Da Ming: The system granted me immortality; I clock in every day.

The night is deep, and the autumn rain is pattering outside the window.

Time flies like an arrow.

The fifth year of the Yongle reign.

In recent years, the territory of the Ming Empire has continued to expand under Zhu Di's iron hooves.

Zheng He's treasure ships have already set sail on the vast ocean.

Against this grand historical backdrop, in a corner of the Hanlin Academy's library, Gu Yannian's life remained as uneventful as ever.

He performed his duties methodically, getting up at the end of the Yin hour every day and arriving at the yamen on time at the Mao hour, rain or shine.

Five years, more than 1,800 days and nights, have brought about tremendous changes to his attribute panel.

Name: Gu Yannian

Lifespan: Immortality

【Strength: 612】

[Physical Fitness: 605]

[Agility: 620]

【Spirit: 650】

The maximum value for an average person is 10, and Gu Yannian's current attributes are more than sixty times that of an average person.

This accumulation of numbers leads to a qualitative leap.

His body is now so that ordinary swords and knives cannot even leave a white mark when they cut into it.

His senses were so sharp that he could even hear the faint sound of ants crawling ten feet away.

In terms of strength, he could pierce through hard bluestone bricks with a single finger.

But he kept this terrifying power extremely well hidden.

To outsiders, he remained the same gentle and refined, yet physically weak, seventh-rank editor.

Early one morning, in the backyard of the Hanlin Academy.

Several servants were sweating profusely as they tried to move a huge rosewood bookshelf.

This bookshelf was made from a single piece of old wood, making it incredibly heavy. It was also piled high with unorganized bamboo slips, weighing at least a thousand pounds.

"One, two, three, go!"

The servants shouted in unison, but the bookshelf only swayed slightly.

One of the servants slipped and lost his balance.

The huge bookshelf lost its support and tilted to one side.

"Oh no! Get out of the way!"

The surrounding officials turned pale with fright and scattered in all directions to avoid him.

If someone were hit by this bookshelf, they would either die or be maimed.

Gu Yannian happened to be passing by when he saw the bookshelf about to collapse, with a precious Tang Dynasty handwritten Buddhist scripture on top about to fall into a muddy puddle nearby.

He frowned slightly and took a half-step forward, seemingly casually.

His right hand, concealed by the wide sleeves of his robe, casually braced against the edge of the toppled bookshelf.

boom!

The bookshelf, weighing a thousand pounds, came into contact with Gu Yannian's palm the moment it touched him.

It was as if it was being held firmly up by an invisible force, and was fixed in mid-air.

Gu Yannian remained calm, controlling the terrifying force in his fingertips, and steadily pushed the bookshelf back to its original position.

Then, with his left hand, he caught the Tang Dynasty Buddhist scripture that had almost fallen to the ground.

The whole process happened extremely quickly.

Because Gu Yannian had his back to everyone and concealed his movements with his sleeves.

To the still-shaken officials and servants, all they saw was the bookshelf sway slightly before miraculously regaining its balance.

"Oh my god! That scared me to death!"

The servants slumped to the ground, panting heavily.

Gu Yannian patted the dust off the Buddhist scripture, turned around and handed it to a clerk standing next to him who was dumbfounded.

"Keep this tattered scroll safe and don't let it get dirty again."

After saying that, he acted as if nothing had happened.

He continued walking steadily toward his duty room, leaving a group of people standing there, still shaken.

Back in his duty room, Gu Yannian had just sat down and brewed a pot of tea when he heard a commotion outside.

"Scholar Xie has been demoted and banished from the capital!"

A young scholar rushed in, his face filled with shock as he spread the big news.

Gu Yannian paused slightly in his tea-serving hand, then casually blew on the tea foam and took a small sip.

Xie Jin's demotion was something he had expected.

This great talent presided over the compilation of the Yongle Encyclopedia.

He is exceptionally talented, but arrogant and has a loose tongue.

Even more fatally, he was deeply embroiled in the power struggle between Crown Prince Zhu Gaochi and Prince Zhu Gaoxu for the throne.

He repeatedly spoke ill of the Prince of Han to the Yongle Emperor, which offended Zhu Di greatly.

"Being arrogant and unrestrained because of one's talent will ultimately lead to disaster."

Gu Yannian sighed inwardly.

After Xie Jin's departure, he was first demoted to Guangxi, and later his demotion was changed to Jiaozhi.

He was eventually drugged by Ji Gang a few years later, buried in the snow, and froze to death, meeting a tragic end.

This was the course of history; Gu Yannian knew the outcome, but had no intention of changing it.

He walked to the window, pushed open the wooden window, and looked at the withered yellow leaves falling from an old locust tree in the yard.

In the political center of the Ming Dynasty, dramas of rise and fall, life and death, honor and disgrace unfolded every day.

Today you wield immense power, tomorrow you may be beheaded.

In this game called power, no one can win forever.

"Ding! Today's roll call completed. Attribute point gained +1."

A familiar notification sound rang in my mind.

Gu Yannian habitually allocated attribute points to "Constitution".

He felt the increasingly long and powerful energy within his body, and the vastness and inexhaustibility of life.

"This drama of the imperial court is truly endlessly entertaining."

He returned to his desk, opened a history book that was not yet fully proofread, and dipped his pen in ink.

Regardless of the turbulent winds and waves outside, regardless of who is the crown prince or who is the minister.

As long as the books in the Hanlin Academy continue to be read, and as long as he can still clock in at his desk every day.

These long years were lived to the fullest.

……

Spring of the sixth year of the Yongle reign.

The willow branches in Jinling City have just sprouted new buds, and the air is filled with a faint earthy smell and moisture.

Several years have passed since the end of the Jingnan Campaign, and this magnificent capital has completely healed the wounds of war.

It restored the unique prosperity and beauty of the Jiangnan water towns.

Inside the Hanlin Academy, the atmosphere was not as relaxed as outside.

Today is an important day.

After several years of work and countless resources, the compilation of the "Complete Collection of Documents" was finally ready to be presented to the Yongle Emperor.

Gu Chang'an sat at his polished mahogany desk, holding a cup of pre-Qingming Longjing tea, savoring it slowly.

"Editor Gu, the auspicious time is approaching. Grand Tutor Yao and several Grand Secretaries are ready to depart for Fengtian Gate. We, the accompanying clerks, should hurry and wait for them."

A young junior official rushed into the duty room, panting, and urged him in a low voice.

"Coming right away."

Gu Yannian put down his teacup, calmly stood up, and straightened his blue official robe with bird-patterned embroidery.

The presentation of the letter today was a grand affair.

Although Gu Yannian was only a peripheral book repairman, according to the rules, he still had to follow the team to make up the numbers.

The group left the Hanlin Academy in a grand procession, passed through Chengtian Gate, and arrived at the spacious square outside Fengtian Gate.

One hundred red lacquered trays covered with bright yellow silk were steadily carried by two hundred strong and powerful imperial guards.

The plate contains this monumental work, which embodies the painstaking efforts of countless scholars throughout the world.

Wearing the black monk's robe bestowed by the emperor and holding Buddhist prayer beads, Yao Guangxiao stood at the head of all the officials, his expression still as calm and composed as ever.

Shortly after, the whip cracked three times.

Emperor Yongle, Zhu Di, ascended the city tower of Fengtian Gate, surrounded by eunuchs and guards.

Zhu Di was clearly in a very good mood today.

A genuine smile, a rare occurrence, appeared on that face that usually carried an air of sternness.

Since his ascension to the throne, he has been overshadowed by the accusation that he "gained the country illegitimately".

He killed wave after wave of Jianwen's former officials, but he couldn't silence the public's discontent.

The completion of this grand ceremony today is his most powerful weapon to silence the scholars of the world.