After leaving the courtyard and walking in the alleyway, Song Lian's back was already soaked with sweat. This highly skilled martial artist seemed as though he had just experienced a dangerous battle and was struggling to recover.

Chen Chao walked beside him. Glancing at this man, he sighed and said, "My lord commander, with how you look, it seems like your past few decades of life have been a complete waste?"

Song Lian was still recollecting the aftertaste from before. Upon hearing Chen Chao's words, he snorted coldly and retorted, "I don't have much experience either. How can I compare to someone like you who is a playboy at such a young age?"

Chen Chao chuckled and could not be bothered to retort. He just nagged Song Lian to remember to bring some things to the woman every now and then. The things should not be too valuable, otherwise, the woman would feel uneasy and probably would not accept them. It would be good to bring some ordinary snacks and ordinary trinkets, but he had to bear in mind not to take the initiative to gift cosmetics or jewelry.

Song Lian looked puzzled and asked, "Why?"

Chen Chao explained patiently, "At least not at the beginning, don't make it too obvious. Communicate feelings first and gradually progress, understand?"

Song Lian had a serious look, "I understand, take it slowly."

Chen Chao paused, furrowed his brows, and shook his head as he said. "I keep feeling like there's something not quite right about what you're saying."

Song Lian tapped Chen Chao's shoulder and said with a smile, "Tell me more. Why did it take you so long, it's like you're her nephew?"

Chen Chao did not answer the question, he just walked quietly ahead.

Song Lian suddenly said, "Do you still want to know about those things?"

Chen Chao sneered, "Whether I want to know or not, you'll have to tell me. Otherwise, I won't be coming next time and you can panic on your own."

Song Lian thought to himself that if Chen Chao did not come, he would not be able to manage. So he shook his head and put a smile back on his face, saying, "Why do we need to beat around the bush so much between us, be more sincere. After all, we're brothers working in the same government office, aren't we?"

"Your Excellency, don't talk about feelings, that hurts my wallet."

Chen Chao looked at Song Lian, but he still said some things. By the end, he looked very seriously at Song Lian and said, "It's best not to let your nephew come here. Otherwise, I think you'll end up dying alone."

Song Lian nodded and said, "That blockhead will indeed ruin my plans. Tomorrow, I'll lock him up in the dungeon of the Left Guard's office."

At this moment, Weng Quan who was currently patrolling the streets with his colleagues from the Left Guard suddenly sneezed. Rubbing his nose, he glanced at the weather and said rather puzzledly, "How the hell can I catch a cold in this weather?"

After finishing the small talk, Song Lian nodded contentedly and said, "I've looked into those things for you. In recent days, the foreign cultivators have come to the Divine Capital one after another. Although there is no great enmity between you and the Heavenly Imperial Institution that's in charge of organizing the Myriad Willow Convention, there is still some estrangement between you. If you want these things, it won't be easy. Even I had to put in a lot of effort to acquire them too."

As he spoke, Song Lian handed a piece of paper to Chen Chao. The paper was densely filled with information on god knows how many people. Those people were all cultivators from the various major sects who were going to take part in the Myriad Willow Convention, many of whom were geniuses on the Latent Dragon List.

Song Lian said with vicissitudes of emotion, "Just as we expected, the real geniuses won't be coming to the Myriad Willow Convention that's hosted in the Divine Capital this time. It's just that the ones who are coming aren't easy to deal with either. Quite a few of them are very remarkable."

Chen Chao put away the piece of paper without being in a hurry to read it, saying, "It's better that they didn't come, so we won't embarrass ourselves by not getting first place."

Song Lian frowned and said, "Although you defeated He Yi from the Verdant Cloud Temple at the imperial banquet, the Verdant Cloud Temple isn't the top sect in the Dao society. At this moment, there are young cultivators who are even stronger than him who have already arrived. Because the news of you defeating He Yi spread, they seem to be very interested in you."

Chen Chao said indifferently, "If they're interested, so be it, it isn't a big deal. Besides, no one from Infatuation Daoist Temple has come."

The leader of the Dao society was the Infatuation Daoist Temple. In this generation, the Infatuation Daoist Temple had two high-profile young geniuses; a man and a woman, who were known as the "Twin Pillars" of the Dao society. On the Latent Dragon List, they have consistently suppressed the young cultivators of the Dao society lineage. They were geniuses in the true sense.

Song Lian sighed, "That's true, but we shouldn't underestimate the other geniuses either."

Chen Chao had been studying up on the knowledge of the foreign lands these few days. At this moment, he was no longer the ignorant person he was back then in Tianqing County.

Suddenly, Chen Chao asked, "What about the Deercry Monastery?"

Confucianism, Buddhism and Daoism, the academy was naturally the only Dao teachings of Confucianism. Although Daoism had two lineages that were passed down; Great Peace Dao and Longevity Dao, the Longevity Dao had been declining in recent years. The Infatuation Daoist Temple was already the undisputed leader of Daoism. On the other hand, the leader of Buddhism was the Deercry Monastery which withdrew from the secular world.

"No one came."

"Why?"

Song Lian thought for a moment and said with a frown, "Don't you know that the relationship between Deercry Monastery and the imperial court has always been good?"

Chen Chao frowned and asked, "If their relationship is good, why don't they come and show support?"

Song Lian said, "What's the point of coming? Monks don't lie, let alone cheat. Why should we give the Great Liang Dynasty an additional strong opponent out of the blue?"

Why does Deercry Monastery have a good relationship with the imperial court?" Chen Chao found it hard to believe that the leader of Buddhism actually had a close relationship with the Great Liang Dynasty and did not naturally despise them like the other major sects.

Song Lian pondered for a moment and slowly said, "The relationship between Deercry Monastery and the imperial court has only improved in recent years. Specifically, it was only after His Majesty ascended to the throne that the relationship truly became cordial. As for why, it's actually very simple: it's because the Nation Teacher was originally from Deercry Monastery."

"Nation Teacher?"

Chen Chao raised his brows.

Song Lian said calmly, "His Majesty started a rebellion with the identity of Prince Fan and ascended to the throne to become emperor. The greatest contributor to his success was the Nation Teacher."

There was an incident that was known to virtually everyone in the Great Liang Dynasty, but no one wanted to bring it up. That was the fact that the current Emperor did not ascend to the throne as the crown prince. He was conferred as Prince Fan in his early years. In Emperor Taizong's later years, the crown prince that he conferred suddenly died. The world thought that Emperor Taizong would be appointing another crown prince out of the various princes who had already been conferred a title and land. But they did not expect that Emperor Taizong had no intention of doing so. Instead, he chose to appoint the son of that deceased crown prince as the heir to the throne. After a hundred years, he would pass the throne down.

After that young heir ascended the throne, he did not tolerate his uncles who were also princes, and began finding excuses to strip them of their power. When it was the current Emperor's turn, he immediately rose in rebellion without any hesitation. It only took him three years to take over the Divine King.

Upon his ascension to the throne, he changed the reign title to Tianjian.

That was a story that happened 13 years ago.

Chen Chao knew some of it, but was unclear about the details.

Now, thirteen years later, the world of the Great Liang Dynasty was more peaceful than before. Naturally, no one would think of that deposed emperor anymore.

Even in today's imperial court, no one would say that what the current emperor did back then was wrong.

The Great Liang Dynasty needed a wise and strong emperor. That deposed emperor who burned himself to death in the palace was obviously not suitable.

After all, he failed to handle a small matter like reducing the power and authority of the other princes.

How could such a person govern a dynasty well?

Chen Chao said with vicissitudes of emotion, "It's really a not-too-distant story."

13 years could not change anything.

Nobody mentioned those things, but they would not be forgotten.

We've reached one of the first major unveilings!

Yes, the current Emperor was a rebel king! Many of the future plots and schemes will link back to his usurping of the throne, stay tuned!