The night sky was crystal clear, adorned with twinkling stars.
The tallest building in the capital of Great Feng, the Star-Gazing Tower, served as the office of the Imperial Astronomical Bureau.
A young girl in a yellow dress ascended the tower with light steps. As she passed the seventh floor, she heard a commotion coming from an alchemy room.
A group of white-robed alchemists were arguing heatedly, their faces flushed with frustration.
“Why did it fail again? The steps are so simple!”
“I told you, it must be the wrong amount of salt.”
“No, I think it’s the water.”
“Could it be the fire? I saw Senior Disciple Wan boil the salt earlier.”
“It’s too difficult. This alchemy spells to turn salt into silver is beyond me.”
The yellow-dressed girl, named Caiwei, twitched her lips and muttered, “These people are still trying to make fake silver.”
Two days ago, she had brought news of turning salt into silver back to the Imperial Astronomical Bureau, but her senior disciples initially didn’t believe her.
Is salt turning into silver? Even a three-year-old wouldn’t believe that.
But soon after, the tax silver case was solved. His Majesty, impressed by the power and mystical nature of the fake silver, ordered the Imperial Astronomical Bureau to produce it.
Thus, the alchemists of the Bureau began their grueling work, toiling day and night in their blessed 996 work schedule.
From two days ago until now, they had been working tirelessly, failing repeatedly but persevering.
“Caiwei! It’s Junior Sister Caiwei!” someone exclaimed excitedly.
Instantly, a sea of haggard faces turned towards her, their eyes gleaming with hope.
“Junior Sister Caiwei, how exactly is this fake silver made?”
“Junior Sister Caiwei, come quickly and see if there’s a problem with our process. You’re the only one who has successfully created fake silver.”
They surrounded the yellow-dressed girl.
Chu Caiwei had no choice but to enter the alchemy room and observe her senior disciples’ attempts at creating fake silver.
“Failed again!” lamented a white-robed alchemist who was experimenting.
“Junior Sister Caiwei, where did we go wrong?” The group of white-robed alchemists adopted a humble, teachable attitude.
There’s nothing wrong, this is exactly how I did it… Chu Caiwei pondered before saying, “This is an ancient alchemy technique, profound and abstruse. It’s not something you can master immediately. It requires in-depth and gradual instruction to truly take root. I’ll teach you all a mantra, remember it well.”
The senior disciples assumed a listening posture.
“Hydrogen, helium, lithium, beryllium, boron, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, fluorine, neon, sodium, magnesium, aluminum, silicon, phosphorus!” Chu Caiwei channeled her energy and enunciated each word.
“What does this mantra mean?” The senior disciples were impressed but confused. They understood each word individually, but together, they were baffled.
I don’t know what this is either… Chu Caiwei maintained a mysterious smile without speaking.
“Genius, pure genius! The person who created this mantra must be an alchemy prodigy,” one white-robed senior disciple marveled.
Where’s the genius? Senior Brother, don’t let your imagination run wild! Chu Caiwei’s smile remained unchanged.
“Junior Sister Caiwei, who taught you this mantra? Did you perhaps meet an alchemy master who instructed you?”
Chu Caiwei thought, “Good question!” and deftly deflected the responsibility.
“The person’s name is Xu Qi An, the nephew of Xu Pingzhi, the seventh-rank green-robed officer of the Imperial Guard. You can ask him.”
Upon hearing it was a martial artist, the white-robed disciples were displeased.
“Ridiculous! Our esteemed Imperial Astronomical Bureau is full of talent. How could we need an outsider to create fake silver?”
“And a martial artist at that.”
“It would be laughable if word got out.”
Based on different cultivation systems, several interesting chains of contempt had formed.
Daoists looked down on Buddhists, and Buddhists reciprocated the disdain.
Sorcerers looked down on shamans, shamans looked down on poison masters, and poison masters, in turn, looked down on sorcerers.
Then, Daoists, Buddhists, sorcerers, shamans, and poison masters all looked down on martial artists.
As for Confucians, well, forgive my bluntness, but everyone present considered them trash.
However, Confucianism has weakened in recent times.
“Junior Sister Caiwei, why don’t you guide us?”
Caiwei scoffed, “Next time, for sure!”
She squeezed her way out of the group of white-robed senior disciples and continued climbing the stairs.
In truth, she didn’t understand it either.
Last time at the yamen, she had effortlessly created fake silver, but when Caiwei tried again in private afterward, she failed.
She had completely replicated the previous process, but it still failed. She didn’t know why.
The top of the Star-Gazing Tower wasn’t a normal roof, but an octagonal platform, aligning with the Eight Trigrams.
Thus, it was called the Eight Trigrams Platform.
At the edge of the platform, an elderly man in white robes was hunched over a table, holding a wine cup in one hand and propping up his head with the other. He seemed neither drunk nor sober as he gazed down at the capital below.
The yellow-dressed girl tactfully didn’t disturb him. Her master usually didn’t do proper work, preferring to sit on the Eight Trigrams Platform, drinking and enjoying the view.
He didn’t like being disturbed.
Holding a cup of wine and squinting his eyes, he claimed to be intently observing the mortal world.
“Caiwei has arrived?” the white-robed elder smiled.
“Master,” the yellow-dressed girl’s face lit up with a smile as she ran over, standing at the edge of the Eight Trigrams Platform, her skirt fluttering.
“What reward did the old emperor give?”
“A few hundred taels of silver and some bolts of silk,” the yellow-dressed girl replied. “Master, what exactly is this fake silver?”
“I don’t know, my disciple.”
“Is there anything in this world that Master doesn’t know?”
“Far too many things,” the white-robed elder chuckled. “For instance, your master doesn’t know where those thieves from nineteen years ago went.”
“You always say the thieves from nineteen years ago were detestable, but you never tell me who they were or what they stole.”
The white-robed elder stood up at the edge of the octagonal platform, sighing, “What they stole was truly extraordinary.”
“Then do you know who created the fake silver?” The Imperial Astronomical Bureau was the birthplace of the sorcerer system. Every alchemist under heaven, even if not from the Bureau, must have some connection to it.
Behind the tax silver case, an alchemist was involved, one who had created this marvelous object. They were certainly no ordinary person.
“Of course, your master knows.”
…
In the small courtyard, the main house.
Xu Qi An lay on the bed, staring blankly at the crisscrossing beams of the ceiling, illuminated by the bright moonlight streaming through the window.
He was worrying about his future, feeling both anxious and uncertain, yet also filled with excitement.
With my quality education from the nine-year compulsory schooling system, the knowledge in my head is all cheat codes.
I could easily stand out in this backward monarchical society and become the most outstanding flower.
However, a society with absolute imperial power often means a lack of human rights protection. Today you might be enjoying models at exclusive clubs, tomorrow you could be exiled to the frontier.
This was a phenomenon that would worry any modern person.
As he pondered, Xu Qi An fell asleep. When he woke up, daylight was already bright. He put on his dark-colored constable uniform, fastened his belt, tied up his long hair, and hung his saber at his waist.
His posture was straight, exuding a masculine and handsome aura.
He had to admit, that ancient clothing enhanced both appearance and temperament, though it was troublesome when using the toilet.
He jumped over the wall to his second uncle’s house to mooch breakfast, and the uncle-nephew pair left for work together. Xu Pingzhi had been reinstated to his original position, and everything was back to normal.
Changle County Yamen was a suburban county of the capital, with its office located within the city, about six or seven li away from the Xu residence. Xu Qi An didn’t have a horse or carriage, so he had to take the No. 11 public carriage, arriving at the yamen in about half an hour.
Changle County Yamen faced south with its back to the north. At the entrance stood two stone lions as tall as a person, and on either side of the red-brown lacquered main gate were large drums with peeling paint.
The structure of the county yamen was worth noting. The highest-ranking official was, of course, the County Magistrate, called the Chief Official. He had two assistants: one was the Deputy Magistrate, and the other was the Registrar.
These three were ranked officials appointed by the imperial court. In Xu Qi An’s era, they would be considered to have official positions within the system.
Below these three court-appointed officials was the Constable, also known as the Lead Official.
However, he had no official rank and was considered outside the system.
Next came the Three Divisions and Six Offices: The Three Divisions were the Servants Division, the Fast Division, and the Strong Division, responsible for ceremonial duties, public security, and arrests, respectively. The Six Offices corresponded to the six ministries of the imperial court.
Xu Qi An was a constable in the Fast Division, commonly known as a yamen runner.
As he entered the yamen, he saw the Chief Clerk taking attendance. Constable Li, standing in front of the hall, was startled when he saw Xu Qi An with a saber at his waist.
His expression was as if he had seen a ghost in broad daylight.
The other yamen runners, noticing their leader’s unusual expression, turned to look. They too wore the same ghostly expression.
“Xu, Xu Qi An, are you human or ghost?!” someone asked tremblingly.
Constable Li noticed Xu Qi An’s shadow on the ground and relaxed a bit, speaking calmly, “What nonsense are you speaking in the public hall? Do ghosts have shadows?”
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this.
Xu Qi An thought for a moment and quipped, “Perhaps I’m a walking corpse.”
Constable Li was shocked, and the other yamen runners tensed up.
Xu Qi An quickly cupped his hands in salute, “Just a joke. Greetings, Constable Li and colleagues. I’ve been released from prison.”
Constable Li asked, “What happened?”
They had heard about the Xu family’s imprisonment due to the tax silver case.
“Naturally, it was a case of atoning for crimes through meritorious service. His Majesty was merciful and pardoned the Xu family’s offenses,” Xu Qi An promptly recounted the events again, but attributed the merit to his second uncle, and produced the certificate from the Capital Prefecture Yamen.
At the same time, he understood the situation. Although the tax silver had been found, the verdict hadn’t been announced yet, meaning the tax silver disappearance case hadn’t been fully concluded. After all, there were procedures to follow, and it couldn’t be rushed.
Therefore, this group of yamen runners at Changle County Yamen was still unaware of the matter.
After the roll call, several familiar constables immediately gathered around, offering congratulations.
“Ning Yan, you must treat us to drinks.”
In this era, friends were addressed by their courtesy names, not their given names. When introducing oneself, one used one given name, not one courtesy name.
“That’s right, surviving a great calamity surely means good fortune ahead. You must treat us.”
“I heard that brothel on Linshui Street just bought a new batch of courtesans. Ning Yan, why don’t you join us tonight?”
Treating them to drinks was fine, but asking me to pay for women was going too far… Just as Xu Qi An was about to decline, citing a lack of funds, he suddenly felt something hard under his foot. Looking down, he saw it was a small piece of silver.
Could it be that surviving a great calamity brings good fortune? He quickly stepped on it, maintaining a calm expression while pretending to look around at the scenery.
When the others had walked a few steps ahead, Xu Qi An quickly bent down to pick up the silver, pocketing it without changing his expression.
Walking through the corridor, they sat in the side hall on the west for a few minutes. Then, Constable Li entered with a gloomy face and looked at Captain Wang, “Old Wang, the County Magistrate wants us to go to the inner hall.”
Captain Wang’s face soured, and he left without a word.
Xu Qi An watched Captain Wang’s figure disappear and asked, “What’s going on? The captain doesn’t look too good.”
“While you were in prison these past few days, there was a murder case on Kangping Street. The victim was a wealthy merchant. The County Magistrate has been furious, berating Captain Wang every day.”
“It’s just a merchant’s death. Is it necessary for the County Magistrate to be so angry?” Xu Qi An said, cracking melon seeds.
Throughout history, all murders were considered major cases, but as the magistrate of a suburban county of the capital, with a fifth-rank position, this reaction seemed excessive.
“Heh, that merchant had some connection with one of the Supervising Secretaries. It seems pressure came from that side,” the yamen runner said. “Moreover, this year is the Gengzi year.”
“Gengzi year?” Xu Qi An didn’t quite understand.
“The Imperial Inspection!” the yamen runner clarified.