I manage female characters in all the heavens.

The car window rolled down, revealing Liu Ting's pretty and lively face: "Get in the car, I'll take you out for a good meal to calm your nerves."

Luo Feng paused for a moment, then walked over, opened the car door, and sat in the back seat.

"Liu Ting" sat in the front passenger seat, turned around and glanced at him: "How are you? Are you alright? I heard you got beaten up yesterday and had to go to the emergency room?"

"Nonsense, who got beaten up? I was the one who dominated the battlefield, and then I fainted due to low blood sugar!" Luo Feng said confidently.

"Only someone with hypoglycemia who's a quasi-martial artist could come up with such an absurd statement." Liu Ting waved her hand. "Today I'm taking you to meet someone to settle this matter."

Luo Feng was taken aback: "See whom?"

"You'll know when it arrives."

The car drove all the way to the Dawn Royal Court and stopped in front of the hotel.

"Liu Ting" led Luo Feng into the hotel, up to the third floor, and to the door of a private room.

Pushing open the door to the private room, I found two people already seated inside.

A middle-aged man in a suit and tie looked somewhat uneasy; standing next to him was a young man in his early twenties, pale-faced and sweating profusely.

When the young man saw "Liu Ting" walk in, he immediately stood up, forcing a smile that looked more like a grimace: "Miss Liu, you've arrived..."

"Liu Ting" nodded slightly, led Luo Feng to sit down across the table, crossed her legs, and slowly said, "Zhou Huayang, yesterday you arranged a good show for my little brother Luo Feng in the detention center. Tell me, how do you plan to resolve this?"

Zhou Huayang's face turned deathly pale instantly, and he hurriedly shook his head: "No, no, no, Miss Liu, it's all a misunderstanding! It was all that bastard Zhang Haobai who tricked me!"

"He gave me some money and asked me to help him find a few people to teach Luo Feng a lesson. I... I was out of my mind at the time, so I agreed..."

"Oh? And now?"

"Now I fully realize my mistake!" Zhou Huayang knelt down with a thud and kowtowed three times to Luo Feng. "Brother Luo Feng, I was wrong! I was really wrong! Please forgive me this time!"

Luo Feng was startled.

Zhou Huayang's father, Zhou Zhuofan, also quickly stood up, took out a check from his pocket, and presented it with both hands: "Miss Liu, this is just a small token of my apology to Brother Luo Feng..."

Liu Ting pouted: "Why are you giving this to me? Give it to Luo Feng, not me to apologize!"

Zhou Zhuofan quickly bent down and came to Luo Feng, handing the check to Luo Feng with both hands.

Luo Feng picked up the check and glanced at it. It read "100000000," one hundred million.

Luo Feng was stunned.

One hundred million?!

"This...this is too much." Luo Feng quickly waved his hand, "Liu Ting, I can't accept this..."

"Take it. If you don't, they won't be able to sleep at night." Liu Ting glared at him. "This is their apology to you. What, do you think your safety isn't worth a hundred million?"

Zhou Zhuofan quickly chimed in, "Yes, yes, Brother Luo Feng, you must accept this money! It's my fault for not raising my son properly and causing you trouble. This money is just a small token of our appreciation!"

He pressed Zhou Huayang's head down and kowtowed to Luo Feng six more times, making a total of nine kowtows in total, including the three he had done before.

Luo Feng glanced at "Liu Ting," then at the Zhou father and son who were trembling slightly, and finally silently accepted the check.

"Since you are so sincere, I accept your apology. However, if needed in the future, you will have to stand up and help me identify Zhang Haobai. I will not let this matter of him harming me go unpunished."

The Zhou father and son breathed a sigh of relief and said repeatedly, "Definitely, definitely!"

"Alright." Liu Ting stood up and looked down at Zhou Huayang. "Since Luo Feng has spoken, let's let it go this time. But if there is a next time, the Zhou Group will cease to exist."

"Yes, yes, Miss Liu, don't worry, there will definitely not be a next time!" Zhou Huayang quickly kowtowed and promised.

"Thank you for your kindness, Miss Liu. We'll be leaving now. I've already paid for the meal, please enjoy yourselves."

The Zhou father and son respectfully left the private room, closed the door, and left "Liu Ting" and Luo Feng alone in the room to enjoy a large table of delicious food.

Luo Feng held the check in his hand, feeling his palms burning.

One hundred million, just like that, it's in my hands?

"Stop spacing out." Liu Ting patted his shoulder and pointed to the food and drinks on the table. "Eat up, and I'll take you home after you're done."

Luo Feng paused for a moment, then suddenly asked, "Liu Ting, how did you get the Zhou family father and son to admit their mistakes? I heard the Zhou family has a very powerful background."

"It's very simple. My dad stayed up all night yesterday and swallowed up 30% of the market share of the Zhou Group in Yangzhou."

Liu Ting said casually, "They dealt a heavy blow to the Zhou Group in just one night. If they continue for another two days, won't they collapse? If they want to survive in Yangzhou City, they'll have no choice but to back down."

Luo Feng: "..."

No wonder the Zhou father and son knelt down so readily; it was truly frightening.

"Don't think too much about it." Liu Ting patted his shoulder. "You'll be a martial artist soon, and you'll be hunting monsters in the wilderness. You can't do it without good equipment. Keep this 100 million to buy some good equipment."

Luo Feng took a deep breath and nodded solemnly: "I've got it."

On that day, he silently vowed in his heart: he would definitely repay this kindness.

August 1st is the day for the martial arts practitioners' practical combat assessment.

Luo Feng arrived at the assessment location early, standing among the crowd with a determined gaze.

In the past month, he has fully mastered the Five Hearts Towards the Sky technique, and his physical fitness and skills have improved significantly.

He was full of confidence and determined to achieve good results in this assessment so that he could officially enter the ranks of martial artists.

The assessment site was packed with people, with prospective martial artists from all over the Jiangnan base cities gathered here, all eager to shine in today's assessment.

Luo Feng's gaze swept across the crowd, but he did not see that familiar figure.

Liu Ting should have come to participate in the assessment as well, why didn't I see her?

The assessment began soon.

Luo Feng performed exceptionally well, passing the practical assessment with dazzling results and becoming a formal martial artist.

This sparked a bidding war among the Thunder Martial Arts School, the Ultimate Martial Arts School, and the military, but he ultimately chose to join the Ultimate Martial Arts School.

However, there was little joy on his face; instead, he looked somewhat lost.

Liu Ting didn't come.

Just then, his phone rang.

He answered the phone and saw a message from "Liu Ting":

"This is a pre-set message: Congratulations on becoming a martial artist (I shouldn't have failed, right?). I've already registered at Jiangnan University ahead of schedule, so I won't throw you a big celebration banquet. Good luck, I believe in you!"

Luo Feng looked at the message, smiled slightly, and then looked up into the distance.

At the Institute of High Energy Physics, Jiangnan University, a young and beautiful woman in a white lab coat was leisurely walking towards the laboratory building with her hands in her pockets.

She was accompanied by a bespectacled girl who looked a bit dazed, carrying a large stack of documents and following closely behind her.

Liu Ting pushed up her non-prescription glasses and tilted her head to show the girl with glasses: "How about it, Senior Sister Yu? Don't I look more cultured now?"

On her chest hangs a brand-new nameplate: Senior Researcher, Institute of High Energy Physics, Liu Ting.

Senior Sister Yu lifted her head from the pile of documents, looked at the new junior sister in front of her, and her face showed some grievance:

"Junior sister, could you help me carry some documents? My arms are getting tired..."

She also has a nameplate on her chest: Yu Qiaoqiao, Junior Researcher, Institute of High Energy Physics.

"Liu Ting" quickly jumped back a few steps, her face full of rejection: "Senior sister, don't go too far. Although I am your junior sister, I am also your leader. How can you let your leader take the materials?"

Yu Qiaoqiao was on the verge of tears: Teacher, why did you take in a monster? He came in as a senior researcher and became my leader. How can I, who has only been promoted to a formal researcher for four years, bear this?

Before I became a full-time employee, I was carrying documents, and after I became a full-time employee, I'm still carrying documents. Wasn't this full-time job for nothing?

Please take one day off.

I'm not updating anymore, I'm taking a day off, dear readers.

Chapter 225 Our Central Court is Too Enlightened

Several months have passed since Nie Yan took up his post as Vice Minister of Rites in the capital.

Over the past few months, he went from being initially uneasy and walking on thin ice to gradually becoming familiar with all aspects of the court, and even began to feel a kind of... inexplicable confusion.

Based on his decades of experience as an official, as well as the descriptions in various historical records and letters from colleagues, the central government has always been a place where power struggles are most intense, interpersonal relationships are most complex, and open and covert attacks are most difficult to guard against.

As a third-rank official who rose directly from the local level, he had no connections, no powerful backers, and no faction, making him the first target that various forces should try to control.

The Changming Dynasty was already in its final stages, and one can imagine the chaos and darkness within the court.

But the truth seems to be quite the opposite.

In the past few months, he has not only not been harassed by any superiors, colleagues, officials at all levels of other departments, or relatives of the emperor, but he has not even been subjected to a single harsh word.

No faction forced him to take sides, no powerful figure hinted that he should give gifts, no one put on airs or acted arrogantly in front of him, and no one tripped him up or made things difficult for him in his official duties.

On the contrary, everyone, regardless of their official rank, respected him greatly.

When the Minister reviewed the official documents he submitted, if he had different opinions, he would politely invite him over to discuss them, and never suppress them from above.

When his colleagues handed over matters to him, they all followed the rules and regulations, without any of the usual bureaucratic practices of shirking responsibility or passing the buck.

Even those usually arrogant and domineering imperial relatives greeted him with smiles, calling him "Vice Minister Nie" affectionately, and would occasionally give him small gifts to curry favor.

On one occasion, he almost made a mistake while handling the rituals of a sacrificial ceremony because he was unfamiliar with certain details of the rituals.

Instead of blaming him, the Minister of Rites personally helped him fill in the gaps and comforted him gently: "It's normal for Lord Nie to be unfamiliar with these formalities since he's new here. Take your time, there's no rush."

this--

This was completely different from the court struggles he had imagined at the end of a dynasty!

For a moment, Nie Yan was also puzzled.

If the central court of the Changming Dynasty was so politically efficient, with each department fulfilling its duties, and with mutual respect and harmony between superiors and subordinates, how did the world end up like this?

Surely those local refugees, rebel armies, demons and monsters couldn't all have been created by the imperial court?

Could it be that the local officials were outwardly compliant but inwardly defiant, and that they were distorting all the good policies of the imperial court?

Or is it that although the current emperor is working hard to govern, the timing is unfavorable and evil spirits are rampant, which is beyond human control?

After much thought, Nie Yan could only come to this conclusion: the imperial court was good; it was the people below who had misinterpreted the scriptures.

Therefore, he became even more determined to do his job well and share the burden of the court.