Chen Pingan saw the girl in green robes again. She was silently following behind a middle-aged man, head bowed, nibbling on a scallion pancake filled with eggs.

The man wore an expression of utter despair.

Upon seeing Chen Pingan, the man stopped and asked, “Aren’t you that guy I chased away last time?”

The girl in green robes, who had bumped heavily into the man’s back, as if hitting a “wall,” looked up, her face blank. Suddenly spotting Chen Pingan, she started to smile, but abruptly turned her back to him, frantically wiping her mouth.

Chen Pingan suppressed a laugh and nodded to the man. “Master Ruan, hello.”

It seemed the girl was most likely Master Ruan’s daughter.

However, father and daughter truly bore no resemblance to each other, and fortunately so.

The man Chen Pingan addressed as Master Ruan was the blacksmith who had moved to the south bank of the small creek not long after arriving in town. He continued, “Why hasn’t Liu Xianyang been to the forge these past few days?”

Before Chen Pingan could explain for Liu Xianyang, the man coldly stated, “Go tell that boy, if I don’t see his esteemed face again today, he needn’t come to my shop tomorrow.”

Chen Pingan hurriedly said, “Master Ruan, something urgent came up at his home…”

The man interrupted the boy, impolitely declaring, “That’s his business. What does it have to do with me?!”

Chen Pingan, never one for eloquent speech, stood frozen, his face flushed with anxiety, unsure how to help without making things worse. He had personally experienced Master Ruan’s blunt temperament.

The girl in green robes attempted to put in a good word for Chen Pingan, but the man, who knew his daughter well, preemptively scolded, “Eat your pancake!”

The utterly aggrieved girl suddenly quickened her pace, stomping hard on the man’s foot before vanishing like the wind.

The man sighed, leaving Chen Pingan aside, and continued onward.

Chen Pingan also sighed, and went to the breakfast stall to buy a bamboo steamer of six steamed buns, rushing towards Mud Bottle Lane.

Arriving at his house, he found Liu Xianyang squatting on the wall, half his body leaning over Song Jixin’s courtyard, eavesdropping intently.

Chen Pingan sometimes thought Liu Xianyang deserved a beating.

He could only remind him, “I just saw Master Ruan. He wants you to help out at the forge today. He said if he doesn’t see you today, you’re fired.”

Liu Xianyang said absently, “What’s the rush? A skilled, hardworking apprentice like me is hard to find even with a lantern. Master Ruan’s just making empty threats. It’ll be fine if I go tomorrow.”

Chen Pingan shook his head. “I’m certain Master Ruan wasn’t joking.”

Liu Xianyang said irritably, “I’ll go in a bit. Don’t delay my important business.”

Chen Pingan delivered breakfast to the girl in black, giving three buns to Liu Xianyang, and only eating one himself.

Liu Xianyang devoured all the meat-filled buns in a few bites, wiping his mouth as he whispered, “A guest came to Song Jixin’s house just now, a very important figure. If I’m not mistaken, it should be the current Director of Imperial Kilns. When he wore his official robes to our Dragon Kiln, Old Yao thought you unqualified apprentices were an eyesore and didn’t let you show your faces. I’m different. Old Yao even had me demonstrate ‘jumping knife’ to that official.”

Chen Pingan chuckled. “It’s common knowledge that the new Director is partial to Song Jixin. What are you getting suspicious about?”

Liu Xianyang said worriedly, “Song Jixin is just a pretty boy. I can definitely outcompete him, but what if Zhigui falls for this distinguished official? Then my chances are slim! If your future sister-in-law runs off with someone else, what will I do? What will you do?”

Chen Pingan simply walked back into the house.

Leaving Liu Xianyang squatting on the wall, lamenting his fate.

The girl in black was sitting at the table, back straight, one hand gripping the hilt of a knife, as if facing a formidable enemy.

Sweat beaded on her forehead.

This was the first time Chen Pingan had seen the girl look so serious. Though her body was tense and wary, her eyes shone with anticipation.

Chen Pingan retreated to the doorway. She asked, “Do you know the identity of the guest next door?”

Chen Pingan replied, “Liu Xianyang said it’s the current Director of Kilns in our town. He seems quite amiable. He even yielded the way to me at the alley entrance.”

The girl sneered. “Those are the most dangerous people.”

Chen Pingan was puzzled.

She asked, “If someone is walking on the road and sees ants, will they step on them?”

Chen Pingan thought for a moment, then answered, “Gu Can definitely would. He often pours water into anthills or blocks their exits with stones. Liu Xianyang probably would too, if he’s in a bad mood.”

The girl in black was speechless.

Chen Pingan grinned. “I think I understand what you mean, Miss Ning.”

She asked in surprise, “Really?”

Chen Pingan nodded. “I think you meant two things. One, we, the townsfolk, are like ants crawling at your feet in the eyes of you outsiders. Two, even among outsiders, there are differences. Fu Nanhua and Cai Jinjian are like Gu Can, childish enough to find it amusing or annoying to control the ants’ lives. But the official who came to our Mud Bottle Lane is different. His words and actions are befitting his status, so he seems particularly courteous. Right, Miss Ning?”

The girl asked, “How did you figure that out?”

The boy replied playfully, “After coming back from the brink of death, my brain seems to be working a bit better.”

The girl in black robes asked seriously, “Before you died, what did you see?”

Chen Pingan was a little puzzled, but still answered honestly, “I didn’t see anything ah. Actually in that lane, I did not overthink. This question, Miss Ning is better off asking Fu Nanhua and Cai Jinjian. They might have been able to see something.”

She scoffed. “Oh, what big talk!”

After saying this, she suddenly stared intently at the straw sandal-wearing boy.

Chen Pingan panicked under her gaze. “What’s wrong?”

The girl frowned, looking frustrated, and muttered to herself in her hometown dialect, “The sword arts of my family, be it the sword incantations or the methods for tempering body and soul, are all unique and closely guarded secrets. I haven’t even fully learned them, how could I dare to teach them to others? And I haven’t learned those shallow things from other lands either, or else I could have pointed him in the right direction, even if it was just to strengthen his body and prolong his life. Now where am I going to find the most basic introductory manual?”

The girl’s eyes lit up. “Robbery? No, no, not robbery, borrowing a manual, a fair exchange.”

But her face quickly fell, and she said resentfully, “Damn old eunuch! Just you wait, I’ll turn your palace upside down.”

She looked forlorn, sighing sadly, “Do I really have to go ask that blacksmith surnamed Ruan? I’m alright at hacking people, I’ve got four or five tenths of my mother’s true skill, but I’m really not good at asking for favors.”

The straw sandal-wearing boy sat on the doorstep, watching the girl named Ning Yao. She spoke to herself, her expression constantly changing, like clouds in the sky.

—

A handsome man in white robes and a jade belt stood in Song Jixin’s room, looking around and frowning slightly. “That Song fellow only arranged such a shabby place for you?”

Song Jixin pursed his lips, and said nothing.

The maid Zhigui had already discreetly retreated to her own side room.

According to the most widely circulated story in town, the previous Director of Imperial Kilns, Lord Song, was incompetent, unable to produce Imperial porcelain to the court’s satisfaction. He relied on his hard work to leave behind a covered bridge.

Then he returned to the capital to take office, and of course, leaving behind Song Jixin, this illegitimate child, he only bought him a personal maid to take care of his livelihood, and then “entrusted” him to his friend, that is, the new Director who replaced his position, also surnamed Song, they heard.

But as for the truth of the matter, those involved were confused, and bystanders may not be clear.

Song Jixin himself did not know what kind of relationship the person in front of him had with that man surnamed Song. Close colleagues in the officialdom? Old classmates from their school days? Or adversaries from other factions in the capital’s temples? The man surnamed Song mentioned a few words before he left, saying that after the new Director arrived in town, he would soon take the two of them, master and servant, out of town and rush to the capital. Regarding that adult, Song Jixin must be extremely courteous and must not be negligent in the slightest.

Song Jixin probably hated the man from the capital in front of him because he hated everything about him, and he did not have the slightest liking for him.

The confidence he showed in the maid Zhigui’s presence, and the composure about leaving his hometown next, were just the self-esteem of a young man.

The man laughed. “Forget it, that Song scholar has always been a cautious character. He doesn’t look like a real man, but more like a woman, otherwise he wouldn’t have been sent here to look after you.”

Song Jixin’s brows were gloomy.

The man glanced casually at the large box where the boy stored his belongings, pursed his lips, and looked disdainful. “Before coming here, I have already met Fu Nanhua of Old Dragon City. What a unlucky fellow, his Dao Heart would have almost collapsed here. Your deal with him will continue as usual. You boy, take care of the profits and losses yourself, and I won’t get involved in this kind of trivial matter. However, before you leave, you must go to the covered bridge with me, kowtow a few times, and then it will be none of your business. Come home with me, do what you should do, sit in the seat you should sit in, and do your duty, it’s that simple, do you understand?”

“Of course I understand. Lord Song’s words are not obscure.”

The boy sneered. “But why?”

The man laughed, turned around and looked at the boy for the first time, and asked, “The man surnamed Song said you were extremely talented, but that evaluation is really afraid of tripping the tongue. Why don’t you guess why I’m relying on?”

If you look closely, you will find that the two are somewhat similar in appearance and spirit.

Song Jixin became more angry, but he always endured it.

The man stopped playing tricks, and said playfully, “Rely on what? Of course, this prince is the number one unlucky fellow in the world. I would be your uncle.”

Song Jixin was shocked, his face turned pale.

The man turned a blind eye to this, put his hands on the jade belt, looked at the sky outside the window, and smiled: “Also, this king is the number one martial artist of Dali Dynasty.”

In fact, this sentence can be expressed in another way, which is even more shocking, but the man would rather be the head of a chicken than the tail of a phoenix, and believes that as long as he is behind someone, even if it is only one or two people, it is not worth promoting at all.

The man thought of the Confucian sage sitting in this place, his mouth was full of contempt, and he snorted coldly.

He was thinking about it.

If it were not in this world, I could kill all the three religions and immortals like Qi Jingchun with one hand.

—

Inside the thatched hut of the school, Mr. Qi was listening to the children reciting their books aloud.

Sitting upright.

Truly sitting upright, Song Jixin and Zhao Yao and other scholars could hardly understand its essence.

Confucianism has a classic “to establish teaching and start a sect”, called “Da Li”, in which “Self-Cultivation Chapter” specifically talks about, gentlemen should sit like corpses, because corpses are divine symbols, and sitting posture like corpses, then its solemnity and solemnity can be imagined.

At this moment, Qi Jingchun seemed to hear every word of the white-robed man’s silent thoughts, and smiled calmly, “Martial men take charge of the country, how amazing. However, the white dragon wearing fish clothes is not an auspicious sign.”