Martial Arts Master: The Lin Family Sword God, who swept through the Five Mountains and Four Sects

"The Crown Prince is back? Have some while it's hot, and get some rest. I'll sort out the letters for you." She didn't turn around, her voice clear and melodious like a spring striking a stone, cold but not stiff, crisp but not harsh; the faint smile at the corner of her eyes was like spring water just beginning to melt, gentle and just right, unforgettable at first glance.

She slowly turned around—like the moon emerging from behind the clouds, her every glance radiating elegance and aloofness, untouched by worldly concerns. Her face was so beautiful it left one speechless; even the most exquisite words seemed clumsy.

As the old saying goes: A beautiful woman's smile can topple a city; a second smile can topple a nation.

She raised the corners of her lips slightly, but avoided the question Yan Dan had just asked, and simply changed the subject.

Yan Dan choked up, let out a long sigh, and all the helplessness and frustration in her heart were condensed in that sigh.

Yan Fei put down the bamboo scroll in her hand, raised her eyes and looked directly at Yan Dan: "That person... won't help you?"

Yan Dan knelt silently on the mat, and Yan Fei followed suit, sitting close to him, their breaths audible.

He recounted the entire story of his visit to Lin Tian without missing a single word—from the strange intuition he had when they first met, to the suffocating feeling of being under Lin Tian's oppressive presence, and then to the hidden meaning in Lin Tian's words, he told it all frankly.

Finally, gazing at the familiar yet distant face before him, he spoke in a low, sincere voice: "Dongjun, go back to the Yin-Yang School."

She paused slightly, then a familiar faint smile appeared on her lips: "I'm waiting for you to return to Yan and bestow upon me the title of Consort Yan. How can this matter be abandoned halfway?"

She was none other than Consort Yan—later Gao Yue's mother, and Yan Dan's rightful Crown Princess.

She held an extremely high position in the Yin-Yang School, second only to Donghuang Taiyi; even the Moon Goddess was wary of her. The two of them held great power in the two branches of the Yin-Yang School, and the weight of their power was known to everyone in the court and among the people.

Instead of the expected tenderness, Yan Dan's expression suddenly changed, her eyes flashing like lightning as she sharply questioned, "What you want is the secret of the Seven Constellations of the Azure Dragon, not me, Yan Dan!"

Yan Fei stiffened, her eyes trembled slightly, and a trace of unexpected pain flashed across them, which she quickly concealed without a trace.

She knew he was right.

When she approached Yan Dan, who was a hostage, she was indeed from the Azure Dragon Seven Mansions.

Can……

"Your Highness, please have your meal and rest early. I'll take my leave." She rose to leave, but just as her sleeve brushed against Yan Dan's arm, her wrist was suddenly grabbed by him.

"You are not allowed to go to him." Yan Dan's voice was as cold and hard as iron. "The Yin-Yang School is unpredictable and treacherous, and he is even more unfathomable—besides, he has already promised me."

"Your Highness, rest assured. You must return to Yan. Your great cause is not yet accomplished, and your ambitions remain unfulfilled. All I can do is offer my humble assistance from the sidelines."

Before she could finish speaking, Yan Dan's palm was empty—Yan Fei's figure vanished in an instant, turning into a wisp of green smoke that drifted into the depths of the candlelight.

"The Yin-Yang School's escape technique?!" Yan Dan's eyebrows furrowed.

The next day, just as dawn was breaking, Lin Tian woke up in high spirits. He casually poked Nongyu, who was pretending to be asleep, in the quilt. Seeing that her ears were burning and her eyelashes were fluttering, he got up with a smile.

"Lie down a bit more, you must have been exhausted last night, haha." Before he finished speaking, he had already stepped out of the room. Nongyu tried to sit up, but her legs felt weak and powerless, as if she had lost all her strength. Her cheeks immediately burned, and she hurriedly pulled the quilt over herself and wrapped herself tightly in it before shrinking back onto the pillow and pretending to be asleep.

The early morning chill had not yet dissipated in the courtyard. Lin Tian was exchanging pleasantries with everyone when he suddenly bumped into Zi Nu. As soon as she saw him, she turned and walked away. He opened his mouth to call out, but she twirled her skirt and disappeared.

In the courtyard, Yan Lingji and Honglian chatted idly by the corridor, their laughter ringing out; Li Wu stood with her arms crossed below the steps, her gaze indifferent, like a thin blade sheathed, quietly watching them.

Lin Tian turned to look for Han Fei, only to find that the boy had entered the palace before dawn, taking Zhang Liang and Wei Zhuang with him.

Only Wushuang Gui remained outside Yanling Ji's courtyard, sitting on a blue stone bench, silent like an iron tower, not even lifting his eyelids.

Feeling utterly bored, Lin Tian strolled out of the mansion, contemplating a visit to the palace. Just as he turned the corner, a little beggar emerged from behind a wall, shoved a narrow bamboo slip into his hand, and vanished in an instant: "Sir, an uncle told me to give this to you when he saw you leaving!"

Lin Tian glanced down at the words engraved on the bamboo slip, a sneer playing on his lips: "Lü Buwei? Li Si? They've already lost their composure so quickly."

Since Duke Xiao of Qin began his reforms to strengthen the state, Qin followed the example of Qi by establishing schools—Qi had the Jixia Academy, and Qin established the Zhaoxian Hall.

This Hall of Recruitment was specifically designed to gather the best talents from all over the world, especially scholars from the five states of Shandong. Although each of the Hundred Schools of Thought had its representatives, seven or eight out of ten came from those five states. They gathered in groups according to their schools of thought, took root in Xianyang, discussed doctrines day and night, persuaded the emperor, and paid homage to important ministers, all in an effort to make their own doctrines surpass those of others and secure the orthodox position in the imperial court.

The Qin state took the law as its guiding principle, but it did not exclude scholars from all schools of thought. It was lenient in managing these scholars and generous in rewarding them: regardless of whether they were granted official positions or titles, their monthly salaries were paid without fail.

This trend is similar to the practice of powerful figures keeping retainers during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods—both are methods of retaining and winning over people.

The Qin state's transformation from weak to strong owed much to the Hall of Recruiting Talents; even Shang Yang entered the Xianyang Palace from here.

What should have been a place for diverse opinions and discussions has instead become a chaotic scene.

A scholar from a renowned school and a young Confucian scholar argued fiercely about the relative importance of "ruler and subject" versus "teacher and student," eventually veerging into the topic of governance. As the debate progressed, their arguments turned directly towards Lin Tian.

He was accused of corrupting the court, disregarding the proper relationship between ruler and subject, and being a treacherous official who brought chaos to the Qin state.

It is also said that he is illiterate and just a charlatan who roams the world, and that there is no such person as him in the classics of the ancient philosophers;

Finally, the verdict was bluntly: disloyal, unjust, and deceitful to the emperor.

Even more bizarrely, someone fanned the flames, and all the scholars in the academy suddenly united as one, surged to the gates of Xianyang Palace, knelt down in unison, and waited to be summoned, determined to present Lin Tian's "ten major crimes" to the King of Qin in person.

King Qin, please execute this treacherous official, restore order between ruler and subject, clarify the distinction between superiors and inferiors, respect teachers and value the Way, so as to serve as a warning to others and prevent future troubles.

Lin Tian was so angry he almost laughed: "What did I do to deserve this?"

He was lying in his house when he was suddenly slammed into a hornet's nest. In just one night, he had caused such a huge commotion, and he couldn't even catch his breath.

Especially the "Ten Great Sins," after hearing them read aloud, he was completely dumbfounded.

He cursed inwardly, "That's utter nonsense! Could a writer's pen really be any more illogical?"

He knew perfectly well that this was aimed at him, and the mastermind behind it was most likely those two old foxes, Lü Buwei and Li Si.

After receiving Xuan Jian's secret report, Lin Tian hurriedly said a few words to the women and then strolled to a tea stall outside Xianyang Palace and sat down.

Before me knelt a large group of several hundred people, all scholars from the Recruitment Hall. Some were giving impassioned speeches, while others were raising their arms and shouting, their voices rising higher and higher.

The area was already packed with people – even the civil and military officials who had just finished court stood still on the sidelines, craning their necks to watch the spectacle; not to mention the common people, those who couldn't squeeze into the front row simply climbed onto their neighbor's rooftop and stood on tiptoe to look up.

The place was packed with people; even the good spot Lin Tian was sitting in was one he had to pay a high price to buy from a tea customer.

The old locust trees nearby were also covered with people, and some people even set up small stools to sell "viewing seats".

As Lin Tian listened to the scholars from various schools of thought taking turns firing their attacks, each word like a knife and each sentence barbed, they wished they could drag him out on the spot and behead this treacherous official who was "disrupting the government and bringing disaster to the country."