Chapter 326: Fortune Momentum Growth

Inside the Imperial Study, candlelight flickered, casting Chen Wen's seated silhouette onto the wall, drawing out a calm and steady silhouette.

He did not review memorials nor summon officials; he simply closed his eyes alone, focusing his mind, his consciousness sinking deep into his body, carefully feeling the subtle yet solid change that had continuously occurred since the False Song's Northern Expedition suffered setbacks and internal loyalty education was implemented.

His consciousness sank, as if diving into a vast and boundless inner universe.

There, in place of the five viscera and six bowels, meridians and acupoints, was a slowly rotating, immensely vast chaotic vortex.

This was the manifestation of the dynasty's Fortune Momentum within his body.

Compared to a few months ago, this vortex had already undergone a significant change.

Its scale seemed more magnificent, its coverage broader, as if its connection to Great Chen's ten‑thousand‑li rivers and mountains and myriad peoples had grown tighter.

Its color was no longer a single chaos but displayed an inner‑five‑colored, immensely heavy mysterious yellow hue; as it flowed, faint shadows of mountains and rivers, city outlines, and the thriving of myriad peoples flickered, giving a weighty, reassuring sense of power.

The vortex's rotation was steady and powerful.

Each circulation seemed to draw a response from some hidden force; the former slight sluggishness or fluctuation after using his ability was gone, replaced by a ceaseless, endless surge of vibrant vitality.

He could even "hear" that, when the vortex circulated, what was emitted was no longer silent stillness but an extremely low, yet immensely grand hum.

Like the pulse rising from deep within the earth, and like the steady breath formed by the myriad common folk gathered together.

This change did not happen overnight, but over this period it became especially clear and intense.

Chen Wen slowly opened his eyes; deep in his pupils, a flash of mysterious yellow luster flickered and vanished.

He walked to the window, pushed open the carved wooden lattice, and the night breeze drifted in, bringing the mild warmth of early summer.

Gazing out, the myriad lights of Bian Liang Imperial City echoed in the distance with the heavenly river of stars; the faint sounds of peace and livelihood drifting from the distant markets seemed to resonate with the Fortune Momentum vortex within his body.

"Is this… the nation's might growing day by day, the people's hearts turning toward it?" he murmured softly, feeling an unprecedented steadiness and weight.

This growth of Fortune Momentum did not come from nowhere.

He clearly knew its source.

The False Song's Northern Expedition suffered setbacks; its attempt to advance the "historical node" and restore the Iron Crow Army's strength was effectively checked, undoubtedly weakening the external force that sought to drag history back onto the "right track," allowing the Fortune Momentum of Great Chen, representing "variables" and a "new path," to flourish more smoothly.

This is the external factor.

But more important is the internal factor.

It is the feedback brought by the solid, down‑to‑earth internal governance construction over the past few months.

The promotion of new farm tools was like pouring sweet spring water onto parched land.

Although the drought had not been fully relieved, the increase in farming efficiency and enhanced disaster resistance gave the people of the affected prefectures hope of survival, and even of living better.

Hope is the most precious thing in troubled times.

When the people held the labor‑saving curved‑axle plow, watching clear river water lifted by water wheels onto the high fields to nourish the seedlings, their approval and support for Great Chen, for the Imperial Court, and for him as emperor quietly sprouted and gathered.

This gratitude and expectation springing from the fields, the most simple and sincere, transformed into the purest vital force, flowing into the dynasty's Fortune Momentum torrent.

And Wang Ru's vigorous promotion of loyalty education was like the fierce fire and heavy hammer that forge steel.

The unification of military thought, the rectification of the official corps, and the guidance of public opinion caused the entire Great Chen interior to coalesce into an unprecedented centripetal force.

"Loyalty to the sovereign, patriotism, resistance to foreign invasion" was no longer merely a slogan; it gradually became internalized as belief in the hearts of many soldiers, officials, and even ordinary commoners.

This coalescing of people's hearts and will likewise became the most resilient, most shining part of the Fortune Momentum vortex.

External threats temporarily eased, internal governance solidified.

The two combined were like equipping the growth of Fortune Momentum with dual drivers.

Chen Wen could feel that not only had the total amount of Fortune Momentum become greater, but its "quality" also seemed to have improved.

It became more refined, more obedient to guidance, and its connection with his mind and spirit grew tighter.

He even had a vague premonition that if he now used Ability Granting, the incurred "cost" might be smaller than before, or he could sustain the granting for a longer time and over a larger area.

Of course, this still needs verification.

He was not in a rush.

He deeply knew that the way of Fortune Momentum is profoundly mysterious, emphasizing accumulation and guidance rather than draining the pond to catch the fish.

Now this vigorous growth momentum is hard‑won; it requires careful protection so that it enters a benign, self‑reinforcing cycle.

"The False Song follows its script, accumulating external force."

"But we Great Chen must strengthen our roots and nurture our essence, gathering internal strength."

"This struggle over Fortune Momentum seems not to be only a matter of swords and blades."

A hint of a composed, in‑control smile appeared at the corner of Chen Wen's mouth.

He returned to the Imperial Desk, his gaze sweeping over the memorials from all regions reporting spring plowing progress and popular stability, his mind growing ever clearer.

Suppressing the False Song's "node" is weakening the opponent.

While solidifying one's own internal governance is strengthening oneself.

These two complement each other; neither can be lacking.

Now, the marked growth of Fortune Momentum is the best affirmation of his strategic direction over this period.

It also gave him greater confidence to face the possible fiercer backlash from the False Song and the Iron Crow Army ahead.

"Let this Fortune Momentum become even weightier."

"Thick enough to crush all deceitful tricks, thick enough to bear an unprecedented… golden age!"

He took up the vermilion brush and, on a memorial concerning further promotion of new rice strains in the Huainan region, solemnly stamped an "approved" character.

As the brush tip fell, it seemed to stir the mysterious yellow vortex within his body, giving it a slight tremor.

A mightier force then seemed, in silent invisibility, to flow along the unseen connection toward the distant Yangtze‑Huai lands, nourishing all things and protecting the people.

Fortune Momentum growth is not merely the change in the vortex; it also lies in that seed named "hope" silently sprouting on every inch of this land and its altars.