For ten years, the court had been in turmoil, and he had vanished from the martial world for ten years as well.
In the martial world, he was Shi Yongheng; at court, he was Shi Yu. One was a man of the martial world, the other a rising star of the court. No one had connected the two.
Over the past decade, he had submitted many proposals on governing the country through memorials. Some had been implemented, while others had been burned.
Especially after the old emperor passed away and the new emperor ascended the throne—a muddleheaded ruler—many reform policies had been shelved.
Once, he had deliberately angered the new emperor and been demoted from a dignified second-rank official to an editor within the palace.
Shi Yongheng had been happy enough with that. Let those people make a mess of things themselves.
Two years later, word spread that Shi Yu had failed to realize his ambitions and died in despondency.
Meanwhile, he had already arrived in Huayin County. Looking at Mount Hua, from which he had been separated for ten years, his face was filled with nostalgia.
"Who are you?"
At Mount Hua's gate, a young disciple blocked his path.
"Uh... me?"
"Se... Senior Brother?"
Liang Fa came over from afar and suddenly cried out in delighted surprise.
"Junior Brother!"
"Haha, Senior Brother, you're back. Master and Mistress will be overjoyed when they find out."
Shi Yongheng asked, "Junior Brother Liang, how are Master and Mistress?"
Liang Fa said, "Senior Brother, you've been gone for more than ten years. Master is already in his sixties, and Mistress is nearly sixty as well. After the two elders set down the burden of Mount Hua and passed the position on to Fourth Junior Brother, they began spending their days freely amid the