The saint sat in the middle, Su Yun and Zuo Songyan stood and sat beside the bed, Xue Qingfu sat up from the bed, and Doctor Dong came forward to examine him.
Su Yun looked at Doctor Dong and suddenly laughed, "If the Saint had not encountered the Taoist Saint, Doctor Dong would probably be dead, right?"
Xue Qingfu said: "Although the God King wanted to kill him, he was also injured, so he just took him down. After I knew that you were the master of Tongtian Pavilion, I ordered someone to inform the God King not to kill Doctor Dong."
He was a little weak, and smiled: "I wanted to save my face, but I didn't expect that I would save my life. If the Divine King really killed Doctor Dong, I would die because of my serious injuries and no one would extend my life."
Su Yun nodded and said, "Saint, please have mercy. Can you let Doctor Dong come back after your injuries have improved?"
Xue Qingfu said solemnly: "Doctor Dong saved my life, Qingfu dare not force you to stay."
Su Yun stood up: "Don't disturb the saint's rest and recuperation."
Zuo Songyan also stood up and said, "You drove Hun Tuo Khan back and kept Shuobei safe, so I did not break my promise and brought Chaotianque to you."
His mind moved slightly, and a huge tower facing the sky suddenly appeared, bursting the ward where Xue Qingfu was.
Zuo Songyan was very proud. He followed Su Yun out of the Saint Residence and said without looking back: "Saint Xue, if you want to be a saint, then be a saint for the rest of your life! If you change, don't blame me for rebelling against you!"
After leaving the Sage's Residence, he showed a look of pain, and it was obvious that he was reluctant to leave Chaotianque.
Su Yun asked, "Puye, I am not an imperial envoy. Can I still study in Wenchang Academy?"
The two walked in the Saint Town. There was no one around. At this moment, the residents of the town were commanding various armies. Zuo Songyan shook his head and said, "Who said you are not an envoy? In a few days, Emperor Ping will definitely grant you the status of an envoy! Just wait, the decree to summon Saint Xue back to the East Capital and the decree to appoint you as an envoy and summon you to the East Capital will definitely arrive in Shuofang at the same time!"
Su Yun was stunned, somewhat puzzled: "Is it because I made great contributions in this turmoil?"
Zuo Songyan was stunned, then burst into laughter, laughing so hard that he couldn't breathe. He slipped and nearly fell into the river. He quickly held onto an old willow tree, but he couldn't help laughing so hard that tears came out of his eyes.
Su Yun waited quietly.
Zuo Songyan took a few breaths, finally held back his laughter, and wiped away his tears: "Su Shizi, do you think you have made a great contribution?"
Without waiting for Su Yun to answer, he said, "Indeed, you have made great contributions. You overturned the original chess game, turned over the table, and forced the seven great families to rebel in advance. If it weren't for your actions, the major forces in Shuofang would have continued to mediate for a few days, waiting until the situation deteriorated and the robbery monster assimilated more people, causing mountains of corpses and seas of blood, and then they would take action. You saved countless people in Shuobei! But you have no credit! Not a single credit!"
Su Yun was even more confused.
"Except for us, who knows about your achievements? Who knows that it was you who sealed Shuofang City and saved the people? Who knows that it was you who attracted the Jiehui monsters and killed them?"
Zuo Songyan shook his head and said, "No one knows! Others only know that it was Saint Xue who eliminated the seven great families, put down the rebellion, and even intercepted Hun Tuo Khan, defeating hundreds of thousands of grassland troops and forcing them to retreat back to the grassland!"
He stood by the river, staring at the water, and said sarcastically: "In this war, the ones who made contributions are the Shuofang Marquis, the Ye family, the Peng family, the Li family and other noble families! Even if the Shuofang Marquis and his men were defeated and lost their armor, they still made contributions, because they are noble families and local tyrants! The emperor has to use them to rule Shuofang! Besides, I am the boss after all, and the emperor has to win me over, so he has to give me some credit. You came from the countryside, and you made great contributions, but when it comes to rewarding merits, you have nothing to contribute!"
Su Yun stood beside him, plucked off a few willow leaves, and threw them into the river one by one, saying, "But just now the Minister of Justice said that the Emperor would appoint me as an imperial envoy and would also summon me to the Eastern Capital."
Zuo Songyan kicked a small stone into the river and laughed, "You are from the countryside, so you have no share of the credit. Even Ye Luo has made more contributions than you. But you are amazing. You are the leader of Tongtian Pavilion, and the emperor has to win you over. So even if you did nothing in this disaster, the emperor will give you a great credit."
The mockery on his face was even more intense: "Your real contribution is even greater than that of Saint Xue. However, because you are a country bumpkin, when it comes to rewarding merits, you have no merit at all. But your other identity is the Master of Tongtian Pavilion, so when it comes to rewarding merits, the emperor still has to reward you. Don't you think it's absurd?"
Su Yun looked at the ripples on the river surface. After a moment, he suddenly asked, "Is this how aristocratic families rule the world?"
"This is the world ruled by aristocratic families!"
Although Zuo Songyan was short, standing next to Su Yun, he was half a head shorter than him, but he stood straight with a breathtaking aura: "I just can't stand this kind of aristocratic family ruling the world, but I can't do anything about it."
He sighed and whispered, "I hope that the poor can rise, and everyone can make the best use of their talents and learn things that are suitable for them and useful things from school. I hope that everyone can make the best use of their talents after leaving school, and can put what they have learned into practice. I also hope that everyone can be rewarded according to their merits, and those with talent and knowledge will be given important positions. When promoting, we don't have to look at his family background or the face of the powerful. But..."
He fell silent, turned around and walked away, a sigh could be heard from afar: "I can't do anything about it—"
"I have all the strength and skills, but I can't do anything about it!" Zuo Songyan roared like an old wolf, full of helplessness.
Su Yun watched him go away.
The next morning, Su Yun, Zuo Songyan and others went to practice for Qiu Shuijing. They sent Qiu Shuijing to the post station. The post station was severely damaged in the battle, but people cleared the rubble and barely allowed a Zhulong to pass.
"Stay."
Qiu Shuijing turned around and said, "I went against the emperor's order this time and turned back, making the emperor wait for me for half a month. However, the emperor needs me, so he won't blame me. You don't need to worry about my safety. This time when I go to the East Capital, I will learn from Saint Xue and start to exert my power."
Zuo Songyan spat and sneered: "Next time you look in the mirror, you will find that you have finally become the person you hate the most."
Qiu Shuijing laughed loudly, turned around and walked to the front of the Candle Dragon Chariot, then suddenly stopped, turned his head and said, "Master Su, if I were you, I would not go to the Eastern Capital."
Su Yun bowed and said, "Please teach me, sir."
"I don't dare."
Qiu Shuijing turned around, held his elbows, and said seriously: "You and I almost had the fate of master and disciple. Although you are now the Pavilion Master, I am a few years older than you. I took advantage of my seniority and treated you as my disciple and said a few words from the bottom of my heart."
The Zhulong chariot was about to set sail. The old soldier at the post station had already untied Zhulong's whiskers from the wooden stakes. Zhulong shook his huge head.
Qiu Shuijing cut to the chase, saying, "This time I go to the Eastern Capital, while the Emperor has no choice but to use me, I will seize power and make drastic changes to the world. Saint Xue is going to the Eastern Capital with great momentum, and he will definitely manipulate power. He has been planning for decades, and this trip to the Eastern Capital will be the time for him to be canonized! The Emperor is greedy for power and wants to live forever. On the one hand, he supports me to fight against Saint Xue, and on the other hand, he wants to suppress Saint Xue and me. Therefore, the struggle in the Eastern Capital is bound to be extremely fierce and dangerous!"
The Zhulong roared loudly, and the old soldiers at the post station kept urging the passengers to get on the bus.
Qiu Shuijing climbed up the rope ladder and said to Su Yun below: "It's extremely dangerous to go to Dongdu. Once you leave Shuofang, you will enter a dangerous place! I can't bear to see you die in Dongdu! You have a better future, you don't need to waste your life in Dongdu!"
Su Yun followed the Zhulong chariot and asked loudly, "Then why did you go to Dongdu to die?"
Qiu Shuijing was stunned for a moment, then laughed out loud: "The world! The world is justice! Where justice lies, we have to go!"
"Gee—"
Zhulong let out a long dragon roar, speeding up faster and faster, rushing out of the post station and heading out of the city.
"I named myself Shuijing. My conduct and work are like water and mirror. But when I met you, it was like I met a mirror that could reflect my whole life!"
Qiu Shuijing waved from afar and said loudly: "Now that we are parting, I don't know when we will meet again. I will give you a mirror, and I hope that after you see this mirror, you will remember our friendship!"
Su Yun stopped and a stream of light flew towards him.
He raised his hand to grab it, and the light stopped. It was a glass mirror. There was a scene in the mirror, a full moon hanging in the sky.
Zuo Songyan came to his side, glanced at the mirror, and said with a smile: "It seems that Master Su really wants to take him as a teacher, but it's a pity that Shui Jing is very rigid and does things in a methodical manner. He feels that his status and position are not as good as the master of Tongtian Pavilion, so he dare not accept you as a disciple."
Su Yun shook his head and said, "I don't think so. I thought that Mr. Shui Jing didn't dare to get involved with me because this trip was too dangerous, for fear of getting me involved."
Zuo Songyan thought about it and said with a smile: "It seems to make some sense."
The two walked side by side, walked out of the Shuofang Post Station, and waited for the Fushan sedan chair. Su Yun pondered for a moment and asked, "Left Sergeant, I have little knowledge, can you please teach me?"
Zuo Songyan waved to a chariot carrying a mountain, and before he could ask his question, he said, "Go to Dongdu."
Su Yun was stunned for a moment, and asked, "Can Zuo Pushe explain the reason?"
The Fushan sedan chair stopped and the two men climbed up to the small building. Upon seeing this, several guests on the second floor were horrified and hurried downstairs.
The two sat down.
Zuo Songyan said: "Dongdu is a place where good and bad people mix together. It is the power center of Yuan Shuo. Any man with ambition must go to Dongdu. And you need to go there too. If you don't go to Dongdu, you won't see the prosperity of the world, the corruption of the court, and the people of integrity and ambition fighting for the fate of the country. So, if I were you, I would go to Dongdu!"
Su Yun was in high spirits.
Zuo Songyan looked out the window with a deep gaze, and said, "But Dongdu is indeed dangerous. I am worried that you will be worn down by Dongdu and become like the big shots in Dongdu, turning into a round shit egg."
Su Yun was dumbfounded, not knowing what he was describing.
Zuo Songyan continued, "The longer you stay in Dongdu, the more tactful you become. I prefer you to be who you are now, rather than another slippery Xue Qingfu. It's up to you to decide whether you want to go to Dongdu."
Su Yun fell silent, still unable to make a decision.
Over the next few days, Su Yun's injuries gradually healed. He would occasionally take out the mirror that Qiu Shuijing had given him to check, and found that there was nothing special about the mirror, except that the moon in the mirror was just like the real moon, rising and setting every day.
Because of the turmoil, there were many injuries in the city, so Su Yun and Chi Xiaoyao opened the Xinglin Herbal Medicine Shop together. Su Yun assisted Chi Xiaoyao and helped the lower-class people treat their injuries.
However, some strange symptoms appeared in the city. Some people seemed to be infected with the calamity ash. Bone texture appeared on the surface of their skin, and they kept coughing when walking. They actually had a tendency to transform into calamity ash monsters.
Chi Xiaoyao stepped up the diagnosis and treatment, and also went to the academy to invite teachers and scholars from the medical school to treat together, but the disease could not be cured. Instead, the disease gradually spread in the city.
That day, Su Yun was busy running around when he suddenly heard a voice saying, "Is Doctor Dong here?"
When Su Yun heard this voice, he was surprised and delighted, and said with a smile: "Master Xianyun, you are finally back! Zuo Pushe ordered people to look for you everywhere, and now they have found you..."
He turned around and saw Taoist Xianyun, looking exhausted, carrying a sickly old Taoist priest on his back.
Su Yun was surprised and quickly went forward to fetch a soft stool. Taoist Xianyun placed the old Taoist on the stool and asked, "Is Doctor Dong not here?"
"In the Saint's Residence, treating Saint Xue's injuries."
Su Yun looked the old Taoist up and down, and the old Taoist laughed and said, "You haven't learned the third eye, so you can't tell what kind of injury I have suffered."
Zhaizhu: You haven't learned the third eye, so you can't tell what kind of injury I have. It is the monthly tickets, the recommendations, and your love that can heal my injuries!