We have fought to the Arctic Circle, and you want me to inherit the throne?

Chapter 1011 Trip to Yunmeng Mountain (1)

Lin Qingyuan looked up in astonishment, his face full of question marks: "What did Your Majesty say? Odd... what do you mean? Forgive my ignorance, I have not been able to understand Your Majesty's meaning."

Li Che stared intently into his eyes, seeing only pure bewilderment and confusion.

His heart sank slightly. Lin Qingyuan's performance didn't seem fake. Could it be that his fellow villager wasn't good at math?

Undeterred, he switched to an even more distinctive code, pronouncing each word carefully: "Palace, Court, Jade, Liquid, Wine?"

Lin Qingyuan was even more confused. He blinked and hesitated, saying, "Does Your Majesty wish to drink wine? I have never heard of this wine before. If it is a fine wine from the palace, I will go and find it at the Court of Imperial Sacrifices..."

He thought the emperor wanted to drink some kind of special imperial wine, but the name was really strange.

Li Che looked at his handsome face, which was full of innocence, and waved his hand helplessly.

It seems that this Lin Tanhua was completely unaware of the truth, either because he had not received the core teachings of his master, or because that fellow villager was not from the lineage of Xu Jiezi.

He took a deep breath and forcibly suppressed his turbulent emotions.

"Enough." Li Che's voice regained its composure. "Minister Lin, I summoned you here to inquire about the matter of Yunmeng Mountain."

"The matter of Yunmeng Mountain?" Lin Qingyuan was slightly taken aback, a hint of hesitation in his eyes.

It concerns the secrets of his sect and is never told to outsiders. Even when the emperor inquires, he must consider it carefully.

Seeing his reaction, Li Che immediately realized that he had been too hasty and might arouse suspicion.

He took a deep breath and softened his tone: "Minister Lin, there is no need to be nervous. Your master, Xu Jiezi, is currently traveling north by boat and will arrive in the capital soon. I have already sent people to meet him."

"What? Master is coming to the capital?" Lin Qingyuan was genuinely surprised this time, his brows furrowing.

He knew his teacher's character well; he was always indifferent to worldly affairs and lived a secluded life in Yunmeng Mountain for many years, rarely venturing down the mountain to engage in worldly affairs.

But I don't know why...

Li Che rubbed his throbbing temples and explained, "You've been traveling in the Xuanzheng Hall, so you must have heard about the great plague in Qiongzhou."

Lin Qingyuan suddenly understood, thinking to himself, 'So that's how it is. The epidemic in Qiongzhou is severe, causing immense suffering. Although my teacher lives a secluded life, he is also compassionate, and his decision to descend the mountain to heal the sick and save lives is indeed in line with his character.'

But then he looked puzzled, thinking, 'Even if I went down the mountain to help with disaster relief, I should return to the mountains afterward. Why would I make a special trip to the capital to meet the Emperor? This is unlike my teacher's usual style.'

Seeing the confusion on Lin Qingyuan's face, Li Che knew that he was unaware of the key details, so he decided to reveal part of the truth.

"The reason he came to see me is that he discovered in Qiongzhou that the method I used to control the plague, the cowpox vaccine, is exactly the same as the medical techniques passed down by the Guigu School."

Lin Qingyuan's pupils contracted slightly, his face filled with disbelief: "This is actually true?! Why is this happening, this..."

Li Che interrupted him: "I will not lie to you, I suspect that your master, Xu Jiezi, and I may very well have come from the same 'place'."

"The same place?" Lin Qingyuan was first shocked, then subconsciously retorted, "Your Majesty means that Master is also of royal lineage? That's absolutely impossible!"

"My master is over a hundred years old. In his youth, the imperial family was still in hiding, but..."

He stopped himself in time; what he said next might have been less respectful.

The implication is clear: the Li family, before becoming emperor, was just an ordinary aristocratic family. Given the Li family's background at the time, it was impossible for them to have such a deep connection with the long-established Guigu School.

"It has nothing to do with the royal family."

Li Che shook his head, knowing that this was difficult to explain using common sense, and said in a deep voice: "The specific reasons are difficult for me to explain to you at this moment."

"I summoned you here today only to ask you some questions about Yunmeng Mountain."

"Tell me what you can say. If it involves secrets of your sect that are not suitable for others to share, you may choose to remain silent. I will not blame you for it."

He looked at Lin Qingyuan with a very sincere gaze, showing the utmost respect to this third-ranked scholar.

Lin Qingyuan fell silent, his expression shifting unpredictably.

He could tell that the emperor was not joking, and the urgency in his words did not seem feigned.

On one hand, there were the precepts of his sect; on the other, there was the inquiry from his sovereign and father, and the matter concerned his revered master. Lin Qingyuan was torn between these two conflicting emotions.

After a moment, he took a deep breath and solemnly cupped his hands to Li Che: "Since Your Majesty treats me with such sincerity, I dare not be unworthy of your attention."

"Your Majesty, please ask. I will speak freely about anything I know that does not violate the great precepts of my sect."

Li Che nodded slightly. Lin Qingyuan's attitude was correct. If he had agreed immediately, it would have seemed suspicious.

After a moment of contemplation, Li Che asked, "I only know that Yunmeng Mountain is the place where the Ghost Valley lineage is passed down, but I do not know the specific rules of the lineage. Could you please enlighten me?"

Lin Qingyuan nodded and replied, "Your Majesty, this matter is not a top secret within the sect. Yunmeng Mountain reveres the Warring States sage Guiguzi as its founding patriarch, and therefore the core inheritors who have led Yunmeng Mountain throughout the ages have been called 'Guiguzi'."

"Just as Your Majesty thought, my master is none other than the contemporary Guiguzi."

Li Che pressed further, "Does your master have any senior or junior brothers?"

“Of course there are,” Lin Qingyuan said. “According to the sect rules, when the previous Guiguzi passes away, or when he feels old and frail and decides to retire, he will select one of his disciples to succeed him as ‘Guiguzi’.”

"As for the other disciples, no matter how long they have been cultivating on the mountain, they must immediately leave the mountain and depart from Yunmeng Mountain."

He paused, then explained in detail: "Although they are not expelled from the sect, nor are they prohibited from returning to the mountain to visit in the future, they can no longer identify themselves as 'disciples of Yunmeng Mountain' after leaving the mountain."

"These senior and junior masters often enter the secular world, relying on their talents and learning to either devote themselves to Confucianism, Taoism, or Buddhism, or become high-ranking officials or honored guests of aristocratic families, depending on their own opportunities."

Upon hearing this, Li Che's heart stirred; these rules were not simple.

In this way, only the sect leader knows the sect's core secrets.

Could it be that fellow villager set up this rule to cover up a secret?

He asked in surprise, "So, apart from you disciples who haven't yet completed your apprenticeships, the vast Yunmeng Mountain is usually only overseen by your master?"

Lin Qingyuan's face showed a complicated expression as he replied, "Your Majesty is wise. However, my master is different from other Guiguzi masters throughout history."

"The teacher values ​​the bond between fellow disciples the most. When he took over the position of Guiguzi, he did not follow the old practice of having his senior brothers and sisters immediately descend the mountain. Instead, he had everyone continue to live on the mountain together and study together."

"It wasn't until later, when some things happened that were unknown to outsiders, that Master hardened his heart and sent them all down the mountain."

"I later met several of my senior brothers and uncles who had come down the mountain. They would return to the mountain to visit Master during festivals, but they would only stay for a few days and would not stay for long."

Li Che seemed to be deep in thought; this event was probably the key.

He then asked, "So, you disciples have all descended the mountain now? Could it be that your master has already chosen the next successor to Guiguzi?"

Lin Qingyuan shook his head: "Our situation is special. Our master has always praised Your Majesty's reforms and elimination of abuses in private."

"Influenced by our master, we fellow disciples also yearned for His Majesty and the new dynasty. Later, His Majesty issued an edict seeking talented people from all over the world. We could no longer sit still and asked our master for permission to take charge."

"Master's permission for us to descend the mountain is more like an opportunity to gain worldly experience and broaden our horizons. Perhaps Master feels that he has a long lifespan and is not in a hurry to select a successor."

Li Che nodded slightly, but his heart grew even heavier.

The rule of Guiguzi's lineage being passed down to only one person was clearly to protect certain core secrets to the greatest extent possible.

Therefore, the fellow villager who traveled through time may not necessarily be Xu Jiezi, but could be his master, or even an earlier generation of Guiguzi.

This has unwittingly expanded the scope of the investigation far too much.

After all, the lineage of Guiguzi has been passed down from the Warring States period, and it's been so many years since then. Heaven knows how many generations of Guiguzi there have been.

For Li Che, however, this time traveler was the most important person.

Every time traveler is a treasure trove; heaven knows how much modern knowledge they possess, and how much of it has been passed down to them.

For example, if this time traveler is a doctor and leaves all his knowledge in Yunmeng Mountain, as long as Li Che obtains his true teachings, it will be enough to advance Daqing medicine for hundreds of years.

What if he were a scientist? What if he were a top-tier soldier?

The knowledge that has been passed down is terrifying to even think about.

At this moment, Lin Qingyuan remembered something of utmost importance, and his expression turned serious: "Your Majesty, I think that you should not have welcomed Master with such fanfare, or even allowed Master to enter the capital."

Li Che frowned: "Why is that?"

Lin Qingyuan said with a wry smile, "Your Majesty is unaware of this. According to my master himself, he was also full of vigor when he was young. He went down the mountain to travel, gave advice on the country, and even had a public debate with great Confucian scholars."

"Because of his radical ideas, especially his advocacy of Mencius's theory that 'the people are the most important, the state is next, and the ruler is the least important,' he often criticized the monarch and scholars, thus offending the powerful families who controlled public opinion at the time, and arousing the suspicion of the previous emperor."

"Among the literati and scholars of today, many people still avoid Yunmeng Mountain and the reputation of their master, regarding them as heretics."

"If Your Majesty were to meet with your master openly and treat him with the utmost respect, it would not only instill fear in the surviving noble families, causing them to unite in rebellion, but it would also arouse suspicion among the Confucian scholars of the world."

“They might wonder if His Majesty has conceived the idea of ​​abolishing Confucianism, which could trigger a public outcry and be detrimental to the stability of the court.”

He paused, then continued earnestly, "Moreover, I also have some personal motives."

"The Guigu School has an ancestral precept that the contemporary Guigu Master must not descend the mountain to participate in the world's conflicts, nor should he serve any monarch. He should remain detached from worldly affairs and observe the trends of the world."

"I do not know why Master insisted on seeing Your Majesty this time, even at the cost of disobeying the teachings of the Ancestral Master, but Master's actions clearly show that he has lost his usual composure."

"I believe that this is not the right time for either Your Majesty or my master to meet, as it may lead to unforeseen complications."