What Business Is It of Yours?

After returning home and eating, Chen Yi opened the dressing cabinet in the bedroom and put a small box inside.

Yin Tingxue, who was reading a book, noticed the Sandalwood Box's fine workmanship and its carvings of phoenixes and fragrant orchids, and could not help growing curious.

"What's inside?"

She asked.

"A hairpin."

Chen Yi answered crisply.

Yin Tingxue tilted her head, not understanding why he had suddenly bought a hairpin.

She did not think he had bought it for her. A girl betrothed at fifteen underwent the hairpin ceremony and received a courtesy name; if she remained unbetrothed, she underwent the ceremony at twenty. Although she had been taken as a concubine, their marriage had never been consummated, and perhaps it never would be.

She thought that she was not yet twenty, either, so she could not wear a hairpin or take a courtesy name.

Chen Yi glanced at the Xiang Prince's Daughter, smiled, and closed the cabinet. Come to think of it, she still had no courtesy name and could be considered a maiden awaiting betrothal.

For some reason, Yin Tingxue kept feeling that his fleeting smile harbored ill intentions.

She turned her face away and stopped looking at him, silently directing her gaze outside, toward Silver Terrace Temple.

In an instant, she recalled the fine snow at Silver Terrace Temple in late autumn and early winter.

That was when she had been born. Her mother said that she had wailed amid the sound of falling snow.

Her mother always said there was Zen in falling snow, which was also why she had named her "Tingxue"-listening to snow.

Come to think of it, what did falling snow sound like? What exactly did flowers scattering in an instant sound like?

Yin Tingxue drifted into a daze.

Chen Yi checked the panel and found that he was only five years' worth of True Qi away from that day.

He casually stroked Yin Tingxue's head, then glanced at the book in her hands.

It was neither a collection of miscellaneous essays nor a novel, but actually the Purple Medicine Pill Compendium he had wrung out of Yin Weiying.

To think she was reading a book like that. Chen Yi shook his head with a chuckle, then sat cross-legged on the bed, silently reciting the Shangqing Heart Method and beginning to circulate it within his body.

Emptying his thoughts and allowing no distractions, Chen Yi sank his True Qi into his Dantian, emptied the apertures throughout his body, and established a connection with the primordial qi between heaven and earth.

A surge of stabbing pain rose within him.

Chen Yi hissed, feeling waves of pain like raging fire scorching his bones.

This pain came from the strange poison in his body. Chen Yi knew this well: the further he advanced in Daoist cultivation, the greater an obstacle this strange poison would become.

He forcibly suppressed the pain, worked to empty his mind, and continued sensing the primordial qi.

The most important part of Daoist cultivation was becoming one with heaven and earth. The method was to continually sense the innate primordial qi, draw it into the apertures throughout the body, then breathe it back into heaven and earth. When qi gathered, there was life; when qi dispersed, there was death; the mingling of qi brought harmony. For a True Person accomplished in Daoist cultivation, their qi flowed like a surging river, unceasing and unbroken.

Warmth arose in his Dantian, endlessly renewing itself like the tides, flowing without cease. Chen Yi's thoughts drifted, now rising, now falling, and he faintly felt a trace of transcendent self-forgetfulness.

When he hazily came back to himself, it was already deep into the night.

Chen Yi wiped the sweat from his neck and looked down, finding Yin Tingxue already fast asleep.

He had spent four to six hours on this single attempt at sensing qi.

As for the results...

Chen Yi held his breath and focused, steadied his mind, and silently recited the heart method. He found that the scene before him slowed by about half a second in his eyes.

"Pretty ordinary results. Maybe it also has something to do with me being a martial artist."

Chen Yi muttered.

When martial artists cultivated, True Qi circulated through the meridians throughout their bodies and accumulated within their apertures, having long since crowded out the space for qi.

Thus, apart from the very few sects like Yinjian Mountain that could cultivate both the Dao and martial arts, most people cultivated either the Dao alone or martial arts alone.

"I still need to learn Yinjian Mountain's Daoist arts."

Chen Yi sighed.

"If I remember correctly, I won't meet her until it's time to slay the evil flood dragon..."

If he remembered correctly, during the major Prayer Daoist Grounds storyline, three great demons and ghosts lurked in and around the Capital City. Ghost General Deng Ai was one, followed by the Donkey-Headed Crown Prince, reputedly Wu Zetian's son, and finally the evil flood dragon descended from a Dragon King who guarded the Buddhist faith.

To clear the Prayer Daoist Grounds perfectly, he would have to eliminate the latter two, as well as the Ancestor of Fox Demons on the final day of the Prayer Daoist Grounds.

And after resolving Demon-Quelling Day, he could further earn the Empress Dowager's trust and rid himself of the poison in his body.

No matter what... he had to meet Zhou Yitang soon.

In any case, she would not remember the events of their previous life.

In this life... he would treat her better.

The Prayer Daoist Grounds had reached its fifth day. Daoists from the Shangqing Dao and Yinjian Mountain had been gathering in the Capital City one after another. In addition, many unaffiliated cultivators from the mountains and rivers had come to Great Yu's Capital City. For a time, incense offerings flourished at the Three Temples and Seven Daoist Monasteries, making it seem like a grand Daoist gathering.

Jade Elegance Estate had been bustling inside and out these past few days.

Seen by the world as an upright political faction, the Ding'an faction had always enjoyed the favor and praise of literary men. As a property of Prince Jing's Manor, Jade Elegance Estate naturally became a place for their refined pursuits.

Great Yu had always valued Daoism over Buddhism. Ever since the Grand Ancestor founded the nation, Daoist monasteries and temples had sprung up like bamboo shoots after rain, each carrying on its legacy for hundreds of years. As long as Great Yu's reign endured, so would they.

Under such influences, the pursuit of mystical cultivation was especially prevalent among Great Yu's scholars. Though Confucianism was a teaching concerned with worldly affairs, it had placed great importance on the resonance between heaven and humanity since Dong Zhongshu, while Chenwei Learning had flourished from the Zhou Dynasty to the present. In present-day Great Yu, even greater importance was placed on ghosts and gods, and people everywhere sighed that the spirit of the Wei and Jin dynasties had returned.

To cater to these literary men, Jade Elegance Estate supported a group of occult practitioners who taught methods of pill refining and Daoist cultivation.

However, Jade Elegance Estate had certainly not grown so powerful through literary praise alone. There was ink on its brushes and blood on its blades. Its predecessor had been the Jade Elegance Martial Arts School, the second greatest in the Capital City, and it housed many experts with exceptional skills. The estate master's eldest son, Feng Luo, was himself a young talent renowned throughout the Capital City.

The autumn wind blew brisk and cool. With no poetry gathering underway, few figures appeared outside Jade Elegance Estate, and only the estate's disciples and guards patrolled beyond its gates.

Inside the estate, Estate Master Feng, Feng Ying, sipped tea while occasionally tossing pieces of dried meat from a jade saucer for the black-furred wolfdog on the ground to enjoy.

Cradling his sword, Feng Luo sat beside his father with his eyes closed, resting his mind and pondering the martial way.

"Master, the letter has been delivered. That man named Min Ning hasn't made a move. I reckon he's scared."

Not far from Estate Master Feng, the steward spoke respectfully.

"That was expected. The Chancellor Case is a major case, but also an old one. It was settled during the Previous Emperor's reign. Even the Lin faction wouldn't dare make an issue of it. What does a mere Chief Constable amount to?"

Estate Master Feng said mildly.

At this, his son Feng Luo opened one eye and said:

"Father, I've heard of this man. He has a little reputation in the Capital City. His martial talent may be no less than Pacification Commissioner Min's was back then."

"Luo'er, that Pacification Commissioner Min you mentioned died because of this very case. If he dares to keep investigating, three generations of his family may all lose their lives to the same case, ending their line forever. Young and hotheaded, unable to distinguish the important from the trivial, not knowing what should be investigated and what shouldn't-people like that die most easily."

Estate Master Feng sneered.

"You and the young master are absolutely right. People like that put on an Embroidered Uniform Guard uniform and think themselves officials. But what sort of official hasn't the master met? Such a minor official isn't even fit to cross Jade Elegance Estate's threshold."

The steward flattered him, his face wreathed in smiles.

Estate Master Feng laughed heartily, drained his tea, and tossed all the dried meat to the Black Wolfdog on the ground. The dog gobbled down the meat and barked happily twice.

"Speaking of which, how is the latest shipment?"

"Master, the immortal pills and powders sold extremely well last time. This latest shipment is large, and it's at the landing. It's been unloaded now and is being brought to the estate in batches."

"It's being brought to the estate? Excellent, excellent. Speaking of which,"

Estate Master Feng turned to his son.

"Luo'er, you said that fellow Min has a little reputation. How do his martial skills compare with yours?"

Feng Luo smiled. There was no need for modesty between father and son, so he said with youthful arrogance:

"I'm the Magpie Pavilion master's disciple. He has no school or master. However good his martial skills are, they amount to nothing more than that."

Jade Elegance Estate lay on the western side of the Capital City, near its outskirts. Its sprawling grounds nestled against mountains and beside water, a place where nature's spiritual beauty gathered. Now, in late autumn, maple leaves carpeted the ground, and from afar, the forests appeared dyed in layer upon layer of color.

Two Embroidered Uniform Guards appeared outside the main gate, one following close behind the other and leading his horse.

The Embroidered Uniform Guard Thousand Household rode a tall, powerful horse, a long saber at his waist, approaching over layers of brittle yellow leaves that crumbled beneath its hooves.

The estate guards on duty immediately grew alert. Their leader stepped forward and raised his spear, barring the two men's way.

"Who are you, sir, and why are you approaching Jade Elegance Estate bearing weapons? Whoever you are, you must not disturb this estate!"

The Thousand Household did not dismount. He swept his gaze down over the guards, then looked at Jade Elegance Estate. Only when their leader questioned him again did his gaze settle on the man.

"Why are you approaching Jade Elegance Estate bearing weapons?"

"There's a dog barking inside. Go deal with it."

The man said mildly.

The head guard asked in confusion:

"What business is a dog barking inside of mine?"

The Thousand Household gave a mocking smile, pressed his slender fingers against his saber's hilt, and asked in return:

"Then what business is my carrying a weapon of yours?!"