Jiang Wang gazed out the window, silent for a moment.

The side profile of his face was precisely outlined by the light and shadow, possessing a remarkably refined contour.

Zhong Xuan Sheng, understanding Jiang Wang well, did not press for answers upon seeing his silence.

Noticing an open piece of rice paper on the table, he reached out and picked it up. On the paper was written:

“The Heavens are bright and clear, what is being done, how can anyone not know?”

This sentence was from the 《Jing Lue》.

Zhong Xuan Sheng immediately understood, and with a sneer, said, “A mediocre man’s self-affliction!”

Jiang Wang, vexed and ashamed, grew angry. “What do you understand?”

Zhong Xuan Sheng leisurely replied, “Have you not heard of the Peach Blossom Immortal, who wandered for many years and became a national scholar? One morning he attained the Dao, and immediately became a pillar of the nation?”

Jiang Wang’s face darkened. “He surrendered in the end.” After speaking, he realized his mistake and quickly amended, “Don’t mock Yu Shang Qing!”

“Let me guess, this time, for the mission to Mu Country, the Son of Heaven has rewarded you handsomely again?” Zhong Xuan Sheng chuckled. “Making you feel a bit uneasy, feeling you don’t deserve it?”

Jiang Wang remained silent.

“Isn’t that perfectly normal?” Zhong Xuan Sheng continued to laugh. “The current Son of Heaven either doesn’t reward, or rewards without limit. Your feeling of unworthiness is precisely the effect the old man desires. You are a great loyal minister who perceives the heart of Heaven, Marquis Wu An!”

“You wouldn’t understand even if I told you,” Jiang Wang said impatiently.

“I don’t understand?” Zhong Xuan Sheng laughed coldly. “Which battle did you not fight desperately in? Since you joined the Qi system, have you ever done anything to bring shame to the nation? How much have you gained in Qi Country, and how much have you sacrificed for Qi Country? Becoming famous by the sea, the first leader of the Yellow River, beheading generals and seizing banners, blocking the river… Everything you possess today, which part of it wasn’t something you fought and strived for? I’ve wracked my brain and can’t think of anything you’ve done to betray Qi Country. Perhaps the only thing is not reporting Yin Guan initially, instead covering for him to enter the city? But even if you hadn’t, Yin Guan would still have entered. If not for Yin Guan, you would already be dead. How could a dead man report anything? Furthermore, I’m a rather immoral person. I seriously considered backhanding a report and sending Yin Guan to the Heavenly Prison, but he didn’t give me the opportunity. I simply observed the changes quietly. I’m from an aristocratic family in Qi, a true old Qi person! Compared to me, a new Qi person like you, where do you stand?”

“You simply demand too much of yourself. It’s better for others to betray you first, you shouldn’t betray others first. Too rigid! Aren’t you stupid? You use the four characters ‘Wai Lou’ as a prison cage, regulating your Dao path, imprisoning your original desires. This is the cultivation of a genius. But you can’t demand too much of yourself, everything in excess falls short. This is almost entering a state of Qigong deviation, wake up! The former sages said ‘I daily examine my body three times,’ not ‘I daily interrogate my body three times’! One heart has a thousand thoughts in an instant, who can bear such interrogation? What kind of person was He Chong Hua? Listed in the 《Biography of Noble Ministers》, his rank is even above Yi Ya! To put it bluntly, are you even fit to compare yourself to He Chong Hua?”

Zhong Xuan Sheng’s barrage of questions left Jiang Wang speechless.

The sentence “The Heavens are bright and clear” that Jiang Wang wrote was from the third volume of 《Jing Lue》. The text described the time when the powerful minister He Chong Hua secretly plotted against the country, believing his actions were hidden. Ling Emperor pointed at the sun and declared, “The Heavens are bright and clear, what is being done, how can anyone not know?” He Chong Hua, shamed and enraged, drew his sword and assassinated the Ling Emperor. He then supported the Crown Prince to ascend the throne, carved mountains and rivers with his sword, and claimed territory for himself. The Crown Prince again pointed at him and cursed him as a national thief. He Chong Hua assassinated him again. He then seized imperial power with the Emperor’s eldest daughter, Shi Yi, who also cursed him. He Chong Hua assassinated Shi Yi. The whole world hated him. At that time, the only remaining bloodline of the Son of Heaven was King Chang Le, who was leading an army outside. He Chong Hua summoned him to succeed the Son of Heaven. King Chang Le shaved his head and declared his ambition, saying with hatred, “Rather than not execute the national thief and overturn ancestral business, I swear to cut off the incense fire.” He gathered the five families of Zhong Shan, Murong, Cao, Jiang, and Zhong, forming six armies, and exterminated the three branches of the He clan. This was Emperor Cheng.

The resolute spirit of the Great Jing imperial clan was deeply ingrained. From this history, one can also see a glimpse of it. The Tang dynasty, despite its almost absolute succession, not a single person was willing to bow their head to the powerful He Chong Hua for a moment. Even the Jing Ling Emperor, known for his confusion, was not lacking in courage and preferred death to submission.

Zhong Xuan Sheng, this fatty, had a keen insight. Seeing a casually written sentence, he could guess the general process of the matter. It truly left no secrets.

Jiang Wang thus sighed heavily, “Evidently, you are also a person who reads books.”

“Understood, right?” Zhong Xuan Sheng lightly tossed the paper back onto the table. “You’re still trying to use classics on me here. I was afraid you wouldn’t understand, so I just mentioned the Peach Blossom Immortal, otherwise if I casually found a classic, you wouldn’t even know where it came from.” Jiang Wang glanced at him and rose to leave.

“Ah, where are you going?” Zhong Xuan Sheng reminded him, “This is your study.”

“Out the door!”

“You’ve just returned, where are you going out again?”

“To South Yao.”

“What are you going to South Yao for?”

“To find Lian Que, and bring him to Chi Tan.”

“Oh, Chi Tan.” Zhong Xuan Sheng suddenly reacted. “What about Zhong Xuan Zun?”

“I don’t understand!”

“Hey! Are you still a person!?” Zhong Xuan Sheng lifted his leg to chase, but with his bulky body, how could he catch up to the divine and radiant Marquis Jiang? He had just left the study, and in an instant, not even a shadow was to be seen.

“Bastard! Help me manage Ming Kong Han Mountain too!” he shouted in the empty courtyard. The carriage left Lin Zi city overnight, heading south towards Chi Yang.

Marquis Jiang sat idly in the carriage, leisurely contemplating and familiarizing himself with the newly acquired secret technique, Chao Tian Que.

In a person’s life, there should always be a friend who can awaken you at a critical moment. For Jiang Wang, the extremely intelligent and perceptive Zhong Xuan Sheng was just such a friend. After just a brief chat, his heart calmed down, and he temporarily shook off his troubles. Of course, this did not affect his decisive departure from the residence.

He understood Zhong Xuan Sheng too well. If he remained in Lin Zi, this fatty would grind on him every day without any discouragement. But how could he bear to destroy the opportunity for the two brothers of the Zhong Xuan clan to get along? Today, he had seen Zhong Xuan Sheng fourteen, reminisced with them, and then had Zhong Xuan Sheng help him relieve his mood, while also not giving the fatty any opportunity to play tricks. This timing was just right, making Jiang Wang quite self-satisfied.

This made researching the technique even more swift and light. The pressure from Zhuang Gao Mei Du Ru Hui and the Wu Sheng Cult, which had been weighing on his mind with his current identity, was temporarily set aside. He would not think about that much for the time being, and would wholeheartedly throw himself into cultivation.

The message from Shen Yin Fa came at this moment. Of course, it was not the true demon Song Wan Xi. In fact, after knowing the true identity of the black-clothed demon clan, Jiang Wang held no hope of finding Song Wan Xi again.

Other than Song Wan Xi, the only person Shen Yin Fa could connect to was Du Gu Xiao. Du Gu Xiao was very sensible, and would never disturb him lightly unless it was an important matter. Jiang Wang calmed his heart and immediately responded to her.

“Old Master,” Du Gu Xiao said concisely, “The woman you asked me to keep an eye on, named Zhang Cui Hua, in Wa Yao Town, Bao Long County, has had some trouble.”

Initially, after returning from the Secret Realm, Jiang Wang had specifically disguised himself and gone to Wa Yao Town to visit Chu Mi’s wife and children. At that time, Zhang Cui Hua was unwilling to let her son enter the dangerous world, saying she would wait until the child grew up to decide for himself. Jiang Wang respected her wishes, promised to always reserve an opportunity for Chu Mo, and left a bag of silver before leaving. But he also secretly arranged for people to quietly pay attention to Zhang Cui Hua and her son’s lives, lest they encounter any accidents and fail to seek help from him in time. Several years had passed in the blink of an eye.

“What happened?” Jiang Wang inquired through Shen Yin Fa while drilling out of the carriage and instructing the coachman, “You go to South Yao city yourself, seek the head of the Lian family, and just say I invite him to Lin Zi to wait for me, he will know what’s going on.” The coachman respectfully responded. He had already soared into the air, flying straight towards Bao Long County.

“She quarreled with her family and was driven out of the house, and she’s still pursuing an official complaint. Now she’s renting a place to live outside, and people still come to her door every day to make noise. I’ve already sent people to investigate the specific situation. You said not to disturb their lives lightly, so before I receive your further instructions, the people I arranged don’t know how to handle it.” Du Gu Xiao explained the matter clearly in a few words, then closed her mouth. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to say a few more sentences to Jiang Wang. It was that as Jiang Wang’s status increased with each passing day, she dared not waste his time more and more. She was very afraid that Jiang Wang would find her annoying and discard her, an ordinary person, at any time.

She was actually happy that something had happened to Zhang Cui Hua in Bao Long County. Other people’s joys and sorrows were unrelated to her, she only knew that she had one more opportunity to actively contact her Old Master. Although this conversation was short, she had seriously rehearsed it several times.

“You did very well, I’ll handle the rest,” Jiang Wang nodded in approval, then said, “I want to go to Chi Tan in the next few days. That fief is lacking a manager, do you want to go?”

“Is the Old Master willing to take me?” Du Gu Xiao was both surprised and joyful.

Jiang Wang said, “That fief is bigger, and you can utilize your abilities more there.”

“I am very willing to go!”

“Then you hand over your work in Qing Yang Town and go to Lin Zi to wait for me. After I’m done with the matter in Bao Long County, we’ll set out.”

“Good!” Du Gu Xiao was full of spirit, her eyes sparkling.

Jiang Wang cut off the contact with Shen Yin Fa and sped up his journey.

At this time, the night sky had already fallen, and he was alone in the air. Along the way, powerful breaths constantly rose, disappearing after a brief contact. They allowed him to cross various counties and watched him go straight to Bao Long. And this night, the entire Bao Long County trembled. Great Qi’s Marquis Wu An had arrived!

Wa Yao Town’s pavilion chief, Liao Da Zhuang, was in a deep sleep when he was slapped awake. Five earthworm marks quickly swelled on his face. Lying beside him was his beautiful concubine, like a flower. His initial feeling was confusion, then anger. He was a Great Qi official, how could he suffer such an insult? Which thief was so bold? He angrily jumped up, reaching for his knife! Then he fell heavily to his knees.

Because the person who had woken him up with a slap was his superior, the Tian Nan City master Dong Bing Rong.

“City Master, your midnight visit, this is…” His face was wrinkled, almost crying out, his whole person falling into a kind of panicked and unknown fear. What had happened? He recounted everything he had done in his heart, one by one. Dong Bing Rong’s eyes were full of bloodshot veins, and he gritted his teeth, saying, “You incompetent meddling waste! Get Zhang Cui Hua and Chu Mo’s mother and son here, if you miss a single hair, I’ll take your life to fill it!”

Of course, he didn’t pity Liao Da Zhuang. Because he too had been slapped awake in the middle of the night by the county governor. Rushing from his soft bed in the city master’s residence to the desolate Wa Yao Town to clean up this waste’s mess, why would he show any good face? He wished he could just kill this fellow with a single knife!

“Yes, yes, yes.” Liao Da Zhuang, with a crying face, was about to get up, but his legs were actually soft. He clearly felt the killing intent from the City Master. Trembling several times, he finally stood steady, stumbled out, and loudly called for people.

The matter of Zhang Cui Hua was not complicated. Initially, Jiang Wang left Zhang Cui Hua with a bag of silver. The amount was not large, but it was enough for their mother and son to live on. Zhang Cui Hua continued to burn tiles every day as usual, hiding the money and keeping it all for Chu Mo to use for his studies. She didn’t tell anyone about this money, so it had always been calm. As an orphan and widow, grievances were inevitable, but she calmly accepted them. There were occasional misunderstandings between sisters-in-law, but they were minor matters that could be endured and passed.

Until the previous year, Zhang Cui Hua’s old father fell gravely ill, and the family truly had no money for treatment. The old man was just waiting to die. She then took out some silver, saying it was the money her husband Chu Hao Xue had left behind that year, for their son’s studies. Her old father’s illness improved and then stopped. But last year, Zhang Cui Hua’s younger brother, Zhang Hong, injured someone outside. If he didn’t compensate the money, they would take him to see an official. Zhang Cui Hua had no choice but to take out some more. At that time, her younger brother was of course grateful, but afterwards, the family began to murmur. Why did Zhang Cui Hua have so much money? Did she still have more? How much family property did Chu Hao Xue leave behind?

This year, Zhang Hong gambled money outside, lost it all, and then came to seek Zhang Cui Hua again. This time, Zhang Cui Hua refused to give any, saying she had no money. Zhang Hong actually resorted to force! He tied up Zhang Cui Hua, searched the house upside down, and forcefully dug out the silver her sister had hidden under the bricks, then locked the door from the outside and went to gamble again. It was only after Chu Mo returned from school that he helped Zhang Cui Hua untie herself. Zhang Cui Hua was not a weak person originally, but she usually endured for her child. This time, she could no longer bear it, so she directly sued her own younger brother to the yamen. She chose to sue officially to try and get the silver back as much as possible.

But in this poor place of Wa Yao Town, those who can set up a gambling house are not ordinary people. They waited until Zhang Hong lost all the silver and was driven out of the gambling house before allowing the yamen runners to arrest him. Zhang Hong did not return a single penny, and was locked in prison. This stirred up a hornet’s nest. The whole family took turns, reasoning with Zhang Cui Hua, moving her with emotion, persuading her with logic, and harassing her. Finally, her old father, whose body had never been well after his illness, sat up from his deathbed, picked up a hoe, and hit her out of the house. He swore that if she didn’t withdraw the lawsuit, she would never think of coming home again. Zhang Cui Hua then took Chu Mo and rented a house to live in, biting down on one thing: if Zhang Hong didn’t return the money, she would absolutely not withdraw the lawsuit. Zhang Hong had to sell his fields and house to make up for this shortfall, because this was her son’s money for studying!

After she moved out, Zhang Hong’s wife, Du Shi, brought several of her maternal family brothers every day to harass her. They said unpleasant things, such as how she had previously brought bad luck to her husband, now to her brothers, and would in the future bring bad luck to her son. What a thieving hussy, what a witch who betrayed her own brothers and ruined her family, an orphan and widow who had fallen out with her maternal family and had no one to support her. They didn’t resort to physical violence, and the yamen runners in town didn’t interfere much. Neighbors gathered every day to watch as if it were a play. This was not a rare story; the suffering of ordinary people happened every day. Even in such a powerful country as Qi, it was no exception. The Tai Huang flag high in the Purple Extreme did not shine on all the dark corners. The fact that Du Shi did not dare to resort to violence was already good proof of the operation of Qi Country’s law.

Endure. Ordinary people often said, just endure, and it will pass. This was also true for Zhang Cui Hua. The noise these past few days would pass sooner or later. Du Shi could block the door and curse for three or five days, but it was impossible to persist for three or five months. No matter how disgusting or foul-mouthed people were, they couldn’t curse for several months. Of course, those dirty curses would accompany her forever. As an orphan and widow, she could only endure. This was reality.

Until today, when Tian Nan City Master Dong Bing Rong arrived overnight and used a slap to awaken Wa Yao Town. Wa Yao Town was the poorest of the thirteen towns under Tian Nan City’s jurisdiction. To Wa Yao Town’s pavilion chief Liao Da Zhuang, Dong Bing Rong was an existence even greater than his own father. How could he dare not use his heart? Dong Bing Rong asked him to bring Zhang Cui Hua and Chu Mo’s mother and son, and he found out the process of the matter in the shortest possible time, causing a commotion overnight, bringing all the relevant people to the town hall. It could be said that he deeply grasped the essence of handling matters, “anticipating the superior’s thoughts.”

But when he had gathered the people and brought them to the town hall, he discovered that this matter was even more terrifying than he had imagined. Wa Yao Town’s town hall had already been taken over by the city guard army, surrounded by three layers inside and out. The yamen runners under his command, who were usually fierce and intimidating, were disarmed on the spot, their legs trembling. Only he could enter the town hall to report. The town hall, which was more than familiar to him, was like a giant beast crouching in the darkness. Those armored soldiers, one by one, had eyes as cold as knife light. And in the main hall, Tian Nan City Master Dong Bing Rong was actually waiting by the hall door like a small servant. He didn’t even have a seat!

Trembling, he walked inside again, thus seeing the Bao Long County Governor Hou Yuan Wei, whom he had had the fortune to see from afar once. The County Governor was seated. But he was only on the edge of his seat, accompanying in a lower position like in a horse stance. Who was the person sitting in the upper seat? He didn’t dare to lift his head to look anymore!