The immortal of the Tang Dynasty, but the game starts at Xuanwu Gate?

Wanqiu County, Huaiyang Commandery, Chenzhou, is now a small county town, but its history is anything but ordinary.

The name Wanqiu itself carries an ancient atmosphere. It first appeared in the Book of Songs, Chen Feng. People explained that its terrain features are high on all sides and low in the center, hence the name Wanqiu.

It resembles a natural basin or altar, and there is indeed such a landform in Wanqiu County, located three miles south of Wanqiu County. It was once a famous place of entertainment and sacrifice in the State of Chen.

In addition, this is also the ancient capital of Fuxi, the place where Fuxi and Shennong established their capitals.

In ancient times, Fuxi led his tribe to migrate to this place, settled on this fertile land with high hills and rivers, established the first capital, and here invented nets, drew the Eight Trigrams, established surnames, and established marriage customs, thus ushering in the dawn of Chinese civilization.

After Emperor Yan Shennong succeeded to the throne, he also made this place his capital and renamed it "Chen".

But those days are far too long ago for Wanqiu County. Today, Wanqiu County is just an ordinary little county town.

Today, in this ordinary small county town, Magistrate Pei Shouzhou, along with all the officials of Wanqiu County, walked three miles outside the county seat, seemingly to welcome someone.

Pei Shouzhou's display of great importance puzzled County Magistrate Xu Zhiren: "Your Excellency, which important figure are we welcoming today? Is it worth all this fuss?"

No joke, today almost the entire county government came out; everyone was there, and they even came three miles outside the city to greet us.

The scale of the operation was unprecedented.

I remember that in the eighth year of the Wude era, when the local governor came to inspect, Pei Shouzhou did not show such importance to him.

"What an important person..." Pei Shouzhou sighed. He had been in office in Wanqiu County for many years and had met Chen Huai'an back then.

Who could have imagined that the young man who struggled to make ends meet and sought knowledge everywhere would become a powerful figure whose every move could shake the entire Tang Dynasty?

Pei Shouzhou was very fortunate that, although he hadn't given Chen Huai'an any help back then, he hadn't made things difficult for him either; otherwise, he would probably be sweating profusely today.

"A very important person..." Xu Zhiren swallowed hard. "How important?"

"Almost at the top," Pei Shouzhou sighed softly, "and he's a big shot who came from our Wanqiu County."

"Huh?" Xu Zhiren was stunned.

A prominent figure who came from their Wanqiu County?

When did Wanqiu County produce such a person who's almost reached the top...?

and many more!

Xu Zhiren was startled, a possibility occurred to him, and he said tremblingly, "Sir, you mean... that person from Chen Family Village?"

Pei Shouzhou did not answer, but not answering was the best answer.

The two made no attempt to hide their conversation, and many people nearby overheard it, their hearts pounding and sweating profusely.

In Chenjiazhuang Village, Wanqiu County, only one great figure has ever emerged: Chen Huai'an, who is now at the height of his power as Minister of Revenue and Minister of Works!

Back then, after learning that the current Minister of Works and Minister of Revenue was named Chen Huai'an, they joked that the scholar who used to travel everywhere to study actually shared the same name as the current Minister.

Later, Li Shimin said in the court gazette that Chen Huai'an was born in Wanqiu County, Chenzhou, and they then realized that they did not have the same name.

That boy from back then has reached a point where they can't even look up to him.

"He...he's back?" Xu Zhiren was both surprised and delighted. He was surprised because the news was such a shock to him, but delighted because Minister Chen's triumphant return was a good thing for all of them.

When Chen Huai'an took the imperial examination, they did not make things difficult for him and even gave him some help, leaving a deep impression on them.

Because there are different kinds of poor families. Poor families mostly refer to families that were once glorious but are now in decline.

And what about Chen Huai'an?

That was truly the lowest rung of society, who only embarked on the path of imperial examinations with the help of his parents, sister, the entire village, and the local storyteller.

It's hard for them not to be impressed by it.

Now that Chen Huai'an has returned, it is clearly a triumphant homecoming. Given his current status, even a slight gesture from him would be a tremendous opportunity for Wanqiu County and for them.

Pei Shouzhou was about to say something when he suddenly noticed a caravan of carriages approaching from afar, and he immediately became serious.

He quickly ordered everyone to get ready, and then immediately led his men to meet them.

Chen Huai'an lifted the carriage curtain and saw Pei Shouzhuo, a hint of disbelief flashing in his eyes.

When Pei Shouzhou saw Chen Huai'an's face, he recognized him at a glance. It was Chen Huai'an, exactly the same as before.

"Your humble servant Pei Shouzhou greets Your Excellency the Minister," Pei Shouzhou said respectfully, leading the county officials.

"No need for formalities," Chen Huai'an said gently. "I remember you. If you hadn't given me that opportunity, I wouldn't even have made it onto the path of becoming a provincial graduate."

"You flatter me, sir." Pei Shouzhou felt relieved and dared not respond. "I was merely performing my duties and did not make things difficult for you."

"Not making things difficult is already the greatest help you can give." Chen Huai'an shook his head and didn't say anything more.

"You all go back. There's no need for such a big fuss. I need to go back to my hometown first. If there are any problems, talk to me later."

"Yes, Your Excellency." Pei Shouzhou dared not refuse and quickly agreed.

To his delight, Chen Huai'an's attitude was much better than he had imagined, and he even remembered what had happened back then.

Even though he had gone to such lengths today, he felt it was all worthwhile to have only exchanged a few words with this Minister.

"Uncle, have we arrived?"

Xiao He was still sleepy and a little confused.

"Almost there, we're almost there." Chen Huai'an felt a little nervous and even more uneasy.

It's hard to imagine that such emotions would still appear in him.

Xiao He said weakly, "You've been saying this for over twenty days now, and every time you say it'll be soon, but after all this time, we still haven't seen it."

"Xiao He, we're almost there. We've reached Wanqiu County," Feng Qiao'er comforted her, though she looked tired.

She was also very tired after traveling for more than twenty days.

"Really?" Xiaohe perked up immediately, craning her neck to look outside. "Where is it?"

Looking at the place that felt both familiar and somewhat unfamiliar, Chen Huai'an murmured, "Almost there, just seven more miles north and we'll reach Chen Family Village."

Chen Sujin clenched her hands nervously. She was about to see her former fellow villagers, and she couldn't calm down.

The seven-mile journey wasn't long, and with Wang Bai's deliberate urging, they soon arrived at Chenjiazhuang.

A peasant woman in her thirties, who seemed to have just returned from the county town, was somewhat frightened by the large commotion.

The convoy in front of them had more than twenty guards, each carrying a knife. The carriage in front did not look like an ordinary carriage, and the people sitting in it were likely high-ranking officials and nobles.

She was just a peasant woman; she had never seen anything like this before. For a moment, she didn't know whether to leave or turn back.

Chen Sujin eagerly stepped off the carriage, turned around and saw her. Her eyes were filled with tears, and she exclaimed in surprise, "Sister Shanxing!"

Chen Shanxing was taken aback. She carefully examined Chen Sujin's face, which gradually overlapped with the somewhat blurry face in her memory. She hesitated and said, "Xiu...Xiu-ya?"

Chen Sujin: "..."

"Hahahaha!"

"..."