In the most glorious era, scholars from all over the world traveled thousands of miles to enter the Qingfeng Mountains, just to experience the wisdom of the academy in one scroll.

Sadly, Yan Yizheng never reached the pinnacle of officialdom throughout his life. After forty-two years, at the age of a hundred, he passed away within the Qingfeng Academy.

Fortunately, the Confucian official school continued its legacy, assisting the ruling government, consolidating public opinion, and gaining widespread fame.

However, two hundred and seventy years ago, Qingfeng Academy's actions destroyed this ancestral heritage. The former Chu Dynasty once conferred Qingfeng Academy as the orthodox school of Confucianism, assisting in the education of the masses.

During the intense battles between the Chu court and rebels outside the capital, Qingfeng Academy's thirty-eight officials, led by Prime Minister Yan Yizheng, collectively changed their course of action. This move directly severed the unbroken fate of Chu Dynasty.

They opened the city gates, embraced the rebels, and took control of the capital. Prime Minister Yan Yizheng, the fourteenth-generation successor of Qingfeng Academy, rose to the third-ranking official position due to this act.

Since then, Yan Yizheng continued to serve as the prime minister of the new dynasty's capital. However, the new dynasty conferred the title of orthodox Confucianism to the Bailu Academy in the southern lands, not Qingfeng Academy.

Moreover, the Qingfeng Academy, controlled by the Yan family for four hundred years, changed its surname and was no longer known as the Yan family. A saying emerged among the people: "One cannot be like Yan Yizheng, losing both wife and soldiers."

In comparison to its position before the establishment of the new dynasty, Qingfeng Academy's status among Confucian scholars plummeted. People's eyes were keen, and the sight of scholars traveling great distances to Qingfeng Academy just for the sake of literature became a thing of the past.

Fortunately, members of Qingfeng Academy did indeed continue to hold official positions. Over the course of a hundred years, they transformed the image of Yan Yizheng from a despised figure into a tragic hero who sacrificed his loyalty to protect the lives of the people in the capital.

The dirty dealings between the rulers of Qingfeng Academy and the Yan family behind this transformation were known to few. Luckily, the Bureau of Demon Sealing documented everything, including the origin of Qingfeng Academy that their founding master had boasted about.

The absurdity of "words follow actions" – without reaching the pinnacle of officialdom, one cannot comprehend the way of heaven and earth. The Confucian realm of following the law at the fourth rank at most could only bring in some trivial things. The profound cultivation of a second-ranking official like Yan Yizheng sustaining the entire academy was likely to lead to its demise.

It was just an enormous lie. During Yan Yizheng's ten years as a prime minister, his influence spread far and wide. The year he returned to the capital, Qingfeng Academy was quietly under construction. It was just well-concealed, and only a few were aware of it.

Among the original twenty-seven members of Qingfeng Academy, one was a spy from the Bureau of Demon Sealing.

Chen Xuanze despised this gathering of pseudo-gentlemen studying ways to exploit the common people. Although all for the sake of cultivation, he preferred places like the Killing Life Monastery and the Azure Cloud Pavilion.

Not governing for the people, but instead using the aura of righteousness to gather public opinion for cultivation – the books have gone to the dogs, what a joke!

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So, he shook his head innocently and asked, "Is Yan Yizheng your ancestor?"

The young man in white, Yan Zhenqing, proudly nodded, "Indeed, he is our ancestor!"

Treating Chen Xuanze as an ordinary person, after all, in the capital of the Great Liang, mentioning the great Confucian Yan Yizheng, who sacrificed personal reputation to save the capital, earned one a thumbs up.

Not recognizing Chen Xuanze as a member of the Bureau of Demon Sealing, others didn't know the details of what happened back then. However, the Bureau of Demon Sealing knew that without Yan Yizheng, the Great Liang would not have broken through the inner city of the capital.

Today, Chen Xuanze went out without wearing the Demon-Sealing Robes. The main reason was that, apart from him, the other three didn't have it, and there was a sense of showing off if he wore it while fishing.

Chen Xuanze's response instantly turned Yan Zhenqing's snow-white and handsome face into a mix of red and white. "Our ancestral family business has been ruined, and you still have time to meddle in other people's affairs?"

As they say, don't hit someone in the face or reveal their weaknesses when scolding them. Chen Xuanze was scolding with pinpoint accuracy, directly digging into the other person's family history.

As Chen Xuanze finished speaking, just when Yan Zhenqing's face was a mix of red and white from anger, a young man walked out of the room on the boat.

Dressed in a cyan brocade robe with a purple jade ornament on his belt, he was young, but his face was stern. This young man held a high status, and as soon as he appeared, the people on the boat all bowed respectfully.

Yan Zhenqing, especially, when this young man walked to his side, naturally stepped back and stood behind him. Not only that, the frustrated expression on his face had disappeared, replaced by a slightly resentful but respectful tone. "Your Highness, why did you come out?"

Wang Qingxuan on the riverbank whispered to Chen Xuanze, "In the capital of Great Liang, there's only one crown prince, the only son of the Prince Ning, Zhao Baixiong."

Actually, there was no need for Wang Qingxuan to introduce. Chen Xuanze also understood the background of this person.

After the establishment of Great Liang, the princes were not allowed to enter the capital without an imperial decree. However, under the current Emperor, who named himself Shengping, there was a change. The current war god and Prince Jin, Zhao Cheng'an, had shown strong martial arts talent since childhood. The Emperor personally issued an edict allowing his young fourth brother to stay in the capital.

Later, when the current Emperor ascended the throne, another exception appeared - Prince Ning. Not because Prince Ning had any special talent, but because his father, Emperor Shengqi, was obsessed with the study of elixirs for longevity and had only two sons in his lifetime. The eldest son was the current Emperor Shengci, and the second son was Prince Ning, Zhao Taiping.

Emperor Shengqi left Prince Ning in the capital because the Empress Dowager, who had been in power for a long time, was unwilling to let her own son go to a fief. Every year, the Imperial Clan reported that dozens of members died at the hands of demons within the territories of the princes, and Prince Ning remained in the capital because of this.

Prince Jin, Zhao Cheng'an, had no sons. Since his consort was burned to ashes by the Bureau of Demon Sealing, his eyes were only on the border and martial arts.

Thus, the only one in the capital who could be called the crown prince was the only son of Prince Ning, Zhao Baixiong.

Just as Wang Qingxuan finished introducing to Chen Xuanze, the young man standing at the bow did not respond to Yan Zhenqing's words. Instead, he spoke to the four people on the shore with a cold and arrogant voice, "Can Yan Zhenqing control this? As the crown prince, can I control it or not?"

Chen Xuanze felt a headache. Fishing by the Yanzhi River was indeed not allowed. In the past, the wealthy families didn't take this rule seriously. They fished and ate as they pleased. The Five-City Garrison also turned a blind eye, imposing fines on the common people who caught fish in the Yanzhi River. Those without money were detained for a few days and then released.

No one truly regarded banishment to the land of the Baiyue as a serious punishment, and no one took this Great Liang law seriously.

But when the crown prince came, this city belonged to the Zhao family. When the Zhaos got serious, Chen Xuanze was indeed in the wrong.

There was no choice but to openly declare his identity. Chen Xuanze untied some copper coins from his belt, lifted them high with the hemp rope attached, and said, "Reporting to His Highness, I am Chen Xuanze, a ninth-ranking Demon-Sealing Guard from the Bureau of Demon Sealing. If I have offended today, I hope for your understanding."

He adopted a very low posture, thinking that it was better to avoid trouble if possible.