My Promotion Story Through Time Travel

Chapter 188 Necessity and Contingency

“Liao Qingyu and Lin Zhong are both spies sent into the palace by the Cui family, and the Cui family has done them a great favor,” Li Qiongying said. “Liao Qingyu thought you were the legitimate daughter of the Cui family, so…”

Lin Ziping looked enlightened: "She's always by my side, and everyone else thinks I'm the eldest daughter of the Cui family, so they pay less attention to you."

“Ziping…” Li Qiongying looked away, “This is also out of necessity, for the sake of the bigger picture.”

"What big picture?" Lin Ziping asked.

"The Cui family cannot be wiped out without a clear explanation. There must be some hidden story behind it. As descendants of the Cui family, it is our duty to revitalize the family," Li Qiongying said solemnly.

Lin Ziping looked at Li Qiongying, who suddenly seemed to have been injected with chicken blood.

The image of an old man on the subway looking at his phone popped into my mind.

What does the Cui family have to do with me? My surname is either Lin or Mu.

The old Mu family couldn't recover back then, but now the old Cui family, who have no connection to them, is making them rise again?!

"So, what are your plans, young lady?" Lin Ziping asked, not wanting to interrupt the passionate young woman.

Li Qiongying said, "You'll know when you get to the capital."

Oh, just empty promises?!

Lin Ziping looked at Li Qiongying, who was completely different from the past. At this moment, her eyes were fiery and even a little obsessive.

"Sister, how have you been in the Li family all these years?" Lin Ziping asked.

Li Qiongying was taken aback, lowered her eyes and remained silent. After a long while, she smiled faintly and said, "It's fine."

Lin Ziping breathed a long sigh of relief: "That's good. I'm fine too, and Uncle Lin and Aunt Liao are fine as well."

"Really?" Li Qiongying asked.

Lin Ziping nodded, slammed her fist on the table, and declared with high spirits: "From now on, we sisters will be of one mind, work together to overcome any obstacle, grow bigger and stronger, and create a brilliant future!"

Li Qiongying covered her mouth and laughed, "Then I will wait for my sister's arrival in the capital."

Lin Ziping seemed to realize just then that he had gotten a little carried away.

She sat up straight, her face showing worry: "Sister, am I allowed to participate in this selection as a woman?"

"Just do what you're supposed to do." Li Qiongying handed the book in her hand to Lin Ziping.

Lin Ziping took a look at the Doctrine of the Mean and glanced at it, and saw the following: "To love learning is close to wisdom; to practice what one preaches is close to benevolence; to know shame is close to courage."

This……

Damn eyes, just take the book, why are you looking at it like that?

Lin Ziping closed the book and put it aside.

"Sister, how did you know I was a woman?" Lin Ziping asked.

“Lin Zhong writes to inform you of your information every month,” Li Qiongying replied. “And you helped me up when we were on the top of Maomao Mountain.”

Lin Ziping cursed Lin Zhong from head to toe in his mind. This was an invasion of personal privacy and a violation of human rights.

He asked with surprise, "You already knew back then? Did anyone else know about this...?"

“It was only confirmed at that time, since we had never met before,” Li Qiongying said. “Besides a few of us, no one else knew about this.”

Lin Ziping breathed a slight sigh of relief upon hearing this, realizing that his earlier act of feigning madness had not been in vain.

Talking to people who are cunning and calculating is exhausting.

The two chatted happily and had lunch together. Lin Ziping left Li Qiongying's courtyard at around 4 p.m.

This time, I went through the back door of Fuchunlou. The streets were empty and very quiet. Apart from the crunching sound of my footsteps on the snow, all that could be heard was the sound of my own breathing.

The aftereffects of not sleeping all night became apparent at this moment, and Lin Ziping suddenly felt dizzy and lightheaded.

I'm not in the mood to find out any information anymore.

There's nothing we can do anyway.

Respect the fate of others, and do not assume the consequences of their actions.

I staggered home, but Zhu Zi wasn't there.

Lin Ziping didn't care much about this.

Maybe Pillar is like 007, the pharmacy apprenticeship is just a cover, maybe Pillar's real mission is to save the world.

Lin Ziping imagined a whole bunch of pillars turning into superheroes, and he chuckled to himself as he thought about it. After washing up, he drifted off to sleep.

I've been a long-time worker; I may not be good at other things, but my resilience and self-healing abilities have been tested by the organization.

I slept until noon the next day.

Lin Ziping was awakened by hunger.

I just cooked a bowl of noodles and slurped it down.

Lin Ziping sighed contentedly.

A full stomach and plenty of sleep—that's what life is all about.

After thoroughly cleaning the house and yard, and exercising for a while, I felt alive again after working up a sweat.

Lin Ziping lit a fire and brewed a pot of ginger tea, then brought it to the guest room.

The county government office is in complete chaos right now, so I won't go and make things worse for the rest of the day.

Lin Ziping took a sip of ginger tea and felt a warm sensation in his stomach.

When he had some free time, all the things that happened yesterday flooded his mind. Lin Ziping sorted out his thoughts and replayed them frame by frame in his mind.

He then wrote down everything that had happened yesterday on a piece of paper.

After thinking for a while, use straight lines and arrows to mark the relationships between events.

As Lin Ziping scribbled and drew, he couldn't help but frown. It felt like the events of the past few days were like a domino effect.

The first one to fall was from the bandit suppression operation at Cat Mountain.

No, that's not right.

It should be Gao Chi and his group who came to Fuchun County.

Lin Ziping stared at the paper in his hand, thinking. If Gao Chi and Li Qiongying hadn't come to Fuchun County, then there would be no such thing as suppressing bandits.

If the iron ore in the mountains is not discovered, will the county government still increase taxes on coarse and fine grains to some extent?

If not, would the following series of events still have occurred?

……

The more Lin Ziping thought about it, the more he felt it was destined.

I felt like I was playing a role in driving the plot forward.

The words of the other yamen runners in the county government office echoed in his ears again.

Lin Ziping couldn't help but wonder if these events were really related to him.

Did this era create a butterfly effect because of its own arrival?

"Da-da-da-da"

A sound came from outside, interrupting Lin Ziping's thoughts.

He put down his pen and went outside to look; it was snow from the roof that had slid onto the ground.

A gust of cold wind blew by, and Lin Ziping shivered.

Back inside, I saw what was written on the paper and reflected on my earlier thoughts.

A chill ran down Lin Ziping's back.

That idea I just had was a bit dangerous.

I reviewed the recent events again.

Undeniably, the arrival of Gao Chi and Li Qiongying propelled the development of this matter, and since I happened to be involved, it created a kind of predestined illusion.

The issues remain the same. The bandits of Maomao Mountain are a long-standing problem in Fuchun County. Perhaps they won't erupt for a certain period of time for various reasons, but what about in the future?

How could so many people buried on the mountain be willing to accept this?

Secondly, taxation is also a long-standing problem. Human greed is a bottomless pit, and Maomao Mountain was just a trigger.

Qi San and his gang, acting as thugs for the county government, forcibly collected taxes not just once or twice, but also not just once or twice. The case of Li Zhen and his gang was not an isolated incident in ancient history.

Lin Ziping couldn't help but recall the inevitability and contingency of history as described in philosophy.

The suppression of bandits in Maomao Mountain was inevitable.

The siege led by Li Zhen and others was a microcosm of the beginning of peasant uprisings in this era. Even without Li Zhen, there might have been Zhang Zhen or Wang Zhen later on.

Even if there is no Fuchun County, there may be other counties.

Social and historical development is independent of individual will.