Was this for real?
The moment Chen Qing entered the capital, Wang Ye told him what had happened at the court assembly, leaving him utterly dumbfounded.
He had meant to lie low in the north for a while, but from what Wang Ye was saying, if he could settle the Thousand-Faced Fox incident, he could become the prefect of Liuzhou outright?
Hiss...
For a moment, Chen Qing felt as though he were dreaming, but he was also torn.
Honestly, he certainly wanted a promotion. The path he wanted to take had requirements for official rank, and the higher his rank, the faster his strength would increase.
The downside was that the location was less than ideal...
Conditions in the north might be harsh, but it was heavily garrisoned. Yanyun was a region every military strategist had to fight for. Having finally conquered it, the court would surely attach immense importance to it. Countless bloodline descendants were bound to be stationed there, and the forces behind the Thousand-Faced Fox probably could not reach that far.
Liuzhou was different. Its mountains were beautiful, its waters clear, and its treasury full, but its drawbacks were equally obvious. Painted Skin Mister's example showed that Jiangnan was probably overrun with demons by now. Moreover, he had spent years laying his plans in Liuzhou. Even if Painted Skin was dead, some of his other arrangements surely remained.
Add in the fallback measures of the forces behind him, and staying there would be extremely risky!
"You said the Duke of Qin recommended me?" Chen Qing asked curiously.
"Yes..." Wang Ye nodded. Although his body was a puppet's, for some unknown reason, his movements had recently become increasingly coordinated and fluid. He really looked no different from a living person.
"Actually, I wanted to ask you about that myself. When did you establish a connection with His Grace, Lord Chen?"
"I don't even know who he is, all right?" Chen Qing rolled his eyes.
As a farmer's son, his knowledge of the situation at court had always been limited. Moreover, the court seemed to deliberately downplay the reputations of those meritorious nobles, and he rarely heard about the deeds of the dukes.
Wang Ye nodded at that. "It's best if you haven't. The Duke of Qin holds considerable power. You could practically call him the foremost of the military nobles. But right now, it's like oil boiling over a raging fire. You'd best avoid getting involved with him..."
"Why?" Chen Qing asked curiously.
Wang Ye patiently gave him a detailed account of the Duke of Qin's current standing and circumstances, leaving Chen Qing repeatedly stunned.
The gist was that, during the struggle for the realm, there had been an incredibly badass figure who called himself the King of Qin. He had almost unified the realm, only to be exposed as a demon at the final hurdle.
This had sparked enormous turmoil. Many of the Aristocratic Clans beneath him had immediately rebelled, while outside forces launched desperate counterattacks. In less than half a year, that swaggering King of Qin had been driven to his death.
After the King of Qin's death, several powerful Aristocratic Clans under his command had divided his forces among themselves. The two strongest had been the Xiao Household, the current imperial family, and the Lu Household of Lu Ming, the Duke of Qin!
This should have marked the beginning of another great upheaval of warring military factions. At the crucial moment, however, the Lu Household had abandoned its ambitions for supremacy. Using its prestige, it had brought many of the King of Qin's former followers under the Xiao Household's banner. Together, the two households had gathered eighty percent of the King of Qin's former forces, pacified the Central Plains in just ten years, and founded the Great Jin dynasty!
According to Wang Ye, the Duke of Qin had been exceedingly humble and sensible after the dynasty's founding. Not only had he declined enfeoffment as a king of a different surname, accepting only a dukedom, but he also kept to himself and never formed factions. Yet even so, five of the eight dukes were close friends of his, and the Lu Household's Heavenly Qilin Guard was the strongest army in Great Jin!
After hearing all this, Chen Qing's head began to buzz. Fuck, this was absolutely the kind of script where, unless you rebelled, your entire household would be executed...
Are you out of your mind? What did I ever do to you? Why the hell did you have to recommend me?
"I... haven't offended this Duke of Qin, have I?" Chen Qing looked miserable. This really was... one enormous black pot falling out of the sky for him to shoulder...
"Hard to say..." Wang Ye chuckled. "Do you know who Jiangnan's education commissioner is?"
"The education commissioner?" Chen Qing thought back. "From what General Wei said, I think his name is Lu Hongqing... Uh, don't tell me?"
"Exactly!" Wang Ye sipped his tea and said leisurely, "They're from the same household. He's the Duke of Qin's fourth son, born of a concubine."
"Huh?" A chill settled in Chen Qing's heart.
"But he isn't favored," Wang Ye said evenly. "I heard this concubine-born son suffered terribly at the hands of the duke's principal wife. His birth mother was a lowly concubine, and she found an excuse to have her beaten to death. His younger sister by the same mother was also tormented to death by the principal wife under all sorts of pretexts. After passing the metropolitan examination and becoming a jinshi, he moved out of the duke's estate. Supposedly, he never went back. Later, because of his unusual potential, the previous minister of personnel took a liking to him and personally trained him. He completed his apprenticeship at just thirty-four, becoming Great Jin's youngest education commissioner!"
"Hiss..." Chen Qing sucked in a cold breath.
These waters ran deep...
The Duke of Qin's son was an education commissioner, and Jiangnan's education commissioner at that. Was he connected to this incident in Liuzhou?
And why had the Duke of Qin suddenly recommended him?
What was the connection between all this?
The more Chen Qing thought, the colder his heart grew. The Thousand-Faced Fox incident had to have the backing of some big shot in the capital. From what Wang Ye was saying, the Duke of Qin was highly suspicious. Now he had deliberately recommended Chen Qing, too. Just what was he planning?
Seeing that Chen Qing's surprise did not seem feigned, an inscrutable look flickered through Wang Ye's eyes. He had investigated Chen Qing before coming to see him. In theory, the man should not have had any entanglements with the Duke of Qin.
But this fellow was exceedingly good at putting on an act. Some things really were hard to say...
"According to the final decision, Vice Minister of Justice Pei Jun will be responsible for this investigation alongside you. Yuchi Peng's primary duty will be to ensure your safety!"
"Ensure my safety..." Chen Qing gave him an odd look.
He had no idea what method the man before him had used to get Yuchi Peng to help conceal the matter of Ghost Child. Ghost Child was now hidden in the mountains outside the capital and could not protect him for the time being. He really could only rely on Yuchi Peng.
But he was more concerned about something else.
"You won't be participating in the investigation into the Thousand-Faced Fox, my lord?"
After all, Wang Ye had originally been in charge of this case, yet from his tone, he had been excluded entirely.
Wang Ye smiled and glanced outside. Chen Qing followed his gaze and immediately spotted a black-clad guard hidden in the shadows, holding a notebook and recording their conversation...
Chen Qing swallowed. Fortunately, he had not said anything he should not have just now...
It seemed those above did not entirely trust Wang Ye's current condition. Then again, that made sense. The Thousand-Faced Fox incident concerned the foundations of the state. Naturally, they could not take any risks...
"This Lord Pei Jun... ahem, is he easy to get along with?" Chen Qing asked, fishing for information.
After all, he had yet to enter officialdom. A farm boy like him knew absolutely nothing about these things.
"Lord Pei Jun is exceptionally talented, and his attainments in spell formulas surpass mine. He is also His Highness the Crown Prince's cousin. Rest assured, he is absolutely reliable."
Chen Qing: "..."
A top-tier beneficiary of connections. He didn't sound reliable at all...
"Yuchi Peng is observing mourning in the mourning hall today. The court has granted him half a day. This afternoon, you can have the messenger officer notify him to assist with the investigation."
Chen Qing fell silent for a few seconds before asking, "Where is Yuchi Residence?"
"You want to pay a visit?" Wang Ye was amused. "The situation is urgent. This is hardly the time for you to cultivate personal ties."
"The demon fox visited Yuchi Residence, after all. It might have left some traces."
"I see..." Wang Ye looked at the guard responsible for recording their conversation. The guard nodded slightly, and Wang Ye turned back. "Then have the messenger officer take you there..."
"So this is Yuchi Residence..." Chen Qing looked up at the plaque. The entire entrance looked imposing and grand, truly befitting an Aristocratic Clan of military officers.
According to Wang Ye, the Yuchi Household enjoyed deep imperial trust. Not only had it inherited the ducal title, but, in keeping with tradition, it had also been entrusted with command of the imperial guards.
That was why Yuchi Peng had been transferred from the north to Jiangnan early on. No matter how magnanimous the emperor was, he would never allow a single Lineage to both command the imperial guards and hold a general's post in a major frontier garrison!
White mourning silk hung all over Yuchi Residence. Clearly, the household was in mourning. His guess had indeed been correct: the Yuchi Household's old matriarch had been murdered.
This made Chen Qing yearn even more to grow stronger. If even a duke's family members could be murdered, it showed just how dangerous this world was...
"Lord Chen, you're here?"
As he was reflecting on this, a familiar voice rang out. Chen Qing looked up, then froze.
It was someone he knew: Wei Gongcheng, the very man he had used in Liuzhou. He looked to be in very poor condition, sitting in a wheelchair that someone behind him had to push.
"Have your injuries still not healed, General Wei?" Chen Qing stepped forward and asked with concern.
He had seen Wei Gongcheng unconscious before, but there had not seemed to be any serious external injuries. How had he ended up needing a wheelchair?
"This condition of mine..." Wei Gongcheng shook his head with a bitter smile. "The Feigning Death Secret Technique caused severe damage to my spine. A physician examined me. Most likely, I won't recover."
"Uh..." Chen Qing's expression stiffened, and a trace of guilt welled up inside him.
The man was actually quite decent, yet Chen Qing had not hesitated in the slightest when using him to draw out Painted Skin Mister's accomplices. He did not know whether it was his imagination, but he always felt as though he had become much more cold-blooded than in his previous life...
"I didn't think things through..."
"It wasn't your fault, my lord." Wei Gongcheng smiled. "I was overconfident, too. If I'd managed to get word to General Yuchi in secret, I wouldn't have been driven to the point of using the Feigning Death Secret Technique..."
As he spoke, he looked inside. "You're here to see the general, aren't you, my lord? He's observing mourning in the mourning hall. I'll take you there."
Chen Qing nodded and followed him slowly into the estate. What puzzled him, however, was that neither Wei Gongcheng nor the servant pushing his wheelchair seemed to register the black-clad guard following Chen Qing at all, as though they could not see him.
Even if he was only a low-ranking guard, he had still been sent by those above. Surely they ought to show him some respect?
The group continued to the mourning hall. From a considerable distance away, Chen Qing spotted Yuchi Peng kneeling inside.
"They're reciting the eulogy. Please wait a moment, my lord..." Wei Gongcheng said with a gentle smile.
Chen Qing nodded, then looked curiously at a man beside Yuchi Peng. To his surprise, he discovered that the man looked remarkably like Wei Gongcheng!
Seeing Chen Qing looking at the man, Wei Gongcheng explained from beside him, "That's my elder brother, Wei Gongyan. By custom, the legitimate son of the Heavenly Peng in each generation must have a member of the Wei Household at his side. In my current condition, I can no longer follow the general, so the Lineage had to send someone else..."
The corner of Chen Qing's mouth twitched. Great... He'd lost his livelihood, too.
He did not know whether the man was deliberately playing the pity card. In any case, throughout their journey here, Chen Qing had felt his scant remaining conscience taking repeated blows.
"What are your plans from here on, General Wei?"
"Me?" Wei Gongcheng paused, then smiled bitterly. "What plans could I have? When a military officer becomes a cripple, isn't early retirement all that's left?"
"Since you're retiring, why not go somewhere else for a while, General? A change of scenery might help your mood."
"Go somewhere else?" Wei Gongcheng paused again.
"Yes..." Chen Qing smiled. "If the investigation goes smoothly, according to Lord Wang, I should be taking office in Liuzhou. With its beautiful mountains and clear waters, Liuzhou is better suited to recuperation than the capital. Would you be willing to come with me, General?"
At those words, Wei Gongcheng failed to react for quite some time. Only after a long while did he look blankly at Chen Qing and say, one word at a time, "Lord Chen, are you... recruiting me?"
Meanwhile, the black-clad guard beside them remained expressionless, his brush moving stiffly over the paper as he recorded: Chen Qing recruited Wei Gongcheng, a concubine-born son of the Wei Household...
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