“Wait!” Young Master Zhou stopped the jailer, glaring at the blue-robed official:
“This man committed violence in the street, attempting to kill me. I’m the victim here.”
He narrowed his eyes, saying meaningfully, “Sir, please don’t meddle in affairs that don’t concern you.”
The official was a fifth-rank official, incomparable to his father, like the difference between clouds and mud. But he was still an official of the Ministry of Justice, unrelated to the Ministry of Revenue.
Young Master Zhou couldn’t speak too harshly, hoping the other would understand that offending the son of a Vice Minister was extremely unwise.
In officialdom, it was taboo to make unnecessary enemies.
Unexpectedly, the blue-robed official wasn’t intimidated at all. Instead, he sneered, “Young Master Zhou, you can say that to the Minister outside.”
Young Master Zhou frowned, exchanging a glance with the old man. Uncle Chen whispered, “Minister Sun and the master have a long-standing friendship…”
The implication was that if there were no unexpected issues, he wouldn’t interfere.
Conversely, if he did, there was a problem.
Unwilling to let his cooked duck fly away, Young Master Zhou followed closely behind. As long as the issue wasn’t major, he would immediately have Xu Qi An arrested again and directly torture him to death.
Stepping out of the Ministry of Justice prison, the bright sunlight shone down. Xu Qi An squinted, allowing his pupils to adjust.
He followed the blue-robed official to the main courtyard of the Ministry of Justice. The yard was crowded with people: officials from the Ministry in various colored robes; over a dozen young people in white robes; two carriages and dead horses; and two elderly scholars in Confucian robes with extraordinary bearing.
Young Master Zhou, also seeing the crowd, was bewildered, not knowing what had happened.
He heard the clanking of chains stop as that damned Xu Qi An halted his steps, turned back, and said word by word:
“You should be grateful you didn’t torture me. Let me reintroduce myself: I’m the Chief Astronomer’s new disciple.”
The old man’s face changed dramatically.
Young Master Zhou’s expression instantly lost control.
This was impossible. He couldn’t be the Chief Astronomer’s disciple.
But seeing the courtyard full of white-robed disciples from the Astronomical Bureau, Young Master Zhou, and the old man remained silent.
Xu Qi An ignored the two, walking straight ahead. He glanced at the white-robed individuals, surprised not to see Miss Caiwei.
The oval-faced beauty wasn’t here?
Constable Wang had delivered the alchemy manual, but Miss Caiwei wasn’t there… But the Astronomical Bureau’s alchemists had seen the book’s contents, so they came to rescue me.
Or perhaps Miss Caiwei had urgent matters and asked her fellow disciples to save me!
Xu Qi An took a deep breath, his chains clanking, “Xu Qi An greets his senior brothers.”
Senior brothers? Song Qing was taken aback, scrutinizing Xu Qi An: “Did you write the book?”
His gaze was somewhat unfriendly… Xu Qi An nodded: “This isn’t the place to discuss matters. Once we leave the Ministry of Justice, I’ll answer any questions my senior brother has, holding nothing back.”
Seeing Xu Qi An conversing with the white-robed Astronomical Bureau members, Young Master Zhou’s expression became somewhat dazed. He stiffly averted his gaze, unwilling to believe this was true. He hurried to Minister Sun’s side and whispered:
“Minister Sun, the Astronomical Bureau people…”
Minister Sun glanced at him: “They’ve come to retrieve someone.”
Young Master Zhou’s body swayed.
The thin old man’s breathing suddenly became rapid.
Is he the Chief Astronomer’s disciple?! This is impossible, and if he were, the silver tax case wouldn’t have implicated the Xu family at all.
The silver tax case!!
The thin old man thought of a possibility: what if he became the Chief Astronomer’s disciple after the silver tax case?
He did solve the mystery of the silver tax and refined fake silver. For such a self-taught alchemy genius, it’s possible, even likely, that the Chief Astronomer saw talent and made an exception to accept him as a disciple.
Moreover, if he wasn’t the Chief Astronomer’s disciple, how could he mobilize this group of white-robed individuals?
At this moment, the thin old man noticed the two silent Grand Scholars and the strangely dead horses.
He looked intently for a moment, then suddenly his body shook as he recognized the two Grand Scholars from Yunlu Academy.
The thin old man’s throat bobbed, “Minister, those two Grand Scholars…”
“They’ve also come to retrieve someone,” Minister Sun said expressionlessly.
Young Master Zhou’s face stiffened as he slowly turned his head to look at the old man.
…
“Are you Xu Qi An?”
Xu Qi An turned to look. The speaker was an elderly man in a grey robe with a goatee. He thought to himself, who are you, old man?
“I am Cijiu’s teacher,” said another blue-robed elderly man. He smiled warmly as he looked at Xu Qi An. “Don’t worry that the road ahead has no confidence, everyone in the world knows you. Did you write that?”
“It’s my humble work, forgive me for embarrassing you, elder,” Xu Qi An said. “My courtesy name is Ning Yan.”
Introducing one’s courtesy name to strangers was the most basic etiquette, as directly calling someone by their given name was very taboo. If you don’t introduce your courtesy name, the implication is that you don’t wish to associate with the person.
The smile on the blue-robed elder’s face deepened.
“Now that this matter is settled, let’s leave the Ministry of Justice,” Song Qing urged impatiently from the side.
Immediately, jailers came forward to remove Xu Qi An’s leg irons and shackles.
“Alright!” Xu Qi An nodded.
The Astronomical Bureau people’s faces broke into smiles. Their goal was achieved and the person retrieved it, they were extremely eager for the upcoming discussion.
The two Grand Scholars, Li Mubai and Zhang Shen were also unwilling to stay longer, as what awaited them was an intense competition.
“Phew!” Seeing Xu Qi An leave with the crowd, Young Master Zhou felt relieved, though an unwilling sense of dread and fear arose in his heart.
“Wait a moment!” Xu Qi An suddenly stopped.
The Astronomical Bureau members and the two Grand Scholars looked at him.
“I have one more matter to attend to,” Xu Qi An cupped his hands and turned back towards Young Master Zhou. As he passed by a jailer, he snatched the wooden board-like shackles.
“You… what are you doing?” Young Master Zhou stumbled backward in shock.
“Xu Qi An, my father is the Vice Minister of Revenue. Do you dare to touch me? Do you dare to use violence in the Ministry of Justice? Minister Sun, Minister Sun, quickly arrest this scoundrel… Uncle Chen, save me…”
Bang!
Xu Qi An swung the shackles, fiercely smashing them against Zhou Li’s head. Broken wood flew.
Young Master Zhou’s eyes rolled back, and he fell straight backward, crimson blood flowing from his hair.
Xu Qi An looked at the thin old man expressionlessly: “Crush me.”
The entire courtyard fell silent!
“In front of my senior brothers and the officials of the Ministry of Justice, in front of these two Grand Scholars, crush this insignificant ant. Quickly.”
The anger that had surged onto his face receded like the tide. The thin old man stood frozen, not daring to move an inch.
…
I’ve walked through the gates of hell and back… Indeed, only the children of officials can deal with other children of officials. The fairness and justice of the law are limited to interactions between commoners… Xu Qi An basked in the early winter sunlight, feeling as if he had been reborn.
Just as they left the Ministry of Justice, Xu Qi An saw two horses galloping from the end of the long street. It was Second Young Master Xu and Second Uncle Xu.
The father and son also saw Xu Qi An surrounded by the white-robed Astronomical Bureau members. Second Uncle Xu’s tense expression visibly relaxed.
Why are the Astronomical Bureau people here… A look of confusion flashed in Second Uncle Xu’s eyes. He was a master at the peak of Qi Refining, having participated in the Shanhai Pass battle. He wouldn’t revere the Astronomical Bureau’s sorcerers like ordinary people would.
Xu Xinnian reined in his horse, scrutinizing his cousin inconspicuously before sighing slightly in relief. He bowed deeply, “Thank you, teacher. Thank you, Master Mumbai.”
Xu Qi An had to first cup his hands towards the Astronomical Bureau group, then join his cousin in bowing again to the two Grand Scholars.
Li Mubai said regretfully, “Such poetic talent, how did you end up as a yamen runner? Ning Yan, are you interested in coming to Yunlu Academy to cultivate the Confucian way?”
They’ve only known each other for less than two-quarters of an hour, and he’s already calling him Ning Yan… Zhang Shen added, “You could become my disciple.”
Xu Qi An: “???”