[Nine: A while ago, while the Sect Leader was in slumber, I secretly returned to the Earth Sect on business. However, I fell into an ambush. I fled to the capital of Great Feng to save my life. To escape the pursuit, I gifted the sealed mirror to… young brother Chen Jinnan.]
You not only revealed my gender but also hinted at my age… Xu Qi An felt a bit annoyed. He could have pretended to be an androgynous figure or a master within the Heaven and Earth Society.
[Nine: Subsequently, with young brother Chen Jinnan’s help, I managed to kill Zilan and avoid this calamity.]
[Two: Number Three, which government office are you from?]
This is like asking for an address online. As if I’d tell you… Xu Qi An had a flash of inspiration and imitated Xu Er’lang’s tone:
[Three: Government office? The offices in the capital are just a bunch of useless officials occupying positions without merit.]
Number Three seemed to hold great disdain for government offices, his tone somewhat arrogant. There were only a few official forces in the capital. First, the Human Sect could be ruled out, as Taoist Jin Lian wouldn’t cooperate with them.
The Nightwatchmen wouldn’t describe the capital’s offices this way. Could it be the Imperial Astronomical Bureau or the Cloud Deer Academy?
This tone was very similar to those Confucian scholars who prided themselves on “All pursuits are lowly, only studying is high.”
Two and Six, in front of their mirrors, simultaneously made their guesses.
[Two: Number One is also in the capital. Maybe you two know each other. Number One, I know you’re watching through the mirror. Have you heard about today’s events?]
[One: A jianghu wanderer died at Guiyue Tower in the inner city. Sixty li east of the city, a hill was pierced by unknown means.]
After a pause, One sent another message:
[Two, has the bandit problem in Cloud Province been resolved?]
Interesting!
Xu Qi An raised an eyebrow.
He caught a whiff of palace intrigue.
Two was dragging One into the conversation while simultaneously conveying a message to him: One was also in the capital.
This was aimed at One. The reason was simple: after the earlier chat, everyone knew that Three was from the capital.
But as Three, he didn’t know information about the others. Two didn’t have to reveal this.
One immediately retaliated, openly sharing information, showcasing his channels, giving Xu Qi An a heads-up while counterattacking Two.
Two were in Cloud Province… bandits… Was she also part of a government office?
Cloud Province faced bandit problems every year, earning it the nickname “Bandit Province” from people in other provinces.
As Xu Qi An was lost in thought, Six and Two were also digesting the information One had provided.
A hill sixty li east of the city, pierced through… There was too little information to determine which cultivation system was involved, but it was certain that a high-level expert was responsible.
[Two: How could it be resolved? The Emperor of Great Feng is just a brainless monkey, dreaming about immortality all day, oblivious to the people’s suffering.]
This sounds like… Two probably isn’t on the imperial payroll… Xu Qi An speculated.
[Two: Not to mention previous years, just this year, I’ve reviewed the household registries of various prefectures and counties in Cloud Province, investigated everywhere, and roughly estimated that at least 60,000 civilians have fled, becoming wanderers or turning to banditry.]
Wanderers were people without land, unable to bear the taxes, abandoning their fields and fleeing.
With no fields left, people still had to survive. Some begged or worked, while others directly turned to banditry, robbing honest folk, and creating a vicious cycle.
Two continued: “I’ve eliminated over a dozen bandit groups and discovered deeper forces hidden behind them.”
[One: Any leads?]
[Two: None… By the way, how’s the situation in the capital lately?]
Before One could answer, Xu Qi An quickly input:
[Three: Vice Minister Zhou has fallen, and political struggles have begun. However, Zhou’s downfall was rather absurd. It was caused by his only son’s lust-driven folly, attempting to defile the second daughter of the Valiant Marquis.]
This statement not only conveyed information to Two but also showcased his level of insight to everyone while probing One.
Those qualified to participate in court struggles all knew that the real reason for Vice Minister Zhou’s downfall was the tax silver case.
To his disappointment, One didn’t correct him.
[One: Taoist Jin Lian, I’ve inquired for you. The exact date when the Sage’s Hall of Cloud Deer Academy was sealed was Jiazi Day. Among the outsiders at the academy that day, besides the Grand Princess, there was also a clerk named Xu Qi An.]
“!!!”
Xu Qi An’s heart skipped a beat, feeling the panic of having his personal information exposed online.
Who was this Number One, and why was he investigating the events of Jiazi Day… Xu Qi An remembered that on Jiazi Day, Er’lang had taken him to tour Cloud Deer Academy. On a whim, he had written the Four Sentences of Hengqu on the stone tablet.
It had caused the phenomenon of pure qi soaring from the Sage’s Hall.
At the same time, he was very curious about why Taoist Jin Lian cared about the changes at Cloud Deer Academy.
Logically, this should be a concern for the scholars of the Imperial College, what did it have to do with a Taoist from the Earth Sect?
[One: However, that clerk was quite ordinary. Apart from having good poetic talent, he was only in the Body Tempering realm. He wasn’t a student of Cloud Deer Academy, let alone a scholar.]
[Nine: I see.]
[Three: Why is the Taoist concerned about the changes at Cloud Deer Academy?] Xu Qi An probed.
[Nine: I want to know if the stone tablet of Sage Cheng has cracked.]
[Three: Is this important?]
[Nine: Very important.]
It has cracked… Xu Qi An didn’t tell Taoist Jin Lian. Even if he wanted to, now wasn’t the time.
[Three: There’s something I’d like to ask everyone.]
[Two: Go ahead.]
[Three: Are alchemists exclusive to the Imperial Astronomical Bureau?]
This question from Xu Qi An almost ruled out his identity as a disciple of the Imperial Astronomical Bureau.
Everyone became more certain that he was a scholar from Cloud Deer Academy, likely a student highly valued by the academy’s elders. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to invite a high-level expert to kill Taoist Zilan.
And this was exactly what Xu Qi An wanted.
You think I’m a student from Cloud Deer Academy, but actually, I’m a Nightwatchman. In the future, when you suspect I might be a Nightwatchman, you’ll discover that I really am a student from Cloud Deer Academy, or you might even find out that I’m a life mentor to the alchemists of the Imperial Astronomical Bureau.
[Six: Let me answer this question. Six hundred years ago, there was no system of Artificers. After the founding of Great Feng, the Imperial Astronomical Bureau started to have Artificers.]
A sect with a short history, not yet branched out… In other words, apart from the Imperial Astronomical Bureau, wild alchemists were almost non-existent… There should still be some, but very few. Otherwise, if I pulled out a blue-covered book, the alchemists would find it strange.
No wonder the alchemists are so eager for my chemical theory knowledge, even though they’re all very powerful.
Is it because of the short history that they haven’t formed a comprehensive theoretical foundation course?
Also, who is the alchemist behind the tax silver case?
One point of doubt in the tax silver case had always bothered the veteran investigator Xu Qi An.
The Imperial Astronomical Bureau seemed to adopt a passive attitude towards the alchemist involved in this case, turning a blind eye.
This point was very unscientific.
Whether it was Chu Caiwei, Song Qing, or other White Robes, none of them had mentioned this matter in front of him.
[Six: Number Three, according to the rules, you also need to answer a question from me.]
Xu Qi An only then realized that the dialogue between One and Two had been one question, one answer. He had interrupted earlier, answering for One about the recent situation in the capital’s court.
[Three: Go ahead and ask.]
[Six: What is the Confucian Second Grade called?]
This was another probe, a probe into my identity… It wasn’t probing whether I was a student of Cloud Deer Academy, but probing my social status.
Ordinary Confucian students didn’t know what the Confucian Second Grade was called. Even the biography stone tablet of the Grand Scholar Qian Zhong didn’t clearly explain his realm. Xu Qi An only learned about it after Xu Xinnian’s explanation.
The reason Er’lang knew was that he was a student valued by Grand Scholar Zhang Shen and had passed the autumn imperial examination as a Juren.
Among the students of Cloud Deer Academy, this was already at the elite level.
If I’m not a student of Cloud Deer Academy, this probe is equally effective. For non-Confucian students to know about the Second Grade, their social status would only be higher.
If I can’t answer this, I guess these people would find my level lacking.
Xu Qi An used his finger as a pen and wrote:
[Three: The Confucian Second Grade is called Grand Scholar.]