Chapter 175 – Crisis of Identity Exposure

“Accompany you?” Xu Qi Min said, “Of course this won’t work, if it’s just you, I can make do with what I have, with the addition of the wicked aunt that won’t work.

“I know it’s outrageous, and big brother has to be on duty at the Yamen tomorrow, but Mother must have me come and persuade big brother to stand guard at the door.”

Xu Lingyue is definitely black when she dissects it, and she herself is too scared to sleep, but dumps the pot on her mother.

Guard at the door …. The second uncle a pussy must be in the teaching department to have a good time, but want me to guard the door for his wife and daughter …. Xu Qi’an sighed and helplessly said, “Good.”

He was dressed and had brought his long black and gold sword with him to stabilize his aunt and sister.

“I’ll sit outside, you guys hurry up and go to sleep.” Xu Qi’an snapped his fingers at the door of the house.

“Okay, thanks big brother.”

“Thanks, Oro.”

The voices of my sister and Green E came from the house, soft and moist. Auntie was stubborn and didn’t open her mouth.

Xu Qi’an sat cross-legged, moving his qi while visualizing in his mind, and after a few moments, the sound of his aunt’s soft speech came to his ears:

“Will it float in through the window, what if Ning Yan falls asleep.”

“…Mother don’t talk nonsense, big brother carries a sword.”

Once the aunt heard that her nephew was guarding the outside with a knife, she felt a little more relieved.

There were no words in the room for a long time, only the sound of snoring came out, and that was Xu Suoyin’s. One could brainstorm that she was lying on all fours on the bed, her mouth open as she huffed and puffed soundly.

After a while, the aunt called out, “Ning Banquet?”

Xu Qi’an didn’t have the heart to say, “I’m here.”

So he coughed every so often, and the women of the house were not afraid when they heard his magnetic cough.

The aunt and sister are justifiably scared because the mansion has been haunted for real, not just a fanciful story.

In time, this fear will naturally fade away.

After a few more moments, the aunt’s complaining voice came, “Ling Yue, don’t stick so close to Mother, it’s weirdly hot.”

“Mother~” Xu Ling Yue’s aggrieved and petulant tone.

Auntie in the end is heartbroken for her daughter, did not speak again, after a moment, suddenly lowered her voice: “Ling Yue, you have indeed grown up, to the age of marriage”

Xu Qi’an’s ears twitched as he heard these words, and at first he didn’t think anything of it, but his aunt’s tone was odd, and as he listened, he heard his sister blushingly say, “Mother, I still want to stay by your side more.”

“By the time Mother was your age, she was already married to your father. Girls from other families, even if they didn’t marry, were already betrothed, and then look at you?” Auntie said, lamenting:

“I’m just afraid you’ll stay up until you’re a big girl and can’t get married even if you want to.”

Xu Lingyue was silent.

……….. It’s actually okay, seventeen was still in high school in my time, of course, JKs changing boyfriends is another matter. The corner of Xu Qi’an’s mouth quirked up, and she almost laughed out loud at her own tirade, feeling that guarding the gate wasn’t too boring.

The aunt added, “You live next door to Da Lang, remember to be more careful when bathing, martial artists have smart ears, so remember to be on guard.”

“Mother, are you saying that big brother will peek at my bath?” In the darkness, Xu Lingyue’s eyes shone.

I won’t, I don’t, don’t accuse me ….. I washed with Fuxiang in the Education Department, so I don’t need to peek …. Xu Qi An feels that his aunt is as vicious as ever, and now that she can t dislike him head on, she is secretly playing bad tricks and divorcing the innocent brother and sister love between him and Ling Yue.

“Oro won’t peek, so you’re not guarding anything?” The aunt spat at her daughter, then craned her head in the direction of the door to the room, listening to her nephew’s coughs that rang out from time to time, and continuing to speak reassuringly.

…..

Xu Qi’an hadn’t slept all night, exhaling qi and hammering his Yuan Shen, and he was still in high spirits after dawn broke.

When eating breakfast, Xu Pingzhi came back, all dressed in military attire, no green oranges were mentioned in his hands, so Xu Qi’an believed that his second uncle was really on duty last night, rather than going to the Department of Education.

“Yesterday Suzume ran out at night and slept by the well ….” Auntie told Second Uncle what happened last night, “Luckily there’s still Ning Banquet in the mansion, if he wasn’t there too, it would really be haunted…”

Speaking of which, the timid aunt got scared again, purely scaring herself.

Uncle Xu nodded toward his nephew and asked, “What is Suzume doing sleeping by the well in the middle of the night?”

Xu Qi’an said, “It’s all because Auntie lied to her and said that ghosts are better than anything when they’re put in oil and fried. She craved it.”

“Oh.” Uncle Xu nodded, thinking that this was something his youngest daughter would do, nothing to be surprised about.

Living in the new house made it possible to get up later in the morning, and it was only half an hour’s ride away, which was very convenient.

When Xu Qi’an arrived at the Yamen, he went to Li Yuchun’s Chunfeng Hall as usual to confirm that he had not been assigned a task today, and then took Song Tingfeng and Zhu Guangxiao out to patrol the streets.

In the city, the people streamed in endlessly, the cargo men traveled the streets and alleyways, and the stores were full of customers. The inner city is far more prosperous than the outer city.

Xu Qi’an planned to take Song Tingfeng and Zhu Guangxiao on another trip to the Sanatorium, but the two little old brothers were dead set against going.

He then went alone, met with No. 6 Hengyuan as well as the “black dog”, and learned that the poor child’s physical condition improved, Xu Qi’an sighed in relief, vaguely a kind of relief to remove a big stone in his heart.

“Lord Xu, the poor monk has one thing to ask.” Hengyuan folded his arms and said.

“Please speak, Master.” Xu Qi’an smiled in a rather relaxed mood.

“When Lord Xu first saw that child, he said something…” said Hengyuan as he gazed at him, “Lord Xu said: this is that child?

“Lord Xu seems to know of him, but as the poor monk remembers, you haven’t crossed paths in any way.”

…. F*ck, the shock I received that day was too great, and I accidentally blurted it out in a moment. Xu Qi’an laughed, the surface as steady as an old dog, but in his heart he began to panic.

Number six shouldn’t be suspecting that I’m number three …. By the way, I even picked up money in front of him that day …. Well, just picking up money is nothing, who hasn’t had a stroke of luck ….. But number six will definitely have a suspicion that I’m not quite normal, and may have already leaned me towards number three.

However, the image of the Confucian scholar that I portrayed has already taken root in the hearts of the members of the Tiandi Association, and the first impression is always the most important and unchangeable, so the Sixth is skeptical at best …. Thinking of this, Xu Qi’an sighed:

“I heard that from Three once.”

He didn’t have any extra explanations, and left the rest to Hengyuan to figure out. First of all, Hengyuan would definitely question the so-called “superior-subordinate” relationship. The Tiandi Society was not a hidden force, but the Tiandi Society in the outside world was composed of Earth Sect Taoists represented by Daoist Master Golden Lotus.

The other one, the Heaven and Earth Society, which consisted of the holders of the Earth Book fragments, was the true hidden force. How could the Third casually inform his subordinates of such a matter.

Then, No. 6 Hengyuan would investigate him with such doubts, and as he investigated, he found that the original Lord Xu’s cousin was a scholar of the Confucian Academy.

That’s when he’ll think he’s found the wah-point.

As expected, Heng Yuan did not say anything and nodded slightly with a stoic expression.

…. In fact, the identity is exposed or not, the problem is not too big, the sixth Hengyuan is a good man. Well, the main thing is that I bragged too much online …. It feels like identity exposure would be shameful ah …. Xu Qi’an excused himself and left.

After returning to the government office, Xu Qi’an received another missive from the white clothes of the Si Tian Supervisor, saying that Chu Caiwei’s alchemy had made a major breakthrough, and that Song Qing had summoned him to the Si Tian Supervisor to discuss the matter.

…so fast? Xu Qi’an mounted his horse and galloped to Stargazer Tower.

He met Song Qing and Chu Caiwei in the alchemy room on the seventh floor, and at the same time saw two pairs of dark circles under the same eyes.

“Miss Caiwei, pay more attention to rest.” Xu Qi Min said, “Has Ning become a master of time management as well.

Topped with thick black circles under her eyes, her gaze dull Chu Caiwei, looking even more dopey, said tiredly, “Three days without closing her eyes ….”

Song Qing took out the porcelain bottle from his sleeve and handed it to Xu Qi’an, “Take a look.”

Xu Qi’an peeled off the wooden cork and poured a little onto his palm, the mushroom powder was interspersed with fine crystal particles, he licked it, a strong fresh flavor spreading across his taste buds, his tongue on fire.

“How did you make it?” Xu Qi’an was shocked.

“Fermentation of grains, addition of honey, purification…” waved Song Qing’s hand, not wanting to explain, “If you want to know the process, I’ll have Caiwei write it down for you later, so you can see if it’s this thing first.”

Xu Qi’an mused, “The flavor is very similar, is this stuff poisonous?”

“Non-poisonous.”

“That’s it.”

Song Qing nodded and said, “This is more precious than salt, and if it is to be popularized and promoted, the imperial court is bound to monopolize it.

“In the past, the things produced by the Si Tian Jian were run by the imperial court, and the Si Tian Jian accounted for 30% of the annual proceeds. I’ve discussed this with Senior Brother Yang, and I’ll share 10% with you.”

The reason for only sharing 10% is that Xu Qi’an only came up with the concept of MSG, as well as some theoretical steps, and some of those steps were correct, while others caused Song Qing and Chu Caiwei to take a lot of detours.

In this new type of alchemy, Chu Caiwei and Song Qing had to pay more.

“A very fair distribution.” Xu Qi’an nodded and tried, “Then, how much silver can I share in a year, well, I know there’s a lack of basis for assessment, so Senior Brother Song can roughly estimate.”

“It depends on how the court intends to sell it,” Song Qing mused, “Thousands and thousands of taels of silver for 10%? I’m referring to the capital territory.”

When he finished speaking, he realized that his hand was firmly held in Xu Qi’an’s palm, and this gong spoke in a long and deep voice:

“May our friendship last forever and ever.”

“…. Words, words.”

….

The Imperial Palace, the Imperial Garden.

Wei Yuan accompanied Emperor Yuan Jing as he strolled through the imperial garden, the sunlight was warm, this royal garden which covered an area of 20 acres was planted with all kinds of precious flower species and trees, winter and spring were two completely different landscapes.

“Frost kills all kinds of grass, flowers and trees wither, this seemingly depressing scene, under the fine taste, it also has a different flavor.” Emperor Yuan Jing put his hand on his back, sighing with meaning.

Behind him, Wei Yuan, who lagged a small half a body position behind, murmured, “Depression, Your Majesty, has never been a landscape from ancient times.”

In the face of the green-clothed Grand Eunuch’s backhandedness, Emperor Yuan Jing just smiled, not really caring, and said, “In the coming spring, naturally, a hundred flowers will bloom.”

Wei Yuan seemed to be lifting the bar, “The coming spring, it’s still early. This depression doesn’t know when it will continue again.”

Emperor Yuan Jing slanted him a glance, “Then what does Wei Qing think should happen?”

Wei Yuan said gently, ”The sight of a hundred flowers in full bloom is certainly beautiful, but it’s not because spring goes to winter, and the prosperity falls… Your Majesty, look at those trees that are evergreen in all seasons, no matter if it’s spring winds, autumn and moonlight, summer and winter snows, they all still exist.

“Shoveling out the complicated and diverse flowers and plants and leaving behind the evergreen trees is the way to go for a long time.”

Emperor Yuan Jing restrained his smile and looked askance with cold eyes, the big green coat wore a smile, his gaze was gentle, and he didn’t take half a step back.

The monarch and ministers looked at each other for a long time, and Emperor Yuan Jing faintly said, “The Empress contracted a wind-cold a few days ago, and after her body healed, she had a poor appetite, and didn’t have much to eat for a few days in a row.”

Wei Yuan finally moved his gaze away and bowed, “What did the warlock from the Heavenly Supervisor say?”

“Poor appetite, but the body is fine, recuperating.” Emperor Yuan Jing said, “But I see that the Empress has lost a lot of weight, Wei Yuan, go and take a look at her for me.”

“Yes!”

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