The snowy night was once again silent.
But beneath the night sky, the hearts of those who were floating in the dark were not sure if they had been quieted.
Ouyang Yan stepped into the Wu Ya Residence and greeted Zhuge Long Su, who was holding a piece of paper in his hand, “Teacher.”
“Nothing has happened in the academy, has it?” Zhuge Longxu asked.
“Everything is fine.”
“Well, that’s good.”
“Teacher ——” Ouyang Yan stared at the letter paper in Zhuge Long Su’s hand, and judging from the envelope placed aside, this was the letter sent by Ming Rui.
It was impossible for Ouyang Yan to say that he was not curious about the letter sent by Ming Rui, a Tong Shen realm powerhouse, himself.
“Take it and read it if you want to.”
“Thank you, Teacher!” Ouyang Yan respectfully accepted the letter paper handed to him by Zhuge Long Su with both hands and bowed his head to browse through it.
“This —— is why they intend to advance the literary contest for the position to the beginning of next spring?”
“Why else,” Zhuge Longjue said, “they can’t wait any longer. My master has summoned the Long River of Hao Qi, but it has confirmed to them that the academy has what they want. They can’t wait any longer. If it weren’t for the fact that there is a teacher sitting in the shade, the two people who came tonight wouldn’t have been just Ming Rui and Luo Feng.”
Meng Shanhe had sat at the Shanhe Academy for three hundred years, and was one of the oldest Tong Shen realm powerhouses in the world, so no one knew how strong he was. After all, even the Great Qian Imperial Ancestor Ji Muqing, who had attracted the joint a*sa*sination of both the righteous and the devilish, had failed to take down the Northern Zhou under Meng Shanhe’s patronage back then.
Now that he has been cultivating for three hundred years, he is even more unfathomable.
It can be said that Meng Shanhe is the anchor of the Northern Zhou. As long as Meng Shanhe is around, the Northern Zhou is as stable as a mountain.
“We must not agree to this. In all the battles for the position in the literary world, science has lost repeatedly, and there is no reason for the loser to make conditions. If we were to agree so simply, would it not seem that my Shanhe School is weak and deceitful.” Ouyang Yan said indignantly.
“It doesn’t necessarily mean that we are weak and deceitful, but on the other hand, it could also mean that we are prepared and not afraid of any surprises. The situation now is that the Northern Zhou royal family is already as certain of the existence of such a thing as the Great Qian, and if we delay too long, it will in turn cause nastiness between us and the royal family. By agreeing to an early literary contest, we can use the pressure of the Great Qian to get the royal family to work with us against foreign enemies. It is not too late to settle the trouble with the imperial family after we have tided over the difficulties.”
As Ouyang Yan was valued by Zhuge Longxu, he was naturally not a simple-minded person and could understand the priorities, “Teacher’s high opinion!”
“Tomorrow, start preparing for all the things related to the competition for the position in the literary world.”
“I understand.”
——————
In the imperial palace of the Northern Zhou.
The Imperial family’s Lunar New Year dinner had ended, and all the imperial sons had dispersed. Apart from some of the younger royal sons and daughters, the older royal sons had all moved out of the palace, and it was inevitable that it would be a bit inappropriate to stay in the palace for the night.
However, there was one person who remained in the Grand Palace where the dinner was held, and that was the current Holy Emperor of Northern Zhou – Feng Tianming.
A multicoloured light flashed into the Da Ming Palace from the dark night sky, and the light dispersed to reveal Feng Mingxiao, dressed in a multicoloured phoenix robe.
“Imperial sister, here you are.” Feng Tianming rose to his feet and said.
If Meng Shanhe was the anchor of Northern Zhou, Feng Mingxiao was the backbone of the Northern Zhou royal family, and even Feng Tianming, who was the emperor, did not dare to neglect him easily.
In the face of the emperor’s greeting, Feng Mingxiao merely nodded indifferently.
“Imperial sister, is there any confirmation?”
The words were spoken without a head, but Feng Mingxiao knew what he was referring to.
Under Feng Tianming’s infinitely expectant eyes, Feng Mingxiao nodded and said, “Mountain River Academy, there are indeed traces of the Heavenly Son’s martial arts. Zhuge Longjue’s gathering of the vast qi left behind by generations of students from the Shanhe Academy this night, and easily defeating Ming Rui of the Tong Shen realm, should be this method of gathering the qi of the Heavenly Son’s dragon.”
“Excellent.” Feng Tianming fiercely clenched his fist and waved his arm, the surprise was so great that it was a little difficult for him to take into account the proper manners of an emperor.
“What are you going to do next, go straight to the Mountain River Academy and ask for it? With your status, there is a chance for you to get the Heavenly Son Martial Art directly from Zhuge Longxu’s hands.” Feng Mingxiao said.
“There is a chance, but it’s a bit undesirable.”
After all, he was a man who was an emperor, an emperor’s heart and a deep city, Feng Tianming calmed down from his ecstasy in no time, “Taking it head-on by force, whether it succeeds or fails, will undoubtedly be evil for the Shanhe Academy. The Great Qian is watching from the outside, and at this time, not even a hint of suspicion can be created with the Mountain River Academy.”
“Don’t you have a son who has become a closed disciple of Zhuge Longxu? Can’t you rely on him to get it directly from Zhuge Longxu?” Feng Mingxiao asked.
If he didn’t mention this, Feng Tianming felt his anger rise up in his heart, “Women are misguided, and they let people spread rumours everywhere that Xiao Ba will definitely take over the position of the dean of the Mountain River Academy in the future. Recently, Zhuge Longxu has subtly expressed his dissatisfaction with me, and this is all because of that stupid woman. A woman is mistaken!!!”
Every time he thought of the foolish things done by the Eighth Prince’s mother, the Empress, Feng Tianming hated it deeply. The Shanhe Academy had sheltered the Northern Zhou for three hundred years, and had been trained by the Northern Zhou to produce countless civil and military officials, and had long since become an indispensable pillar of the Northern Zhou. It can be said that the current Northern Zhou can do without him as emperor, but not without the Shanhe Academy.
Even if all the sons of the emperor died, there would still be other sons of the clan to take their place. If the Shanhe Academy were gone, and the Great Qian army moved north, Northern Zhou would be destroyed by the Great Qian.
“Luckily, Zhuge Longxu knew that this was not my intention and only raised Xiaojiu to fight against Xiaohachi. Otherwise, I would have had to send her into the cold palace.” Feng Tian Ming said in a fierce voice.
“Xiao Jiu?” Feng Mingxiao pondered slightly, “Your sick and weak son?”
It had to be said that Feng Jiu’s reputation was really big, even Feng Mingxiao had heard of his great name. You should know that Feng Mingxiao had lived in the deep palace for a long time, and even the infamous Eighth Prince Feng Qiwu had only heard of him slightly, but he knew about Feng Jiu’s deeds.
“Well, Little Nine has made up for his congenital deficiencies and has now cultivated “Hao Ran Zheng Qi”, so at the banquet tonight, I greatly rewarded him.” Feng Tianming’s mouth was aglow with relief, like a loving father who wanted his son to become a dragon.
“When he’s useless, you want him to disappear, but when he’s useful, you hold him up high. I’ve heard that your ninth son doesn’t even have a proper name. You’re really a good father.” Feng Mingxiao, however, saw through the icy exploitation behind this doting father’s smile and spoke out sarcastically.
“This —— royal sister, this is also for the sake of the royal family ——.”
“Forget it, this is your family business, I don’t have the heart to care.” After saying that, Feng Ming Xiao turned into rainbow colors and disappeared from the Daming Palace.
Only Feng Tianming was left standing alone in the palace, sitting alone on the imperial throne.
