How Is This Any Different from Pulling the Wool over My Eyes?

Kindling Combat Academy was one of the Heavenly Strategy Empire's five great academies.

It ranked among the best even across the entire continent.

Many of the instructors at Kindling Combat Academy were generals who had retired from frontline military camps.

Its teaching staff was formidable indeed. If students earned these instructors' approval, a single letter of recommendation might let them ride the wind and waves in the army one day.

There were actually three Battle Academies in this area. Li Chen had simply happened to come here first.

He had to admit that the imperial capital really was enormous. It had taken him several hours to walk here.

Along the way, Li Chen had also noticed something amiss.

Two streets back, he had clearly heard an argument coming from a nearby treasure shop. Two cultivators of considerable strength had set their sights on the same treasure, gotten into a dispute, and started threatening to break each other's legs.

He had even heard things being smashed and sensed the fluctuations of power coursing through their meridians.

Li Chen had been delighted, thinking he should finally be able to complete his mission this time.

Yet when he entered the shop, he found nothing but harmony.

The two cultivators who had just been threatening to break each other's legs now had their arms around each other's shoulders, looking like the best of friends.

Li Chen noticed several people in the shop looking toward Grand General Guo Poyun, and he more or less understood what had happened.

After leaving the treasure shop and entering a deserted alley, Li Chen suddenly stopped.

The two elderly ministers behind him would never dare walk ahead of him, so they naturally stopped a little behind him, to either side.

"Whose men were those covert guards in the shop?"

That single question sent both elderly ministers to their knees.

As ministers, they did not fear the emperor's anger nearly as much as this bland, unreadable tone. No one could guess what he was thinking.

"Your Majesty, they were my subordinates."

Sweat began pouring down Guo Poyun's back, for he knew he might have botched things.

The sudden trouble at the nearby treasure shop had not been dealt with promptly by his men, resulting in a glaringly unnatural scene. On top of that, one of them had looked to him for instructions. How could His Majesty possibly fail to guess?

Only now did Li Chen understand why he had encountered no trouble along the way. So you were taking matters into your own hands and dealing with everything for me, you old rascal.

If he wanted to complete his mission, he would first have to find a way to send Guo Poyun away.

Thus, Li Chen said, "Since you knew I was traveling incognito, you should have known I wanted to see the real imperial capital. How is this any different from pulling the wool over my eyes?"

Guo Poyun kowtowed. "I acknowledge my wrongdoing. I merely wished to do everything possible to keep Your Majesty from getting caught up in trouble."

Li Chen sighed. "Enough. Return to your residence and reflect on your actions for three days. You are not to leave."

Hearing this punishment, Guo Poyun breathed a temporary sigh of relief. After thanking the emperor for his boundless grace, he left the area and withdrew every covert guard he had dispatched.

A minister might fail to fathom the emperor's thoughts, but he absolutely had to understand the emperor's words.

Li Chen glanced at Chancellor Zhao Wenyuan's deeply wrinkled face beside him and asked whether any of his men were nearby.

Zhao Wenyuan was a clever man. He took the opportunity to explain that he was a civil official with only a few old servants at home, painting himself as a man with nothing up either sleeve and naturally no means to arrange so many guards.

Only after hearing this did Li Chen nod in satisfaction.

Along the way, Zhao Wenyuan acted like a steward. Whenever he noticed Li Chen looking at a place with interest, he began introducing it.

"Your Majesty, this is Kindling Combat Academy. The late emperor also studied here while he was still a hidden dragon awaiting his rise."

The Battle Academy's imposing gates stood before them, displaying all the grandeur befitting an institution of higher learning in the Heavenly Strategy Dynasty.

There were more young people coming and going here, most of them students of Kindling Combat Academy.

Several hours had passed since they left the palace, and Li Chen was getting a little hungry. He headed to a busy stretch of street, picked a small eatery at random, and prepared to have something to eat.

The waiter was sharp as well. Seeing that these two men were dressed far better than ordinary folk, he immediately hurried over, wiped down the table and stools, and asked what they would like to eat.

His movements flowed together seamlessly, with the bearing of a young expert.

Li Chen casually ordered some beef and wine, then glanced at the young waiter and asked offhandedly, "You've got some skill. Why not find yourself a proper position?"

Li Chen was an emperor now, after all. Seeing such strength in a waiter so young, he felt it was a sheer waste of talent to keep him here.

The waiter gave an awkward smile and answered, "To tell you the truth, I'm a student at Kindling Combat Academy. My family is poor, so I work here to earn some money for living expenses and avoid adding to their burden."

He must have been asked this by many people, for his answer came very smoothly.

Li Chen saw nothing wrong with it. He rather admired young people from humble backgrounds who supported themselves.

Beside him, Chancellor Zhao Wenyuan kept observing without offering any opinions or comments.

After spending some time with Li Chen, he knew that the new emperor had his own way of thinking.

Zhao Wenyuan also knew full well that what the emperor hated most was subordinates trying to be clever and acting on their own, like Guo Poyun. All he needed to do was whatever Li Chen told him to do, and he could avoid making mistakes.

For this meal, for instance, he could only pick up his chopsticks after Li Chen did.

When Li Chen put down his chopsticks, he had to put his down immediately as well, whether he had eaten his fill or not.

This was what a "perfect" minister ought to do.

Guo Poyun, you'd better learn from this.

Just as Zhao Wenyuan was inwardly basking in the satisfaction of having earned the new emperor's approval, a single question from Li Chen shattered his image as the perfect minister.

"Did you bring any money?"

They obviously had to pay for their meal. Li Chen had always eaten in the palace before and had no habit of carrying money.

"No."

Zhao Wenyuan was the chancellor, and he had no habit of carrying money either.

An awkward silence fell.

Who could have imagined that the two most powerful men in the Heavenly Strategy Dynasty could not scrape together even a single tael of silver!

The only one who might have brought money had been sent away by Li Chen.

The two men, who had been about to rise, silently sat back down.

Li Chen thought that Zhao Wenyuan was a civil official with no cultivation strength. A round trip would take him at least several hours.

Am I supposed to wait here until dark?

Then my only option is to run back myself and bring money to ransom Zhao Wenyuan.

I can hardly grab some random person and say, "I'm Li Chen, the new emperor. Give me fifty taels of silver, and I'll make you a Grand General once I return to the palace," can I?

Even after decades as chancellor, Zhao Wenyuan could not think of a good solution to this predicament.

He could hardly have His Majesty dine and dash.

If word got out, the other princes would not even need to rebel. Li Chen would simply make them laugh themselves to death.

The surrounding diners began turning their attention toward them, making the awkward atmosphere even thicker.

Most importantly, the waiter was already approaching.

Zhao Wenyuan hurriedly patted himself down, hoping to find something he could leave as collateral.

Just then, a beautiful young woman suddenly sat down in the seat beside Li Chen.