Chapter 54

Li Xinghong yawned and walked out of the bedroom, only to see Xun Yi dressed neatly, holding a copy of the *Book of Songs* and reading it.

"Are you up so early?" Xun Yi put down the book and looked at Li Xinghong, who was wearing a robe. When the prince stayed at the Xun residence, he never woke up before the hour of Chen.

"I sent a secret letter back home last night, and I still need to go help Liu Xun clean up the body. After everything is done, I'll come back to catch up on sleep." Li Xinghong picked up a pastry and ate it, glancing at the book Xun Yi was reading: "The *Book of Songs* is a book from ten thousand years ago. Why are you reading it? Do you think the questions for this imperial examination will come from it?"

The reign of the Yellow Emperor lasted for 8,100 years, and from the Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties, it has gone through dozens of dynasties. Even during the Dragon Emperor era, the human race continuously replaced its rulers, venerating their ancestral gods, the Emperors Yan and Huang. This was also the point of greatest dissatisfaction for the dragon race.

Now that the Dragon Emperor rules the world, why do humans still venerate an ancient emperor who has lost his power?

The Dragon Emperor era lasted for five thousand years, and Tang poetry and Song lyrics are already ten thousand years old. Although they are still passed down orally, countless new poems and songs have been created over the past ten thousand years. Civilizations have risen and fallen, and only a few dynasties' literary collections are used as textbooks today.

"The current dynasty venerates the ancient Zhou rites. The *Book of Songs* is a literary primer from that era and is one of our textbooks, naturally with deep meaning." Then, he buried his head back into the book.

"Actually, Uncle, you don't have to work so hard." Li Xinghong looked around and whispered, "The chief examiner for this year's examination in Qinglong City is the Minister of Rites, Lord Zhu."

"Lord Zhu?" Xun Yi looked up: "Uncle Zhu Tu?"

"Yes, Lord Zhu and Grandfather were from the same school. Even if it's just for the sake of the late Grandfather, Uncle, you will definitely be fine for this imperial examination."

"Besides, the court's decision to send him to Qinglong City might also be a way to take care of you."

"Enough. Since my grandfather resigned from his post and left, our relationship with the main line of the imperial family has become distant. How would the current emperor take such good care of me? He probably can't even remember my name."

If it were the Xun family of Xun Yu's time, when the Xun family was at its peak, the third-generation Emperor Yingzong, who was the son of the Duke of Maode and Empress Xiaowen, and the current head of the Xun family were cousins. At that time, Xun Mao's great-grandfather was a marquis, but after his death, he was immediately enfeoffed as a national duke by the third-generation Emperor Yingzong.

The Xun family having three generations of national dukes was unique in the current dynasty, a beautiful story.

"If it were that era, I would believe that the emperor would take special care of the Xun family. But now..." Xun Yi shook his head. Since the fourth-generation Emperor Mingzong's late years, Xun Yu had long withdrawn from politics and lived a life of leisure in Longchuan County.

Now, the Xun family is at a low point in terms of power. Apart from Xun Yi's third uncle, who is still in the court, the main line of the family has no influence that can reach the emperor.

"The grace of a gentleman lasts for five generations. Even if the current emperor has a bit of Xun family blood, after several generations, why would he still care about our family? They naturally have their own maternal clans."

Li Xinghong pouted: "Is the Xun family really as bad as Uncle says? The marriage between the Li and Xun families was a rule set by the High Ancestor Emperor and Duke Maode. The two families have a close relationship. Even if there is no Xun family woman as empress now, we princes still marry Xun family women. My great-grandmother is still alive! And I call you Uncle every day!"

The Great Zhou Empire was established by Li Chun and Xun Mao. It is said that before the establishment of the dynasty, Li Chun, the High Ancestor Emperor, had promised to share the rule of the empire with Xun Mao.

This is not without precedent. In the 20,000-year history of the human race, there have been several dynasties and countries without a monarch, existing in the form of parliaments or alliances. There were even dual monarchy systems and systems where the ruler was chosen by the people.

However, this proposal was politely declined by Xun Mao, who ultimately accepted only the enfeoffment as a super-grade national duke.

Shortly after, in the third year of the Yuan De era of the Great Zhou, Li Chun wanted to marry his princess to Xun Mao's eldest son, but Xun Mao refused in front of all the court officials. Moreover, the Xun family has an ancestral rule: Xun family men must not marry dragon women!

This "dragon woman" does not refer only to princesses but to all women with dragon blood.

Later, Li Chun ordered the crown prince to marry Xun Mao's eldest daughter and left this imperial edict in the imperial temple: "A Xun family woman as empress, to share the rule of the empire."

After several days of city god duties, Xun Yi vaguely understood the meaning of his heavenly ancestor. To ensure the purity of the Yellow Emperor's bloodline, only Xun family women can marry into the royal family, and the Xun family's main line must never marry royal princesses.

"But how could the High Ancestor Emperor let the Heavenly Ancestor live out his life in peace after publicly rejecting him?"

Xun Yi thought about it and concluded that it must have been due to deep brotherly affection.

It is said that the two of them started traveling together at the age of fourteen and had a very close friendship. From the perspective of the Martial King of Zhao Ling, the early founders of the dynasty had a good relationship and no mutual suspicion or power struggles.

A clear and upright social climate seemed to be the norm at the beginning of the dynasty.

The first three generations of the Xun family enjoyed great glory, but they began to decline gradually afterward. This was partly due to the Xun family's own deliberate actions and partly due to the suspicions of later emperors.

However, in this world where the divine way is flourishing, as long as the Xun family has a deity to protect them, the Great Zhou Emperor would not dare to exterminate the Xun family's bloodline. Even the ancestral spirits of the High Ancestor Emperor and Duke Maode would not allow such a thing to happen.

"Speaking of which, we need to prepare for the ancestral worship this year." Xun Yi stroked his chin and asked Li Xinghong: "How long do you plan to stay this time? Will you go back to my hometown with me?"

"Only until Uncle's imperial examination is over. I came to see you off for the exam. As for the ancestral worship..." Li Xinghong shrugged: "I don't want to call anyone else Uncle."

The Li royal family has branched out, and Li Xinghong is already the seventh generation. If he calls Xun Yi Uncle, there will be a whole bunch of Uncles and Grand-Uncles at the Xun family's old residence, including some elderly people from Xun Yu's generation. Even the old empress dowager of Rui County would not dare to be disrespectful.

"Every year, I end up bowing when I go back with you." Li Xinghong looked unwilling. As a prince, he doesn't have to bow to commoners, but at the Xun family's ancestral temple, he would have to bow to each of the ancestors, and he doesn't want to go there.

"Which of our three national dukes is not your ancestor? Shouldn't you bow? Even the emperor of Longcheng, if he goes to our ancestral temple to offer incense to Duke Maode, would have to bow."

Li Xinghong looked displeased and changed the subject: "Anyway, Uncle doesn't need to worry. I'll give Lord Zhu a note, and he'll take care of it."

Xun Yi, confident in his preparation from the previous night, didn't bother to explain to Li Xinghong: "Don't cause trouble. I can take the exam without any problems."

He looked at the sky, had breakfast, and then went to the academy.

Liu Zhenying still hadn't returned. When Xun Yi went to the academy to cancel his leave, he saw the charred marks on the walls of the lecture room and asked Han Feng: "Brother Han, did a fire break out a few days ago?"

"Yes, it happened when you were away. The book repository where your assignments were stored caught fire, and a lot of things were burned."

Xun Yi quickly asked: "How serious was it?"

Han Feng shook his head: "Not too serious. It mainly burned the textbooks and assignments of the students. Other items were not significantly damaged. It's said that a servant accidentally knocked over a brazier, burning three stacks of books."

"Oh." Just as Xun Yi was about to nod, he suddenly heard Han Feng add: "Your luck might have been bad these past few days. When they were rescuing the books, the damage to other students' textbooks was minimal, but all the assignments you wrote last year were burned."

"Poetry, songs, essays, and thesis defenses are all gone?"

"Yes, and only yours suffered such a fate." Han Feng blinked, and Xun Yi's eyes grew distant, as if he had thought of something.

"Brother Han, thank you!" Originally, he had come to cancel his leave, but he immediately wrote another request for a few more days off: "I need to go back and review in seclusion. I won't come these few days."

Just his assignments and textbooks were burned? This clearly seems to be targeted at him!

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I came back too late today and hastily finished this chapter. The *Tai Yi* fanfiction will pause updates. After discussing with the editor, I need to prepare for the release in April and need to accumulate more chapters for *Tai Yi*, so I might have to pause updates on the other side for a while. I checked the new book rankings on the homepage today, and two big names have started new books. It seems unlikely that I will appear on the homepage this week, so I can only hope for recommendations. Mobile users, please visit http://m.piaotia.net

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