Ch 261: Ying Zheng: I’ve lived a wandering life, my only regret is…
Knowing his own identity, Ying Zheng had speculated about Chu Mo’s purpose in seeking him out.
Perhaps… that deadbeat father of his, who disappeared without a trace, had done something to attract the attention of the person before him? That was why he had been brought here?
It was also possible that there had been changes in the Qin state, and the person before him was planning to use him as a bargaining chip in the power struggle?
Although the Zhao state also shared the Ying surname, and the two royal families traced their origins to the same ancestor, he didn’t believe that the Zhao royal family would really treat him differently because of this.
If that were really the case… then his life before wouldn’t have been like this.
However, he never expected…
โโโ
“You, are you serious?!” Ying Zheng’s teeth chattered as he sat next to Chu Mo’s Avatar. Before him were bamboo slips that had been reviewed and corrected. He could read and recognized that these slips recorded major events related to the current changes in the Zhao state.
Not to mention a hostage from another country, even the crown prince… would hardly be able to see all the corrections made by the ruler of a country, right? What did this mean? Had it been confirmed that he was going to die… so there were no more concerns? But there was no reason for that either.
However, Chu Mo’s Avatar didn’t reply. He simply continued to do so quietly…
Ying Zheng bit his lower lip. Although he still felt apprehensive and uneasy, he decided to take things one step at a time. He didn’t leave, obeying Chu Mo’s orders…
And so, a year passed.
Ying Zheng turned ten years old!
Ying Zheng had given up all hope. Since he hadn’t been killed for a full year… that meant he wasn’t being used as bait.
However, on this day of his tenth birthday, Ying Zheng, who had already adapted to his situation, was once again thrown into turmoil. Because the Avatar actually began to let Ying Zheng handle some of the bamboo slips, even instructing him…
This was too outrageous! Ying Zheng had wondered more than once what this person was trying to do.
For the first two months, Ying Zheng would occasionally try to probe, but after another half a year, once he confirmed that Chu Mo was simply teaching him and letting him make corrections, and there were really no other hidden motives, he fell silent, eventually only focusing on learning diligently and even working.
And so, Ying Zheng reached the age of eleven.
Chu Mo’s attitude changed once again, making a new decision… and then Ying Zheng was shocked to discover that the bamboo slips he corrected… the person next to him, although he would occasionally look through them, rarely rejected them…
And the resolutions he made… the decisions he made… were actually genuinely changing the country beneath his feet!
This… even made Ying Zheng feel apprehensive, and, imperceptibly, excited…
He had a vague guess…
Although it was absurd that the Zhao throne could fall to him, even with the same surname, considering what he had seen during this time… the great changes in the Zhao state, and the mysterious nature of the person before him… it didn’t seem entirely impossible.
In response, after tossing and turning sleeplessly for several nights, Ying Zheng finally made up his mind. Chu Mo was already showing such inclinations… how could he regress? He began to study frantically! Diligently handling government affairs.
His painful childhood memories had instilled in him an almost pathological pursuit of power!
He clearly recognized that only by being high above could he avoid being bullied by anyone!
And so, he finally turned twelve years old.
In this year, he had practically become the King of Zhao in fact. He controlled this massive war machine!
Of course, Ying Zheng was still very aware of his limitations. All of his power… came entirely from Chu Mo. The one who almost never came to the palace hall anymore… to review documents!
Although he still didn’t understand Chu Mo’s purpose, Ying Zheng was no longer uneasy… After three years together, he truly regarded Chu Mo as a teacher, as an elder. Although strictly speaking, Chu Mo was much younger than Ying Zheng at this moment.
โโโ
Meanwhile.
While Chu Mo’s Avatar was teaching Ying Zheng, his main body was naturally traveling through the Seven Kingdoms. Chu Mo’s name, Zhao Chu, had become famous throughout the world in these three years!
Not because he had occupied the Zhao state. Although the changes in the Zhao state were significant, in the eyes of outsiders, the King of Zhao had simply been overthrown by other members of the royal family. Ying Zheng becoming the quasi-king, although absurd, many believed that this must be a scheme by the Zhao Family Ancestor… otherwise, there was no way to explain why the Zhao Family Ancestor hadn’t killed Ying Zheng.
Chu Mo’s name, Zhao Chu, was very famous in the Zhao state, but mainly because of the reforms. His fame throughout the world was only a secondary reason… the main reason was! He had created many completely new ideas, innovating and transforming the doctrines of the Hundred Schools of Thought.
Han Feizi’s future mastery of Legalism… the ever-evolving system of centralized imperial rule…
The constantly evolving military doctrines from the Qin to the Qing dynasties…
The new Mohist doctrines that integrated science and completed another transformation of Mohism…
And, most terrifying of all, the Confucian doctrines!
The others were merely reforms and subversions. But the Confucian doctrines were the mainstream of one era after another in the future, its depth and breadth unmatched and unparalleled by any other doctrine…
Chu Mo’s experiences over the past three years were equivalent to throwing all the accumulated knowledge of one era after another in the future into this final glorious era… The resulting shockwaves were naturally needless to say.
He had already obtained the Sage Position of all the prominent schools in the current world!
He was a Confucian Sage, a Military Sage, a Mohist Sage, and a Legalist Sage…
And on this day, Chu Mo arrived before the Great World of Qi State and began to break through the boundary. While stirring up the divine power within his body, Chu Mo sorted through the information transmitted by the Avatar, feeling somewhat subtle.
“Unknowingly, A Zheng is already twelve years old… If I remember correctly, Ying Zheng in the orthodox history returned to his country around this time to prepare to inherit the throne, right?”
“He seems to have ascended the throne at thirteen? Obtained Lรผ Buwei’s investment? A rare commodity worth hoarding!”
“But now…”
Chu Mo smiled silently. The fact that Ying Zheng had become the King of Zhao would naturally be noticed by the Qin state. In response, the Qin state’s thinking was naturally extremely chaotic…
Even though the succession to the throne was already vaguely problematic… Ying Zheng’s father, Ying Yiren, was still considering who to give the next throne to…
He had thought about giving it to Ying Zheng, but… he was also somewhat confused and hesitant. Or rather, who could be sure whether Ying Zheng at this moment was standing on the side of the Zhao state or the Qin state?!
But the problem was that although he had another child… Ying Zheng was definitely the most suitable person to inherit the Qin state at present.
“What decision will you make?” A strange light flickered in Chu Mo’s eyes. He had naturally been to the Qin state in the past three years, and even met and interacted with Ying Yiren and Lรผ Buwei, so he was very clear… what Ying Yiren was struggling with at this moment.
He was thinking that if he could let the Qin state take the lead… even merging the Qin and Zhao states wasn’t absolutely impossible. After all, the two royal families came from the same lineage… but the only problem was that the two countries also had deep-seated blood feuds.
โโโ
To Chu Mo, it was all the same… Even if Ying Zheng and Ying Yiren really chose the two-state merger plan, he guaranteed that the Zhao state would have no intention of resisting. If they really fought, he wouldn’t care either.
The Great Qin in the original Warring States history was naturally invincible… but the Zhao state that he had transformed was, strictly speaking, already above Qin in strength.
Even if the Qin and Zhao fought a second time, the one who ultimately won, and even unified the world, would inevitably be the Zhao state.
It’s just that…
“…If it goes on like this, Ying Zheng might become the Zhao Emperor!” Chu Mo fell into thought, “I just don’t know, if things really develop in this direction… what changes will happen to that First Dragon in later generations?”
Chu Mo didn’t care about this. In the current era… there were only two things worth his attention and focus. One was becoming stronger… and the other was the Heavenly Dao Position! Because the Heavenly Dao hadn’t yet fallen, he could only focus on becoming stronger.
“Alright.” Chu Mo’s body suddenly shook, finally descending, “Jixia Academy… I hope you won’t disappoint me.”
This was the true supreme hall of this era… hiding the wisdom of the entire Warring States period. There was even a Quasi-Sage Realm Confucian Sage sitting in town!
Chu Mo felt that if he could break into that realm without using Primordial Qi, it could only be here… Of course, if he still couldn’t do it after coming here, then he could only take Blood River Vast Heaven directly to the Heavenly Court to see what was going on with the Jade Emperor.
โโโ
Jixia Academy.
“As expected of Master Chu.” Confucius stared at the contents of the book before him, his tone inexplicable.
“Master…” Xunzi’s expression didn’t waver in the slightest, but a coldness and doubt emerged in his eyes, “I still feel that something is wrong with this Zhao Chu.”
“Tell me.” Confucius didn’t commit himself, his gaze never leaving the book from beginning to end, reading with an almost intoxicated expression.
This book was called Zhao Chu’s Sayings! It recorded all of Master Chu’s statements on Confucian doctrines, all the newly established concepts, and his views on the evolution of Confucianism… There were many things in it that Confucius actually quite disliked, but there were also many things that made Confucius feel sincerely admired.
But whether it was dislike or admiration, these were all fields he had never touched. He even began to doubt as he read… was this really Confucianism?
Of course, Confucius also believed that the other Sages in the world would probably have the same thoughts as him when they saw the other doctrines.
“He has only debuted for three years… yet, he has transformed all the doctrines.” Xunzi bit his lower lip, his fists clenched silently. Although he was a Confucian disciple, he had a very deep understanding of Legalist doctrines.
Confucius had once joked… that he might obtain the Legalist Sage Position before obtaining the Confucian Sage Position, which showed how deep his understanding was.
“It’s impossible for such a person to exist in this world! Even someone as powerful as you can’t do it… Moreover, since ancient times, being able to attain the Sage Position of one of the Hundred Schools of Thought… the other Sage Positions would inevitably be affected. The only one who has ever created a miracle is that Daoist Sage… but he only obtained the Quasi-Sage Positions of the other schools, not the True Sage Positions.”
“But this one…”
Xunzi wasn’t simply questioning for the sake of questioning. Although he was indeed somewhat envious, even jealous of this Zhao Chu… there were too many abnormalities that defied common sense about this person.
“Perhaps.” Confucius finally stopped reading, looking at Xunzi deeply, sighing, “But… he is special.”
Confucius’s gaze deepened for a moment, then returned to calm,
“…Special?” Xunzi’s eyes showed confusion.
However, Confucius didn’t continue to say anything, or rather, couldn’t say anything. Should he say that this was the one who had previously caused the Heavenly Dao to tremble? According to Confucius’s contacts in the heavens, he had vaguely realized that this person might have been trying to become the second Heavenly Dao at that time…
Compared to that, what did encompassing the Sage Positions of the Hundred Schools of Thought count for? It was only normal! Of course… this kind of thing was also extremely taboo! Unless his disciple achieved a similar realm to himself… he couldn’t describe it.
In the next moment, Confucius’s expression changed drastically. He suddenly turned his head, then smiled silently, a hint of joy, a hint of apprehension appearing in his eyes, “He’s finally here. What was that saying from the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, the novel he wrote to attain the Sage Position of Novelist… Speak of Cao Cao, and Cao Cao arrives?”
“…Huh?!” Xunzi’s pupils contracted. In the next moment, he felt the surging divine power flowing through Confucius’s body, and the surrounding scenery changed drastically.
This was a wide square.
A young man who looked to be eleven or twelve years old, with his hands behind his back, stood quietly in the center of the square. There was no unusual aura about him, and his appearance was handsome, with a strange charm that was difficult to describe in words.
Some people seemed to be born as the center of this world… and he was the representative among them.
Many of the academy’s students were even approaching him, asking about his condition… worrying if something had happened to him, and whether he needed any help.
“So… where is that one?” Xunzi scanned the surroundings in confusion. Finally, following Confucius’s gaze, he once again turned his attention to the outstanding young man he had seen at first glance.
“???”
“…He, this.” Xunzi’s pupils contracted, his expression showing bewilderment. He realized something, and tried his best to extend his divine sense, then his expression became even more shocked and dazed.
He couldn’t detect the slightest abnormality on that young man’s body with his Confucian Qi perception. In his eyes, that was just a normal… young man! With that kind of vigor and vitality.
However, he wouldn’t question his teacher either. So…
“He hides it very well. Even I! It’s not that I discovered it, but that he deliberately… is calling out to me?” Confucius stroked his beard, glancing at Xunzi as if he had seen through all his thoughts, “Adding an extra sentence, if you feel that he is very young… that’s not that your perception is wrong, but that he, may really be that old.”
“???” Xunzi’s heart was truly stirred up this time, exclaiming, “That’s impossible… absolutely impossible!”
Opening up so many doctrines in three years was already unbelievable… If he was an old antique who had lived for hundreds of millions of years, then Xunzi said that he might be able to understand…
Really just a teenager?!
Starting to learn the doctrines of the Hundred Schools of Thought from the womb, it would be impossible to learn all the academics at this age, let alone innovate and create them?!
…
