When he saw the princess's sister again, Cheng Jinyang was startled.

Looking at her appearance, it seems that she hasn't slept well for a long time.

"I have to guard the instruments of the Zheng family head 24 hours a day." Seeing his concerned and inquiring face, Princess Nankang explained, "Otherwise, if something happens, the entire Jiankang City will be finished." ”

"Can't you arrange synth mercenaries?" Cheng Jinyang asked.

"Of course, synths don't have coding privileges themselves, so there's a risk of hacking." Princess Nankang replied.

So Cheng Jinyang remembered Xiao Yunlai, a housekeeper who had been hacked several times, and hurriedly asked:

"Then it's okay if you don't sleep for 24 hours?"

"Solved with drug and mechanical assistance." Princess Nankang yawned, "Although it is easy to get sleepy, it can still hold on." ”

She calmed down a little, and then said:

"You're now the patriarch of the Shendu Cheng clan, right?"

"Hmm." Cheng Jinyang nodded and said.

"Go to the palace next, and your father will definitely receive you." Princess Nankang explained, "Don't be too afraid of him, but don't trust him." ”

Can't trust the emperor? Sister Xinnan, as his daughter, said this, which felt a little weird. Cheng Jinyang thought to himself,

"You are the son of a teacher, and your father may talk to you about this." Princess Nankang hesitated and said, "I said that I won't tell you about your parents until you reach the seventh rank and have the ability to protect yourself." ”

"But the father will not have such concerns, so whatever he says to you, keep a cautious and thoughtful attitude." She concluded, "Don't take his word for it, think about it." ”

How did Sister Xinnan become a riddler? Cheng Jinyang slandered in his heart, and seriously agreed:

"Okay."

After bidding farewell to the princess's sister, Cheng Jinyang went down the mountain road to the west again and set off for Taicheng.

At the east gate of Taicheng, he found the guards who were in charge of guarding the gate.

Surprisingly, this squire turned out to be a synth...... In other words, the highly mechanized soldiers, all the exposed bodies are all mechanical, and it looks like it gives people a chilling feeling.

Cheng Jinyang remembered that this seemed to be called the "uncanny valley effect", that is, the closer the creature to the human form, the more likely it was to cause fear, but if it was indistinguishable from humans, the sense of fear would disappear again.

After confirming his identity, the other party directly led him into the Taiji Hall.

Contrary to the description in the TV series, the guard did not give him any etiquette of "meeting the monarch", such as kneeling, not looking directly at the emperor's face, etc. - he didn't say anything.

When Cheng Jinyang came to the imperial steps, he saw the emperor sitting on the throne a hundred meters away, and the surroundings were empty, only the pillar of light shining down from the skylight on the side high, which made people have a mysterious and abnormal sense of religious ritual.

"Just play right with Your Majesty here." The guards stationed on both sides said in mechanical voices, meaning that he could not continue to get closer.

"Ugh." Cheng Jinyang began to search his intestines and scrape his stomach, thinking about what he should say, only to hear the emperor's voice sounding from a speaker around him:

"Alas......"

"You're Xie Guyan's son, right?"

"Yes, Your Majesty." Cheng Jinyang replied.

"Xie Guyan." The Emperor let out a meaningless chuckle, "Her death is a great loss to the Empire. I warned her not to trust Cheng Qinghe too much, and even the Shendu Cheng clan...... But she refused to believe my warnings. ”

"If she had chosen to stay in Taicheng at that time, maybe she wouldn't have died. The demon infiltrated the Chuhe defense line and attacked Wujiang Town, something that no one expected. At this point, the Emperor paused, "But in that case, maybe you wouldn't have been born into this world." ”

Cheng Jinyang didn't know what to say. Refuting the Emperor? The heavily armed guards are still standing nearby! Echo the Emperor? Doesn't that mean that you don't want your parents to be together?

Fortunately, the emperor did not say much on this topic, but asked him:

"Jinyang, Wang Chuzhong should have sent someone to find you, right?"

Cheng Jinyang just wanted to subconsciously say no, but suddenly remembered the matter of the housekeeping robot Xiao Yun, so he replied:

"Yes, they seem to have hacked into a housekeeping synth ......"

"Well, you wrecked it later, and that's good." The Emperor continued his conversation and said, "Because of this, Wang Chuzhong judged you to be a hostile party, and some time ago he asked Shen Shiju to test you, and then he was expelled by Princess Nankang sent by me. ”

Hearing this, Cheng Jinyang was in a cold sweat. Good guys, Jinyiwei's ears and eyes are really pervasive! Fortunately, I blew up Xiao Yun in time that day, otherwise if I aroused the emperor's suspicion and suspicion, I am afraid that there will be a lot of trouble in the future!

"If you hadn't been so decisive at the beginning, for example, after listening to the other person's demagogic theory, what would have happened next?" The emperor seemed to see through his thoughts and continued, "Then Shen Shiju is not secretly testing you, but directly taking you out of Jiankang City. ”

"Then you'll be one of the brainwashes that have been brainwashed by the Mental Seal."

Cheng Jinyang was silent for a long time and said:

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty...... Although he doesn't know about political affairs, he also knows that he should be loyal and patriotic. Since Wang Chuzhong rebelled, the ministers were at odds with them and would not take refuge in them. ”

Only the second half of this sentence is true. Now that the Duke of Wuchang County has obtained the gravitational uncle's lineage, the value of the Cheng clan who stayed in Jiankang City has dropped greatly. If the Long Xiang army really destroys the imperial court, then his side will be a mermaid, and whether he is dead or alive depends on the mood of the other party.

But what's the solution? Whether it's for the princess sister, or for Ah Zhi, Wanrou, and Qingqing, it's impossible for them to be thieves.

"Speaking of loyalty and patriotism." The emperor said lightly, "Have you ever thought about what it means to be loyal to the monarch and love the country? ”

Cheng Jinyang: ???

What? The emperor asked me why I was loyal and patriotic, how do I answer this?

"Or let's change the subject." The emperor continued, "Emperor Gao Zuxuan once said that there is a group of people called 'social evolutionists', they advocate unbridled competition, advocate the survival of the fittest, and the capable are on top, and even declare that the state should stop issuing basic subsidies to the people at the bottom, so that the low-end population will be eliminated naturally, what do you think? ”

"Of course not." Cheng Jinyang replied immediately.

"The survival of the fittest, in the long run, is certainly beneficial to humanity as a whole." The emperor said in a quiet tone, "But what about the short term? If you want to eliminate others, will others be willingly eliminated? So there is a high-intensity competition, or more extremely, war. ”

"War is absolutely harmful to humanity as a whole, so this is the meaning of loyalty and patriotism." The Emperor paused, and continued, "What humanity needs is not an emperor or imperial power, but a stable political order. ”

"When the political order is unstable, there will be competition, and countless careerists will have their eyes on my position. They're going to start wars, they're going to get almost everyone involved. The winner struggles to rise to power, and then is overthrown by a new competitor until someone has consolidated most of their strength, gained absolute superiority, and established a new political order. But until then, such unrest will last for a long time. ”

"But will demons give humans such time? I don't think so. In other words, if it does happen, no one can afford to pay the corresponding price. The current empire must not have civil strife, and Wang Chuzhong chose such a path of turmoil. ”

"Even if he really defeats the imperial court and ascends to the throne, will he be able to successfully subdue others? Wang Maohong won't talk about it, he can't accept any of the remaining four of the five surnames. Everyone can accept the reign of a weak emperor of the Sima family, but they can't accept the reign of a high-level supernatural of the Taiyuan Wang clan, after all, the latter will brainwash people. ”

"So why be loyal and patriotic? If you can achieve absolute strength, instantly crush the imperial court and subdue all forces, then you can take this position of mine. But without such people, all the conspirators whose ambitions exceed their abilities will ultimately bring nothing more than disaster to the Empire. ”