Cyber ​​Daming

Chapter 655: Repaying a Favor
At the end of March, the long winter in Banchi is finally over.

The vast earth shed its plain white winter clothes and put on a new light green outfit.

A little bit of snow hides in the dark places where the spring sun cannot reach, but is melted by the gradually warming weather and solidifies into a layer of crystal ice, which covers the dark rocks in a thin layer.

When people step on it, it will immediately make a crisp creaking sound.

This majestic mountain standing deep in the U-Tsangwei was originally renamed Nanjia and Sangyan. It is now affectionately called Putuo by the devout indigenous people.

In the foreign language, these two words represent the place where the Bodhisattva lives.

The road up the mountain was as rugged as before, but Zhang Fengyue didn't care at all. He was seen holding a straight dead branch in his hand as a walking stick, hiking up the mountain alone, and concentrating on appreciating the beautiful scenery along the way.

"Prime Minister, Yan Dongqing's whereabouts have been found."

Zhang Fengyue was not surprised by the sudden voice behind him. He continued to climb the stairs and asked without turning his head.

"He should have gone to Mount Longhu, right?"

"You have a keen eye, indeed."

"It's not that I have a good eye, but young people like him like to do things that are risky and expensive. Even if they know they are courting disaster, they don't care at all."

Zhang Fengyue asked with a smile: "Si Gu, why do you think that is?"

"Impossible."

The person following behind him with his hands hanging down answered softly, his tone particularly certain.

Zhang Fengyue couldn't help but laugh when he heard this: "You, you always speak so disrespectfully. Yan Dongqing is the head of the Spring and Autumn Association after all. Is he so unbearable in your eyes?"

"If you hadn't been kind and had turned a blind eye to their little tricks and given them enough opportunities, there would be no Spring and Autumn Association in this world."

“It doesn’t matter whether you give me a chance or not.”

Zhang Fengyue paused and stretched lazily as if he was a little tired.

Shang Sigu, who was following behind, took a step forward and wanted to lend a hand, but was interrupted by the old man waving his hand.

"A new emperor appoints new ministers. This empire has been controlled by old folks like us for long enough. We must hand it over to the next generation. Only in this way can Confucianism have a healthy development and not become a rotten, smelly stagnant pool."

"But they don't understand your thoughts. They all think that they can get to where they are today entirely because of their own abilities."

Shang Sigu snorted coldly: "Even if death is imminent, you will probably only blame fate for being unfair and lament your bad luck!"

"There are unexpected changes in the weather, and people are subject to misfortunes and blessings at any time. A centipede has a hundred feet, but it cannot walk as fast as a snake. A rooster has two wings, but it cannot fly as fast as a crow. A horse can travel a thousand miles, but it cannot go without a rider. A person may have lofty ambitions, but they cannot achieve them without luck. It is human nature to blame bad luck for success or failure, and there is nothing wrong with that."

Zhang Fengyue continued to climb the mountain. "In fact, I didn't think highly of Yan Dongqing before, but this time he made such a decisive choice, which really surprised me. It's rare to have such courage to use ten years of forbearance to gamble on a chance of survival!"

"If he hadn't taken that wrong step, he might have really taken this opportunity to let the Chunqiu Society become independent and become a true Confucian sect, thereby gaining the opportunity to be promoted to the second rank and have the ability to compete head-on with me."

Zhang Fengyue sighed and said, "What a pity, he just had to set his sights on Li Jun."

"Yan Dongqing chose to go to Longhu Mountain just to borrow Zhang Xiji to deal with Li Jun."

Shang Sigu said in a deep voice: "Longhu Mountain and Donghuang Palace have always had an irreconcilable feud with Li Jun. If Yan Dongqing can successfully persuade them to take action, he may not have no chance of winning."

"Si Gu, you don't understand Zhang Xiji, nor do you understand Li Jun. They are a complicated and overlapping network, but Li Jun is an indestructible sword. The current sequence is a narrow road, and only those who move forward can stand firm."

Zhang Fengyue's voice stopped abruptly here.

He obviously had no intention of continuing to discuss this topic, and asked instead: "Now that Yan Dongqing has rebelled, my student should be unable to sit still, right?"

"On the day when the Wu family's building was bombed, Zhu Pingxu also showed up in Quzhou Prefecture. It seems that he was preparing to come forward to save the Spring and Autumn Society."

"Hey."

Zhang Fengyue sighed softly: "When the sequence no longer exists, the current clans will also fall apart. By then, the king will be the king, and the ministers will be the ministers. The clans and parties will only be constraints on the wise king. They have no value at all. Why should he be obsessed with this?"

"He must be worried that if he loses the Spring and Autumn Society, you will think that he is not up to the task, so he swallowed this bitter fruit with his nose pinched. It is obvious that he has built up the power with his own hands, but he has nurtured so many people who are traitors. He did not learn the true meaning of Longwu, but only learned a little bit of Yizong's fur."

Shang Sigu stopped talking suddenly when he reached this point.

After hesitating for a moment, he tentatively said, "Prime Minister, I think he might have done it on purpose."

"You mean to say that since Yan Dongqing chose to speed up the situation and try to fish in troubled waters, he simply took advantage of the situation and pretended to protect the Spring and Autumn Society, but in fact angered Li Jun and made him go on a killing spree."

Zhang Fengyue said calmly: "As long as this turmoil gets out of control, the outsiders who are watching from the sidelines will take advantage of the situation and completely ruin the situation. Then he can take the opportunity to take off the skin of Ruxu and put on Zongheng's clothes?"

Shang Sigu nodded heavily.

"If he dares to do so, it won't be a waste of my teachings over the years. I'm just afraid that he still only wants to grab the small handful of immediate benefits, and doesn't even have the courage to take a gamble like Yan Dongqing."

"I am just guessing, but his every move so far has proven that he is not willing to follow your teachings and be a king."

Shang Sigu reminded with a hint of worry: "The Zhu family has the gene of Zongheng flowing in their blood, and troubled times are exactly what Zongheng needs the most. Mountains and rivers are sinking, and heroes are vying for supremacy. This has given Zongheng II the opportunity to appear."

"Eight out of ten things in life are not satisfactory. If he really doesn't want to listen, then let him be. I have done this and I can repay the friendship I have received from the Zhu family over the years. As long as the people of the world can no longer suffer from the sequence, it doesn't matter whether this empire is named Zhu or some other name."

Zhang Fengyue suddenly turned around and looked back, smiling at Shang Sigu who had a serious expression.

"Si Gu, if one day I ask you to give up the Huangliang Law Realm and the Great Ming Law, and change from being the leader of the legal order to an ordinary judicial clerk, would you be willing?"

"Sir, I want to ask, on that day, will there still be laws in this world?"

“Etiquette educates people’s minds, and laws regulate people’s behavior. Without etiquette and laws, people are no different from animals.”

"Then let me ask again, after the sequence is severed, will people be willing to follow the law?"

"At that time, everyone should desire and respect the law. The nobility and humbleness of people will no longer be determined by order, but by the law."

"In that case, why not be a small judicial clerk? Si Gu is happy with it!"

"What a sweet treat!"

Zhang Fengyue let out a hearty and heroic laugh, with a longing light in his eyes.

"Then I will simply become a teacher in this land. The tuition fee will be a bag of newly harvested barley and a pot of sweet butter tea. That will be enough."

The old man looked at Shang Sigu with a smile and said jokingly, "If I am wronged by someone unfairly, you have to stand up for me."

"Of course. But if you commit a crime, I will definitely not show mercy!"

Shang Sigu spoke righteously with a solemn expression.

"Hahahahaha, no need, no need. I will definitely teach honestly and be a decent person."

Zhang Fengyue raised his hand to wipe away the tears of laughter from the corners of his eyes, turned around and looked up at the towering mountain road that seemed to reach straight into the sky.

“The long and arduous road ahead is just like the dangerous obstacles I have encountered in my life. Now it is finally coming to an end.” As soon as he finished speaking, the old man threw away the wooden stick in his hand, lifted up his front lapel, and strode forward.

Shang Sigu did not continue to follow, but stared at the thin figure that could no longer support his clothes.

There is no bamboo stick in his hand, no straw shoes on his feet, but he is still as light as the breeze and faster than a horse!

At the end of the long mountain road, Concubine Yuan Ming, dressed in white, was already waiting there.

In the vast mountaintop square behind her, there are countless prayer flags and white Hadas, and surrounded by a small temple with golden bricks and red tiles.

"Tianque Yuan Mingfei greets the Prime Minister."

"Don't be so formal. Just call me uncle like Li Jun did."

Zhang Fengyue put his hands behind his back, looked around, smiled and nodded.

His movements and demeanor were exactly like that of a kind elder visiting the home of his successful junior.

"Oh, I almost forgot to ask you."

Zhang Fengyue seemed to suddenly remember the purpose of his visit and looked at Yuan Mingfei with a smile.

"If you achieve the complete second level of the Buddha's Sequence, can you leave here?"

Yuan Mingfei's eyes widened slightly: "What did you say?"

"What did you say?!"

Zhu Pingxu listened to the angry shout and repeated his previous words.

"Li Jun went into Northern Zhili alone and killed Wei Sheng of the Spring and Autumn Society in Daming Prefecture."

"Well, it seems that our warning to the East Court not only did not make him retreat, but instead completely angered him?"

Emperor Jiaqi had a gloomy look on his face, and his handsome eyebrows were tightly twisted together.

"He will definitely continue to attack Zhao Ke and the others next. If we can't stop Li Jun, once Zhao Ke and Zhou Changji are killed, the morale of the Spring and Autumn Society will be dispersed."

"How to stop?"

Jia Qi raised his eyebrows: "Should I send you to fight Li Jun in person? Or should I bring them to this palace? Are you going to reveal all my cards just for a few traitors who have turned against me?"

"Li Jun is not easy to deal with, but Mo Xu's East Branch."

Before Zhu Pingxu could finish his words, Jia Qi interrupted him.

"That was the last shackle on him. The previous test had already touched his bottom line. Wei Sheng's death was his counterattack. So unless you are absolutely sure, you can't easily take action against the East Courtyard."

Zhu Pingxu frowned slightly. Jia Qi's hesitation and concerns at this moment made him feel a little irritated, and there was also a hint of dissatisfaction hidden deep inside.

Jia Qi did not notice anything unusual about him. He paced back and forth, his steps were very heavy, and his steps made muffled sounds on the golden bricks paved in the hall.

"There is another piece of news. Yan Dongqing appeared in Jiangxi Province."

Jia Qi paused and looked over coldly: "What do you want to say?"

"I want to ask whether we should inform Li Jun of this news. From what we know about him, the person he wants to kill the most right now is Yan Dongqing. Once he learns that Yan Dongqing is involved with Longhu Mountain, Li Jun will most likely turn around and head straight for Jiangxi."

Jiaqi frowned, seeming to be thinking about the possibility.

But after a little hesitation, he shook his head.

"We all know this news. Do you think Zhang Fengyue doesn't know about it? Given his current relationship with Li Jun, it's impossible for him to suppress this news."

"Your Majesty, do you mean that Li Jun already knows?"

Zhu Pingxu asked in confusion: "Why didn't he go find Yan Dongqing, the culprit, but instead went after a few irrelevant Chunqiu Society members?"

Jia Qi stared at the other person with a cold gaze and said nothing.

He also wanted to know why, but he also couldn't see clearly that Li Jun was a tyrannical warrior who didn't know how to weigh the pros and cons and only knew about human relationships and grudges.

Could it be that Li Jun did this just to fulfill his boring and cruel words about eradicating the Chunqiu Society?
Or is there something special about Duxing Wuxu that makes him kill people for more than just venting his anger?
"When the world was divided, the late emperor and his men should have found a way to completely lock down this sequence at all costs. Now there wouldn't be a monster that is promoted so quickly and has such ferocious combat power to block my way."

Jiaqi was secretly resentful in his heart, and his situation was extremely awkward at the moment.

On the one hand, he had to hold his nose and pretend that he could not see through the disguise of Zhao Ke and others, and on the other hand, he had to find a way to protect them, so as to prevent the middle and high-level leaders of the entire Spring and Autumn Association from being wiped out and falling apart.

You have to know that these young generations of Confucian scholars do not have the arduous character and indomitable tenacity of the previous generation.

When they are full of passion, they can die bravely for their so-called ideals.

But if all the leaders die, they will immediately become a mob with selfish motives.

Without the Spring and Autumn Society, it would not be so easy for me to continue to influence the Confucian order.

This was a favor Zhang Fengyue was giving to the Zhu family. If he couldn't grasp it, the execution of the subsequent plan would become more difficult.

After much thought, there are only two choices now: either give up the Spring and Autumn Association, or find a way to solve the problem of Li Jun.

Jiaqi was caught between the two, unable to move and in a dilemma.

"The Chunqiu Association cannot just give up like this, we must at least keep one Zhou Changji!"

Jiaqi was silent for a long time, and suddenly burst into a low roar.

Like an angry tiger cub, the roar echoed in the vast and empty palace.

"Yan Dongqing, Yan Dongqing, if I don't grind you to dust, how can I dispel the hatred in my heart?!"

Zhu Pingxu, who was standing aside with his hands behind his back, nodded slightly, but his eyes when he looked at Jiaqi were particularly complicated.

In his opinion, Zhang Fengyue's sudden departure from Northern Zhili made the Zhu family pay back all the favors that had accumulated over the years, which made Jiaqi's mentality unbalanced.

It was like a dormant dragon that had been suppressed for many years, suddenly getting a chance to rise. But facing the vast world ahead, it was at a loss for a moment, and fell into confusion, not knowing what to do.

Zhu Pingxu could understand all of this, and the Zhu family could also bear some losses.

But at this moment, a voice of self-questioning sounded uncontrollably in his heart.

"Are you them? Or just you?"

Zhu Pingxu, who was once extremely sure about the answer to this question, couldn't help but fall into doubt.

(End of this chapter)