Chapter 198 Dust

Dust filled the air.

Yuan directly opened Li Chunfeng's tomb.

Yuan retreated a step, covering his nose, and looked into the tomb. He was slightly stunned because the coffin was empty—he didn't see the body of that legendary figure from the Tang Dynasty here. It was empty, with nothing inside.

There was only a scroll of books and a waist牌 (waist tag).

Yuan bent down and picked up the waist tag.

It was dark overall, with the six large characters "大汉司隶校尉" (Great Han Sili Xiaowei, Colonel of the Capital) on the front. On the back, he saw a vigorous and forceful character—

卫 (Wei).

Yuan's memory was a little hazy. He vaguely seemed to remember this thing.

But he had forgotten what it meant in his life.

He carefully put away the waist tag, then picked up the scroll of books from Li Chunfeng's tomb. As expected, it was the original version of the *Tui Bei Tu* (Push Back Diagram), which had been copied from the Hetu Luoshu on Kunlun, and completed by the two great *fangshi* (esoteric practitioners), Yuan Tiangang and Li Chunfeng, with painstaking effort.

He unfurled the *Tui Bei Tu*.

Yuan slowly pondered, groping to interpret this ancient and strange book.

The course of the Ming Dynasty unfolded before his eyes, turning into two completely different paths. One path was that the Hongwu Emperor lost his scabbard, becoming tyrannical and ruthless, purging most of the meritorious officials and generals. The crown prince died, Zhu Di seized the throne, and the Ming Dynasty suffered internal strife, leading to the Tumu Crisis and many other events.

The other path was the current situation.

The Hongwu Emperor passed the throne to the crown prince, who became Emperor Taizong. Zhu Di became a famous general of the empire, campaigning east and west.

Because Zhu Biao was still alive, none of his brothers dared to have any rebellious thoughts.

Some strategists even advised Zhu Di to establish himself, but Zhu Di personally bound him and sent him to his elder brother.

Naturally, there were no events like the Tumu Crisis along the way.

However, things converged at a certain point, and the trajectory of fate returned to one.

No matter how powerful, or slightly weaker, the Ming Empire was, no matter how strong its foundation, when it encountered an emperor who extremely liked cultivating immortality, who did not attend court for twenty or thirty years, who did not manage state affairs, and who used the entire Divine Continent as nourishment for his cultivation, it would be dragged down alive.

Therefore, it was only necessary to let this Ming Dynasty, whose trajectory had been changed, also have such a spendthrift, and it would be enough to drag the entire Divine Continent into the abyss, turning the accumulation of the previous two hundred years into nothing in a single generation.

The decline of the Ming Dynasty began with the Jiajing Emperor.

But the Jiajing Emperor didn't necessarily have to be the original person.

Whether it was the original Zhu Houcong or the current emperor.

It didn't matter who they were, as long as they completed the act of being obsessed with cultivation and neglecting state affairs for thirty years.

They could become 'Jiajing', allowing history to return to its original trajectory.

Like a nail, firmly fixing the history that was running towards another trajectory back.

The history that he had changed was being pulled back to the road to catastrophe in this place. After this, civil officials allied with each other, and even Jiajing's grandson followed his grandfather's example, becoming an emperor who neglected state affairs for decades. Only twenty years after him, the Ming Dynasty perished.

The convergence of history was complete.

"Someone is making moves..."

Yuan murmured. He had already changed four nodes.

And now, someone was rearranging for the emperor to come into contact with the so-called grand *jiao* rituals of Taoism, guiding and enticing him.

They were 'creating' a new Jiajing Emperor.

Was it that he miscalculated a step? Time was long, and there were too many things and too many uncertainties in history. Since it was possible to find ways to change nodes and influence the future, then without a doubt, someone could also change nodes to bring this future back.

He relied on the *Tui Bei Tu*.

So what did the other party rely on?

It seemed as if an invisible curtain shrouded the front, causing Yuan to frown, his expression unsightly.

The scene of the great calamity continued to change before his eyes.

The *Tui Bei Tu* showed—the great calamity was brought forward.

It would suddenly come at a time when there was absolutely no preparation.

His heart pricked slightly.

He felt like he had been set up.

…………………

This world was already the thirty-fourth year of the Jiajing era. Yuan walked in this Ming Dynasty, because he had the original version of the *Tui Bei Tu* in his hand, so he could see more clearly. It seemed that in order to 'correct the chaos and return to order', this world was even worse than the 'original' history revealed by the *Tui Bei Tu*.

Various problems were serious. When passing through the Jiangzhe area, he even heard children clapping their hands and singing a local nursery rhyme, "Jiajing, Jiajing, every family is clean." The adults nearby looked numb, turning a blind eye. Only when those officials passed by would they become alert and push the children away.

What Yuan saw and heard along the way made the emotions in his heart become more and more suppressed.

There was no upper limit to the money spent on offering sacrifices to gods and cultivating immortality—building temples and monasteries, holding *zhaijiao* rituals, and seeking immortal medicines. This one emperor had not yet passed, and the prosperous and peaceful industry of the Ming Dynasty for more than a hundred years was almost on the verge of being abandoned.

In order to worship the gods, the Jiajing Emperor built on a large scale, building palaces and altars, without a year of rest.

When Yuan returned to Zhejiang, he sat in a restaurant and vaguely heard the sound of snakes hissing in his ears. He frowned slightly, tapped his fingers, and a drop of wine flew out, piercing the window. Then he heard a low cry, and the sound of the snake hissing disappeared.

When he woke up in the eighteenth year of Jiajing, he was in Tianmu Mountain in Zhejiang. When the upper one collapsed, thousands of snakes roamed around. It was at that time that he was entangled by this monster. The other party seemed to be extremely greedy for his flesh and blood, so he stubbornly clung to him and refused to leave.

If it was diligent, it would come every three days, and if it was lazy, it would appear once every ten days, constantly attacking.

Of course, none of them were successful.

However, this time, when the monster left, it was a bit embarrassed, accidentally breaking the door of the next compartment. There was a burst of exclamations inside. Yuan was slightly surprised, hearing a slightly familiar voice. He walked over, and among the three people there, he saw a familiar figure.

"Ruzhong?"

Hearing the voice, Wu Ruzhong raised his head, his face freezing instantly, disbelieving:

"...Mr. Yuan?"

……………………

In Wu Ruzhong's home, a banquet was reset, but now, the young man who used to like gossip and strange stories and did not like to read was already a middle-aged man with gray hair at his temples, already in his forties. He was now the magistrate of Changxing County. What surprised and delighted him was that he could still see Mr. Yuan from that year.

For the sake of convenience, Yuan's appearance had naturally changed slightly.

But in general, his eyebrows were gentle and elegant, and his black hair and jade hairpin were indispensable. He had become much more refined and dignified than he had been in the past.

"This is my friend Shen Kun, who passed the imperial examination in the twentieth year of Jiajing as the top scholar of the first rank, and was granted the title of Zhuangyuan (Number One Scholar) by the emperor. This is Xu Zhongxing, a native of Tianmu Mountain, who passed the imperial examination in the twenty-ninth year of Jiajing and is also my friend."

Wu Ruzhong introduced.

Others might find it hard to imagine how this person, who had only obtained an official position as a tribute student, could become friends with two *jinshi* (successful candidates in the imperial examinations), even one of whom was a *zhuangyuan*. However, this Wu Cheng'en, although he did not like to read, was very talented and romantic apart from the eight-legged essay.

Yuan met the two of them.

And Wu Ruzhong introduced this Mr. Yuan as an old friend he had met in Yingtian Prefecture.

When Shen Kun and the others saw his refined demeanor, they also had the idea of making friends with him. They returned to Wu Ruzhong's home together to chat and drink. As they drank, they naturally closed the door and criticized the current political situation, saying that the current situation was chaotic, that the emperor was practicing Taoism, that the border defenses were lax, and that the soldiers in the north and south were lacking. Finally, Xu Zhongxing spat out a breath of turbid air and said with hatred:

"It's all that treacherous minister Yan Song who is deceiving the emperor!"

Shen Kun also hated secretly:

"If we can one day realize our ambitions, we will definitely take down that Yan Song!"

Wu Ruzhong was the same. The few of them were indignant, but Yuan did not say much, raising his eyes and looking at these people, listening to them say that the treacherous prime minister was hateful. Shen Kun sighed: "I only hope that the emperor can attend court every day, and discuss the interests of the world with the prime minister, attendants, and censors, and wash away the accumulated mistakes of decades."

"There is no need to worry that the world will not be governed, and there is no need to worry that everything will not be managed. It only depends on the emperor's one revitalization!"

During the banquet, Yuan did not say a word.

When Wu Ruzhong sent his half-drunk friends out the door and turned back, he saw that the gray-robed man was always silent, but he was not drunk. The two talked about parting, and reorganized their cups, drinking until they were half-drunk. Wu Cheng'en suddenly slapped his forehead and said with a smile, "Wait a moment..."

He turned around, took out a manuscript, and said with a smile:

"This, this is my finished draft."

"Although it is far from being said that it has become a book, it is not bad, hahaha. When I get old, I feel that you are more and more familiar. During this period of time, I occasionally have dreams, dreaming of some absurd and unrestrained things, the yellow sand is vast, in foreign countries, and I have written them all down."

Yuan asked curiously: "Are you still writing about gods and Buddhas?"

Wu Ruzhong, who had experienced half of his life, ups and downs in the officialdom, and had seen all kinds of people, ridiculed himself:

"Where are there any gods and Buddhas?"

"Everywhere is bright and beautiful, everywhere is selfish and calculating."

"I'm just writing about some demons and ghosts, which can be regarded as fox demon anecdotes."

Yuan took the manuscript, which told the story of a Monkey King escorting a holy monk to the Western Heaven to obtain scriptures.

It was still very rough, and the origin of the Monkey King was only following the normal saying, saying that he was a great demon who had stirred up a water area, and the previous experience was just briefly mentioned. Although the subsequent experience was good, it was only written well.

Wu Ruzhong was still drinking heavily.

"Mr. Yuan seems a little depressed?"

Yuan said slowly: "I just have a doubt."

Wu Ruzhong asked curiously: "What is it?"

Yuan pondered for a long time, sitting upright at the table, feeling the depression of this period of time, and suddenly asked:

"A simple thing, even I can see from this matter that Yan Song is not overthrown, not because he is so powerful, but because the current emperor needs checks and balances... The emperor has been hiding behind the scenes for so many years, but he can grasp the power. He needs his own spokesperson."

"And he is worried that this spokesperson will seize his power."

"So Xia Yan will die, he is too upright."

"Yan Song must use corruption to show that he has no great ambitions, and use making enemies everywhere to show that he is absolutely safe. The more censors impeach him and oppose him, the more he will be used by the emperor, and, in these years, the money has been spent on the emperor's establishment of *zhai* palaces for *jiao* rituals."

"This is a check and balance, the emperor, the civil officials, Yan Song, the balance between each other."

"I can see it all, the reason for everything is not Yan Song, but Jiajing."

Yuan closed his eyes, and around him, he seemed to see layers of networks.

The person behind the scenes, in order to detonate the catastrophe in advance, in order to eliminate all his previous efforts, had laid down layers of great trends, and recreated a 'Jiajing', like lines—his efforts to save Chang Yuchun, save Empress Ma and Zhu Biao, prevent Zhu Di's coup, and kill the poisonous dragon, were about to be wiped out by these.

When he was in a coma, the other party laid down a situation sufficient to influence and change the future, and these arrangements, along with what he saw and felt after waking up, seemed to completely bind him, and the feeling of being out of breath approached step by step—

In the third year of Jiajing, the Datong mutiny.

In the fourteenth year of Jiajing, the Liaodong mutiny. The emperor selected and supplemented concubines and opened a scripture banquet.

In the nineteenth year of Jiajing, Jilang harassed Datong. In June, the Wala tribe harassed the border. The emperor selected a hundred beautiful women to enter the palace to refine elixirs.

After the twenty-first year of Jiajing, he did not pay attention to court affairs.

In the twenty-third year of Jiajing, in October, Altan harassed the border.

In the twenty-fifth year of Jiajing, Altan claimed the title of Khan and knocked on the gate. In January of the following year, the emperor selected three hundred beautiful women to enter the palace.

Not to mention the various taxes increased to build the *zhai* palace.

The emperor built tall buildings.

The common people ended up with a Jiajing, Jiajing, and every family was clean.

A surge of depression surged in Yuan's heart. This time, the situation seemed to be a dead end, and it could no longer be opened. Reality was like this, and the future catastrophe was also like this. This time, the confrontation across hundreds of years to fight for the future was his loss. Everything was already too late. Not only had the catastrophe not been stopped or delayed, but it was even accelerated compared to the original.

And at this time, for some reason, he suddenly calmed down.

The other party had taken every step carefully, but miscalculated one move.

The gray-robed man looked at Wu Ruzhong, who was already sluggish, seeming unable to believe that the person in front of him would say such rebellious words, and said calmly:

"I have seen many people, many, many people, but why do you all think."

"Expelling Yan Song can solve the problem, why..."

Wu Ruzhong's palm trembled violently, and his scalp tingled.

The refined man spoke in a gentle and peaceful voice, and his palm gently made a false cut:

"Not remove Jiajing?"

……………………

??!

With a *clatter*, the cup in Wu Ruzhong's hand fell to the ground, and his body collapsed to the ground.

His palms trembled, and his pupils contracted violently, seeming unable to believe that this elegant gentleman would say these words. His voice was hoarse, and he said, "...You, Mr. Yuan, don't, don't act rashly..., where the Holy One is, is like a heavenly palace, you will only be courting death if you go alone."

"As long as the officials work together, they can always reach the heavens, don't, don't court death."

Yuan reached out his hand to help Wu Ruzhong up, "It's okay."

"I seem to have seen someone do such a thing before."

After he figured it out, his thoughts were calm, and he even joked:

"So I can be considered experienced."

Wu Ruzhong murmured: "Loyalty to the emperor and love for the country, but Mr. Yuan, you..."

Yuan said: "Loyalty to the Zhu family's world, or the Divine Continent's people?"

He muttered to himself: "They seem to have miscalculated one thing..."

"Miscalculated my character."

"Also miscalculated my purpose..."

Wu Ruzhong was speechless.

When he raised his head, he saw that Mr. Yuan, who looked to be in his forties, shook his head, and actually transformed into his youthful appearance from that year in an instant. The previous depressed feeling was swept away. Wu Ruzhong was dumbfounded, his palms trembling, shocked and out of control, and he exclaimed:

"You...who exactly are you?!"

The youth did not answer, but said goodbye and walked out of the Wu family.

The sleeves rolled past Wu Cheng'en's eyes, and in a trance, it seemed that this gray robe turned into a simple Taoist robe.

The jade hairpin turned into a wooden hairpin, and a yellow scarf on the cuff was burning fiercely.

The young Taoist, holding a nine-section staff, walked slowly.

And in an instant, it seemed to be just an illusion, and the one walking out in front of him was still just that refined youth.

Wu Ruzhong stared blankly, understanding in his heart that a certain possibility was about to become a reality, and his scalp tingled.

He did not know how long had passed, when suddenly a surge of blood rose up, and countless plots in his mind suddenly became vivid. He rushed back to the table, stretched out his arm and swept across, sweeping the wine cups and plates on the table to the ground. He took out white paper, dipped wine as ink, and heavily put down the brush, vigorous and forceful, with a spirit that had not been in the previous draft.

Trembling, he wrote down word after word, a spirit of breaking injustice mixed into it.

Afterwards, an event shocked the world.

The thirty-fourth year of Jiajing.

September, one hundred and sixty beautiful women were selected to enter the palace.

The emperor fasted and held *jiao* rituals.

An immortal rode a dragon into the capital.

ps: Today's second update...four thousand six hundred words...there should be a third update...

Just patching up some previous pits, and the enemy's foreshadowing, of course, there are some past events...

Or, is there still a *guo* (burden/responsibility)? I hope to finish writing it as soon as possible...