Zhuolu

After a moment of silence, gasps were heard from the crowd.

Lin Xin walked off the stage, and the disciples of the aristocratic families around the competition stage consciously stepped out of the way, exactly the same as when everyone in the previous life met him. He simply raised his chin, and returned Yu Yuan to Shen Lou with one hand, with a very arrogant posture.

Shen Lou received the sword, but saw Lin Xin wink his eyes quickly at him, and then instantly resumed his contemptuous and arrogant posture, which was quite funny to watch.

The crown prince looked at Zhou Kang, who had walked onto the stage in a vain manner, and was very disappointed. On the way back to the palace, he said to the emperor, “I wanted to recommend Zhou Kang to the position of Marquis of Xunlu, but I didn’t expect him to be beaten by a boy who just got his hair cut.”

Feng Zhuoyi laughed when he heard this, “It is not Zhou Kang, it is Lin Xin who is too powerful. Zhu Xingli really has the ability, my son should humbly ask him for advice.”

“I understand.” The crown prince nodded in response, but his brows did not unfurrow.

“Zhou Kang is also a talent, let’s think about it.” Emperor Yuan Shuo lifted the curtain of the carriage, looked at Feng Zhong who was riding side by side with Lin Xin, then he looked at Shen Lou surrounded by the children of the aristocratic family, thoughtfully.

The hunt in Xianchi was over, and after returning to the palace, rewards would be given for meritorious service.

Shen Lou won the first place, and he was given a lot of rewards as usual, and some rare medicinal herbs were also rewarded to make him healthy. Everyone almost forgot about Shen Shizi’s frail and sick state, and then after remembering, the people who originally planned to invite Shen Lou to drink suddenly stopped thinking.

“The talents of the sixth prince can be put to great use. Let’s take the word today and call him Jiuying.” Feng Zhuoyi wrote the words on the table with his own hands, and Feng Zhong took it with both hands, kneeling to thank his father.

Since the word was taken, he must be crowned king.

“My younger brother is handsome and elegant, so he should use these characters as his name.” The crown prince suggested with a smile.

Lin Xin stood aside and listened and couldn’t help rolling his eyes. When princes were crowned kings, most of them used words such as “virtuous”, “loyal” and “integrity” in their name. No matter how bad they were, they would still use “auspicious” and “safe” for auspiciousness. What did the King of Da Yong mean? Handsome, romantic and suave? It sounded  like a decoration or a vase.

Feng Zhong happily accepted the title and would hold a king crowning ceremony soon. As for the matter of Lin Xin being conferred the title of Marquis, the emperor seemed to have forgotten it, and didn’t mention it, but only said that he would be rewarded for defeating Zhou Kang.

“Living up to such a win at a young age, and to be able to win the No. 1 Scholar in martial arts, your future is truly limitless.” The emperor left Lin Xin alone and asked him what he studied on weekdays.

“I’ve learned a little bit of everything, but I’m not very proficient at it,” Lin Xin said perfunctorily. Suddenly, he felt like someone was stabbing him with eye knives. He stood still for a moment, then turned his head suddenly, and saw someone standing right in the corner. Zhou Kang, who had been standing guard there, was sneering while looking at him, “Guard Zhou, seems to be a little dissatisfied with this minister.”

“Huh?” The emperor looked over and saw that Zhou Kang had already knelt down.

“Subordinate dares not.” Zhou Kang said in a stiff tone.

“Being Heaven’s favored son, he was defeated suddenly one day. It’s normal to be angry.” Lin Xin deliberately angered him in a weird way. That day in the hunting ground, if Feng Zhuoyi hadn’t prohibited killing people, the Yu Yuan sword would have chopped Zhou Kang’s neck up.

At the end of his last life, Feng Zhong was imprisoned in Tianlao Peak, and he was often tortured by Zhou Kang. When he was finally pushed to the battlefield, he even lost his spiritual veins.

Zhou Kang lowered his head and said nothing, his fists resting on the ground, clenched tightly.

“Naughty,” the emperor smiled helplessly, and waved Zhou Kang out, “Your mother was a mortal, and the Lin family determined that you would not have spiritual veins. Unexpectedly, you are a rare genius.”

“The emperor has seen my mother?” Lin Xin asked curiously.

“I’ve seen her before, she was quite an interesting girl…” Lin Xin’s memory of his parents was already very blurred. When he was a child, he would cry every night at Zhao’s house. Later, he was tied up by Young Master Zhao to the Snow Mountain. After a night of freezing, he never dreamed of his parents again.

Occasionally, he heard some of the past from Zhu Xingli’s mouth, but only a few words which did not form a chapter. On the contrary, it was six months after his master’s death that the emperor whispered in his ear about his parents the most during the six months he was in the palace.

Coming out of the main hall, he saw Zhou Kang standing on the jade steps without looking sideways. Lin Xin walked over with his hands behind his back and looked at him from bottom to top. “You do not have the demeanor of a champion of martial arts.”

“Young master is protected by the secret treasure of the Zhu family, and this subordinate feels ashamed.” Zhou Kang gritted his teeth and did not hide his anger. He was the son of a thousand family household, so even though he was extremely talented, he had always received very few resources. Now he finally had the opportunity to be promoted to ten thousand families household, but it was ruined by this dandy relying on secret treasures.

“Secret treasure?” Lin Xin raised his eyebrows, thinking that this person felt that his soul power was weak, so he must think that he used the spiritual weapon Zhu Yangai gave him to cheat, “You think too highly of yourself, and I don’t need a secret treasure to deal with you.”

Swinging his sleeves and leaving, Lin Xin walked down the eighty-one jade steps step by step. Lin Xin looked back at the resplendent main hall and the guards in golden armor with cold lines, his heart sinking slightly.

In addition to loyal ministers, these civil servants and military generals who were always oppressed by the nobles from humble backgrounds were also good promoters of the order of discretion. If he didn’t do it, most people like Zhou Kang would work hard for the emperor.

“Young Lord! Little Lord, stay a step!” The eunuch beside the emperor ran over with his chubby body, bowed his head and saluted, “The emperor asked the servant to send your reward to the East Palace.”

“Yes.” Lin Xin was not too polite, the eunuch motioned to the palace servants holding the rewards behind him to follow, and he carefully walked slowly with Lin Xin.

“The emperor really loves you. Here are a few extremely rare gadgets that the princes asked for before, but the emperor was not willing to give them.” The eunuch spoke sweetly, praising his master all the way, without repeating anything.

Walking on the palace road, they saw an old wooden cart pulling something out. A golden object fell from the wooden cart and hit the bluestone floor, making a crisp clanging sound.

The footsteps of the cart puller paused slightly, but Lin Xin picked up the thing faster than the other party. It was a small golden melon seed with an inconspicuous “Zhu” character carved on the side of the melon seed.

Lifting off the covered straw mat, there was a young female corpse lying on the wooden cart. It was obvious that she had just died not long ago, as her face still looked fresh. The girl in palace attire was the girl who showed Lin Xin the way on the palace road that day. The little maid’s hands were slightly curled up, the golden melon seeds probably fell from the bruise-covered fingers.

“Hey, where did this come from?” the big eunuch asked the little eunuchs pushing the cart.

“Jinchuan Pavilion.” The little eunuch flinched and glanced in the direction of Jinchuan Pavilion, then pushed the cart and continued walking.

The Jinchuan Pavilion was exclusively for the children of the aristocratic families who participated in the hunt in Xianchi. Except for Shen Lou and the brothers of the Zhong family who were living in the East Palace, the rest lived there. Itwais self-evident what happened to the young and beautiful little court lady who died in the Jinchuan Pavilion and was being dealt with so quietly.

Lin Xin’s face turned cold, and he held the golden melon seed in his hands without speaking.

“Mortal slaves die every day, and the royal family can’t help it. Don’t be angry, Lord Marquis.” The chief eunuch hurriedly spoke out to comfort him.

Lin Xin glanced over, and his killing intent scared the eunuch almost to the ground, “Go on your own.” After saying that, he walked in the opposite direction to the East Palace.

“Hey, Young Lord!” The eunuch had no choice but to lead the palace servants to the East Palace alone,and met Shen Lou who was waiting for Lin Xin at the gate of the palace.

“Where’s Lin Xiaohou?” Shen Lou frowned.

The Royal Library Pavilion was built like a tower, and books from ancient times to the present were piled up in the tower. Lin Xin searched for half an hour before finding Zhu Xingli in a corner covered in cobwebs.

“What’s the matter?” Zhu Xingli jumped down from the window sill, bringing up a cloud of dust, and poked Lin Xin’s nose with his dusty fingertips, “Who bullied you?”

Lin Xin slapped away Zhu Xingli’s dirty hands, then he looked up at him, “Master, if there is one thing, if you do it, you will lose your reputation, and if you don’t do it, the world will fall into chaos. What would you do?” Buddha could sacrifice his life for the people, but Lin Xin was just a layman.

“Life is about being alive, but I just ask you to have a clear conscience. In fact, you have already thought about what to do.” The smile on Zhu Xingli’s face gradually faded, and he replied in a rare and serious manner.

Lin Xin lowered his head and did not speak.

Zhu Xingli casually threw the finished book back to the bookshelf, tilted his head to look at his apprentice, and suddenly laughed, “Hahahaha! Wasn’t I like a particularly immortal teacher just now?”

“…”

“I’m lying to you, idiot “Zhu Xingli dragged his apprentice out of the dusty Library Pavilion, grabbed a piece of grass and put it in his mouth, “There is nothing to be ashamed of, let me tell you, the most important thing in life is to live comfortably. It doesn’t matter if you lose your reputation or the world is overthrown, at worst, we will have to go to the fortune-telling for fear of a bird’s egg.”

Lin Xin looked at Zhu Xingli firmly, with such a master… why would you worry about being bad.