Luo Junlin was the Crown Prince. What did that mean? It meant that he was going to become the emperor in the future.
The words of an emperor were to be taken seriously. Since Luo Junlin had spoken, it meant that he was serious. So, at the nod of Ye Futian’s head, he would be bestowed a title of nobility and become a prime minister. Then, as soon as the throne was passed down to the Crown Prince, Ye Futian will be a prime minister of the nation. It was an utmost honor for a mere sixteen-year-old student to be bestowed such a title. This unbelievable ordeal was something you had to see for yourself to believe.
Some people were in utter disbelief. This couldn’t be real. Had the Crown Prince gone mad? No matter how gifted Ye Futian was, he was still very young. The future was filled with uncertainty. How could the Crown Prince promise him the title of prime minister so easily?
Minister Hua was frozen in his seat. His eyes sharpened but he remained silent, not stopping Luo Junlin. Who was he to stop the Crown Prince?
Xia Feng was feeling helpless and miserable at this point. He had just begged Minister Hua and the Crown Prince to save his son earlier today but now, the Crown Prince was recruiting Ye Futian to be the future prime minister. By the looks of this, if Ye Futian was smart, there was no way he would reject this offer. If things proceeded, then his son, Xia Fan was good as gone.
Mu Hong, Lin Xiyue, powerful cultivators of the Emperor Star school, and officials of Donghai academy, all failed to comprehend the situation as well. It was true that Ye Futian possessed outstanding gifts but weren’t the Crown Prince’s words too rash?
Obviously, Luo Junlin hadn’t gone mad, nor was he dumb. He felt a familiar aura from Ye Futian. This young man was a person favored by Minister Zuo and even held the Decree of the Minister in his hands. Putting the pieces together, Luo Junlin was able to think of a lot of things. Plus, he understood Minister Zuo a little too well and was well aware of his way of style of doing things.
Ye Futian was also very shocked. He did not understand why one piece would cause such a strong reaction from the Crown Prince. Did he want to bestow him the title of prime minister?
“Your Highness, I have too many ties here and is not able to drop everything to leave with you. Can we reconsider this in the future?” Ye Futian asked Luo Junlin. Even though he had no intentions of taking the offer, he could not offend royalty in front of everyone.
Luo Junlin shook his head. Seeing his expression, Ye Futian bowed. “Please forgive me, Your Highness.”
“He rejected…” Countless pairs of eyes looked at Ye Futian in immense shock. Ye Futian actually turned down the chance to become minister.
The Nandou Nation controlled 36 prefectures and every prefecture contained many cities. Just prefecture chiefs held a lot of power and were big-shots in their respective prefectures already, so just imagine the power a minister would have. The Nandou Nation had two ministers. Minister Zuo, the left minister, controlled the inner workings of the nation while Minister Hua, the right minister, controlled the army. The power of a prime minister was second only to the emperor himself.
Such a great opportunity had been placed in front of Ye Futian’s eyes but he chose to reject.
Luo Junlin stared at Ye Futian. He said, “Do you know the consequences of going against an imperial order? Even though I am not the emperor yet, I will be in the future.”
At his domineering words, everybody’s expressions changed. As the Crown Prince, Luo Junlin already exuded the intimidating emperor of an emperor.
“If it was an imperial order, I would have no way to reject, Your Highness,” answered Ye Futian.
Luo Junlin was quiet as he looked into Ye Futian’s eyes. A wave of pressure washed over Ye Futian.
Suddenly, Luo Junlin smiled. He said, “If so, then I won’t force it on you. You may be excused.”
“Thank you, Your Highness,” Ye Futian said as he bowed, ready to retreat back to his seat.
As Ye Futian walked back to his place beside Hua Fengliu, Luo Junlin stood still, watching his retreating figure. He gave off a murderous vibe as he walked to his seat as well. When their backs turned to each other, Ye Futian and Luo Junlin walked off the battle platform to return to their own seats.
Everyone’s eyes followed the two figures. One was the powerful young Crown Prince, who already possessed the attitude of an emperor, and one was a young man, gifted by the heavens. He possessed extraordinary gifts and his future was unpredictable.
Luo Junlin sat down in his seat and then with a stern look around, he said, “I am very disappointed. Today is Donghai Academy’s Assembly of the Seven Schools, but from what I have seen, not too many of its students possess extraordinary gifts. Amongst the seven schools, only the schools of the Emperor Star and the Treasury Star can be considered competent. If so, why do you need seven schools? From this day on Donghai Academy shall fall under the jurisdiction of the School of the Emperor Star, and the School of the Treasury Star will assist.”
Silence. These words did not come from the headmaster of the Emperor Star school. Neither did it come from Minister Hua. These words came from the Crown Prince, Luo Junlin. He had already been rejected by Ye Futian today. By the stern look on his face, everyone knew that if any single person dared to object against Luo Junlin’s decision, they would meet with a frightening ending.
The inevitable changes in Donghai Academy had finally come.
“Yes, Your Highness.” The headmasters of the Emperor Star and the Treasure Star school stood and bowed to receive the order of the Crown Prince. The other five headmasters did not say a single word as they too, stood up. Looking at the powerful crowned price, they bowed and said, “As you wish, Your Highness.”
When the Crown Prince and Minister Hua arrived at Donghai Academy, many people had already predicted something like this would happen. The School of the Emperor Star had gotten too powerful. There was no way to stop them. And now, the inevitable had come.
“You may all be dismissed,” Luo Junlin said with a wave of his hand. He then turned to leave. His every word was absolute.
Minister Hua got up from his seat to look at everyone once more before following behind Luo Junlin. A whole group of people followed not too closely behind Luo Junlin and Minister Hua as they walked towards the School of the Emperor Star.
“What do you think of what happened just now?” Luo Junlin asked Minister Hua. Naturally, Minister Hua understood that Luo Junlin was not speaking of the ordeal with the Emperor Star school but about Ye Futian.
“Your Highness must have had a reason for doing so,” answered Minister Hua.
“When he was playing the guqin, he exuded the aura of an emperor,” said Luo Junlin. Minister Hua looked shocked but said nothing. These words could only be said by the Crown Prince. He could not repeat them as a minister.
“When I said that I would give him the title of prime minister, he was not moved. He had no greed. It seemed like he had no interest in the position of minister,” Luo Junlin laughed with a cold demeanor. “He is indeed a person worthy of being favored by Minister Zuo.”
“Minister Zuo does have a very good eye,” said Minister Hua.
“Many of our nation’s officials were discovered by Minister Zuo,” said Luo Junlin. Minister Hua’s gaze sharpened. He knew what Luo Junlin said was true. Astrologers were a scary bunch.
“But Minister Zuo had never given out the Decree of the Minister to anyone. This is my reason for coming to the City of Donghai. Ye Futian might be different from the others that Minister Zuo had previously discovered,” said Luo Junlin. His gaze sharpened as well.
“What do you mean by this, Your Highness?” asked Minister Hua.
“Even though I am the future emperor, the person with the most influence in the Imperial City, beside my father, is Minister Zuo,” Luo Junlin said.
“Your Highness, you will step up to the throne one day. Plus, with your gifts, you will definitely not be any inferior to His Majesty. Power is always in your reach,” replied Minister Zuo.
Luo Junlin snickered and said, “That’s a given. The throne is not my final goal, but if Minister Zuo does anything to get in the way, I will not let him off so easily.”
Minister Hua was shocked by the Crown Prince.
“Your Highness, I don’t think Minister Zuo will try anything,” said Minister Hua.
“On his trip to the City of Qingzhou, besides bestowing the Decree of the Minister upon Ye Futian, Minister Zuo also accepted a request from the Nandou clan. Why else would they invite Minister Zuo to the Nando Palace? Of course, it was to get a fortune told. Minister Zuo would not have told the fortune of the elders in the clan. The most outstanding person in the Nandou clan right now is a young lady named Hua Jieyu. The day Ye Futian crashed the School of the Emperor Star, he went there looking for her. They’re a couple,” explained Luo Junlin.
After a while, he spoke again, “After returning to the Imperial City, Minister Zuo began to plan for next year’s Tingfeng Banquet. He also tried to convince Father to put the people of Nandou clan in important positions. Who do you think he’s paving a road for?”
“Ye Futian and Hua Jieyu?” Minister Hua made a realization. He felt a shiver run down his back. The Crown Prince was way scarier than he had anticipated.
“That’s right. Minister Zuo is making the bold move of paving the way for this young couple. Plus, Ye Futian exuded the aura of an emperor today. Do you still think that Minister Zuo isn’t trying anything?” asked Luo Junlin. Minister Hua was dumbfounded. He knew that everything the Crown Prince said was true. Minister Zuo was an astrologer. He must have told Ye Futian and Hua Jieyu’s fortune. Furthermore, Ye Futian exuded the aura of an emperor. What were they fated to be?
It was a scary thought.
“Send people to keep an eye on Ye Futian and the Nandou clan. Then, we’ll head back to the Imperial City to see Father,” said Luo Junlin. There were still some things that he did not tell Minister Hua. In the City of Qingzhou, Minister Zuo yelled at Luo Junlin’s younger sister for Ye Futian. He made his sister, the princess, apologize to Ye Futian. Did princesses need to apologize to commoners? What was Ye Futian’s true identity? What kind of person was worthy enough for Minister Zuo to do all this?
There was also another thing he held a grudge on. As the Crown Prince, Luo Junlin had requested for Minister Zuo to become his master multiple times but was always rejected. Minister Zuo said he didn’t dare to be the master of the future emperor. This also meant that Minister Zuo was unwilling to be his aid. Not only that, Minister Zuo has also refused to tell Luo Junlin’s fortune. His reason was an emperor’s fortune must not be told. Luo Junlin wasn’t going to believe his b*llshit reasons.
There was only one reason for Minister Zuo, an astrologer, to refuse to aid the Crown Prince. And that was, the Crown Prince was not fated to an emperor. It’s just that Minister Zuo didn’t dare to say these words.
Minister Zuo had once said the fortunes told by astrologers were the general flow of events. To go against the flow would only bring harm. But Luo Junlin refused to believe this. He was going to change his own fate. He was born to become emperor. Luo Junlin was going to take life into his own hands.
…
At Donghai Academy, the crowd had yet to depart from the central square. What were they supposed to do now that the seven schools were to be united?
In the direction of the School of the Finance Star, a large group formed around Yi Xiang. He was explaining something to the crowd and they looked at him, not willing to part.
Headmaster Yi Xiang of the School of the Finance Star was stepping down and turning over his position to someone else. He was planning to leave the academy.
“I’m so tired after all these years. From now on, all of you should continue to work hard. I’m only in charge of my daughter and my disciple now,” joked Yi Xiang.
“Headmaster, don’t you mean daughter and son-in-law?” teased Ye Futian. Yi Qingxuan glared at him but Yi Xiang laughed and looked at Yu Sheng. “That’s right! ‘Son-in-law’ works too.”
“Ugh….” Yu Sheng blinked then looked at Ye Futian, only to see Ye Futian slip him a sly smile. He seemed to be waiting for words of gratitude from Ye Sheng.
“Master, it’s almost the end of the year. The Guqin Garden is so big, Hua Fengliu and I feel so lonely there. Why don’t you move there to live with us?” Tang Wan asked Yi Xiang.
Yi Xiang looked at her. He couldn’t help but smile when he saw how nervous she looked. “Alright!” he replied.
Tang Wan’s face lit up with a bright smile. “Okay, let’s be on our way now.”
“Let’s go.” Yi Xiang took large steps and walked forward. Yu Sheng and Yi Qingxuan followed after him. Ye Futian, carrying Hua Fengliu, and Tang Wan followed at the back of the group. Ye Futian smiled while watching the group of people ahead of him. This felt like a huge family reunion. It was such a pleasant feeling. If only Fox and Masteress were here too, then it would be perfect. He was going to work hard to make it happen.
As the sun set, the group walked out of Donghai Academy. There was no looking back now.