The low-key prince summons trainees from the Imperial Household Department at the start of the game.

Three days after the plum blossom viewing banquet, Cao Jun sent a letter to Su Shi.

The letter was very short.

I have recently acquired a painting titled "Plum Blossoms Braving the Snow" by a renowned painter from a previous dynasty.

Having heard that Su Xiuzhuan is an expert in connoisseurship, I earnestly request to visit his residence for a chat.

Su Shi sat in the Hanlin Academy office for a while with the letter in his hand, then got up and straightened his clothes.

Wang Anshi peeked out from next door and asked him where he was going.

He said he wanted to go see a painting.

Wang Anshi glanced at the letter in his hand, asked no further questions, and simply said, "Go and come back soon."

However, as Yao Guangxiao brushed past him in the corridor, he suddenly stopped, glanced at him, and said something inexplicable: "Zizhan, it's cold today, wear more clothes."

Su Shi paused for a moment, looked down at his thick cotton robe, and was about to say that he wasn't cold when Yao Guangxiao turned and left.

The flower hall of the Marquis of Anxi's mansion was warm and cozy, with an underfloor heating system.

Cao Jun sat at the head of the table, toying with the bronze arrowhead he never parted with.

An ancient painting was spread out on the rosewood table in front of me.

In the painting, an old plum tree grows horizontally from a crevice in the cliff, its branches as strong as iron and its blossoms as white as snow.

When Su Shi entered, he bowed deeply to the ground and addressed him as "Lord Marquis".

Cao Jun waved his hand, indicating that he should dispense with the formalities.

Then, pointing to the painting, he bluntly stated that it was an authentic work by a painting master of the previous dynasty and asked him to take a look.

Su Shi leaned closer to examine it carefully, commenting on everything from the brushstrokes and texturing techniques to the seals and inscriptions, speaking with great eloquence.

Cao Jun listened without much change in expression, but the bronze arrow in his hand spun slower and slower.

After Su Shi finished speaking, Cao Jun suddenly asked a question completely unrelated to painting: "Isn't Su Shi twenty-six this year? Is he married?"

Su Shi's fingers paused slightly on the scroll, then he straightened up and answered frankly, "Reporting to the Marquis, not yet."

Cao Jun placed the bronze arrowhead on the table, making a dull, soft sound.

He stopped beating around the bush and said directly that his daughter, Wan Ning, was fifteen years old this year, and was somewhat knowledgeable in poetry and prose. She was gentle and kind, and if Su Xiuzhuan did not mind, he was willing to guarantee this marriage.

Not as a marquis, but as a father.

Su Shi remained silent for a long while.

Outside the window, the old plum trees in the plum garden swayed gently in the cold wind, their petals falling silently onto the snow.

He recalled that it was also a winter like this when Wang Fu passed away in his previous life.

He rushed back to Meishan from Bianjing, and along the way, the plum blossoms were in full bloom, but he couldn't see any of them.

From then on, he wrote countless poems about plum blossoms, every single one of which was written for her.

He never considered remarrying in this lifetime.

It's not that I don't want to, it's that I don't dare.

He was afraid of experiencing that pain again, afraid of holding someone in his heart and then watching her leave.

"Your Excellency's kindness is too much for me to bear."

His voice was low. Cao Jun frowned slightly and was about to speak when Su Shi continued, "My lord, to be honest, there has always been someone in my heart. She has been gone for many years, but I have never let go. I am afraid that if I rush into marriage, I will still have the shadow of the old love in my heart, which would be unfair to Miss."

Cao Jun remained silent for a long time, then sighed, walked up to Su Shi, and patted him on the shoulder: "Commissioner Su is a true gentleman. I will not force you today. Go for a walk in the plum garden. Wan Ning is admiring the flowers there. Whether it works out or not, just consider it making friends."

The snow in the plum garden was deeper than that outside the flower hall.

The old plum trees on both sides of the pebble path are in full bloom, with red and white plum blossoms overlapping, which are particularly eye-catching against the backdrop of the snow.

Cao Wanning stood under the oldest dragon plum tree, wearing a bright red cloak.

Holding a freshly broken red plum blossom in her hand, she was tiptoeing to reach a higher branch.

Her maidservant saw Su Shi approaching from afar and tactfully retreated outside the plum grove.

Su Shi stood a few steps away from her.

Watching her tiptoe to reach the plum branch, I suddenly felt a little dazed.

In his previous life, Wang Fu also loved plum blossoms.

Every winter, I cut a few branches from the yard and put them in a vase, saying that plum blossoms are not afraid of the cold and are the most resilient of all flowers.

Cao Wanning finally reached the plum blossom on the high branch, turned around, and found someone standing behind her.

She was slightly startled at first, then recognized him, and her cheeks flushed red, redder than the plum blossoms in her hand.

She hurriedly gave a curtsy, her voice soft: "Su Xiuzhuan, what brings you here?"

Su Shi looked at her eyes, which were slightly lowered due to shyness.

Looking at the red plum blossom in her hand and the vigorous old plum tree behind her, I suddenly felt something loosening in my chest.

It wasn't a violent collapse, but rather like a glacier slowly melting in spring, little by little.

It was silent, but with each inch it spread, it increased the flow of the entire river.

He took a deep breath and stepped forward.

Cao Wanning subconsciously took half a step back and leaned against the trunk of the old plum tree.

The red plum blossom in my hand fell onto the snow, splashing up a small puff of snow mist.

He bent down, picked up the red plum blossom, and handed it back to her. Then, looking into her eyes, he said earnestly, "Miss, there is someone in my heart. She has been with me for many years, and I have never forgotten her."

"Before today, I thought I would never marry again in this life, but just now outside the plum garden, I suddenly realized something."

"Being nostalgic is not a fault, but dwelling on the past is. If she were alive, she wouldn't want to see me, Su, living a lonely life."

"If Miss is willing to wait, and I, Su, properly settle the past, I am willing to repay you with the rest of my life."

Cao Wanning stared at him blankly, her eyes slowly reddening.

She didn't cry out loud, but just clutched the red plum blossom tightly and whispered a sentence.

The sound was so soft, as if afraid of startling the snow falling from the treetops.

She said she was willing to wait, as long as it took.

She saw Su Xiu's poem at the plum blossom appreciation banquet and felt that he was a very gentle person with light in his heart.

Su Shi lowered his head, looking at the red plum blossom she was clutching in her hand, and then at her fingertips, which were slightly red from the cold, and suddenly smiled.

His smile wasn't as unrestrained and exuberant as usual; instead, it seemed to have been imbued with something, making it substantial and warm.

"Miss, you just said that plum blossoms are flowers with backbone, but you are even more backbone than plum blossoms."

Then he said something that Cao Wanning would never forget for the rest of her life.

"Wanning, thank you."

Cao Wanning's tears finally fell, landing on the snow and creating a small crater.

At that very moment, a sudden change occurred.

A pale golden column of energy shot up from above Su Shi's head, piercing through the sky above the plum grove.

That was not the power of a martial artist's blood and qi, but pure, unadulterated righteous energy.

The pillar of energy was even more powerful than when he broke through to the sixth rank at the Grand Tutor's Mansion, with countless characters faintly flowing and dancing within the golden light.

Those were all the poems he had written in his past and present lives, each one transformed into a pale golden rune that slowly rotated around him.

His mindset is undergoing an unprecedented transformation.

The advancement from the third to the sixth rank was due to the accumulation of knowledge in his previous life. In this life, he became a disciple of Kong Yan, cultivating his literary mind and nurturing his righteous spirit.

But the essence of righteousness is not talent, but a clear and open mind.

The moment he let go of his obsession, his mind became like a mirror that had been repeatedly polished, suddenly becoming clear.

All the longing and guilt I felt for Wang Fu in my past life.

All the joy and hesitation he felt towards Cao Wanning in this lifetime.

In that instant, it all transformed into the purest, most righteous energy, breaking through the bottleneck of the sixth rank.

Outside the plum grove, several guards from the Marquis of Anxi's residence were patrolling the garden when they suddenly felt a gentle breeze on their faces.

The breeze didn't come from inside the plum grove; it came from above it.

Then everyone saw the pale golden beam of light.

I could faintly hear the sound of countless people reciting poems in the wind.

Those were the first time that every poem and every lyric written by Su Shi in his past and present lives was being recited by heaven and earth amidst the righteous spirit of this world.

Cao Jun was wiping the old knife in the flower hall.

Suddenly, the knife in his hand trembled slightly, and the deep notch on the blade emitted an extremely faint resonance.

He suddenly looked up at the window and saw the pale golden beam of light shooting into the sky; his expression changed drastically.

As a peak eighth-rank martial artist, he naturally knew what that was.

That was a celestial phenomenon signifying a breakthrough in cultivation, and not just any ordinary breakthrough, but a breakthrough beyond the established realm, directly advancing from the sixth rank to the seventh rank.

His hand holding the knife trembled slightly, not from fear, but from excitement.

If the Cao family really takes in such a son-in-law, the Marquis of Anxi's influence in the court will extend far beyond just the Northwest military.

There are also upright civil officials, the Hanlin Academy, and a possible future cabinet.

Meanwhile, in the office of the Censorate, Pei Du was bent over his desk reviewing impeachment memorials.

Suddenly, an unusual fluctuation came from outside the window. He looked up and gazed in the direction of the Marquis of Anxi's residence, remaining silent for a long time.

Then he put down his vermilion pen and said to Chen Qi, the Left Vice Censor-in-Chief who was standing beside him, "That old fellow Kong Yan has gotten another big bargain, but this time, Cao Jun also benefited."

Then he lowered his head and picked up the vermilion pen again, a rare smile appearing on his lips.

Deep within the plum grove, the pale golden pillar of light slowly receded, and the fluttering runes fell like petals, merging into Su Shi's body.

He looked down at his hands, where a faint golden light swirled in his palms.

That is not qi and blood, nor internal strength, but a mark of righteous qi manifesting outwards.

He was a seventh-rank scholar, and only twenty-six years old.

Cao Wanning was still leaning against the plum tree, staring blankly at him.

Her face was still streaked with tears, but her eyes shone with an astonishing brightness.

Although she neither knew martial arts nor cultivated righteousness, she knew that the person in front of her had just undergone some kind of transformation that she could not understand.

Su Shi withdrew his hands, looked at the girl in front of him who was wearing a bright red cloak and holding a red plum blossom in her hand, and suddenly smiled.

"That light just now was because of you."

Cao Wanning didn't understand the meaning behind his words, but she could see the tenderness in his eyes when he smiled.

That tenderness wasn't for someone from a past life; it was for her.

The turmoil in the imperial court was still brewing.

The lingering charm of the plum blossom appreciation banquet has quietly permeated every corner of the capital.

The news that Su Shi had been promoted to the seventh rank quickly spread throughout the imperial court.