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

The twenty-third year of Yonghe, the day of Jingzhe (Awakening of Insects).

As the first rumble of spring thunder rolled over the capital, Zhou Xing was sitting by the window of a side hall, reviewing the policy essays and annotations that Yao Guangxiao had just brought in.

Raindrops pattered against the glazed tiles, and Chunlan hurried to collect the clothes drying in the yard.

Qiuju tiptoed to close the window, the side hall filled with the damp smell of earth and the burnt aroma of the oil lamp on the desk.

Zhou Xing put down his pen, looked out the window at the old locust tree's new buds, which were glistening from the rain, and suddenly realized...

There's only one month left until the imperial examinations.

From the time he was six years old when he traveled to this strange world, to now being over eight years old, more than two years have passed silently like sand slipping through his fingers.

He grew two inches taller and reached the second rank of Foundation Establishment, but in everyone's eyes he was still the timid, taciturn, and inconspicuous Ninth Prince.

But where no one can see, his chessboard has already covered the entire capital city.

He put down his pen, pulled out the self-made booklet from under his pillow, and turned to the last page.

The paper was covered with dense handwriting, recording the latest developments of various forces. Some of the handwriting had faded, while some of the ink was still fresh.

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He picked up his pen and drew a heavy circle next to the two characters "春闱" (spring examination), then turned to a new page.

He began to meticulously review the latest placement of each of his pieces.

Within the inner court, Zhao Gao's rise to power remained the fastest.

He officially broke through to the sixth rank this spring, a level of cultivation that would place him among the top ten experts even within the entire Directorate of Ceremonial.

Although his position in the Directorate of Ceremonial was still that of a court eunuch.

However, the chief eunuch Wang Zheng has begun to entrust him with more and more core affairs.

The tasks that Wang Zheng originally needed to handle personally, such as approving imperial edicts, drafting imperial decrees, and organizing memorials submitted by the cabinet, have now mostly fallen on Zhao Gao's desk.

Wang Zheng even once remarked to the old eunuch beside him after drinking in the twelfth lunar month.

This remark later reached Zhou Xing's ears.

"Our family has been in the palace for forty years and has never seen such an outstanding young man. With a few more years of training, this position will be his."

Chen Ju was very pleased with his adopted son, and he would praise Zhao Gao at the Chen family banquet every year during festivals.

They say his martial arts talent is once in a century, that he is meticulous and thorough in his work, and that his future is limitless.

But Zhao Gao knew in his heart that Chen Ju, his adoptive father, provided him with a solid foundation.

Wang Zheng, however, offered the future; the foundation determines the lower limit, while the future determines the upper limit.

These two "godfathers," one inside and one outside, supported his territory within the inner court.

Wei Zhongxian's martial arts skills also broke through to the fourth rank.

Although not as monstrous as Zhao Gao, in his own words...

"A fourth rank is enough, anyway, we don't rely on our fists to make a living."

He relied on personal connections.

He had been in the position of Director of the Personnel Department for almost a year, after the staffing review.

His network of connections in the lower and middle levels of the inner court covered almost every key position in the Twelve Directorates, Four Offices, and Eight Bureaus.

What's even more remarkable are his dozen or so godfathers.

Sun Desheng, the former head of the Directorate of Palace Attendants; Ma Bao, the former head of the Directorate of Imperial Seals; Zhao Daquan, the former head of the Directorate of Palace Attendants; Tian Xi, the head of the Wine, Vinegar and Noodle Shop...

Individually, none of these elderly people were top-tier figures, but together they formed a network of relationships that covered every corner of the inner court.

Wei Zhongxian called them godfathers, took care of them in their old age and in their final days, and handled their funeral arrangements; he treated them even better than his own sons.

In return, these "godfathers" gave him information, connections, and quiet support in countless key positions.

In his past life, he was a high-ranking official, but Wei Zhongxian doesn't seek that empty title in this life.

But in the power jungle of the inner court, he had become someone no one could bypass.

Gao Lishi's martial arts skills steadily advanced to the fourth rank.

The cultivation method he practiced was the "Pure Yang Qi Technique," which was used in the inner court.

Although he was not as gifted as Zhao Gao, he had the advantage of a solid foundation and a peaceful mind, and he took every step steadily.

His position remains Deputy Chief Steward of the Imperial Kitchen, but in reality, he has taken over all the daily operations of the Imperial Kitchen.

He did something that made Zhou Xing extremely satisfied that year.

By seamlessly integrating Shangshanjian's food procurement channels with Heshengyuan's supply network, procurement costs have been reduced.

This added another stable source of revenue for Heshengyuan, and more importantly, it extended its procurement channels.

They extended their intelligence reach into the kitchens of every palace and courtyard.

The Imperial Kitchen's ledgers recorded everything: whose family had a poor appetite lately, whose family had been frequently adding dishes, and whose family was secretly entertaining which guests.

Zheng He was the most low-key in his role at the Imperial Horse Administration, but his breakthrough in cultivation was the most solid among the four.

He has reached the peak of the fourth rank, just one step away from the fifth rank.

With the strong recommendation of Hai Dafu, the director of the Imperial Horse Administration.

Zheng He was officially promoted to Vice Director of the Imperial Horse Administration, concurrently in charge of the armory and hay storage, becoming the second most important figure in the Imperial Horse Administration.

As for the Imperial Guards, Xu Chu's cultivation level was still stuck at the seventh rank, but he was not impatient at all.

He performed his duties as the deputy commander of the Imperial Guard Battalion with great competence.

They patrolled the camp daily, deployed defenses, and conducted drills, managing the daily affairs of the guard battalion in an orderly manner.

He wasn't in a hurry to break through the bottleneck of the seventh rank because he was well aware of the unique nature of his cultivation technique.

The Tiger Roar Golden Body Technique is a skill that requires deep accumulation and gradual development; the deeper the foundation, the more powerful the breakthrough.

Dian Wei recently broke through to the seventh rank.

His "Mysterious Armor Iron Bone Skill" has reached a state of perfection, and his entire body is covered in copper skin and iron bones. Ordinary swords and knives cannot even leave a white mark when they cut into him.

After being promoted to centurion of the Imperial Guard, he voluntarily applied to be transferred to the South Gate for duty.

That was the route that all civil and military officials took to go to court every day.

He could see clearly who arrived early and who arrived late, who walked with whom, who looked flustered and who looked calm.

In the martial arts world, Lu Changfeng was the one who benefited the most directly.

After Zhou Xing handed over the cultivation method provided by Shangguan Jin Hong to him, Lu Changfeng read the Yellow-rank cultivation method "Capturing Dragon and Subduing Tiger Skill" three times that very night.

Then he gathered the core members and explained it to them word by word, leading them in cultivation.

The fighting power of the core members of the Beggars' Sect underwent a complete transformation in just a few months.

Previously, they could only intimidate people by their numerical advantage and relentless harassment. Now, with proper cultivation techniques at their disposal, their cultivation levels are rising rapidly.

Currently, nearly half of the core members of the Beggars' Sect are of the third rank or above, making them a force to be reckoned with among the underground gangs in the capital.

Lu Changfeng himself, with the support of the Yellow Rank cultivation technique, made rapid progress and broke through to the fifth rank.

The intelligence network of the Beggars' Gang branch in the capital was also upgraded accordingly.

The core group has more than 200 members and more than 2,000 informants, covering major prefectures and counties inside and outside the capital.

The Beggars' Gang even had liaison stations in several surrounding prefectures.

On Shangguan Jinhong's side, the Tongzhou Wharf Workers' Association has grown into a new force that cannot be ignored in Tongzhou.

After directly deterring the Bamboo Gang, he institutionalized the operation of the Workers' Association with a strict set of organizational rules.

During peak season for canal transport, they can mobilize thousands of porters to load and unload goods on a single day, while during off-season they maintain operations through mutual aid funds and scattered logistics.

More importantly, Shangguan Jin Hong's cultivation level has always maintained the public impression of being "around the fifth rank".

Showing only one palm strike is just right; it's neither so weak as to be looked down upon nor so strong as to arouse fear.

His true seventh-grade cultivation level was known only to Zhou Xing and a few others.

All cargo entry and exit registrations at the dock were incorporated into the unified management of the workers' association.

This intelligence on the canal transport, corroborated by the Beggars' Sect's information on the streets, gave Zhou Xing a thorough understanding of the flow of goods in the capital and surrounding areas.