"I just wonder, who exactly is our opponent this time?"
Just as Lin Dong finished speaking, Gu Mengqi handed over a scroll, saying with a smile.
"We just analyzed a bit, and this time, the powerhouse sent by Demon Prison should include this person."
As Gu Mengqi spoke, she pointed to the topmost name on the scroll that Lin Dong had opened.
"Faceless Man, Xu Xiu?"
Lin Dong followed the position of Gu Mengqi's finger and saw five gilded characters on it, subconsciously whispering them out. Then, his brow furrowed, instinctively feeling that there was something wrong with this name.
Looking more closely, Lin Dong then noticed that this list was actually something called the 'New Talent Ranking'.
"New Talent Ranking? What's that?"
"It's the strength ranking of the younger generation in the Chaotic Demon Sea, compiled and released by a force called the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion," Lin Qingtan replied, with a hint of pride on her face, as she was directly ranked fifth on the New Talent Ranking.
"Then is this Xu Xiu confirmed to be from Demon Prison?"
Lin Dong had just asked when Little Marten chuckled and explained.
"This Xu Xiu, like us, is one of those guys who suddenly emerged not long ago. About a year ago, this guy first appeared, fighting against a Death Profound Realm Completion expert and successfully killing his opponent."
"Moreover, this Xu Xiu had been completely unknown before that. No one even knew there was such a powerhouse."
Although Life and Death Profound Realm experts were not as famous in the Chaotic Demon Sea as Revolving Wheel Realm experts, experts of this level would at least have a good reputation in a certain sea area, right?
But this Xu Xiu had no reputation at all, and could even be said to be non-existent.
And now he suddenly appeared, how could such a powerhouse be created out of thin air?
"May I ask, miss, which bookshelf contains the historical books in the Scripture Depository?"
Cai Wan raised her Willow Eyebrows slightly, staring at Shen Jun with a hint of surprise in her eyes. To read history before anything else, his ambition must be great. It seems that this Master Shen is also a man with great aspirations.
"Master Shen has come to the right place. These rows of bookshelves here are all historical books. However, Zhen Ji has a general history book here. If Master Shen is interested, you can read it first."
Cai Wan smiled and took out a book from under the zither bed, which still had a delicate fragrance of ink, making Shen Jun's face light up. He quickly reached out and took it.
Those detailed historical books that even recorded which emperor did what on which day were not what Shen Jun wanted at all. He was not a historian. What he wanted was this kind of general history, to first have some understanding of this world.
"Thank you, miss!"
"Master Shen is too polite. When you are done reading, please help me correct it."
Shen Jun's excited expression made Cai Wan's face blush slightly. She lowered her head shyly and spoke softly. Shen Jun, who had taken the book, did not think much about it. After being surprised by the new book in his hand, he opened it and began to read.
As the pages turned, Shen Jun gradually gained some new understanding of this world. It was a world that was somewhat similar to the history of his previous life, but also very different. It was more like a world that mixed history and mythology.
In ancient times, the Xuanyuan Yellow Emperor fought against Chi You and defeated him. Since then, the Nine Provinces have belonged to the human race.
After the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, the Xia and Shang dynasties were experienced. At the end of the Shang dynasty, Marquis of the West Ji Chang was dissatisfied with the tyranny of Human King Di Xin and raised troops to rebel against Shang. Human King Di Xin was defeated and burned himself in the Star Plucking Tower. Since then, the Shang dynasty perished, historically known as the Investiture of the Gods War!
After the Investiture of the Gods War, King Wu of Zhou Ji Fa enfeoffed the world, and the title of Human King was no longer used. He began to be called the Son of Heaven, known as the Zhou Heavenly Emperor.
After Zhou's one thousand two hundred years, King You of Zhou was killed, and King Ping of Zhou moved east, historically known as the Western Zhou and Eastern Zhou.
For three hundred years in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, Duke Zhuang of Zheng defeated the Zhou Heavenly Emperor in battle, causing the Zhou royal authority to plummet. From then on, the world fell into chaos, and the feudal lords vied for supremacy.
First came the Five Hegemons, then the Seven Heroes, as heroes contended for the central plains. This continued until King Ying Zheng of Qin for Six Generations ascended the throne, sweeping across the six directions and shaking the eight wildernesses. The position of Human King was restored, and he proclaimed himself the First Emperor, historically known as the Qin Shi Huang!
In the fifty-sixth year of the First Emperor, nobles from the six states, united with the Hundred Schools of Thought, fought the First Emperor on the banks of the Xiang River. In that battle, the Xiang River was cut off, and the Hundred Schools withered.
Not long after, the First Emperor Ying Zheng, a generation of Human King, died in the capital Xianyang due to severe injuries. The Second Emperor Hu Hai was unable to suppress the heroes of the world, and within just three years, the Qin Dynasty was destroyed.
The Chu Overlord Xiang Yu annihilated Chu, and the heroes retreated. Only the Han King Liu Bang confronted him. The Chu-Han contention lasted nearly a hundred years. Finally, in the Battle of Wu River, the Chu Overlord Xiang Yu was killed, and the Xiong Clan seized the opportunity to seize power, confronting the Great Han across the Yangtze River.
Less than thirty years after the establishment of the Han Dynasty, powerful figures such as Zhang Liang, Han Xin, and Fan Kuai all died of illness due to severe injuries. The once-powerful Han Dynasty was on the verge of collapse, and the surrounding foreign tribes were eyeing it covetously.
After nearly three hundred years of governance by Emperor Wen of Han and Emperor Jing, the Great Han became wealthy and powerful. However, Emperor Wu exhausted the country's resources through military expeditions, leading to two hundred years of war. As a result, the once-strong Han resembled a sick tiger. In his later years, due to the witchcraft scandal, Emperor Wu killed his wife and sons, severing the national fortune of the Great Han.
After Emperor Wu passed away, the new emperor had just ascended the throne when Duke Li Yuan of Tang raised an army in Jinyang, establishing the Great Tang.
Soon after, Emperor Taizong of Tang Li Shimin was enthroned by the Great Tang ministers. He tested his sword against the world, shaking the four directions, repeatedly defeating the Great Han's iron cavalry. Finally, with Hangu Pass as the boundary, the land east of Hangu Pass, the former territory of the Six States of Shandong, all belonged to the Great Tang. The once-strong Han could only be confined to the lands of Western Qin and Sichuan.
However, only fifty years later, Emperor Taizong of Tang Li Shimin was assassinated. From then on, the national fortune of the Great Tang plummeted.
Another fifty years passed, and many Tang military commissioners rebelled one after another. Zhao Kuangyin donned the yellow robe and established the Song Country in Kaifeng, while Zhu Yuanzhang established the Ming Country in the old Yan Capital Ji City.
Since then, the situation of the five countries—Han, Tang, Ming, Song, and Chu—standing side by side has continued to this day, for more than two hundred years.
The more Shen Jun read the records in this general history, the more alarmed he became. He was now starting to panic a little.
This world was indeed a high-martial world. Each person lived for hundreds of years at the drop of a hat, which was really terrifying. And what was with fighting that could cut off rivers? It was really just his good luck that he hadn't encountered...
Wait, Shen Jun suddenly remembered that some time ago, he seemed to have encountered a fierce-looking monk. At that time, he had relied on the fact that he had a group of refugees behind him and pointed at the other party's nose, scolding him a few times, directly causing the other party to vomit blood.
Now that he thought about it, Shen Jun's back was instantly soaked. Fortunately, the monk hadn't become enraged at that time, or else he would have been done for on the spot. How would he have had the chance to live the good life he had now?
Shen Jun remembered that the monk seemed to be from the Golden Mountain Temple. It seemed that he had to offer some incense money to the Golden Mountain Temple another day. He had reported his name that day, so he couldn't let the other party remember him, or else his little life would be over.
While flipping through the general history in his hand, some sorrow occasionally flashed across Shen Jun's face, and his brows were also tightly furrowed. Seeing this, Cai Wan's heart was suspended, and she had even left the zither bed and sat back down opposite Shen Jun, lowering her head slightly and occasionally taking the initiative to add tea and pour water for Shen Jun.
That submissive posture of waiting for criticism was like a well-behaved little maidservant.
Shaoyao, who secretly took all of this into her eyes, did not go over to disturb Shen Jun's reading. Instead, she quietly retreated and soon found Su Yueyao, who was busy, and reported to her about Shen Jun's encounter with Cai Wan in the library.
After hearing Shaoyao's report, Su Yueyao's Willow Eyebrows furrowed subconsciously, and she said with a bit of annoyance on her face.
"I forgot that Miss Cai has been living in the library for more than a year."
"Miss, do you want to find an opportunity to get rid of her..."
A cold glint flashed in Shaoyao's eyes. That Miss Cai knew their secrets and definitely couldn't be allowed to leave the mansion, or else they would be in big trouble. Therefore, the only way was to make her disappear completely.
However, Su Yueyao's face turned cold, and she glanced sideways at Shaoyao, scaring Shaoyao into immediately lowering her head to admit her mistake. Seeing Shaoyao admit her mistake, Su Yueyao's expression softened slightly, and her slender jade fingers gently stroked the smooth back of her hand, then she said softly.
"If I remember correctly, that Miss Cai seems to have an older sister, right? Since my husband likes her, then her sister, my husband will probably be interested in as well."
"Shaoyao, notify Lao Bai and have him send someone to pass on the whereabouts of Miss Cai to her sister and lure her to Yangzhou!"
It was a pity that most of the books here were related to various classics, and most of them were annotations, insights, and collations of these classics by various famous scholars. He didn't see anything related to history.
Suddenly, Shen Jun's footsteps stopped, and he gently took a breath. A faint and elegant tea fragrance slowly drifted in, causing Shen Jun's eyes to light up. He directly ignored the books on the bookshelves on both sides and strode forward.
After wandering through the bookshelves for a good while, Shen Jun finally emerged from the mountain of books, only to be greeted by a warm pavilion resembling the Moon Gazing Pavilion.
The pavilion was simply furnished, with a low couch on the left and a desk on the right. Further out was a zither bed with a zither placed on it, flanked by a closed screen on either side.
The faint and elegant fragrance of tea emanated from the desk, where a woman in a long, dark green dress was sipping tea with her sleeves rolled up.
The woman appeared to be around twenty years old, her face delicate and refined with an air of elegance. Although not as stunning as Su Yueyao, she could still be considered a beauty of her time.
Speaking of which, among the people Shen Jun had met in the entire Su Family, the few he remembered seemed to be exceptional beauties, making the place feel like a land of beauties. And Su Yueyao was undoubtedly the queen of this land.
Hearing the sound of footsteps, the elegant woman looked up, her half-formed smile instantly freezing on her face, replaced by a look of astonishment. She asked in surprise, "You are? Miss Su's husband?"
"Hmm? Aren't you a maid of the mansion?"
Shen Jun was also stunned. Su Yueyao had told him about the situation in the Su Family this morning. The only masters of the entire Su Family were the two of them, husband and wife. There were plenty of servants, and Su Yueyao had told him to just order them around if he needed anything.
But judging from the woman's tone, she didn't seem to be a maid of the mansion? But Su Yueyao didn't have any sisters. Could it be that this woman was a concubine kept by his cheap father-in-law?
Hiss!
Recalling the appearance of his father-in-law and looking at the woman, who was about the same age as Su Yueyao, Shen Jun couldn't help but sigh. Those with money and power really knew how to play. Even at their age, they still had the energy to play this game of keeping beauties hidden away.
"If the Su Family's son-in-law doesn't mind, you can call me Zhen Ji."
"Zhen Ji?"
Hearing the woman named Zhen Ji announce her name, Shen Jun was completely stunned. Holy crap, Zhen Ji? The legendary Goddess of the Luo River, Zhen Ji?
Although Shen Jun knew that the Zhen Ji of the Zhen Clan was not actually the Goddess of the Luo River, there was no doubt that Zhen Ji was an absolute beauty.
Although he didn't know if the person in front of him was the Zhen Ji he had heard of, her appearance, dignified elegance, and well-read demeanor definitely lived up to the name Zhen Ji.
Looking up at the woman's maiden hairstyle, Shen Jun couldn't help but shake his head and sigh. Tsk, tsk, tsk, a flower stuck in cow dung, and old cow dung at that.
"The Su Family's son-in-law has misunderstood. I am Zhen Ji, the 'zhen' of fidelity, not the 'zhen' of the Zhen Clan."
From Shen Jun's tone, Cai Wan knew that he had misunderstood, and quickly explained. Shen Jun couldn't help but smile awkwardly upon hearing this, and nodded in response.
"Ah? Is that so? Miss, you don't have to keep calling me the Su Family's son-in-law. My name is Shen Jun, you can just call me Son-in-law Shen."
Although Su Yueyao had said that Shen Jun would have the final say in the entire Su Family from now on, Shen Jun didn't get carried away and disregard everyone else in the Su Family. Therefore, he was still quite polite to this concubine, who was suspected to be kept by his cheap father-in-law in the Scripture Depository.
"Then Zhen Ji will be presumptuous. Son-in-law Shen, would you like to have a cup? This is the finest Longjing tea from your wife's collection!"
Cai Wan found it quite interesting. Miss Su was so domineering in her actions, but her husband was so polite and courteous, even to her, a half 'prisoner'.
Hearing that Cai Wan even had his wife's treasured premium Longjing tea, Shen Jun became even more polite. This woman's status in his cheap father-in-law's heart might not be low. Otherwise, he wouldn't have given her such a large Scripture Depository to live in.
Although Shen Jun had never experienced the life of a true ancient aristocrat, he knew that in the hearts of these ancient aristocrats, these classics, especially the annotations of the classics, were the most important things, and could be said to be the family's heritage.
"Since the lady has so kindly invited me, how could Shen Jun refuse? Coincidentally, Shen Jun also has something he would like to ask the lady, and hopes that the lady will not hesitate to enlighten me!"
Shen Jun politely cupped his fist in greeting, and after carefully changing into wooden clogs, he entered the warm pavilion and knelt down opposite Cai Wan.
"I wouldn't dare to enlighten you. If Son-in-law Shen has any questions, as long as Zhen Ji knows the answer, I will definitely tell you everything!"