Chill Coiled Around the Body, Principle Confusion in the Heart

"... These are the Principle Rice. Not long after they were planted, strange things happened. Some people said they would not survive, but the court would not listen to the common people. They refuted the accusations several times, which led to the government's forceful suppression. Even during the planting, clerks were present to supervise the work, which has led to the bitter consequences we see today."

Qiu Yan walked along the edge of the field, listening to the words of the person leading the way, and fell into deep thought.

After he made his request, Wang Sheng, the leader of the rebel army, hesitated at first, but then made up his mind and sent several men to lead Qiu Yan and two attendants to the fields behind the village.

Along the way, Qiu Yan talked with the person leading the way and occasionally spoke with his two attendants, gradually gathering information.

It turns out that his position as Grand Minister of Agriculture came very suddenly. The Original Edition Grand Minister of Agriculture was imprisoned by the King of the Liang Kingdom due to the sudden uprising, and was to be beheaded soon. However, the position could not be left vacant, so it fell to Qiu Yan.

As for the Principle Rice, he had already learned about it from the two servants, knowing that it was a rice variety from a neighboring country.

This type of rice has an extremely high yield, and after harvesting, the resulting rice grains are perfectly round and have an excellent taste. As a staple food, it can also enhance mental clarity and make people more intelligent.

The King of the Liang Kingdom initially didn't care, but a year ago, a scholar named Zhang Qin came to the court. He was eloquent and charming, and the King was very fond of him. Zhang Qin then suggested that Liang Kingdom should switch to planting Principle Rice, which the King adopted, leading to what happened next.

After getting a general idea of the situation, Qiu Yan followed the others to the edge of the field. Looking at the lush green expanse, he frowned.

These rice plants, known as "Principle Rice"), lay fallen in large swathes in the fields, exuding an air of decay and desolation, and faintly carrying a sense of death.

"With such severe lodging, we're going to lose more than half of the harvest," Qiu Yan sighed. He didn't know much about agriculture, but he knew that lodging affected the harvest.

Among the guides was an elderly man in his fifties, his face full of wrinkles. Hearing Qiu Yan's lament, he immediately frowned and said, "This is just the beginning. In a few more days, it won't just be that they've fallen over; they'll all die!"

Upon hearing this, Qiu Yan turned his head and said, "Old man, do you have any evidence for this? As far as I know, although lodging affects yield, it doesn't necessarily mean there will be no harvest at all."

"Sir, you are unaware of what is happening in the northern kingdoms," the old man sighed. "If this hadn't happened, why would Wang Sheng and his men have risen up in rebellion?"

"What has happened in the northern countries?" Qiu Yan asked after the old man finished tying his hair up and sighed. From what the servant had said, Qiu Yan roughly judged that Liang Kingdom was not a unified dynasty and that there were many small countries around it, such as Song Kingdom, which had introduced the concept of Principle Rice.

The old man said with a sorrowful expression, "I have a distant relative who is a wandering scholar. He has traveled to various countries in the north, so he knows some of what he has seen and heard in other countries. He said that this transplanting of the Principle Rice is not only being done in the Liang Kingdom. Zheng Kingdom, Wei Kingdom, Wei Kingdom and other countries planted this rice a few years ago, but most of them failed to survive. First, they fell over, and finally, the entire harvest failed, resulting in barren land and countless dead people!"

"Oh?" Qiu Yan's expression changed slightly. "In that case, why doesn't the old man speak frankly with the officials? Or perhaps he could find witnesses to increase his persuasiveness?"

The old man was taken aback by these words, and after a moment he said, "Sir, you jest. I am but a commoner. How could those scholars believe me? We tenant farmers have a hard time even getting close to the government, let alone reporting to the authorities."

At this point, he added, "Speaking of reporting to the authorities, the story of this Principle Rice has spread to many countries, and even many people in the Song Kingdom are aware of it. In the end, didn't they still plant it? If it weren't for the great sages of the Song Kingdom, it probably wouldn't have survived."

"Old man, from what you're saying, the story of how difficult it is for the Principle Rice to survive has already spread throughout the world? And the Song Kingdom was also harmed?"

Upon hearing this news, Qiu Yan's heart stirred. The scene before him became illusory again, like a dream, but it only lasted for a moment before returning to normal. However, Qiu Yan clearly felt a cold and chaotic aura surrounding him, as if it were waiting for an opportunity to strike.

His Heart Fire pounded, and his senses swept over, trying to explore. But just as he was about to make contact, a warning suddenly struck Qiu Yan. He sensed a patch of darkness within the chilling aura and knew that if he touched it, his consciousness might be contaminated by something foreign.

"Could it be something like Karmic Sin or Curse?"

A guess arose in Qiu Yan's mind, and suddenly a faint voice rang in his ears.

"Hmm?" He listened intently and recognized Chen Jing's voice, but it was muffled and unclear, and he couldn't make out what he was saying.

Shaking his head, Qiu Yan asked the old man a couple more questions, then walked down to the edge of the field, squatted down, and reached out to touch the rice, releasing his senses to investigate. However, as soon as his senses touched the rice, it was as if he had encountered a whirlpool, pulling at his consciousness and trying to engulf it!

With a jolt of Heart Fire and a return to his senses, Qiu Yan stood up, his expression grave.

"Whether this scene before us is an illusion or reality, it's strange and unusual in every way. The fact that we could hear Chen Jing's voice just now means he hasn't transmigrated again, and his Divine Soul is still intact, indicating that his cultivation hasn't been lost. After eliminating all other possibilities, the remaining one should be the answer..."

As he pondered, he straightened up, stroked his mustache, and looked into the distance, where he saw fields of farmland and rolling hills.

This is Scholar Forest!

On the way back, Qiu Yan sat in the carriage in silence. He first examined himself and found that in addition to being physically weak, he was also quite old, probably in his forties.

Just now, he chatted with the old man for a while, not only about uprisings and agriculture, but also about all sorts of trivial matters, even family matters. He collected a lot of information, and now sitting in the car analyzing and summarizing it, he roughly understands the pulse of the times.

This is a world similar to the Spring and Autumn Annals and Warring States periods, where the emperor enfeoffs feudal lords and feudal lords coexist. In terms of social stratification, it is close to the late Spring and Autumn Annals period, and power is facing a reshuffle.

"At the aristocratic level, in addition to landlords and slave owners who gained power through enfeoffment, bureaucrats, military merit, and landowners with meritorious service were rising; among the common people, they were divided into registered citizens, tenant farmers, and hired laborers."

Qiu Yan carefully recalled what the rebels, the old man, and the two attendants had said, trying to piece together his thoughts.

"Regardless of whether this world is an illusion or not, since it has appeared, there must be a reason. So far, the biggest clue should be the Principle Rice. Righteousness, righteousness, refers to universal principles, and this Principle Rice is also the source of the Liang Kingdom's troubles."

"Starting from this point, we can find out the meaning represented by the Principle Rice, and perhaps then we can understand the root cause of the changes in the Scholar Forest. But to see through all the complexities, the first step is not to be reckless, but to gather enough information and then explore it step by step."

"However, we must act swiftly. Once the cause is clear, we must cut to the chase immediately! If we drag this out, aside from other issues, we will miss the time for the Apricot Altar Dao Discourse and be unable to return, which will delay our experience of Human Path! However, during this period, we can pay attention and experience life in the era of feudal lords to improve our Human Path. Perhaps we can use it in the Land of the Divine Remains in the future."

Just as Qiu Yan was pondering, the two servants standing beside him showed expressions of worry.

Both attendants were quite young; one of them was the boy who had reprimanded Wang Sheng inside the military camp.

Seeing Qiu Yan remain silent, the young man suddenly said, "Cousin, do you perhaps wish to offer some advice to the King?"

Before Qiu Yan could respond to his words, he felt a change in the surrounding atmosphere. A chilling aura spread over him and lingered on his skin. Qiu Yan's current body had not been tempered and was weak. When this cold air blew on him, goosebumps rose all over his body.

What's going on?

Just as Qiu Yan was wondering, the young man continued, "I noticed that when my cousin spoke with the bandit leader just now, he left room for maneuver in his words. Afterwards, he asked the old farmer about the origin of the Principle Rice in the field. He must have something on his mind."

Before Qiu Yan could reply, he solemnly said, "Brother, you are able to sit in the position of Grand Minister of Agriculture now because of your hard work and dedication, which has earned you the King's favor. You went through many ups and downs when you started your own business, and only now have you made progress. You must not anger the King because of a moment of impulsiveness."

Hearing these words, Qiu Yan felt the chilling aura grow even stronger, almost penetrating his flesh and reaching deep into his internal organs and bones! But his face remained expressionless as he asked, "What do you wish to teach me, my worthy brother?"

He gleaned a clue from the other person's words and gained a deeper understanding of the identity of his physical body.

In the late Spring and Autumn Annals Period, there was another class among the nobles and commoners, namely the gentry. The gentry mainly came from four sources, one of which was the sons of illegitimate children or collateral relatives of noble Aristocratic Clan who established their own households and developed into the gentry.

Qiu Yan's physical body should be in this condition.

"If that's the case, then this world before us is definitely not just a simple illusion. These details are difficult to construct perfectly based on the memories of just one or two people. Many of the details just now were things I had never encountered before."

The so-called construction of an illusion is not something that can be created out of thin air. It must be based on the memories and knowledge of living beings, gradually developing and unfolding a fictional scene. The more intricate the illusion, the more vast the memories and knowledge required. If the world before us is an illusion, it is simply impossible to support it with the memories of one or two people.

At this moment, the young man said again, "Brother, the former Minister of Agriculture was only dismissed from his post, but who would have thought that he would advise the King to cherish the people's strength and say that the oversight of the Rice Policy was the King's fault, thus angering the King and bringing about his own death. Now you are asking many questions and exploring the details of the Rice Policy. If you are not careful, you may be harmed by a villain."

He was offering a tactful piece of advice, but upon hearing it, Qiu Yan suddenly froze, his Divine Soul trembling and churning within, a series of memories piling up—

"Principle Rice, the people's strength, the Grand Minister of Agriculture, remonstrance, the Scholar Forest... the Scholar's Thought!"

In an instant, it was as if a bolt of lightning had flashed through Qiu Yan's mind, dispelling all the confusion!

"So that's it, so that's it! This chilling aura surrounding me isn't Karmic Sin or Curse, but rather thoughts of acknowledging my mistakes, regret, and remorse!" (To be continued. Please search for the novel for better and faster updates!)