Wei School's Three Good Students

Chapter 264 Defection from North Korea
At the banquet, there was no excessive drinking or unrestrained behavior. Servants used long-handled measuring cups to pour wine for each person.

"Relax, don't be nervous." The marshal looked at the uneasy Xuan Chong and comforted him.

However, when Xuan Chong followed his gaze, everyone around him trembled with fear.

As for Qin Tianyi, who was playing on the sidelines, Xuan Chong, after taking measurements, discovered that everyone's movements were standardized; this meant that such rehearsals must have taken thousands of repetitions. Xuan Chong took a deep breath: How much effort must that have taken?
Xuan Chong couldn't help but recall his time in the North. Perhaps Dongtu was a small place, and there weren't such complicated rules there; or perhaps there were—but none of them weighed on him.

Xuan Chong was unaware that the laws and regulations did not currently apply to people like himself. —Anyone with a proper occupation, as long as they were not lewd or immoral, diligent in their studies, and did not slander those with ability, was, within the system of laws and regulations, a spectator.

If Xuan Chong stays in the north, intending to make money off the oil fields, then the Han court will thoroughly educate him on all sorts of etiquette and rules. His food, clothing, utensils, and travel will all be subject to criticism from the imperial censors.

Even when participating in various festivals each year, the rules they have to follow are probably no less numerous than those for the musicians who play the chimes.

The sailors standing in the distance, like cast iron, could not put Xuan Chong at ease!

Xuan Chong: "It's like how you can't relax and eat KFC during a flag-raising ceremony in your past life."

…the rules are not evenly distributed…

The system of etiquette and law is like a pyramid, with the greatest pressure on the lower levels, who are bound by various rules, especially those who are "weak".

Like a child, a newlywed woman is tightly bound by rules and regulations every year during the Lunar New Year.

Qin Tianyi: The founder of this set of rules and regulations naturally felt that the excessive freedom of speech and action of "weak" people might interfere with the actions of "strong" people. In other words, a "cage" is established before any crime is committed.

There will always be generations when people feel this "cage" is too conservative, and they will break it down, granting equal freedom to the vulnerable, such as children and women.

However, just a few decades later, people felt that these "etiquette and rules" were too advanced. They strongly believed that unruly children should follow the rules, but as for women...

Xuan Chong was not just a country bumpkin from the north, but also came from an era of "the collapse of rites and music".

Right now, he's really like a primary school student, knowing nothing. Sitting in the main seat, Xuan Chong mechanically followed the music, sitting upright and not daring to touch his chopsticks.

Earlier, when everyone was about to start eating, they raised their wine glasses. Xuan Chong quickly changed his actions, picked up his wine glass, and followed the general in raising his glass to toast. He was clearly in a rather disheveled state.

Then, Xuan Chong retrieved the "family lessons" from Liu Haoxing's inherited memories. These included things like standing up straight at banquets and following proper etiquette when giving toasts.

All I can say is that Xuan Chong doesn't usually think about this! He's busy taking care of his health and catching up on the science and technology of this era.

Before transmigrating, as an only child, I didn't have to worry about this. As long as I did well on exams, I could snatch meat from my father's chopsticks.

That's the value of being an only child. My father hopes I'll learn the rules, but he's only doing so by patiently guiding me.

Of course, if there are too many rules and not enough benefits, I (Xuan Chong) will just leave.

With a resounding "thump," the ceremony concluded.

Suddenly, Xuan Chong found a pencil case in front of him. Looking at the stationery that was placed so abruptly on his desk, Xuan Chong swallowed hard and looked around. However, it seemed that no one around him could see the thing.

Immediately after Xuan Chong quietly touched it, the pencil case seemed to start flashing, and then it turned into a two-dimensional image and disintegrated.

Just as Xuan Chong was stunned, thinking that his cheat system had disappeared, the long-awaited system prompt appeared: "Please refactor the operating system."

Xuan Chong was slightly taken aback and asked himself carefully.

A few minutes later, from Xuan Chong's perspective, the pencil case transformed into an "operating software." Just like the drawing software on a computer in his previous life, it could directly create drawings, and the eraser had also been directly transformed into a tool.

Xuan Chong felt that this ability had become more convenient.

Little did Xuan Chong know, the marshal standing beside him paused slightly, silently thinking, "Awakening? Wait! Something's not right!"

The marshal thought of a possibility: Liu Haoxing was already close to awakening in the Eastern Map in the north. When he came to the south, he encountered the second wave of favor from the thick earth, which caused the dragon power to be superimposed!

Originally, it was somewhat regrettable that the Marshal's favor towards the local people had fallen on outsiders. But now, those favored to the extreme by Heaven and Earth have awakened high-grade abilities. Coming south is a boon for the locals.

After the formalities were completed, the marshal said meaningfully, "Well, in that case, you are truly one of us."

Xuan Chong was confused, but he quickly understood what those words meant after a few days.

Xuan Chong seemed to understand but not quite: "Yes, sir."

Marshal: "When we're working, you should address me as 'Sir.' My name is Liu Kehua. If you come to see me on ordinary days, just call me Uncle Hua."

…my family…

Fifteen days later, the Dragon Group arrived. They were from the capital. They didn't travel by train, but instead arrived in a silver-gray airship, which suddenly deactivated its cloaking at an altitude of 300 meters. Then, a group of warriors wearing exoskeletons disembarked.

Xuan Chong was stunned for a moment, then touched the kerosene lamp in his room and complained: In this steam age, it's a bit outrageous that you guys have created such a futuristic style.

However, the military high command seemed to be aware of this group's situation and calmly communicated with them. Xuan Chong was very surprised! What surprised him even more was that they actually knew about his "cheat code," no, it should be called "Dragon Power."

Xuan Chong couldn't help but feel a chill. In the face of such an unprecedented ruling machine as the modern Han Dynasty, there was no such thing as being detached from the world; everything was subject to a certain "rank".

These people, supposedly high-ranking members of the Dragon Group, stirred up some rebellious emotions in Xuan Chong's "Liu Haoxing" memory bank because of their condescending Beijing accents.

"This child has suffered deep bullying!" Xuan Chong cut off his memory search of Liu Haoxing, immediately blocking out negative emotions, but his "open-minded" self was filled with vigilance.

Because there is no love without a reason, and even less so hatred without a reason! When Liu Haoxing and the people from Beijing couldn't get along, it was more or less due to a cultural gap.

After carefully questioning Xuan Chong about his abilities, the representative from the Dragon Group immediately took him to the testing ground. There, he meticulously checked the data and inquired about every detail, as if afraid Xuan Chong might be an imposter posing as a Dragon Power user. During this escort-like procession, Xuan Chong learned from others that the Dragon Group representative's name was Liu Ling, a name he himself never mentioned.

"How many times a day can you activate your ability, and what are the effects of each use?"

When the person on the other end asked the question for the third time, as if interrogating a criminal and trying to find loopholes, Xuan Chong judged that the guy's tone was too aggressive.

So Xuan Chong adopted an official tone: "Your Excellency, my abilities have just awakened, and it's hard to say for sure at the moment."

Liu Ling: "Then let's take our time testing."

Xuan Chong: "Okay, it's lunchtime now! We'll test again tomorrow afternoon!"

Liu Ling: "Don't waste my time."

He then glanced at his watch and said, "Come back with us and we'll test you slowly."

At this point, Xuan Chong realized something. The other side hadn't presented a reasonable explanation of their procedures. So Xuan Chong seized the opportunity to lash out: "If you don't want to waste time, then explain the procedures clearly. Don't just act on a whim. You keep asking the same questions repeatedly; it's a real waste of my time."

The man stared at Xuan Chong for a moment, then his pupils turned white. Xuan Chong sensed that he was up to something, and immediately retaliated without hesitation. First, he closed his eyes; second, he deployed a dense array of torques around himself, forming a protective field; and third, he enveloped the man opposite him with the torques.

The Dragon Group member who asked the question had his abilities interrupted in an instant, and his eyes became clear.

In that instantaneous exchange, Xuan Chong's dragon power level and quality achieved a complete suppression.

In fact, Xuan Chong was on guard from the very beginning.

It is said that possessing a powerful weapon naturally breeds murderous intent; after Xuan Chong awakened his ability, while "listening and observing more" to others, he realized that other ability users might one day use their abilities to do something to him.

The superhuman in front of me has the ability to distort optics, and he is trying to make Xuan Chong fall into darkness.

The darkness here is not merely visual; it's a freeze in the signals of all neurons throughout the body. The sudden release of these accumulated signals causes extreme pain for the victim!
Of course, Xuan Chong didn't hesitate at all: "If you dare to make me feel pain, I'll make you suffer shattered bones all over your body."

Xuan Chong: I am a well-mannered person and I don't hit people easily...

Just as a fight was about to break out, a fair-skinned man ran over and first persuaded the Dragon Group personnel to leave. Then, he forced a smile and apologized to Xuan Chong, saying, "Young Master, we were just doing our job."

After confirming this, Xuan Chong realized that the bearded man in front of him was an eunuch.

The eunuchs of the Han Dynasty have further abolished "castration" and replaced it with sterilization.

Fifty years ago, when Emperor Xinzong was still on the throne, a poor palace maid, old and childless, was allowed to leave the palace and undergo a tubal ligation procedure to prolong her life. Then, the old eunuch's son, after reaching adulthood, had his sperm cryopreserved and sterilized, and went to the palace to continue his father's work. It was a succession of roles, generation after generation.

Even the emperor's servants were still servants. The scholar-officials emphasized that everyone should have "political rights," but this did not include eunuchs, who were "deprived of these rights for life" when they entered the palace.

In the industrial age, public opinion became increasingly fierce, and neither the government nor the emperor could directly decide the life and death of the people, but eunuchs were not among the people.

After the people's wisdom was awakened, they felt that "would people be born with a special destiny?" and were unwilling to accept being beaten and killed by those in power at the slightest disagreement.

The common people didn't include the "palace eunuchs" either. They believed that "these rootless people" should be killed at will. —Why? No one sympathized with these unemployed individuals "close to the very core of power."

Although unlike previous dynasties, the emperor could not beat eunuchs to death on a whim.

However, the family laws of the current emperor and his relatives supersede the national laws.

Even the eunuchs in the imperial palace had to show proper respect to the heirs of the vassal kings. This was because, although the Eastern Tu was small, it was still a king appointed by the emperor and one of the few who could employ eunuchs.

Xuan Chong's understanding of this group of people who are now "without eggs" is that they have a similar style to the butlers in the Japanese manga "Black Butler" from his previous life: polite and respectful of the duties of a subject.

Not wanting to offend someone who's smiling, Xuan Chong responded politely to the eunuch, explaining that he had been maintaining a very strict and disciplined daily routine lately. Aside from necessary military duties, many of his studies couldn't be interrupted. (Xuan Chong introduced himself in the most affected tone.)
Xuan Chong: "I felt my time was being trampled on."

The understanding eunuch then expressed his understanding, saying, "Liu Ling is just impatient." — Xuan Chong heard that the eunuch's tone seemed to be concealing something, and instantly recalled the situation regarding the name "Liu Ling" from his memory.

This was someone I hadn't met before, but had heard of. Because when I was bullied in Yandu, it seemed to be the formidable cousin in the Imperial Ancestral Temple that Lin Yang had described. Good heavens, no wonder he was interrogating me like a criminal just now.

The subsequent procedures performed by the eunuch made Xuan Chong more cunning.

The eunuch asked casually, "Your Highness, you've only been in the south for less than half a year. Do you have any plans to return to the north?"

Xuan Chong looked at the eunuch, and after a long while, he seemed very cautious: "My study here was arranged by my father at home, and I dare not do it on my own."

Xuan Chong thought to himself, "Go back? Go back to Liu Haoxing's old environment? I'm doing just fine here, I've just adapted to the environment and built up relationships, why should I give it up?"

The Confucian tradition in Hanzhong has undergone several reforms, but the core values ​​of "loyalty" and "filial piety" remain unchanged, effectively passing the buck to the elderly father thousands of kilometers away. This is indeed correct.

The eunuch paused slightly, then nodded. He stopped trying to persuade him. However, he knew that Liu Haoxing truly didn't want to go back.

Xuan Chong also realized that whether or not he went back was very important to some people.

The eunuch thought to himself, "The young master of the Lin family in Yandu has really offended Liu Haoxing, the heir of Dongtu, badly!"

Xuan Chong hadn't really thought much about Liu Haoxing's past troubles; but now he realized that this incident was equivalent to "Emperor Jing of Han throwing a chessboard at the Crown Prince of Wu." It was serious enough that he had to transfer schools in the south.

You can forget this yourself, but you can't let others force you to forget it.

Just like in his past life, he always demanded that others let go of their hatred; but little did he know that his arrogance was built on the foundation of his past ability to slaughter at will. He asks you to let go of your hatred, but he keeps the glory of the past enshrined in a shrine. If you unilaterally let go, you'll just become one of the lowly people he speaks of.

The first thing a boy should do in society is to respect himself and avoid playing the role of a villain.

As a clown, trying to please others will not earn you respect; it will only make others think that you should please them.

So now, when the palace eunuchs advised Xuan Chong to "be magnanimous," Xuan Chong instead started bringing up old grievances.

…Never forget…

Xuan Chong began to analyze the situation from a geoeconomic perspective: "Our side, my father's side, originally hoped to align themselves with the northern land power group; but after that incident, they had no choice but to turn to the southern sea power group. Dongtu originally supported the northern mining industry, but now its labor force has shifted to support the southern steel refining plant's crude processing plant."

The collaboration between Dongtu and Jiangnan has already incurred significant costs.

As someone who carries the weight of being the "next generation to lead Dongtu," if I were to so easily accept the overtures from the North, it would create a sense of "uncertainty and risk" for the major investors in my company from the South.

From the perspective of the two major political factions in Hanzhong, the father and son are on opposing sides, and the Dongtu clan has lost its prestige due to its "fickle" behavior.

In his previous life, Xuan Chong witnessed many small countries "abandoning righteousness for petty gains," ultimately becoming cheap commodities in the power struggles between major nations.

After the eunuch left, Xuan Chong immediately wrote a telegram to inquire after his father's well-being and to say that he was doing "very well" there and that there was no need for him to worry.

Subsequently, a reply came from the north: "Jiangnan is beautiful," but one must adapt to "the winds and waves at sea."

…The matter is settled…

In Hangzhou, Liu Kehua, the Prince of Hai, was in his office communicating with the governor of Southern Zhili about this year's maritime transportation.

Just then, a eunuch outside brought in a letter. He opened it, looked at it, and smiled: "Hehe."

The provincial governor asked, "Brother Xunxin, what brings you joy?"

Prince Qinghai put away the letter: "Nothing much. A relative's child from the north came to visit me. They just wrote to me asking me to take good care of him."

The provincial governor said, "This child seems quite promising. Bring him over to meet me another day; I have a niece at home." (The governor was well aware of this; he had personally approved the Dongtu steel plant project and sent it north.)

Liu Kehua: "That's too far off. This child is ill-mannered and needs to be properly educated before he can be presentable."

(End of this chapter)