For an expert like Xiao Zhang to be described as' wretched 'meant that he truly was wretched.
Tang Thirty-Six asked, "Because he saved Wang Po that year?"
Hu Thirty-Two replied, "Correct. Back in the capital, he ruined the venerable Daoist's plans, enraging all levels of society. The Imperial Court can't easily touch Wang Po, but how could it let him go? In order to establish its might or to redeem the face it lost, the Imperial Court has been pursuing him for the last few years. He's been chased around like a stray dog, truly wretched."
For an expert of the Proclamation of Liberation like Painted Armor Xiao Zhang to be pursued by a single wanted order from the Imperial Court sounded rather inconceivable.
But it could not be forgotten that the Imperial Court had countless experts. They could switch shifts and rest, but Xiao Zhang was alone, with no family or friends. No matter where he went, he had to be wary of ambushes. Perhaps when he went out to eat a bowl of noodles, he would run into the most sinister assassins of the Department for Purging Officials or the most experienced bailiffs of the Ministry of Justice. Moreover, these days were not just for a day, but all the time.
Tang Thirty-Six glanced at Chen Changsheng.
Chen Changsheng knew what he meant and shook his head. "I had the Li Palace send someone to deliver a message, but he wasn't even willing to see me."
Tang Thirty-Six asked, "What about Wang Po? He should be doing something. "
Chen Changsheng replied, "Two years ago, the last news I received was that Xiao Zhang had sent word ahead of time that if Wang Po tried to help him, he would commit suicide on the spot."
Tang Thirty-Six thought to himself that this was truly in line with Xiao Zhang's personality. Shaking his head, he said, "He truly can't afford to lose this face."
Hu Thirty-Six explained, "Fengyang City's winter wild tea became famous because of Xiao Zhang, so every year, Fengyang City would leave a portion of its best tea leaves for him. If the Imperial Court hadn't been pursuing him so closely, we might have been able to see Xiao Zhang appear in the next two days."
The banks of the river were lined with tea trees that had been plucked and dried, forming many mountains of tea in the city. The best of these were the winter wild tea leaves, and they were arranged according to their grade along the stone steps of Seven Treasures Stronghold. The higher one went, the fewer the tea leaves, but they were naturally the most valuable. According to convention, the two baskets of the best tea leaves were placed at the very top.
Hu Thirty-Six pointed and continued to explain, "Those two baskets of tea leaves are even more expensive than gold, and there's simply no market for them."
Chen Chang Sheng asked, "Where did the two baskets of tea go?"
Hu Thirty-Two replied, "They're all tributes. One basket will enter the palace."
Chen Chang Sheng asked, "What about the other basket?"
Tang Thirty-Six glanced at him like he was an idiot. Hu Thirty-Two also had a rather strange expression as he said, "It's naturally for Sir."
Chen Chang Sheng finally understood, since it was a precious tribute of tea leaves, one basket would be sent to the Imperial Palace, the other basket would naturally be sent to the Li Palace.
No matter what the relationship between the Imperial Court and the Orthodoxy was, in a small place like Fengyang City, both sides had to treat each other with the utmost respect.
"The tea leaves you used to leave for Xiao Zhang were also like this?" Tang Thirty-Six asked.
Hu Thirty-Two shook his head and pointed at the Treasure Pavilion at the highest point of Seven Treasures Stronghold. "The wild tea for Xiao Zhang was specially made and placed in there."
Tang Thirty-Six said, "Given Xiao Zhang's personality, even if he knew that the Imperial Court might choose this place to surround and kill him, he might still come."
Hu Thirty-Two said, "He hasn't come for two years."
Tang Thirty-Six asked, "Who did that box of tea go to?"
Hu Thirty-Two replied, "On the surface, it would naturally be said that it wasn't sent out, but many people know that it was sent to the Prince of Xiang's estate in the capital."
Tang Thirty-Six asked in surprise, "Why is that? What right does the Prince of Xiang have to bypass the Imperial Court and the Orthodoxy? "
Hu Thirty-Two smiled. "The magistrate of Feng City is His Highness's disciple."
As they were chatting over tea, a shadow suddenly tore a wisp out of the thin clouds in the sky. A Red Goose flew through the clouds and landed in the distant government office.
Soon after, gongs and drums began to beat, a notice was posted, and the government office was even filled with praises.
In these three years, Chen Chang Sheng had been in the snowy mountains of the northern border while Tang Thirty-Six had been imprisoned in the old estate and the ancestral hall. He had no idea what was going on.
"The Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets has changed the rankings." Hu Thirty-Two had a rather complicated expression.
Chen Chang Sheng and Tang Thirty-Six finally understood what had happened.
In the past, the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets would change the rankings around the Grand Examination or around the time of viewing the monoliths in the Mausoleum of Books. Now that the Grand Examination had been halted for three years and the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets only existed in name, the rankings were still being updated. However, it no longer had much to do with the Orthodoxy and was essentially the work of the Imperial Court.
This did not affect the credibility of the rankings. After all, to the common people, the prestige of the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets still existed, and the addition of the emperor's imperial seal would only make the common people even more convinced.
The conversation in the tea house came to a halt. The crowd quietly drank their tea, listening to the occasional noise on the street.
The first to be announced was the Proclamation of Azure Sky. As the names of Gou Hanshi and Chen Chang Sheng left, more and more young geniuses of cultivation reached Ethereal Opening appeared. Less and less people paid attention to this proclamation that once represented the potential of these youths. However, Chen Chang Sheng noticed that there were a few names on the Proclamation of Azure Sky that he knew.
Fu Xinzhi, Chen Fugui, Chu Wenbin — these were the first batch of students the Orthodox Academy had accepted.
It seemed that Su Mo Yu's management of the Orthodox Academy wasn't bad.
It was different from when the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets had been in charge. Now, when the Imperial Court changed the proclamations, the Proclamation of Golden Distinction and the Proclamation of Liberation would also be made public. The next to be announced was the Proclamation of Golden Distinction. This time, he heard even more familiar names: Gou Han Shi, Guan Fei Bai, Liang Ban Hu, Zhong Hui … Because of his and Xu You Rong's identities, they naturally would not be listed in any of the proclamations. However, this year's Proclamation of Golden Distinction was still the youngest in the past several hundred years. Apart from the era of Zhou Du Fu and Chen Xuan Ba, there was no other era in which so many youths had entered Star Condensation. It truly was an era of blooming wildflowers.
Next was the Proclamation of Liberation. After Wang Po had broken through three years ago, he had finally left the first rank that he had guarded for several decades. Xiao Zhang, who had once had the greatest hope of catching up to him, was not qualified to enter the rankings because he was wanted by the Imperial Court. As a result, the current first rank was naturally Liang Wangsun. Below him were Xiao De and other true experts whose names had long since spread far and wide. When Chen Chang Sheng heard the four words "Famous Name Guan Bai" from the ninth rank, he couldn't help but be pleasantly surprised.
When the Proclamation of Liberation finished reading and he still did not hear Qiushan Jun's name, he turned to the upper reaches of the valley and shook his head, his thoughts a mystery.
Suddenly, fireworks began to rise from the distant government office. Diluted by the gradually flourishing light of the morning sun, they were not particularly gorgeous. Presumably, they had been decided on the spot for some unknown reason.
Why did the government office have praises and fireworks, and most importantly … why did the Imperial Court suddenly change the proclamations?
Very quickly, Chen Chang Sheng's party in the tea house and the people by the river understood the reason.
The Prince of Xiang had actually entered the Divine Domain!
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