Chapter 567: Candid Conversation

"Grand Academician..."

Liu Zheng was momentarily at a loss for words, not knowing what to say.

Although it was his first time meeting the old man before him, he always had a feeling. He was not the type of treacherous person involved in the deceit and trickery of the great dye vat that was the imperial court, nor was he an old fox capable of turning the world upside down in officialdom.

As the current head of the Hanlin Academy, he carried an indescribable air of purity about him.

It was a kind of composure, a kind of uniqueness.

Chen Qian laughed heartily: "Prefect Liu need not overthink it. You are a member of the Hanlin Academy; naturally, the Hanlin Academy will try its best to spare you some trouble. Although this is my own intention, there are indeed some difficulties with this Birthday Ceremony, but we can discuss that later."

Liu Zheng naturally hesitated no longer and said sincerely: "Wherever there is a place for Liu Zheng to be of use, my lord, please just give the order."

Chen Qian waved his hand: "Let's just chat, no need to be so formal. Rather than 'my lord' or anything like that, I prefer people to call me Chen Lao."

Liu Zheng smiled and changed his address to Chen Lao.

Chen Qian stood up leisurely and led Liu Zheng to take the stairs up within the hall. This was likely the tallest building in the Hanlin Academy; upon reaching the sixth floor, one could overlook the entire Capital.

Looking out, dense clusters of various buildings rose and fell one after another.

The foundation of Jinghua, an ancient city of thousands of years, permeated every social stratum and every ethnic culture of Longyan, through conflict, collision, and fusion.

This was a great city.

This was once a great dynasty.

Standing here, everyone would involuntarily be fascinated and captivated by it.

"Prefect Liu, this is your first time in Jinghua, right?"

Chen Qian asked leisurely.

Liu Zheng said: "It is my first time."

Chen Qian laughed heartily: "Prefect Liu, what do you think of Jinghua?"

Liu Zheng replied naturally: "A majestic city of a thousand years, a crouching tiger and a coiled dragon; there is nothing like it in the world."

Chen Qian, however, shook his head slowly: "I used to think so too. I even climb this building every day to take a look at the clouds and smoke of Jinghua. For so many years, I felt everything was habitual, even fixed."

Liu Zheng listened quietly, saying nothing.

"However..."

Chen Qian suddenly smiled and said as if casually: "I took some time early last month to make a trip to Liangzhou."

"What?"

Liu Zheng's body stiffened upon hearing this, his expression somewhat unnatural.

Chen Qian was not aggressive; he just continued to laugh heartily, though there was obvious envy, desolation, and helplessness in this laughter. He continued: "After returning, I realized that Jinghua... is old, is decaying... It turns out that the northwest corner I was so accustomed to is piled with too many poor people; it turns out that the Qujiang Road I thought was the busiest every day is only so because many people are crowded there, scrambling for work, and those who cannot get any have to go hungry, with their whole families going hungry..."

"So, I must thank you, Prefect Liu. It was you who let me see the decay and decrepitude of Jinghua. It was you who let me see the rise and sharpness of Liangzhou..."

Liu Zheng smiled bitterly and remained silent.

The current Yin-Liang was indeed far more advanced in urban construction. The mere appearance of concrete had broken the architectural pattern of this era.

Given time, the prototype of a modern city would appear here first.

What made Liu Zheng even more unable to speak was...

It seemed that in all of Longyan, only this old man before him had seen the gap between them?

He found it hard to understand.

But this was reality.

The vision and perspective of the head of the Hanlin Academy were not something an ordinary person could compare to. Only he observed the changes in this world every day, down to the smallest detail.

While others remained immersed in the dream of Longyan as the Celestial Empire for thousands of years, unable to extricate themselves.

Is this kind of thing rare?

No, not rare at all.

In the later Qing Dynasty, wasn't it just like this? When Western foreign guns and cannons smashed open the national gates, they still believed that these barbarians were nothing to fear; if they dared to attack, they would just stop exporting tea to them. Without tea, they would suffocate when going to the toilet, and then they would naturally surrender without a fight!... Ignorant to the extreme, isn't it?

They were not unable to see progress; they simply subjectively rejected it.

Even now, there is no lack of people in Longyan who bitterly denounce Liangzhou for relying too much on "strange skills and ingenious devices," losing the traditional style of civilizing the world as a great nation.

"Hahahaha, is that little fellow Wang Chao doing well?"

Chen Qian suddenly asked with a smile.

Liu Zheng was stunned.

Little fellow? So it turns out these two were acquaintances.

He said: "Dean Wang has always been in good spirits."

Chen Qian said: "The reason I went to Liangzhou that time was, first, because of your Heart Learning, and second, because Xiao Wang sent me a letter saying: 'The one who can save Longyan is Prefect Liu!'"

Liu Zheng was immediately startled: "I am unworthy of such praise!"

He really had not expected that Wang Chao's evaluation of him would be so high. One must know that when he was at Liangshan, he had bullied the man quite miserably...

Chen Qian laughed heartily: "In Jinghua, the first person Prefect Liu needs to guard against is naturally the Crown Prince. The Crown Prince is, after all, the Crown Prince; if he were to be enraged today and kill you in the street, he would not be punished for it. Do you understand?"

Liu Zheng broke into a cold sweat; it seemed he had still underestimated the status of the imperial family in the Capital.

"Secondly, it is the newly ascended Dong Guifei. If I am not mistaken, she has already been used as a blade, and this blade is specifically meant to deal with you."

"As for the likes of scholar-officials like Zhu Zhen, there is actually no need to pay too much attention; they are just a bunch of fence-sitters."

"However, you, Prefect Liu, are showing your sharp edge. The Feudatory Kings, Regional Commanders, and their young masters coming from all over this time are also some troublesome matters, hahahaha..."

Liu Zheng smiled bitterly: "Then I will just try my best not to go out."

Chen Qian nodded: "During these days, you can use the excuse of the Hanlin Academy preparing for the ceremony to decline many invitations."

Liu Zheng knew that Chen Qian, the number one strategist by the Emperor's side, truly wanted to help him, so he naturally bowed deeply.

Chen Qian waved his hand: "Do not die in the Capital, at least not this time. If you die, Heart Learning dies, and then I will truly not be able to see any hope for Longyan..."

"Go, go, and while you're at it, go see if there is anything you can help with."

Liu Zheng then took his leave, realizing that this Longyan Dynasty was not entirely filled with those who only sought power and profit; there were still people genuinely concerned about the development and future of this dynasty.

For a moment, he felt a surge of great ambition.

As soon as he stepped out the door, Deng Wenhui leaned in: "How was it? Did Chen Lao instill a bunch of grand ambitions in you? Did he praise you for having a promising future?"

Liu Zheng was stunned.

Deng Wenhui laughed heartily: "He praised me the same way back then... It's just that after all these years, I'm still a mere Record Keeper, unable to move up, unable to move up. Let's go, let's go, hurry up. We've seen Chen Lao, we have to go over and help, otherwise, they're going to start cursing over there..."

"Cursing?"

Liu Zheng was dragged along, bewildered, by Deng Wenhui to the backyard of the Hanlin Academy.

Before he could even say anything.

Sure enough, a torrent of head-on, face-smashing rebukes was already directed at Liu Zheng.

"What have you two been doing?"

"Slacking off, are you?"

"Don't even think about having dinner tonight!"

"Hurry up and get over here to work!"

The person doing the cursing turned out to be a delicate young girl with her hands on her hips.

Deng Wenhui wore a fawning expression, nodding and bowing.

Liu Zheng, however, was completely dumbfounded.

The backyard of the Hanlin Academy was clearly a scene of chaotic, bustling activity. People were shuttling back and forth, working non-stop to prepare items needed for various ceremonies. The scale was massive, and there were so many things. It was a dazzling array, leaving one overwhelmed.

Before the two could even speak, someone shoved a bundle of lanterns into their hands and instructed them to load the lanterns onto a Horse Carriage.

Although Liu Zheng was dumbfounded, he could only comply.

After running a few trips, Liu Zheng felt a bit tired and just wanted to sit down and rest.

That head-on, face-smashing scolding rang out once again.

"Are you here just to freeload?"

"You were slacking off earlier, and now you're doing it again? Is your skin itching for a beating?"

What the hell?

Liu Zheng almost started cursing himself.

With this level of work intensity, even a capitalist would be moved to tears!