Seeking Truth with a Sword

In the Honglu Temple, the Honglu Temple Minister and Honglu Temple Deputy Minister were each holding a copy of a Natural Science journal, exchanging puzzled looks.

"...Should we notify the Academic Palace?"

The Honglu Temple Deputy Minister frowned and said, "The envoys from Taihao Mountain are particularly dissatisfied with this issue of the journal. Some even openly accused Li Ang's work as the act of a demon."

The new issue of the Natural Science journal caused an uproar, as expected. The journal, especially the main publication, represented the attitude of the Academic Palace to some extent. And when the author of the paper was that Li Ang, the situation became even more complicated.

The Honglu Temple Minister closed his eyes, contemplating for a long moment before slowly saying, "Has the Faith Cultivation Cardinal who led the team said anything?"

The Honglu Temple Deputy Minister shook his head. "Not yet. After arriving in Chang'an, the Faith Cultivation Cardinal has been in seclusion and does not go out. His daily life is also looked after by his own people from Taihao Mountain."

The Honglu Temple Minister said, "Since the Faith Cultivation Cardinal has not spoken, there's no need to notify the Academic Palace."

The Honglu Temple Deputy Minister hesitated, then stopped short. "But..."

The Honglu Temple Minister gave him a sideways glance and said indifferently, "You're worried that Taihao Mountain will be angry about this?"

The Honglu Temple Deputy Minister pursed his lips. "Yes. Not just Taihao Mountain, but this paper could also cause shock among our allies, leading to inquiries from countries like Nanzhou and West Jing."

After all, Taihao Mountain is the center of the Haotian Taoist Sect, and most of the known civilized world follows the enlightenment and guidance of the Daoist teachings. Even putting aside their identities as Haotian believers, from the perspective of Yu Country's interests, offending Taihao Mountain was far from a wise move.

"Ah, it's become a habit," the Honglu Temple Minister sighed. "Starting with Su Zi disrespecting Haotian, except for a very few, most Mountain Masters of the Academic Palace through the generations haven't been very devout. And the actions of the Academic Palace cultivators paving roads, bridging rivers, blasting mountains, filling channels, and studying Natural Science have occasionally brought dissatisfaction from Taihao Mountain. After so many years, one or two more incidents don't make a difference. Could it be that they would send troops to attack Yu Country over a mere paper?"

He paused, shook his head helplessly, and said, "What is Mou Zhengqing, the supervisor of the Academic Palace, doing? When the Academic Palace is about to release something so sensitive, he doesn't come to inform us, leaving us in the Honglu Temple in an awkward position both inside and outside. Forget it, I'll go to the palace to report to His Majesty."

The elderly Honglu Temple Minister stood up, rubbed his aching back, and took another look at the gleaming name of Li Ang on the paper, his thoughts complex.

Such a time of troubles.

「 」

Li Ang, in the back mountains of the Academic Palace, was unaware of the impact his paper had caused. Since the Mountain Master had approved, the opinions of other unrelated people were not so important. Right now, his energy was all used for... making up classes.

The changes in the concepts of marriage and wedding rites after the losses in the Jin Dynasty.

Former Sui's ethnic policy towards the Turkic.

The principles of dealing with those outside of Yu Law.

Low-level demons transformed into common livestock.

...

To manufacture Penicillin, Li Ang had taken such a long leave of absence that the backlog of schoolwork had piled up to a daunting level— He Fanshuang was a frequent visitor to help with lessons, but the homework and classroom notes still had to be written by himself.

There was an odd sense that the holiday was ending and that he was frantically catching up on homework the day before school started.

Li Ang shook his head, threw the messy thoughts to the back of his mind, and continued to control two pens with telekinesis, writing fervently.

"I'm here—"

The voice of Li Leqing came from outside the house. She entered the room wearing a warm and thick mink fur scarf, carrying a small, exquisite brazier in her hands, and hopped in. The maid following her brought in a series of meal boxes filled with fresh, warm dishes.

Li Leqing took out the dishes from the meal boxes and placed them on the table in front of Li Ang, casually asking, "Where's Cui Qiao?"

"She's taking a nap upstairs."

Li Ang put down the brush with his mind, raised his finger, and said, "Five."

Li Leqing tilted her head, puzzled by his words.

"Four, three, two,"

Li Ang counted down to himself, and just as he finished saying "one," THUMP, THUMP, THUMP, the sound of footsteps came from the stairs—Chai Chai, having smelled the aroma of the food, rubbed her sleepy eyes and walked down, holding the stair railing. Apart from not floating, she was just like the cats and dogs in old cartoons that were lured away by the scent of food.

Li Ang and Li Leqing exchanged a knowing smile, seamlessly cleared the table, and set the tableware. "Let's eat."

The three of them sat together for lunch, chatting about recent events. The most talked-about topic in Chang'an was naturally the foreign delegations. In addition to the big countries like Zhou Kingdom and Jing Country, some smaller nations that were about to pay tribute to Yu Country also arrived in Chang'an recently.

"For these small countries, paying tribute is definitely a surefire profit-making venture," Li Leqing said casually. "Although the journey is long and arduous, every time they come to Chang'an, they are awarded gold and silver, silk, and other generous gifts. Their rulers are even granted titles by the Yu Country, receiving protection in their homeland. And... the delegations from these small countries have other ways to make money."

"Make money?" Chai Chai asked curiously. "How? Sneaking some local specialties into the carriage and selling them in Chang'an?"

"Yes, that's one method," Li Leqing nodded and said with a little embarrassment. "Besides that, there's... participating in Cuju."

"Huh?" Chai Chai and Li Ang, who never cared about sports, said in surprise at the same time.

"Those Cuju competitions organized by the merchants," Li Leqing explained. "Cuju has a long history. To maintain its appeal, these merchants rack their brains. First, they created something like an eastern division, with separate eastern and western divisions, and then they introduced a league system. A few years ago, they even came up with the Chang'an Cup—which is a competition involving teams from several countries. Because the rewards are very generous, teams from Nanzhou and West Jing, among other nations, come to participate. And those small countries will also try their luck, bringing their team members while paying their tribute to avoid making the trip back and forth. If they can win one or two matches, that's a return worth tens of thousands of strings of coins. In the past few years of the Chang'an Cup, Yu Country had been winning. But this year, for some unknown reason, their team did not do well and suffered one defeat after another at the hands of smaller countries, eventually losing to Nanzhou. Many fans who paid high prices for tickets have been blocking the merchant's doors where the Cuju league is held, demanding refunds for several days."

...What's this familiar yet strange déjà vu about?

Li Ang had an odd expression on his face.

"Oh right, there's one more thing." Li Leqing took out two red invitations from her handbag. "My fourth brother is getting married in a few months, I'll give you the invitations first."

"Prince Yue is getting married?" Li Ang took the invitation with surprise, casually flipping through it and discovering that Prince Yue, Li Hui's fiancée, was the daughter of the Minister of the Ministry of Industry. "Why so sudden?"

"Well, someone from the court is pushing for it." Li Leqing pursed her lips, not wanting to delve into this matter, and quickly left after finishing the meal.

Chai Chai watched her leaving figure and flipped through the beautifully luxurious invitation, wondering, "Why is Leqing acting strange? Isn't she very close to her fourth brother? Why does she seem so unhappy?"

"It's probably because of the struggle for succession. Prince Yue, Li Hui, is especially beloved by His Majesty and has stayed in Chang'an, despite coming of age, instead of going to his fief. It's likely that some ministers in the court who support the Crown Prince are feeling uneasy and want to use the marriage to completely expel Prince Yue from Chang'an."

Li Ang shook his head. He had no interest in meddling in the princes' struggles for succession and was helpless regarding Li Leqing's troubles.

There is only one throne, and inevitably someone will be eliminated.

「 」

Getting married...

In the Minister's Mansion of the Ministry of Industry, Yan Xuan, the legitimate daughter of the Minister and the future Princess Yue, sat in front of the dressing table, staring at her reflection and zoning out. The wedding date was neither far nor near, and a cluster of maids and female officials were bustling around. Some were decorating the room, some preparing the dowry, others arranging gifts for the guests. Amidst the noise, Yan Xuan's heart felt especially empty.

Indeed, Prince Yue, Li Hui, was an excellent marriage prospect—noble by birth, intelligent by nature, and exceptionally talented. During the few informal meetings they had, she could also tell that his personality was kind and not arrogant or overbearing due to his status as a prince. As for his looks... Li Hui, born to Empress Xue, could be said to be a handsome, slightly chubby fellow.

All these positive traits made it hard for Yan Xuan to be dissatisfied with this marriage, except for one thing—

The struggle for succession.

She subconsciously clenched her fists. In Chang'an City, who wouldn't know that His Majesty had a special fondness, one could even say doting, for his fourth son? Previously, during the Crown Prince selection, His Majesty's stance was also quite ambiguous, indecisive between his first legitimate son, Li Si, and the fourth, Li Hui. His attitude influenced a host of ministers, leading them to court Li Hui openly or in secret, in hopes of reaping the rewards of backing a future emperor.

Her own father was among them.

However, the struggle for succession was dangerously fraught; the slightest misstep could lead to the destruction of one's entire family.

Yan Xuan sat in front of the dressing table but felt like a chess piece caught in a vortex, powerless and unable to breathe.

"Third Miss, the hot water for your bath is ready." A maid bent down and whispered in her ear.

"Alright, I'll be there."

Yan Xuan snapped back to reality, got up, left the bedroom, and entered the bathroom. With the help of the maid, she undressed and stepped into the bath with a heavy heart, pondering her future. She didn't notice the fleeting gleam in the eyes of the maid behind her, nor the pale pink smoke that dissolved and diffused into the water beneath the rose petals floating on the surface.