Page 299

"Your Majesty, has there been news from the Capital City?"

Chen Ying had found Chen Qing early in the morning, who was observing the barrier at Daqing Mountain.

When Shen Yuan left, he took with him a portion of the Azure Dragon Formation’s energy.

Although the energy of the Azure Dragon Formation is now continuously replenished by the Mountain God’s Power and is even more robust than before, Chen Qing was still somewhat uneasy about the hasty extraction of so much energy, especially since two very crucial figures were imprisoned within.

"Hmm...." Faced with Chen Ying’s urgency, Chen Qing could understand. He didn’t keep him in suspense and said directly, "Shen Qi sent a message, the plan is going smoothly...."

"What about master?" Chen Ying quickly asked.

Chen Qing shook his head, "On the first day Shen Qi entered the city, he went to the duke’s mansion but.... there was not a single person left!"

"Not a single person left?" Chen Ying was startled.

"Hmm...." Chen Qing nodded. "The grand duke’s mansion was devoid of living people. The Man-Eating Flowers in that Matriarch’s Garden mentioned by your master, which were supposedly made of human beings, have also vanished without a trace, and your master...."

"What happened to my master?" Chen Ying asked anxiously.

"Don’t worry." Chen Qing comforted her and found a spot to sit down.

"Your master has only disappeared. According to Shen Qi, there is no clue that your master came to the Capital City. He probably returned to the city quietly, and after finding no trace of his relatives at the duke’s mansion, he must have gone after the Lu Family. "

Chen Ying felt a tightness in her heart as a sense of unease rose within her.

"Be assured." Chen Qing quickly comforted her. "Shen Qi has already set up the Great Thousand Eyes Array in the Capital City. From now on, the information we have about the Capital City won’t be as vague as it is now. It’s impossible for the Lu Family, such a significant presence, to disappear without a trace. I believe new leads will soon emerge."

Although Chen Ying was anxious, she could only nod in agreement, "Thank you, Your Majesty."

"We’re family; no need for such formalities," Chen Qing said with a smile. "Besides, Shen Qi’s array is also to facilitate our understanding of the situation in the Capital City."

The waters in Capital City run deep now.

Wang Ye has completely disappeared, the Lu Family has vanished without a trace, and even Mu Hongqing has disappeared without any news at all.

Chen Qing himself does not dare to set foot there lightly now and can only spy on the situation through the infiltration of powers.

"By the way, Your Majesty, I heard on my way here that many shopkeepers in Jiangnan are paying high prices to invite lecturers on reason to the Capital City."

In Jiangnan, Art Calculation, Physical Object Studies, Medicine, Astronomy, and Divination are all collectively referred to as the study of reason, no longer considered miscellaneous!

"Of course...." Chen Qing also relaxed a bit talking about this topic, speaking softly, "There is news from the Capital City that the noble families have begun to release goods from Jiangnan, and Rune Stones have recently been hyped to sky-high prices!"

"Why is that?" Chen Ying was puzzled. "Wasn’t there a strict blockade before?"

"The previous strict blockade was, first, to quickly research the things from Jiangnan, and second.

... to fear our monopolization of commerce in Jiangnan!

" Chen Qing said with a smile. "But now it’s different. They’ve had a chance to learn our things as well.

Naturally, they want to start paving the way in advance. "

"Paving the way in advance?"

"Hmm...." Chen Qing nodded. "First, release a small amount of goods to hype them into sky-high prices and recoup an initial investment before warming up the market. When their clansmen finish learning and return, they will start to seize the market."

"So that’s how it is...." Chen Ying nodded, but then expressed doubts, "Your Majesty, if you know this, why still let the technology out?"

"The cake is too big; one person can’t eat it all!

" Chen Qing shook his head, "Compared to business value, it’s more crucial for our academic achievements from Jiangnan to be swiftly recognized by the world.

This is called cultural invasion. You see, now the noble families have already started aggressively recruiting lecturers on reason, right? "

"People are always profit-driven," Chen Qing sighed. "The reason why we in Jiangnan have been able to implement the study of reason and engineering so quickly is firstly due to the strong influence of the Divine Path current, and secondly because Jiangnan experienced the living corpse incident, with many social orders being reconstructed. That gave me the opportunity to quickly establish new rules. However, this approach doesn’t work elsewhere. If we want the outside world to accept it quickly, we must throw out substantial profits. Those from the Sorcerer Families are now the literati’s reliance on resisting the warriors. As long as even they accept the importance of reason, the entire scholarly class will have to change even if they don’t want to! "

"That makes sense...."

"As for the issue of loss of profit...." Chen Qing said with a smile. "As long as we continue to hold the latest technology, we will always lead the market. And Jiangnan.... will become the new center!"

"Your Majesty’s vision is far-reaching, and we are not yet up to par."

"You’ve been spending too much time with that youngster Zhou Hanyang; have you learned how to flatter?"

Chen Ying smiled sheepishly.

"You can rest assured about your master’s situation," Chen Qing promised. "As soon as there is any news, I will follow up immediately. If you need help, as long as it doesn’t affect the overall interests of Jiangnan, I will do my best to lend a hand!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Chen Ying quickly said with a smile.

Chen Qing nodded with a smile, but his heart was not very optimistic.

Mu Hongqing held Chen Ying in high regard.

If he prepared to track down the Shen Family to do something risky, he would have certainly prepared some things for Chen Ying in advance and not disappeared so decisively.

Either Mu Hongqing judged that he could solve it alone, or. .. he didn’t have time to react!

To be honest, ever since Wang Ye went missing, he had become increasingly cautious about the Capital City.

Even Wang Ye, who had possession of the Twilight Sorcery, had not managed to escape, which meant the things lurking in the Capital City were probably more troublesome than imagined.

Mu Hongqing... most likely encountered trouble!

--------------------------------------

"Master... what’s going on at the door...?"

Mister Bai Hua, along with his old wife and ten-year-old son, had just arrived at the gate of the Bai Family’s residence in the Capital City when they saw a surprising scene.

Their own son was a sixth-rank official in the capital.

Neither the family’s depth of resources nor his own salary were enough to support buying a large mansion in a good part of the Capital City.

They lived in Wutong Lane in the western city, a very small residence.

Even in such a poor location, a small house like theirs was said to cost half of their son’s monthly salary.

This meant that their son couldn’t afford to hire servants, which is why the old couple had come to the Capital City at the first opportunity, fearing that their daughter-in-law, who was doing her confinement, wouldn’t be looked after properly.

But how could such a minor official’s residence have so many visitors outside?

Bai Hua’s eyebrows were tightly furrowed; their son was still young and hadn’t been an official for long. He couldn’t possibly have so many connections. The stewards delivering visiting cards were dressed quite lavishly, clearly servants from major households.

"Shush, lower your voice, let’s go."

"Huh?" His wife was startled, "Master, we’ve come to our son’s door; where are we going?"

"If we go in now, I’m afraid our son’s family will have even less peace," Bai Hua said with a wry smile, as he probably guessed what was happening.

On the way, he had heard that many places in the Capital City were recruiting teachers of miscellaneous knowledge. He deduced that his own Bai Family was being targeted.

"So where are we going now?"

"To the Shen Family!"

"The Shen Family?" His wife was taken aback, "Is it Shen Yuan’s family home?"

"Yes..." Bai Hua nodded, "This time, we’ve been outsmarted by that boy Shen Yuan!"

"What are you talking about?" His wife gave him a look, "How has he outsmarted you? He knew you were coming, worried you wouldn’t have food to eat, and even got you a job teaching the children of the family."

"Oh, then I really should thank him..." Bai Hua glanced at his wife.

He had previously thought that the boy Shen Yuan was being kind, but it turned out he had been planned for this all along. Truly a cunning fox.

Sighing, Bai Hua didn’t know what to say for a moment.

Coming to the Capital City, he originally wanted to discuss with his eldest son about taking his grandson to Jiangnan.

After all, everyone with a bit of foresight knows that Jiangnan holds boundless prospects, and the students of Jiangnan Academy are the future leaders of academic thought in the world.

Such a favorable development for rational studies was an advantage his Bai Family, being from a Sorcerer Family skilled in Art Calculation, would normally capitalize on.

But this generation had been disappointing.

His eldest son was zealous about imperial examinations and had no interest in the family’s heritage of miscellaneous knowledge.

Since imperial examinations were mainstream before, he didn’t push him, but as a result, his eldest son understood nothing about it.

Now with an official position, he was even less likely to have time to learn.

And his younger son was not talented enough. Bai Hua had personally taught him from childhood, but his achievements were limited. His son failed to gain acceptance during the last expansion recruitment at the academy, truly surprising everyone and leaving him feeling disgraced.

But natural talent is something one either has or doesn’t. Art Calculation particularly requires talent even more than conventional studies. Knowing his younger son had no hope, Bai Hua had turned his attention to his newborn grandson.

But now, it seemed troublesome. If discovered by these noble families, returning to Jiangnan would be difficult!

That rascal Shen Yuan, knowing about the situation but not informing him, truly deserved a beating!!