An old acquaintance in Qingzhou?

Everyone's circumstances are different; once you miss something, it's gone forever, and no amount of regret can bring it back.

The woman who missed out on instant fame cried uncontrollably and it will probably take her several days to understand this lesson. She will then spend a long time adjusting herself in her melancholy.

With the courtesan Hongxiu crying so hard, she had no choice but to leave the tea party. Young Duke Wei and the others, being well-educated and reasonable scholars, not only did not complain or blame her, but also comforted Hongxiu and told her to rest well.

After seeing Hongxiu off, Duke Wei and the others continued drinking. The Imperial Academy of Music was a place for socializing and entertaining guests.

Having a beautiful woman by your side is a bonus, but it's not essential. Men should drink and chat as they please.

"Didn't they say a Nightwatchers would come to set off for the tea party?" Duke Wei's heart skipped a beat as he recalled this detail, and he asked the maidservant beside him who was serving drinks:

"Just now, Lady Hongxiu said that one of them claimed that Fuxiang was his lover?"

"It seems so," the maid said.

Duke Wei had a vague idea in his mind, so he stopped drinking and stared at the maid with a serious expression. "What's that gong called?"

"Young master, I don't know." The maid shook her head, thinking to herself, "I didn't pay any attention to that."

The other young men were all intelligent; recalling Hongxiu's unusual behavior earlier, they were taken aback. "Then, Xu Ningyan come to Yuzhou?"

The case of the Transport Commissioner only happened today and hasn't spread throughout Yuzhou yet. Among these students, only Duke Wei has an official background, but it will take him a day or two to find out about these things.

"We can go to the post station tomorrow. If the Nightwatchers lives there, we'll have to pay him a visit."

Post station!

The carriage slowed down and stopped outside the post station.

Governor Zhang alighted from his carriage, his face serious, and returned to the post station with Jiang Luzhong, who was accompanying him. It was already night with the full moon high in the sky.

Governor Zhang glanced at the stables a little further away, where only a few horses were tied up. After entering the post station, he asked a postman and learned that almost Nightwatchers were out gallivanting and had not returned to the post station.

Already in a somber mood, Governor Zhang angrily retorted, "Absurd! We are under imperial command; how can we be so negligent and indulge in pleasure?"

Jiang Luzhong laughed and said, "They've been cooped up on the ship for so many days, it's only natural for them to relax a bit. As long as the governor is safe and sound, it doesn't matter what happens to the others."

The two went upstairs, and in the dark corridor, a guy wearing only shorts walked towards them, hugging his shoulders and shivering in the cold weather.

Jiang Luzhong, who possessed night vision, stared at the newcomer and asked in bewilderment, "What kind of trouble are you up to?"

I just took a cold shower.

Xu Qi'an, who had not spent the night at the Imperial Academy of Music -run entertainment district), did not reply.

"Then?"

"This is the South," he said abruptly, then suddenly sighed, "Let's find that old feeling again. Governor Jiang and Governor Zhang, you're back. The rest of you have gone to the Imperial Academy of Music) for the night."

Governor Zhang nodded and went into his room on his own.

"Why didn't you stay overnight at the Imperial Academy of Music?" Jiang Luzhong scrutinized Xu Qi'an. As far as he knew, this kid was also a veteran of the brothels.

"Any transaction involving money is vulgar and sinful. We must resolutely oppose such behavior." Xu Qi'an said solemnly before walking away.

Jiang Luzhong watched his retreating figure and thought to himself, "This kid must be drunk. He's spouting nonsense. Besides, a martial artist at the Essence Refining Realm is already immune to heat and cold, yet he's pretending to be starving and freezing."

Xu Qi'an entered the room, closed the door, and shivered to himself. He quickly ran to bed, rolled up the blanket, and pretended that he lived in the cold and damp south.

Geographically speaking, Yuzhou, though not on the coast, is still in the south. Unlike the biting cold winds of the capital, the cold in Yuzhou clings to the skin and seeps into the pores.

This reminded Xu Qi'an of the southern region where he lived in his previous life, and how he would take a bath in the dead of winter, turning off the hot water and applying soap while shivering.

After taking a shower and getting dressed, my nose started running.

Unfortunately, martial artists at the Qi Refining Realm have strong physiques and don't usually feel cold. Even when soaking in ice water, they only feel a slight chill.

Wrapped in the blanket, Xu Qi'an drifted off to sleep peacefully.

The candlelight was dim and flickering, casting a yellowish glow.

Governor Zhang sat at his desk, picked up his pen, and began writing a memorial:

"While passing through Yuzhou, I inadvertently discovered a case of corruption. Yan Kai, the transport commissioner of the Yuzhou Canal Transport Office, instructed the local gang, the Yellow Flag Gang, to murder the escorting guards and embezzle iron ore, secretly transporting it to Yunzhou."

"After reviewing the shipwreck records of the Yuzhou Canal Transport Office, I discovered that there were a total of 43 shipwrecks within ten years, resulting in the loss of two million catties of iron ore. The amount involved is staggering. These traitors have been silently exploiting the Great Feng Kingdom, sucking its marrow dry, which is chilling."

"In Yuzhou alone, two million catties of iron ore were lost within ten years. If this were accumulated Great Feng, what an enormous amount it would be! Your Majesty is requested to thoroughly investigate the capsizing incidents of the barges in the canal transport offices of the various prefectures of Great Feng."

"The former Minister of Ministry of Works colluded with the Witchcraft Cult and secretly supported bandits in Yunzhou, which may be a plot to rebel."

"Furthermore, Tongluo Xu Qi'an is exceptionally quick-witted and capable, a pillar of the nation. He deserves the greatest credit for cracking the pontoon case."

"The journey to Yunzhou is fraught with peril and unpredictable dangers. Your humble servant will exert every effort and dedicate myself to the cause until my dying breath."

The following evening, the group left Yuzhou and continued their journey by boat to Yunzhou.

During the day, Xu Qi'an, along with his Tiger Guards and Nightwatchers colleagues, purchased seasonal vegetables, wine, rice, and other supplies in the city.

They were paying for it through the canal transport authorities, which was essentially like getting it for free.

That night, the ship's cooks prepared a sumptuous dinner for the imperial envoy's party. After they had eaten and drunk their fill, Xu Qi'an sat cross-legged in his room and practiced breathing exercises.

"Ningyan, it's such a pity you didn't sleep with the most beautiful Imperial Academy of Music yesterday." Song Tingfeng felt sorry for his colleague.

"Hey, that Red-Sleeved Lady looks down on us vulgar warriors," Xu Qi'an said.

"That's because you didn't reveal your identity. If you told her you were the great scholar who wrote 'A faint fragrance drifts in the twilight,' she wouldn't be in such a hurry to offer herself to you," Song Tingfeng replied.

Xu Qi'an was somewhat puzzled. "If that's the case, why didn't you speak up for me?"

Song Tingfeng sneered, "Bullshit! I'm so jealous I could barely keep my eyes open to make you famous, and then I just stand by and watch you sleep with the most beautiful courtesan again?"

"Don't you also live a life of pleasure and romance every day?"

"Can they be the same?"

"Everything looks the same with the lights off."

"You blew out the lamp, didn't you?" Song Tingfeng corrected.

Oil lamps are for blowing on; what does turning them off mean?

Zhu Guangxiao, who was also practicing breathing exercises, paused upon hearing this, opened his eyes, and said, "Besides the courtesan from the Imperial Academy of Music, I think that constable Lü from the prefectural government also takes a liking to Ningyan."

Song Tingfeng became even more jealous, "How did you do that? Your skill at seducing innocent women is amazing. Teach me a few tricks!"

"Elder brother?"

Teach your younger brother a few tricks.

You have to call him "Dad".

"Get lost!" Song Tingfeng refused outright. He had been fooled by Xu Ningyan using the same trick before.

Should we call or not?

"Father."

Xu Qi'an smiled.

"What do you mean?" Song Tingfeng and Zhu Guangxiao didn't understand.

"You need to connect with the heart, not just the body," Xu Qi'an said.

"That makes some sense, but do you really have the right to say that?" Song Tingfeng finished speaking, then suddenly roared, "You've lied to me about another father! Call him back right now, or I'll kill you!"

He lunged forward, ready to forcefully lock the man in his arms.

At that moment, the three of them twitched their ears and heard cries for help coming from outside.

"Something's happened!" Xu Qi'an kicked Song Tingfeng away, and rushed out of the room without even putting on his boots.

Two colleagues followed closely behind.

Almost simultaneously, the highly skilled silver gong masters rushed out, followed by the bronze gong masters.

There were no boats sailing at night, so they anchored in a calm area of the dark water. A man from the Tiger Guard struggled violently, sometimes sinking into the water and sometimes struggling to emerge.

He looked like he could swim, but something underwater was pulling him down into the water.

"Snort!"

Inside the cabin, Jiang Luzhong's cold snort could be heard.

The Tiger Guards who had fallen into the water seemed to be freed from their restraints, rising to the surface instead of sinking further.

The Nightwatchers on deck threw down a rope and pulled him up.

At this moment, many more Tiger Guards rushed up from the bottom of the cabin, fully armed and with tense expressions.

"It's alright, someone just fell into the water." Xu Qi'an turned his head to reassure him, then turned back to examine the man who had fallen into the water, and saw a bluish-purple handprint on his ankle.

"What's going on?" asked one of the silver gongs under Jiang Luzhong.

The team was led by Jiang Luzhong, the Golden Gong. Apart from Xu Qi'an, who was assigned by Wei Yuan for training, all the other Nightwatchers were under Jiang Luzhong's command.

As for Song Tingfeng and Zhu Guangxiao, they were brought along by Xu Qi'an because the travel allowance was too tempting, and there was also an opportunity to make meritorious contributions.

The man spat out some water and quickly recovered, though his face was pale, probably from being frightened.

"I had too much to drink and came up here to relieve myself. Suddenly I heard someone calling me from the water. I looked down and saw my late mother."

"I don't know what happened, but when I thought of all the little things my elderly mother did to raise me, I was overwhelmed with grief and jumped down."

"I regained consciousness after falling into the water. Even if my mother had become a ghost, how could she be here? But that thing grabbed my foot tightly and dragged me to the bottom of the water."

"It's a water spirit," an experienced boatman said with some fear. "It's a yin creature that turns into a corpse after death, often luring passersby into the water. Countless people die in this canal every year, and the accumulated Yin Qi inevitably gives rise to water spirits."

"Adults, it's best not to go out at night. Water spirits never go ashore. As long as you don't go on deck, you'll be fine. When we go out on the ship, we eat, drink, and relieve ourselves in the cabin every night. That's the rule."

Everyone turned their heads to look at the dark water; encountering something like this late at night was quite eerie.

After this incident, the Tiger Guard soldiers no longer came out at night to relieve themselves, Nightwatchers as usual.

Take Xu Qi'an for example. Every night, he would deliberately go to the deck and ejaculate, but he never encountered the legendary water spirit.

It wasn't that Xu Qi'an was brave enough to ask Shui Mei to take maternity leave; he just wanted to see what the water monkey looked like. In his previous life, he had been terrified by stories about water monkeys.

On this day, the imperial envoy's entourage finally arrived at Qingzhou Wharf.

After arriving in Qingzhou, they would have to switch to the land route, which required carriages and horses, things that the imperial envoy's entourage did not have.

We need to ask the Qingzhou government for help in coordinating the situation.

After disembarking, Governor Zhang walked up to Xu Qi'an with a smile and said, "The Provincial Governor of Qingzhou is Yang Gong Yang Ziqian, a great Confucian scholar from the Cloud Deer Academy."

Xu Qi'an didn't react immediately, so Governor Zhang added, "His pen name Layman Ziyang."