The Flood Is About to Rise

The heavy thud of hooves drew nearer from the distance.

Supervising Academician Yuan Feng and Yan Jiuling hurriedly straightened their robes, practically leading the entire student body of the Investigate Things and Profound Engineering departments to greet the procession before the academy's vermilion gate, whose new paint had yet to dry and which symbolized "Investigating Things to Attain Knowledge."

Sunlight streamed through the clouds, falling just right on the freshly laid red carpet before the gate.

Yuan Feng wore a brand-new fifth-rank blue court robe with a round collar and crane insignia, while Yan Jiuling had, unusually, changed into a dark-blue brocade scholar's robe.

Everyone held their breath, their eyes fixed on the carriage approaching from afar.

It was not the imperial bright-yellow color, but an unassuming yet finely made purple sandalwood sedan chair carried by four men, surrounded before and behind by more than a dozen close attendants and household servants in brown robes, all steady and capable.

The sedan chair came to a smooth stop before the academy's main gate.

Before Yuan Feng and the others could step forward with their greetings, one of the attendants swiftly lifted the curtain.

A crimson palace boot embroidered with a gold python stepped out, followed by a figure dressed in a matching scarlet python robe with gold embroidery and wearing a Three Mountains Hat.

It was none other than Eunuch Zhao Wujiu, the Directorate of Ceremonial's brush-holding eunuch.

He still looked the same: a gaunt face, withered white hair, and a complexion covered in age spots, looking as though he had one foot in the grave. He bore none of the fleshy menace attributed to the great eunuchs in rumor.

Yet when his narrow eyes swept over the crowd, they were sharp enough to see straight through their internal organs.

"Greetings,