The Word of Heaven

Chapter 235: Starting from the Summer Festival
Midsummer is coming to an end, but autumn has not yet arrived.

Yunmeng Lake is far from the most scenic time of the year, so there are naturally few boats on the water, and it feels quite desolate, just like the vastness of the Chu sky.

A small boat floats on the water, cutting through the mirror-like surface and drifting into the depths.

Gu Zhuo lay on the boat with his eyes closed as if he was asleep.

How could he not know that the whole world was looking for him, but he really didn't care much because he had never been alone.

Nothing has ever severed its friendship with Him.

In the afternoon sun, the sound could still be heard in the cool breeze passing over the water. It was the joy of meeting again after nearly two years, and the long-awaited reunion was hard to conceal.

"You're awake. Come to think of it, why are you alone this time?"

"Where's that girl you were on the same boat with two years ago?"

"Don't make noise, don't make noise, don't make noise! ​​Let me take credit first. I'm telling you, ever since you said that the wind I blew was too exaggerated last time, I've been studying and practicing hard for the past two years. I promise that this time I'll make you feel comfortable!"

"...What, you want me to blow your ears?"

"Well, it's not impossible."

"There is one more thing... We all feel the need to sincerely apologize to you. If we had tried a little harder two years ago, your eldest disciple might not have died. I'm sorry."

At this point, everything was silent.

Gu Zhuo opened his eyes, looked up at the clear sky, shook his head and said, "You have never owed me anything. Since you have never owed me anything, there is no reason to apologize for this. I should be the one thanking you."

They are all true.

Ever since he saw the light again in this life, all things in the world have always stood on his side, and their stance has never wavered. They are his most loyal allies, but there is no interest connection between them.

At least now Gu Zhuo can't see where the benefits lie.

Therefore, at certain times he even thought that he had become the way of heaven.

If it weren't for the way of heaven, why would it have come to this?
He didn't say these words out loud, he just thought about them in his mind and forgot them in an instant because they were meaningless.

At this moment, a voice suddenly fell from the sky.

"Seven miles away, someone is talking about your name on a big ship. It seems to be someone from the Wan family."

Gu Zhuo looked normal and hummed.

In recent days, he was almost going to collapse after hearing his own name, so how could he feel anything extra?

The Wan family is indeed a huge company and plays an important role in the southeast, but compared with the Cihang Temple, it is really nothing.

What's more, he is no longer the same person he was two years ago.

The true meaning of the frosty sky of all things that he obtained from Bai Nanming almost perfectly solved the dilemma brought about by the balance of heaven and earth. Now he no longer has to stand still, and becoming powerful has become a matter of course.

If he could go back to last spring, the vice-president of Changzhou Academy would never have died at the hands of Jin Cancan.

Wan Shouyi, the head of the Wan family, is certainly stronger than Jin Cancan. Not only has he achieved Immaculate Realm, he is also just a hair's breadth away from breaking through. But after all, he is only an Immaculate Realm person, so there is no possibility of killing him.

"But... there seems to be an old woman scolding you."

"The scolding was a bit harsh."

“It’s so infuriating!”

"Would you like to hear it?"

The voices continued to ring in his ears, and Gu Zhuo was speechless. He thought to himself, are you guys trying to take this opportunity to scold me?

He sighed and said, "Is there any important news in the old woman's words?"

"No."

"Then why should I listen?" Gu Zhuo was very puzzled.

"nothing."

Whether it's as light as the sound of the wind, as rippling as the sound of water, or even as the sunshine in the sky, they all give the same explanation.

"The main thing is that we are a little worried about your current state. It always feels like you are going to leave at any moment, so we want to find something for you to do, whether it's beating someone up or something else, as long as you don't continue like this."

"You have been lying in this boat for nearly three days."

"If someone doesn't know you, they would think you are a corpse."

A long silence.

I don’t know how much time had passed, but Gu Zhuo sat up with a somewhat stiff movement.

His untidy black hair was scattered on his shoulders, a faint blue stubble had already appeared on his chin, and his clothes did not look expensive or exquisite enough to match their price. The man's face reflected in the water was no longer as clean as before, and his eyes were haggard.

He thought for a moment, then lowered his head and scooped up some lake water to wash his cheeks, then used his sleeves to wipe off the remaining water stains.

"Then let's go and have a look."

……

……

In the autumn of the year before last, due to the Yunmengze Incident, the Wan family's ancestral home was broken into by assassins from Wuyou Mountain. They were forced to give up huge benefits, which was their greatest shame in recent years.

Therefore, since that incident, the Wan family not only spent a huge amount of money to renovate the ancestral home formation, but also secretly built a huge ship. It looks no different from an ordinary cruise ship, but in fact, the hull is engraved with various formations. Except for the lack of war weapons, it is no different from the warships of the Qin army. Whenever the family has an important meeting, it will be held in a certain place depending on the number of participants.

Just like many major events in this world, the fewer words there are, the more serious the problem is, and the fewer people there are to discuss, the bigger the issue will naturally be.

Wan Shouyi, as the patriarch of the Wan family, sat in the main seat as usual, but his shabby, stingy and lonely look became even stronger.

Especially at this moment when there are constant quarrels on the field.

"How on earth could things be so disgusting?!"

Old Lady Wan didn't care about her appearance at all. She slammed the table with her right hand and cursed angrily, "It's not even two hundred years. Even an old man like me who lived longer than those years is still alive. The Wan family hasn't even been passed down for five generations. How dare they let us give up our wealth and glory and risk our lives to gamble with them?!"

The more she thought about it, the angrier she became, spitting out her mouth: "Back then, my Wan family almost died for the sake of the Great Qin Empire and the Emperor, and I finally gave birth to all of you. After the war, I even took the initiative to resign from my military power. I went through so much hardship to get everything I have today..."

Someone couldn't help but interrupt and whispered, "It is precisely because we have made great contributions and our words can be heard by His Majesty the Emperor that those people insisted that we stand up."

Hearing these words, Old Lady Wan became even more furious and almost blacked out.

Her eyes were empty and lifeless, and she once again murmured the same curse words she had used not long ago.

"Gu Zhuo is truly a bastard. The Changzhou Academy has been passed down for a thousand years without defeat, but when he came, the two deans before and after him died. Their deaths were undignified. One was left to rot in the wilderness, and the other was disemboweled. Even the most horrible person is not as scary as him."

"Now even the Princess Royal Highness has died because of this man, causing my Wan family to fall into this situation. How could a person be so cruel?"

"If I find him, I will torture him until his body is covered with sores, his mouth and tongue are covered with sores, he will be in pain day and night, and he will want to die but cannot..."

Listening to the old woman's mumbling, the people from the Wan family present became more and more upset.

Wan Shouyi sighed in his heart. He felt that he had finally rushed back from the capital of the gods, and it was really disgusting to hear such dirty talk. He shook his head and interrupted, saying, "Let's talk about business."

"Business? What business can we talk about?"

"Isn't the situation clear enough now? What else is there to discuss? They just want my Wan family to step forward and petition His Majesty to re-establish the rules of the Summer Festival. What is the Summer Festival? It is the merits that His Majesty has left in the history books, and it is the foundation that His Majesty has left for the prosperity of the Qin Dynasty!"

Old Lady Wan suddenly raised her voice and asked in a shrill roar, "It would be fine if it works, but what if it doesn't? They may not be in trouble, they can talk to His Majesty the Emperor, but those of us who are pushed out will definitely have our families destroyed!"

No one responded because in their opinion, it was just a bunch of nonsense.

Just as what was said, the advice the other party gave to the Wan family was very clear, which was to propose to His Majesty the Emperor to amend the rules of the Summer Festival.

Even the reasons have been thought of for them.

The summer festival is an act for the benefit of all people in the world. However, over the past hundred years, there have been many biased and improper summer festivals, which has caused people great concern. After careful consideration, it is necessary to carry out reforms in order to benefit future generations.

As for how to reform and revitalize the summer festival, the best way is naturally to let everyone in the world participate, so that the best solution can be found.

In other words, this is actually to ensure that the summer festival is no longer a matter for the Qin Dynasty alone.

From the content of the exam, to the age range of the candidates, to the number of places allocated to each sect, and to the people who will be supervising during the exam...all of them can be treated fairly and justly.

The problem is that this is definitely not what His Majesty the Emperor wants to see.

Those who invited the Wan family to stand out were very clear about this, so they needed the Wan family to be a pawn to test the strength of the Qin Dynasty and whether His Majesty the Emperor was as powerful as before.

As for why the problem fell on the aristocratic families, the reason is not complicated. Of course, it is because they are weak.

——During the great chaos over a hundred years ago, before the decisive battle between Taoism and the imperial court in Xuandu, the first preparation they made was to take action against the aristocratic families in various places to prevent any unforeseen events from happening.

"Then just refuse."

Wan Shouyi's voice sounded again, full of fatigue: "Continue to maintain your current position and pretend that nothing has happened. This letter was not sent from the Buddhist temple."

The room was dead silent.

Even old lady Wan stopped talking.

There were two letters sent to the Wan family from a temple, both of which were burned after being read.

One of the letters talked about the summer festival, and the other one was about the Queen.

To be precise, it revealed what she was doing.

——Have difficulty with the aristocratic families.

It was indeed the Queen who did it.

But everyone knows that this is what His Majesty the Emperor meant.

There is no monarch in this world who likes to see the growth of aristocratic families.

Just like no sect leader would like to find out that those sitting in key positions in the sect all have the same surname after he comes out of seclusion.

This is the difficulty of this decision.

When you travel with the sect, you will know the difference between life and death immediately.

Be loyal to the court and survive.

No matter how you look at it, these two paths have nothing to do with light and the future is bleak.

On the boat, Gu Zhuo listened to the sound coming from the wind and suddenly thought of Xie Yinglian.

If he guessed correctly, the Xie family of Yinping must be in the same situation.

(End of this chapter)