Chen Xi nodded silently in agreement. Now that Liu Yan was renowned throughout the world, all the noted scholars from various places had connections with him. As long as such a person was alive, he was sure to find him.

Of course, on the other hand, Chen Qun’s words truly made Chen Xi feel what it meant to be a cancer of the era. Although Chen Xi’s expression remained unchanged, the inner awkwardness was more than a little.

In the past, he hadn’t felt it, but Chen Qun’s words this time finally let Chen Xi feel the chilling truth underneath the gentle warmth.

[The Aristocratic Families that stand at the peak of all clans are probably like what I said before; everyone is dark, at most disguised well, but I have never been clean either.] Chen Xi thought silently, [The benevolence of the exalted, ha!]

Glancing at the gentle and refined Xun Yu beside him, Chen Xi sighed inwardly; even if people born from exalted circles empathize with other classes, they essentially can’t overthrow their own class.

The representative of this was Chen Xi himself, a mild-mannered reformist, clearly knowing the most correct approach, but unfortunately, having to choose a gentler way to slowly promote it.

[Forget it, the elder brother does not laugh at the second brother. In fact, there is no difference between me and them; it’s just that I do it better, so much so that they can’t see through my intentions. To this day, just that I empathize with the lower echelons, and not eradicate the classes, I have nothing to say.] Chen Xi was filled with emotions, knowing that there was not a single person here truly from the grassroots.

[In this era, probably only the Channel Commanders of the Yellow Turbans, Fan Chou, Hua Xiong, and Dian Wei truly come from the grassroots, while others are either from Aristocratic Families, Humble Families, or Landlords and Gentry; this era is not yet the era of the grassroots.] Chen Xi looked over slowly and couldn’t help but sigh secretly.

At this moment, Chen Xi clearly felt that perhaps in his lifetime, his efforts could at most let him see a few civil officials from the grassroots in the Imperial Court.

"But speaking of which, why didn’t I know our family had this stuff?" Despite his inner sighs, Chen Xi would not miss this kind of thing: a national mineral distribution map that he had been looking for a long time, yet not a single person could produce one.

What Qu Qi gave at that time was only a part of Jing-Xiang, not even complete, and Chen Xi was already quite happy. He never thought that his family was the major cancer.

"Would you dare let others know about this kind of thing?" Chen Qun transmitted his voice to Chen Xi to question back, "Hiding it as a trump card, secretly mining it is still alright, but if discovered, even the Chen Family must face consequences. The Chen Family has three unopened gold mines and five copper mines under its name. Aren’t you afraid?"

"Why only this little?" Chen Xi asked Chen Qun in confusion.

"Because of the fear, if the acquisition movements are a bit larger and discovered, even suspicion is a deadly threat to us." Chen Qun coldly transmitted his voice to Chen Xi.

"This thing is passed on by each generation of the old Family Head to the new one before they die. The new Family Head memorizes it, then draws it once in front of the old Family Head and burns it afterward, not leaving even a trace. If discovered, it’s basically over. But now you have the qualification to know this, which is the greatest secret of the Chen Family." Chen Qun helplessly transmitted his voice to Chen Xi.

Chen Xi remained silent, as indeed, as Chen Qun said, such things are a hot potato for any family. The creation of this likely involved inheriting several centuries of land appraisal family from the Spring and Autumn Periods to the Late Western Han, accidentally falling into the Chen Family’s hands.

Perhaps the Chen Family didn’t expect at that time to open such a large gift box...

"Prepare a copy for me later." Chen Xi sighed as he transmitted his voice, "This thing in the hands of the Chen Family is also a huge burden. Hand it over to me; it should be held by the state to be correct: the Geomantic School, the land appraisal lineage, accumulation over hundreds of years."

Chen Qun responded with a sound and said no more, and Chen Xi immediately understood that Chen Qun was sifting through suitable mineral resources to retain as the Chen Family’s heritage; still, this was normal and reasonable.

Seeing that Chen Qun said no more, Chen Xi then ceased his distractions and turned to Jia Xu, saying, "Oh, then I won’t look for you anymore. Later, I’ll see Weishuo. As long as there’s that sort of person, he can certainly find it."

In Ye City, Liu Yan was hosting a wine party with an extremely lively atmosphere. Of course, this kind of gathering usually included strange things like Five-Stone Powder. Noted Scholars, if they didn’t take drugs, how could they feel floaty and immersed?

However, it didn’t escalate to stripping off clothes or having an open banquet, so Liu Yan couldn’t care less. The toxic nature of Five-Stone Powder was a matter of whether to believe or not, but as all those present were acting absurd from taking #drugs, Liu Yan casually took out some jelly beans to eat.

As for the efficacy of the drug, there was absolutely no problem. Liu Yan claimed to have an Oscar-level acting ability, and to perform the ethereal feeling after taking Five-Stone Powder posed no issue.

Additionally, Ji Xiang had taught him how to achieve drunkenness without drinking wine, so not taking drugs, Liu Yan could out-craze them all just by eating jelly beans with his talent.

Therefore, it’s said that the elites, these beings sometimes alter themselves with innate talent, which Liu Yan inherently possessed.

"Brother Wang, come have a drink!" Liu Yan spun around, wobbling, sidling up to Wang Yan. As a family ensconced for a hundred years, what had he seen of such situations, which inevitably made him a bit nervous.

"Brother Weishuo, please go first." Wang Yan said nervously.

"Hahaha." Liu Yan laughed heartily, pouring the wine from his goblet into his mouth, then joyously turned the goblet upside down, "Brother Wang, relax! As one of the few heirs of the current Geomancer, just with that, there’s no need to worry about expenses."

Wang Yan remained somewhat nervous. With the Northern Huns entering Liaodong, his hometown was there, and the Lelang Royal Family had declined too swiftly in these past hundred years: able to resist some Miscellaneous Hun but completely capitulated when encountering the Northern Huns.

Though their retreat was fast, it still suffered a foundational blow from the Huns. Loss of money and wealth was one thing, but even some family members perished. Fortunately, their family learning wasn’t lost, so there’s hope for resurgence.

After withdrawing to Southern Youzhou, Wang Family, the acting Family Head found themselves friendless. Having shut their doors for more than a hundred years, previous connections were untraceable; as a result, even finding a place to settle long-term became difficult.

Though many families were willing to provide shelter, borrowing a place without foundation meant, over time, the Main Family would disappear.

Eventually, the Wang Family heard that the Grand Scholar Liu Yan was generous and philanthropic, so they sent a direct descendant from the Main Family to make acquaintance.

Liu Yan certainly welcomed all, as it wasn’t his money being spent anyway. This year, the battle against the Northern Huns was executed fiercely, and the scholars’ goals were unified, simplifying propaganda efforts, which saved much expenditure this year.

As for the usual expenses, they were there but not too substantial. This meant that by the end of the year, there remained considerable funds, leading Liu Yan to urgently think of ways to spend it.

Despite this, Liu Yan oddly had no habit of embezzling. He preferred to spend money grandiosely rather than misappropriate it personally.