Chapter 63: Xu Qi’an: I Still Have a Chance to Save My Life

“Asking Heart is locked up upstairs, you can just go up the stairs from here and go all the way to the top floor.” Song Tingfeng brought him to the stairway and pointed upstairs:

“There are no requirements for this level, but you have to remember to go with your heart, and the rating will be lowered if you make too much of a show of it.”

“What’s the point of scoring?” Xu Qi’an asked rhetorically.

“What are you measuring qualifications backwards for? There are four classes of ratings: a, b, c, d. The better the qualification. Naturally the easier it is to be cultivated.” Song Tingfeng raised his chin, “I’m B.”

Zhu Guangxiao said in a muffled voice, “I am C.”

I am a big strong man …. Xu Qi’an silently played a stunt and ascended the stairs alone, and when he came to the second floor, he saw an ancient bronze mirror hanging on the red lacquer pillar facing the stairs.

He was reflected in the mirror.

Xu Qi’an’s heart palpitated for no reason, his muscles tensing uncontrollably, then slowly relaxing.

Inner distractions settle, the mind is at peace, and one lets go of all merit and fame as well as selfish desires.

There is something wrong with this mirror …. The thought had just flashed by, and then it settled in the bottom of his heart, not to care.

Forced entry into sage time …. And the thought sank in.

He turned the corner with easy steps and came to the second floor hall, where a Buddha was enshrined, with a plump and blessed body and a dignified appearance.

Tributes were laid out on the incense bank, and the incense curled up.

A mandarin stood in front of the Buddha, looking at him.

Xu Qi’an’s face was calm as he scrutinized the Buddha statue for a few moments, then he stopped looking at it and walked towards the stairs on the third floor.

The official watched his back leave and lowered his head to write on the paper, as if evaluating.

…..

The third level is dedicated to the Taoist priest, wearing a Taoist robe, holding a wooden sword and treading on auspicious clouds.

There was likewise a mandarin in front of the phallus, quietly watching Xu Qi’an’s arrival.

After Xu Qi’an casually glanced around for a few moments before turning to leave, the mandarin similarly lifted his pen and wrote his evaluation on the paper spread out on the table.

….

The fourth level is dedicated to a Confucian saint, wearing a Confucian shirt and a Confucian crown, looking into the distance.

The mandarins still stood in front of the saint’s clay statue, quietly looking at Xu Qi’an.

This saint sculpture is the same as the one in Yunlu Academy …. Xu Qi’an made this sentiment in his heart and walked away without a second thought.

He came to the highest level – the fifth.

The fifth level was dedicated to a man in a yellow robe, who stood tall, leaning on a sword with both hands, with sword brows and starry eyes.

Xu Qi’an didn’t recognize this one, but the bright yellow dragon robe said it all.

A certain monarch of the Daebong dynasty, or, the founding emperor.

Walking here, he suddenly realized the real meaning of “Ask the Heart Pass”, measuring qualification is only part of it, the real meaning is to measure a person’s moral character.

The purpose of that mirror is to make it impossible to act against one’s will and deliberately offer incense and worship.

….. Oops, I didn’t pay homage to Buddha, Taoist honors, or saints, which means I’m a person who doesn’t respect God, doesn’t pay homage to Buddha, and doesn’t care about the Four Books and Five Classics ….

…. None of this matters, but this one on the fifth floor I must worship …. If I don’t worship him, I’ll be finished ….. A person who has no king, no father and ignores God and Buddha is not acceptable in this era ….

What kind of organization is the Night Watchman?

It was a spy and escort agency attached to the Emperor.

It can disrespect the three religions, but it cannot be disloyal to the Emperor.

So “Ask the Heart” is a screening of moral character.

Xu Qi’an was undoubtedly unqualified, and he went up five floors in one breath without a single bye.

I will be kicked out of the night watchman’s office if I am such a scum of the earth. …. That’s just it, the point is that the watchman knows about my crime of framing Zhou Li, who knows if he’ll reopen old scores because of that ….

One by one, these thoughts flashed by, then settled and were automatically ignored.

Xu Qi’an anxiously fought against the “Sage Mode”, forcing himself to bow down to the king, the two consciousnesses frantically fighting against each other, his body stiffening and his muscles shaking with spasms.

The mandarins waiting to stand in front of the monarch’s phase observed Xu Qi’an for a few moments and swept past him to go downstairs.

A few minutes later, the mandarin returned, and Xu Qi’an was still standing in the same place, his body stiff and trembling as if he had cramps in his arms and legs.

The mandarin surveyed Xu Qi’an like a rare animal and whispered, “I’ve already exchanged evaluations with my colleague downstairs.”

The official continued, “When Duke Wei set up the Ask the Heart Pass, he had an explanation that if someone did not withhold worship for five consecutive floors, he must be a ten-evil person.”

….. Brother, give it another chance!

Xu Qi’an was anxious inside.

“So Duke Wei gave it another chance and created a separate sixth level, only that one has never been visited.” The official magically sized up Xu Qi’an, “You’re a scorpion shitting on a unique one.”

“You relax your body, don’t cramp up.” He said.

Xu Qi’an stopped fighting his inner sage mode and adjusted his breathing, managing to stop his muscles from twitching.

That’s when I realized the spine was soaked.

He followed the mandarin around the statue of the monarch, to the deeper area of the

Dappled sunlight spilled out of the hollowed-out windows, thinly illuminating the wooden platforms in the house.

A line of poetry is carved into the wooden platform.

I killed all the enemy’s millions of soldiers, and the blood on my sword is still fishy.

Returning with a golden mace in hand, a full court has not dared to speak.

The little poem is pretty bossy …. Show me what the poem means.

Xu Qi’an glanced sideways at the silent mandarin, originally wanting to stuff some silver tickets and extract information from him.

On second thought, a mere mandarin who knows the mind of that powerful eunuch? Impossible.

Don’t lead yourself astray and die instead.

A poetry contest? No way, the theme is clearly not a contest of poetic talent. The questioning of hearts and minds has to do with ideology and morality, so you have to start with that.

Since it’s a test of moral character, what’s Wei Yuan doing putting this poem here?

Xu Qi’an dismissed distractions and actively opened his mind.

The sixth level is arranged for materialists like me, who have no ruler or teacher and who do not honor God or Buddha, and it amounts to the last chance.

That’s naturally trying to mine some precious ideological virtue out of me. If I don’t have it, then I’m dead.

Precious ideology and virtue …. Suddenly, Xu Qi’an thought of the pair of couplets in the hall on the first floor:

I wish to serve the Dusty Karmas with a deep heart, not seeking benefit for myself.

And the duty of the night watchman is to monitor the hundred officials …. Wei Yuan’s poem, likewise, has the meaning of being loyal to the country and to suppress the hundred officials.

Thinking of this, he was enlightened and understood what that great eunuch meant.

This poem is laid out not to be a poetry fight, but to empathize.

If that army-less, teacher-less, unforgiving man was really of a bad nature, he would not have been able to fight against his own heart and forcefully write poems of empathy in the Heart of Enquiry Pass.

On the contrary, it showed that he still had precious virtues in him, and Wei Yuan was willing to give a chance.

Xu Qi’an exhaled with a sigh and held out his hand, “Pen and ink are waiting.”

The clerk handed over the quill and laid out the rice paper on the wooden platform.

Xu Qi’an’s pen hung over the paper and closed his eyes.

Although I do not have a king in my heart, I do not care to worship God and Buddha, and I am a true materialist.

But I am not an unforgivable man, I have justice in my heart and principles at my feet. I’ve never been a fish and meat people, never rely on the status of Xu official extortion, even if, this is the social norm ….

Even though, I had desperately wanted to make money.

If you want to empathize, I will compose a poem, as you wish.

Xu Qi’an put pen to paper, without any mental barriers, and wrote in an ugly script:

people’s blood, sweat and tears

It is easy to abuse the people below, but it is hard to deceive the people above.

The official looked at the four sentences on the paper with a dazed expression.

He collected the rice paper, stared earnestly at Xu Qi’an for a while, and said, “The Questioning Pass is over, your honor make yourself at home, just don’t leave the Yamen before the results come out.”

“The qualifications of every night watchman need to be adjudicated by Lord Wei himself, and I will send them to Lord Wei.”

He left the floor almost at a run, staccato footsteps coming up the stairs and quickly moving away.

Xu Qi’an felt as if he was deflated, holding onto the wooden platform to catch his breath for a moment before following suit and descending the stairs.

Song Tingfeng and Zhu Guangxiao were waiting for his colleague on the first floor, and when they saw Xu Qi’an coming downstairs, they smiled and beckoned, “How many times did you kneel?”

He was grinning like a fox.

The mandarins downstairs did not tell him the process or the outcome.

Xu Qi’an opened his mouth and finally chose to remain silent.

On Zhu Guangxiao’s unsmiling face, two eyebrows frowned slightly, “You don’t look too good.”

More than not very good, I feel like I am hovering on the edge of life and death twice, more exciting than a roller coaster …. Xu Qi An shook his head tiredly and said:

“I’d like to sit down somewhere and have some tea and rest.”

Song Tingfeng smirked and raised one eyebrow, “Hire you another hooker woman to tap your shoulders and rub your legs?”

You are like a comedian under the flyover …. Xu Qi’an nodded with a smile, “Go to the Department of Education to invite the Floating Fragrance Flower Leader.”

Song Tingfeng froze and laughed out loud, “This dream, I also had it when I was young.”

PS: public chapters to consider the word count and recommended position of the process, can not burst more. After the shelves and then burst more it, a day six or seven thousand words should be the bottom. By the way, there are countless ambushes in the book, more than in the second generation of demons. You can look for them.