As he emerged from East Brilliance Pavilion, the Morning Audience Bell hanging from Star-Gazing Tower was tolling leisurely.
Its chimes jolted Jiang Wang's somewhat dazed thoughts awake.
He had truly memorized until his head swam, memorized until he trembled with fear.
Though he had indeed put in hard work normally, if he failed to recite even one passage properly, it could mean the crime of deceiving the Emperor! The pressure was simply too great.
He had never imagined that Emperor of Qi had summoned him to East Brilliance Pavilion and spent an entire hour merely testing how well he had memorized his texts!
At this critical moment, with troops soon to march against Xia Kingdom.
The entire court, civil and military alike, was waiting for his will.
Was this Emperor of Great Qi... a little too idle!?
Yet this idleness of not attending to proper business before a great war, this leisurely mood of teasing a young lord before court assembly—
Truly made one feel his composure, his confidence.
The composure of gazing grandly over all beneath heaven.
The confidence of holding the universe in his grasp!
What was Xia Kingdom worth? What difficulty could there be in this game of chess beneath heaven?
Jiang Shu was merely chatting casually, calling a young man before him to honestly recite some texts, placing a chess piece at will... and when the piece fell, mountains toppled!
Accompanied by Drafting Eunuch Qiu Ji, Jiang Wang left the palace city, and a sense of calm truly rose within his heart.
"Lord Jiang, this servant will see you no farther."
"Please remain here, Eunuch. I won't get lost in Linzi."
Only then did Qiu Ji smile.
Yet he still said nothing else, merely turning back toward the palace.
Before Jiang Wang had time to consider