Xuanxia

Chapter 574: Banquet and Discussion
In the next few days, Fu Qingzhou was finally able to take a deep breath.

Yuan Ziping was as efficient as ever. In just a few days, he and his men cleaned up the huge house. They removed all the weeds, refilled the pond with water, and even raised a few koi. Every room was furnished with matching furniture and even the closets were filled with newly bought clothes.

Not only that, as it was an old house, the walls, pillars, railings, floor tiles... inevitably had a lot of bumps and damages, but I don't know what methods Yuan Ziping used or what kind of craftsmen he found, but he actually repaired and renovated all those places.

Many people came and went in the house, and Fu Qingzhou didn't know whether they were bought servants or maids, or temporary craftsmen.

It was not until the third or fourth day that the clothes ordered by Yuan Ziping were delivered to the house. All the servants and maids changed into uniform clothes, and Fu Qingzhou was able to recognize who were his "family members."

And he... has been reading these days.

Yes, it’s not practicing martial arts, it’s reading.

Although Fu Qingzhou was not used to ordering servants around, he had to use them since he already had them. He sent someone to find Yue Heng and asked him for some books on cultivating the mind, which he read carefully, word by word.

In the past, he never looked Qi Ran Jue in the eye, but now, he had to look him in the face.

No matter how good the magic weapon is or how powerful the skills are, they are ultimately external objects.

If you want to fight against your inner demons, the only correct answer is to keep your mind clear from beginning to end.

Of course, the books Yue Heng sent were not just for self-cultivation. He heard that his brother Fu suddenly wanted to read the books of sages, so he was overjoyed. He picked out a lot of books and sent them to him. He also wrote a handwritten letter praising Fu Qingzhou's desire to learn and make progress...

"Son."

Yuan Ziping's call pulled Fu Qingzhou out of the book.

He leaned on the newly bought recliner. The snow in the yard had not melted yet. Fish were swimming in the pond not far away. Fu Qingzhou put down his book and looked up: "What's wrong?"

"Sir, someone is coming from the palace." Yuan Ziping said with a smile, "The emperor wants you to come into the palace."

"Oh?"

Fu Qingzhou was slightly startled: "What day is it today?"

Yuan Ziping replied, "My lord, today is the seventh day of the eleventh month, the beginning of winter."

"Beginning of Winter..." Fu Qingzhou was a little absent-minded.

When he first went to Langhuan Mountain, it happened to be the beginning of winter. It has been three years now.

It has been almost a year since I came down the mountain.

Of course, the most important thing is that today is the day Zhao Yuan arranges a debate in the court.

"Let's go."

Fu Qingzhou let out a long sigh: "Really... I don't know how to debate, but you insist on making me take the stage."

Naturally, Yue Heng could not take part in this debate in the court. To the outside world, he now had the identity of a member of the Yuan family and worked under Yuan Ye. He could not participate in this debate under any circumstances.

Of the four debaters at the time, "Bai Xiaochuan" and Yue Heng had both left the stage, and were replaced by students from the Palm Sword Academy selected by Ling Haojie.

Only Fu Qingzhou... Zhao Yuan refused to let him go and insisted that he participate.

"Master Fu, you are here."

Fu Qingzhou followed Yuan Ziping to the gate of the house and saw a young eunuch bowing deeply to him: "The car has been arranged, please get in, sir?"

"Thanks for your hard work."

Fu Qingzhou smiled at the eunuch and said, "Judging from your accent, are you from Shu?"

"Your Excellency has a good ear." The eunuch smiled flatteringly, "I am a native of Shu."

"My master is also from Shu, so we are fellow countrymen." Fu Qingzhou asked with a smile: "What is your name, sir?"

"Your Excellency can call me... Little Yuzi." The eunuch was a little excited and a little terrified. "Eunuch Yu." Fu Qingzhou smiled and said, "Old Yuan, Eunuch Yu has a brisk pace and even breathing. He is also a practitioner who has opened his martial arts. I see that his knuckles are thick, his palm muscles are strong, and there are calluses on his palms... Do you practice sword or knife?"

Eunuch Yu was a little confused: "My Lord, I am practicing swordsmanship."

"Lao Yuan."

Fu Qingzhou called out, "I think there was a good long sword among the weapons I brought back from the armory last time? Send someone to deliver it to Eunuch Yu later."

Yuan Ziping left as soon as he was told, but Eunuch Yu was extremely frightened and surprised.

Fu Qingzhou said nothing, just smiled, and climbed into the palace car.

In the past, he was too lazy to deal with these things - but in the past few days, he saw some truths in Yue Heng's book.

Being kind to others is not just about being chivalrous and righteous. In more complex interpersonal relationships, it is also necessary to find a reason to do something good for others.

Fu Qingzhou is not good at these things, and he seems a little clumsy in doing them, but the effect seems to be quite good.

"You've become the old-fashioned old-fashioned person that I hated the most when I was young..."

Sitting in the carriage, Fu Qingzhou shook his head and sighed to himself.

In the palace, civil and military officials, all wearing thick shawls over their official uniforms, walked slowly forward and filed into the imperial garden.

The expressions on their faces varied, but most of them were deep and calm, making it impossible to tell what they were thinking. Only a few officials could not suppress their smiles, revealing a playful, sarcastic, or excited smile.

Everyone has his or her own thoughts and ideas.

They all knew that today the Emperor was going to hold a debate in the Imperial Garden in front of all the civil and military officials.

They also knew that this debate originated from a debate among students in Zhangjian Academy not long ago.

As for why we chose the Imperial Garden...

Of course, it is because we also need to “hold a banquet and make a point”.

Of course, there was no room for a banquet in the Qianyuan Hall, but this huge imperial garden was large enough to accommodate all civil and military officials.

When Fu Qingzhou arrived, the garden was already filled with small tables with wine and food on them. Civil and military officials were seated in turn, and the debate platform was also set up.

As for the judging platform...it was empty.

Fu Qingzhou thought, the only people who could be judges, apart from Emperor Zhao Yuan himself, would probably be high-ranking officials like Yan Yidong and Ning Baimei. And since Ning Baimei was in seclusion, who else could it be?
Next to the debate platform, several people wearing the uniforms of the Sword Academy students were talking in twos and threes. Fu Qingzhou recognized the female student named Yunlu at a glance, and also saw Gu Jinchen, whom he had not seen for a long time, on the other side.

What surprised him was that the last time he saw Gu Jinchen at the Sword Academy, he was following those young men from aristocratic families and flattering them diligently... But today, he stood with his head held high and his chest puffed out, like a flag, with a proud smile on his face. Instead, the three young men from aristocratic families who participated in the debate with him were quite polite to him while chatting and laughing.

Fu Qingzhou narrowed his eyes slightly.

After all these years, Gu Jinchen no longer ranked high in his heart. But for some reason, he always had an inexplicable dislike and vigilance towards this fat boy who started out as a servant.

He walked towards the debate platform but was stopped by several officials.

He didn't know these officials at all, but they were very enthusiastic and called him "Sir" one after another, as if they were eager to get to know him.

Fu Qingzhou suppressed his impatience, put on a natural and sincere smile, and greeted them.

But more officials just sat in their respective seats and watched coldly.

After a few words, Eunuch Huang's shrill voice cut through the cold air and came from afar.

"The Emperor has arrived——"

(End of this chapter)