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"Dean Chen!!"

Seeing the other party paying a personal visit, Liu Xie’s heart almost jumped to his throat, clearly realizing that what his uncles and elders talked about was true!!

"Hmm..." Seeing that it was Liu Xie who personally opened the door, Chen Ying stated directly, "I am here to notify you that Lyuzhou is going to have a significant position reshuffle, regarding appointments for the Nether Earth officials in Southeast County.

You have been selected as one of the candidates because of your outstanding achievements.

A new Auxiliary Politician will report to you here tomorrow.

Please make sure to hand over official duties properly and set out for Lyuzhou as soon as possible. "

"Ah?"

"Didn’t understand?" Chen Ying frowned and looked at him, she was very busy, having just come back from Southeast County. She had to deal with the tasks Mister Ziyue left at Dragon Palace Academy, and on the way, notify these County Magistrates not to miss the selection process; she didn’t even have time to drink water.

"Ah... no, no, it’s just that the news came so suddenly..." Liu Xie stuttered, "Dean, please come in for a cup of tea..."

"No need..." Chen Ying shook her head, "I am in a hurry to get to Baishui County, and afterwards, I have to head over to the West Sea. It’s enough that you know, remember, make sure to hand over properly and do not delay the local people’s livelihood."

"Yes, please rest assured, Dean..."

"Hmm!"

With a nod, Chen Ying turned into a green light and disappeared on the spot. Liu Xie watched in a daze, not even having the chance to ask what matters to watch out for in the Hell Ruler selection.

But upon reflection, the Dean being so busy probably didn’t have the patience to explain everything to him in detail. It was best for him to head to Lyuzhou sooner than later to understand the details!

It took him a good while to snap back to reality. He quickly walked into the inner hall, where an elder immediately asked, "Who was that outside the door just now? Why were you in such a hurry to go out and greet them?"

"It was the Dean of Jiangnan Academy..." Liu Xie said, suppressing his excitement, "Uncle, it seems the intelligence you all received was true.

The Dean just informed me that after handing over official business tomorrow, I am to immediately head to Lyuzhou to participate in this selection for the Hell Ruler! "

"Was it Dean Chen in person?" Liu Xie’s father asked hastily, "Then why didn’t you invite the esteemed Dean inside to sit down? Child, you know nothing of courtesy. How have I taught you?"

"The Dean was in a rush to the next house and declined my invitation..." Liu Xie explained quickly: "Father, I’m afraid I won’t be able to attend to you all here this time; I need to quickly sort out the county office’s finances and various matters.

The Auxiliary Politician replacing me will arrive tomorrow, and I must ensure a smooth transition. "

"Important matters are a priority!" Upon hearing this, Liu Wenlong immediately nodded, "We here don’t need your attention, you hurry on with your tasks!"

"Yes, then I shall take my leave..." Saying so, Liu Xie bowed to each elder and then hurriedly walked towards the outside.

"Elder Brother, it looks like... our family will have to depend on Liu Xie," Liu Xie’s uncle said with a smile, stroking his beard.

"Where...," Liu Wenlong quickly shook his head in modesty, "Didn’t you hear? He’s only participating in the selection. Whether he’ll be selected is another matter. Let’s not set the boy on a pedestal too soon."

Though he said that, anyone with clear eyes could see the smile in Liu Wenlong’s eyes; perhaps these were his most carefree moments in the past two years.

"The odds are he will make it..." said another slim middle-aged man, "We saw the announcement from Lyuzhou before coming here, right? The list of twenty outstanding Auxiliary Politicians; our nephew Liu Xie ranked fourth in achievements. That’s an official and solid ranking.

The rumor is that this time, each county in Southeast will have its own City God every, and with such a high ranking, our nephew is bound to be selected. "

"Who can say for sure?" replied Liu Wenlong with a grin and a shake of his head, "We mustn’t be too optimistic until things are confirmed."

"That’s true..." said the older Liu, nodding, "Nonetheless, it’s heartening to know that the King of Qin has finally seen reason. Our children, who’ve studied the classics so hard, shouldn’t be treated this way..."

Liu Wenlong sighed too. Their family had been studying and farming for generations. They were once a prominent family in Lyuzhou but now nearly reduced to less than that of a farming family, which led many of the younger generation to give up on themselves.

"Despite that, the education of rationalism must not stop," said Liu Wenlong with a sigh, "You’ve seen it, even to enter officialdom and excel; one must understand the academy’s teachings. Just like Liu Xie, if we hadn’t sent him to the academy to study these past few years, how could he have come up with the idea to enrich Lumings County by cultivating deer species? "

"That is true..."

The others nodded in agreement, but their smiles did not diminish.

They were not afraid of learning new things; when Jiangnan prioritized the study of engineering, the Liu Family was among the first to catch up.

However, engineering required aptitude and talent, and there was no one in the family with a high enough gift for the field, resulting in several qualified official prospects now in a near-useless state.

If Liu Xie could become a City God this time, it would greatly motivate the younger generation.

There was more than one path in this world.

With this new system of advancement in the Hell Ruler bureaucracy, it was bound to rekindle the public’s desire to enter politics.

Their well-established officialdom families finally had an opportunity to showcase their capabilities. ..

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Lyuzhou was bustling that day...

The buzz was for two reasons; first, the King of Qin himself had announced that this day would be the Return of the Spirits Festival.

Starting with Lyuzhou as a trial, it was to be progressively expanded elsewhere.

On this day, the spirits from Nether Earth can return to the world of the living.

They could use their Virtue Power to manifest themselves for one day and meet their families.

This news, released the day before, immediately caused an uproar.

There were those who cheered joyfully, and others with mixed emotions.

People who survived in Jiangnan had all experienced the loss of loved ones to a greater or lesser extent.

When they learned that their departed could live well in the underworld, the vast majority had healed their pain over the three years, but there were still regrets.

To see their deceased relatives once a year and chat about how each had been getting along, this was something they hadn’t even dared to dream of.

Of course, there were also some more awkward situations, like former spouses where the husband had remarried, or the wife had moved on. In such cases, reunion with a deceased ex-spouse could be quite embarrassing.

After the news spread, not only did Lyuzhou erupt with excitement, many people from outside wanted to come and witness this grand spectacle.

The return of departed ghosts to the human world to roam for a day just like ordinary people was something that one had to see with their own eyes.

Of course, people from outside came here not just to watch this excitement...

The second source of excitement was the long-rumored election for the positions in the underworld!

On this day, the Lyuzhou officials finally posted notices in all the major markets, announcing the selection process.

A total of ten City Gods for the county towns were to be selected to relieve the pressure on the Lyuzhou Hell City God, each to be assigned to one of the ten counties outside Lyuzhou.

The Auxiliary Politicians with the best performance from the surrounding county towns were to come to Lyuzhou for the final assessment.

The process would be scored by the King of Qin, Jiangnan Academy Dean Chen Ying, and Lyuzhou Hell Ruler Wei Gongcheng.

Afterwards, voting would be open to all willing county residents of Lyuzhou!

This method of letting the common people decide on officials’ performance and promotion triggered massive public debate.

Many members of the scholar class thought Chen Qing’s move was disturbing the natural order and upsetting ranks, but many ordinary people were so excited they couldn’t sleep all night.

They had never imagined they would be able to participate in such an important event. This sense of participation made many who hadn’t slept at all still energetically excited the next day!

On this day, nearly half of Lyuzhou’s population put down their work, even the farmers from Daqing Mountain had heard the news and came to Lyuzhou City to observe this grand event.

Not just those from the surrounding mountains, but even the usually busy academy students had put down their experiments and were curiously walking on the streets.

Wei Gongzhan had brought Little Mink to the city early. The little one was also very excited, looking around curiously at everything. As someone who rarely had the chance to come down from the mountain, she found everything fascinating.

Actually, Wei Gongzhan also found it fascinating.

Although he often came to Lyuzhou City, today’s scene was a first for him as well.

Spirits were floating all over the streets, with sounds of extreme joy and tears everywhere.

Parents saw children they had lost long ago, husbands glimpsed their dearly missed wives and daughters, grandparents beheld their lively and adorable grandchildren – scene after scene unfolded with warmth and tears, exemplifying true human emotions at this moment.

Of course, there were also some rather peculiar atmospheres. For example, a certain man floated back home eagerly, only to find his beautiful wife had remarried and his children were so afraid they kept shrinking back.

It was quite awkward and heartrending.

There were also domineering women who saw their departed husbands had taken young wives and they cursed loudly, each scene a slice of human reality, which Wei Gongzhan found quite amusing to watch.

"Gongzhan... where are we going?" Little Mink asked curiously as she looked in the direction Wei Gongzhan was heading.

"To the academy..." Wei Gongzhan replied with a smile, "To meet an acquaintance."

With Weichi Feihu not around, Shen Yuan was his best contact within Lyuzhou City.

Having heard about the selection, he found it quite extraordinary.

The day before, he had discussed it at great length with his neighbors in Daqing Mountain, but since those neighbors typically worked in the fields all year round, their discussion ended at the novelty of it, not reaching any political level.

It made for rather unsatisfactory conversation, which was why Shen Yuan, who was well-read and knowledgeable, was the perfect person to talk to at such a time.

Before the selection began, he wanted to meet with his friend to fully enjoy the excitement of the occasion.

As he was walking, suddenly... Little Mink gripped Wei Gongzhan’s hand tighter, causing him to be slightly startled and look over.

An expression of anxiety was rare on the little one’s face, and it immediately made Wei Gongzhan tense.

This carefree and immensely powerful little creature was rarely so nervous. The last time she had been this nervous was when he had almost died at the hands of Mister Ziyue.

With this thought, he followed the little one’s gaze, looking ahead warily.

What he saw made him pause.

It was a group of ghosts, distinct in appearance. Not only did they look nothing like the Central Plains People, but they also greatly differed from the barbarians of the Northern Wasteland.

Blonde hair, blue eyes, fair skin, and features dramatically different from traditional Central Plains people... they didn’t look at all like inhabitants of Jiangnan.

But wasn’t it said that only the local souls from the underworld were released on this day?

"Little Mink... do you know them?" Wei Gongzhan asked in a low voice.

Little Mink shook her head. She didn’t understand what had come over her. She didn’t recognize any of these faces, yet for some reason, she felt a familiar sensation, along with an uncomfortable sense of rejection!