Number Two's question

In this era, the method of producing seedless loquats can definitely be called a secret technique.

But for Xu Qi'an, who had studied junior high school biology well, this was just basic stuff. He even knew that poor plants had to ask the bee, their Old Wang, for help with reproduction if they wanted to reproduce.

The atmosphere suddenly became tense. Xu Qi'an's words caught the officials off guard and left them in disbelief. They had been utterly amazed when they first learned about the method for removing the pits from loquats.

Unexpectedly, a small copper gong revealed the answer in a single sentence.

Li Miaozhen opened her beautiful eyes wide and began to examine Xiao Tongluo again. She realized that she might have guessed wrong. This Tongluo might be a lecherous man whose body had been emptied by wine and women, but he was not a good-for-nothing. He had some skills.

To be seated at the head table by Governor Zhang, he must have some ability. Li Miaozhen put away her contempt, and immediately realized that she had underestimated him.

The other silver and bronze gongs were placed on other tables, so why was this young man allowed to sit next to the governor?

This can't be explained simply by "having some skill." Were the other silver and bronze gong players not talented?

"Ha, he's hoisted himself by his own petard." Li Miaozhen sneered gloatingly, delighted to see Governor Song suffer such a setback.

Even with Song's consummate political skills, the shame in his heart still surged. His previous flowery words, about the protection of the White Emperor and the influence of incense, were brutally exposed in front of everyone, including the governor.

"Ningyan, such petty tricks will naturally be explained to me by Provincial Governor Song. Why are you making such a fuss?" Governor Zhang reprimanded.

On the surface, he reprimanded Xu Qi'an, but in reality, he was subtly mocking Governor Song.

"May I ask your honorable name, sir?" However, after the governor's interruption, the provincial treasurer finally recovered and asked with an unchanged expression.

"My surname is Xu, my given name is Qi'an, and my courtesy name is Ningyan," Xu Qi'an replied.

"This young man is quite talented." Zhang Xun stroked his beard and smiled as he raised Xu Qi'an's head.

Sure enough, the officials turned their attention back to him, pondering the identity of this gong-bearer and his position in the governor's entourage.

"So his name is Xu Qi'an. Hmm, that name sounds familiar." Li Miaozhen thought for a moment and remembered who Xu Qi'an was. She remembered that Number Three had mentioned this person before and praised him highly.

It's him. To be valued so highly by Number Three, he's truly extraordinary.

An awkward situation was abruptly resolved by Governor Song, who casually introduced the local customs and culture of Yunzhou, making no mention of the loquats, proving that he was still quite bothered by the matter.

When Governor Zhang was slightly tipsy, the banquet ended. He didn't get completely drunk, nor did he make the thoughtless suggestion to go to the Imperial Academy of Music; otherwise, Song Tingfeng would have been very pleased.

Such elegant banquets tend to avoid excessive extravagance and debauchery, much like how officials in the imperial court almost never visited the Imperial Academy of Music.

When you reach a certain position, your status will push you to pay attention to your image. Even if you are a huge corrupt official, the outward image you present must be virtuous and upright.

Take Xu Qi'an for example. He can now take advantage of others for free because he is young and of low status.

But when he one day rises to a high position of power, he will have to pay.

After leaving the mansion, Governor Zhang and the officials bowed to each other outside the mansion to say goodbye. Then they got into their carriages and drove away.

After the carriage had traveled some distance, he lifted the curtain of the carriage window and praised, "Ningyan, well done."

Xu Qi'an knew he was referring to the loquat seedless matter, so he said, "It's a small matter."

Governor Zhang clicked his tongue twice, his tone becoming increasingly casual and unpretentious as they spoke. "You're even knowledgeable about agriculture?" he asked.

Before Xu Qi'an could answer, Jiang Luzhong, who was ahead, interjected with a smile, "He's even proficient in Alchemy, no less skilled than the white-robed officials of the Bureau of Astronomy."

"You've already fooled me, so what am I supposed to pretend to be?" Xu Qi'an corrected, "Wrong, the white-robed officials of the Bureau of Astronomy should call me half-master."

The three of them burst into laughter.

Xu Qi'an then asked, "Why are you so amiable today, sir?"

Governor Zhang glanced back at the now-obscured mansion and said in a deep voice, "Yunzhou should be led by Provincial Governor Song; he is at odds with Yang Chuannan."

Xu Qi'an recalled for a moment, "He was a bit cold, but Yang Chuannan was cold to everyone."

Governor Zhang sneered, "This shows that most officials in Yunzhou are surnamed Song."

Please enlighten me, sir.

"Among the three offices, the Commander-in-Chief's Office has the most power, but the one who greeted me just now was the Provincial Administration Commissioner Song. Although the Provincial Administration Commissioner should appear on such an occasion, if you think about it carefully, the person he introduced to me first was the Provincial Judicial Commissioner, not the Commander-in-Chief. It is obvious that the two of them do not get along."

"I noticed during the banquet that Yang Chuannan mostly remained silent, while the Provincial Treasurer acted as if he were the master of the house. Ah, this is a very important thing in officialdom; one cannot overstep one's bounds," Governor Zhang said with a smile.

"Ningyan, learn from this."

"Why would a martial artist like me need to learn these things?" Xu Qi'an secretly noted.

"And now it all makes sense," Governor Zhang said. "Do you know why that man surnamed Song brought loquats to the banquet?"

"Trying to show off?" Xu Qi'an shook his head. "I don't know."

"Anyone with a modicum of curiosity would have pressed for an answer, but his refusal was a mild but effective way of intimidating me," Governor Zhang sneered.

"And then give me a hint: eliminate one person, and Yunzhou will be safe. Just like the loquat."

Who needs to be eliminated is self-evident.

"Are you officials really that serious? All you do is scheme and plot against each other all day long, "Xu Qi'an said, rubbing his temples in exasperation.

Duke Wei is right. I am indeed not suited for officialdom. A person's energy is limited. I should dedicate half to Fuxiang and save the other half for cultivation.

I no longer have the energy to navigate the officialdom.

Xu Qi'an looked troubled, which made Governor Zhang laugh heartily, instantly putting his mind at ease.

"Your Excellency, how about we play another riddle?" Xu Qi'an said with a half-smile.

Governor Zhang instinctively wanted to refuse, but feeling his scholarly dignity had been challenged, he raised an eyebrow and said, "You speak."

"A woman giving birth, guess four characters," Xu Qi'an said with a smile.

Governor Zhang's face gradually stiffened, then became blank, then filled with impotent rage. He then lowered the curtain of the carriage window.

"Hahaha." Jiang Luzhong and Xu Qi'an burst into laughter in unison.

"Hmph!" came the governor's cold snort from inside the carriage.

On the other side, Commander Yang Chuannan entered the carriage. Just as he lowered the curtain, it was lifted again, and Li Miaozhen, with her high ponytail and dashing appearance, stepped forward.

"You entered my carriage in front of everyone, aren't you afraid of damaging your reputation?" Yang Chuannan frowned.

"People of the martial world don't care about such things." Li Miaozhen waved her hand. "I came to ask about your situation. That governor seemed quite polite. Maybe it was just a formality. Do you want to spend some money to smooth things over?"

She knew the rules of the Great Feng officialdom: money made you a friend; without money, even your own brothers would remain impartial.

"Giving money to the censor? Don't you want to die fast enough?" Yang Chuannan shook his head and said:

"It would be worth considering wiping them all out in Yunzhou."

Li Miaozhen rolled her eyes. "What do you think of this governor?"

"The Doctrine of the Mean," Yang Chuannan commented.

"That's good, the more incompetent he is, the safer you are," Li Miaozhen said with a smile.

"Mediocrity doesn't mean being mediocre." Yang Chuannan shook his head. "Those who don't show their claws are the most dangerous. They might be secretly gathering strength to deliver a fatal blow."

He paused, then continued, "We need to be careful with that gong-bearer."

Li Miaozhen, who already knew Xu Qi'an was unusual, raised her eyebrows and asked, "What did you see?"

The wheels rumbled, and Yang Chuannan lifted the swaying curtains, glanced at the night outside, and pondered, "His sword is different from other Nightwatchers's, but it is still a sword, not some other weapon."

"As far as I know, the Nightwatchers's sword comes from the Bureau of Astronomy and belongs to the category of semi- Law Artifact. There is only one explanation: this person is wearing a Law Artifact."

Li Miaozhen nodded. "Those who can use Law Artifact either have an unusual status or an unusual relationship with the Bureau of Astronomy."

"His demeanor is also off. I've observed him; although he's very honest and reserved when he's not speaking, he doesn't actually show much respect to either Governor Zhang or Song Changfu. This can be understood as the arrogance of a martial artist, but it's truly rare for someone at the Qi Refining Realm to have such arrogance."

As for Jiang Luzhong, a fourth-rank official, there's not much to say about him; all you should do is be wary of him.

Back at the post station, Xu Qi'an, who still had to work himself to the bone to cultivate immortality, wrote down the two sets of coded messages left by Zhou Min on Xuan paper.

In the end, I was the only one who carried the burden. This advancement system to the Spirit Refining Realm would have been incredibly popular in my time. Guys would have grinded it out of thin air, until their hair fell out, until their girlfriends were traumatized. Oh, and if they didn't have girlfriends, that was fine too.

"Old Jiang once said that a martial artist improves himself step by step, eventually becoming a terrifying being like a god or Gods and Devils. The Essence Refining Realm and the Qi Refining Realm are more like the martial arts movies I watched in my past life, and they were low-level martial arts. But after the Spirit Refining Realm, the level is raised. The Qi Refining Realm still needs to eat and sleep, but I suspect that the Spirit Refining Realm can go for long periods of time without sleep. That's already inhuman."

Xu Qi'an's guess was reasonable. The Essence Refining Realm tempers the body, allowing martial artists to fight at high intensity. The Spirit Refining Realm tempers the Primordial Spirit, and the way to advance is by working overtime and staying up all night.

Once you successfully advance to the Refining Spirit Refining Realm, both your physical body and Primordial Spirit can work at high intensity for extended periods without sleep or rest.

Including the martial arts system, all major cultivation systems are cyclical and progressive, with each level laying the foundation for the next.

For example, in the Warlock System, the Healer rank lays the groundwork for Qi-Watching Technique, which in turn lays the foundation for Feng Qi-Watching Technique Feng Shui Master, and the enhanced version of Feng Shui Master is Array Master.

It's very logical and gives people a sense of a down-to-earth, practical path to advancement, rather than something fantastical.

His thoughts returned to the case. "The code isn't from the Nightwatchers's office; it must have been created by Zhou Min himself. That's a bit outrageous. Who could guess it? It's as difficult as if I left a code: 'Withered leaves, young oranges, pear blossoms, thin gauze, fallen flowers fill the sky, sea wing follows.'"

"Looking across the entire land, there is no one in the world who can match him."

"I did too much profiling today, my brain cells are severely depleted, but I can't sleep, it's so boring. If Fuxiang were here, we could do some enjoyable exercise, but I might suddenly die on her white belly."

Just then, he suddenly felt a pang of heart palpitation and almost died suddenly.

He quickly took a deep breath, then pulled the fragment of the Earth Book from under his pillow, ready to angrily berate which idiot was chatting in the group in the middle of the night. But upon closer inspection:

[Number 2:3, I have some questions for you. You can offer one condition in exchange.]

Number Two, is that the female soldier? I was just worried I wouldn't have a chance to test her. Xu Qi'an used his finger as a pen to type: [Heh, I'd like to hear your question first.]

P. S.: Your monthly tickets will go bad if you don't use them! Please vote for me, everyone!!!