Just as Chen Baiqing was about to lower her head to look at the letter, she heard these words and looked up to see her shijie's gaze, which held a hint of gratification.
"Um... you've grown taller."
Chen Baiqing nodded with a smile, then lowered her head to look at the first page of the letter in her hand.
The handwriting was beautiful—graceful and spirited yet meticulous, clearly the work of a master calligrapher.
After reading just two lines, Chen Baiqing confirmed this was a letter from her fourth shimei's teacher, Li Junzi.
The letter's content contained nothing urgent.
It was more like a family letter.
According to the letter, after Li Junzi had left Yuzhou City, she had gone to Junzi Mountain to prepare for her promotion to the Great Scholar realm.
The letter explained that at Junzi Mountain, one would never meet an uneducated person, and that the mountain held as many classics as mountains and seas of books.
It also said that what she had thought for over ten years was no progress wasted was actually not the case.
In those ten-plus years in Lin Family Gully, she had gained much and understood her own shortcomings. Li Junzi's path to becoming a Great Scholar had been smooth.
Li Junzi had successfully ascended to the Great Scholar realm, everything was going well and peacefully, and she was still striving for her goal—Subsage.
The purpose of the letter was simple: to ask if Lin Luoyu was well, and that she herself was fine and didn't need to worry too much, hoping that Lin Luoyu's immortal path would be smooth.
The letter's content was quite short, using many allusions and abbreviations, as if to condense countless thoughts into this single page.
Moreover, the Li Junzi in the letter seemed to be having completely smooth sailing, with nothing but clear roads ahead.
But if Li Junzi had ended her letter on the first page, where did the second page come from?
Chen Baiqing frowned slightly, sensing something was wrong, then looked at the second letter.
The second letter was not written by Li Junzi.
It was written by the ruler of the Xuanwu Kingdom—Zhao Xuan.
Chen Baiqing quickly understood why her shijie's expression was so serious.
Zhao Xuan's letter had nothing to do with Li Junzi, yet it seemed to be telling a story where every word hinted at Li Junzi.
Junzi Mountain was without a doubt a sacred land for Confucian cultivators, housing most of the classics from ancient times to the present, and even possessing handwritten scrolls from Subsages. Most Great Scholars in the world came from Junzi Mountain.
Junzi Mountain wasn't always called by that name.
It was only after a top Great Scholar said that everyone within the mountain was a "junzi" (gentleman/scholar) that the name was formally adopted.
Located near Zhongzhou but not within Xuanwu Kingdom's borders, it was quite far away.
However, Xuanwu Kingdom also had Confucian scholars who traveled to Junzi Mountain to study, so they were aware of the situation there.
What Zhao Xuan's letter described was that Junzi Mountain was in turmoil, as if a Great Scholar intended to refute a Subsage's teachings.
The entire mountain was in motion, with Great Scholars emerging one after another.
They had even brought out a treasured item of the Subsage to engage in five debates of scholarship, and had already lost the first one.
If the refuter were to be defeated, not only would their Confucian cultivation be at risk, but their reputation would also fall to the bottom.
The letter was as if telling the story of a bold person.
In the past, Li Junzi had also participated in her shijie's birthday celebration, a lively event arranged by their shifu, to which Li Junzi had accompanied her all the way.
Zhao Xuan could figure out with his eyes closed that Li Junzi had some connection to their sect, and a rather close one at that, otherwise she wouldn't have participated in such a private birthday gathering.
And Zhao Xuan obviously wanted to remind them of this matter but was afraid of being presumptuous and annoying people, so he could only use this method of mentioning it without naming anyone.
If there was no need to worry about Li Junzi, then one could treat it as just a story.
Moreover, Li Junzi's last letter had said she was fine; if Zhao Xuan's next letter were to expose Li Junzi's secrets, that would be...
It was clear that Zhao Xuan didn't want to offend anyone, no matter who.
Perhaps Zhao Xuan struggled for a long time before deciding whether to write this letter—after all, doing nothing was the safest choice.
In the end, he mustered his resolve and wrote such a letter.
After reading both letters, Chen Baiqing understood the situation and knew what her shijie was thinking—let the fourth shimei decide first.
She didn't ask anything out loud, simply waiting quietly alongside her shijie.
Just a moment later.
Zhang Miaoyu arrived with Lin Luoyu, and Li Xingtian followed.
Lin Luoyu asked, "Shijie, what's wrong?"
Chen Baiqing stepped forward and handed the letters to Lin Luoyu.
Lin Luoyu took them curiously, her gaze falling on the letters. Her expression suddenly showed delight, and after reading a few lines, a smile appeared on her face.
Then she looked at the second page, and her expression instantly turned grave.
After reading through both letters, Lin Luoyu put them away and said seriously:
"I'm sorry, shijie, but I need to go to Junzi Mountain. I might have to put these matters aside for now."
Li Yingling nodded slightly. "This is urgent. I'll inform shifu of the situation, but I'm not comfortable with you going alone."
Although Li Xingtian hadn't seen the letters, the fact that the fourth shimei was personally rushing somewhere and mentioning Junzi Mountain meant without a doubt that something had happened to her teacher, Li Junzi.
Since this was a matter concerning a fellow shimei in the sect, and considering Lin Luoyu was currently at the Foundation Establishment stage while he was at the Golden Core stage, it was only natural that he should offer his help.
Li Xingtian spoke up. "Let me go with the fourth shimei."
Hearing this, Li Yingling's gaze fell upon Li Xingtian, and she replied without hesitation:
"Er shidi, you should stay home and properly cultivate in the main hall. I will personally accompany the fourth shimei to Junzi Mountain."
Li Xingtian asked in confusion, "What's wrong with me?"
He had always been steady and reliable in his actions; compared to her shijie's unpredictable methods, Li Xingtian felt he was more suitable.
Li Yingling sighed. You're fine, it's just that your righteousness has a way of turning devilish. I'm afraid that if you went, there would be no need for debate—you'd just declare Li Junzi the loser on the spot.
Hearing this, Li Xingtian opened his mouth to refute but found he couldn't say anything... he could only shut his mouth, speechless.
Once he reached the Nascent Soul stage and his blood energy returned, things would surely be different.
Lin Luoyu remained relatively calm. She said, "Currently, the construction of the sect is mostly being overseen by shijie. I can handle this matter properly."
Li Yingling was about to argue and make a decision, but Chen Baiqing spoke first: "I'm also at the Golden Core stage. Let me accompany the fourth shimei instead."
The words Li Yingling was about to say died in her throat as she looked at Chen Baiqing's determined expression.
If it were Baiqing...
Li Yingling hesitated slightly. Just then, a cheerful voice came from outside the door.
"Huh? Why is everyone here? Are you having a meeting?"
Cui Hao walked in with a smile, but seeing everyone's solemn expressions, he quickly put away his expression and asked, "Has something happened?"
Li Yingling's gaze swept over Cui Hao. She remembered this shidi was a Confucian scholar, and seemed quite talented.
When Cui Hao was idle, he could be a bit flighty, but he was generally reliable in his duties.
But if Baiqing were in charge, that flighty nature could be kept in check—a good combination.
Besides, she couldn't really expect Cui Hao to handle things perfectly, but he should at least be able to hold things down until shifu returned with a decision.
Li Yingling made up her mind.
"It's decided. You're the one."
"Huh?!"
Cui Hao looked confused. He hadn't caused any trouble recently, had he?
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