Drei Mandarinenten und eineinhalb

Kapitel 57

The carefree old man put down his knife, casually picked up a cloth, and wiped away the pig's blood from his wound. He smiled and replied:

"How about it? Not bad, right? Interested in learning? Using it to kill people is much more fun than slaughtering pigs."

"Of course I have to! Now that I'm your apprentice, I have to learn one or two of your special skills! Otherwise, people will definitely say that I'm a fake apprentice," Leng Jie said exaggeratedly.

"You little brat, are you indirectly criticizing your teacher for not teaching you any skills?" Old Man Wuyou glared at him and said with dissatisfaction.

Leng Jie retorted confidently, "You said those words yourself. Your disciple didn't say that."

"Do you think the internal energy in your body fell from the sky?" the carefree old man roared angrily.

"Master! Are you saying that the internal energy in Junior Sister's body is yours? When did this happen? How come I didn't know?" Qingfeng Bulengjie asked in even greater astonishment.

The carefree old man rolled his eyes at Qingfeng and snorted coldly, "Hmph! If you knew, would I still be your master?"

That's for the idiot queen, not for me, Leng Jie thought to herself. But she didn't dare say it aloud.

"Hehe! So Master favors his disciple so much! Master, rest assured, I will definitely cook you the most delicious dinner later to repay your kindness in passing on your skills."

Upon hearing that there was something delicious to eat, the carefree old man's anger immediately dissipated.

"That's more like it. You can take your time here for now. I'll teach you knife skills and another set of sword techniques suitable for girls tonight."

He gave his instructions, unusually seriously:

"Qingfeng, come with me to the study. I have something to tell you."

Leng Jie deftly cleaned the pig intestines. Then, mimicking her master's movements and using her internal energy, she quickly chopped a plate of meat chunks, mixed in seasonings, and began stuffing sausages. She had learned this skill from a local villager during her first mission in Sichuan. To extract as much of the old man's expertise as possible, she was even using her secret techniques.

After stuffing the sausages, she evenly coated the remaining meat with salt and hung it up. The cured pork was now ready. She had easily handled a whole pig just like that. She was even a little impressed with herself.

The following dinner was a piece of cake for her. But knowing it was her last meal and she would be leaving the next day, she prepared each dish with great care.

In the quaint study, Qingfeng and his master were locked in a tense argument.

"No, I don't care. I don't even know them, what do I care if they live or die? Didn't you teach me to be ruthless and show no mercy to anyone? I've done that now! And you want me to be kind-hearted. Master, don't you think that's contradictory?"

This was the first time he'd seen Qingfeng so serious. The carefree old man earnestly advised him:

"I teach you to be ruthless. But that's for enemies! I need you to save your family now. How is that contradictory?"

Qingfeng turned his head and replied resolutely:

"I don't care. In my heart, I only had Master as family before. Now I have Junior Sister and Xuanyuan. I don't know anyone else. Besides, if they were my family, why did they abandon me in the first place?"

“I told you, they didn’t abandon you. It’s just that Master has a destiny with you, which is why he took you in. Your mother refused no matter what. I told her that if she didn’t hand you over to me, you wouldn’t live past five. If she handed you over to me, I promised to return you safely when you turned twenty. Although she was skeptical at the time, she had no choice but to hand you over to me for your safety. Just think how heartbroken she must have been all these years! Don’t you want to go back and see her?” the carefree old man explained.

After hearing the explanation, Qingfeng snorted coldly, "Hmph! Why hasn't Shangxin come to see me all these years? Master Rongguo broke his promise. Then I can go back to see her before the end of this year. As for what happens to her family, that's none of my business."

This is his limit!

The carefree old man, Tu Er'an, felt he had taught Qingfeng too successfully. So much so that he ruthlessly declared he wouldn't even acknowledge blood relatives anymore. Left with no other option, he reluctantly resorted to his last resort.

"What if I asked you to go back for your junior sister's sake? Would you still not be willing then?"

Qingfeng Miangxian was taken aback for a moment, but knowing his master well, he immediately realized what was happening and replied in disbelief:

"What does this have to do with my junior sister? Don't try to fool me. This isn't the first time I've been tricked."

"Don't you even believe your teacher's words anymore? Even if you're not worried about your parents' lives, think about it. Once your treacherous half-brother kills your parents and seizes the throne of Beifeng, given Beifeng's current strength and his ambition, won't he immediately raise an army and march south to attack Jinghe? You've spent three years in the Jinghe palace with the emperor. You should know that, given Jinghe's current strength, it's no longer able to fight without the help of the secret agents."

“But my junior sister has already left the palace, so even if there’s a war, it’s none of her business.” Qingfeng still didn’t believe it. He knew Xuanyuan’s strength, and he believed that even without the Dark Guard, he was enough to rival the Northern Feng Kingdom.

The carefree old man saw through Qingfeng's thoughts and said, "You don't know that your younger brother married the princess of Xiping Kingdom, do you? Just think about it, when they attack Jinghe from the west and the north at the same time, can your brother Xuanyuan handle it?"

Seeing that Qingfeng was starting to consider it, he added fuel to the fire, saying, "I know you don't want to inherit the throne. Don't worry. As long as you can go back and protect your father for three more years, you can do whatever you want after that. I will never force you again. Haven't you already stayed in the Jinghe Palace for three years? Going back to the Beifeng Palace for another three years shouldn't be a problem, right? Just consider it as using three years to repay their kindness in raising you."

"If you tell me the truth, what does this have to do with my junior sister? Then I'd be willing to go back and stay trapped for another three years."

Qingfeng knew his master was hiding many things about Xiaojie from him. This was evident from the fact that he didn't even know Xiaojie's inner energy had been passed down to her by his master. His master had known Xiaojie for a long time, but the young lady didn't remember her past. If his master didn't tell him, there was nothing he could do. He had originally intended to stay with Xiaojie, so whether he knew or not wouldn't matter, as long as she was safe. But now he'd been gone for three years; how could he possibly be at ease?

Finally, he understood. The carefree old man laughed heartily, "Anyway, you won't harm her, so telling you won't hurt. Your junior sister is the master of this realm's Jinghe Dark Division. Now you should understand whether it has anything to do with her or not."

Qingfeng stared at his master in astonishment, shaking his head in disbelief as he said:

"Impossible! Isn't Jinghe's secret service only under the emperor's control? How could Xiao Jie be the head of the secret service? And how could she know about the secret service that even Xuan Yuan Dou doesn't know about?"

But Qingfeng immediately thought of how she taught him to break the curse on Shi Yu. Then he remembered that she was Leng Xiang's daughter. And Leng Xiang was the last person to see the late emperor. Xuanyuan had always suspected that Leng Xiang had taken the secret techniques of the Dark Guard. Suddenly, Qingfeng felt an indescribable pang of sorrow welling up inside him. Had she never trusted his mother? Why? Was he so unworthy of a newcomer?

The carefree old man, who saw through Qingfeng's thoughts, didn't want any misunderstandings to arise between them. He defended Leng Jie, saying:

“You can’t blame Xiaojie for this. She didn’t lie to you; she really doesn’t remember Leng Xiang. Think about it, she’s a frail woman who has just awakened from her mental lapse, and suddenly she has to shoulder such a heavy burden. How difficult it must be for her. So, as her senior brother, you should be more understanding of her.”

“I don’t blame her, but I’m worried about whether she can do it. Why doesn’t she hand this responsibility over to Xuanyuan?” Qingfeng asked, calming himself down.

"You've known her for so long, you should understand her capabilities. She always has her reasons for doing things. Don't underestimate her just because she's a woman. Her abilities are no less than any man's."

Of course, the inner deity understood this. But no matter how strong she was, in his eyes she was still a weak woman who needed protection.

"Master, could you let me take her to Qizhou first, and then go to Beifeng?" Qingfeng pleaded.

“No, you won’t be of any help with the Qizhou matter. But the Beifeng matter is urgent. You two will leave together tomorrow, one heading north and the other east. If you manage your time well, you can arrive at your respective destinations almost simultaneously,” the carefree old man said resolutely. Then, seemingly realizing he had been too harsh, he paused for a moment and said gently:

"The way of a teacher is to follow your heart. Just remember, what is destined to happen will happen."

Will she be part of his destiny? Qingfeng dared not think about it too much; he only knew that his mind and heart were filled with her!

Humans are truly strange creatures. Some people can live together for a year, ten years, or even longer, and then leave without a second thought. But some people, even after just one day together, can evoke a feeling of déjà vu, as if they've known each other for a lifetime.

Leng Jie felt exactly that way. Only after leaving Wuyou Valley did she realize the attachment and reluctance she felt. Although she had only known her master for less than a day, and he had only taught her one set of saber techniques and one set of sword techniques, and she hadn't even wanted to acknowledge him at first, he was now the only person in the world she felt genuinely close to, and the only one who truly understood her background. She couldn't deny that she had come to consider this world her home.

Emerging from Tianmu Mountain, she parted ways with Qingfeng. Following her master's instructions, she rode swiftly towards Qizhou. Along the way, she also left behind coded signals for her rendezvous with the secret agents. She instructed them to follow the marks she left behind to meet her in Qizhou.

Furthermore, although she was on her journey, she did not forget the other task Xuanyuan had given her: to inspect the hardships of the people for the emperor. She found that the closer she got to Qizhou, the more desolate the villages and towns became. This inevitably reminded her of the plague that had struck here a few months ago. The current desolation suggested just how severe the situation had been back then.

Judging from its climate and geological conditions, Qizhou should be a fertile region extremely suitable for growing high-yield crops like rice. However, after staying overnight at the home of an elderly woman, Leng Jie learned that the people's living standards were far from satisfactory. It wasn't even the New Year yet, and almost eight out of ten families were out of food. A quick inquiry revealed the root of their problem: they were planting millet, which was better suited to barren, arid land, in this fertile soil. This completely incompatible cropping left even a layman like Leng Jie feeling both amused and bewildered.

Leng Jie wondered how they, who had been farmers for generations, wouldn't know what to grow on their land. So, she went around in circles before finally finding out. It turned out that their area had suffered two consecutive years of flooding, so the prefect, a northerner, ordered them to convert all their paddy fields into dry land. Then, he sold them millet, transported from the north, at a high price, to grow as a staple food. He touted it as not only high-yielding but also more valuable than the rice they used to eat, promising higher profits. The honest people believed the words of the steward, who was hailed as a benevolent official. However, the outcome was predictable.

Upon hearing this, Leng Jie wanted to go and chop that brainless prefect to pieces. However, she was currently preoccupied with other matters and couldn't spare the time. Besides, solving the farmers' planting problems wasn't something that could be done in a day or two. She secretly wrote a detailed report on the situation that night, attaching her own suggestions. Then, the next day, when she arrived at the next town, she found the Longmen branch and had them forward the letter directly to the sect leader for processing. She continued on her journey. However, this unexpected new song she heard attracted two annoying followers.

These two were Yang Pu and Yuan Zheng, who had just come to Qizhou on business. Upon receiving news of the Third Master's appearance in Qizhou, they immediately waited at the city gate. When Leng Jie arrived at the city gate on her precious horse, it was too late to turn back.

"Third Sect Master, we've finally been waiting for you."

Leng Jie stepped forward helplessly and asked, "Didn't you go back to the capital? Why have you come to Qizhou again?"

"We received orders from the Second Sect Master halfway here, asking us to come to Qizhou to investigate something. But as soon as we arrived, we heard that you were also coming this way. So we waited for you here," Yuan Zheng replied hastily.

"You're here on business, not for anything important. What are you doing here looking for me? I've been traveling all over the place," Leng Jie said sternly.

Yangpu answered first:

"The sect leader said that we two are the third sect leader's men, so we've always followed you. But last time you left with the divine doctor without even saying goodbye to us. As a result, we got a good scolding from the sect leader. We almost lost our livelihood. You can't leave us behind again this time."

Seeing how serious they were, Leng Jie had no choice. She needed help finding the Leng family anyway, and being all alone, having two people around to coordinate things might be a good thing. However, a few rules were essential.

"It's not impossible for you to follow me. But you must obey my orders completely. Without my command, you are not allowed to reveal that we are from the Dragon Gate. You are not allowed to tell the Sect Master or the Second Sect Master a single word that I have not told you to say. Also, you must first complete the tasks assigned by the Second Sect Master. Then you can come and stay at the inn with me."

"Yes, sir!" the two men announced with grins.

As soon as they entered the city, Leng Jie jumped off her horse, took the reins, and said as she walked:

Let's find an inn first!

Having had two unusual experiences staying at inns before, Leng Jie now always puts on the veil that a young lady from a wealthy family would wear before entering an inn. Actually, this was her first time staying at an inn on this journey. Normally, to save time, she would travel to wherever it got dark and rest wherever she could find shelter. If she came across a village, she would just find a place to stay for the night, leaving some silver behind and quietly leaving the next day. If she missed a village, she would simply find a tree to spend the night under.

Now that she had arrived in Qizhou City, she was practically at home. In order to make contact with the secret service that had followed her and to find out what had happened to Leng Xiang, she needed a place to stay. Now that she had two companions with her, she couldn't just stay at any house.

The "Qixin Inn" wasn't large, but it was very clean. Because of the plague, few outsiders visited Qizhou, so most of the inns and restaurants there were just getting by, swatting flies. Leng Jie and her companions booked three superior rooms, making the landlady beam with joy. Upon hearing they would be staying for half a month, she immediately gave them a free meal.

Knowing that they weren't having an easy time either, Leng Jie smiled and declined. She paid for the meal as agreed. This touched the woman so much that she ordered the waiter to prepare hot water and changed her bedding.

Chapter Ninety-Two: Meeting Father and Brother at Night

Prime Minister Leng was a veteran of three reigns, and the Leng family was a prominent clan in Qizhou. Everyone in Qizhou knew of the Leng family. Leng Jie chatted casually with the innkeeper and quickly learned the exact location of the Leng residence outside Qizhou city.

After nightfall, having sent her two sycophants back to their rooms to sleep, Leng Jie, dressed in night clothes, stepped out of the inn's window. Light as a feather, she moved with the speed of the wind, leaping over rows of rooftops and soaring over the high city walls, heading directly towards the outskirts of Qizhou City.

Once outside the city, all around was silent and dark. The only brightly lit mansion in the darkness was undoubtedly her destination. Leng Jie landed gracefully on the wide stone steps. Before the thick, deep red wooden doors stood two enormous stone lions, imposing and majestic. Above the wide lintel, two golden plaques bearing the inscription "Leng Mansion" by the late emperor gleamed under the glow of the fiery red lanterns.

Yes, this was her body's home! Perhaps it was because this body was close to her family that it sensed something. Leng Jie suddenly felt a little restless. She didn't know much about the Leng family, so she decided to investigate secretly now. Suppressing her restlessness, she went around to a secluded backyard wall and leaped inside.

Following the similar architectural structure of Jinghe's house, Leng Jie quickly found the study. Inside, there were lights and voices, and servants stood guard outside. She hung upside down under the eaves like a black bat, observing the activity inside through the window.

"Prime Minister! I hope you will reconsider. My young master said that if you are willing to come out of seclusion to help, this matter will be one hundred percent certain. At that time, you will still be the head of the Three Dukes, second only to the emperor, and the Prime Minister."

The speaker was a middle-aged scholar seated in the guest section, seemingly refined but with large, cunning, triangular eyes. Leng Jie had always disliked men with such eyes. One glance was enough to place him among her enemies. It seemed she had arrived at the perfect time! But who was this man?

The man in the main seat, a man in his fifties who still possessed a youthful and refined air, exuding nobility and shrewdness, sat with his fingertips pointing towards the main figure. He replied nonchalantly:

"Please go back and tell your master that I have done my duty to the country and the world. Now I am old and frail and only wish to sit at home and enjoy my old age. I am no longer able to deal with the affairs of the court."

The Prime Minister? Needless to say, this must be her father. It seems he was quite a handsome man in his youth! He made a good first impression on Leng Jie. Leng Jie unconsciously gave him an 80 out of 100 in her mind.

Seeing that bribery had failed, the middle-aged scholar's eyes flashed, and he switched to using emotional manipulation. He said with feigned seriousness:

"You should think about yourself, and also about your role as the Empress's daughter! It's common knowledge that the Emperor dotes on Consort Shui. You have no idea how miserable Her Majesty the Empress has been since you left the court! Her life has been worse than that of a disgraced concubine in the Cold Palace! The young master said that as long as you agree to help, after it's done, you can decide for yourself whether you want her to continue as Empress or take her home."

Leng Xiang was visibly startled! You's expression darkened, and a sharp glint flashed in his previously seemingly harmless eyes. However, he quickly regained his composure. Then, looking at the tea in his hand with a guilty expression, he pondered for a moment before saying softly:

"That's her fate! I'm powerless to change it!"

Hearing this, Leng Jie felt lucky to have arrived just in time. She hadn't even had to put in any effort to find the crux of the problem. She couldn't help but admire her master's brilliant foresight! Suppressing her excitement, she continued to listen to their conversation calmly.

"How could he be powerless! If it weren't for your strong protection of him back then, how could that mere child have secured the throne? But now, his wings have barely hardened a little. The first thing he did was collude with the Shui family to target you, sir. Just think about it, isn't this ungrateful and a case of discarding a useful tool after it has served its purpose? How can such a person be a role model for the world, how can he govern the country well!" The middle-aged scholar indignantly protested for Prime Minister Leng.

Leng Xiang lowered his head, sipping his tea in silence, his emotions unreadable.

The middle-aged scholar continued:

"I just don't understand. Are you really content with this and not angry at all? You have disciples everywhere. If you just raise your voice, that little emperor would have no chance against you!"

Leng Jie was now beginning to admire this middle-aged lobbyist. She realized he was very adept at exploiting Ren Xin's dark and vulnerable side. She was also curious whether her father, who had risen to the position of prime minister, had truly stepped down willingly.

The cold-faced official took a sip of fragrant tea, then looked up and met the probing gaze of the middle-aged scholar's triangular eyes with a calm expression. He said solemnly:

"Mr. Zhong, I cannot agree with your words! I was entrusted by the late Emperor to assist the new Emperor. Now that the new Emperor is wise and capable, he is fully capable of shouldering this great responsibility. It is only natural for me to retire after fulfilling my duty. How has this become a fault of the Emperor in your words? If that is the case, then it is I who am in the wrong. It is I who failed to consider the Emperor's reputation and resigned without authorization, which has led to such unjust words!"

The middle-aged scholar surnamed Zhong was immediately dumbfounded! It was common knowledge that the Prime Minister had been forced out of court by the Emperor. He simply couldn't believe that someone who had served as an official for decades would willingly step down voluntarily.

Leng Jie secretly chuckled to herself. It seemed her father was indeed a hunter-level expert. His words were impeccable; no wonder Xuan Yuan had searched for three years without finding any leverage against him.

“It is late now. Mr. Zhong is a guest, so please stay here for the night if you don’t mind. Come back early tomorrow morning!” Leng Xiang said politely, acting as the host. Then he called out to the door, “Steward Sun, take Mr. Zhong to the guest room and treat him well!”