Chapter 90

On the first day of August, it was sunny.

On the great river, white sails dotted the surface, forming a shimmering jade belt that wound from the northwest to the east.

Along the official road north of the river, carriages and horses came and went in an endless stream. Ye Qing rode in an ox cart, leisurely passing by, encountering some checkpoints but without any trouble.

Listening to the travelers' exclamations, he saw a large city in the distance, gleaming with a pure golden luster under the sun, almost occupying the entire horizon, its grandeur and magnificence stirring the heart.

"This is the Dawn Golden City, the first of the eighteen scenic spots in Yingzhou."

It wasn't just the reflection of the sunlight; the city also exuded a golden aura, giving people a special feeling, creating a profound impact from the first glance.

Ye Qing had visited Yingzhou City several times in his previous life and was familiar with it, but he still marveled at it.

In this world, large cities, besides being located in the center of plains where the land was fertile and conducive to crops, mostly arose at the confluence of rivers, lakes, and seas, where water transport was abundant and the climate was humid!

The capital of Yingzhou, Qiyang, was situated on a triangular plain formed by the confluence of the Great River and the Wanshui River. The land was fertile, and there were several nearby ferry crossings. It had always been a strategic point, with low costs for gathering people and goods, and frequent exchanges with the surrounding plains, forming a city with a population of 300,000.

Compared to the large cities of the industrial age on Earth, it was far from comparable in scale, but it had a profound and weighty presence accumulated over hundreds of thousands of years.

Upon reaching the city gate, he saw a long queue of people entering the city. By the roadside, in a small pavilion, two Taoist priests stood. As Ye Qing passed by, the scroll in his chest glowed, and they approached him, bowing and saying, "Are you Scholar Ye? Please come to the Bamboo Valley Taoist Temple!"

Ye Qing was startled and did not respond immediately, carefully observing them. Both were dressed in formal Taoist robes, their auras clear and distinct, making him hesitate.

"Scholar Ye, are you worried about leaving a stain? The Taoist temple is not a prison!" The older Taoist priest smiled, seeing Ye Qing's hesitation, and added, "Or are you worried about missing the exam? This is not house arrest; it is for your protection. Do you know that assassins have already entered the city?"

Ye Qing was alarmed but then calmed down, asking, "Who is your master?"

"Not a master, but do you remember the Magistrate Yuan Shiwēn from the banquet in Pingshou County? He knew you were in trouble and immediately asked us to escort you. Rest assured, no one will dare to harm you in the Taoist temple."

Ye Qing frowned, recalling this person. He was the Chancellor of Grand Secretary Tong, and if his memory from his previous life was correct, this Grand Secretary Tong was an ally of the Sixth Prince, who was later forced to commit suicide.

However, this faction had no direct connection with the later-rising Nan Cang Yu family... if there was any, it was a hidden enmity.

Seeing the others looking at him, Ye Qing suddenly smiled, adjusted his hat, and said, "Alright!"

The Bamboo Valley Taoist Temple was shrouded in a deep, transparent night, the water reflecting the surroundings. Ye Qing stood alone by the window, gazing out. The temple had only one main hall, with the Red Emperor standing in the center, about ten feet tall, surrounded by red curtains, but not red edicts; each thread was interwoven with purple tassels.

The Black Emperor, White Emperor, Red Emperor, Yellow Emperor, and Green Emperor each used their respective colors, all with purple, while the Daoist lords used entirely purple curtains. Ye Qing walked over, leaning against a pillar, his face a mix of sorrow and joy.

The lights of ten thousand households illuminated the sky, reflecting the stars, creating a mysterious and profound scene.

In the Heavenly Eye, except for the Red Emperor, he could see the city's thousands of households, the grand and orderly grid layout, the golden aura, which calmed like the tide at night, gathering a pale green aura towards the city center along the north-south axis!

"I have only visited this city five times in my lifetime, and even if the world is in chaos, with my abilities as a穿越者 (穿越者 means '穿越者' in Chinese, which can be translated as '穿越者' in English, but in this context, it means 'time traveler'), I can only stir up a storm in the small Nan Cang County."

"And Yu Fan, though he seems insignificant now, was enfeoffed in Yingzhou and ruled it for ten years."

"This is remarkable, completing what the ancestors of the Yu family, Yu Wenhuan, could not achieve—being the lord of Yingzhou and the governor of Yingzhou, the difference between a master and a steward. Many people strive their whole lives to achieve such a leap..."

"Ten thousand households in the city, the women as beautiful as in the capital." This was the praise for Yingzhou at the beginning of the dynasty, but at the time, there were fewer than 30,000 households. As a fiercely resisted state in the old dynasty, it was rebuilt from the ruins of war, with ten out of ten households empty, and everything in disarray.

But on the eve of the great calamity of the Immortal Dao, it truly developed into a city of 100,000 households and 300,000 people, which, in the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods of Earth, was an impressive "international metropolis"—to know that when Guan Zhong was appointed as the prime minister by the Duke of Qi, he described Linzi as having only 42,000 households, and it only reached 70,000 households and 200,000 people in the Warring States period.

Such a capital radiated to the entire state of 8 million people.

But in this world, it was just an ordinary state.

"Yingzhou, though large, is just a corner of the world." This was Yu Fan's final lament, which reached the Zangye Mountain Villa when Ye Qing was also facing a great crisis—under a collapsing nest, how could there be a complete egg?

Since his rebirth, he had repeatedly reflected on the reasons for his failure in his previous life. In himself, it was the tide of destiny that he had avoided, losing the opportunity to advance, and falling behind step by step, which he had long summarized.

In the environment, the world was so vast that even with a human lifespan, it was impossible to not only stabilize but even to conquer it. The 8 million people of Yingzhou barely qualified for the competition.

This year's various struggles, and the seven years in the virtual Dong County, managing a population of one million, had gradually made him realize and deeply fear the question—how vast is the world?

The further he traveled, the more he marveled at the vastness of this continent, whose end was known only to immortals.

Mortals summarized the known world as "the world," which far exceeded the area of China, far beyond what the agricultural age could unify.

Thus, they divided the land into a hundred fiefs, establishing vassal states.

This made one think of a million years ago, when the Three Kingdoms stood in opposition, the Daoist lords high above, each vying for supremacy.

And then the Five Emperors reformed the world.

All this is past, and after 300,000 years, people are still trapped in the present, only able to glimpse the grandeur of the world in distant legends.

In the subsequent history, everything became fixed.

The imperial capital was at the center, the emperor claiming to be a descendant of the ancient emperors.

And the descendants were enfeoffed to join the original vassal states, slowly expanding the borders.

When the dragon's power waned, a vassal state with virtue would rise, renewing the world according to the will of heaven, releasing the accumulated grievances of centuries.

The Five Virtues cycled, corresponding to the Five Emperors' struggles, and in the court, it was a cycle of repetition, spiraling outward, with the Green Emperor founding the dynasty, and most of the 2,000 dynasties in a million years following this pattern.

This was not perfect, but it was the rule, known in this world as "the mandate of heaven." There were also calamities, causing the rise of dragons and snakes from the common people, commoners holding swords, sweeping the world.

It could be said that every time the green and purple imperial throne was raised, it was supported by the bones of a third of the world. The Five Emperors and Five Dynasties, with their brilliant purple, could not change their blood-red essence.

This was also a world of immortality, where immortals and deities lived as long as the world.

On the earth, only the remnants of the divine remained, and if not for the immortals still walking among humans, mortals would have forgotten the legends of the blue sky.

But the history passed down, when later generations read the books, they recognized the world, a million years of history, 2,000 dynasties, a truly unchanging world—no one could fail to feel the incredible weight and depth, making it hard to breathe.

In a million years, how many heroes and valiant figures, how many strategists and virtuous men, had poured their hearts and souls, using every means possible?

The united efforts of heroes, supported by millions of people, were not just one.

But they all passed, becoming bubbles in history.

What terrified Ye Qing the most was that the founding emperor of a dynasty, using the people as the path, spent thirty years through various means, making the people only hear of the founding emperor, not the Daoist lords.

And the Heavenly Court watched coldly, without any interference, allowing the erosion to continue.

Until the people's hearts were won, unprecedentedly, and the founding emperor announced the abolition of the Daoist lords' sacrifices, declaring the self-strengthening of the people, equal to heaven, the Heavenly Court then struck with divine punishment, and the people wept, the people's aura gathering in the capital, visible to the naked eye, but the founding emperor and his officials were still killed on the spot.

This battle lasted three days and three nights, with blood rain and stars falling like rain.

As a time traveler, Ye Qing, of course, understood that the Heavenly Court had also paid a great price, but this action was a righteous declaration to heaven and earth.

Even with the support of the people, those who defy our path, no matter how many, will be punished!

This might be the purpose of the Daoist sects publishing the history, without any pretense, even recording the heroic deeds of rebels with a cold, impartial pen, never distorting the truth!

But such heroism in history made it hard to breathe.

And if it were just absolute violence, it would not have completely chilled Ye Qing's heart, because absolute interference would make the world a stagnant pool, old and decaying.

What chilled his heart was that in the past 200,000 years, the Heavenly Court and deities had become increasingly constrained, no longer interfering arbitrarily. What did this mean? It meant understanding the rise and fall of the people, the operation of creation, the flow of destiny, and the enduring vitality. There is a famous saying, "Absolute power corrupts absolutely." Whether true or not, in this world, if someone, under absolute power (strength), did not corrupt but instead became wise and continuously improved, what a terrifying thing!

Thinking of this, Ye Qing finally put the thought aside, shook his head, and looked at the examination hall in the distance: "No matter what, thinking about this too early is pointless. First, I need to think about how to pass the examination!"

At the inn, Mr. Kou finally met Yu Fan. Yu Fan looked a bit melancholy, his face pale. Seeing Mr. Kou, he knelt and bowed deeply, choking with emotion, "My lord!"

Hearing the sincerity in his voice, Yu Fan felt a warmth in his heart, raised his hands, and said, "Get up. I am not crying, but you are. This is not proper."

"I am incompetent, causing my lord to be humiliated, and most of the people from the Pearl Pavilion have left. This is my failure. Please punish me, my lord."

"This is not your fault. I was impulsive. As for the Pearl Pavilion, my father recovered 80,000 taels of silver. Without money, they naturally dispersed." Saying this, Yu Fan slowly stood up, walked to the courtyard, and his eyes were deep. "But I am still young and can change."

This failure was a huge loss, and Yu Cheng'en was furious, immediately stripping Yu Fan of his status as heir and treating him equally with his other sons.

Thinking of this, Yu Fan's blood rushed to his face, turning it red, his mind clear.

With the most ruthless thoughts, this was not a matter of a day or two. The clan suffered a heavy loss, obtaining the dragon pearl, but it was not for Yu Cheng'en's use, but for this son!

As a father, elder, and official, he was using this son as a stepping stone, which was unbearable. Now that Yu Fan had failed, there was regret, but also a hidden joy.

This could not be said aloud. For a long time, only the sound of Yu Fan's boots could be heard, and then he sighed, "If only Mr. Kou had been here, he would have had a good strategy. But it's not too late now."

"No matter how much the clan changes, my literary talent and insight remain the same. The state has not deprived me of the right to take the exam. Even if I cannot be the top, passing the examination should not be a problem." Yu Fan spoke slowly, "If I pass, everything can start anew. Mr. Kou, with your great talent, are you willing to continue assisting me?"

Mr. Kou did not expect Yu Fan to say this, his face turning red, and he knelt again, saying, "If my lord does not despise my incompetence, how can I abandon my lord? I will devote myself to the utmost, even if it means death..."

Yu Fan waved his hand to stop him, smiling slightly, "Though Ye Qing is my great enemy, I admire him. Starting from nothing, he has achieved much. Now, as your lord, I must learn from him, embarking on a long journey, taking the first step today."

"As for the enmity, it is not too late to settle it in ten years!" Yu Fan said with a faint smile.