Xu Qi An reflected on the recent events:
That Zhou fellow seemed like a brainless playboy, but was he acting? Not necessarily. Being a playboy doesn’t mean he’s stupid. He skillfully used typical playboy tactics – causing trouble, leveraging relationships, extorting confessions – trying to take me down in one swoop.
Moreover, the consequences of his actions were minimal. Even with the Imperial Inspection approaching, killing an insignificant clerk or county constable couldn’t possibly shake the position of a Vice Minister of the third rank, could it?
Zhou just didn’t expect that I not only had connections with the Astronomical Bureau but even got the Grand Scholars of Yunlu Academy personally involved… Thinking of this, Xu Qi An felt like he was walking a tightrope.
From the day I cracked the silver tax case, I had already offended the Vice Minister of Revenue and was passively drawn into this.
To think I wanted to stay away from imperial power, be a wealthy man with multiple wives, and live a simple, uneventful life.
If Second Young Master hadn’t been delivering poems to the academy elders if I hadn’t suddenly had the impulse to write down some chemistry knowledge from memory the other day… I might already be dead.
I might not even have understood the real reason for my death, thinking I had just offended some rich young master.
A series of coincidences piled up, allowing me to survive this crisis… It was luck!! Xu Qi An drew in a sharp breath, then suddenly had a thought: “Miss Caiwei, can you read auras?”
“Mm-hmm.” Caiwei swallowed her food. “Eighth-rank sorcerers are called aura readers. Aura reading is the most basic ability for us sorcerers. All subsequent mystical abilities are built on the foundation of aura reading.”
She became talkative and excited when speaking about her cultivation system, chattering away: “But do you know why the ninth rank of sorcerers isn’t aura readers but healers?”
Xu Qi An shook his head, playing along: “It can’t be that all you sorcerers have a heart for saving lives and helping the injured, right?”
Caiwei straightened her back, putting on a serious expression, seemingly enjoying the feeling of being a teacher: “Everything in the world has its aura and fate, with humans being the most complex. The eight sufferings seven emotions six desires of human life are all part of one’s fate. Healers save lives and help the injured, inevitably coming into contact with birth, aging, sickness, and death. Over time, they develop a pair of clear eyes that can see through fate.”
I just love girls who are so forthcoming and thorough… Xu Qi An said: “Then can you read my fate?”
Caiwei wiped her mouth with a handkerchief and gazed at him intently. A clear light sparked in her bright black eyes, gradually taking over her pupils.
Under the gaze of her eyes surrounded by swirling clear light, Xu Qi An felt his spiritual sense disturbed as if pricked by thorns, very uncomfortable.
After a moment, the clear light in Caiwei’s eyes receded. Her expression remained normal: “Your aura is pale red mixed with black energy.”
“What does that mean?”
“Red represents that you eat the food of officials. But the color is pale, indicating you’re a low-level clerk. The black energy symbolizes misfortune, which I think you’ve experienced deeply.”
Xu Qi An frowned slightly and probed: “Isn’t there any other color? Like a color symbolizing the Son of Heaven?”
“You can say such things in front of me, but if ill-intentioned people heard it, it would be a great disrespect. Except for the Emperor, no one dares to call themselves the Son of Heaven.” Caiwei was startled. Great disrespect aside, where did this person get the confidence to think he was the Son of Heaven?
The great dragon, the great dragon, please look carefully once more!!
She can’t see it, maybe it’s a level issue, or my lucky protagonist status isn’t related to fate… Xu Qi An maintained a calm exterior while his thoughts churned inside.
Slap!
Caiwei smacked Xu Qi An’s hand away from the food again, puffing out her cheeks to express her displeasure: “Wait until I’m full, okay? I’ll let you eat after I’m done.”
Xu Qi An glanced at the half-eaten sumptuous meal, secretly wondering how many months pregnant her stomach appeared to be now.
“By the way, how is the Vice Minister of Revenue’s situation now?” Xu Qi An sat up straight, no longer looking at the food.
“A Supervising Secretary of the Ministry of Revenue impeached Vice Minister Zhou a few days ago, but the Emperor suppressed the memorial,” Caiwei said. After a pause, she added:
“Those two committed suicide out of guilt.”
So there’s no evidence? But in this era, if the Emperor wanted to get rid of someone, he didn’t need evidence. Everyone could make their judgments… It’s also possible that it involves factional struggles… Or the Emperor has other ideas… Well, I don’t understand court affairs, after all, I’ve never been exposed to them. I need to find an experienced official to probe for information…
So Xu Qi An began to indirectly inquire, but Caiwei had no interest in court affairs and didn’t provide any valuable information.
“Oh, you’re so annoying. We in the Astronomical Bureau don’t meddle in court affairs,” she said, furrowing her brows in displeasure when pressed too much.
I seem to have hurt her pride in being a teacher… Xu Qi An tactfully stopped asking.
…
“How much silver for this table?” Xu Qi An asked, eating with great relish.
Caiwei, full from the meal, counted on her fingers for a long time, and then… that was it.
“Hm?” Xu Qi An looked up.
“I gave the shopkeeper four taels of silver, and he gave me back one tael, three qian, and 60 copper coins,” Caiwei said, troubled. “So how much did I spend?”
Her frowning expression was very cute, reminding Xu Qi An of a seven-year-old girl doing math problems.
“…” Xu Qi An pondered for a moment: “I don’t know either.”
One tael of silver equals eight qian, and one qian equals one hundred wen. Because it wasn’t a 10:1 ratio, it greatly increased the difficulty of calculation.
Judging by her demeanor, she could probably read but hadn’t studied arithmetic.
So Xu Qi An decided not to play the hero here.
Hearing this, Caiwei’s eyes curved into a smile, feeling that Xu Qi An was a kindred spirit.
“Then how did you calculate so well when solving cases?”
“I thought about it for a long time.”
“Oh.” Caiwei stared at him: “You don’t seem to be enjoying the food?”
“It’s not that, the taste is just average.”
“Nonsense, this Zuixin Restaurant is the best in the southern part of the city.”
“I’ve eaten better.”
Caiwei’s eyes suddenly lit up.
Xu Qi An continued: “When you have time, come to my house. I’ll cook something delicious for you.”
…
In the alchemy room.
A group of white-robed individuals gathered around the experimental apparatus, watching Song Qing operate.
A porcelain cup as thin as an eggshell was heated over a candle flame. Steam rose, and as the water in the cup evaporated completely, crystals formed.
Song Qing flicked his fingers, and a bright flame enveloped the crystals, slowly melting them.
“If I had this skill in my previous life, snapping my fingers to light a cigarette would be a great way to pick up girls…” Xu Qi An felt a bit envious of the flashy sorcerers.
As the sodium chloride crystals melted, Song Qing’s expression became serious. In countless past attempts, he had always gotten stuck at the next step:
Lightning strike!
Song Qing instinctively looked at Xu Qi An beside him.
Including the big-eyed cutie Caiwei, the other white-robed individuals all turned their gaze to Xu Qi An.
Xu Qi An nodded expressionlessly.
He’s not giving verbal guidance… This means all my steps so far have been correct… Song Qing felt reassured and snapped his fingers.
Suddenly, a faintly bright electric arc flashed through the air, continuously injecting into the porcelain cup.
“Hold your breath.”
Suddenly, everyone heard Xu Qi An’s voice. Without hesitation, they immediately held their breath.
Even if you directly inhaled the toxic gas, you non-humans wouldn’t be affected… Xu Qi An asked everyone to hold their breath out of habit.
The next moment, a scene that shocked the Astronomical Bureau’s white-robed members unfolded.
Irregular silver-white lumps formed in the porcelain cup, identical to silver. At the edges of the lumps were fine salt grains that hadn’t fully transformed.
“It… it worked…”
“Senior Brother Song Qing, how did you do it?”
The white-robed individuals were astonished. Previously, they could never succeed, but this time they produced fake silver on the first try.
As expected, that day when Miss Caiwei could produce fake silver successfully on her first attempt, it wasn’t just dumb luck… No, it was dumb luck, because I was by her side, involving me… Xu Qi An silently watched, confirming his guess.
Song Qing looked at the fake silver, then at his excited junior brothers, his expression slightly bewildered.
I didn’t change anything… It was always like this before… Thinking of this, he instinctively looked at Xu Qi An and found that this young constable wasn’t surprised at all. His gaze was dark as if he had anticipated this.
Song Qing had a thought: “Xu Ningyan, do you know the reason?”
Caiwei, who had been pondering, immediately looked at Xu Qi An.
The other white-robed individuals all turned their heads.
Xu Qi An stood with his hands behind his back and smiled: “You shouldn’t ask me this question. A mature alchemist should learn to think independently.
“I believe you should be able to realize where the key to the problem lies.”