Mang Shusheng's Ink Painting Practice

Chapter 331 Changes in the Mortal Realm
Zhao Yifu was surprised; he never expected that even at his level, Yang energy could still be useful.

Sensing these yang and spiritual energies, he felt as if three of the world's finest teachers were guiding him to see many mysteries.

From that moment on, Zhao Yifu became completely addicted to it and could not extricate himself.

They also forgot about the Buddha of Dipankara.

Oh, it's not exactly forgetting; he added a mechanism to the illusion array. If someone stays inside for ten consecutive days, the illusion array will automatically guide that person out.

This is an incredibly benevolent protective formation for the mountain.

Anyone who sees it cannot say it is not.

So the Buddha of Dipankara took a long nap and then inexplicably walked out of Baiyun Mountain.

Completely bewildered, Dingguang Huanxi Buddha looked at Baiyun Mountain from afar and couldn't explain what was going on. He could only slink away in embarrassment.

Of course, he was actually in a good mood when he left, because he had a rare good dream.

Time passed slowly, and Zhao Yifu secluded himself for ten years.

Great changes have taken place in the world.

With more and more land becoming uncultivable, the Great Xu Dynasty finally reached the point of no return amidst the constant peasant uprisings.

However, at this time, the Great Xu court chose a way to "slow its death" by constantly giving up its controlled areas and gradually shrinking its sphere of influence to the capital region.

The relatively fertile land around the capital was able to support the largest army in the land.

Under these circumstances, the righteous armies from all over the country, with the idea of ​​first destroying the imperial court, gathered together in front of the broad city gate of the capital.

At this moment, the leaders of the rebel army gathered in front of the city tower, preparing to denounce Da Xu's faults in order to demoralize the soldiers defending the city.

The leaders of the rebel armies in various provinces and prefectures denounced the injustices suffered by themselves and their neighbors, as if there were countless grievances in every place, and that the Great Xu Dynasty was truly rotten to the core.

The rebel army from Mozhou was among them, but they seemed somewhat out of place.

The main reason is that the leader of the rebel army in Mozhou was Zhao Huihui.

They joined the rebels simply because they were surrounded by rebels, and it would seem out of place if they didn't join them.

This young man from back then is now in his forties, and for certain reasons, he has become the person in charge of external affairs for the Zhao family of Mozhou.

However, even at the age of forty, Zhao Huihui still feels like he's going with the flow.

He had no ambition to rule the world, but the Zhao clan's fighting power was truly formidable...

It wasn't that he hadn't fought against other rebel armies. In fact, the reason he raised a rebel army was because rebel armies from other places had their eyes on Mozhou and wanted to take it over and plunder it.

At that time, the entire city of Mozhou fell, and the people of Mozhou suffered terribly at the hands of the bandits who called themselves righteous soldiers but were actually robbers.

They were even preparing to storm Shenhe Manor...

Unable to stand idly by any longer, Zhao Huihui led three hundred warriors from his clan to kill the band of bandits and was elected as the leader of the Mozhou rebel army.

He never sought to expand his territory; he simply ensured the stability of his hometown, Mozhou, and that won him countless hearts.

However, the current state of affairs in the world left him feeling extremely helpless.

How long will this world continue to degenerate?
The thought of him unifying the world... terrified him just thinking about it.

It was already difficult enough for him to enable the people of Mozhou to live and work in peace during the chaos of war. Unifying the world and ensuring that all the people of the world had enough to eat was simply impossible in his eyes.

He could bear the responsibility for the people of one state, but he dared not think about the people of the world.

He also wanted to see if there were any worthy people to serve at this righteous army 'alliance' and who could shoulder the burden of the people.

Unfortunately, he didn't see anyone he liked.

Because all he saw were people who had forgotten their original aspirations after achieving success.

Perhaps they can suppress their ambitions now, but once they have secured their rule, won't they just be replacing the common people with a new group of people who enjoy themselves?

Zhao Huihui felt very distressed; he had never felt so lost in all these years.

Before he knew it, he thought of his ancestor again, wondering if his ancestor could give him some hints.
Just as he was lost in thought, he suddenly noticed that everyone around him was looking at him strangely.

Zhao Huihui was surprised, and then he heard a eunuch on the city wall shouting in a deep, loud voice: "Are there any members of the Zhao family from Mozhou in the rebel army?"

Zhao Huihui then realized what was happening. He took two steps forward, and his iron armor exuded the aura of an unparalleled warrior.

He was calm, but his voice remained clear even after traveling extremely far.

Thus, everyone on and below the city walls heard his reply: "Zhao Huihui of the Zhao family of Mozhou is here."

This performance alone surprised the rebel army and some experts in the imperial court, because this level of skill alone was already at the level of a peerless master.

He only said one sentence at the foot of the city, and he became the real focus of attention.

Previously, he had always kept a low profile within the rebel army.

Just as he was answering, the eunuch on the city wall shouted again: "His Majesty said that your Zhao family's Lord Xin was a close friend of Emperor Zhongzu and the greatest contributor to the success of the Northern Expedition. The Zhao family and the Ying family of Daxu should be close friends. Why are you helping these rebels?"

After he finished speaking, a buzzing sound came from the city wall.

Clearly, even those scholar-officials hadn't considered this.

As for the rebel army, there was some activity, but it wasn't significant.

The main reason was that most of the rebels were not well-educated, and Zhao Huihui's intimidating power was simply too great.

However, many of the rebel soldiers still looked at Zhao Huihui with a wary gaze.

If you asked Zhao Huihui ten years ago, he would definitely not have been able to answer such a question. But ten years later, he was nearing forty. He laughed and said, "If Xu Zhongzu had not been a close friend of my ancestor Junxin back then, do you think the Northern Expedition would have succeeded and the Great Xu would have had the remaining hundred years?"

He simply presented things from a different angle, which made him seem arrogant, but at least it sounded much better to the rebels.

At this moment, the eunuch angrily rebuked, "How dare you, Zhao! You have received the Emperor's favor for so long, yet you dare to say such things! This is utterly treasonous!"

Zhao Huihui shook his head and smiled slightly: "In my Zhao family, the one who received the emperor's favor was my great-uncle Zhao Guhe's branch. However, my great-uncle Guhe only had one daughter, Zhao Xiangyu, who is my Zhao family's barbarian daughter, and she has already married into the Yang family."

"As for my Zhao clan, we have always farmed and fished in Mozhou. We have never lacked the money and grain from the imperial court, and we have even suffered from the exploitation of some corrupt officials from time to time."

"You say my Zhao family has received the emperor's favor all along, but I say my Zhao family has never owed anyone anything!"

As a meritorious commander in the Northern Expedition, Zhao Guhe was eventually ennobled as a marquis.

In the end, Zhao Guhe died without an heir, and the court did not even arrange for a son from the Zhao clan to inherit the title... How could this be considered an act of favor?

After Zhao Huihui said those words, the city wall fell silent.

Zhao Huihui was quite at ease; his Zhao family never owed anyone anything, so they shouldn't make him unhappy.

A moment of silence fell over the city wall.

Suddenly, the wall changed, and a person came to the gap in the parapet and looked down.

Zhao Huihui saw a young emperor whose expression was distressed, but whose gaze was resolute.

He opened his mouth and said something, and then a eunuch shouted loudly: "His Majesty said: If I were to bestow upon you the title of 'King of One Character,' would you be willing to continue the friendship between Emperor Zhongzu and Duke Junxin?"

Zhao Huihui was dumbfounded when he heard this, and even the rebels were in an uproar.

Clearly, the rule of the Great Xu for so many years was not a sham. Putting ourselves in their shoes, if the emperor of the Great Xu were willing to grant them the title of king, who among them would still be willing to become a rebel army?
So, at this point, they all became jealous.

But Zhao Huihui sneered, "Don't talk about those abstract things. I'll just ask you, is there a way to ensure that all the people in the country have enough to eat and wear?"

The eunuch on the city wall replied, "That's for sure. As long as the country is at peace and the government is efficient and the people are harmonious, everyone will be able to eat their fill and stay warm."

Zhao Huihui laughed and shook his head, saying, "Ridiculous! The only way to ensure that everyone in the world has enough to eat and wear is to seize the land that can produce grain from the gentry and then distribute it equally among everyone!"

"Are you sure you can do it?" Silence fell on the city wall.

The rebels looked at Zhao Huihui with complicated expressions.

Indeed, many people rose up not out of public interest, but simply to replace the scholar-officials.

Therefore, Zhao Huihui's words offended these people as well.

But then, the eunuch's voice came from the city wall again: "His Majesty said: I know."

This time it was Zhao Huihui's turn to be surprised. Didn't the emperor take a look at the kind of people behind him? How could he say anything to the outside world?

Zhao Huihui said, "You shouldn't know this."

Cheng Tou replied, "I have read Zhongzu's diary. He recorded his conversations with Junxin Gong, so I know what they were talking about."

"They promote education, wanting everyone to have their own thoughts. They control land consolidation, and even want to give people land to cultivate."

"They also encouraged all tradespeople, believing that it could change the future..."

Unfortunately, most of these measures were later abolished.

Zhao Huihui understood that the Emperor of Xu might genuinely want to win him over and work together to restore the glory of his ancestors.

That's really sincere; most people would probably have been persuaded.

But Zhao Huihui... well, he felt that he was no different from ordinary people, but he had ancestors!

He gave a wry smile and then said, "I'm sorry, Your Majesty, but the Great Xu is rotten to the core. There's no point in trying to fix it; we can only start from scratch."

The young emperor was stunned for a moment, then said sadly, "Is it truly beyond redemption?"

Then, a minister beside him said, "Your Majesty, please don't be willful. Those below are all treacherous officials and enemies!"

The ministers all offered their advice.

To be honest, if the world were in such chaos at any other time, someone would have already called for "removing the emperor's inner circle" (referring to corrupt officials who entangle the emperor in corrupt dealings with corrupt officials).

But the Great Xu court did not.

It's not that there are no ambitious people, but rather that the world is in such disarray that no one is willing to be the first to stick their neck out.

Anyone with eyes to see knows that the Ying family of the Great Xu Dynasty is beyond saving, and even if anyone else takes control of the court, it will be too late.

These civil and military officials are, to put it bluntly, just trying to keep the emperor in this position, while the only one who truly wants to change everything is the emperor himself.

Ying Hua retreated from the city wall with a sense of defeat. He knew his situation all too well. These people were probably just waiting for the right opportunity to sell him for a good price!
Ying Hua thought a lot, then returned to the palace alone. He no longer wanted to go to the city wall, because this war might have nothing to do with him.

Just then, he remembered something and hurriedly went to the Imperial Study.

He was an emperor who loved reading, and that's why he was able to find that special hidden compartment on the bookshelf in the imperial study.

He opened the hidden compartment and went inside. He found himself in another study. There weren't many bookshelves in the study, but they were filled with the diaries of Xu Zhongzu Ying Cong.

In this diary, Emperor Ying Cong's early life was just that of an ambitious but powerless 'ordinary emperor,' but everything changed after he met the 'little Taoist priest.'

Ying Hua reopened Zhongzu's diary and flipped to the very end: [I'm dying soon. I wonder what will become of Da Xu after I'm gone. But generally, he'll get worse year by year, since that's what the little Taoist priest said, and he's never been wrong.]

[My descendants, if you ever come across my diary in times of hardship, do not seek any wisdom from it. This throne is merely a shackle for the Ying clan; if things are hopeless, it is perfectly acceptable to simply relinquish it.]

If my descendants are ever to suffer a great calamity, I can try calling upon the young Taoist priest for help. He will surely still be alive then... By the way, the young Taoist priest's name is Zhao Yifu, courtesy name Junxin. I've heard he also has a Taoist name called Fuyinzi. I'll try using the incense for worship that's kept in this study...

Ying Hua seemed to be pondering the last paragraph, then gritted his teeth, found the incense stick stored in the brocade box in the study, and lit it over a portrait hanging on the wall of the secret study.

The figure in the portrait is none other than Zhao Yifu when he was wearing the official robes of a seventh-rank county magistrate.

It's truly hard to believe that such a portrait could be kept in a secret room of the Imperial Study in the palace.

However, Ying Hua was now in a desperate situation and placed all his hopes on this legendary figure who had been both praised and criticized a century ago.

A moment later, before the smoke from the incense had dissipated, it seemed to come alive and converged towards a source.

Zhao Yifu revealed an avatar, emerging slowly from the swirling smoke. He then looked at Ying Hua and said, "Ying Cong's great-grandson, I never expected your Ying family would come looking for trouble with me."

Ying Hua was extremely surprised; he hadn't expected to receive a response so easily.

After all, there are many sects outside that offer prayers and worship gods, but it takes a considerable price to actually get a god to come to your aid...

Seeing his reaction, Zhao Yifu chuckled and said, "You've got no other choice, but since you're a descendant of that guy Ying Cong, I'll naturally keep you safe... Oh, and you and your wife and children will be safe too."

Ying Hua immediately knelt down and kowtowed, saying, "Please, immortal, save my Great Xu Kingdom!"

Zhao Yifu shook his head and said, "I can save your family, but I can't change the changes in the world. I know you feel wronged. After all, Ying Cong and I did so much together back then. In the past, the world could have lasted for at least another two hundred years."

"But there's nothing we can do about it. It's fate. This world is bound to go through a calamity. Otherwise, the increasingly barren land will not be able to support so many people in the world."

Ying Hua froze upon hearing this, for he heard from Zhao Yifu's words that tens of millions of deaths had occurred.

He said, his face pale, "The future world is truly hopeless."

Zhao Yifu said, "That is the way of Heaven. But when the next cycle begins, everything will flourish again."

Ying Hua understood; he understood completely.

But what can be done about it?

Who can guarantee that they will survive until the next cycle of reincarnation?
No, mortals will never see it.

Death is inevitable; it's just a matter of which family's descendants can survive.

Ying Hua suddenly realized, "I understand, so the next step is to leave a spark for the remaining people..."

"Yes, books, books on various crafts, and books on agriculture!"

Ying Hua instantly realized what was happening.

Perhaps because he had long understood his role as a puppet, he was now wholeheartedly devoted to the public good.

He also stated very clearly, "The Great Xu Dynasty is the last sacrifice of this era. It is impossible for my Great Xu Ying Clan to sit on the throne again. Many people even think that we have angered the Heavenly Court..."

"Lord Junxin, please find a way to preserve the books in the palace."

Zhao Yifu pondered for a moment, then said, "It's rare that you have this kind thought... In that case, I can move your wife, children, and the palace library to a safe place."

Ying Hua hesitated after hearing this, as it was indeed not a good decision for him.

Zhao Yifu did not urge him, but said, "You can think about it for a while longer, preferably before those scholars and officials realize what's going on."

Ying Hua instantly realized that if he waited for those scholar-officials to react, he probably wouldn't be so free anymore!
Because of his actions on the city wall today, he has probably been labeled a 'rebel' by the literati!

Once he was reminded of this, he no longer hesitated.

He said directly, "I beg Lord Junxin for your help."

Zhao Yifu nodded without saying anything. Not long after, the entire library, the emperor and empress, and the young crown prince all disappeared.

Ying Hua was surprisingly devoted to one woman; he had only one empress in his harem, and his only son was the crown prince.

He was actually a rare and good emperor, and a good person. It's just a pity he was born at the wrong time; the current situation has at least prevented him from becoming a ruler who lost his country.

Sure enough, the officials panicked the next day when they discovered that the emperor, empress, and even the crown prince had disappeared.

The previously inefficient bureaucracy suddenly became incredibly efficient, immediately finding a young member of the imperial family in the capital region to fill the position, and publicly declaring that Ying Hua had been assassinated by rebel forces outside the capital.

This was a barely successful transition, and it even stirred up the entire city's sense of shared hatred and indignation, managing to hold off the siege of what was claimed to be a million-strong rebel army...

(End of this chapter)