Cui Shi used to be the Renhuang of the Central Secretariat and worked in the palace. He was also an assistant minister in the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Personnel. A few years after the new Emperor ascended the throne, he was impeached for something and returned to the Fuchun River to work as a fisherman.
From this simple introduction, this man who looked like an ordinary rich man was just a retired senior official of the imperial court. He was not worth much attention. However, Ning Que knew very well that when Cui Shi was in the palace, it was when Li Yu was learning to read. In other words, this man was the Princess' Qimeng teacher. Of course, more importantly, he was the clan leader of the Cui family, so he was a bigwig who must be taken seriously.
Although he did not stand up to greet him, he deliberately pretended to be polite. That was why he did not understand what Cui Shi had said. He could not understand why such an important person would want to please him and try to make him happy. Once there was a problem, he would even pay a visit.
The history of the Qinghe County was longer than that of the Academy. Even if he had to show respect to the Academy, there was no reason for him to choose such a crude and direct method.
Cui Shi did not solve his doubts. In the following conversation, he calmly and naturally changed the topic, perfectly displaying the temperament and grace of a millennium family. He did not talk about anything related to the House of Red Sleeves, but only recalled the past in Chang 'an. Occasionally, he would ask about Princess Li Yu and the little prince.
Cui Shi did not probe further and asked Ning Que to greet the Headmaster of the Academy on his behalf. He took out a thin letter from his sleeve and put it on the table. He looked at Sangsang warmly and then left the inn with the old steward who was hunched over.
Looking at the quiet street outside the window, Ning Que said, "He did not need to flatter me, but he did. He did it so casually and casually, without hiding his pride."
Sangsang did not understand. She thought that such a bigwig had already shown enough humility by coming to visit. How could he be proud?
"In the eyes of the world, the first person in Qinghe County does not need to greet me, a disciple of the Academy. But he is a smart man and knows what the Academy means to the Tang Empire. Since he knows this, and you are the Great Divine Priest of West-Hill, how could it be so easy for him to come?"
Ning Que retracted his gaze and looked at the untouched cup of tea in his hand. He said, "There's something strange about this. I feel that Cui Shi just came here to see us. The question is, what does he want to see us for? And I feel that there's a strong confidence in his calmness."
Sangsang said, "Even in the City of Wei, I have heard of the families of Qinghe County. Naturally, such bigwigs speak and act with confidence."
Ning Que shook his head and said, "There is no such thing as true poetry in the world. To be able to be passed down for thousands of years, it is all about power. The aristocratic families of Qinghe County know this better than anyone else."
"These aristocratic families have had Great Divine Priests of West-Hill before, but not in the past decades. I also know that there are three Grand Cultivators of Knowing Destiny State in Qinghe County, but one of them died in Chang 'an. Then these aristocratic families should know that no matter how powerful Qinghe County is, even comparable to Great River, Yuelun, Song and Wei, they have no confidence in front of the imperial court and the Academy."
Sangsang suddenly said, "Well … there is something wrong with the old steward."
She said there was something wrong this time, but it did not mean that the old steward was a bad person. Ning Que clearly knew what she was thinking. He could not help but be slightly startled, and then slowly raised his eyebrows.
The old steward with a hunched back was too ordinary, so ordinary that he did not even notice what he looked like. But Sangsang said that there was something wrong with him.
Now that Ning Que had already reached the peak of the Seethrough State, he could clearly see the threshold of the Knowing Destiny State. But an old steward that he could not see anything wrong with … could only mean that he was a Grand Cultivator of the Knowing Destiny State!
"So it is someone else who wants to see me."
Ning Que said in shock. Now there were only two Grand Cultivators of the Knowing Destiny State left in Qinghe County, and one of them actually came to see him personally. Why was Qinghe County so wary of him, the successor of the Academy?
If it were not for Sangsang's unimaginable intuition and sensitivity, he might not even know that he had been carefully observed by a Grand Cultivator until a long time later!
If the old steward had suddenly attacked him, Ning Que believed that he would be a dead man now. Although he knew that this would not happen, he still had a strong sense of vigilance.
He did not understand the confidence of Qinghe County before, and now he could not understand the intention of Qinghe County. However, his vigilance grew deeper and deeper, even to the point of becoming a weak willow by a thin lake, binding his body and making it difficult for him to breathe.
So he wrote two letters, one to the Academy and one to the Nation Master Li Qingshan, describing what he had seen and heard along the way, his view of the Verdant Canyon, and the story of what he had met in Qinghe County.
…
…
The lonely and shabby horse carriage, under the respectful and even fanatical gaze of the people of Yangguan City, drove out of Yangguan City. Even though the old steward sat on the shaft of the carriage, his body was still hunched and his eyes drooped, as if he could not feel the gazes from both sides of the street, as if he had fallen asleep.
After an unknown amount of time, the carriage drove into a quiet and secluded manor on the Fuchun River, directly driving to the deepest part of the manor. There was a small building in the garden, and the garden walls that were piled up with rocks were not very high, but there was absolutely no one who would dare to peep here, and there were no stewards or servants here.
Cui Shi quickly jumped out of the carriage and walked to the shaft. He respectfully helped the old steward down from the shaft and said, "Thank you, father."
It turned out that the old steward, who was still hunched, was the true leader of the Cui family. Elder Cui, who was about to turn 100, was the ancestor of the entire Qinghe County!
Elder Cui waved his hand and said, "I'm just going to see someone, what's so hard about it?"
Cui Shi helped Elder Cui into the small building. Inside the building, there was a study room with extremely simple decorations. The windows on all four sides were covered with extremely thick cloth, preventing the autumn light from seeping in from the outside, making the room appear particularly dark. Vaguely, one could see six seats along the wall, on which sat six white-haired old men.
Seeing Elder Cui enter, the six white-haired old men slowly stood up and bowed. Their movements were slow, not because they wanted to express their dissatisfaction at waiting for a long time, but because they were indeed too old.
Elder Cui sat in the round chair directly above, took the towel that Cui Shi had personally heated and placed it on his face. Then, he remained silent, waiting for the hot air from the towel to seep into his tired pores.
The six old men slowly sat down and waited in silence. There was not a trace of dissatisfaction.
After Elder Cui was done, he began to wash his face. He carefully and forcefully scrubbed his old face. As the warm towel rubbed, the wrinkles on his face deepened.
Then, he leaned back in the chair, and his old face was completely hidden in the darkness.
An old man said, "You've given the Academy enough face by going personally."
Elder Cui said, "We can afford to offend the Empress, but can we afford to offend the Academy? Furthermore, the core disciples of the Headmaster rarely step foot in the mortal world. It's rare for one to enter the human realm, so of course we have to take a good look. It's not convenient for us to go to Chang 'an, but since he's here in Qinghe, how can we not see it with our own eyes? "
An old man asked in confusion, "Why not just send the visiting card and see it directly?"
"Sending the visiting card doesn't necessarily mean seeing the person. Even if you see the person, you won't see his attitude."
"What attitude?"
"The Academy's attitude."
"The Academy's attitude used to be impartial, but since Ning Que killed Xiahou, their attitude will naturally be biased towards Princess Li Yu. They can't possibly still support the Empress."
Elder Cui shook his head and said, "There are many kinds of attitudes. The ownership of the dragon chair is only one of them."
An old man asked doubtfully, "The problem now is whether Ning Que's attitude can represent the Academy's."
Elder Cui very naturally cupped his hands and bowed towards the northern sky. He said, "Since the Headmaster has allowed his young disciple to enter the human realm, then he has expressed his approval."
"What is Ning Que's attitude that you've seen?"
"He's a very proud and cold young man."
Old Master Cui seemed to have thought of something. After saying this, he sank into a long period of silence. When his aged voice rang out once more in the dark study, it felt even more exhausted than before. Moreover, it carried a chill that made one's heart palpitate.
"Looking at his attitude is more like looking at him as a person. In recent years, many strange changes have happened. Haotian above, I don't believe in the Underworld Invasion at all, but I firmly believe that there will be a big problem in the present world. To Qinghe County, to us aristocrats, perhaps these strange changes indicate that the biggest opportunity in a thousand years is about to appear."
A thousand years ago, Qinghe County was incorporated into the Tang Empire.
A thousand years later, what kind of opportunity would Qinghe County have?
There was dead silence in the study. Both the six old men and Cui Shi, who stood quietly by the chair, were shocked by the hidden meaning in Elder Cui's words.
Elder Cui continued, "We are loyal to the imperial court, but we have to think about what we can do if the world is in chaos. Regrettably, in the past hundred years, the Empress of Qinghe County is no longer in the palace of Chang 'an, and the Great Divine Priest of Qinghe County is no longer in the West-Hill Divine Palace. So there is very little we can do. We can only prepare and wait in silence. So we want to see the West-Hill Divine Palace's attitude towards us. I want to see Ning Que and the Academy's attitude towards us with my own eyes."
"What is the Academy's attitude towards us?"
"As I said before, Ning Que is a very proud and cold … no, a very cold-blooded person. Perhaps cold-bloodedness is just his personality, but pride is a boring temper that runs through the Academy's thousand years of history. It has not changed even today. The Academy has the worship of the entire Tang Empire, and does not need to care about us families. So we have no bargaining chips, no right to be proud, and no room to bargain with the Academy. "
Elder Cui said indifferently, "The Third Minister of Offerings entered Chang 'an and died mysteriously. The Academy does not care, and the imperial court did not say anything. It is because Qinghe County is not worthy of their respect."
"Of course we still have to make the necessary preparations."
Elder Cui looked at an old man in the shadows and said, "Has the West-Hill replied?"
The old man said, "Morning has arrived. The Tao Addict … the Great Divine Priest of Judgment has expressed her gratitude in the letter."
Elder Cui nodded and said, "To be able to help Ye Hongyu secure her position as the Great Divine Priest of Judgment is also a form of good karma."
The old man suddenly said, "Perhaps we can suppress this Mr. Thirteen and show our strength. Only then can we gain more respect from the West-Hill Divine Palace."
"There is no point in doing more meaningless things. I don't care what your descendants in the West-Hill Divine Palace have asked you in private. I just want to remind you that Ning Que's little handmaiden will become the Great Divine Priest of Light of the West-Hill Divine Palace, and his relationship with the Great Divine Priest of Judgment is more complicated than we think."
Elder Cui leaned forward slightly, revealing his wrinkled face. He looked at the old man and said with an unquestionable attitude, "Most importantly, if the Academy does not change, then no power in this world has the right to change. Everyone can only wait."
Everyone in the building understood that the Academy in this sentence was not referring to the Academy, but the Headmaster of the Academy. So they kept silent, and then someone finally raised a question in the silence.
"When I was very young, I knew that there was a mountain in the Academy. Now that I am in my eighties, that mountain still stands in the south of Chang 'an. How long do we have to wait?"
Elder Cui cupped his hands and bowed to the north again. He said, "The Headmaster has not left this world, so we can only keep waiting. Even if we cannot wait, our sons and grandsons will. No matter how great a person is, he cannot resist the laws of time. There will come a day when he returns to the Haotian Divine Light."
There was silence in the study. Suddenly, someone asked in a trembling voice, "What if … the Headmaster never dies?"
Elder Cui's body stiffened slightly.
In the dark shadows, one could faintly see a self-deprecating smile on his old face. Then he sighed softly and said, "If that is the case, then we can only wait forever. We will wait with incomparable respect and meekness. Even if we are dogs, we have to pretend that we have been raised."
The topic came to an end at this point.
In this world, countless conversations, countless conspiracies, and countless paths would be forced to an abrupt end in the end. Because at the end was a mountain, and that mountain's name was the Headmaster of the Academy.
The six white-haired old men left the small building and returned to their respective manors. They continued to be the masters of their families, or old dogs with a thousand-year suppressed dream.
Elder Cui and Cui Shi did not leave.
"If such a day really comes, my name will probably be engraved on the pillar of shame in history."
Elder Cui said.
"But your name may also be recorded at the very beginning of the history books."
Cui Shi said. (To be continued. If you like this work, please come to Qidian.Com to vote for me. Your support is my greatest motivation.)
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