Crush an Ant Like Me to Death

"Wait!" Young Master Zhou barked at the jailer, glaring at the green-robed official:

"This man attacked me in the street and tried to kill me. I'm the victim."

He narrowed his eyes and said pointedly, "My lord, don't meddle in other people's business."

The other man was a Principal Fifth Rank official, worlds apart from his father, like clouds from mud. Even so, he was an official of the Ministry of Justice and had nothing to do with the Ministry of Revenue.

Young Master Zhou could not afford to put things too bluntly. He could only hope the man would take the hint: offending a vice minister's son, no matter the circumstances, was extremely unwise.

In officialdom, nothing was more taboo than making unnecessary enemies.

To his surprise, the green-robed official was not intimidated in the least. Instead, he sneered. "Young Master Zhou, save those words for the minister outside."

Young Master Zhou frowned and exchanged a glance with the old man. Uncle Chen said quietly, "Minister Sun and your father have long been on good terms."

The unspoken half of his statement meant that, barring anything unexpected, the minister would not intervene.

Conversely, his intervention meant there was a problem.

Unwilling to let the cooked duck fly away just like that, Young Master Zhou followed close behind. As long as the problem was not serious, he would immediately seize Xu Qi'an again, put him straight to torture, and kill the brat.

When Xu Qi'an emerged from the Ministry of Justice's prison, bright sunlight shone down on him. He narrowed his eyes as they struggled to adjust.

He followed the green-robed official into the courtyard of the Ministry of Justice's offices, where quite a few people had gathered. There were Ministry of Justice officials in robes of various colors, a dozen or so young people dressed in white, two carriages and dead horses, and two elderly men in scholars' robes with strikingly distinguished bearing.

Young Master Zhou saw them as well and was somewhat bewildered, unsure what had happened.

Young Master Zhou heard the clatter of shackles stop. That damned Xu Qi'an had halted and turned around. He said, enunciating each word:

"You should be glad you didn't torture me. Let me introduce myself again. I'm the supervisor's newest disciple."

The old man's expression changed drastically.

Young Master Zhou's expression instantly slipped beyond his control.

That's impossible. He can't be the supervisor's disciple.

But at the sight of the Bureau of Astronomy's white-robed members filling the courtyard, Young Master Zhou and the old man fell silent.

Xu Qi'an ignored the two of them and strode forward. He glanced over the white-robed people and was surprised not to see Miss Caiwei.

That flat-chested little beauty with the oval face isn't here?

Head Constable Wang delivered the Alchemy manual, but Miss Caiwei isn't here. Did the Bureau of Astronomy's Alchemists see what was in the book and come to save me?

Or was Miss Caiwei tied up with something and unable to leave, so she asked her fellow disciples to save me!

Xu Qi'an took a deep breath. Amid the clatter of his shackles, he said, "Xu Qi'an greets his senior brothers."

"Senior brothers?" Song Qing was taken aback. He scrutinized Xu Qi'an. "You wrote the book?"

His gaze was somewhat hostile. Xu Qi'an nodded. "This isn't the place to talk. Once we leave the Ministry of Justice, whatever you want to ask, Senior Brother, Ningyan will tell you everything he knows, without holding anything back."

Seeing Xu Qi'an talking with the Bureau of Astronomy's white-robed members, Young Master Zhou looked somewhat dazed. He stiffly looked away, unwilling to believe from the bottom of his heart that it was true. He hurried over to Minister Sun and said in a low voice:

"Lord Sun, the people from the Bureau of Astronomy..."

Minister Sun glanced at him. "They came to demand his release."

Young Master Zhou swayed.

The thin old man's breathing suddenly quickened.

He really is the supervisor's disciple?! That's impossible. Besides, if he were the supervisor's disciple, the tax silver case could never have implicated the Xu Household.

The tax silver case!!

A possibility occurred to the thin old man. What if the supervisor took him as a disciple after the tax silver case?

He had indeed solved the mystery of the tax silver and refined fake silver. With such a genius who had taught himself Alchemy, it was possible that the supervisor had taken a liking to his talent and made an exception to accept him as a disciple. It was even highly likely.

Besides, if he were not the supervisor's disciple, how could he have gotten this group of white-robed people to gather here?

At that moment, the thin old man noticed the two great scholars standing silently, as well as the strangely dead horses.

He studied them intently for a moment, then his body suddenly jolted. He recognized the two great scholars from Cloud Deer Academy.

The thin old man's throat bobbed. "Minister, those two great scholars..."

"They also came to demand his release," Minister Sun said expressionlessly.

Young Master Zhou's face went rigid. He turned his head bit by bit to look at the old man.

"You're Xu Qi'an?"

Xu Qi'an turned toward the voice. The speaker was an old man in gray robes with a goatee. He thought, Who are you, old sir?

"I'm Cijiu's teacher," said the other old man, who wore blue robes. He studied Xu Qi'an with a gentle smile. "Fear not that the road ahead holds no kindred soul; who under heaven does not know your name? Did you write that?"

"A clumsy piece of work from this junior. I hope you won't laugh at it, Senior," Xu Qi'an said. "My courtesy name is Ningyan."

Introducing one's courtesy name to a stranger was the most basic etiquette, as addressing someone directly by their given name was highly taboo. If one did not introduce one's courtesy name, the implicit meaning was that one did not wish to make the other's acquaintance.

The smile on the blue-robed old man's face deepened.

"Now that matters here are settled, let's leave the Ministry of Justice first," Song Qing urged from the other side, unable to restrain himself.

A jailer immediately stepped forward and unlocked Xu Qi'an's leg irons and cangue.

"All right!" Xu Qi'an nodded.

Smiles appeared on the faces of the Bureau of Astronomy's members. Their goal had been achieved, and they were getting him back. They looked forward immensely to the conversation ahead.

The two great scholars, Li Mubai and Zhang Shen, were also unwilling to linger, for a fierce battle to win him over awaited them.

"Whew!"

Seeing Xu Qi'an leave with the others, Young Master Zhou breathed a sigh of relief. A wariness and lingering fear he was unwilling to admit rose in his heart.

"Wait!" Xu Qi'an suddenly stopped.

The Bureau of Astronomy's members and the two great scholars looked at him.

"There's one more thing I need to take care of." Xu Qi'an cupped his hands and turned toward Young Master Zhou. As he passed the jailer, he snatched the plank-like cangue from him.

"Y-you, what are you trying to do?" Young Master Zhou backed away in alarm.

"Xu Qi'an, my father is the vice minister of revenue. You dare touch me? You dare attack me at the Ministry of Justice? Lord Sun, Minister Sun, seize this scoundrel, quickly! Uncle Chen, save me!"

Bang!

Xu Qi'an swung the cangue and smashed it viciously into Zhou Li's head. Broken wood flew in every direction.

Young Master Zhou's eyes rolled back, and he fell stiffly backward. Bright red blood flowed through his hair.

Xu Qi'an looked at the thin old man without expression. "Crush me to death."

The entire courtyard fell silent!

"In front of my senior brothers and all the lords of the Ministry of Justice, in front of the two great scholars, crush an ant like me to death. Hurry up."

The anger that had surged onto the thin old man's face receded like the tide. He stood frozen, not daring to move a muscle.

I've taken a trip through the gates of hell. Sure enough, only the child of an official can deal with another official's child. The law's fairness and justice only apply among ordinary people. Bathed in the early winter sunlight, Xu Qi'an felt as though he had been given a new lease on life.

Just after leaving the Ministry of Justice's offices, Xu Qi'an saw two horses galloping toward him from the end of the long street. They were Xu Erlang and Second Uncle Xu.

Father and son also saw Xu Qi'an surrounded by the Bureau of Astronomy's white-robed members. The tension visibly left Second Uncle Xu's face.

Why are the Bureau of Astronomy's people here? A flicker of puzzlement passed through Second Uncle Xu's eyes. He was himself an expert at the peak of the Qi Refining Realm and had fought in the Battle of Shanhai Pass. He would not worship the Bureau of Astronomy's warlocks like gods the way ordinary people did.

Xu Xinnian reined in his horse and discreetly studied his cousin. He breathed a slight sigh of relief, then bowed deeply with cupped hands. "Thank you, Teacher. Thank you, Master Mubai."

Xu Qi'an could only cup his hands first to the Bureau of Astronomy's members, then join his younger cousin in bowing again to the two great scholars.

Li Mubai said regretfully, "With such poetic talent, how did you end up as a yamen runner? Ningyan, would you be interested in coming to Cloud Deer Academy to cultivate the Confucian Dao?"

They've known each other for less than two quarters of an hour, and he's already calling him Ningyan. Zhang Shen added, "As it happens, you could become this old man's disciple."

Xu Qi'an: "???"

The third update will be tonight.