No one at the tea stall dared to respond to what Cui Hao had said.
Even though they were uneducated, that didn't stop them from knowing what could and couldn't be said—at least when someone shouted about overthrowing the feudal dog emperor, they'd tacitly pretend to be deaf, not even bothering to glance over.
After all, getting pinned down as an accomplice when they came to arrest people would be pretty rotten luck.
Cui Hao swept his gaze across the crowd, looking thoroughly pleased with himself, as though he'd said something so shocking it had stunned everyone. His smile widened as he spoke:
"The classics say: the people may be made to follow, but not made to understand."
"It means you just let them do it—don't let them know why they're doing it."
"My father says Li Junzi wanting to distribute the weapon of knowledge to everyone under heaven is naturally a source of chaos."
"The new policies Li Junzi is pushing forward are obviously the root of chaos in our Xuanwu Kingdom. If they were truly good policies for the whole nation, how could he have been driven out like a stray dog?"
The burly man looked at Cui Hao's excessively naive expression, weighed the now-colored tea in his bowl, and despite finding Cui Hao's words and behavior unlikable, figured the free tea was still a benefit. He called out:
"Whether the new policies go through is the officials' business. Some things we can't talk about, friend. How about a cup of tea instead?"
Cui Hao nodded with a smile, dragged over a stool, and sat down next to the burly man, striking up conversation with practiced ease:
"The new policies are indeed the officials' business, but whether we participate or not is closely tied to you and me. Li Junzi has already entered Xuanwu Kingdom—the new policies will be pushed through regardless. I'm just worried someone might end up as a sacrifice to them. After all, once the new policies pass, it'll be a mess of chicken feathers everywhere."
Hearing this, the burly man still didn't dare respond, cursing inwardly at his own bad luck and stupidity for engaging with this foolish-but-rich kid who happened to have a smart father.
Seeing the burly man ignore him again, Cui Hao shook his head helplessly:
"My father told me not to say these things outside either. I just figured you're all friends here, so I spoke from the heart."
The burly man couldn't hold back and spoke up again:
"Your father's right. You should listen to your father and stop talking."
Cui Hao sighed lightly at that:
"But I don't think my father is entirely correct. That's a great Confucian scholar from Junzi Mountain—how could she be carrying a source of chaos and trying to push it through? Friend, I just want to ask you one honest question. Do you think the new policies are good or bad?"
Hearing this, the burly man fell silent for a moment before finally answering:
"Knowing how to read has its conveniences."
Cui Hao nodded with an expression of complete understanding, then stood up:
"It's just a pity there aren't more people who think like you. If there were, maybe the new policies could actually go through."
"My father says truth doesn't need to be understood by everyone—because if everyone understands it, the one who suffers might be you."
As his words fell, everyone at the tea stall turned their gaze toward Cui Hao.
At that moment, everyone was wondering whether Cui Hao was genuinely stupid or deliberately playing dumb.
Cui Hao flicked his long sleeve, turned, and walked out without another word.
Chen Baiqing and Li Xingtian had listened to the entire conversation from outside the tea stall.
Without any extra words or gestures, Li Xingtian and Chen Baiqing tacitly followed after him.
Li Xingtian pursed his lips lightly, still savoring what Cui Hao had just said.
He was a pure cultivator—the truths between cultivators weren't found in books.
Chen Baiqing looked at Cui Hao ahead and asked:
"Are you planning to play the fool at every tea stall and drum up your narrative?"
Cui Hao slowed his pace, a smile appearing on his face:
"I am at least an ultimate great perfection Golden Core cultivator. I'm not going to play dumb every single time. Didn't Li Junzi bring plenty of foolish Confucian scholars with her? If someone needs to do the work, just let those scholars do it."
"Besides, agitation is something noble families have a natural advantage at. If we really want to push new policies and resist the noble families, we do need Master to drive the greater trend. I'm just genuinely curious about how people in this world actually view this matter."
Li Junzi had already been in the Xuanwu Kingdom capital for over a month.
During this time, the new policies hadn't shown any sign of being implemented, but all the noble families and aristocrats in the capital were doing everything in their power to resist Li Junzi.
Whether through memorials or spreading word about the drawbacks of Li Junzi's new policies, they'd even composed children's songs to slander her.
These days, if a child in the Xuanwu Kingdom capital couldn't sing the children's songs slandering Li Junzi, they'd probably get ostracized.
The scale of it was truly a peak of the mortal world.
Even people who didn't care about Li Junzi or what the new policies were had come to know about them through various means.
Cui Hao had secretly put in quite a bit of effort himself, quietly giving people plenty of ideas behind the scenes. At least a few lines in those children's songs were written by Cui Hao.
The new policies should be discussed, should be known—even if negatively.
If no one was talking about them, if they hadn't become fodder for people's mealtime gossip, then the chances of the new policies succeeding would truly not be high.
Li Junzi hadn't been affected by this public opinion, nor had she immediately started pushing the new policies. Instead, she was still in the capital writing her own unique work.
Chen Baiqing had naturally been keeping an eye on Cui Hao and knew what he'd been doing:
"You didn't need to do so much. Since Master has arrangements, just following the rules and doing things accordingly won't go wrong."
Cui Hao didn't answer at that, instead turning his gaze to Li Xingtian:
"Second Senior Brother, what do you think?"
Li Xingtian looked over: "About what?"
"About what Third Senior Sister just said, naturally."
Li Xingtian spread his hands, his tone somewhat helpless:
"I've never handled this kind of thing, and I don't understand what exactly you two want to do."
"Anyway, both you and Baiqing make sense. I'll believe whoever speaks last."
Li Xingtian was telling the truth. Sometimes when the two of them argued, whoever spoke last—even if he'd agreed with all the reasoning before—would still manage to convince him.
Perhaps it was because they were from the same sect, and he was willing to believe them in his heart.
Cui Hao grinned and changed the subject: "So, did Fifth Junior Brother play the fool convincingly just now?"
"Not really, because the reasoning was sound," Li Xingtian said sincerely. "Junior Brother is sometimes like Master—if the situation allows, he always chooses to be a good person for once."
Cui Hao froze at those words, his steps stopping as he stared intently at Li Xingtian.
Seeing this, Li Xingtian also slowly stopped, looking at Cui Hao's intense stare with confusion:
"What's wrong?"
Cui Hao spread his hands, his tone rather exaggerated:
"Second Senior Brother, you really are the most loyal and righteous Second Senior Brother—you actually saw through the most sincere side of your junior brother's heart."
Li Xingtian looked somewhat helpless, naturally thinking Cui Hao was teasing him:
"I may not have beaten you before, but if you keep this up, your Second Senior Brother might not be able to resist."
Chen Baiqing smiled faintly at the corner of her mouth without speaking.
She could see clearly enough—Cui Hao, having been seen through in his sincere moment, was instinctively trying to cover his inexplicable embarrassment by playing dumb.
In Chen Baiqing's line of sight,
Cui Hao leaned against Li Xingtian's side with his usual roguish manner:
"Second Senior Brother! I still want to follow you from now on."
Li Xingtian shook his head helplessly:
"Just don't try to bamboozle your Second Senior Brother, that's all."
"How could I possibly bamboozle Second Senior Brother?"
Hearing this, Li Xingtian said with absolute certainty:
"You can."
[
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