As Xu Xinnian entered the study and closed the door, he stared at his elder brother with an odd expression.
Noticing the strange but not anxious look on his brother’s face, Detective Xu concluded it wasn’t urgent. He casually sat down at the round table, poured himself a glass of water to relieve the thirst from eating too much MSG, and said with a relaxed smile:
“Second Brother, men shouldn’t beat around the bush. Just say what’s on your mind.”
Xu Xinnian walked to the desk, picked up an invitation, and with a soft “plop”, placed it accurately in front of Xu Qi An.
Xu Qi An opened the invitation and scanned it, immediately understanding why his brother’s expression was peculiar.
The invitation was for Xu Xinnian to attend a literary gathering. Interestingly, it included the phrase: “Bring your sister along.”
The host was the current Prime Minister, Wang Zhenwen.
“As the top scholar in the spring imperial examination, it’s reasonable for you to be invited to a literary gathering,” Xu Qi An analyzed.
Xu Xinnian only had two sisters, and such an occasion was certainly not suitable for a young child. Surely the prestigious Wang family would understand such etiquette?
As for women attending literary gatherings, although the Great Daomist Empire still adhered to the traditional “Three Obediences and Four Virtues”, the existence of the cultivation system meant that there were also outstanding women among practitioners.
Therefore, although women’s status was below men’s, it wasn’t as low as it could be. They didn’t need to bind their feet, wear veils when going out, and could go out to play if they wished.
For instance, Madam and Ling Yue would occasionally go out with escorts to browse jewelry shops.
It wasn’t unusual to have women attend literary gatherings.
“Foolish!” Xu Xinnian sneered, “The official arena is like a battlefield. There might be many muddle-headed fools in high positions, but the ministers in the imperial court are not among them. Prime Minister Wang is the cream of the crop among these ministers. His every move, every word, and every expression is worth our deep consideration and reflection. Otherwise, we might die without even knowing how.”
“Elder Brother is Magistrate Wei’s man, and Wang Zhenwen and Wei Yuan are like two fierce tigers in the imperial court, incompatible as fire and water. His invitation for me to attend a literary gathering at his residence surely isn’t as simple as it appears on the surface.”
Xu Xinnian paced around the room, thinking aloud, “I, Xu Xinnian, am the top scholar with a bright future. Prime Minister Wang is wary of me and wants to nip me in the bud before I grow… No, that’s not right. Even if I topped the imperial examinations, it would be easy for Prime Minister Wang to deal with me if he wanted to. The gap in our positions is too great; he wouldn’t need any schemes or tricks to handle me.”
“So, is his invitation just for an ordinary literary gathering? If so, I’d be underestimating my opponent and Prime Minister Wang…” The troubled Xu Xinnian looked at his elder brother, frowning, “Elder Brother, say something.”
Thinking that his brother’s thoughts were becoming increasingly paranoid, Xu Qi An frowned and said, “How about this: ask your fellow top scholars if they received invitations too. If they did, then it’s just a simple literary gathering. If they didn’t, and you’re the only student from Cloud Deer Academy invited, then there must be something fishy going on.”
“Of course, I thought of that, but there’s no time,” Xu Xinnian said anxiously, pointing at the invitation. “Look at the time, Elder Brother. The gathering is tomorrow morning. I don’t have time to verify… I understand now.”
“Understand what?” asked the elder Xu.
“Prime Minister Wang is not giving me a chance to react. If I don’t go, he’ll spread rumors about my arrogance and disrespect, tarnishing my reputation. If I do go, there must be some scheme or trick waiting for me at the gathering,” Xu Xinnian drew in a sharp breath, “The old ginger is indeed spicier.”
Hearing this, Xu Qi An also became alert. He thought to himself that the Xu family had finally produced a promising scholar and that Wang Zhenwen was being quite ruthless.
Then he noticed something amiss and frowned, “You just said it yourself, if Prime Minister Wang wanted to deal with you, he wouldn’t need any schemes or tricks. Even if you passed the imperial examinations, you’d still be just a beginner, while he’s practically at the max level.”
Xu Xinnian looked puzzled, “What do you mean by ‘beginner’ and ‘max level’?”
“If you don’t go, rumors about your arrogance will spread. If you go, there might be some scheme or trick… Second Brother, you’ll have to decide for yourself,” Xu Qi An patted his shoulder reassuringly.
“When did Elder Brother become as foolish as Ling Yin?” Xu Xinnian said displeased, “I’ve said so much, and you still don’t understand my meaning? I want Elder Brother to go with me.”
“No, you can’t go with me. You’re my brother, but in the official arena, you and I are not on the same path. Second Brother, you must remember this,” Xu Qi An’s expression turned serious as he said sternly, “You have your path, your direction. Don’t have any involvement with me.”
Xu Xinnian was a smart person. After a moment of silence, he nodded, “Mm.”
Elder Brother was warning him not to have any entanglement with Wei Yuan. One day, even if Wei Yuan fell from power, Elder Brother would inevitably be implicated.
But Wei Yuan’s downfall would have nothing to do with him, Xu Xinnian. His identity was merely Xu Qi An’s brother, not Wei Yuan’s subordinate.
Xu Xinnian agreed with this idea.
In history, among those prestigious and powerful clans, family members weren’t always of one mind and belonged to different factions. The advantage of this was that even if one wing was broken, the family would only be injured, not destroyed.
…
The next day, Xu Qi An rode his beloved mare, setting off for the Night Watchmen’s Office under the dim sky with a steady “clop-clop-clop”.
After the roll call, Song Tingfeng and a few familiar colleagues came to find him. They sat together drinking tea and nibbling on peanuts, boasting for a while before they started urging Xu Qi An to treat them to the Courtesans’ House.
“Get lost…” Xu Qi An spat at them, scolding, “All you think about is going to the Courtesans’ House. Haven’t you all seen me in the Dharma battle? What did the old monk under the Bodhi tree say? Beauty is a bone-scraping knife, it’s no good.”
“All day long, you just think about visiting courtesans. Can you face the uniform you’re wearing? It’s bad enough that you go, but you have to drag me along too. Bah!”
Everyone knew what kind of person he was, so they weren’t afraid at all. They retorted, “Who in our office visits courtesans more than you?”
Xu Qi An argued righteously, “I don’t pay, so how can it be considered visiting courtesans? We’re all familiar, but if you talk nonsense like this, I’ll definitely report to Magistrate Wei that you’re slandering me.”
“Bah!” Everyone spat at him.
However, everyone still admired Xu Qi An. This guy didn’t just sleep with courtesans without paying; the courtesans wanted to pay to sleep with him.
“Ning Yan, I heard from Old Song that when you were still a Bronze Gong, just joined the Night Watchmen, you were already involved with Courtesan Fu Xiang. Besides a poem, do you have any other special skills?” A Bronze Gong asked humbly for advice.
The eyes of the several Bronze and Silver Gongs present lit up immediately. Who wouldn’t want to be the darling of the courtesans in the Courtesans’ House?
“There is indeed a trick to it,” Xu Qi An gave an affirmative answer.
“What’s the trick?!” The Night Watchmen breathed rapidly.
At this moment, an authoritative voice came from the doorway: “Gathering and chatting idly during duty hours, do you still have any discipline in your eyes?”
Everyone turned to look. At the entrance of the hall stood a Gold Gong with eyes as sharp as knives and faint crow’s feet at the corners of his eyes. It was none other than Jiang Luzhong.
“Gold Gong Jiang…” Everyone restrained their playful attitudes and respectfully explained, “Xu Ning Yan was teaching us how to sleep with courtesans without paying.”
“?”
Jiang Luzhong’s sharp gaze swept over everyone, sneering, “You’re all just daydreaming… Hmm, carry on with your chat, just remember not to gather for too long.”
With that, he turned and left, walked out of the courtyard, leaned against the wall, and activated his fourth-grade warrior’s hearing.
Inside the hall, the others pushed Xu Qi An, “Ning Yan, continue.”
Xu Qi An coughed, “I’m a bit thirsty.”
Song Tingfeng brought him tea.
After taking a sip to moisten his throat, Xu Qi An spoke eloquently, “Indeed, Courtesan Fu Xiang likes me because of a poem, but the reason she can’t leave me isn’t because of poetry.”
“What is it then?” Everyone asked eagerly.
“Do you know what women hate most about men?” Xu Qi An asked in return.
The Night Watchmen all gave their opinions, believing it to be “no money” or “no prospects” and so on.
Xu Qi An shook his head, looked around at his colleagues’ faces, and said solemnly, “It’s being too intimate too soon.”
What kind of logic is this? Hearing this, the Night Watchmen fell into deep thought.
“What does this have to do with Courtesan Fu Xiang not being able to leave you?” Zhu Guangxiao frowned.
“When I first met her, behind closed doors, she asked me…” Xu Qi An put down his cup, his expression becoming serious and steady as he said word by word, “In the end, can you do it or not?”
“Later, I did it, so she couldn’t leave me.”
Amid the silence, Song Tingfeng questioned, “I suspect you’re lying to us, but we have no proof.”
“It’s normal, this isn’t something ordinary people can comprehend, especially men who lack ability,” Xu Qi An patted his shoulder and said to the others:
“I’ve already told you the trick. Whether you can understand it or not, well, that depends on the individual.”
“Being too intimate too soon, can you do it or not…” Jiang Luzhong left thoughtfully. These two sentences seemed easy to understand at first glance, but he felt that there was an unimaginably profound meaning hidden behind them.
He should go ask Magistrate Wei. With Magistrate Wei’s wisdom, he should be able to instantly comprehend such a small trick.
…
After sending his colleagues away, it wasn’t long before a clerk came in and said, “Silver Gong Xu, Gold Gong Jiang asked me to come and ask if you still need to prepare medicinal materials for cooking. With your current cultivation level, you can try body tempering.”
Old Jiang came just to ask about this. A simple instruction to the clerk would have sufficed, he didn’t need to come personally… He must have come for the Vajra Indestructible Body technique but was too embarrassed… Xu Qi An responded:
“No need.”
“Alright,” the clerk withdrew.
Soon after, the two phrases “being too intimate too soon” and “can you do it or not” spread throughout the Night Watchmen’s Office. It was said that as long as one comprehended the profound meaning of these two secret phrases, one could enjoy the company of courtesans in the Courtesans’ House without paying.
Don’t doubt it, because this was said by Silver Gong Xu himself.
At once, intense discussions broke out in various departments.
At this moment, in the office of the culprit Xu Qi An, a guard from Shaoyin Palace arrived.
The guard said, “The Second Princess summons you.”
“Understood, I still have some work to do, I’ll go later,” Xu Qi An sat behind his desk reviewing documents without moving.
The guard bowed and left.
About a quarter of an hour later, Xu Qi An put down the documents and sighed with relief.
“More and more jianghu practitioners are flooding into the capital. Once the news of the Dharma battle spreads, I’m afraid even more martial artists will come to the capital to join in the excitement… Although it has greatly stimulated the capital’s economy, cases of fraud and even burglary are occurring frequently.”
“If this continues, to address this issue, we need to start from two aspects…”
Xu Qi An beckoned, summoning a clerk, and instructed, “Write a memorial…”
Each Silver Gong’s office was assigned at least three clerks to act as secretaries. After all, while the Silver Gongs could fight, when it came to writing… Silver Gong Xu’s skills were about average.
Xu Qi An gave Wei Yuan three suggestions: First, deploy troops from the thirteen counties under the capital’s jurisdiction to maintain order in the outer city; Second, submit a memorial to His Majesty, requesting the Imperial Guard to participate in patrolling the inner city; Third, during this period, those who commit burglary, beheaded! Those who rob on the streets are beheaded! Those who cause trouble on the streets, resulting in injuries to passersby or damage to vendors’ property, beheaded!
The first two suggestions were to pave the way for the third. Under severe punishment, thieves would go to extremes, so a large number of troops and experts were needed for suppression.
This might cause criminals to become desperate and commit murders, but if they wanted to quickly clean up the bad practices and restore stability to public security, they had to use severe punishments as a deterrent.
After finishing the memorial, another guard came in this time from Dexin Palace.
“Princess Huai Qing requests Master Xu to enter the palace for a discussion.”
…
Xu Mansion.
Xu Xinnian wore an elegant light white robe, his hair bound with a jade crown, and jade pendants hanging from his waist – his own, his father’s, his elder brother’s… In short, he wore the most valuable jade pendants of all the men in the family.
“Elder Brother and Father are warriors, they don’t use these normally. I think it’s a waste to just leave them lying around,” Xu Xinnian had explained to his aunt and Xu Ling Yue.
The literary gathering hosted by Prime Minister Wang would undoubtedly be attended by a multitude of talented scholars, making it one of the most elite gatherings of this era. Xu Xinnian felt he must dress presentably.
Madam looked him up and down, very satisfied, believing that her son would be the most handsome at the literary gathering.
“You’re going to attend the literary gathering, but why do you need to bring Ling Yue along?” Madam asked.
Xu Ling Yin’s head perked up at the mention of “literary gathering.”
“That’s what the invitation says. Let’s just take Ling Yue to broaden her horizons,” Xu Xinnian said.
Madam immediately took her daughter’s hand, excitedly saying:
“When you go to the literary gathering, look around carefully. If you fancy any young master, tell mother when you come back. With our Xu family’s current prestige, it won’t be a problem to marry you into a noble family.”
“Mother, what are you saying? I’m not going,” Xu Ling Yue turned away unhappily.
Seeing an opportunity, Xu Ling Yin pounced towards Xu Xinnian: “If elder sister isn’t going, I’ll go. Second Brother, take me, take me.”
As she spoke, she clung to Xu Xinnian’s leg.
Xu Xinnian shook a few times but surprisingly couldn’t shake her off. This little girl’s strength was frightening.
“Alright, but you have to change into a pretty dress, otherwise I won’t take you,” Xu Xinnian said.
“Mm!” Xu Ling Yin nodded happily.
Then, led by Madam, she returned to her room. Fifteen minutes later, the little bean had her hair styled like an adult and was wearing a handsome suit… The second Brother and elder sister had already left.
“Waaaaaah…”
Pig-like crying echoed through the courtyard.
…
Under the warm spring sunshine, the carriage arrived at the Wang Mansion.