed, only Fang Xun and Zhao Cheng remained in the study.
“Junior Brother Fang, you may set your heart at ease. If Master successfully overcos this tribulation, your transfer away from Dongshan Town will be just around the corner. Perhaps even returning to the Sacred Capital won’t be impossible. The open and hidden struggles between the Hundred Schools are growing fiercer by the day. If our Confucian school gains one more Creation Realm powerhouse, the entire balance of power will change.”
Seeing that Fang Xun still seed troubled, Zhao Cheng offered words of comfort.
Fang Xun composed himself, then quietly asked,
“Brother Zhao, I’ve been away from the Sacred Capital for many years now, so I know little of the current court situation. Would you be willing to enlighten ?”
Zhao Cheng gave a cold snort.
“What else could it be? The Left and Right Chancellors are still locked in opposition, evenly matched as always. Though recently, because of the Imperial Mausoleum being burned, our Confucian school has gained a slight upper hand.”
Fang Xun nodded slightly.
“The Left Chancellor cos from the Confucian school, while the Right Chancellor hails from the Legalist school. The Legalists were originally responsible for overseeing the Imperial Mausoleum, yet they allowed intruders to break in and bring about such a catastrophic disaster. Co to think of it, the structure of Great Qian, where the Left and Right Chancellors jointly govern the realm, has persisted for over three hundred years now. I wonder when that arrangent will finally co to an end.”
“That was His Majesty’s intention from the beginning. Even back when he still personally governed, it was already like this.”
Zhao Cheng spoke in a muffled tone.
Then his expression suddenly shifted, a trace of worry surfacing.
“However…”
“The Left Chancellor is far older than the Right Chancellor. If this drags on any longer, I fear it will be disadvantageous to our Confucian school.”
“The Confucian school itself is already divided into many factions. Aside from the Left Chancellor, there is no one capable of commanding universal respect.”
“After all, he is one of the very few surviving direct disciples personally taught by a Sage.”
“If he were to pass away one day, I’m afraid the Confucian school would imdiately descend into chaos, leaderless and fighting amongst itself.”
“Isn’t that a bit overstated? Isn’t there still my esteed master?” Fang Xun asked, cupping his hands.
Zhao Cheng sighed.
“Martial Uncle Dong is indeed a man of imnse prestige and virtue. Unfortunately, within our Spring and Autumn Brush lineage, he is the only Creation Realm expert.”
“Of course, if we could gain one more powerful ally, the situation would be completely different.”
“That’s why obtaining Lu Tinglan’s armor cannot be allowed to fail.”
Zhao Cheng’s expression darkened abruptly.
Fang Xun nodded faintly, then lowered his voice further.
“If Martial Uncle obtains the armor, what are the chances of a successful breakthrough?”
Zhao Cheng fell silent.
A long while passed before he finally spoke.
“We can only do all that lies within human effort, and leave the rest to heaven’s will.”
“In truth, Master sensed opportunities for breaking through in more than just this one place. We are simply making preparations on every front to ensure nothing is overlooked.”
“As juniors, all we can do is devote ourselves fully in assisting him.”
“Enough. Let’s not speak of this anymore.”
Zhao Cheng let out a soft sigh before changing the subject.
“Do you rember Yin Fengshuo, the Prefect of Lengshan?”
The mont that na was ntioned, Fang Xun’s face turned frost-cold.
“How could I not rember? My current miserable state owes no small part to his secret interference.”
His voice was filled with gnashing hatred.
Zhao Cheng let out a cold snort.
“After the Lengshan disaster, he discovered that you hadn’t actually died. Knowing full well that retaliation would inevitably co, he secretly had people spread rumors, claiming that you were afraid of death, and that it was your cowardice that led to the deaths of every citizen in Lengshan County.”
Fang Xun, upon hearing this, was both shocked and enraged. “So that’s why word spread so quickly! Even the commoners along the road to the Imperial Mausoleum already knew, and they were all cursing as a corrupt official!”
“If I do not avenge this grievance, I, Fang Xun, swear I am not human!”
His face flushed crimson, clearly furious to the extre.
Seeing this, Zhao Cheng smiled and offered consolation. “Junior Brother Fang, what you don’t know is that Junior Brother Shen Qinghe already vented your anger on your behalf. He obtained concrete evidence that Yin Fengshuo was the one spreading those rumors.”
“As the head of an entire commandery, to resort to such despicable thods... though he was not stripped of office, he was still given a major derit. For the next ten years, any hope of promotion is gone.”
Hearing this, Fang Xun’s expression improved sowhat, though he still seed dissatisfied. “Only ten years? That man is the type to hold grudges over the smallest slight. If ten years from now he manages to climb above again...”
Zhao Cheng replied calmly, “That is why, Junior Brother Fang, you must make good use of your ti. Your fellow disciples may watch over you for a while, but they cannot protect you forever. In the end, you can only rely on yourself.”
Fang Xun’s expression shifted several tis, no one knowing what exactly he was thinking.
In his own small courtyard, Li Shun manipulated the Fang Xun puppet while dealing with Zhao Cheng.
Yet the greater part of his attention remained focused within the Fangcun space.
Floating beside the Threefold Self-Reflection stone statue was a faintly visible bamboo slip.
It was precisely the Sacred Words Slip Zhao Cheng had previously used to “enlighten” Li Shun.
This bamboo slip could not manifest in reality, rely hovering at the side of the Threefold Self-Reflection statue.
For the mont, the statue showed no reaction toward it.
“I wonder... when the statue is damaged next ti, could this be used to repair it?”
Naturally, Li Shun had not actually been brainwashed by the Sacred Words Slip.
In truth, this Sacred Words Slip, said to be tainted with the aura of a Sage and capable of controlling even Celestial Phenona experts, had been completely useless against him.
“In fact, at the very end, those disciples of the Sage even saluted as though I were their teacher.”
Li Shun’s gaze once more fell upon the damaged Threefold Self-Reflection statue.
He naturally understood that all these strange phenona surrounding him must be due to this very statue.
“It seems Lao Wei was right before. The Sages truly are immune to their own divine abilities. Though I am not a Sage, within my Fangcun space stands a stone statue of one!”
At this point, Li Shun could basically confirm that the Threefold Self-Reflection statue within his space should be the Confucian Sage.
As for why it differed sowhat from the Sage’s image recorded within the Sacred Words Slip, that was beyond his current ability to understand.
“Though I was immune to the brainwashing of the Sacred Words Slip, the matter of heading to the Imperial Mausoleum’s burial grounds...”
“...won’t be easy to escape.”
“Unless I abandon the identity of this ‘Li Shun’ puppet in the outside world and from now on use it purely as a tool for cultivating Lengshan Grass.”
“It hasn’t reached that point yet.”
“The Imperial Mausoleum burial grounds...”
“Going in to broaden my horizons may not be a bad thing. Besides, even if I enter, it’s not as though there will necessarily be no chance to co back out.”
Jiang Chongguang’s figure flashed through Li Shun’s mind.
“Besides, I still have the Fang Xun puppet walking the outside world.”
“Whether Duanmu Qiuche successfully breaks through or not, he has already rendered a trendous service.”
After pondering and calculating for a long while, Li Shun finally made up his mind.
On the fifth day of the seventh month, Imperial Calendar.
Zhao Cheng brought Li Shun to the center of Imperial Mausoleum Commandery.
A towering earthen-yellow wall stood there, majestic and imposing, seeming to connect directly with the heavens.
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