Food Fairy Lord

Chapter 542 Old House
The fire gradually dimmed, and the small building became increasingly quiet. Xu Chuo withdrew his feet and wrapped his cloak twice.

In fact, this logic is not difficult to understand. Xu Xiang wants to oppose the idea that "nature" is completely under the rule of heaven, but he cannot say that "nature" is generated by man himself. That would be too rebellious and too difficult to explain.

At this time, he thought of Mr. Li Mingqiu's "On Virtue". He obviously wanted to replace the innate nature with acquired virtue to avoid this problem. But as the woman annotated the four words "also should return to nature", it is obvious that if you want to solve this problem, you can't avoid it. If you avoid it, it will not be considered a solution to the problem.

And Xu Xiang did have a stroke of genius here, he traced it back to another "heaven".

"Then is this "Theory of Two Heavens"... correct?" Pei Ye looked at the woman with a little confusion.

Xu Chuo also looked at the boy's face quietly and smiled: "What do you think?"

"I... don't know." Pei Ye said truthfully.

The boy had indeed never thought about this kind of question so deeply.

In fact, he had never questioned the original theory of heaven. The sword had always been in his hand, and he was used to becoming stronger every day. Problems like Li Du's could not be solved today, but could be solved tomorrow; if they could not be solved this year, they could be solved next year.

But if he realized that himself, all the power he possessed, Li Du, the noble family, Qilin, the Tang Dynasty... everything was actually operating under the same set of rules...

He was interrupted by the woman's laughter: "If you don't know, then you ask me. Naturally, I don't know either. Do you think I'm the Queen Mother?"

"..." Pei Ye breathed a sigh of relief and smiled, "Even Minister Yuan calls you Shaojun, maybe it's true."

He was actually testing her identity.

Xu Chuo rolled his eyes slightly, was quiet for a while, and said: "Pei Ye, we are not really in Tianliyuan. The path that Prime Minister Xu has found with so much difficulty is very solid and suitable. I hope it is right, I believe it is right, and I also demand it to be right."

"..."

"Of course it is right - shouldn't talent be considered when selecting an official? Should people of the Five Surnames view others as insects? Is it the mission of the Tang Dynasty to support these parasites forever?" Xu Chuo tilted his head and looked at him with sharp eyes. "Just tell me, Pei Ye, whether it is right or wrong, true words or dreams, no matter how the world moves, it will not affect me from doing what I want to do."

"..." Pei Ye had never been so quickly cleared of confusion. In fact, at that moment, he subconsciously began to miss Miss Ming. He wanted to bring this question to her and listen to her answer without thinking. Just like the gentle words in the autumn rain on the cliff that day, Miss Ming could always carefully clear away the thick fog in his heart.

But Miss Xu's sharp eyes seemed to be equally effective.

"Then what should we do?" Pei Ye frowned. At this moment, he remembered that the woman wanted to send him to Tianliyuan. "What should I do there?"

"First, I think you understand these things, understand how the situation in this Emperor's City changes, and see what the current state of mind of the Tang Dynasty is. Zhu Zhezi doesn't have much time left, and you will benefit from staying with him for a while." Xu Chuo said, "Second... I hope you can be another 'evidence' for us."

"Evidence?"

"Because you are the sharp sword that the 'Er Tian Lun' has always lacked." Xu Chuo looked at him, "At least that's what I claim to everyone."

"They say that human nature is born from Haotian, so the 'sword', which is something that belongs completely to humans, must also be under the control of Haotian." Xu Chuo said calmly, "Then tell them whether your sword is within the rules of heaven's will."

"..."

Pei Ye added two more fires, and the small stove gradually became more prosperous.

"It is true that the proposal of 'The Theory of Two Heavens' is a brilliant idea, but its revision and verification still require a lot of work, which Zhu Zhezi will complete. Now there is still some work to be done. There are also some struggles in the academy and the court, and we will try to end them in the next few days. When things are just about right, things will probably have escalated to the point where they are irreconcilable." Xu Chuo said, "When they are irreconcilable, we have to distinguish right from wrong, and that's when you will use it. As for what to do specifically..."

She smiled and said, "Of course it's something you are good at."

Pei Ye looked at her suspiciously.

"We'll know when the time comes." Xu Chuo stood up and glanced at him. "By the way, after the night before, you've become quite famous in the upper echelons of Shenjing. Many people are interested in you, but I've already told you that you're Xu Chuo's man. If you receive any random olive branches in the next two days, ignore them."

"...?"

She put on her warm cloak and said, "Let's go."

"...Hey, don't. Didn't you say you would find a book recommendation for me?" Pei Ye was at a loss, "You haven't given it to me yet."

"Oh, it should be in the bookcases on the west wall. Look for it yourself. I can't remember where it is exactly."

"Then you, help me find it." Pei Ye was stunned. "This is my first time here."

"…I'm going to do something else first, okay?"

"..."

"I will live in this yard for the next few days. You can choose any room to live in later. The bedding and daily necessities are all prepared." The woman pushed the door open with a creak and stood in front of the steps. "After you find the letter of recommendation, go to Fang Jidao to discuss it. Remember to come back in the evening. You and I haven't started writing the second chapter of "The Swing Rope". It will be submitted in seven days."

"..."

Then she left and closed the door with a creaky sound.

There was only one young man left in the library.

"Pei Ye, you seemed a little clingy just now." Black Cat said on his shoulder.

Pei Ye glanced at it coldly.

He walked around the small building aimlessly for a few times, and gradually realized that this was indeed the place where the old prime minister used to sit and sleep all year round.

There is a table edge that has been worn smooth by people who write at their desks, a small couch for taking naps, a blackout curtain hanging from the window next to it, and on the bookshelf, the books that are easily accessible are all well-read.

After looking around for a few times, Pei Ye understood what Xu Chuo meant by the bookshelf on the west wall. Among these bookshelves, the desk was closest to it. There were not only books on it, but also a large number of letters, official documents, manuscripts, scrolls, etc., which were obviously used most frequently by the former prime minister.

Pei Ye turned over little by little from left to right and from bottom to top. This was indeed a search without any clues. There was really everything inside.

There is a note to myself: "The sole of my shoe is torn. Water got into it during the rain last night. Remember to buy a new one."

But he had apparently forgotten, and a few days later he added: "It's raining again, remember to buy new ones." There was a note to the servant: "Aunt Qi, on the way out of court last night, I saw loofahs being sold cheaply opposite Wuyun Tower. I was a little greedy, so buy some and stir-fry them."

Or: "Don't water the floor after sweeping it, as the books will get damp easily." Then he added: "Some of the books are very expensive and cannot be bought."

There were also articles or memorials written to political enemies: "... a rat without manners, a stupid old donkey, but because he wears the surname of Bao, he is able to ride a horse."

Or the chilling fragments of words: "I have long known that ghosts live in the human world, and they speak the words of gods one by one."

……

Pei Ye flipped through the pages quietly, and gradually he found out some time trends and began to see some papers covered with dense and mysterious handwriting. He tried to read a few lines and suddenly realized that these manuscripts were the beginning of the "Two Heavens Theory".

This former prime minister must have been a serious and meticulous person in his work. The date was marked under each page of the draft, and the quoted words from the scriptures were also noted with the book, edition, and page from which they were quoted... Pei Ye didn't know how much value these yellowed words had, but he carefully put them back to their original places.

Pei Ye still couldn't understand most of the traces of his thoughts, but he could see that he kept hitting a wall - trying in different directions again and again, and ending up at a dead end again and again. Pei Ye also saw the sentence "Heaven has given me virtue", and it seems that this former prime minister also tried to take a detour by using "virtue", but finally turned back and faced it bravely.

In fact, these sentences are as vivid as the notes above. Pei Ye can sometimes see his inspiration and rapid writing, sometimes he can see his intermittent deep thinking, and sometimes he can see some traces of losing control of his emotions... It's just that all the paper and ink have turned yellow and old over time - it is obvious that the paper used by this former prime minister was neither "Meiqing paper" nor "Xi ink".

Pei Ye lowered his eyes and flipped through the manuscript in his hand. He did not see anything like a letter, but he saw four small sentences on the edge of the last page. They looked like idle writing in the dead of night. It was difficult to bring any emotion today when time has passed and things have changed.

It seems to be the two lines of poetry that the ancients wrote about Jingwei:
The mountain rocks are held in the mouth, and the sea waves are flat in the heart.

It is difficult to see the small achievements, and life is already insignificant.

Pei Ye was stunned for a moment, then put the stack of manuscripts back. There were many of these things at the back, so he skipped them one by one and looked for a grid that was more like a letter.

It is indeed admirable to want to reconsider the principles of heaven. It requires extremely genius ideas, extremely brave courage to decide, and extremely extraordinary perseverance and talent to promote. As Xu Chuo said, the former prime minister was truly alone at that time, surrounded by darkness without a single helper. He was shaky in the court facing endless criticisms, and after returning, he sat under the candlelight in the study and searched for the truth he needed bit by bit.

He finally found it.

The more Pei Ye thought about it, the more he felt that... this was truly a genius and ingenious method.

This theory of "two heavens" cleverly breaks down the enemy he wants to deal with, which is obviously not the entire Tang Dynasty, not the emperor, not the Qilin, and not even the will of heaven itself.

They will create resistance due to inertia, but the only ones who will actually suffer under this set of natural law are the five clans that dominate the Tang Dynasty.

Many people... including Pei Ye himself, actually did not correctly analyze the relationship between them.

When he hated Li Du and the aristocratic families, it was hard for him to have any good feelings towards the man on the dragon throne and the legendary Qilin behind him. "Kill all the evil ones" is the creed of the heroes, and "kill them all at once" is also a very satisfying idea, but it is a kind of irresponsible and lazy justice.

The former prime minister's understanding was obviously much clearer - Qilin and the emperor did not benefit from the oppression of the people.

No matter what one thinks of this system of governing the country by immortal power, both of them are actually responsible for the entire Tang Dynasty. The emperor does not need to say much, and Qilin is just a connection between the Tang Dynasty and Haotian, and has no inclination itself.

It is indeed the unshakable support of the Five Surnames, but it is not the instigator of the Five Surnames' wanton actions.

On the contrary, it was precisely because of the abuse of the Five Surnames that the fortunes of the Tang Dynasty declined. After a long time, Qilin had to instruct the emperor to issue an edict in order to reorganize the country.

Isn't it a good thing for the Tang Dynasty that talented people from the lower classes come up to replace the good-for-nothings of the Five Surnames? If this theory is true, it will save the Tang Dynasty from danger; if this theory is true, it will also make the Five Surnames restrain themselves and their fortunes will also improve.

Therefore, Xu Xiang did not offend Qilin and the saint.

Man is created by heaven, which is the principle passed down from generation to generation. All theories of Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism, etc. are built on it. How many people will be touched when you want to declare the independence of man from the will of heaven?
Therefore, Xu Xiang brought up the concept of "the heaven of life and death".

It is not man against heaven, but heaven against heaven.

Unable to fight against the aristocratic families from below, he had the audacity to modify the highest level of heaven's will, and this modification bypassed the Emperor Qilin and cleverly pointed directly to the aristocratic families below... Pei Ye had already felt what kind of exquisite talent a mortal whose power and authority all came from the Tang Dynasty could display in the face of this sky covering him.

Then he suddenly thought of a question.

——If Prime Minister Xu was so alone and in such a desperate situation at that time, then how did he become the prime minister?

This question stunned him for a moment, but he was ignorant of the current political situation in Shenjing, let alone the past, so he decided to keep it in his heart and leave it to Xu Chuo.

Then he carefully searched the letter column in front of him, and it was not too difficult to find the letter of recommendation that Xu Chuo mentioned.

It was properly stored in a small wooden box, so Pei Ye no longer had to go through the torture of searching for case files.

Upon opening it, I found that the so-called letter of recommendation was written to the former prime minister.

"Brother Zhou Qiong, respectfully ask how you are:

Now I know that the case in which your brother was involved has been sentenced, and he was punished by being torn apart by a chariot in front of thousands of people.

I couldn't bear to see my brother suffer such humiliation. I was in a coma for a while and couldn't pick up the pen.

I have read "The Theory of Two Heavens" and I will verify its truth and falsehood. I will return this letter to you in front of your grave.

I want to hate ghosts and monsters, but I am confused about the dynasties of the past and present. The heaven and earth are ruthless, and demons fight people like thunder and rain. I don’t know whether what we are fighting against is the evil enemy in front of us, or the vast heaven and earth.

Brother, if you have someone to entrust to you, you can keep this letter and place it beside me to study and continue the path. I believe there must be an answer in the dark, and I must spend my whole life seeking it.

God’s will is always difficult to question; life and death are trivial matters.

The elder brother left first, and the younger brother arrived later.

I am sad and my writing is messy, please forgive me.

I bow my head in esteem for this.”

(End of this chapter)