Ming Dynasty: Domination of the World from the Imperial Examination

Chapter 394 Persecutory Paranoia?
half an hour.

Xia Zhibai was slightly surprised to hear that Liu Sanwu had returned.

He was not surprised that Liu Sanwu dared to come back, but was surprised at how long Liu Sanwu had been away this time. He thought that Liu Sanwu would only need to rest for ten days or so due to his illness, but it turned out that this rest lasted for more than a month.

He notified the clerk and asked him to invite Liu Sanwu.

Main hall.

Liu Sanwu sat in his seat, looking a little bored. Although he had repeated these things countless times, he still felt a little unfamiliar when he returned. He took out an ancient book and a blank piece of paper, ground some ink, and prepared to read.

At this moment.

A clerk came up to Liu Sanwu and said, "Master Liu, Master Xia wants to see you."

As soon as the words came out, the surroundings became quiet.

Liu Sanwu even felt that countless eyes were looking at him.

Even those who hadn't paid much attention to me when I arrived before me now turned their eyes over to me.

Liu Sanwu looked stern and a little ugly, and said in a cold voice: "What do you want, Xia Zhibai? I am not involved in the compilation of the book, but I am still a Hanlin scholar. As a Hanlin scholar, can't I come to the Hanlin Academy? Can't I read my book?"

"No matter how small Xia Zhibai's heart is, is it really so small that it can't accommodate a desk?"

Liu Sanwu glared at him, extremely angry.

Scholars can be killed but not humiliated.

Liu Sanwu also has a temper.

He had been tolerant of Xia Zhibai for a long time and even stayed at home for more than a month just to try his best to eliminate the impact of the last time so that when he came back, he would not be targeted too much by Xia Zhibai. As a result, even after doing so much, Xia Zhibai still refused to let him go.

How could Xia Zhibai be so narrow-minded?

The clerk looked at Liu Sanwu with a relaxed expression, but with a bit of contempt and disdain in his eyes.

The era of Liu Sanwu has passed.

In the past, Liu Sanwu had an extraordinary status and was appreciated by His Majesty, and some of his words could easily reach the ears of the emperor. In the entire Hanlin Academy, there were only a handful of people whose status and position could exceed his, and most of them were just in the Hanlin Academy for a transition period. As a result, Hanlin scholars were replaced one after another, but Liu Sanwu was the only one who remained steadfast.

However, this transcendent status collapsed with the arrival of Xia Zhibai.

Others would respect and fear him, but not Xia Zhibai.

Right is right, wrong is wrong.

Many of Liu Sanwu's views could not stand up to scrutiny. With no one supporting him and no one willing to speak for him, Liu Sanwu's image in the Hanlin Academy continued to decline. The last time Liu Sanwu went to His Majesty to impeach him, not only was it fruitless, he was also directly kicked out of the book editing team by Xia Zhibai. Liu Sanwu's status began to plummet.

Now anyone with a discerning eye can see that Liu Sanwu is a thing of the past.

The new upstart in the Hanlin Academy is Xia Zhibai.

The clerk still had a faint smile on his face, not acting so perfunctory, but this look seemed somewhat disrespectful and malicious, and he said: "Master Liu, you are really wronging Master Xia, and I am just following orders. I really don't know why Master Xia is looking for you. Please don't embarrass me."

The clerk bowed slightly to Liu Sanwu.

Liu Sanwu's face turned pale. He looked at the clerk anxiously and anxiously, then looked around in panic. He forced himself to calm down and said in a cold voice, "I know. Go back and tell Xia Zhibai that I will be there soon. But you should also tell Xia Zhibai that I am old and weak, but I am not to the point where I can be bullied."

"Even a rabbit will bite when it's angry!"

Liu Sanwu's tone was a little harsh, both a warning and a reminder. The clerk nodded gently.

Liu Sanwu said, "You go back first and wait for me to tidy up the desk, then come over."

The clerk hesitated for a moment, but finally nodded.

I'll go back and report first.

After the clerk left, Liu Sanwu's face was as gloomy as water, and the hand holding the pen was shaking constantly. Finally, he let out a long sigh. He was still unwilling to leave the Hanlin Academy like this, but he couldn't understand why Xia Zhibai was still holding on to him even though he had already surrendered. Was he really going to kill him?

What's more between them?!

this moment.

Liu Sanwu felt that time passed very quickly.

It would normally take less than a few dozen breaths to tidy up the desk, but it took him nearly half a quarter of an hour. After all the books were neatly placed, he looked back a few times reluctantly, reached out and pressed down the tilted corners of the pages, and then reluctantly walked towards Xia Zhibai's study.

"Liu Sanwu meets Scholar Xia."

A heavy and aggrieved voice rang out in a quiet room.

Liu Sanwu lowered his head, and he seemed to have lost all spirit, as if his soul had been taken away from him. He was listless.

Next to Xia Zhibai was an ancient bronze lamp, the wick inside was burning, making a hissing sound. Xia Zhibai raised his head and looked at Liu Sanwu, who was a little humble below, but was stunned for a moment. He quickly stood up, helped Liu Sanwu up, and said, "Master Liu, what are you doing?"

"You have been in the Imperial Academy for many years and are highly respected. How can I, a junior, accept such a great gift from you?"

"Master Liu, please get up quickly. This is really embarrassing for the young man."

Xia Zhibai reached out and helped Liu Sanwu up.

Liu Sanwu had a cold face and was not impressed by Xia Zhibai's behavior. Xia Zhibai just wanted to take the opportunity to humiliate him.

Seeing this, Xia Zhibai knew that Liu Sanwu had misunderstood, and hurriedly smiled and said, "Master Liu, you may have misunderstood. I have no ill will towards you. I invited you here this time not to make things difficult for you or humiliate you. I, Xia Zhibai, would not bother to do such things."

"I need your help with something."

"Besides, in the entire Hanlin Academy, I'm afraid you're the only one who can do this."

Hearing this, Liu Sanwu's expression eased slightly, but still not much. He didn't believe Xia Zhibai's nonsense. There were so many scholars in the Hanlin Academy, how could he have to do anything? It was clear that Xia Zhibai was deliberately humiliating him and trying to give him a humiliating job.

Seeing that Liu Sanwu was so wary of him, Xia Zhibai didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

He touched his nose, not knowing what the problem was.

He did have some conflicts with Liu Sanwu, but these conflicts were more about conflicts in book editing concepts, not daily conflicts. He rarely brought these conflicts into their daily interactions. However, it might be that Liu Sanwu thought too much, or was influenced by others, and mistakenly thought that he was prejudiced against him.

Xia Zhibai said earnestly: "Master Liu, you really misunderstood me."

"I, Xia Zhibai, have always been upright. How could I do such shady and sinister things?"

"I asked you to come here this time because I really have something important to tell you."

"There is absolutely no malice in it."

(End of this chapter)