Chapter 93: Four Years, Scars of History

Lu Shishui was also somewhat surprised when he heard the name of the place.

"Wuyuan Province... Canglan Prefecture?"

He repeated it once, his expression becoming somewhat strange.

"I didn’t expect I would be appointed to the same place as that historical Supreme Elder of the Lu Family."

Lu Yang’s expression froze for an instant, but his father didn’t seem to notice, continuing with a faint smile.

"Didn’t you say that you quite liked his story? Since you’re going to enter the Imperial Prison in the capital, perhaps you can visit me there and coincidentally see the Canglan Prefecture when you grow older."

Lu Yang was silent for a moment before nodding.

"Alright, father."

His voice was calm, with nothing unusual about his expression.

At least, that was what Lu Shishui saw.

In reality, countless thoughts had already flashed through Lu Yang’s mind.

Wuyuan Province, Canglan Prefecture.

The same place and the same land, but everything else had changed.

The Lu Family from his previous life had already been gone for decades.

After more than fifty years, probably everyone he knew had long since been buried.

Even his former enemies had mostly become nothing more than names in history.

Only he was left, but not as Lu Yang, the Supreme Elder of the Lu Family, but as Lu Yang, the son of the Xihe County Magistrate.

Like a ghost who had come back to haunt history.

But Lu Yang didn’t want to return there just yet.

The memories of that place were still too clear.

...

Two days later, preparations for Lu Shishui’s departure were complete.

The government had naturally arranged transportation for a newly appointed County Magistrate.

At the entrance of the Lu residence stood a large carriage bearing the insignia of Great Qian, with several guards standing beside it.

All of them possessed cultivation around the middle stages of the Body Tempering Realm, and the guard captain was a Eighth Stage Body Tempering cultivator.

This wasn’t particularly impressive in the Imperial Capital, but for an ordinary County Magistrate traveling thousands of miles through the provinces, such protection was already quite sufficient.

Lu Shishui stood beside the carriage, and Chen Yuruo was standing right next to him, wearing simple clothes and carrying only a few belongings.

As Lu Shishui’s wife, she would naturally accompany her husband.

Lu Hai, Aunt Lin, and Lu Yang came to see them off.

Chen Yuruo looked at Lu Yang for a moment before she suddenly reached out and pinched his cheek.

"Yang’er."

Lu Yang looked at her.

"Yes, mother?"

"Don’t make things difficult for your grandfather and Sister Lin while we’re gone, alright?" She spoke seriously.

Lu Yang blinked before nodding obediently.

"I won’t."

Chen Yuruo finally smiled and rubbed his head.

"Good child."

Over the past few months, she had become surprisingly attached to this child.

When she first agreed to the marriage, she had naturally considered the matter of Lu Yang, wondering what kind of child he would be.

Perhaps he would be rebellious, maybe he would resent her, and overall would be difficult to raise, but none of those things happened.

Lu Yang was too well behaved, completely exceeding her imagination.

He never caused trouble, always spoke politely, studied when asked to study, cultivated when asked to cultivate, and almost seemed unusually mature.

Sometimes, Chen Yuruo even wondered if he was really six years old.

She had never seen such a well-behaved child in her life.

Because of this, she gradually became fond of him, even occasionally guiding him in cultivation.

This obviously caused Lu Yang some helplessness.

He had more cultivation knowledge than she could imagine, but he couldn’t possibly say that, so he could only pretend not to understand and play dumb.

At times like that, he would listen attentively, ask questions at appropriate moments, occasionally make an incorrect deduction, and then reveal an expression of sudden realization when Chen Yuruo corrected him.

Every time he did this, Chen Yuruo became even more satisfied with herself, fulfilling her vanity.

Lu Yang could only remain silent in the end.

At that moment, Lu Shishui stepped forward.

"Alright, it’s time to go."

Chen Yuruo nodded, smiling at Lu Yang once more before getting onto the carriage.

Lu Shishui also looked at his son, "Yang’er, listen to your grandfather while we’re gone, and don’t slack off in your cultivation."

Lu Yang nodded.

"I will."

Lu Shishui smiled, turning around and entering the carriage as well.

Soon, the carriage began moving, the several guards following on their horses in a formation, with the carriage in between them.

Lu Yang watched quietly as Lu Hai stood beside him and Aunt Lin stood on his other side.

The carriage gradually disappeared into the distance, and only after it could no longer be seen did Lu Hai turn around.

"Let’s go."

Lu Yang nodded.

The three soon returned inside.

The Lu residence became quiet again, perhaps even quieter than before.

...

Time passed bit by bit, and before anyone knew it, four years had already slipped away.

During these four years, many things had happened, but most of them had little to do with Lu Yang.

His father was still in Xihe County.

Because of his official duties, Lu Shishui couldn’t return to the Imperial Capital frequently.

However, letters from him would arrive from time to time.

In those letters, he would write about the affairs of Xihe County, the people, the taxes, the local clans and gangs, the policies he had implemented, the difficulties he had encountered, and occasionally, he would ask about Lu Yang.

Chen Yuruo, on the other hand, returned to the Imperial Capital twice every year.

Whenever she came back, the Lu residence would become lively again.

She would bring specialties from Wuyuan Province, asking about Lu Yang’s cultivation and inspecting his progress.

And she would inevitably give him a lecture if she felt that he had been cultivating too little.

Lu Yang could only endure it with bitterness.

On the surface, at ten years of age, his cultivation was already at the Third Stage of Body Tempering Realm, and he was estimated to achieve the Fourth Stage of Body Tempering Realm under twelve years of age.

That was already considered quite good for his age, and Wen Fanghong, who had been giving him resources and guiding him over the years, was extremely satisfied.

The Dust Hiding Breath Concealing Method continued to hide the vast majority of his Blood Qi, and because his control over his own power had become increasingly precise, concealing his cultivation was now even easier than before.

The difference between him and ordinary cultivators, in truth, had become enormous, but Lu Yang didn’t feel particularly proud.

He had already experienced this kind of thing more than once, and with the talent he currently possessed, it was only natural.

What truly interested him was the world around him.

Over these four years, he had learned far more about the Imperial Prison.

He was now familiar with many of his grandfather’s subordinates.

Since they knew that he was the grandson of one of the Imperial Prison’s Prison Wardens and also the designated successor of the Prison Supervisor, they naturally treated him somewhat respectfully.

Lu Yang didn’t really care, though, simply observing.

The Imperial Prison had become his window into the Great Qian Dynasty.

Inside it, he saw all kinds of people on a daily basis, ranging from corrupt officials to cultivators who believed their strength allowed them to ignore the law, from wealthy merchants who thought money could solve everything to ordinary people who had been dragged into disputes despite having no cultivation.

Sometimes he saw injustice, sometimes he saw justice, and sometimes, he saw that the distinction between the two wasn’t as simple as it appeared.

The more he observed, the more he understood why Great Qian had survived for hundreds of years.

It wasn’t because everyone within it was righteous, and nor was it because the Imperial Court was omnipotent.

Both of these claims had been proven wrong in his previous life.

The Great Qian survived because there were enough people maintaining the system, people who still believed the system was worth protecting.

Even Lu Shishui was one of them.

During his four years in Xihe County, he had implemented several policies.

He reduced certain unnecessary burdens on ordinary people, reorganized tax collection, and suppressed several powerful local clans that had previously relied on their influence to evade taxes.

He didn’t completely destroy those families; that would have been foolish.

Instead, he restricted them and made them follow the law, ensuring that the taxes they were supposed to pay reached the Imperial Court.

The result was obvious to all.

The people benefited, the Imperial Court received more taxes, and Xihe County became even more stable.

Lu Shishui was even praised by the local population as a virtuous official.

He still had another two years before completing the required period for his promotion, but the achievements he had accumulated would undoubtedly help him later.

Even Lu Yang was somewhat taken aback when he got to know all these things.

His father really had the ability to govern.

Perhaps the Director of the Department of Appointments hadn’t made a mistake.

If things continued like this, Lu Shishui might eventually climb quite high.

Wuyuan Province being a prosperous and largely peaceful place itself contributed heavily to all this.

The last truly major turmoil in Wuyuan Province had occurred decades ago.

At that time, the war between the Divine Martial Hall and Misty Cloud Sect was in full swing in the Tiannan Province, its impact affecting every single corner of Great Qian.

The Misty Cloud Sect, having birthed a Spiritual Platform Realm mighty figure, swept all sides with unstoppable momentum, defeating the Divine Martial Hall in one fell swoop.

In Wuyuan Province, the True Martial Sect, one of the strongest Essence Gathering Realm factions in the dynasty’s cultivation world, fell under the siege of more than five Essence Gathering cultivators after the loss of True Martial Sect’s core combat power that was sent to support the Divine Martial Hall.

That period had shaken the entire region, almost destabilizing the whole dynasty as the conflict had spread far beyond the boundaries of the cultivation world.

Eventually, the former Lu Family’s Supreme Elder, Lu Yang, fought four Essence Gathering cultivators after his daughter, who was the number one genius of the True Martial Sect, died.

He used a forbidden secret technique and alone killed all four of his opponents, but that battle, occurring within the Canglan Prefecture City, also destroyed a large part of the city.

The consequences didn’t end there.

The Azure Spirit Sect was eventually destroyed while the Shu Manor and another major family in Wuyuan Province suffered irreversible decline.

The four dead Essence Gathering cultivators were the pillars supporting those factions. Once they died, the entire structure collapsed.

For ordinary people, the consequences were even worse.

Bandits and robber cultivators became more common, some regions lost the protection of powerful cultivators, and disputes that the local authorities couldn’t easily suppress erupted one after another.

But after a few years of chaos, that period had eventually passed.

Decades later, Wuyuan Province had recovered its vitality, and Canglan Prefecture was once again prosperous.

The scars remained embedded in history, but most people living there no longer remembered them clearly.

Except for Lu Yang.

He still remembered everything as if it had just happened yesterday.