#38 - This is not right

A small courtyard by the Spring River lake.

An old gentleman rolled up his sleeves and was brewing tea, the aroma wafting through the courtyard.

Not far away, a kitten lay on the courtyard wall, yawning lazily, then resting its head on its front paws and falling asleep.

A man sat in front of the old gentleman.

Having finished the morning court session, the man had already changed out of his official robes and into casual attire.

"What did those people in the court say?" the old gentleman asked.

The man smiled helplessly: "What else could they say? Each one of them acted as if they were about to lose their lives."

"Then what did His Majesty say?"

The old gentleman picked up the teapot and poured him a cup of tea, which the man quickly accepted with both hands.

"The matter of reform will be discussed later," Xiao Mo Chi said slowly.

"Mm." The old gentleman nodded, "That's perfectly normal. After two hundred and fifty years of the nation's founding, the nobles have colluded quite thoroughly. It has long been a situation where you are in me, and I am in you. Your reform..."

The old gentleman raised his head, his eyes as sharp as a hawk's, so piercing that they seemed to dissect a person: "Too hasty."

Xiao Mo Chi cooled the tea in his hand slightly, and took a sip: "This junior has no choice but to be anxious."

Putting down the teacup, Xiao Mo Chi looked directly into the old gentleman's eyes:

"Elder Zhang, the location of our Wu Kingdom is too unfavorable. The Demon Kingdom, the Barbarian Kingdom of the Northern Wilderness, the Demonic Sect and Buddhist Sect of the Western Regions, and the Qi Kingdom to the east, which one is ordinary? Now that the Wu Kingdom has been plagued for a long time, if we want to cure the disease, we must use strong medicine!"

The old gentleman drank a cup of tea: "But if the medicine is too strong, people will die."

"..." Xiao Mo Chi lowered his head and said nothing.

"Alas..." The old gentleman shook his head, "What you said is not the real reason. What exactly did that old fellow from White Deer Academy see?"

"..." Xiao Mo Chi stroked the teacup in his hand, without answering.

The old gentleman was not in a hurry, and simply poured himself tea.

"The Great Era is coming," After a long time, Xiao Mo Chi spoke.

The old gentleman's hand holding the teapot paused slightly, then he nodded: "Is that so..."

"The last time the Great Era came was ten thousand years ago. The world was in chaotic war, and living beings were devastated. The human race turned over and drove the demon race to the Southern Border, and the human race became the master of this world.

After thousands of years of evolution, this is how the pattern was established.

But how could the demon race in the Southern Border be willing to accept this?

They are constantly thinking about returning to their former glory, so that the human race will once again be reduced to slaves.

Now that the Great Era is about to come again, the spiritual power is gradually becoming stronger, and geniuses will emerge in large numbers.

No one can stay out of it.

No one can avoid fighting.

Not to mention that our Wu Kingdom is adjacent to tens of thousands of demon kingdoms in the Southern Border. Once the war starts, our Wu Kingdom will bear the brunt.

And not to mention the demon race in the Southern Border.

How could there be harmony among the human race?

Each human dynasty and immortal cultivation sect is full of deceit and betrayal.

If the Wu Kingdom wants to survive, it must reform."

The old gentleman shook his head: "You can't resist too much. The Wu Kingdom's inability to survive doesn't mean that those nobles in the court can't survive. If you make those nobles unable to survive now, they won't let you survive."

Xiao Mo Chi: "I can only do my best until my heart stops beating."

"You ah..." The old gentleman sighed helplessly, "Too hasty, too direct. Excessive haste leads to mistakes, and excessive directness leads to snapping."

"Forget it, forget it." The old gentleman waved his hand, "Anyway, I, this old man, still wants to live a few more years, so I won't participate in state affairs."

"..." Xiao Mo Chi was silent, not saying anything more.

Confucianism cultivates the aura of righteousness, and like ordinary cultivators, it is divided into fifteen realms in total: upper, middle, and lower.

If a Confucian student does not enter the court, then his lifespan will be as long as that of an ordinary Qi Refiner.

But if a Confucian student enters the court, because of the influence of the mountains, rivers, and national fortune, every day you hold office, the rate of flow of the source of life is the same as that of ordinary people.

If a person's lifespan is a hundred years, and an Immortal Realm Confucian serves in the court for thirty years, then three percent of the source of life will disappear.

For ordinary people, thirty years is thirty years.

But for an Immortal Realm cultivator with a lifespan of ten thousand years, those thirty years are equivalent to three thousand years.

Lifespan is too precious for cultivators. Perhaps it is just a hundred years short, and they can break through the realm, not to mention three thousand years...

Therefore, many Confucian students do not want to enter the court and only want to study knowledge.

However, more Confucian students still choose to enter the court without hesitation, but most of them only hold office for about twenty years before leaving.

And this old gentleman has already held office in the court for a full fifty years.

If I say too much, and the old gentleman participates too much, it will affect the old gentleman's peaceful old age.

"When will the Qi Kingdom's delegation arrive?" the old gentleman asked.

"A month later," Xiao Mo Chi replied, "Specifically, it should be in thirty-two days."

"Then have you decided on your candidates?" the old gentleman asked.

"I've decided," Xiao Mo Chi nodded, "This junior came today also to borrow two people from you, Elder."

"Oh?" The old gentleman smiled, "Where would I have people to lend you?"

"You do," Xiao Mo Chi also smiled, no longer talking about court affairs, the atmosphere was a little more relaxed than before.

The old gentleman thought for a moment: "Those two children?"

Xiao Mo Chi: "Yes."

Old gentleman: "But one of them is a son of a concubine."

Xiao Mo Chi: "The current Wu Kingdom is like a cage, and there must be something to break open this cage."

The old gentleman closed his eyes, thought for a moment, and then shook his head: "That's not appropriate."

Xiao Mo Chi smiled: "Elder Zhang, if everything was appropriate, the Wu Kingdom wouldn't be like this today."

Qi Kingdom, Marquis Yunyi's Residence.

A nine-year-old girl sat in the study, flipping through one collection of poems after another.

The little girl's face was as white as jade, her eyes as bright as stars, shining with curiosity and wisdom.

Her hair was as black as ink, styled into two playful little buns, tied with pink ribbons, gently swaying with her movements.

The girl's clothing was simple yet elegant, wearing a light pink ruqun (a traditional Chinese dress), the skirt embroidered with exquisite lotus patterns, a emerald green ribbon tied around her waist, adding a touch of playfulness while appearing gentle and refined.

Her hands were slender as jade, always gently holding the books, as if afraid of soiling those precious words.

Whenever she read something wonderful, she would laugh softly, the sound clear and melodious, like mountain springs tinkling.

"Cici."

With a soft call, a young woman who looked no more than twenty years old walked in.

"Mother." Zhu Cici jumped down from the chair, her steps gently swaying, like a lotus flower dancing in the water.

The dignified and graceful young woman squatted down, looking at her daughter with a smile: "Cici, in a month, how about mother taking you out to play?"