Chapter 306: Chapter 222: Wang Qingci: The Prince has Changed_2

Hearing this, Lu Chen gave a faint smile. He picked up the intelligence report from the desk and glanced over it.

Clearly, Zhuge Zhongguang’s visit to the Da Yue Dynasty was merely a smokescreen; his real objective was North Country.

After all, with so many students at Univeral Academy, it was impossible to move to North Country all at once; the process would require some time.

As for the meeting between Zhuge Zhongguang and the Yue Emperor, this was not at all surprising. After all, Zhuge Zhongguang was a Literature Saint Grandmaster, and a grandmaster would be respected in any dynasty.

It was highly likely that the Yue Emperor wanted to win over Zhuge Zhongguang, to have him join the Da Yue Dynasty, which is why he would meet with Zhuge in secret.

However, unfortunately for the Yue Emperor, Zhuge Zhongguang would never join the Da Yue Dynasty.

At this moment, Wang Qingci reminded, “Recently, the situation for Univeral Academy in the Great Qian Dynasty has been poor. Some say that the reason the Great Qian Dynasty is suffering from the plague is because the students from Univeral Academy do not abide by rituals, nor respect gods and spirits; hence, the heavens have sent down the plague as a punishment for the Great Qian Dynasty.”

“As the head of Univeral Academy, Zhuge Zhongguang visiting other dynasties at this time is likely in search of a new location for the academy. Prince, don’t you think this is an opportunity?”

Wang Qingci could also see what North Country was lacking the most right now.

For the past few months, Lu Chen hardly engaged in that kind of activity with her inside the study; most of the time, it was because Lu Chen was too busy.

North Country did not have that many officials, and many matters required Lu Chen’s personal attention, which led to him being in a state of high-intensity work upon entering the study, leaving him no time to seek relaxation with Wang Qingci.

It used to be Lu Chen who took care of Wang Qingci in the study, but ever since Lu Chen’s workload increased, it had been Wang Qingci who went back to the inner court by herself, luring Lu Chen to her room on his way to Spring Sound Court at night.

Not cultivating feelings with the Young Prince for a long time, Wang Qingci would pine for him, so she would occasionally return to the inner court to find Lu Chen for relief. Although every time she returned, she would wake up the next day with her head in a fog, it wasn’t too much of a problem as long as it wasn’t a daily occurrence.

What Wang Qingci was thinking now was that, since Univeral Academy was so unpopular, why not take advantage of this opportunity to attract Univeral Academy to North Country?

Putting aside the fact that Univeral Academy’s students were all fit to be officials, having Zhuge Zhongguang, a Literature Saint Grandmaster, alone was worth Lu Chen welcoming the entire Univeral Academy.

With Grandmaster Zhuge Zhongguang, North Country’s deterrence would grow significantly, and even if North Country wanted to become independent in the future, the court would not dare to act rashly.

So far, no feudal state of a Prince in the Great Xia Dynasty had a Grandmaster. Secretly, perhaps, but at least not publicly.

North Country already had Lu Chen, a Grandmaster; with another grandmaster, that would be two Grandmasters. A feudal state with two Grandmasters could completely disregard the imperial court’s commands.

Of course, this was just Wang Qingci’s personal idea. She also knew that those scholars from Univeral Academy were filled with impractical ideas in their heads, so it remained to be seen whether Lu Chen, the ruler, would be willing to accept these scholars.

After all, no ruler so far had been willing to embrace scholars filled with the ideology of a great unity.

After hearing what Wang Qingci said, Lu Chen smiled and then asked, “Opportunity? What opportunity?”

“In your view, Qingci, do you think the scholars from Univeral Academy are of great use to North Country?”

Hearing Lu Chen say this, Wang Qingci thought he looked down on the scholars from Univeral Academy like other rulers and replied, “Prince, although those scholars are filled with unrealistic ideas, their principles are good for the common people. If the students from Univeral Academy could come to North Country to serve as officials, I believe they would wholeheartedly work for the people.”

“If the officials work wholeheartedly for the people, the people will surely credit their achievements to you. This would increase the people’s trust in North Prince Mansion and consolidate your rule.”

Having listened to Wang Qingci’s words, Lu Chen smiled and then asked, “Have you not considered that if these people all come to North Country, they might one day sideline me, the Prince, and decide everything in North Country, or even demand that I hand over the properties of North Prince Mansion?”

This…

Wang Qingci thought about it; if it were those people from Univeral Academy, they might indeed try to have the ruling class surrender their benefits to the common folk.

So, these people were indeed a threat to Prince Lu Chen, and it was not surprising that he did not want them.

Then Wang Qingci said, “The Prince is right, I was being fanciful.”

Just when Wang Qingci thought Lu Chen had no interest in Univeral Academy, Lu Chen suddenly said, “No, you were not being fanciful. If it were an ordinary Prince, indeed he would not want the scholars from Univeral Academy, nor would he worry about those people coming to his feudal state and sidelining him.”

“But I am different from other Princes.”

Upon hearing this, Wang Qingci was taken aback, then she asked, “Does the Prince mean to attract Zhuge Zhongguang and the students from Univeral Academy?”