Immortality: Starting with a grave, I'm invincible when burying corpses.

In the fifth month of the first year of the Tianshun reign.

Qi'an City, Second Ring Road, Hanlin Academy.

Nine palaces are connected in the southwest corner of the palace to form a magnificent architectural complex, with carved beams and painted rafters, and flying eaves and brackets.

From a distance, the palace's bricks and tiles are covered in gold paint, gleaming in the sunlight.

Stepping into the complex, you are greeted by lush greenery, and melodious piano music drifts in on the breeze.

The water flows gently, surrounded by green bamboo, with a hundred flowers blooming and koi carp playing in the water.

As a gathering place for scholars and officials of the Great Qi Dynasty, the Hanlin Academy was undeniably elegant in its environment.

As the saying goes, a mountain is not sacred because of its height, but because of the immortals dwelling there; water is not sacred because of its depth, but because of the dragons residing within.

This is a humble abode, but my virtue makes it fragrant.

The Hanlin Academy, which gathered the elites of the Great Qi Dynasty, was naturally a place of outstanding people and abundant resources.

Ultimately, however, their differing philosophies led the elites of the Hanlin Academy to understand that this humble abode was a last resort.

Staying for a short while is fine; it can even demonstrate one's perseverance. But staying there indefinitely would be uncomfortable.

The place where you work every day has to be pleasing to the eye.

The environment affects a person's mood; it can be overcome, but there's no need to.

Only a fool would deliberately make himself suffer if he could have a comfortable environment.

Guided by this philosophy, the Hanlin Academy is elegant yet luxurious, emphasizing a low-key and understated style with comfort as its core.

The men felt that they had already endured a lifetime of hardship in their youth, and now that they were getting older, they only needed to enjoy life.

The kind of hardship should be left to the young. It can temper their will, make them more sensible, and teach them how to respect their elders.

What? You say you don't want to suffer, and you want to live with the gentlemen in the best rooms of the Hanlin Academy, drinking tea and listening to music?

Guards, this man is morally flawed. Quickly send him down to a remote mountain village to be tempered and refined for two or three years!

Do they really think they're someone important?

We all obediently served the older generation back then, so who do you think you are, spouting nonsense here?

What our Hanlin Academy has in abundance is talent!

……

Hidden deep within a cluster of ancient and luxurious buildings is an inconspicuous little courtyard.

The courtyard is small; the rooms combined are only about 60 square meters.

There are three rooms: two are for living, one has been converted into a study, and there is also a small reception room.

The setting sun shone through the window screens, casting a golden veil over the entire study.

A table, two chairs, two candlesticks, and a high stack of texts.

Apart from some cluttered books, the room had no other decorations.

Undoubtedly, the simple environment was incompatible with the status of the people inside, and even more so with the elegance and comfort of the entire Hanlin Academy.

Before the desk, Zhuang Sheng, under the fairly bright candlelight, was almost entirely hunched over the table.

His pen never stopped moving as he wrote and drew on the paper, occasionally looking up suddenly with a furrowed brow.

A short while later, the person who had just written on the Xuan paper crumpled it up and threw it into the wastepaper basket next to him.

About two meters away from him, a boy who looked to be thirteen or fourteen years old stood up.

The young man picked up the teapot and skillfully refilled Zhuang Sheng's cup with tea.

"Sir, you've been writing all day. Have a cup of hot tea and take a break."

Zhuang Sheng didn't look up, but he still habitually asked a question.

"I'm fine, sir. If you're tired, Aoki, you can go and rest."

Seeing that he couldn't persuade Zhuang Sheng, the boy named He Qingmu simply stood beside Zhuang Sheng, his gaze falling on the scattered Xuan paper on the table.

These are all things related to the reform movement, and they represent the culmination of his husband's life's work.

The boy casually gathered the papers together and looked at them one by one.

Some of its contents overlap with the new external law, but many others are completely different.

Looking at the contents on the Xuan paper, He Qingmu felt a surge of grief and indignation with nowhere to vent.

In the end, he could only take a deep breath and suppress all his grief and anger.

"What's wrong? You look so miserable."

The boy kept his head down, refusing to look at his teacher.

Zhuang Sheng was also a little tired from working at high intensity for several consecutive days. He sighed slightly and patted He Qingmu on the back.

"But what are you worried about?"

It was just a simple sentence, but it felt like a sharp blade piercing He Qingmu's heart, causing the boy's eyes to redden and him to sob.

"Sir, I'm scared, so scared, so scared! Are we going to die?"

The student's words made Zhuang Sheng's hand, which was hanging in mid-air, freeze completely. He looked at the boy with his head down and finally couldn't bring himself to say anything deceiving.

"Why do you say that?" Zhuang Sheng licked his chapped lips, trying to keep his voice as calm as possible.

"Why did the content of the Twelve New Laws become like this? Mr. Ming, what you wrote at the beginning was not like this at all."

Sir, didn't you tell me that reform is not something that can be accomplished overnight, nor is it something that can be done in one generation?

To achieve the ultimate goal, it will require the efforts of several generations and take a century or even longer to be fully realized.

Being impatient for quick results will only make things spiral out of control.

But now, these twelve new laws…”

Hearing the student's question, Zhuang Sheng remained silent, equally unsure how to answer He Qingmu's question.

He also hoped that things would go as he envisioned, but Zhuang Sheng was long past the age of naivety. He naturally knew that things in this world rarely go as planned.

He didn't say a word, but simply took his apprentice's hand with his own.

"Sir, everyone is avoiding us. People in the Hanlin Academy are avoiding us, people in the court are avoiding us, and even the soldiers in the palace spit on us when they see us."

Every time I go out, I don't dare to look up. I feel so many cold gazes, they all want us to die.

Even His Majesty doesn't want to see you now, even though it was His Majesty who revised the content of the new law...

"Be careful what you say!"

The abrupt rise in tone made He Qingmu lower his head again, his fists clenched, veins bulging.

The boy's eyes were filled with anger, but even he himself didn't know what he was angry about.

Are you angry at Mr. [Name] for his insistence on reform?

Without Zhuangzi, he wouldn't be alive today, let alone witness all of this, so naturally he wouldn't harbor any resentment.

Are you angry that His Majesty ignored advice, insisted on implementing the new laws according to his own ideas, and even put them in the spotlight?

That was the emperor, the supreme ruler, the most honorable person under heaven. How could a nobody like him dare to harbor such resentment?

Are they angry that not a single official in the court is willing to stand on their side?

As the Master said, with the reforms having progressed to this point, regardless of loyalty or treachery, no one in the entire court will stand on their side, and they have no one to blame but themselves.

He Qingmu didn't know who he should resent; he only knew that he was very sad and scared.

Having nearly starved to death before, he didn't want to experience death again.

He stood in front of Zhuang Sheng, and without realizing it, his legs began to tremble involuntarily.

Zhuang Sheng did not blame his student. He stood up, walked to the window and closed it tightly. He looked around and, seeing that no one was around, walked in front of He Qingmu.