“Sword Province is truly wealthy. Who would have thought that in such a small prefecture city, the brothels would be so lively?”

On the bustling street, Miao Youfang sat on horseback, turning his head to look left.

To his left stood a three-story brothel, with beautifully adorned women sitting by the windows on the second floor.

They smiled like flowers, and despite the cold winter, wore low-cut dresses or gauzy robes, freely swaying their waists and waving handkerchiefs to attract passing customers.

“My lord, come play with us!”

“Young master, this girl awaits you upstairs, do come quickly!”

“Young master, give this servant a chance to attend to you…”

Amidst the chirping voices, Xu Qi’an sighed. For the girls to dress so scantily in winter to attract customers showed how dire their business was.

Li Lingsu said sympathetically:

“They’re all pitiful souls. Times are so hard that those who could afford to visit brothels have either reduced their visits or stopped coming altogether.”

“When brothels can’t make money, they naturally squeeze their girls harder. In this cold weather, catching a cold would be terrible, and they’d need money for medicine. Without money…”

Li Lingsu shook his head. As a passionate man, he couldn’t bear to see women suffer.

Miao Youfang asked worriedly:

“Do you think the brothels will have to close down?”

“Yes!” Li Lingsu confirmed, sighing:

“When that happens, these girls will likely be sold off as servants or slaves, even treated like beasts of burden.”

Miao Youfang cursed, saying:

“This damned world, even courtesans can’t survive. Ah, this master’s purse is nearly empty too. If I hadn’t lost my dragon energy, I’d start a rebellion right now.”

‘Having No Money to Save Fallen Women, I Had No Choice But to Rebel’—quite a particular genre… Xu Qi’an mentally quipped.

Li Lingsu smiled:

“What rebellion? What rebellion? Look who you’re talking to, don’t say it to me.”

The group found an inn to stay, fed their horses, and after dining, Miao Youfang awkwardly borrowed ten taels of silver from Xu Qi’an in private.

Then he eagerly went off to rescue the struggling young ladies.

Li Lingsu returned to his room to meditate. His standards for lovers were high—he wouldn’t even look at ordinary pretty girls, let alone brothel women, unless they were famous courtesans renowned throughout the region.

However, given Li Lingsu’s incomparable beauty, when he visited brothels, it was hard to say who got the better deal.

The reason Xu Qi’an thought this was because he’d occasionally heard in the capital that the Teaching House girls considered sleeping with Inspector Xu, Second Young Master Xu, or Second Uncle Xu a kind of honor.

“I’ve slept with all three Xu family men!”

Saying this would bring considerable prestige.

Well, Second Uncle was just an add-on.

Xu Qi’an had another reason for lending money to Miao Youfang.

He quietly opened Miao Youfang’s room, closed the door, and in the silent environment, crawled under the bed.

The Seven Fatal Poison’s side effects were quite troublesome. He had to squeeze out time daily to satisfy the poison insect’s “desires,” consistently consume toxic substances, and spend time under beds.

Daily interactions with White Princess and the little mare.

Regular eating with an enormous appetite.

Every year finding frozen corpses by the roadside, then use corpse poison to control them, making the bodies dig graves to bury themselves.

Only the love poison was temporarily suppressed, waiting for his Dao partner aunt to find him for dual cultivation.

It’s been almost half a month, the State Teacher should have calmed down by now… Xu Qi’an prayed his aunt was a magnanimous person. Social death becomes easier the second time around.

Best not to take it too seriously.

In this quiet atmosphere, he fell into a half-awake state, peaceful and content, not wanting to leave this place, feeling the outside world was a sea of suffering while under the bed was pure land.

At this moment, he caught sight of a pair of white shoes appearing beside the bed.

“Who’s there?”

Xu Qi’an’s heart instinctively tensed, his body instantly melting into shadows—without preparation, this was an improvement after the shadow poison’s upgrade.

The next moment, he emerged from the shadows by the table, focusing to see it was Sun Xuanji.

“Whew…”

While letting out a relieved breath, he complained: “Senior Brother Sun, why didn’t you give advance notice?”

He could guess it was Sun Xuanji, but the psychological shadow left by Xu Pingfeng was too deep, and because of the Bureau Chief, he had a strong subconscious wariness of white-robed practitioners.

Usually, it was fine, but when most calm and relaxed, such a sudden appearance immediately triggered his most genuine inner response.

Sun Xuanji glanced around, then walked straight to the desk to pour water and grind ink.

He’s not trying to speak? Xu Qi’an’s expression grew serious as he hurried over.

After preparing the ink, Sun Xuanji picked up the brush to write:

“The Martial Alliance has two dragon energies, one of the Nine Dragons, residing in Cao Qingyang’s children…”

So the Sword Province dragon energy is in the Martial Alliance! Xu Qi’an wasn’t surprised by this, having suspected it before. Now he merely felt the clarity of confirmed speculation, not shock.

“Tianji Palace’s spy has already transmitted the intelligence.”

Tianji Palace’s agents truly are spread throughout the Central Plains. The Night Watchers’ agents should be stronger, but Wei Gong’s unknown who he passed their legacy to… Also, Inspector Sun’s intelligence network is too formidable… Xu Qi’an nodded slightly:

“Understood. We’ll go to the Martial Alliance now to extract the dragon energy before Tianji Palace’s people arrive.”

Sun Xuanji didn’t respond, continuing to write:

“What after taking the dragon energy?”

“Buddhism and Tianji Palace have already allied, they’ll come to the Martial Alliance sooner or later. Now the old Alliance Leader’s condition is poor, the Martial Alliance can’t resist Tianji Palace and Buddhism, and there might even be the Witch God Cult.”

“When they learn the dragon energy has been taken, we can’t be certain they won’t take the opportunity to destroy the Martial Alliance in vengeance.”

“The Bureau Chief had me bring you the Nation-Stabilizing Sword.”

“Oh?” Xu Qi’an stared at Sun Xuanji, probing:

“So the Martial Alliance is the Bureau Chief’s chess piece?”

To this question, Sun Xuanji’s answer was: “I don’t know.”

Xu Qi’an set aside his dismissiveness and actively engaged his mind. In his impression, the Bureau Chief was a behind-the-scenes manipulator, pushing many developments from the shadows, but very subtly.

Sometimes one couldn’t even detect the Bureau Chief’s influence without careful review and some speculation.

This was both the fearsome aspect and the limitation of a Fate Master.

The Bureau Chief rarely had such direct gifting measures.

What did this indicate?

The current Martial Alliance-related turmoil might be extremely dangerous, and he had no trump cards to deal with it, forcing the Bureau Chief to personally provide him a bargaining chip.

“Wait a moment, let me verify something.”

Xu Qi’an took out the Earth Book fragment and the protective charm given by the State Teacher, sinking his consciousness into it for thousand-mile communication.

“State Teacher, this is Xu Qi’an, there’s an urgent matter.”

The transmission sank like a stone cow into the sea, with no response.

It’s your little darling Xu Qi’an… say something… The State Teacher must be in seclusion. She needed to undergo tribulation in three months to half a year, and this was the final sprint before the tribulation.

Xu Qi’an put away the charm and reviewed his helpers in his mind.

“Headmaster Zhao Shou is a potential source of help, can use the Earth Book to have Huaiqing help relay messages.”

“Just established connection with the Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox, can’t directly ask her to be a fighter. Besides success uncertainty, the fox spirit hasn’t returned from overseas, clearly can’t help.”

“The Heavenly Sect’s two Yang Spirit experts’ whereabouts are unpredictable, last time was an unexpected joy, that can’t be replicated. Moreover, they’re more likely to draw swords against me.”

After summarizing, he found his teammates were Sun Xuanji and Zhao Shou.

“The Martial Alliance old man’s condition is uncertain. The Nine-Colored Lotus Root has matured, but he can’t get it for instant power-up, and might not even be able to help.”

“Zhao Shou hasn’t left Clear Cloud Mountain in decades, made an exception last time because it was life-or-death, but this is different, so whether he’s willing to come is uncertain.”

“Worst case, I only have Sun Xuanji as an ally. And who’s on the other side?”

“Two Vajra, Azure Dragon Seven Stars, Nalan Tianlu… No wonder the Bureau Chief had Sun Xuanji bring the Nation-Stabilizing Sword, but even so, it doesn’t seem very secure.”

Xu Qi’an returned from his thoughts, asking:

“Both dragon energies are in the Martial Alliance? Why is this?”

Sun Xuanji wrote: “Dragon energy favors the Martial Alliance, rebellion has prospects.”

Xu Qi’an immediately narrowed his eyes:

“Rebellion has prospects, yet we must save the Martial Alliance. The Bureau Chief and the old man must have some agreement. Hmm, in that case, Xu Pingfeng certainly won’t stand idle—he’ll want to eliminate all potential threats before the rebellion.”

Sun Xuanji wrote: “You’re very clever. I thought the same when I received the Nation-Stabilizing Sword.”

Damn, my white-robed practitioner stress disorder and fatherly love psychological shadow are acting up again… Xu Qi’an cursed internally.

“But this is interesting!”

He added, seeming to see a chessboard before him, with Xu Pingfeng on the opposite side.

Previously, Xu Qi’an was a chess piece, manipulated by the player on the board. Now he was still a piece, but unlike before, this piece could break free from the player’s control, choosing its moves.

On the board, yet able to play against the player.

“Another round with him. Hmm, can’t underestimate Xu Pingfeng. I need to think this through, write some words too…”

…

At Quanrong Mountain.

Enchanting Hand Rongrong followed the sect’s group, riding swift horses to the huge arch at the mountain’s foot.

After reaching the Martial Alliance headquarters, this group composed of beautiful women relaxed their atmosphere, no longer so serious.

Rongrong glanced at the Tower Master ahead, quietly asking her master beside her:

“Master, what do you think this Red Flag Order is about?”

The Martial Alliance’s summons to affiliated sects had three levels, from lowest to highest: Green Wood Order, Black Water Order, and Red Flag Order.

Green Wood Order usually commanded sects to hunt certain fugitive criminals or notorious bandits.

Black Water Order involved conflicts between sects, of a serious nature.

Red Flag Order was rarely used, only when the Alliance Leader summoned major sects to jointly resist enemies.

Simply put, the Red Flag Order was a commander’s seal, used to rally troops.

The last time it was used was during the competition for the lotus seed.

The beautiful matron shook her head, her tone grave:

“Something major has happened.”

She flicked her horsewhip, catching up to Xiao Yuenu ahead, saying softly:

“Tower Master, recently refugees have been continuously flooding into Sword Province, overwhelming the officials. Those who didn’t receive aid have turned to banditry, affecting various parts of Sword Province.”

“Do you think the Alliance Leader gathered us to discuss handling the refugee situation?”

Any other jianghu force wouldn’t have such an initiative.

But Sword Province’s jianghu sects maintained the tradition of maintaining order.

“It’s not about the refugees.”

Xiao Yuenu shook her head slightly. Half her face was covered by a silk scarf, her straight nose and cheeks forming beautiful contours.

Her eyes were bright and spirited like autumn waters, her fair skin rivaling the white silk scarf.

“When passing the military garrison earlier, the outer guard forces increased by thirty percent, and there were more scouts dispatched.”

Xiao Yuenu’s voice had the magnetism of a mature woman, both alluring and pleasant: “Refugees wouldn’t cause headquarters to react this way. There must be external enemies lurking.”

External enemies… The beautiful matron’s heart trembled.

She found it somewhat incredible. The Martial Alliance had stood in Sword Province for hundreds of years, and it had been many, many years since anyone dared challenge this behemoth.

Throughout the Central Plains, only the court could threaten the Martial Alliance.

Could it be that after the new emperor’s ascension, he wanted to establish authority through the Martial Alliance? But why? The Martial Alliance and that young Son of Heaven didn’t interfere with each other, and establishing authority wouldn’t work on the Martial Alliance…

She looked at Xiao Yuenu, whose clear beautiful eyes showed no panic, somewhat reassuring the matron.

She had watched their Tower Master grow up, intelligent from childhood, an extremely intuitive and determined child.

When girls her age were playing with dolls and eating candied hawthorns, she was already thinking about her future and the sect’s future, showing extraordinary intelligence and maturity beyond her years.

Only her beauty often made people overlook her intelligence.

The matron felt she couldn’t blame those men for being superficial. The Tower Master constantly covered her face with a silk scarf precisely because her beauty was too great, requiring concealment.

She remembered when she was eleven, already growing tall and graceful, her figure beginning to develop, possessing both a maiden’s purity and a mature woman’s charm.

The Martial Alliance’s Vice Leader at the time was instantly captivated by her, going to great lengths to take Xiao Yuenu as a concubine.

The Vice Leader was over fifty then, able to get any woman, yet still couldn’t resist Xiao Yuenu’s beauty.

In the end, Wanhua Tower protected her through the previous Alliance Leader’s intervention.

“Have the young female disciples in the sect prepare. If the Martial Alliance truly faces great enemies, have them return to the sect.”

Xiao Yuenu said softly.

“Yes!”

The matron knew she was preserving the sect’s legacy. Young disciples had limited combat power—if the enemy was too strong, better to preserve seeds than stay as cannon fodder.

Soon, Wanhua Tower’s women ascended Quanrong Mountain, following the steps to the square outside the city lord’s mansion.

Here, over a thousand people had already gathered.