Food gives me an entry, I will be invincible if I stay alive

Chapter 338 The Emperor Changes Hands, the Great Way Runs Rampant

In the palace, the emperor awoke with a start.

Wang Zhen hurriedly approached quietly. He dared not light the lamp casually, so he could only bend down and ask softly, "Your Majesty, do you need to get up in the night?"

The emperor did not want to go to bed; he simply touched his chest, feeling inexplicably panicked.

But such thoughts could not be shared with the Emperor.

Even though Wang Zhen was the emperor's close attendant and also the most powerful eunuch in the entire Dali Dynasty.

The emperor lowered his voice and asked, "Where...where is Master Wen?"

Although Wen Daoyuan was not present in person, the emperor still addressed him as Master Wen.

The emperor paid close attention to certain details.

Wang Zhen quickly replied, "Your Majesty, Headmaster Wen has returned to the Ziwei Academy, and is probably still there now."

The emperor frowned: "He didn't even go to seek out the True Man Xuanming?"

"Your Majesty, we did not see Headmaster Wen near the gate of Qingxu Dao Palace."

Wang Zhen answered, but while secretly observing the emperor's expression, he added with a forced smile and humbly, tactfully:
"However, since Elder Wen's cultivation is profound, he may not necessarily reveal his whereabouts to others if he wants to see someone."

Your Majesty, this servant is ashamed.

The emperor's expression, however, did not soften.

Wang Zhen felt very strange. He couldn't figure out whether the emperor wanted Wen Daoyuan to act impulsively and complete the great feat of diverting water from the south to the north.
I still hope that Wen Daoyuan will be discouraged by his previous rejection and give up the idea, and settle down to study.
Logically speaking, Wang Zhen assumed that the emperor's idea was the former.

After all, it is an achievement that will last for generations, so how could the emperor not want it?
He is unwilling to take risks, but if someone is willing to pave the way for him, he can simply reap the rewards later. What reason does he have to refuse?
That was Wang Zhen's initial thought.

Even if the emperor feigned compliance and said things like "I have my reasons" in front of him, Wang Zhen wasn't stupid. Would he believe him?

He didn't believe it, but he would force himself to believe it—

Wang Zhen had always tried to guess the emperor's intentions, and he thought he had seen through the emperor.

But to everyone's surprise, the emperor's current behavior seems to be quite different.

This is very unreasonable.

A thousand thoughts raced through Wang Zhen's mind, and an indescribable sense of dread gradually rose up his spine.

He had endless conjectures, but dared not put any of them into practice.

The only option was to secretly be on high alert and wait cautiously for the emperor's next reaction.

The emperor frowned and asked again, "Didn't Master Wen go to find Master Li either?"

The Master Li he mentioned is Li Yanqing, another great Confucian scholar still alive in the Great Li Dynasty!
But Li Yanqing is ninety-two years old this year, and is already very old.

Apart from holding the nominal title of Grand Tutor, he had long since ceased to concern himself with worldly affairs.

However, Li Yanqing was, after all, a great Confucian scholar. Although he did not concern himself with worldly affairs, his influence over the entire Dali Dynasty was still unparalleled.

Even though Wen Daoyuan was also a great Confucian scholar, he often had to treat Li Yanqing with the respect due to a junior.

The emperor could frequently summon Wen Daoyuan to the palace to preach, but dared not summon Li Yanqing at will.

Even if he summoned him, Li Yanqing usually wouldn't bother with him.

If I'm in a good mood, I'll reply with: "Your Majesty, I am old and weak and unable to meet you in person."

That's being polite.

Of course, the emperor was not a masochist, and he generally wouldn't go looking for trouble by deliberately getting into a difficult situation.

However, Li Yanqing's attitude was often different when Wen Daoyuan came to visit him.

Li Yanqing liked Wen Daoyuan very much and generally wouldn't refuse him.

The emperor frowned slightly when Li Yanqing was mentioned.

Wang Zhen's back was breaking out in a cold sweat. He bent his back even lower and said softly and gently, "Your Majesty, you have not seen Headmaster Wen go to find Grand Tutor Li."

After Headmaster Wen returned to Ziwei Academy, the academy's gates remained tightly closed.

From the outside, there seems to be some commotion. Oh, right, it seems that several of Master Wen's disciples were summoned back by him.

Upon hearing Wang Zhen's words, the emperor seemed to let out a soft sigh of relief.

He seemed to be talking to himself: "In other words, Wen Daoyuan summoned all his disciples, but did not go to see Xuanming Zhenren and Master Li."

Wen Daoyuan... Master Wen was still influenced by that article, but fortunately he didn't act too impulsively.

Indeed, such a feat, even if Master Wen is determined to do it, would certainly require repeated preparations.

Even if we can't be completely foolproof, we shouldn't just act rashly... Sigh.

At this point, the emperor sighed again.

His tone suggested that he was regretting Wen Daoyuan's lack of impulsiveness.

Wang Zhen served the emperor closely and was extremely familiar with his every move.

In recent years, the emperor has gradually stopped holding court, and Wang Zhen has seen and remembered all the subtle changes in the situation.

He thought he knew a lot.

But at this moment, seeing the emperor's fickle attitude, Wang Zhen was at a loss again.

He realized that he must have missed something extremely crucial.

Wang Zhen was terrified and completely baffled when he suddenly heard the emperor say again, "Grand Master, go... personally summon Prime Minister Liu to the palace. I have important business to discuss..."

No, you should still send your adopted son to summon Liu Shao!

You remain in the palace.

"My dear lord, I cannot live without you."

What a fine line, "I cannot live without you." This line should have made Wang Zhen happy.

But for some reason, he couldn't feel happy at all at this moment.

How strange!

The power of eunuchs was almost entirely dependent on the emperor.

How many eunuchs had the emperor executed before?
The emperor also purged the eunuchs and eliminated the eunuch faction!

However, in recent years, the emperor has reinstated Wang Zhen, thus establishing a new eunuch faction.

It is evident that the emperor could dismiss or keep eunuchs at will.

If Wang Zhen, as the emperor's close attendant, hadn't seen this point, he wouldn't have reached where he is today.

Wang Zhen obeyed the emperor's order, turned and retreated outside, summoned his young apprentice, and told him to go to the prime minister's residence to summon Liu Shao.

Wait, the emperor actually addresses Liu Shao as Liu Shao?
It shouldn't be called Prime Minister Liu, Minister Liu... or even Master Liu?
Wang Zhen's heart was in turmoil. He finally turned the whisk to his right arm, bent his back, and quietly entered the emperor's bedroom.

He returned to the dragon bed and quietly guarded it.

On the cloud boat, Chen Xu and Wen Daoyuan flew north and south.

It's fine in the south; the wind in the sky is clear and brisk, carrying a sense of lofty elegance.

Once they flew over Jiuchuan and crossed the Yunheng Mountains that spanned north and south, suddenly, an indescribable and terrifying heat wave struck them directly from the air!

Chen Xu stood on the cloud boat, which was actually protected by Wen Daoyuan's literary energy on all sides. Originally, Chen Xu should not have felt the heat wave.

However, for some unknown reason, the moment the cloud boat passed over the mountain, Wen Daoyuan's literary aura involuntarily flickered for a moment.

Only then did Chen Xu truly feel the overwhelming heat wave.

The wind is dry, and the clouds are sparse.

Even the cloud boat beneath their feet seemed to melt at this moment.

The sky was pitch black, and the vast earth lay dormant beneath the darkness, like an ancient wilderness, stretching endlessly.

(End of this chapter)