Li Yi stood in front of the Sun Mansion, looking at the plaque above his head and feeling a little dazed.

Uncle Ma, who was leading the way, looked back at Li Yi, his mouth moved but he didn't speak.

After waiting for a while, Li Yi came back to his senses and smiled at Uncle Ma: "I haven't come back yet. When I arrived in front of this door, I suddenly remembered the days when I came to the teacher's house to study."

At the beginning, Sun Chengzong agreed to accept Li Yi as his disciple at Li Wuyang's request. The rule he set for Li Yi was that he must obtain a meritorious service, so Li Yi came to Sun Mansion to study every day, and finally obtained the meritorious service.

Uncle Ma smiled, he could be regarded as watching Li Yi grow up.

Looking at the tall and heroic young man in front of me, it seems that he is completely different from the innocent and simple boy back then. With the changes in the world, once the child grows up, everything changes.

Uncle Ma sighed in his heart and said with a smile: "Master is already waiting for you in the study, come in quickly."

Li Yi nodded lightly and walked into Sun Mansion.

Pushing open the door, Uncle Ma asked Li Yi to go in.

The study room was very bright. Li Yi walked through the shelves with antiques, knelt on the ground, touched his forehead and said: "Student Li Yi, meet the teacher."

Uncle Ma looked at this scene happily and quietly closed the door.

Sun Chengzong sat behind the desk and looked at Li Yi quietly.

His body, which used to be thin, is now even thinner, and his hair is gray. White has gradually become the majority. Only a pair of cloudy eyes are still bright, looking at him quietly.

"Get up."

I don't know how long it took before Sun Chengzong spoke.

Li Yi stood up and stood aside respectfully.

"I already know what happened in the capital. Is it worth it for you to cut off your own future for Chen Hongyan?" Sun Chengzong's tone was a little low, like a sigh, but also extremely majestic.

Li Yi looked up at the teacher's expression and said firmly: "Teacher, if I give up Hongyan for the sake of official position, I will definitely regret it."

Sun Chengzong's sharp eyes gradually dimmed, and he let out a long sigh, "Do you know how much the emperor, my teacher, and Yuan Chonghuan paid for you to become the censor of Qiandu?"

The chirping of birds outside the window disappeared with the sound of flapping wings. For the first time, Li Yi knew that he had suddenly obtained an official position, and there were so many benefits exchanged in it.

He suddenly felt depressed, thinking that he had made a choice, but in the end he still failed some people.

"Teacher, I...I don't know this."

Li Yi suddenly felt aggrieved. He had never wanted to obtain an official position, nor did he want to participate in power disputes, but no one asked him for his opinion, so he secretly made plans for himself.

No matter what I do now, I will let down some people, which will fill my chest with guilt and make me feel uncomfortable.

Sun Chengzong sat upright on his chair, his eyes full of solemnity.

This made his expression extremely hard and cold, giving people a sense of oppression.

Perhaps this is the majesty of the elders. Li Yi has always thought so and respected it.

"You have done a good job in Dongjiang Town. Yuan Chonghuan has already written me a reply." Sun Chengzong did not bother about Li Yi's dismissal. Perhaps in his view, the result of the fait accompli was no longer worth pursuing.

Li Yi said: "Mao Wenlong just doesn't want Dongjiang Town, which he worked so hard for, to be handed over to the court. In fact, he doesn't want to betray the Ming Dynasty."

Sun Chengzong looked at Li Yi and said in a cold tone: "This is not important."

Li Yi was slightly stunned and looked at Sun Chengzong with doubts in his eyes, not knowing how to continue speaking.

A smile appeared on Sun Chengzong's lips, "It doesn't matter what Mao Wenlong thinks. Neither the officials of the imperial court nor Yuan Chonghuan care what he thinks. What they want is to use Dongjiang Town more effectively and maintain the balance that is frequently broken in Liaodong."

Sun Chengzong's eyes met Li Yi's, and Li Yi looked away slightly.

It wasn't that he was afraid of Sun Chengzong, but he didn't want to look at that kind of look. The kind of look in which an elder teaches a younger person.

"But the emperor plans to use Mao Wenlong again. He values ​​Mao Wenlong's ability very much." Li Yi said.

"The Emperor will do what he wishes." Sun Chengzong laughed softly, "Civil officials know that there is no benefit in pushing too hard. After they get the appointment and dismissal of a fourth-rank official, they will give up Mao Wenlong's disposal power to the Emperor as compensation."

Li Yi shuddered and hesitated for a moment: "Lu Changfeng said that this is a competition between the civil servants and the emperor, because only by restricting the imperial power can the civil servants rarely be consistent."

"That's true." Sun Chengzong was silent for a moment and looked at the pen holder on the table silently. "Whether it is the first-class civil servants who want to take control of the political power, or the first-class conservatives who want to prevent the emperor from implementing the New Deal, they all treat the imperial power in the same way, that is,

To contain the imperial power."

After a moment of silence, Sun Chengzong looked down at Li Yi: "You have to understand that it is the conservatives who are dealing with you this time, not the reformists like Qian Longxi and Li Biao."

"Renovation? Is it to limit imperial power and put power in the hands of scholar-bureaucrats?" Li Yi asked.

Sun Chengzong nodded.

"During the Ming Dynasty, there were many emperors. Some of them wanted to be the emperor of the ages, some wanted to be great generals, some wanted to be true kings, some wanted to be rich, some wanted to be playboys, and some

Some want to be carpenters, and some want to realize the resurgence of the Ming Dynasty."

"We feel that if the country is handed over to such an emperor, the world will never be able to achieve great governance for generations. Since they want to be all kinds of people, but they don't want to be the emperor, then why can't we put the power in the hands of the scholar-bureaucrats and let the entire empire have the most powerful

Elite talents should govern the world?" Sun Chengzong said very lightly, "The emperors of the Ming Dynasty were just ordinary people born at the peak of power, not the destined people with the highest virtue and talent."

"But...but that is the Emperor..."

"Because his surname is Zhu and he has the blood of Taizu, he can be the emperor who governs all the people in the world?" Sun Chengzong looked at Li Yi coldly, "Is this right?"

The look in his eyes made Li Yi unable to breathe. After a while, he reluctantly asked: "Then why did you let me go to Liaodong and the capital?"

"Zizheng, you are a smart boy, you should know what is right." Sun Chengzong looked a little dazed.

Li Yi bit his lips and said stubbornly: "I don't know what is right or wrong. I only know that the Ming Dynasty is falling into the abyss step by step. I only know that more and more people cannot survive. I only know that the frontiers

The soldiers have become insensitive, and all I know is that the powerful are rotten to the core.”

"Childish." Sun Chengzong sneered, his voice aggressive, "You will understand. When you meet certain people, you will know that you are never as strong as you think."

There was a ray of light in his narrowed chaotic eyes, just like the first ray of light when Pangu opened the world, full of hope and relief. The flame of aging burned in his flesh and blood, and he seemed to have seen the birth of hope.

"Child, when you feel that when you meet someone you can't let go of, your life will no longer continue for you. They will make you have no hesitation, reveal your sharp teeth and claws, and turn into a cold and cruel monster.

Even if you are against everyone, you still have to make them happy."

The young man suddenly raised his head and felt that the blood all over his body was rushing. Countless slender needles were pierced into his body. The huge pain made him roar crazily, like a black dragon in the abyss of hell about to rise into the sky, endless.

Darkness swarmed in, and he sank into the cold darkness. Feelings of helplessness and sadness washed away over and over again. Each of his companions turned into cold corpses one after another. The dark flames of hell surged and jumped, illuminating their expressions in the deepest part of their memories.

Inside, a gentle woman was looking at him lovingly.

"Mother……"

Li Yi opened his eyes suddenly.

It was still a nightmare. Li Yi, covered in sweat, got up from the bed and didn't know why he suddenly had such a strange dream.

The door was pushed open, and Xiaoyu, wearing a plain white dress, came in carrying a copper basin. Seeing that Li Yi was awake, a faint smile appeared on her face.

"Shitou, get up quickly, or my aunt will scold you again when she comes back." Xiaoyu's bright eyes were like a clear spring, clear and indifferent.

Only then did Li Yi realize that he had returned to his home in Anxin Town.

Standing up from the bed, Li Yi washed his face with clear well water. The splashing water droplets splashed on Xiaoyu's clothes. She was not angry, and kept a happy smile on her face.

"Xiaoyu, can you still do the work of Fuguoshe alone?"

Li Yi took the white towel from Xiaoyu's hand and wiped his face.

Xiaoyu walked carefully behind Li Yi and combed his messy hair. "It's okay. Nothing major is happening in Baoding Mansion now. Some of the staff of the Fuguo Society followed Brother Ma to Mongolia, and some were taken by Sister Hongyan."

I took him to the northwest. Every day I just deal with some trivial matters and review documents coming from various places."

Li Yi wiped the water droplets on his face and said with a smile: "Ma Hewen is afraid that he will stay in Mongolia for a long time this time, so you should take more responsibility for the affairs of Fuguoshe. Waiting for things in Mongolia to stabilize in the future, they will naturally

Will come back.”

Xiaoyu put on the crown for Li Yi, with a hint of blush on her fair face, "It's nothing. I heard that things in Mongolia are very bad. Brother Ma also transferred many people from the Fuguo Society, saying that he was going to build a Dongyang Town in Mongolia.

, it must be better than Anxin Town.”

Li Yi suddenly laughed, "This Ma Hewen has always wanted to do something big. Now he is in charge of tens of thousands of people in Mongolia. He has the final say in everything. I'm afraid there will be trouble."

A faint smile appeared on Xiaoyu's face, and she straightened her clothes for Li Yi, "Okay, now that you've finally come back, don't talk about Mongolia and Liaodong. If Auntie hears it, your ears will suffer again."

Li Yitian was not afraid of anything but the Wang family, so he immediately shut his mouth.

Xiaoyu couldn't help but giggle when she saw Li Yi was so frightened.

Li Yi turned around and hugged Xiaoyu, pretending to be angry and said: "Are you laughing at me?"

Xiaoyu leaned on Li Yi's chest, her cheeks suddenly turned red, and she lowered her head and said, "I'm just laughing at you."

"Okay, you dare to laugh at me." Li Yi pretended to punish Xiaoyu, but Xiaoyu was so frightened that she screamed in a low voice and was about to run away.
Chapter completed!