[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-simulated-to-reality-i-once-looked-down-upon-ten":3,"chapter-simulated-to-reality-i-once-looked-down-upon-ten-simulated-to-reality-i-once-looked-down-upon-ten-chapter-86":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Simulated to Reality: I Once Looked Down Upon Ten Thousand Ages?",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2347101,4587,"Chapter 86: I, Lu Chen, Have Cultivated on Zhongnan for Fifteen Years","simulated-to-reality-i-once-looked-down-upon-ten-chapter-86",86,"\u003Cp>You heard Ma Bao’s words and already understood the imperial decree’s true nature.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Yu had long grown impatient; before the eunuch behind Ma Bao could even retrieve the edict, it shattered violently in midair.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It turned into countless fluttering scraps, silk and paper drifting like snow.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The young eunuch’s face turned instantly pale, terror plain on his face; he knelt on the ground, trembling as he glanced at his master, the Grand Eunuch Ma Bao.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To tear up the imperial edict was a crime of the gravest kind, punishable by death; he was utterly lost, wondering why such an accident had occurred—how could a lowly eunuch possibly bear such guilt?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ma Bao crouched down and carefully picked up each fragment, clutching them tightly in his hands.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Liu Jinchan sighed, his expression complex.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The seven disciples behind Lu Yu glared fiercely, filled with outrage.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Especially Yang Su, whose fury burned uncontrollably, his eyes blazing with menace.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The capital dared imprison Uncle Lu, sending an edict to Zhongnan Mountain ordering Uncle’s elder brother to return to the capital for questioning.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Chen’s father was imprisoned on charges of association.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Uncle had once served the Eighth Prince’s Jing Wangfu , but after the Eighth Prince fled the capital and declared himself Prince Jing in open rebellion, he became an enemy of the court.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Uncle, having a wife and daughter at home, chose to remain in the capital.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For years, he had hidden his identity within the Lu household, serving as Mother’s personal guard—until one day, when he intervened to save her from danger, someone recognized him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Under cover of night, one secret report after another was laid upon the Emperor’s desk.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The next morning, three thousand Imperial Guards surrounded the Lu residence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Imperial decree: Hand over Wei Gao, and you shall be spared punishment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Your uncle’s name is Wei Gao.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Lu residence fell silent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Chen’s father, Lu Jiaxuan, now sixty-eight, stepped out of the Lu residence and walked alone along the ten-li-long street, bare-chested, carrying thorns on his back, to beg for pardon at the imperial palace.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He knelt before Wu’an Gate; the midday sun blazed like fire, while women gathered around, whispering and laughing—until afternoon, when the palace gates finally opened.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That same afternoon, Uncle turned himself in at the Dalisi , biting off half his tongue to ensure not a single member of the Lu family would be implicated.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the third day, Uncle’s daughter arrived at the imperial palace with a blood-written petition, striking the Heavenly Drum—before she could even step inside, she was arrested and taken to the Eastern Depot.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This cousin, whom you have never met, is the last living bloodline of the Wei family.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The reason is simple: Wei Gao’s father died at thirty in the northern winds; his younger brother died at twenty-five during the northern invasion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>All six sons of the Wei family perished in the north.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the afternoon, Mother visited the mansions of several high officials: the Xie family, the Chen family, and others.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet by nightfall, every door remained tightly shut.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Yu had risen to his feet, his anger no longer containable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Stop picking them up,” he said coldly, his voice devoid of any emotion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The edict in Ma Bao’s hands shattered again under invisible force, shards flying, cutting Ma Bao’s fingers until they were covered in blood.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ma Bao felt the pressure around him like solid walls of air, suffocating him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His mouth tasted bitter—was this the realm beyond Grand Master? Merely by aura, he could barely hold himself upright.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet Ma Bao forced his head up, gazing at the man seated at the head of the hall, his expression cold.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The course of this matter rested entirely in the hands of this Shaobao.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ma Bao hoped the Shaobao would consider the greater good—for the sake of the people.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ma Bao clenched his teeth and pleaded: “Please, Shaobao, think carefully—for the sake of Daqing’s people!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“His Majesty has just ascended the throne; please, Shaobao, show leniency. If the matter is explained clearly, Uncle Lu will surely be spared.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Yu also turned to look at you!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Brother, make your decision.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Your gaze settled on Ma Bao.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ma Bao shuddered all over—not from any overwhelming aura, but from the chilling sensation of being utterly seen through.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>You withdrew your gaze.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Slowly stood up.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Walked to Ma Bao’s side and patted his shoulder.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Your uncle’s daughter was rescued by the Imperial Seal, wasn’t she? Otherwise, how could the Western Depot have intervened at the Imperial Palace’s Heavenly Drum?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ma Bao lowered his head, silent; the crushing pressure around him eased considerably.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>You said nothing more.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>You stared blankly at the scene beyond the door—autumn had come, the sky high and the clouds thin, the fruit on the mountains ripened year after year.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Your father, the man who abandoned scholarship for martial arts to reclaim the north, passed by his home three times without entering—thirty years of ceaseless toil.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He always said he owed his greatest regret to Mother and to you two brothers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That year, just after his marriage, news of the northern invasion reached them; the next day, he bade farewell to Mother and rode north.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One step out the door—he was gone for twenty years.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Father always said he was unworthy as a husband.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>You two brothers grew up, and he never kept you by his side.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As a father, he owed you too much.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But he never failed Daqing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>During those years of northern invasion, Daqing’s forces retreated step by step beneath the Iron Cavalry; Father’s letters home were hurried and brief, always ending with: “Beneath the peach tree in the courtyard, we buried wine for you two boys when you were born—don’t forget it when you marry.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Each letter was also a farewell.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the end of each letter was another line: “If the north is pacified, do not forget to tell your father at the ancestral rites.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To give one’s life for the nation’s peril—death is as natural as returning home.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Father was originally a Confucian scholar, always proper and courteous; the Lu family poured all their wealth into the righteous army resisting the north—even in poverty, he kept his faded white Confucian robe neatly worn.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When had he ever gone bare-chested, walking ten li, subjected to the people’s pointing fingers?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>You took a deep breath.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mother came from a noble family, steeped in scholarship.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She had never begged anyone in her life.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When you were children, she taught you two brothers: never seek favors from others.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even in the Lu family’s darkest days, Mother held up the entire household with her frail shoulders.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When there was no food at home, this daughter of a wealthy family took up needlework to make ends meet.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When had Mother ever begged anyone?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even when the Lu family was prosperous, they lived plainly; Father’s salary barely covered household expenses, and even the servants’ weddings and children’s upbringing were paid for by the Lu family.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>During New Year’s porridge distributions, the Lu gates were always crowded, often serving porridge for days on end—longer than some noble families.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Everyone knew the Lu family would have to tighten their belts again, yet Mother had never bought herself a single fine garment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Each time she served porridge, she smiled and said: “I’m accumulating merit for you two boys.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Last month’s letter spoke mostly of you two brothers—you are past thirty, yet Mother still sees you as children.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Your chest rose and fell.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Uncle spent his life obsessed with “northward, northward”—how many Wei sons died on the battlefield?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When drunk, Uncle once swore: “Without crushing the north, how can I have a home?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But every man eventually meets the woman he loves most in life.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Country” and “family”—two words, yet reversed in meaning.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Establish family, then career”—or “establish career, then family.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now, with such a crisis at home, not a single letter reached Zhongnan Mountain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Your parents refused to burden him; Uncle did the same.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even Uncle’s daughter, now about ten years old, seemed to have no thoughts of her own.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She struck the Heavenly Drum with the resolve to die.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>You looked at the ginkgo tree in the courtyard—its leaves had turned gold, blanketing the ground; next spring, it would bloom again in full splendor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I, Lu Chen, have cultivated on Zhongnan for fifteen years.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The relationship between uncle and niece above is mixed up—I’ll fix it later.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of Chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>",1412,"2026-06-21T01:32:57.622Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","9508b21384d4a41e5f61e35e7372c810045b6c17a019254ace720f8446c4b39e","simulated-to-reality-i-once-looked-down-upon-ten-chapter-87","simulated-to-reality-i-once-looked-down-upon-ten-chapter-85",728,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fsimulated-to-reality-i-once-looked-down-upon-ten-cover.jpg"]