The poor and lowly could scarcely obtain West Heaven's scriptures

"I've grown tired of all those tales, but I heard that a wandering hero recently slew the vicious tiger on Qingping Mountain?"

The moment she brought this up, Zhang Qingyun's expression changed.

Seeing her father's expression, Zhang Qing asked what had happened.

Zhang Qingyun was feeling frustrated himself, so he recounted his attempt to invite Jiang Sheng as a bit of idle conversation.

After hearing him out, Zhang Qing could not help laughing. "Father, you really were in the wrong this time."

Zhang Qingyun was puzzled. "How was I in the wrong?"

Zhang Qing smiled. "Father, I once heard a tale."

"They say that on the Western Region Continent in the far west, there is a Buddhist holy site called the Great Heavenly Dragon Temple. One day, a novice monk from the temple went down the mountain to expound the scriptures to the ruler of a small kingdom, receiving three sheng and three dou of gold dust."

"When the novice returned, he thought the Arhat would praise him. Instead, the Arhat said he had accepted too little and sold the scriptures cheap."

"Father, why do you think the Arhat scolded that novice?"

"That Daoist priest isn't even a cultivator of our Qi Kingdom. Father, I'm afraid you thought too highly of yourself and too little of him."

As understanding dawned on Zhang Qingyun, he could not help feeling vexed.

Back when he was still in the lineage, he had never thought much of it.

But after leaving, Zhang Qingyun had come to appreciate just how exalted cultivators were.

Among those with cultivation, aside from rogue cultivators with no backing and ordinary Qi Refining Realm cultivators with no hope of advancement, who would cling to worldly splendor?

Who would stand in awe of princes, nobles, generals, or ministers?

He had intended to recruit a cultivator as a helping hand, but now it seemed he had already offended the Daoist named Jiang Sheng.

Zhang Qing asked again, "Father, what did you intend to have that Daoist priest do?"

"I've heard lately that the gentry and common people have repeatedly obstructed your policies. Were you hoping to enlist him as an ally?"

Zhang Qingyun sighed and said helplessly, "That was indeed my intention."

"Qing'er, you know I'm newly arrived here. Whether in the county seat or the towns, everyone pays lip service to my orders while defying them behind my back."

"The gentry and wealthy merchants control everything inside and outside the county seat, while the common people revere only the river god and believe whatever those men whisper into their ears."

"If this continues, won't I become a puppet dangling from the gentry's strings?"

Looking at his clever daughter, Zhang Qingyun suddenly asked, "Qing'er, what do you think I should do next?"

Zhang Qing first dismissed the servants attending them. Only after everyone had left did she smile and say, "That depends on what you truly wish to accomplish, Father."

Zhang Qingyun was thoroughly puzzled. "What do you mean, Qing'er?"

"Father, are you planning to disrupt the River God Grand Sacrifice?" Zhang Qing asked.

Zhang Qingyun's brow creased slightly. "I am."

Zhang Qing asked, "At the River God Grand Sacrifice, sacrificing six pairs of young boys and girls each year buys a year of favorable winds and timely rain. As long as it continues, you can finish your term in Qingshan County without incident. Why insist on disrupting it?"

Looking at his daughter, Zhang Qingyun let out a long sigh. "It is true that the river god requires only six pairs of young boys and girls each year to ensure favorable winds and timely rain for Qingshan County."

"But that river god has never been invested by the court. He feeds on the people's incense offerings and demands sacrifices of young boys and girls. That makes his worship an illicit cult!"

"And if his worship is illicit, he is no god. He is a demon!"

As he spoke, Zhang Qingyun suddenly rose to his feet. "Trading six pairs of children under six from among my subjects every year for a supposed year of favorable winds and timely rain is something I could certainly do. It isn't as though I don't understand sacrificing the few to protect the many!"

"But if I can kill the river god of the Taiping River, wipe out his illicit cult, and bring the hearts of Qingshan County's people back to the court, that would be a great achievement!"

"All thirteen counties in Dongjun stand idly by while demons receive illicit worship. If I oppose it, I will catch the court's eye."

Watching her impassioned father, Zhang Qing could not help sighing.

She and her father belonged to a collateral branch of their lineage, and neither had received much attention from the lineage since childhood.

Her father had no cultivation, while her mother had been a cultivator. Even so, as members of a collateral branch, they had been destined to toil and run errands for the main household.

Her father had endured years of hardship and suppression within the lineage, while her mother had been ordered about endlessly until she finally lost her life.

Once her mother, the cultivator, was gone, father and daughter suffered even more bullying.

Such trivial matters never came to the attention of the lineage's senior members, so for a time their lives had been unbearably difficult.

His chance to serve a term as magistrate of Qingshan County had been bought with Zhang Qing's mother's life.

Zhang Qingyun often told Zhang Qing that collateral branches like theirs received little support from the main household. Now that an opportunity had finally come, how far they could go depended on themselves alone.

Zhang Qing understood that her father meant to use this chance to turn their fortunes around.

"Qing'er, did you know that you have the aptitude to cultivate, but members of the main household's direct line have always taken your place? The main household never wanted you to succeed in cultivation. They only wanted to marry you off someday to ease their burdens!" Zhang Qingyun revealed another secret.

Seeing Zhang Qing's startled expression, Zhang Qingyun continued, "Before, I was under others' control and powerless to do anything. But if I accomplish this, things will be very different for us."

"When the court grants its rewards, you will have the resources to cultivate too, Qing'er, and no one will bind you again."

Zhang Qing sighed softly. Looking at her father, who had once been so full of spirit but now already had a few strands of white hair, she felt a pang of sympathy. "I knew it would be something like this."

Zhang Qingyun knew his daughter was extraordinarily clever, with the talent of a top imperial examination scholar. Seeing her expression, he knew she must have an idea.

"This is one of the few opportunities we have, Qing'er. If you have an idea, say it. If it's within my power, I will do it!"

"We must never again let others use us as pawns."

Zhang Qing analyzed the situation, her thoughts racing. "Our Qi Kingdom has its own Dao Palace, with court cultivators assigned to every province and commandery. Every province and commandery also has sects and cultivating aristocratic clans."

"Their chief duties in each region are to preserve peace and eradicate demons and illicit cults."

Zhang Qingyun nodded. That was true.

People throughout Dongjun's counties worshipped these so-called river gods and offered them young boys and girls. All he needed to do was report it to the commandery governor, who could ask the local sects and cultivating aristocratic clans to act.

Naturally, the local cultivating aristocratic clans and sects would not dare defy the court's regulations.

Then Zhang Qing continued, "Decades have passed since the terms of the two previous magistrates. Who would believe that Dongjun's sects and aristocratic clans know nothing about this?"

"Yet neither the sects nor the aristocratic clans in Dongjun have shown the slightest concern. Why is that?"

Zhang Qingyun's brow furrowed deeply. "I hadn't considered that aspect of the matter."

Zhang Qing looked expressionlessly at her father, the county magistrate. "Father, this is a matter of grave importance. Both our lives are at stake!"

"If there really is some secret behind it, acting rashly against the river god could cost us far more than we gain."

Zhang Qingyun drank his tea in silence before finally saying, "We still have to do it. As long as we make enough noise and draw enough people's attention, we'll have a chance to turn our fortunes around!"

Zhang Qing nodded. "If you insist on doing this, Father, then we must invite that Daoist priest from Qingping Mountain."

"Father, you must show your sincerity."