In Changle Palace, Li Mu quietly watched the Empress paint.
At this moment, the Empress was the most serious, just like when she was trimming the flowers and plants.
She painted the same landscape as Li Mu and used the same brush and ink as Li Mu. The mountains and water in the painting were lively and lively, unlike the empty mountains and stagnant waters in Li Mu's painting.
What depressed Li Mu the most was that the two paintings looked similar at first glance, but when he felt it carefully, there was a world of difference.
After finishing the last stroke, the Empress put down the brush and said softly, "The Art Saint once said that there are three realms in painting. Painting the mountain is a mountain, painting the water is water; painting the mountain is not a mountain, painting the water is not water; painting the mountain is still a mountain, painting the water is still water. You have only just entered the first realm. You can barely draw the shape of the mountains and rivers, but you can't draw the meaning of the mountains and rivers."
Li Mu asked, "How can I draw the meaning of the mountains and rivers?"
The Empress said leisurely, "See more and paint more. When you have enough experience, you will naturally be able to draw the meaning of the mountains and rivers. I will teach you the basic techniques first. If there is anything you don't understand, you can ask me …"
Li Mu asked again, "How long will it take for me to reach the second realm?"
Zhou Yi said indifferently, "At least two to three years, at most twenty to thirty years. It depends on your comprehension …"
The improvement of one's painting skills couldn't be achieved in a day. Li Mu could only learn slowly from the Empress.
The Empress would give Li Mu pointers every day. Other than the basic practice, Li Mu would also immerse himself in the Art Saint's authentic works and seriously comprehend them. He would improve a lot every day.
These days, what surprised Li Mu was that the Empress was actually so artistic.
In the past, Li Mu's understanding of her was limited to the fact that she was beautiful, a cultivation genius, a seventh realm elite, a petty and simple queen who liked to play with flowers and plants, and a sweet and naive one. If the Empress hadn't mentioned it, Li Mu wouldn't have known that she was also a master painter.
Later on, he found out that before he entered the palace, Zhou Yi of the Zhou Clan was famous in the Divine Capital for his talent in cultivation and his attainments in painting.
Li Mu had been with the Empress for a long time. Based on his understanding of her, when Zhou Qiong was a young girl, she probably only wanted to have her own flower garden in the future so that she could plant flowers and paint when she was in the mood …
But after she became an adult, these things became more and more distant from her.
Mr. Mei and Li Mu walked in the Palace. She let out a sigh of relief and smiled. "Ever since you came to the Palace, everything has changed. In the past, the Emperor could only go to the Royal Garden after morning court. He had no time to paint. Sometimes when I patrolled late at night, I could still see the Emperor sitting on the roof …"
Li Mu rolled his eyes at her and said, "Isn't it because the things that should have been done by His Majesty have been done by me these days? Otherwise, His Majesty wouldn't have so much free time …"
Mr. Mei smiled and said, "That's why, if only you had entered the Palace three years earlier. If you had entered the Palace three years earlier, the Emperor wouldn't have had to suffer these three years …"
Three years ago, Li Mu wasn't Li Mu yet, so such a possibility didn't exist.
For the current Li Mu, if he had to deal with memorials every day, he would also be annoyed. It was better to help the Empress complete her great cause and then live in seclusion in the fields, planting vegetables and flowers.
In the past year, the faith of the people in the 36 counties of the Great Zhou had almost doubled compared to a few years ago.
In terms of governance, the only emperor in the history of the Great Zhou who could compare to the Empress was Emperor Wen.
If the current policy was maintained and the people were allowed to recuperate for ten years, surpassing Emperor Wen wouldn't be difficult.
In these ten years, the faith of the people in the Great Zhou would gradually stabilize and wouldn't increase too much. In this way, the nurturing of the Emperor's qi would be far away in the future.
To accelerate the nurturing of the Emperor's qi and allow the Empress to be liberated sooner, the only way was to greatly increase the faith of the people in the counties.
Once the faith of the people had stabilized, internal factors alone wouldn't be able to stimulate the people. At this time, some external stimulation would be needed.
For example, subduing the Yao Kingdom and the Ghost Realm, eliminating the Demon Sect, or unifying the Zu Province. These things could greatly stimulate the people of the Great Zhou and make their support for the Empress reach a peak. Naturally, there was no need to worry about the faith of the people.
However, none of these things were easy to accomplish. On the contrary, it was easy to waste all the previous efforts.
Once the Yao Kingdom or the Ghost Realm invaded, or the Demon Sect wreaked havoc in the counties, causing the Great Zhou to be in turmoil, all the efforts he and the Empress had put in over the past year would be wasted.
Of course, the Great Zhou could still keep these forces in check at the moment. The only trouble was the southern countries.
For a long time, the southern countries were vassals of the Great Zhou. Every year, they paid tribute. The Great Zhou provided protection for them. At that time, the Great Zhou was undoubtedly the overlord of the Zu Continent.
However, the successive two incapable emperors caused the Great Zhou's national strength to rapidly decline within a few decades. It also caused the vassal countries in the south to have disloyalty.
In these few decades, the tributes from the various countries went from once a year to once every two years, once every three years, and once every five years until the end of the previous emperor's reign.
Now, the Xiao Royal Family had even lost control of the Great Zhou. Such a large empire had fallen into the hands of a woman. The thoughts of the various countries became more active.
This time, the ambassadors of the various countries took advantage of the tributes and gathered in Shen 'du. They had already communicated with each other. It seemed that they had reached some kind of tacit agreement to completely break away from the Great Zhou and cancel the tributes.
Although this didn't cause any substantial losses to the Great Zhou, it was a huge blow to the hearts of the people.
The Great Zhou used to be the Celestial Empire. The surrounding countries all submitted to it. If the various countries broke away from the Great Zhou while the Empress was on the throne, it would be a great sin that the Empress couldn't make up for with any achievements.
Although this was a mess left behind by the previous two emperors of the Great Zhou, they were already dead. The people would only blame the Empress.
Li Mu pondered for a moment. He looked at Mr. Mei and asked, "Is it true that the various countries want to break away from the Great Zhou?"
Speaking of this, Mr. Mei's expression became serious. He nodded and said, "It is true. In these few decades, the various countries have become more and more dissatisfied with the Great Zhou. The last time the various countries paid tribute, because of the previous emperor's incompetence, caused the imperial court to lose face in front of the ambassadors of the various countries. It also caused them to become disloyal. In these five years, from the passing of the previous emperor, to the Zhou family seizing the Emperor's Qi, and the ascension of the Empress, the Great Zhou has been in turmoil. Their ambitions can't be hidden anymore …"
Li Mu said calmly, "This is normal. Who wants to be a vassal of others forever? To them, they probably want the Great Zhou to be destroyed. They want to take advantage of the chaos to carve up the Great Zhou …"
Mr. Mei said angrily, "A bunch of immature wolves. They probably forgot who helped them defend against the enemies of Yanzhou and Changzhou. Without the Great Zhou, they would have been swallowed up by others long ago. Not even dregs are left …"
Li Mu shook his head and said, "Calm down. Times have changed. It is no longer the time of the previous emperor. Even if they really have disloyalty, I'm afraid they don't have the guts …"
Honglu Temple.
The residence of the various countries' ambassadors.
In a courtyard, a middle-aged man in a long robe and a young man beside him stood quietly in the courtyard. Their gazes were looking in the direction of the Imperial Palace. Their eyes shone with a golden light.
At the end of their line of sight, a certain part of the sky was shining with golden light.
It didn't take long for the golden light in their eyes to disappear. That part of the sky also returned to its original color.
The young man asked doubtfully, "Didn't Sir say that the Great Zhou's destiny has come to an end, and that the common people are disloyal to the court? Why is there still so much psychokinesis in the Great Zhou Ancestral Temple?"
The middle-aged man said in a deep voice, "The Great Zhou of today is no longer the Great Zhou of the past. I originally thought that the Great Zhou replacing the Xiao family was the last bit of destiny for the Great Zhou. I didn't expect that in just five years, no, in just one year, the Great Zhou would return to its hundred-year-old peak …"
The young man asked, "Then do we still want to leave the Great Zhou?"
The middle-aged man said softly, "Let's wait and see first."
A strange light flashed in his eyes. He said meaningfully, "Li Mu …"
A rueful look appeared in the young man's eyes. He said, "That Li Mu is truly formidable. He actually has the ability to change the destiny of a country. If my Great Yong also had such a character, the national strength would definitely be even more prosperous. In a hundred years, we might be able to unify the Ancestral Province …"
In the Changle Palace, the corners of Zhou Yi's mouth curled up. He said disdainfully, "In your dreams …"
Li Mu, who was in the middle of painting, raised his head. He asked doubtfully, "What did Your Imperial Majesty just say?"
Zhou Yi's expression returned to normal. He said, "Nothing. Continue painting. Don't get distracted …"
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