Liu Xianyang began to teach Chen Ping’an his ancestral “Dream Roaming” sword technique, unconcerned by Xie Gou’s presence. Chen Ping’an had a multitude of questions, and Liu Xianyang answered them all, holding nothing back. Xie Gou didn’t interrupt their discourse, instead sitting to the side, yawning, lying down with crossed legs cracking melon seeds, then turning sideways to prop his head on his hand. Still bored, he lay prone on the ground, flapping his sleeves like a swimming duck.

His Mountain Lord often wore a furrowed brow, occasionally easing it slightly, or bowing his head in deep thought. Gradually, one could see purple energy rising from his facial orifices, while clouds swirled around his ears, manifesting as miniature immortal palaces. True Qi billowed from his nostrils like hanging long snakes, or he would shake his sleeves, perform finger calculations, and in an instant, auspicious light illuminated the entire room. Ripples spread around the futon like water patterns, or he would bring two fingers together, pointing and gesturing, a foot of extremely condensed sword light circulating endlessly… Xie Gou wanted to speak several times but held back, filled with emotion. Only now did he realize how arduous cultivation truly was.

Time passed unnoticed. The girl in the sable hat kept track of the time; it was time for a midnight snack. She glanced at Liu Xianyang, who gently shook his head and waved his hand. Xie Gou didn’t forget to cup his hands in thanks, having listened in on someone else’s teaching. Liu Xianyang merely nodded, not taking it to heart.

Xie Gou tiptoed out of the room and stretched. He used the Shrinking the Ground technique, taking a single step to arrive at the Spirit Gathering Peak. He happened to see a group of people, toothpicks in their mouths, strolling over together. The girl in the sable hat stood with hands on her hips, indignant. “Zhong Diyi, Grandmaster Wen, how shameless can you all be?” When they entered the courtyard and sat down at the table, they ate like starving ghosts, their chopsticks flying. Only Zhu Lian lay in the rattan chair, fanning himself with a palm fan. After eating their fill and drinking their fill, Xie Gou twirled a toothpick to pick his teeth and walked out of the courtyard gate with the others. He let out a loud burp and complained that Zhong Diyi’s ordering of the dishes today was subpar. Zhong Qian humbly accepted the criticism, toothpick in his mouth, and cupped his fists while swaying, saying he must know shame and then be brave.

Xie Gou gave it some thought and then led him to a relatively quiet private residence to find that Jiang She. Zhong Qian was initially reluctant, saying he wanted to go back to sleep and had to get up early tomorrow for punctual breakfast. Xie Gou just told him to follow, saying he was talking too much nonsense and being effeminate. “Your Golden Body Realm physique is too shoddy.”

Following the girl in the sable hat along the way, Zhong Qian felt as though he were in a fog, not knowing what realm the martial expert surnamed Jiang, mentioned by Second Seat Xie, was in. He heard that he was a relative of Pei Qian’s family who was visiting, and he guessed he was in the Far Roaming Realm, surely not the Peak Realm? Zhong Qian was the number one martial artist in the Lotus Root Blessed Land after all and knew the weight of a Peak Realm Grandmaster. It was just that it didn’t seem like much at his own Fallen Peak. Mountain Lord Chen, Pei Qian, Old Cook, Brother Da Feng… Brother Wen truly endured hardships; he heard that before descending the mountain, he had the opportunity to enter the Peak Realm.

Zhong Qian finally met Jiang She, who was enjoying the cool air in the courtyard. He was burly and imposing. In his hometown, when he encountered such a person, he would walk around him. Jiang She merely glanced sideways at Zhong Qian, guessing Xie Gou’s intentions, and simply dropped a sentence, saying he didn’t teach trash. Zhong Qian, however, genuinely didn’t care and wore a playful smile, not getting angry at all. “Do I, being trash, need a senior like you to remind me? You’re being too polite.”

Xie Gou was about to let it go, knowing that you can’t force a twisted melon to be sweet, but he happened to let out a loud burp at just the right time, and then directly said to Wuyan, “Listen, is that a human thing to say?”

Wuyan held a silk fan and wore a gentle expression, advising, “Just think of it as practice.”

Jiang She frowned, still somewhat unwilling.

Xie Gou put his hand over his mouth and gave Zhong Qian a reassurance, “Don’t be scared of him. He’s a defeated foe of our Mountain Lord, and he lost miserably. He can’t use profound Dao techniques anymore, and his martial arts have fallen a major realm.”

Zhong Qian nodded, having a general idea now. He must be a cultivator and a Peak Realm martial artist.

Wuyan narrowed his eyes and smiled.

Jiang She let out a scoff and slowly stood up.

By instinct alone, Zhong Qian retreated again and again, but it wasn’t the kind of retreat to flee, but rather he instantly struck a boxing stance, condensed fist intent, strengthened fist will, and ignited a killing intent! It was like flowing clouds and running water, done in one breath. In the pugilistic world of his hometown, Zhong Qian never actively caused trouble, but if someone came to provoke him, it was simple: he would kill them.

Jiang She let out a surprised “Eh?” “I underestimated you. But if your skill stops here, there’s no need to think too highly of you.” Jiang She became a little more interested, rubbing his wrists. “Nameless nobody, allow me to tell you your name first. Then I’ll make you understand one thing: how is it that you are not just a thousand or two thousand miles away from the true meaning of the Golden Body Realm?”

Zhong Qian twitched the corner of his mouth, not daring to be careless in the slightest. “Martial artist of the Lotus Root Blessed Land, your Grandpa Zhong is here…”

Xie Gou sat next to Wuyan, clicking his tongue in wonder. One cannot judge a book by its cover. Our Zhong Diyi, who usually doesn’t show off, with his ‘praising me is scolding me, scolding me is praising me’ mindset, yet when he gets into a fight with someone, his mouth becomes foul.

Zhong Qian’s vision suddenly blurred, and his entire body was sent flying, his body instantly bending like a shrimp. His back hit an invisible wall, and a string of firecracker-like sounds erupted from his bones. His eyes instantly filled with bloodshot veins, and his head tilted, causing blood to drip from his ear canals onto the ground. Zhong Qian let out a muffled groan, his Adam’s apple twitching, and he swallowed a large mouthful of clotted blood along with… tonight’s midnight snack back into his stomach. He couldn’t waste it; he had earned it with his face.

Jiang She stood where Zhong Qian had been standing earlier, one hand behind his back, and beckoned with the other hand to the Golden Body Realm martial artist who was half-kneeling on the ground. “Come.”

The ground shook, raising a cloud of dust. Zhong Qian’s figure was as fast as a wisp of green smoke, changing direction several times, yet he was still struck on the forehead by Jiang She’s raised hand, causing Zhong Qian to instantly kneel on the ground. It was as if he had been struck directly on the forehead by a bolt of lightning, buzzing and ringing, his face covered in blood and dirt. Zhong Qian used all his strength, struggling to raise his hands, clench his fists, and shake them a few times. “No more, no more.”

Jiang She said with an angry laugh, “Grandpa Zhong, is it? Your old self only had one chopstickful of an appetizer and you’re telling me you’re full?!”

Zhong Qian vomited a large mouthful of blood and fell forward, having to support himself with his hands on the ground. He shook his head, as if he had drunk several pounds of fake wine.

Jiang She moved to avoid him and asked doubtfully, “How did you become the number one person in the blessed land? Are you the biological son of the Bixiao Cave Lord?”

Wuyan quickly coughed. Don’t you know what kind of temper that Daoist friend Bixiao from Luobao Beach has?

Xie Gou silently noted it down. If he accidentally said something that angered Daoist friend Bixiao in the future, he would use Jiang She’s words to deflect the disaster.

Zhong Qian flipped over and lay on his back, reaching out to wipe away the bloodstains. He felt as if he were falling apart and said weakly, “Grandpa Zhong is not as skilled as others, so I admit defeat…” Zhong Qian used a donkey roll with lightning speed, and a foot appeared where his head had been just a moment ago, leaving a pit in the ground.

Zhong Qian and the girl in the sable hat called for reinforcements. “Second Seat Xie, it was just that the ordering of the dishes was subpar tonight. How much enmity and hatred is there? It’s not enough to kill me, is it?!”

Xie Gou put his hand on his face and said helplessly, “That’s how it is. Anyway, I’ve done my best. It’s your own fault for not seizing the opportunity. Don’t blame me for not being righteous in the future.”

Zhong Qian sat on the ground, his hands clenched into fists and resting on his knees, trying to raise a breath of pure True Qi that was scattered like a thousand threads, but he couldn’t.

Jiang She gently stomped his foot, and Zhong Qian floated in the air. Jiang She came beside him, grabbed his shoulder, and gently shook him, causing another series of bone vibrations. This technique of Jiang She was like a snake catcher from the mountain grabbing a snake at its vital point and then suddenly shaking it, making the snake obedient. Zhong Qian went limp on the ground but his eyes widened. Grandpa Zhong, how do I feel like my blood is flowing freely and I’m refreshed?

Jiang She said with a chuckle, “Grandpa Zhong, enjoying your blessings lying on the ground?”

Zhong Qian smiled brightly, cupped his fists in thanks, and said, “Zhong Qian thanks senior for the sparring.”

Jiang She asked, “Your Mountain Lord is a great and famous martial arts grandmaster. How does my boxing compare to his?”

Zhong Qian said, “Junior is short-sighted and has a low realm. I think each has its own strengths.”

Jiang She waved his hand.

Zhong Qian limped away with a grimace.

Not long after, an old man appeared at the door. Xie Gou immediately smiled, “Great Hero Xu!”

Jiang She glanced at his wife, who went to get wine.

Xu Yuanxia smiled and explained, “I couldn’t sleep, so I decided to take a walk and enjoy the moon, and I accidentally walked over here. What’s going on? There was quite a commotion.” Since being kidnapped here, Xu Yuanxia had been temporarily staying in the mountains.

Green mountains and clear waters, black words on white paper, always possessing the art of preserving youth. I don’t know how many heroes from ancient times who couldn’t stand to hear the word ‘twilight’ or beauties who couldn’t bear to see a single white hair were envious. Jiang She and Xu Yuanxia, two men separated by over ten thousand years in age, were such kindred spirits upon meeting, without any rhyme or reason.

With Zhu Lian, because Jiang She knew his origins, even though he was pleasing to the eye, he still held back somewhat when conversing. Only with this Xu Yuanxia, who claimed to have been a young frontier soldier, traveled the pugilistic world in his prime, returned to his hometown to open a martial arts school in his old age, and had been compiling a travelogue of mountains and rivers in recent years, did Jiang She feel a great affinity and get along very well.

Jiang She truly let down all his defenses with this “old man,” but Wuyan didn’t find it surprising. Whether it was their personalities and tempers, or their rambling idle chat, or Xu Yuanxia’s life experiences, they were all truly to Jiang She’s liking!

Jiang She said with a laugh, “How heroic Brother Xu was back then, leaving the battlefield alive, with a long beard and saber, alone, slaying demons and monsters, how unrestrained and free he was. It’s one thing to be compatible with the young Daoist he met by chance in the pugilistic world, but why did he recognize such a younger brother as Chen Ping’an back then? Brother Xu humbled himself.”

Xu Yuanxia burst into laughter. “Who says it’s not true?”

Quietly arriving from the Fuyao Foot Dao場, Chen Ping’an stopped outside the residence for a moment and did not go in. Let the two old veterans talk more about the pugilistic world.

At Fuyao Foot, even with Liu Xianyang personally teaching him swordsmanship, his progress was still slow. First, this sword technique has two thresholds, one hidden and one visible. The obvious one, of course, requires extremely high comprehension and a clear sword heart that is compatible with it. The hidden one, however, is a strange requirement: the sword cultivator must either be completely dreamless, or the sword cultivator must dream a lot and be able to remember the dreams while awake and asleep. It was already very difficult for Chen Ping’an to cross the threshold and learn swordsmanship before.

Furthermore, “thanks to” the chaotic Qi phenomenon of his human body and heaven and earth, practicing this sword technique was truly agonizing for Chen Ping’an. Coupled with Xie Gou’s presence as a contrast, Chen Ping’an appeared particularly foolish and of very ordinary aptitude.

He came to the bamboo building and looked at the bright moonlight by the cliff, looking at Qidun Mountain and the Red Candle Town at the confluence of the three rivers, illuminated by lights.

During the day at the yamen, he looked through the Ministry of Rites’ mountain and river dossiers. Marquis Changchun Yang Hua was extremely pragmatic, and the Marquis of Great Canal Mansion did not accept any congratulations. In recent years, she had personally inspected the prefectures and counties under her jurisdiction, without any retinue or carriages, without greeting the local mountain and river officials, and her footsteps covered thousands of counties.

In contrast, Marquis Lingli Cao Yong acted according to official rules, with seasoned methods and diligent administration, which was another kind of atmosphere. Chen Ping’an also checked the newly appointed Qian Tangchang Cen Wenqian and the Iron Talisman River God Bai Deng near his home.

In addition, he personally approved the Ministry of Rites’ recommendation to allow the Jade Liquid River God Li Qingzhu to be transferred to the Mud Snake River in Weizhou to build a shrine and sculpt a statue. At the same time, the Mud Snake River God Su Rui was exchanged with him and went to the Jade Liquid River to take office.

Chen Ping’an called Xie Gou and said he was going out for a trip to see the scenery along the Great Canal and to verify the effect of the imitation Three Mountain Talismans. Xie Gou readily agreed, and his mountain and river travelogue would add another touch of color!

He repeatedly sacrificed the imitation Three Mountain Talismans, whose only drawback was that they couldn’t shrink the ground far enough. He stopped briefly in the mountains and hurried towards the Central岳 region. The East and West Great Canals come from the mountains in the north and south.

Han Prefecture of Dali Dynasty, Qiu State Capital. At a breakfast stall near the imperial road, a dull young man and a freckled girl put their gold, silver, and fine belongings into a satchel. They still had to wait for the city gate to open, so they sat down here first to have a meal. They ordered two bowls of cheap and delicious wontons, with large fillings and thin skins, and also seaweed, dried shrimp, and spiced dried tofu cut into strips. In the bamboo tube filled with chopsticks in the center of the table, there were various kinds of sesame oil and sauce dishes.

The young man took out a pair of chopsticks, habitually tapped them on the table first, and then lowered his head to eat. The girl turned sideways, her back to the vendor, and then took a handkerchief from her sleeve to wipe the chopsticks a few times before eating. She picked up a wonton and put it in her mouth, narrowing her eyes and chewing carefully. Delicious.

The young man glanced at her. Roadside wontons for three wen a bowl, yet you eat them with the air of a young lady from a wealthy family. Her figure was excellent, like a swaying willow, a fifteen-year-old girl’s waist. It was a pity that her face was not pretty.

The vendor brought another bowl of steaming hot wontons to the new guests at the next table and said with a smile in fluent Dali official language, “Please enjoy,” and then continued to be busy.

The girl said softly, “Brother, we were living well here. Why are we leaving suddenly? I just planted some flowers and trees in the courtyard. It cost several taels of silver, and I can’t take them with me.” They were both wearing the face skins commonly used by martial artists and called each other brother and sister when traveling. A few years ago, they settled here and opened a small rice shop.

The young man with a black jade hairpin in his hair just chewed on the wontons. The girl knew that he was always cautious, so she asked telepathically, “Didn’t you say Qiu State is quite good and that you wanted to find an opportunity to establish a sect here? I guess maybe some immortal master saw through my face skin to my true appearance? Brother, I’m sorry for making you move again.”

The young man looked displeased and said impatiently, “How many times have I told you? I don’t care about your life or death. I’m just worried that abandoning you casually will anger that temperamental Daoist. My hope for the Great Dao will be gone in this life, and I can only be this precarious mountain and marsh rogue cultivator, constantly rolling in the mud.”

He always spoke frankly, and traveling together for these years, they got along quite well. For example, those few sentences, “I like beautiful women, but I’m not a woman, so don’t worry, even if you take off your clothes, I won’t be that flower thief.” “When I find that person and become his disciple, with a master-disciple relationship, we’ll go our separate ways, and I won’t want to be burdened by you anymore.” “You’re truly a vixen, causing trouble wherever you go.”

Seeing her pitiful appearance as if she were about to cry, the young cultivator became even more annoyed and used his chopsticks to break the wonton in half. The girl then obediently became silent. On the young man’s hairpin, several poems from the “Flower Collection” were engraved in tiny script, which was both a personal preference and a greeting to qi refiners and martial artists.

The young man explained irritably, “Qiu State is about to be in chaos.”

The girl said, “Ah, who dares to trouble Qiu State now? It’s a single-character vassal state. Don’t the storytellers in the capital’s teahouses say how strict General Han Prefecture, stationed at Muyu Gully, is in managing his army, and how brave and skilled he was on the battlefield at the secondary capital of Dali?”

The young man sneered, “How long has it been since you went to a teahouse or theater? I’ll give you half a day to go listen again?” You spend all day fussing with those flowers and plants, looking at those poorly printed books of scholars and beauties, and when you tie on an apron in the kitchen, the chopping board is like sitting in a small world, and you don’t care about anything else.

The girl was a little wronged, wasn’t she afraid of causing him trouble? When she learned that he had plans to establish a sect, she became even less dare to go out casually and gather in crowded places. But the girl looked around, and it didn’t look like a time of turmoil. Was it some high-ranking official in a mansion in the capital, or someone leading troops outside, bullying the orphaned and widowed Han family, trying to usurp the throne?

But nowadays, aren’t those in power in the court the relatives and honored nobles who occupy important positions in the government? If she remembered correctly, the people in charge of official hats and money bags in Qiu State, and even those in charge of knives in the capital and at the border, were all of the same surname as the Empress Dowager. She once saw the pomp and ceremony of their outings, and they didn’t care at all about what was considered exceeding their authority. Fortunately, their arrogance was only on their faces, in their eyes, and in their extravagant decorations. She had never heard of any acts of disregard for human life.

The girl looked towards the city gate, where the sides of the road were crowded with stalls and carts, selling everything. There were peddlers walking on the road, looking for empty spots, carrying huge loads on their shoulders, like small mountains, filled with all sorts of miscellaneous goods, colorful paper butterflies, bamboo dragonflies, and rattles. When it got light, it would be even more beautiful. Hey, they were all tempting the children’s eyes and then tricking the money out of the pockets of women and men.

There were old men squatting by the roadside, their hands in their sleeves, chatting with the vendors who got up early to make a living, talking about everything under the sun. In the water bucket at their feet, a few live fish occasionally thrashed, splashing water. Why was it about to be in chaos?

She asked, “Are we going to Rouge County in Caiyi State?”

The young man’s eyes were distant, and he shook his head. “What’s there to go there for? There’s nothing I’m thinking of.” For all these years, they had been depending on each other, truly feeling like siblings who had left their hometown.

During their travels south of the Great Canal, it was probably truly the fault of beautiful women. Several incidents along the way were caused by her. The recorded cultivators there, and some rogue cultivators, the former acted even more dishonestly, while the latter at most couldn’t control their mouths and said a few flirtatious words, but the former couldn’t control their hands and robbed! If they couldn’t rob, they would contact the local officials and use underhanded methods. They had no choice but to go north.

However, they stopped when they reached Han Prefecture, which was relatively close to the Great Canal, and the world became much more stable, so he had the idea of finding a Dao场 and opening a cave dwelling here. Their travel documents and household registration were all genuine, and their backgrounds were clean and could withstand scrutiny, otherwise, they wouldn’t have been able to come here.

At the wonton stall, two guests with relaxed demeanor arrived, a middle-aged literati and a girl in a sable hat.

An emergency meeting ended, and the young Empress Dowager returned to the palace. A palace maid held a lamp in front of her, and behind her, a servant girl carried the long train of her dress. If not for her attire, who could imagine that this beautiful young woman was the most powerful person in Qiu State? She had a sudden whim to go to the hot spring. After bathing, she revealed a luster like mutton-fat jade. She walked out of the steamy pool and, with the help of a palace maid, put on a thin, cicada-wing-like silk robe, her curves fully revealed. She appeared to have a gloomy expression, but in reality, she was in an exceptionally pleasant mood. She went to the bed and lay down. The palace maid immediately took down the curtain, revealing a hazy scene, like a white snake twisting. The woman gently kneaded herself, emitting a faint sound as thin as mosquitoes, and a tall palace maid standing by the bed had a flushed face. Because she had practiced martial arts since childhood and was proficient in swords and bows, she was completely different from ordinary weak palace maids. She knew that it would soon be her turn to go in and serve the Empress Dowager.

The woman’s eyes were sharp, then misty and hazy. While gently calling out her lover’s name, she thought to herself, “Go to hell, all of you. Be buried with that old pervert. That ugly skin, dry and wrinkled like tree bark, the stench of wine and greasy food, disgusting. Those two bastards, why are they so unlucky to resemble him so much?”

Liu Lang said he would take her away and fly high, to be a loving couple forever, to the south, his hometown, to find a beautiful place with green mountains and clear waters, and open a separate estate… He also said that even when he reached that hidden Dragon and Crouching Tiger secondary capital of Dali, he would still have his own way to escape.

The fourteen-year-old young Emperor, with a delicate face twisted and ferocious, held a golden horse whip and whipped a palace maid who had just been transferred from the prince’s mansion until she was bloody and bruised, lying on the ground dying. The young man threw the whip stained with blood, feeling somewhat bored. She really didn’t make a sound. He had threatened her earlier that if she dared to make a sound, he would kill her former master.

Haha, good brother, you still want to leave the capital and be enfeoffed as a prince? When you go to the Dali capital this time, do you really think I don’t know your little scheme?

A eunuch took small steps and quickly brought a basin of water. The young man washed his hands, raised his hand, and a palace maid immediately took a silk cloth to wipe it clean.

An instructing嬷嬷 from the Empress Dowager’s side came to convey an imperial decree by word of mouth. “The Empress Dowager orders His Majesty not to fool around anymore.”

The young man nodded. The old woman was like a ghost, walking without a sound, but the Emperor’s expression was gentle, and he said with a smile, “Thank you, Hong 嬷嬷, for the message.” As the suzerain state, the Dali Dynasty did not stipulate that vassal rulers could not be called Emperor.

In the deep courtyard of the Prime Minister’s mansion, the Protective Nation True Person, who had been friendly with him for generations, was staying here on imperial orders to discuss matters in the capital this time. The Protective Nation True Person only brought one direct disciple this time, who was currently in secret consultation with the current Prime Minister and a group of high-ranking young officials.

A young official from the former palace was worried and tentatively asked, “Prime Minister, Old True Person, is it true that the Qiu State border army is not throwing eggs at a rock? Will we be implicated by that crazy woman? The national letter issued by Dali actually directly defined us as rebels. It is said that a list will be announced soon, and the list is very long, with several hundred people. It will immediately let everyone in Qiu State, both in the court and among the common people, know that anyone on the list will be treated as rebellious officials and traitors. They must all go to the Han Prefecture General’s residence to surrender within three days, otherwise…”

The Prime Minister stroked his beard and smiled. “She is not mad. Her paramour, Liu Wenjin, has even greater ambitions.” Over the years, various elegant gatherings, societies, and lectures by academies in the court and amongst the common people of Qiu State, as well as the storytellers who wandered the streets and alleys, had been secretly propagating the tyrannical acts of the Dali border army. During that time, many inspiring words emerged, such as the Han family of Qiu State had raised scholars for five hundred years, we scholars speak out for justice, the border martial artists turn the tide, this is the decisive moment…

The Old True Person smiled. “Otherwise? Kill them all? If there are three or four hundred people, it involves at least a hundred families. How about the in-laws of these hundred families, plus the relationships between exam supervisors and students in the officialdom? Who gets killed? A large number of hearts are killed.”

“Will that Dali border army really dare to kill all sixty thousand border troops, and then kill all the way to the capital, and finally kill us all? Will the Prime Minister be killed or not? Will all the civil and military officials and nobles be killed or not? Will His Majesty the Emperor be killed or not? Will the Empress Dowager be killed or not? How many living people will be left on the streets on both sides of the imperial road?”

“If so, it can be considered the skill of the Dali Song family. Thirty-odd vassal states are all watching. Isn’t half of Bottle Gourd Continent south of the Great Canal also watching?”

The Prime Minister looked embarrassed. It doesn’t matter if the border war is brutal; since ancient times, where is there a war without casualties? As Liu Wenjin from the Ministry of Rites said, when many people die outside the capital, Qiu State’s civil and military officials will have an extra path to promotion, and the Dali barbarians will be willing to reduce taxes.

The master and disciple returned to their residence, and the disciple said angrily, “Those sons of bitches from Dali deliberately set the taxes so high, but they set those complicated rules extending downwards in stone. The officials can’t get any benefits, which has caused our mountain’s income to decrease significantly.”

The Old True Person smiled. “That Dali Song family is originally from the uncivilized barbarians in the northernmost part of Bottle Gourd Continent. They are most fond of indiscriminate killing and are accustomed to using knives. They have destroyed how many dynasties and ruined how many civilized orthodoxies.”

After entering the room and closing the door, the disciple said telepathically, “Master, what if the Dali Dynasty doesn’t dare to kill the large number of officials and literati below the mountain and specifically takes their anger out on us cultivators on the mountain? What should we do?”

The Old True Person sneered. “Master has already communicated with a real power martial general in Han Prefecture and will cooperate with Qiu State in putting on a show. If that General Han Prefecture is the supreme emperor of Qiu State, then he is in charge of the Dali military affairs in Qiu State, and he can also be considered half an emperor. The Prime Minister of Qiu State, Liu Wenjin from the Ministry of Rites, is nothing compared to him.”

The disciple sincerely praised, “Master is far-sighted and has calculated everything without missing a single detail. The offering plaque issued by the Dali Ministry of Justice is absolutely certain.”

The Old True Person was pleased with himself and stroked his beard with a smile. “Stop flattering and fawning. But then again, with that trouble-free plaque, it will indeed be very different.”

However, he was thinking to himself that it was a pity that the local officials in Dali had many rules and that the capital and secondary capital above were both strictly inspected. Otherwise, back in Bottle Gourd Continent a few decades ago, once that young Empress Dowager lost power, she should have come here to serve him in bed. For cultivators who had entered the Middle Five Realms, sexual pleasure was truly insignificant compared to cultivating vitality, energy, and spirit. But an Empress Dowager who had been ruling from behind the curtain for many years was a beautiful woman in her early thirties and well-maintained. It wouldn’t be bad to enjoy her for a while.

The disciple hesitated and said, “Master…”

The Old True Person smiled. “Good disciple, is there anything else you want to say?”

The disciple smiled and said, “Nothing, I just have a few good words that might be suspected of flattering and fawning, which would displease Master, so it’s better not to say them.” After leaving the room and gently closing the door, his eyes were dark and unclear.

Before dawn, Wei Bo originally wanted to send Mountain Lord Chen to the capital’s official residence to report for duty, but he found that Chen Ping’an was not on the mountain. Wei Bo was too embarrassed to send a direct letter to Yunxia Mountain urging the Green Cypress Peak to send the cloud root stone and cloud mist incense to Fallen Peak. He could only report to the Dali Ministry of Rites and then greet Jin Qing of the Central岳, saying that he needed to borrow a path to cross the border to discuss something with Yunxia Mountain. Jin Qing was in a bad mood recently, so he went to Yunxia Mountain with Wei Bo, treating it as a distraction.

They didn’t have anything important to do, but the joint visit of two great mountain gods truly surprised Yunxia Mountain. At dawn, the new Mountain Lord, Marquis Huang Zhong, his wife Wu Yuanyi, and a group of highly respected ancestors, including Cai Jinjian, the peak master of Green Cypress Peak, all rushed to the mountain gate to respectfully welcome the arrival of the two divine lords.

At the Grand Preceptor’s residence, the two-courtyard yamen and various rooms were already as bright as day. Officials who did not need to attend the early court began to handle matters as usual, in an orderly manner. In a single room in a side building, Rong Yu was still wearing the same clothes as yesterday, but today Fu Qing had changed into an indigo shirt and apricot-yellow skirt.

Since ancient times, beautiful women have been intoxicatingly mellow wine, enticing people to drink greedily.

Rong Yu teased, “Today you change your dress, tomorrow you’ll put on light makeup, lighter and lighter, and the day after tomorrow you can apply nail polish. Tsk, it’s all calculation. If you ask me, you can casually pick a small vassal state and be a concubine who competes for favor with the empress, causing the king to never attend court again, which is more than enough.”

Fu Qing was not ashamed or angry, and pretended not to hear.

Rong Yu raised a hand and shook it, seemingly lamenting, “We practice swordsmanship and martial arts, ride horses and draw bows, and our hands are full of calluses. Our buttocks are not white and tender either. When our husbands see us without our clothes in the future, it will be terribly worrying.”

Fu Qing said angrily, “You are more glib than a pervert!”

After a moment of silence, Fu Qing looked at the opposite room and said, “That surnamed Yu, what was he thinking? Why did he take such a risk?” Yesterday, she personally presided over an interrogation, and without even using torture, he confessed everything, without any backbone at all.

Rong Yu inexplicably thought of an old matter. Earlier, Grand Preceptor Cui had circled a sentence in the dossier with a vermilion brush. “You didn’t realize your mistake, you just realized you were going to die.” Fu Qing arrived a little later, so she didn’t see this sentence.

Rong Yu said indifferently, “Big ambitions but little talent, and lacking patience, what else can he do? For years he has been single-mindedly staring at the position of a certain division official in the Ministry of Rites, envious for a long time. With Grand Preceptor Cui not here, his thoughts have become restless, feeling that it’s an opportunity not to be missed and won’t come again. Even if he knows that wealth will be lost in danger, he still wants to try. How many historical figures achieved success with a burst of ferocity, and from then on, the strong had strong luck and rose to prominence? Since they all succeeded and left their names in history, why shouldn’t he?”

Fu Qing shook her head, not agreeing.

Rong Yu smiled. “It’s also my fault, I’m too beautiful. As for you, your foundation is even better, but who told you to wear a beautiful face with a perpetual frown? It’s too cold and frightening, like you’ll gouge out anyone’s eyes who dares to look at you. Unlike me, who is gentle and weak, with a sash tied, I’m also well-endowed. Coupled with my dual identity as the orphan of the number one military merit general below the巡狩使 and the maid of Grand Preceptor Cui, did that give him greedy intentions and amorous feelings? He’s in his early thirties, an age where he can’t control his lower impulses. It’s inevitable that he would have wild fantasies. Can it be considered human nature?”

Fu Qing said calmly, “You’ve read so many books for nothing. There are two things that kill without a blade: slander and lust.”

Rong Yu smiled and dismissed it. The more they dealt with dossiers and files, the more they would find the inside story of the officialdom to be much more exciting than the stories in books.

Fu Qing asked, “Grand Preceptor Cui did many, many things, but there are also many problems that seem to have been deliberately left behind. Is it necessary, or is it intentional?”

Rong Yu put away her hand and reminded Fu Qing seriously, “Don’t think about anything that you shouldn’t.”

Fu Qing nodded.

Rong Yu smiled. “I’m speaking in double entendre.”

Fu Qing was ashamed and angry, reaching out to hit the outspoken fellow. Rong Yu said with a giggle, “Why seek far and wide, why seek small when you can have large?”

After they finished roughhousing, Rong Yu looked at the sky outside and found it a little strange. Why hadn’t the Grand Preceptor come yet? Oh right, the Grand Preceptor had to attend the small morning court first and discuss the candidate for the new Minister of Personnel of Dali with His Majesty.

It was daybreak.