"I just don't know, who exactly is our opponent this time."
Just as Lin Dong finished speaking, Gu Mengqi handed over a scroll and said with a smile.
"We just analyzed it a bit, and this time, the powerhouse sent by Demon Prison should include this person."
As Gu Mengqi spoke, she pointed to the topmost name on the scroll that Lin Dong had opened.
"Faceless Man, Xu Xiu?"
Lin Dong followed the position of Gu Mengqi's finger and saw five gilded characters on it, subconsciously reading them out softly. Then, he frowned, instinctively feeling that there was something wrong with this name.
Looking more closely, Lin Dong then noticed that this list was actually something called the 'New Talent Ranking'.
"New Talent Ranking? What's that?"
"It's the strength ranking of the younger generation in the Chaotic Demon Sea, compiled and released by a force called Heavenly Mystery Pavilion,"
Lin Qingtan interjected, with a hint of pride on her face. She was directly ranked fifth on the New Talent Ranking.
"Then is this Xu Xiu confirmed to be from Demon Prison?"
Lin Dong had just asked when Little Marten scoffed and explained.
"This Xu Xiu, like us, is one of those guys who suddenly emerged not long ago. About a year ago, this guy first appeared and fought against a Death Profound Realm Completion expert, and successfully killed his opponent."
"Moreover, this Xu Xiu had been completely unknown before that. No one even knew that there was such a powerhouse."
Although Life and Death Profound Realm experts were not as famous in the Chaotic Demon Sea as Revolving Wheel Realm experts, experts of this level would at least have a good reputation in a certain sea area, right?
But this Xu Xiu had no reputation at all, and could even be said to be non-existent.
And now he suddenly appeared, how could such a powerhouse be created out of thin air?
"May I ask, miss, which bookshelf contains the historical books in the Scripture Depository?"
Cai Wan raised her Willow Eyebrows slightly, staring at Shen Jun with a hint of surprise in her eyes. To read history before anything else, his ambition must be great. It seems that this Shen son-in-law is also a man with great aspirations.
"Son-in-law Shen has come to the right place. These rows of bookshelves here are all historical books. However, Zhen Ji has a general history book here. If son-in-law Shen is interested, you can read it first."
Cai Wan smiled and took out a book from under the zither bed. It still had a delicate fragrance of ink, which made Shen Jun's face light up. He quickly reached out and took it.
Those detailed historical books that even recorded which Emperor did what on which day were not what Shen Jun wanted at all. He was not a historian. What he wanted was this kind of general history, to first have a certain understanding of this world.
"Thank you, miss!"
"Son-in-law Shen is too polite. When the time comes, please help me correct any errors after you have read it."
Shen Jun's excited expression made Cai Wan's face turn slightly red. She lowered her head shyly and spoke softly. Shen Jun, who had taken the book, didn't think much about it. After being surprised by the new book in his hand, he opened it and began to read.
As the pages turned, Shen Jun gradually gained some new understanding of this world. It was a world that was somewhat similar to the history of his previous life, but also very different. It was more like a world that mixed history and mythology.
In ancient times, the Xuanyuan Yellow Emperor fought a great battle with Chi You. After defeating Chi You, the Nine Provinces all belonged to the human race.
After the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, the Xia and Shang dynasties were experienced. At the end of the Shang dynasty, Marquis of the West Ji Chang was dissatisfied with the tyranny of Human King Di Xin and raised troops to rebel against Shang. Human King Di Xin was defeated and immolated himself in the Star Plucking Tower. From then on, the Shang dynasty was destroyed, historically known as the Investiture of the Gods War!
After the Investiture of the Gods War, King Wu of Zhou Ji Fa enfeoffed the world, and the title of Human King was no longer used. He began to be called the Son of Heaven, known to the world as the Zhou Heavenly Emperor.
After one thousand two hundred years of Zhou, King You of Zhou was killed, and King Ping of Zhou moved east, historically known as the Western Zhou and Eastern Zhou.
For three hundred years in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, Duke Zhuang of Zheng defeated the Zhou Heavenly Emperor in battle, causing the Zhou royal family's prestige to plummet. From then on, the world was in chaos, and the feudal lords vied for supremacy.
First came the Five Hegemons, then the Seven Heroes, as heroes contended for the central plains. It wasn't until King Ying Zheng of Qin for Six Generations ascended the throne, sweeping across the six directions and shaking the eight wildernesses, that the position of Human King was restored. He proclaimed himself the First Emperor, historically known as the Qin First Emperor!
In the fifty-sixth year of the First Emperor, nobles from the six states, united with the Hundred Schools of Thought, fought the First Emperor on the banks of the Xiang River. In that battle, the Xiang River was cut off, and the Hundred Schools withered.
Not long after, the First Emperor Ying Zheng, a generation of Human King, died in the capital Xianyang due to severe injuries. The Second Emperor Hu Hai was unable to suppress the heroes of the world, and within just three years, the Qin Dynasty was destroyed.
The Chu Overlord Xiang Yu annihilated Chu, and the heroes retreated. Only the Han King Liu Bang confronted him. The Chu-Han contention lasted nearly a hundred years. Finally, in the battle of Wu River, the Chu Overlord Xiang Yu was killed, and the Xiong Clan seized power, confronting the Great Han across the Yangtze River.
Less than thirty years after the establishment of the Han Dynasty, powerful figures such as Zhang Liang, Han Xin, and Fan Kuai all died of illness due to severe injuries. The once-powerful Han Dynasty was on the verge of collapse, and the surrounding foreign tribes were eyeing it covetously.
After nearly three hundred years of governance by Emperor Wen of Han and Emperor Jing, the Great Han became rich and powerful. However, Emperor Wu exhausted the country's resources through military expeditions for two hundred years, turning the once-strong Han into a sick tiger. In his later years, due to the witchcraft affair, Emperor Wu killed his wife and sons, severing the national fortune of the Great Han.
After Emperor Wu passed away, the new emperor had just ascended the throne when Duke Li Yuan of Tang raised an army in Jinyang, establishing the Great Tang.
Soon after, Emperor Taizong of Tang Li Shimin was enthroned by the Great Tang ministers. He tested his sword against the world, shaking the four directions, repeatedly defeating the Great Han's iron cavalry. Finally, taking Hangu as the boundary, the land east of Hangu Pass, the former territory of the Six States of Shandong, all belonged to the Great Tang. The once-strong Han could only be confined to the lands of Western Qin and Sichuan.
However, only fifty years later, Emperor Taizong of Tang Li Shimin was assassinated. From then on, the national fortune of the Great Tang plummeted.
Another fifty years passed, and many jiedushi of Tang rebelled one after another. Zhao Kuangyin donned the yellow robe and established the Song Dynasty in Kaifeng, while Zhu Yuanzhang established the Ming Dynasty in the Old Yan Capital Ji City.
From then on, the situation of five countries—Han Tang Ming Song Chu—standing side by side has continued to this day, for more than two hundred years.
The more Shen Jun read the records in this general history, the more alarmed he became. He was starting to panic a little.
This world was actually a high-martial world. Each person lived for hundreds of years at the drop of a hat, which was really terrifying. And what was with fighting that could cut off rivers? It was really just his good luck that he hadn't encountered...
Wait, Shen Jun suddenly remembered that some time ago, he seemed to have encountered a fierce-looking monk. At that time, he relied on the fact that he had a group of refugees behind him and pointed at the other party's nose, scolding him a few times, directly causing the other party to vomit blood.
Now that he thought about it, Shen Jun's back was instantly soaked. Fortunately, the monk didn't become angry out of humiliation at the time, otherwise, he would have been directly finished on the spot. How would he have had the chance to live the good life he had now?
Shen Jun remembered that the monk seemed to be from the Golden Mountain Temple. It seemed that he had to offer some incense money to the Golden Mountain Temple another day. He had given his name that day, so he couldn't be targeted by the other party, or his little life would be over.
As Shen Jun flipped through the general history in his hand, some sorrowful expressions flashed across his face from time to time, and his brows were also tightly furrowed. Seeing this, Cai Wan's heart was on tenterhooks. She even left the zither bed and sat back down opposite Shen Jun, lowering her head slightly and proactively helping Shen Jun add tea and pour water from time to time.
Her posture of lowering her eyebrows and pleasingly waiting for criticism was like that of a well-behaved little concubine.
Shaoyao, who secretly took all of this into her eyes, did not go over to disturb Shen Jun's reading. Instead, she quietly retreated and quickly found Su Yueyao, who was busy, and reported to her about Shen Jun's encounter with Cai Wan in the Scripture Depository.
After hearing Shaoyao's report, Su Yueyao's Willow Eyebrows furrowed subconsciously, and she said with a bit of annoyance on her face.
"I forgot that Miss Cai has been living in the Scripture Depository for more than a year."
"Miss, do you want to find an opportunity to get rid of her..."
A cold glint flashed in Shaoyao's eyes. That Miss Cai knew their secret, so they definitely couldn't let her leave the manor, otherwise, they would be in big trouble. Therefore, the only way was to make her disappear completely.
However, Su Yueyao's face turned cold, and she glanced at Shaoyao askance, scaring Shaoyao into immediately lowering her head to admit her mistake. Seeing Shaoyao admit her mistake, Su Yueyao's expression eased slightly, and her slender jade fingers gently caressed the smooth back of her hand, then she said softly.
"If I remember correctly, that Miss Cai seems to have an older sister, right? Since my husband likes her, then my husband should also be interested in her sister."
"Shaoyao, notify Lao Bai and have him send someone to pass on the whereabouts of Miss Cai to her sister and lure her to Yangzhou!
It's just a pity that most of the books here are related to various classics, and most of them are annotations, insights, and collations of these classics by various famous scholars. I haven't seen anything related to history.
Suddenly, Shen Jun's footsteps stopped, and he gently took a breath. A faint and elegant fragrance of tea slowly drifted in, causing Shen Jun's eyes to light up. He directly ignored the books on the bookshelves on both sides and strode forward.
After wandering through the bookshelves for a good while, Shen Jun finally emerged from the mountain of books, only to be greeted by a warm pavilion resembling the Moon Gazing Pavilion.
The pavilion was simply furnished, with a low couch on the left and a desk on the right. Further out was a zither bed with a zither placed on it, and on either side stood a closed screen.
The faint, elegant fragrance of tea emanated from the desk, where a woman in a dark green dress was sipping tea, sleeves rolled up.
The woman appeared to be around twenty years old, her face delicate and refined, possessing an elegant air. Although not as stunning as Su Yueyao, she could still be considered a great beauty of this era.
Speaking of which, among the people Shen Jun had met in the entire Su Family, those he remembered all seemed to be top-tier beauties, making the place feel like a land of beauties. And Su Yueyao was undoubtedly the queen of this land.
Hearing footsteps, the refined woman looked up, and the half-smile on her face instantly froze, turning into a look of astonishment as she exclaimed.
"You are? Miss Su's husband?"
"Hmm? Aren't you a maid of the manor?"
Shen Jun was also stunned. Su Yueyao had told him about the Su Family's situation this morning. The only masters of the entire Su Family now were the two of them, husband and wife. There were plenty of people in the manor, and Su Yueyao had told him to just order the servants around if he needed anything.
But judging from the woman's tone, she didn't seem to be a maid of the manor? But Su Yueyao didn't have any sisters. Could it be that this woman was a concubine kept by his cheap father-in-law?
Hiss!
Recalling his father-in-law's appearance and looking at the woman, who was about the same age as Su Yueyao, Shen Jun couldn't help but sigh. Those with money and power really knew how to play; even at their age, they still had the energy to play the game of keeping a beauty hidden away.
"If the Su Family's son-in-law doesn't mind, you may call me Zhen Ji."
"Zhen Ji?"
Hearing the woman named Zhen Ji announce her name, Shen Jun was completely stunned. Damn, Zhen Ji? The legendary Goddess of the Luo River, Zhen Ji?
Although Shen Jun knew that the Zhen Ji of the Zhen Clan wasn't actually the Goddess of the Luo River, there was no doubt that Zhen Ji was an absolute beauty.
Even though he didn't know if the person in front of him was the Zhen Ji he had heard of, her appearance, dignified elegance, and well-read demeanor definitely lived up to the name Zhen Ji.
Looking up at the woman's maiden hairstyle, Shen Jun couldn't help but shake his head and sigh. Tsk, tsk, tsk, a flower stuck in cow dung, and old cow dung at that.
"The Su Family's son-in-law misunderstands. I am Zhen Ji, the 'zhen' of fidelity, not the 'zhen' of the Zhen Clan."
From Shen Jun's tone, Cai Wan knew that he had misunderstood, and she quickly explained. Shen Jun couldn't help but smile awkwardly upon hearing this, nodding in response.
"Ah? Is that so? Miss, you don't have to keep calling me the Su Family's son-in-law. My name is Shen Jun; you can just call me Son-in-law Shen."
Although Su Yueyao had said that in the future, the entire Su Family would be under Shen Jun's control, Shen Jun hadn't become arrogant because of this and didn't disregard the others in the Su Family. Therefore, he was relatively polite to this concubine, who was suspected to be kept by his cheap father-in-law in the library.
Although Shen Jun had never experienced the life of a true ancient noble, he knew that in the hearts of these ancient nobles, these classics, especially the annotations of the classics, were the most important things, which could be said to be the family's heritage.
"Since Miss is so kind as to invite me, how could Shen Jun refuse? Coincidentally, Shen Jun also has something he would like to ask Miss, and I hope Miss will be generous enough to enlighten me!"
Shen Jun politely cupped his fist in greeting and, after carefully changing into wooden clogs, walked into the warm pavilion and knelt down opposite Cai Wan.
"I wouldn't dare to enlighten you. Whatever Son-in-law Shen asks, as long as Zhen Ji knows, I will definitely answer without reservation!"