How can one cultivate immortality without learning modern knowledge?

Chapter 152 Meeting the Princess in the Drizzling Rain

Inside the room, Xin Shisan let out a long sigh: "Brother Zhou, I am truly impressed by you today!"

"Do you admire my audacity, or do you admire my constant stream of 'opportunities'?" Zhou Wenju asked.

The word "opportunity" carries a self-deprecating connotation.

In this context, it should be called "bad luck".

"I admire your methods of solving cases! I consider myself to have a good eye, but compared to Brother Zhou today, I realize that there are always stronger ones!" Xin Shisan said, "However, Brother Zhou was ultimately oversighty and overlooked the most important thing."

"What?"

Xin Shisan said, "Since Brother Zhou has already purified his heart of literature and morality, why not go a step further and ask him one more question?"

"What do you want to ask?"

"Ask him who else is behind him?"

Zhou Wenju did not answer; his expression was somewhat complicated.

Zhongba laughed: "Brother Xin mentioned that you admired Brother Zhou for a certain point, and it's time for me to share my thoughts. The point I admire is precisely this! What I admire most about Brother Zhou is this 'overly meticulous yet flawed' approach!"

Xin Shisan's eyes widened.

"Brother Xin has always hated evil and believed that one should not be soft-hearted towards enemies. Once he takes action, he will eliminate them completely. This is certainly satisfying, but he still needs to learn to assess the situation carefully." Zhongba said, "Revealing your hand is a great art. If you don't have enough chips, it is unwise to blindly reveal your hand. If you make others lose face, you are forcing them to fight to the death."

Xin Shisan is not a fool.

He just had a burning desire inside.

Everyone knows what Bai Luoshui means.

Bai Luoshui was merely a strategist, the crown prince's strategist.

This is something the entire capital city knows.

How dare a strategist do something so big?

It's obvious that someone was behind this.

He was deeply dissatisfied with the person behind it all.

He felt that Zhou Wenju should use literature and morality to cleanse his heart and directly reveal his name.

The moment the words "Crown Prince" are uttered by his closest confidants, the Crown Prince will be in a state of utter chaos.

How can a crown prince who kills the son of a minister and frames another court official be a ruler?

As the Crown Prince, you dare to do such a despicable thing, so you should bear the consequences!

That's his logic.

However, what Chungpachi said was true: If you make others lose face, you're forcing them to fight to the death!

"So what if we force him to fight to the death?" Xin Shisan said in a deep voice, "Does he dare to completely abandon his dignity?"

This is his logic: the other party is the crown prince.

The Crown Prince's actions should naturally be subject to limitations; he must be mindful of public opinion and the laws of the court.

Chung-pachi gently shook his head: "Brother Shin, you've only seen the first layer of this matter! You need to understand that this dignity isn't just about that person's dignity, but also about a higher level of dignity—"

He and Shinjiro were both restrained in their conversations, never mentioning the name "Crown Prince" from beginning to end, always referring to him as "someone else" or "that person."

But who doesn't understand the meaning behind those words?

Xin Shisan's expression truly changed.

If this matter escalates and the blame is directly directed at the Crown Prince, the Crown Prince will certainly not be able to bear it, but there is another person who will also not be able to bear it, and that person is His Majesty!

You think you only hurt the crown prince?

You have damaged the reputation of the entire dynasty.

To save face, His Majesty will surely try to cover it up.

How to wash it?

Tell the world that Zhou Wenju's "literary purification of the heart" is a demonic method, and you are a demon!

And then, what was the result?

The natural order is to slay the demon!

Wen Dao cleansed his heart and revealed Bai Luoshui as the true culprit. The matter ends here; you have solved the case for the imperial court.

If it doesn't end here, it will lead to the introduction of the Crown Prince—

Then you'll have no choice but to wash yourself into a coffin.

This is the "scale" that the imperial court forbade!

A difference of half an inch can make all the difference.

This also reflects the different life beliefs of Chungpachi and Shinjiro.

Xin Shisan was enraged; anyone would be torn apart, and he couldn't see far ahead.

Chung-pachi was a literature major, and his overall perspective revealed a keen sense of the big picture.

What about Zhou Wenju?

He is young.

He's ruthless.

Daring to fight when faced with difficulties.

Chung-hachi was on tenterhooks throughout his interrogation, fearing that Chung-hachi might ask that question out of a sense of urgency.

However, he didn't ask!

At this moment, in Chunghachi's mind, this young man was truly worthy of respect.

Zhou Wenju bowed deeply to his two brothers: "The turmoil has subsided tonight, you can return home with peace of mind!"

"Let us brothers take you back to the inn!" Zhongba said.

"No need, I have someone else to thank!" Zhou Wenju looked down from the window.

The scene has been cleaned up.

There's no one here.

However, a few dozen steps ahead, there was a small sedan chair made of green felt.

Zhongba chuckled softly, "I almost forgot—Brother Zhou, go!"

As soon as the sound faded, the two figures jerked, burst through the window, and disappeared into the night sky.

Zhou Wenju stood up and left the private room.

The bloodstains on the bluestone path below had been washed away by the rain.

There was still a faint lingering smell of blood in the air.

Ahead, in a blue stone alley, several men in black stood quietly at the corner of the wall, while in the middle of the alley, a small green felt sedan chair sat silently.

Zhou Wenju strolled past, and the sedan curtain was silently lifted.

Through the fine drizzle, the Seventh Princess's face, seen through the sedan curtain, was like a flower seen through mist.

"Zhou Wenju greets Her Highness the Seventh Princess!" Zhou Wenju bowed deeply, "Thank you for your great kindness, Your Highness!"

"I have only done what I should do, Young Master Zhou, why should you be so polite?" The voice from inside the sedan chair was gentle and soothing.

Zhou Wenju slowly raised his head.

The moment Zhou Wenju's eyes met those in the sedan chair, his heart skipped a beat without warning. Why did he feel that those eyes were a little... a little... drool-worthy?

Is that right?

This handsome man is theoretically charming, but it's unlikely he'll reach the inner palace.

"Young Master Zhou, actually—actually, this isn't the first time I've seen you." The princess's voice was extremely soft.

"Oh? Your Highness has met me before?"

"At the Nanyang Poetry Gathering that day, you probably didn't expect that I was also there, and I witnessed with my own eyes your seven-colored poem opening up a new path, and your new lyric establishing a new school of poetry!"

Nanyang Poetry Festival —

She went!

My goodness, others may not know the inside story of the Nanyang Poetry Gathering, but he does.

The Nanyang Poetry Gathering was essentially a prelude to a marriage alliance between the imperial court and the Mohist school.

The basic guiding principle of the group in the imperial court was to elevate Mo Sanqiu, the son of the Grand Elder of the Mohist school, to the forefront of the poetry world; however, they used this literary fame...

He married the seventh princess of the royal family.

The Seventh Princess's long journey to Nanyang was essentially to see her husband.

I changed her husband, completely altering her marriage.

Shouldn't this little vixen hate me to death?

Why does her eye look so drooly?

There are things he doesn't know about this.

What he couldn't possibly know was that the Seventh Princess had given the little lock a hard pinch on the bottom—

This is urging Xiao Suo to speak!

Little Lockhead was so miserable inside—

The princess had already rehearsed the play before the young master even came down.

There are some things that she has to say.

However, she felt that these words were like the "big iron threshing block" tied to her feet when she was thrown into the well, and she really dared not say them.

Therefore, even though he was in excruciating pain in his buttocks, Xiao Suotou kept his lips tightly shut and refused to speak.

Then a voice entered her mind: "Little lock, it's your turn. Speak up! Hesitate again, and I'll kill you."

My God, it's all fate!

Little Lock spoke up: "Young Master Zhou, you probably don't know, but Her Majesty the Empress herself said that the winner of the Nanyang Poetry Competition would be the consort of our Seventh Princess—"

Zhou Wenju was greatly shocked.

The seventh princess was both embarrassed and angry: "You brat, shut up!"

"Your Highness, I was wrong, I shouldn't have spoken out of turn—" Little Suotou knelt down with a thud, finally free from the princess's clutches that were twisting her so fiercely—

The Seventh Princess slowly raised her head, her face flushed, and her voice softened: "Young Master Zhou, do you plan to stay at the Plum Garden from now on?"

"Plum Garden is currently an abandoned garden, uninhabitable. I plan to return to my hometown tomorrow."

"Leaving tomorrow?"

"Yes, Your Highness, I bid you farewell!"

Zhou Wenju bowed deeply, took two steps back, and the sedan curtain fell.

He turned gently, stepped into the rain and mist, and walked away step by step.

Inside the small sedan chair made of blue felt, the Seventh Princess smiled radiantly, gently raising her hand to reveal a pearl hairpin: "Little Suotou, stop pouting, this is a reward for you!"

Little Lockhead couldn't hold back any longer and groaned, "Your Highness, please grant me a coffin, lest I suffer a cold and desolate death in the afterlife!"

"What are you saying? When I marry the prince consort, I'll be taking you with me as a concubine."

A concubine?

Little Lock's eyes glazed over.

A strange, unnatural frenzy was pounding in my heart—

A maidservant who shares a room with the prince consort is someone who can get close to him at "the closest distance." In modern terms, "closest distance" can be embellished as "zero distance" or even "negative distance."

In the princess's absurd dream, there was even a small dream bound by her little padlock; in that sense, helping the princess fulfill her dream seemed to be helping oneself fulfill one's own dream as well.

She took a deep breath: "Your Highness, tonight we ultimately failed to uphold the reputation of the Prime Minister's daughter from beginning to end without any mishaps. What should we do?"

"Only those who commit disgraceful acts need to use her name. Are we committing disgraceful acts tonight? We are acting righteously, upholding imperial authority, purifying the realm, and acting with integrity and uprightness!"

What a passionate and inspiring speech!

Little Lock's heart was in turmoil. Your Highness, I truly wish you could be this tough in front of the Empress too—

Zhou Wenju returned to the inn amidst the misty drizzle.

I entered the room and lay down on the bed.

His gaze fell upon a hazy sky—

After the Aoyama literary gathering, he finally experienced the strangulation from his opponent once again.

This is just the beginning, and it is by no means the end.

That's how the world of martial arts is; once you embark on it, you can never truly escape the vortex.

There's a fundamental prerequisite for forging your own path: you have to be strong enough!

If you are strong, the rules will make way for you!

If you're not strong, the rules will be a mountain blocking your way!

This is his most genuine feeling after nearly half a year of entering this world.

On Mount Huding, he wrote powerful poems.

He gained the favor of Mo Ziyi, and the rules of Huding Mountain were no longer valid for him.

In Lingnan, his spear was powerful, and he gained the Emperor's favor.

The rule that "killing the family members of high-ranking officials will inevitably result in the extermination of nine generations of their relatives" was rewritten.

At the Qingshan Literary Society, he was strong enough to rewrite the rule that "commoners are not allowed to enter officialdom".

He was strong when facing Bai Luoshui.

The rule that "being strangled by court officials means certain death and no defense" has been rewritten.

Therefore, for a man to establish himself in the world, personal strength is the foundation of everything.

His literary path has already established his literary heart.

This was just a small test of his skills; his literary talent and combat prowess were enough to rival Wen Hua's!

What about on the path of spiritual cultivation?

The Daoist mind is something that will come sooner or later; it's not something he's thinking about.

There are two ingenious methods that are his top priorities —

The laws of time and space!

The law of time; he brought half a seed.

The laws of space require one person —

Why must he favor the laws of space?

It's because he knows a physical law: time and space are inherently one; without space, you cannot understand time, and without time, you cannot understand space.

Trying to understand time and space separately ultimately leads to nothing.

Simultaneous understanding of time and space leads to twice the result with half the effort.

The next morning.

The light drizzle finally stopped.

Zhou Wenju arrived at Zhuque Street, in front of the Lin residence.

Knock gently on the door.

The gatekeeper recognized him immediately: "Young Master Zhou—oh, no, Lord Zhou's personal visit is an honor for our humble household!"

"Is Lord Lin here?" Zhou Wenju asked with a smile.

"The head of the household just finished the morning court session and didn't go to the Ministry of Works. He rushed back to the manor to await your arrival, sir." The old gatekeeper smiled broadly, like a blooming chrysanthemum: "Lord Zhou, please!"

Lin Xiangdao is waiting for him at Zhilan Pavilion today.

I saw the name of the pavilion, Zhilan Pavilion.

Zhou Wenju's mind was somewhat divided.

Zhilan Pavilion seems perfectly normal.

The orchid symbolizes the noble character of scholars, so it's normal for them to receive any kind of scholar.

However, this pavilion is often given another meaning.

It's for receiving the son-in-law!

Why use this pavilion to receive the son-in-law?

That's because she liked the son-in-law's character.

Not all sons-in-law are wealthy, powerful, or have anything of note.

There is only one thing that has no quantifiable standard, yet is universally applicable: character!

Therefore, it is very common and standard to use the Zhilan Pavilion to welcome a son-in-law.

You old man, you committed a sin back then and had an illegitimate daughter, and you haven't cared about her for decades. Now you're starting to play matchmaker?

He stepped forward, and Lin Xiangdao greeted him with a smile from inside the pavilion.

"Uncle didn't go to the yamen today?" Zhou Wenju asked.

"Business at the government office happens every day; how many times has Zhou Lang come to visit?" Lin Xiangdao chuckled. "Nephew, come here!"

Lin Xiangdao sat down.

The maid poured tea, then bowed and withdrew.

"I have thoroughly studied the Qingshan Literary Society, and to sum it up in one word: excellent!" Lin Xiangdao said. "Yesterday, your poem soared to new heights, demonstrating the pinnacle of literary achievement. I witnessed it firsthand at the Ministry of Works, and to sum it up in three words: outstanding!"

"Uncle, you flatter me!" Zhou Wenju said. "I came to visit you today for two reasons: first, to see Nongyue back to her hometown, and second, because I also have to return to Lingnan and bid you farewell."

"You've just taken office and you're already heading back to your hometown? You're not going to take care of your official duties anymore?" Lin Xiangdao frowned.

"Uncle, you may not know this, but this official position I hold is purely for prestige. His Majesty does not expect me to clean up the officialdom for him."

Why disturb this pool of spring water?

"Today's officialdom is a chaotic mess, a murky and dangerous place! Where can you find a tranquil pool? If my nephew can truly retire gracefully from this turbulent situation, it might be a sign of his wisdom." Lin Xiangdao nodded slightly. "Alright, as for your plum garden, I had the steward go there yesterday. It will take some time to clean it up. It's estimated to be about three months before it's habitable. But don't have too high expectations. An old house is still an old house. After being vacant for six years, it's been infested with insects and rodents. It's already good enough that it's barely habitable."