The Path of the Sage

Chapter 179: The Left Prime Minister's Intentions (Part 3)

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Fang Yun didn't expect Nunu to know that the fur was related to the Holy Ruins, so he asked, "Do you know the use of the fur?"

The little fox immediately shook his head.

Fang Yun pretended to look at it angrily, as if blaming it for not telling the truth.

Nunu immediately became anxious and jumped into Fang Yun's arms, rubbing her head against Fang Yun's face, whimpering and acting coquettishly, full of grievance.

"Okay, I'm not angry anymore, but do you know or not? I have to get an answer." Fang Yun said.

Nunu looked up at Fang Yun, nodded, and then shook his head.

"Forget it, you probably only have a half-understanding. If you were that capable, you wouldn't have escaped to my car that day." Fang Yun shook his head.

Nunu immediately nodded vigorously, laughed happily, and then put his little head on Fang Yun’s chest.

It was late at night. Fang Yun sent Nunu to its room and returned to his study. He was about to study the art of playing the zither in depth when County Bo Guanyin received a letter from Feng Yuanjun via a wild goose.

"I just came out of the Holy Temple. Where are you in Yinlong Pavilion?"

Fang Yun replied: "I have returned home and would like to ask you for help regarding the injection of talent. If you are busy, we can talk tomorrow."

"I have something important to discuss with you as well. I'll be at your house right now."

It was now the middle of the night, and Fang Yun didn't want the knocking on the door to disturb his family, so he walked to the front door, opened it, stood outside the door, and looked up at the silent starry sky.

Fang Yun suddenly realized that he had been too busy these days and had not looked at the night sky carefully for a long time.

It is already the second half of the night, the Qixi moon is no longer in the sky, and the night is dominated by stars.

Wenquxing is still as bright as ever. Seeing this, Fang Yun feels particularly warm and peaceful in his heart. It is because of Wenquxing that the power of the human race in Shengyuan Continent will become stronger and stronger.

Fang Yun looked at Altair and Vega again and felt that the two stars were different from before.

Looking at the starry sky, Fang Yun unconsciously began to recall the past with a faint smile on his lips.

The dust in my heart seems to be gradually dissipating.

After a while, Fang Yun came back to his senses and looked at the approaching carriage.

The car stopped and Feng Yuanjun got out.

Fang Yun said: "Let's go to the study and talk."

Feng Yuanjun nodded.

Two people entered the study and closed the door.

As soon as Feng Yuanjun sat down, he said, "I, Prefect Dong, and several officials from Jiangzhou were in the Holy Temple talking with the Queen Mother."

"What did you say?" Fang Yun asked.

Feng Yuanjun said: "The Queen Mother has tried her best to help you fight for your title to the fifth rank of Zhou Bo, but she was stopped by the Left Prime Minister. Last time, the Queen Mother almost forced the Left Prime Minister to turn against her for you, and this time she is really powerless."

"What is Zuo Xiang's reason?" Fang Yun said.

Feng Yuanjun's eyes were filled with anger, and he said, "The Left Prime Minister said that you provoked the Jiao King and caused the flooding of Jiangzhou. Even if you kill the Jiao King and defeat the poet, it can only be considered as a balance. As for the Jiao King's dragon horns, skin, and dragon scales, they should all be confiscated by the state treasury! He even wanted to send someone to take away your Jiao King's dragon horns!"

"This old bastard!" Fang Yun didn't expect that the Left Prime Minister could be so shameless.

"He is afraid that you will use the dragon horn to exchange for cultural treasures or other treasures, which will give you stronger self-protection power! He is even more afraid that you will use the dragon horn to buy people's hearts. Many Hanlin scholars and university scholars are in urgent need of magical objects that can sharpen their tongues and swords. If you want to exchange, they will definitely remember this favor. The left prime minister is afraid of this, so he wants to take away the dragon horn."

"What did the Queen Mother say?"

"The Queen Mother has no choice but to give up your promotion, but she also won't let the Left Prime Minister take your dragon horn!" After saying this, Feng Yuanjun was not only not happy, but even more worried.

Fang Yun frowned and said, "Is this a ploy by the Left Prime Minister to force the Queen Mother to give up, or does he really want to take my dragon horn?"

"At first I thought he was just bluffing, but I found out on the way here that it was not the case. Zuo Xiang is much more ruthless than you can imagine. You are too young to know how he dealt with all those who went against him in the past few years. Think about it, he just suppressed you before, more like forcing you to give in and admit your mistakes. But this time he suddenly wanted to take your dragon horn. Even if it was just a bluff, it gave me a wake-up call."

"What did you think of?" Fang Yun also guessed something.

"Before long, I'm afraid that the Left Prime Minister will personally take action against you. This is not terrible. The terrible thing is that this means that the person from the Miscellaneous Family has determined his attitude towards you. He probably completely regards you as an obstacle on the road to the Saint Path!"

"He is a half-saint, can't he have room for a scholar like me?" Fang Yun felt full of injustice.

Feng Yuanjun's eyes darkened, and he said, "The problem is, he may tolerate you, but the people who support and help you are all pro-war factions against the barbarians. If he tolerates you, it means he has given up fighting against other semi-saints, and it means he has given up his own path. Therefore, he must get rid of you as an obstacle!"

"He won't do it himself, right?" Fang Yun said.

"Of course, he won't even persuade you directly. With just a hint, his disciples will know that he is dissatisfied with you. If a semi-saint is dissatisfied with a scholar, what else does he need to say? So after discussing with Prefect Dong, I guessed that the man might have leaked something, so the left prime minister said that he wanted to take your dragon horn."

"What is the relationship between Zuo Xiang and that person?"

Feng Yuanjun sighed and said, "In fact, there is no need to hide it from you. We guessed it last year. He started to make plans after he became a semi-saint. We suspect that he dare not interfere with the four major countries, and he has people in almost all the other five countries. Zuo Xiang should be his pawn in Jingguo a long time ago, even since Zuo Xiang's grandfather. If the late emperor was still here, we could work together to take down Zuo Xiang, but now, Zuo Xiang has grown strong and we are really powerless."

"Even though Prime Minister Wen is a great scholar, he can't do that?"

"The Minister of Literature is a gentleman, he does things uprightly. Whether it is in terms of learning or literary warfare, he is better than the Minister of Left. But in terms of political tactics, ten Ministers of Literature are no match for the Minister of Left. It's not that the Minister of Literature doesn't understand, but that even if he understands, he can't do it, while the Minister of Left is unscrupulous."

“Why is no one taking care of that person?”

"In the battle of the Two Realms Mountain, except for Lord Dongsheng who was in charge of the Ten Kingdoms and was not injured, all other semi-saints were more or less injured. Why did the Northern Saint sneak into the demon world to stir up trouble? It was nothing more than delaying the demon world's time so that the saints could recover from their injuries. Because the saints have discovered that as the talent of the Shengyuan Continent has become more and more abundant, more and more geniuses have emerged in the past hundred years. As long as it is delayed for another two hundred years, the strength of the human race will definitely be able to go further. Yi Zhishi, Shi Jun, Li Wenying, Yan Yukong, Meng Lintang, etc., and of course you, are all the hope of our human race."

Fang Yun was very helpless. He said, "I see. Then I can infer that it was because the battle of the Two Realms Mountain was too tragic that the Dragon Saint was able to resist it in the end, so the plan of the barbarian alliance moved a few semi-saints. Although they did not support it, they secretly acquiesced. Because if it fails, the loss will not be greater than the battle of the Two Realms Mountain, but if it succeeds, it will bring the human race to a peak that even Confucius Saint cannot achieve."

Feng Yuanjun said, "Yes, that's the truth. Fortunately, Lord Dongsheng is very firm. He has always advocated war, but he has never fallen out with that person. So even though our army was defeated last year due to the obstruction of the Left Prime Minister, Lord Dongsheng only found an opportunity to punish the two Hanlins, and did not punish the Left Prime Minister."

"Then why did he kill a great scholar from Qing State a few days ago? It is said that the great scholar was a disciple of that person. This is more radical than killing the left prime minister. It is almost like blaming that person."

Feng Yuanjun smiled and said, "To use your words, it is the person in charge who is confused. Lord Dong Sheng suddenly did this not for others, but for you. You are worthy of him coming forward to kill a great scholar."

"Oh. I really don't want to be drawn into this vortex."

"You are not involved in this vortex, but you stirred it with your own hands! Therefore, you must not take any chances."

Fang Yun said: "What a pity, why didn't Lord Dongsheng just kill Zuo Xiang directly. Then I wouldn't have to worry so much."

"Lord Dongsheng has already punished Zuo Xiang for his mistakes last year, so it is inconvenient to punish him again. And from beginning to end, Zuo Xiang has never taken the initiative to harm you. As long as he reveals any evidence, Lord Dongsheng will bring him to justice. Of course, Lord Dongsheng may have deeper considerations."

"Forget it. After all, the Saint has too many things to consider. It is better to rely on oneself than on others. As long as the Eastern Saint is here, the Left Prime Minister will not dare to harm me openly. So, does the court mean that my merits and demerits will be offset this time?"

"Yes, but your achievements in the Holy Academy will naturally increase, so you don't have to worry about it." said Feng Yuanjun.

"Okay, then I understand. Thank the Queen Mother for me." Fang Yun said.

"This time, the conversation with the empress dowager was mainly about this matter. The empress dowager also asked about Yang Yuhuan's recent situation. She didn't say anything else, but she seemed to feel very guilty towards you in her words. But she is the empress dowager of a country after all, so it is not appropriate for her to say it all in front of us." Feng Yuanjun said.

"Alas, I understand the Queen Mother. She is an orphan and a widow, so her life is much harder than ours."

"The Queen Mother must be pleased that you think so. Well, let's talk about you."

Fang Yun said, "Fifty years ago, unless there were special circumstances, talent injection had to be registered with the Academy of Literature. Although not many people followed this rule and the Academy of Literature would not conduct strict inspections, I cannot be careless about this matter. I have a zither, and in addition to helping me register it, I would also like to ask you to help me find a Jinshi who is about to die to inject talent into it and create a talent treasure."

"This... Think about it, the price of buying a talented zither that will lose its talent in 20 to 30 years is only a quarter of the price of asking a Jinshi to inject talent into it. Your rank is rising so fast, I'm afraid you can become a Jinshi in two years. By then, you can find a way to exchange it for a university scholar's zither, which will save you a lot." Feng Yuanjun said.

"I understand this, but that piano has been infused with talent three times before, and can withstand a fourth infusion of talent."

"After the injection, it becomes a quadruple Wenbaoqin? Then its power is even greater than that of an ordinary Hanlin Wenbaoqin!" Feng Yuanjun laughed in surprise, "Fang Zhenguo, you are so lucky to be able to exchange for such a treasure. You exchanged it for a small piece of dragon horn? It can't be half of it?"

"It cost twenty-six thousand taels." Fang Yun said.

"You're kidding!" Feng Yuanjun smiled, and the subtext was obviously saying not to treat people as fools.

"Really? The appraiser made a mistake and I got a bargain. Wenyouxuan will deliver the piano to me tomorrow." Fang Yun said.

“Did you really spend twenty-six thousand taels of silver to buy it? You… are really good at everything. You even know how to identify ancient zithers! It’s like you picked up half of a dragon horn for free!” Feng Yuanjun shook his head and smiled, feeling very envious.

"Yes, it is indeed lucky. Now we are only one step away from becoming a Jinshi." Fang Yun said.

.(To be continued..)