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

Fang Xuanling had traveled the road from Runzhou to the capital more than once.

In previous years, I went to Beijing to report on my work.

He always traveled light, with only an old servant, two boxes of books, and a pot of tea, walking slowly along the official road by the canal, neither rushing nor staying at post stations.

He always stayed in temples along the way, which were quiet, saved money, and also saved him from dealing with the local officials who came to greet and see him off.

But this time is different.

The Ministry of Personnel's transfer order stated that the person was "to go to the capital to report for duty within ten days." Even traveling from Runzhou to the capital via the Grand Canal would take at least ten days.

He can't be slow.

So he made an exception and hired a carriage, taking only a few boxes of books and his old servant who had been with him for many years, and left Runzhou city before dawn.

The carriage traveled north along the canal, and the scenery outside the window gradually changed from the apricot blossoms and spring rain of Jiangnan to the wheat fields and withered trees of Huaibei.

On the way, he mentally reviewed the situation of the Ministry of Revenue.

Shen Jingzhi, the Minister of Revenue, was the one who sat in the presiding judge's seat during the joint trial by the three judicial departments. He was a veteran of criminal law.

He was upright and honest, and his keen insight into accounts was no less than that of the censors of the Censorate.

The position of Left Vice Minister is temporarily vacant. As the newly appointed Right Vice Minister, his first task upon taking office will inevitably be to take over the audit of tax accounts.

The Ministry of Revenue's accounts were the thickest in the Great Zhou Dynasty.

The grain transport, salt and iron, textile manufacturing, and land tax were all astronomical sums.

Behind each of these is a complex web of vested interests.

In his previous life, when he was prime minister in the Tang Dynasty, his greatest skill was to sort out the clear structure from mountains of memorials and account books.

Break down complex conflicts of interest into actionable policy orders.

In this life, he had been lying low in Runzhou for many years and was very familiar with the loopholes in local taxation. He was able to put his knowledge to good use when he went to the Ministry of Revenue.

After traveling for two days, the carriage stopped in front of a post station.

This is an inconspicuous little post station by the canal, with blue bricks and gray tiles. A half-new and half-old lantern hangs at the entrance, with the character "驿" (post station) written on the lampshade.

When the postmaster came out to greet him, he was all smiles, but Fang Xuanling only nodded slightly and asked for a quiet superior room.

He then instructed the old servant to go to the kitchen and fetch a pot of hot tea, without disturbing anyone else.

He was brushing the dust off his cuffs when someone else arrived at the post station.

This time, two horses have arrived.

The one leading the group was a middle-aged scholar in his forties.

He wore a faded blue official robe, his back was slightly hunched, his cheekbones were high, but his eyes were exceptionally bright.

His movements were somewhat stiff as he dismounted.

That was a back problem caused by years of hunching over a desk.

He tossed the reins to his attendant behind him, looked up at the lantern above the post station's entrance, and was about to enter when he suddenly stopped.

Because he saw Fang Xuanling standing in the courtyard.

The two stood facing each other for a long while, one on the steps and the other at the gate of the courtyard, separated by the cold moonlight filling the courtyard.

Then Fang Xuanling smiled first, a smile deeper than any he had shown during his years in the Runzhou government office, so deep that fine wrinkles appeared at the corners of his eyes.

He strode down the steps and bowed to Du Ruhui, saying, "Brother Keming, it's been many years, but you still look as dashing as ever."

Du Ruhui also smiled. He stepped forward, took Fang Xuanling's arm, looked him up and down, and said with emotion, "Brother Xuanling, you have aged quite a bit."

"Back when we all passed the imperial examination in the capital, you were the youngest among our group."

"Now my temples are all white. Runzhou is indeed a place that torments people."

Fang Xuanling smiled and said that he was no different.

In Changzhou, offending people was so egregious that even performance reviews would say "too rigid," which was far worse than in Runzhou.

The two smiled at each other, said nothing more, and walked into the post station side by side.

Fang Xuanling dismissed his old servants and attendants, asking for only a pot of warmed yellow wine and two rough earthenware cups, and sat facing each other by the window.

Outside the window, the lights of boats on the canal flickered in the night, and occasionally the folk songs hummed by boatmen drifted over, carrying the soft, gentle melodies unique to the water towns of Jiangnan.

The tune reminded them of the nights in Chang'an in their past lives.

The willows by Ba Bridge and the flowing wine at Qujiang River—those memories from over a thousand years ago suddenly surged into my mind along with the sound of water outside the window.

Fang Xuanling picked up his wine cup, took a sip, and suddenly sighed, saying that in this life they were each living their own lives in Runzhou and Changzhou.

They thought they wouldn't see each other again for who knows when, but an order summoned them back to the capital at the same time, as if it were a special arrangement by heaven.

"Brother Xuanling, do you still remember when we sat facing each other and drank wine in the Qin Prince's mansion back then?"

"But back then we drank wine from the Western Regions and used luminous cups."

Du Ruhui shook the rough pottery cup in his hand, "Now that it's been replaced with a rough pottery cup for yellow wine, it has a unique flavor."

"How could I not remember? It was the winter of the fourth year of the Wude era, right after the Turks retreated. His Highness the Prince of Qin held a banquet in his residence to reward the generals."

"You drank too much and fell asleep on the table. When you woke up, you found that I had taken your fox fur coat and covered myself with it, while you were shivering from the cold."

Fang Xuanling's smile deepened.

Du Ruhui smiled and asked him if he remembered that His Majesty had just ascended the throne in the first year of the Zhenguan era.

The Turkic Khaganate's army approached the Wei River. His Majesty summoned his ministers in the side hall to discuss countermeasures. More than a dozen ministers argued for a whole day without reaching a conclusion.

In the end, you stepped forward and drafted a proposal for the "Alliance of the Bridge".

This preserved the dignity of the imperial court and gave the Turks a way out, earning his utmost admiration.

"That draft wasn't written by me alone. If it weren't for Kemin's decisive action and overrule of the majority in the private hall that day, His Majesty wouldn't have made a decision so quickly."

Fang Xuanling leaned back in his chair, his fingers gently tracing the rim of his cup, his gaze drifting out the window as if looking into the distance. "How long did we spend in the Zhenguan era in our past life?"

"It must have been more than twenty years, from the eighteen scholars of the Qin Prince's Mansion to the prime minister of the Zhenguan era, from Xuanwu Gate to Lingyan Pavilion."

"Looking back now, it feels like yesterday. You said that in our past lives we served an emperor who would be remembered for all time."

"And in this life? The Ninth Prince is only eleven years old now. How could an eleven-year-old child be summoned by immortals from different times and spaces at the same time?"

"To be able to place the four of us in key locations such as Runzhou, Changzhou, Jiangdu, and Jiangxi, and to allow us to lie low in the local areas for many years without being noticed, is not a scheme that ordinary people can devise."

Du Ruhui gently placed the wine cup on the table, turned his gaze from the window to Fang Xuanling's face, and remained silent for a long while.

Then he said, "Brother Xuanling, in our past lives we were prime ministers for a lifetime, and our greatest skill was placing pieces on the chessboard."

"But our chess game is still a bit lacking compared to His Highness the Ninth Prince's game."

"Eleven years old? What were we doing when we were eleven? We were still studying at home, and we hadn't even gotten close to the imperial examination."

But then he changed the subject, saying that they had served Emperor Taizong in their previous lives, and that they were ultimately in a relationship of ruler and subject.

Emperor Taizong needed them, and they couldn't do without him either.

This Ninth Prince also needs them, but he will not hold all the power in his own hands like Emperor Taizong did.

He has laid a net, with each thread connecting different people and different forces, while he himself hides underwater, unseen by anyone.

Such a person is more composed than Emperor Taizong, and also more dangerous.

But the more dangerous a person is, the more worthwhile it is to follow them.

Fang Xuanling remained silent for a while, then picked up his wine cup, drank the last sip of yellow wine, and gently put the cup down.

He said that His Highness the Ninth Prince had given them the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Works, which were good positions, but they couldn't rush to take action yet.

When he arrived at the Ministry of Revenue, he would spend six months thoroughly reviewing the Ministry's accounts from beginning to end, without impeaching anyone or touching any interests, but simply quietly accumulating data and evidence.

When His Highness needs it, this account book will be the sharpest knife.

"When I arrived at the Ministry of Works, I did the same thing: first, I cleared up the backlog of engineering projects and river works accounts, and repaired the dikes that needed repair and dredged the canals that needed dredging."

"These things won't offend anyone, but they will keep the Ministry of Works firmly in its grasp."

"When Your Highness needs me, I will show my true abilities. I will repair canals, build dams, and improve weapons. I did these things in my previous life during the Zhenguan era, and I can do them in any other world."

Fang Xuanling laughed and said that in their previous lives they had assisted Emperor Taizong and were later listed in the Lingyan Pavilion. Starting over in this life was quite a different experience.

Du Ruhui also laughed and said that in their previous lives he was Du Duan and he was Fang Mou, and the two complemented each other perfectly.

Even with the Ninth Prince as their pillar of support in this life, they remain as decisive as Du Duan and as cunning as Fang Mou.

He poured the last bit of yellow wine from the wine pot into their cups and raised his cup to toast him.

Fang Xuanling also raised his wine cup, gently clinked it against his, and said, "Respectfully, Your Highness."

The boat lights on the canal outside the window gradually thinned out, and the boatmen's songs had disappeared into the depths of the night.

Two rough earthenware wine cups gently clinked together under the bright moonlight, producing a very soft and crisp sound.