Chapter 95: Chapter 90: The Capital City’s Situation, 100,000 Books, Sitting and Discussing the Dao

Regarding the difficult question of who would be the primary wife, it was impossible to choose by simply looking at Qi Muxue and Huo Hongling.

Therefore, Qi Xingyan and the Champion Marquis had come to a surprisingly similar conclusion.

They would let the two women spend some time with Lu Mingyuan and allow him to decide for himself.

With their greatest point of conflict resolved, the two fathers naturally wouldn’t interfere too much in the other details of the marriage.

As long as Lu Mingyuan could marry both women, that was enough.

The Champion Marquis had already achieved his goal for the marriage alliance, so he wouldn’t meddle further.

Ultimately, the possibility of Qi Muxue becoming the primary wife was highest. They had spent the most time together and shared the deepest bond.

Although his daughter had been wronged, the Champion Marquis felt helpless; it was her own doing.

If she had just married Lu Mingyuan back when he left the Capital to quell the rebellion, none of this would be happening now.

She had brought this upon herself, creating the situation she was in today.

He could only hope that Huo Hongling would fight for herself and make the Sixth Prince fall for her. Otherwise, if the position of primary wife went to another and she could only be a Consort, she would have no one to blame but herself.

Huo Hongling clearly knew it would be difficult to compete with Qi Muxue. She sulked off to the side, feeling utterly wronged.

Her father had berated and lectured her, not only forcing her to agree to the marriage but also demanding she intentionally lose her martial arts duel against the Sixth Prince to give the Wang Family some face.

But in the end, the other party didn’t appreciate the gesture at all.

The marriage was settled, but now it seemed she could only be a Consort.

After putting in so much effort, she found this outcome very difficult to accept.

Regardless, the matter of the marriage had finally come to a close.

When this news spread, the entire Imperial Capital City erupted.

Among the most heartbroken were the students and scholars from the various major academies.

Every one of them saw Qi Muxue as the white moonlight of their hearts, a goddess-like figure who was talented, beautiful, and influential. These intellectuals were full of opinions.

So, the very next day, they began writing articles attacking the Sixth Prince’s character and petitioning to have the arrangement overturned. However, they were all ignored by the Cabinet and the Advisory Platform Bureau.

They didn’t stop to think who was in the current Cabinet, or who was in charge of the Advisory Platform Bureau.

One was his maternal grandfather, Wang He’fu, who was the most likely candidate for Vice Chief Minister, and the other was the Advisor of the Imperial Censorate, the man in charge of all official remonstrations.

Thus, the condemnations aimed at Lu Mingyuan couldn’t make any waves or cause any real harm.

The second most heartbroken group were the young scions of the Military General Families. They had long dreamed of latching onto a great tree like the Champion Marquis. Among the Seven Great Marquis’s Mansions, which one hadn’t arranged marriages and married off their children early?

Only the sole daughter of the Champion Marquis’s Mansion had remained unmarried, so she naturally became the object of their ambitions. Over the past decade, no shortage of Noble Families had come to propose marriage, but all were rejected by the Champion Marquis.

Now, their only chance was gone.

They were quite indignant, believing it was impossible for Huo Hongling to lose to Lu Mingyuan in the Martial Dao. They were certain she had thrown the fight, bewitched by that scumbag Lu Mingyuan.

But compared to the scholars, they were even less capable of causing a stir.

Half of the Seven Great Marquis’s Mansions had already fallen. Marquis Zhongxin, Marquis Weiyuan, Marquis Antai, and others who had personally participated in the rebellion were all thrown in prison. As for accomplices whose sons had participated in the treason, like Marquis Wuan and Marquis Xiling, they were stripped of their military authority, placed under house arrest, and subjected to investigation as they tried their best to absolve themselves of guilt.

Currently, most of the military authority in the Great Yan Army rested on the shoulders of the Champion Marquis alone; only he could command it.

The others either lacked the seniority to become Marshal or had too little prestige to command such a vast army.

Since the Champion Marquis’s return to the Capital, he had been showered with immense imperial favor, and his future was boundless.

He had become the most brilliant military star in all of Great Yan.

Therefore, the Military General Families didn’t dare to curse Lu Mingyuan openly. At most, they would speak ill of him behind his back.

At this very moment, in a secluded alley in the Capital, a middle-aged woman held a copy of the Great Yan Mansion Report. Upon learning that the Sixth Prince was taking two wives, her expression shifted slightly. A waterfall of snow-white hair was revealed as she spoke in an amused tone, “To think, after all this time, he’s getting married. Enjoying the bliss of having two beautiful women, are we?”

She turned, a Daoist Talisman held between her fingers, and glanced toward the depths of the Imperial Palace.

“What on earth is that man on the dragon throne up to?”

The growth of the Taoist Sect’s influence had gradually stalled, and it was time to make some choices.

But before that, she had to investigate a few things.

…

「Several more days passed.」

Lu Mingyuan spent them in a flurry of martial training.

His “Martial Venerable” Fate Grid was invincible, countless times stronger than “Martial Fool.” It provided a complete, streamlined service, from learning Martial Arts to advancing their progress.

He had officially cultivated his master’s ultimate trump card—Celestial Spirit Hidden Dragon—to the Mastery Realm. According to Zhao Xuanwu, he was now unrivaled within the Lower Seven Realms.

With his seven hundred and sixty-one Acupoints, his strength was already among the most formidable Grandmasters. With this technique added to his arsenal, calling him a Grandmaster was now well and truly deserved.

Both his Black Tortoise Breathing Method and Thunder Prison Saber Scripture had entered their second Chapters: the Qi Transformation Chapter and the Saber Heart Chapter, respectively.

The Desolate Dragon Elephant Force had reached the fifth level, initiating a preliminary transformation.

His arms had been tempered like Divine Iron, becoming indestructible.

He felt it was a qualitative leap. Beyond the increase in strength, there were other enhancements as well.

When the Primordial Qi from all his Acupoints erupted, the dragon and elephant would roar in unison. He could gather the Gang Qi into illusory phantoms of a Divine Dragon and a Wild Elephant, which would spiral outwards with overwhelming Overlord Force. The resulting Qi Force was powerful enough to destroy more than half of the bamboo forest on the back mountain.

His current priorities in the Martial Dao were two main goals: “Enlightenment Blade Aspect” and “Mystical Enlightenment.” The latter was the fundamental principle of the “Sensing Chapter.”

Achieving either one would represent another qualitative leap.

When he grew tired from his training, he would occasionally take a walk around the Harem.

He wasn’t completely deaf to the outside world. The verdict on the Third Prince’s faction had finally been announced.

The main culprits—Marquis Weiyuan, Marquis Zhongxin, and Marquis Antai—along with their disciples, were all sentenced to execution. The two Marquis who were accomplices but had not directly participated managed to survive thanks to their Immunity Tokens. Their sons, however, were not so lucky; those who took part in the coup were all beheaded. The two surviving Marquis themselves still suffered the punishment of having their titles reduced.

Lu Mingyuan guessed that the Cabinet must have taken the Champion Marquis into account.

’They can’t let all of the Seven Great Martial Marquis fall,’ he thought. ’Otherwise, who would be left to counterbalance the Champion Marquis?’

’They can’t let the Champion Marquis become the sole, dominant power.’

As for the Third Prince, considering he hadn’t caused an irreparable disaster, had confessed willingly, and had been coerced—plus the Champion Marquis had spoken on his behalf—he received lenient treatment. His punishment was merely a fine on his stipend and the stripping of his merits for quelling the Rakshasa rebellion, which allowed him to keep his life.

The Third Prince had originally earned great distinction, majestically leading an army of 300,000 to completely quell the Rakshasa rebellion. He had performed a great service, but now it was all for nothing.

Not only that, but his power base in the Capital had also vanished, wiped completely clean.

The Seven Great Marquis’s Mansions now existed in name only.

Military power wasn’t so much in the hands of the Champion Marquis as it was in the hands of the Emperor.

The decline of the Seven Great Marquis’s Mansions had invisibly strengthened the Emperor’s authority.

That was the general situation.

As for Lu Mingyuan’s wedding, there was no rush. An auspicious date needed to be chosen. However, given his current circumstances, holding a grand and glorious ceremony would be difficult, which was another major headache.

Passing through the palace walls, he came upon an open space.

Lu Mingyuan happened to be passing by when his pupils contracted. Ahead of him, countless scrolls were spread out beneath a bamboo grove, creating an ocean of books, among which were numerous Bamboo Slips.

It was early summer, the time when the Wenyuan Pavilion would air out the books that had endured the spring dampness. The location for this was very particular, requiring a cool, ventilated, and dry place to prevent the books from being directly exposed to the sun.

But the sheer number of books before him was staggering. Even Lu Mingyuan had never seen so many in his life.

He estimated there were at least fifty thousand, if not a hundred thousand, books before him. And that was just the paper books; there were also all sorts of ancient Bamboo Slips, the original versions of ancient texts.

After the dampness of spring returned, they always had to be aired out before the start of high summer to ensure proper preservation. If any were damaged, they would have to be recopied.

He had long heard that the Wenyuan Pavilion was the primary imperial library of Great Yan. Also known as the Three Pavilion Secret Hall, it was said to hold ten million volumes. The rumors were indeed true. The books before him were but the tip of the iceberg.

In the midst of it all, he could see quite a few officials laying out the books and tending to them.

Among them, Lu Mingyuan spotted a familiar face.

Well, not exactly familiar, but someone he recognized.

“You’re Chen Ke, right?”

Lu Mingyuan saw Chen Ke airing out the scrolls and took the initiative to speak.

Previously, this young man had sought patronage everywhere only to have doors slammed in his face. It was Lu Mingyuan who had asked his grandfather to take him in, giving him the Senior Ninth Grade official post of Scholar.

Under the hot sun, Chen Ke periodically wiped the sweat from his brow with his official’s sleeve. Seeing Lu Mingyuan, a look of surprise flashed in his eyes, followed by delight. He bowed and said,

“Greetings, Your Highness.”

“How have you been lately? How many books have you read?”

Lu Mingyuan chuckled. It was just a pleasantry, a simple greeting.

He never expected Chen Ke’s next words to make his eyelids twitch.

“The Wenyuan Pavilion suits me very well. In the past few months, I’ve read nearly a hundred thousand volumes from the collection,” Chen Ke said with a grateful smile.

“You can read that fast?”

Lu Mingyuan was shocked.

“Actually, it’s not quite that many. A good portion of them were Bamboo Slips. The Wenyuan Pavilion is the imperial library, so most of the texts are originals, which means there are a lot of Bamboo Slips.”

“Besides, reading quickly has been a small advantage of mine since entering the Confucian Dao. I only sleep for two Hours a day. Other than eating and sleeping, I spend almost all my time reading,” Chen Ke recalled.

Lu Mingyuan found this behavior completely baffling.

He was even a little disbelieving.

“You’ve read so much… What have you learned?”

He couldn’t help but be curious.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep