Jiang Youfei

Early the next morning, dawn slowly shone through the paper window, and Zheng Hui's voice rang out.

"Get up, get up! There's no mutton soup today. We're going to the mess hall to eat pig slop, then patrol the streets! Hurry!"

Once the four had readied themselves, they headed for the mess hall.

Breakfast was a struggle, especially compared to yesterday's lamb offal soup.

Li Qingxian finally understood why Zheng Hui and Yu Ping called the Department's meals pig slop.

It was not a metaphor, because the cooks also fed pigs.

A year ago, the cooks had mixed up the thin porridge and the pig feed. The Night Guards had not tasted any difference, and only realized something was wrong after the pigs refused to eat and overturned their troughs.

After breakfast, the four members of Team Jia-Nine ambled toward Wanping Street. They occasionally met acquaintances along the way and exchanged a few pleasantries.

Today, far more people greeted Li Qingxian.

Rather than going to the morning market on Happiness Street, the four headed straight for Wanping Street. Then they split into two teams to patrol the areas around Wanping Ward.

Starting at the proper hour of the Rabbit, Zheng Hui and Li Qingxian walked and stopped along the way as they inspected the streets.

Li Qingxian finally understood the duties of the Street Patrol Office.

The Night Guards sounded imposing, but the truly imposing ones were the experts, the Mounted Patrol who interrogated and arrested people for the Imperial Prison Bureau.

The Street Patrol Office was responsible for inspecting the capital and monitoring Entry Rank cultivators. Yet the major powers were gathered around Wanping Ward, so Entry Rank cultivators there were instead cautious and careful.

Most of the time, Team Jia-Nine was no different from ordinary soldiers dressed in flashy uniforms.

All morning, they mediated disputes between merchants, helped old people cross the road, and kept children away from the main thoroughfare. They caught no thieves, encountered no bandits, and never even drew their blades. The morning passed without incident.

Near the start of the Hour of the Horse, Li Qingxian and Zheng Hui returned to the entrance of Wanping Street.

The massive archway bearing the three words "Wanping Ward" stood before them. Dragging his heavy legs, Li Qingxian trudged forward without a shred of strength.

Excluding breaks, they had walked for over four hours, and his calves were cramping from exhaustion.

"Tired?"

"I'm fine." Li Qingxian forced himself to say.

After some thought, Zheng Hui said, "Then this afternoon, we'll come back and patrol for another half hour before we get off duty. Get some proper rest."

"Thanks, Brother Zheng." Li Qingxian smiled.

"Come on. An Bo and the others are here. Let's get lunch."

The four met up and returned to the Night Guard Department for lunch.

During the midday break, Li Qingxian followed the others to the great locust tree in the center of the Street Patrol Office courtyard. He gathered with Night Guards from the other offices and listened as everyone chatted nonsense about all corners of heaven and earth.

There were tales of a Grand Confucian from the previous dynasty whose Righteousness Sword split open the sea with one strike; an old martial world alliance leader ascending to the heavens and flying through the air, smashing a mountain a thousand zhang high with one punch; a Beyond-Rank Demon Race sage draining the Great River dry in a single breath; the Heaven's Mandate Sect calculating three thousand years above and deducing five hundred years below; Grand General King swearing to guard the river for life, never returning to the capital so long as the Demon Race had not retreated. Such stories were too numerous to count.

When the midday break ended, the Night Guards remained rooted to the spot, utterly motionless. Only after two quarters of an hour did they lazily rise.

The four left the Divine Capital Office, went to a teahouse to listen to storytelling for nearly half an hour, drank three large pots of cold tea, and only then went out to patrol.

As evening approached, Zheng Hui announced that the day's patrol was over, and the four ambled back.

A full day of street patrol had officially ended.

As they entered through the Night Guard side gate, Zheng Hui said, "We're off duty. You lot get some rest. I'll go report in to Chief He."

At the same time, Li Qingxian felt a faintly cool current come from nowhere and enter his brow. It felt exactly the same as when Fortune had descended yesterday.

Li Qingxian could not help guessing: was this Fortune a reward for his diligent street patrol?

After returning to the dormitory, Zhou Chunfeng's guard was waiting. He pulled Li Qingxian aside, handed him an Imperial Prison Bureau waist token, and quietly said that the distillery was being prepared. At most, people from the Ministry of Works would come knocking within ten days.

After Zhou Chunfeng's guard left, Yu Ping and Han Anbo curiously borrowed the Imperial Prison Bureau token to inspect it, clicking their tongues in wonder.

"If you get rich and rise high, treat us to mutton soup!" Yu Ping said enviously as he returned the token.

"Definitely." Li Qingxian smiled.

"Everything's settled?" Han Anbo asked vaguely.

Li Qingxian fell silent for a moment, then said, "Lord Zhou said I don't need to worry."

"That's good. Since Lord Zhou has spoken, they'll at least not dare to use dirty tricks. If they act openly and honestly, Lord Zhou can handle it too. Be more careful. Don't take the wrong road and let them seize something against you." Han Anbo said.

Li Qingxian smiled. "Don't worry. Back when I fought people in the streets, what kind of dirty tricks hadn't I seen?"

After dinner, Li Qingxian went to the Night Guard library, borrowed several introductory books related to Destiny Arts, and brought them back to the dormitory to read.

The other three did not disturb him. They first went beneath the great locust tree to chat, then went to the training ground to practice martial arts.

Another day passed, and after they got off duty, a strand of Fortune descended.

The following day, Fortune arrived right on schedule after they got off duty.

Drawing on the books he had read these past few days, along with what he had learned before, Li Qingxian roughly figured it out.

The six great powers—the Confucian School, Daoist School, martial world, Demon Sect, Evil Sects, and Netherworld—were said to have willingly joined the imperial court in order to absorb the court's Fortune and strengthen themselves.

Since Emperor Tiankang's reign, the imperial court had been able to create powerful Fortune Treasures and bestow them upon meritorious officials.

The Qi Kingdom Founding Jade Seal was the strongest Fortune supreme treasure under heaven.

People had Fortune, and nations had Fortune as well.

A chill ran down Li Qingxian's back. Could he be stealing National Fortune?

Thinking of his own aptitude, Li Qingxian decided to let the matter rot in his stomach and make a fortune in silence.

Li Qingxian felt regretful. For now, he could only sense the Fortune and the Heaven's Mandate Instrument somewhere within his brow, but could not use them.

"Perhaps I need to wait until I reach Entry Rank. Take it slowly. No rush."

Another day passed. When the street patrol ended, Li Qingxian received a strand of Fortune as usual. Upon returning to the office, he found Zhou Chunfeng's guard standing by the side gate.

"Lord Li, Lord Zhou requests your presence."

"I'm not really an official to begin with. Just call me Little Li," Li Qingxian said, looking toward Zheng Hui and the other two. "I'm going over to Lord Zhou's place. You don't need to wait for me."

Zheng Hui and Han Anbo nodded. Yu Ping rapidly blinked as he whispered, "If there are pastries, bring some back while you're at it."

Zheng Hui raised a hand and flicked Yu Ping hard on the forehead. Laughing, he cursed, "Are you a pig? You want food but not your life?"

"Oink oink... oink oink..." Yu Ping lifted his head and opened his mouth, sounding uncannily lifelike.

Li Qingxian and Han Anbo burst into laughter. Zheng Hui did not know whether to laugh or cry, and left with a disgusted wave of his hand.

"If there are any, I'll bring you some." Li Qingxian smiled.

Following the guard along roads that still felt half-familiar, Li Qingxian entered the rear hall of the Divine Capital Office and slowly took in the scenery around him.

Rock gardens and running water, lotus ponds and flowers, the colors of spring and the spirit of summer.

Li Qingxian looked at the words "Chunfeng Residence" above the entrance and thought, When will I be able to live in a courtyard like this too...

"Uncle Zhou, I'm here." Li Qingxian knocked three times, then casually pushed the door open and entered.

"Mm." Zhou Chunfeng was bent over his desk, writing rapidly without raising his head.

Zhou Hen stood beside the desk, eyes lowered as he nurtured his spirit.

From the corner of his eye, Li Qingxian caught sight of a tender, fair figure standing by the window. He turned to look.

A slender woman in white stood gazing out the window. Daylight fell across her youthful, lovely face; her skin seemed to glow through, warm and delicate, white as jade snow.

She was only half a head shorter than Li Qingxian, but her waist was so slender that at first glance, she resembled a tiny little lamb.

Li Qingxian looked more closely. Her neck was long and slender, her waist long and slender, and even her wrists were so slim that they seemed as though a ring could fit around them.

Her slender jade arm rested on the windowsill. The forearm exposed beyond her sleeve glowed like warm jade, dazzlingly bright.

Around her left wrist was a flawless, translucent, rich-green jade bangle.

Before the bookshelves and behind the wooden window, the setting sun shone upon her small, pale body, as if she were part of a painting.

Yellow-beaked sparrows, pale-green crickets, pink-and-white butterflies, and other birds and insects gathered on the windowsill, hopping and fluttering as they watched the girl.

Her fingers moved lightly. The birds and insects gave several reluctant cries, then scattered away—some soaring high into the clouds, others slipping into flowers and grass.

The woman in white slowly turned around, glanced at Li Qingxian, and gave a slight nod. There seemed to be the faintest smile on her face, but it vanished in an instant. Or perhaps it had been an illusion, and she had never smiled at all. One could not tell.

Her brows were thin and long, her eyes bright and luminous, her gaze lively. Her nose was delicate and straight, while her lips were so thin that her upper lip resembled a fine crescent line.

Her white gauze dress was cinched by a vivid blue sash, and her slender waist could be grasped in one hand.

Everything about her was slender. Even her small face seemed to have been slowly outlined in the finest meticulous brushwork.

A slender girl, a pale face, exquisite as poetry, drifting like an immortal.

At first glance, she looked fourteen or fifteen. Yet the faint heroic spirit between her brows and the ancient sword with its black sheath and blue patterns floating at her side made her seem at least eighteen.

"Hello, I'm Li Qingxian." Li Qingxian introduced himself with a smile.

"Jiang Youfei." The girl's voice was soft and fine, neither cold nor warm.

The girl turned and walked toward Zhou Chunfeng. Her small body was held perfectly straight, her white robes floating, her skirt swaying, and her long hair cascading like a waterfall with a gentle sway. A white gauze ribbon loosely bound it, leaving two strips of white gauze to hang down alongside her thick black hair.

Her long hair fell down, stained with the faint light of the sunset, concealing the sway of her waist.

Zhou Chunfeng suddenly looked up and gazed at Li Qingxian with a half-smile.

Li Qingxian gave a light cough and said seriously, "Jiang Youfei? I think I've heard that name before. Uncle Zhou, won't you introduce her?"

Author's note, posted two months after this chapter was updated:

This chapter used rhetorical devices such as metaphor and exaggeration.

Metaphor: A metaphor is a commonly used rhetorical device that uses thing B, which shares similarities with thing A, to describe or explain thing A.

Exaggeration: A rhetorical device that deliberately magnifies or diminishes a thing's image, characteristics, function, degree, and other aspects in order to achieve a certain expressive effect.

--

These two rhetorical devices are extremely common in many literary and artistic works, including web novels.