The capital was quiet in the early hours, but undercurrents surged through Taihe Prefecture in Xiang Prefecture.
A hall at the Enlightened Heart Academy in the prefectural capital was brightly lit. Built to hold a thousand people, it looked rather empty with only a little over a hundred inside.
The members of the Reclamation Society had all gathered there.
The Reclamation Society had been founded in secret decades earlier, with the aim of striving to return Xiang Prefecture to the Jing Kingdom. Only after the Jing Kingdom reclaimed Xiang Prefecture had this scholarly society publicly announced its existence.
Zhou Ziren, the head of the Reclamation Society, stood on the raised platform in the hall. The light of a luminous pearl fell across the young man's face, making him look graver and more resolute, as though he had become middle-aged overnight.
Zhou Ziren said slowly, "I differ from many people in certain respects. After thinking it over, I must make those differences clear before today's operation."
Over a hundred members of the Reclamation Society looked at Zhou Ziren in surprise, but none spoke. They quietly listened to what he had to say.
"I have always believed that every person in Xiang Prefecture has the right to choose whether to be a citizen of the Jing Kingdom or the Qing Kingdom. Even a Half-Sage has no right to interfere!" Zhou Ziren said slowly.
Some looked shocked, while others looked furious, itching to go up and strike Zhou Ziren. They thought he intended to betray the Jing Kingdom.
Zhou Ziren took in all their expressions and smiled faintly. "My ideal world is a world of great unity, where we do not need officials or even Half-Sages to decide our futures, our destinies, and our Sacred Way. One of our Confucian School's most important