Zhou Tieyi pondered for a moment.
"Are you saying that I was the one who solidified the Emperor's resolve to practice Daoism?"
The only thing he had done recently that could directly influence the empire was this. If he hadn't appeared, the tug-of-war between the Emperor and the Confucianists likely would have continued for several more months.
"Not just that," Guan Guan said, shaking her head with a smile. "Do you know if there is another layer of meaning to the Confucianists letting Mei Qingchen kneel to death in front of the Zhengwu Gate?"
Zhou Tieyi thought about it. He hadn't considered this angle before because he was unfamiliar with the cultivation paths of this world. Now that Guan Guan was guiding him, he could roughly guess.
The Emperor's prolonged absence from court and his fear of the Confucian scholar kneeling to death at the Zhengwu Gate were both tied to his pursuit of Daoism. He had been gathering the collective will of the people, but to practice Daoism, he had to sever that tie, like a bird breaking free from a cage. That was why he was so fond of that poem.
Chapter 138