Chapter 2: If you live long, you go far.
Several black umbrellas carefully escorted the woman in white dress out of dozens of steps, onto a carriage waiting there.
The young man who came out from the half-collapsed incense and oil store always looked at the white-skirted woman without slanting his eyes, until the white-skirted woman lifted the curtain and sat in, he only sighed and said, "It's really beautiful."
The black-clothed swordsmith who dropped down to sit not far in front of him also came back to his senses, and thinking of the significance of the white-skirted woman's short three words, a feeling of great elation and shock to the point of numbness first filled his body.
"Pretty?"
It was only next that he began to chew on the words of the teenager behind him. There was no doubt about the beauty of the Head of the Night Division, but for a giant of the country like her, a cultivator that one could only look up to, it seemed like blasphemy to even use the word "beautiful" to describe her appearance.
The sound of horses' hooves rose, and the carriage carrying the female head of the Great Qin Dynasty instantly disappeared into the smoky rain.
The majority of the black-clothed swordsmen also disappeared into the streets as quickly and silently as they had come.
The streets and alleys that were lost in the rain finally woke up completely, and more and more people stepped out of their homes to come and see what was going on, but in just a few breaths, the sound of countless gold and iron striking the ground overshadowed the sound of rain and thunder.
In an instant, the countless surging chariots formed an iron wall, blocking their sight.
"Your name is Ding Ning, from the Sycamore Drop Wine Shop? How did you end up here to beat the scented oil?"
Under a makeshift, crude rain shelter, a middle-aged, slightly chubby official with a slightly balding head asked as he handed a dry cloth to the teenager, who was also nearly drenched.
The official's complexion looked very amiable, because of the rush, his forehead even flushed with a bit of grease, giving people a more mediocre feeling, but the vast majority of the officials and sergeants around the rows deliberately kept a certain distance from him, because the Changling people who were a little insightful, all knew that he was Mo Qinggong.
Shendu Supervisor a few of the most experienced "evil dog".
"Vicious dog" is definitely not a complimentary name, but it implies a lot of meaning, in addition to vicious, keen sense of smell, often also means that there are enough teeth and powerful backers. For this kind of exceptionally difficult and can not reach out to fight the "evil dog", the best way is to respect and far away.
At this moment, he had just arrived, his breath had not calmed down, but in his hand there were already dozens of case files, one of which had already recorded the identity of the teenager in front of him in detail, which made people a little suspicious.
This teenager named Ding Ning, however, didn't even realize the frightening nature of the slightly chubby middle-aged official who seemed to be very well-spoken, as he casually wiped the muddy water on his face with the dry cloth handed to him by Mo Qinggong, and while surveying the morose-cold chariot covered with a tiger's head motif and the wolf tattoos on the hilts of the green-armored swordsmen's swords on the chariot with his curious gaze, he didn't answer Mo Qinggong's question at first, but instead asked rhetorically: "Is this our Great Qin's Tiger and Wolf Army?"
Mo Qinggong wiped the beads of sweat on his forehead and replied, "Precisely."
"Who exactly lives in that small courtyard?" After rubbing all the dust and dirt from his face, the more elegant and aura-inspired Ding Ning said with a serious face, "To actually have to raise such a large crowd?"
Mo Qinggong felt more and more interesting about Ding Ning, the calm aura on the other party's body all made him inexplicably infected and calmed down a bit, and his eyes gradually glowed with some strange colors.
"Have you ever heard of a sword furnace?" He didn't get angry and asked back in a pleasant manner.
"Zhao's Sword Furnace?" Ding Ning was a bit out of breath.
"Precisely." Mo Qinggong looked at him amiably and said patiently, "Since the beginning of the conquests between the Great Qin Dynasty and the State of Zhao, the world has only come to understand that the strongest cultivation place in the State of Zhao isn't the Qingyang Sword Pagoda, but rather, it's that seemingly ordinary ironworker's store. The eight true disciples of the Sword Furnace are all existences that can slaughter a city with a single sword. The State of Zhao has been destroyed by our dynasty for thirteen years, but those remaining members of the Sword Furnace are still thorns in the throat of my Qin Dynasty, and one day will not be able to feel at ease until they are removed. The one who was executed today is the seventh disciple of the Sword Furnace, Zhao Zhan."
"No wonder..." said Ding Ning thoughtfully as he looked through the gap in the chariot at the small courtyard that had been swept away, with a number of cultivators scrutinizing every tiny corner.
Mo Qinggong smiled faintly, "Now do you want to understand why I asked you these trivial questions in the first place?"
Ding Ning nodded seriously, "With a great enemy bandit like this lurking here, all the people in the vicinity, of course, have to be inventoried, especially those like me who don't originally reside on this side of the country, and even more so, they have to be asked clearly."
Mo Qinggong nodded slightly in appreciation, "So now you can answer my earlier question?"
Ding Ning smiled and said, "Actually, it's just that that incense and oil store over there of ours hasn't been doing business for the past two days, so it had to come here nearby, not expecting to be delayed by a rainstorm, much less expecting to run into just such a thing."
Mo Qinggong was silent for a moment, then casually grabbed the umbrella from his side and handed it to Ding Ning, "In that case, you may leave."
Ding Ning was somewhat surprised, his eyes clearing as he asked, "It's that simple?"
"Still can't leave? Don't seek trouble for yourself!" Mo Qinggong chided in a good-natured and amused manner, waving his hand, signaling the teenager to leave quickly.
"Then your umbrella?"
"If I don't come to take it, I'll give it to you."
......
Looking at Ding Ning's back, Mo Qinggong's complexion grew cold, and after a moment of contemplation, he barked out a low voice behind him beyond the rain shelter, "Recruit Qin Huishu to come here!"
A withered young man in a green shirt and plain clothes walked into this makeshift rain shelter shortly after his gulp.
Mo Qinggong raised his head slightly and looked at the young man who walked in front of him, his fingers gently tapping on the unfolded case file in front of him, tapping continuously for more than ten marks before he slowly asked, "Wutong fall this young man named Ding Ning, this preparation file was made by you, do you have any impression of it?"
The withered young man stood with his head hanging down respectfully, and said without condescension, "Yes."
Mo Qing Gong coldly glanced at him and said in a deep voice: "According to this preparation paper, his and his sister-in-law who runs a liquor store's origins can be said to be clean to the extreme, but the key lies in why did you make such a preparation paper in the first place?"
The withered young man seemed to have long anticipated that he would ask such a question, and returned without any delay: "This young man is indeed a member of our Qin people without a doubt, and the history of the previous generations is also very clear, the reason why my subordinate made this investigation dossier is because Marquis Fang had contact with him, and Marquis Fang had specially invited Fang Xiu Mou to go and see him."
Mo Qing Gong was stunned, "Fang Marquis?"
The withered young man nodded, "This young man has been taken care of by his sister-in-law since he was young after his parents died of illness, and his sister-in-law has a wine store in Wutong Fall, which is extremely small but very famous. Marquis Fang's people went to this wine store and purchased wine, about because they felt that this son had some potential, they specially asked Fang Xiu Mou to personally come and see him."
Mo Qing Gong frowned slightly, his fingers unconsciously tapping on the case file again.
"What happened afterward?" He pondered for a moment and asked.
The withered young man replied seriously, "After Fang Xiu Mou had seen it, Marquis Fang never had contact with this son again. My subordinate deduced that it should be because Fang Xiubiao felt that he was not good enough to become a cultivator. Furthermore, this son's identity is lowly and his origin is without suspicion, so my subordinate just did the usual docket sealing and didn't spend any more effort to investigate further."
For the first time, Mo Qing Gong's eyes showed an expression of commendation, "You did well."
The withered young man's demeanor remained unchanged, stoically saying, "My subordinate is just doing his part."
Mo Qing Gong thought for a moment and asked, "The wine from a small wine store in a place like Wutong Drop can enter the eyes of Marquis Fang?"
The withered young man shook his head, "His family's wine store is only famous because his sister-in-law is extremely beautiful."
Mo Qing Gong was completely stunned.
The withered young man still did not raise his head, but the corners of his mouth spread an imperceptible smile, thinking that if you, my lord, had really seen that woman, I'm afraid that you would be even more stunned.
Mo Qing Gong laughed mockingly and suddenly looked at the withered young man seriously and said softly, "This time, when the Spirit Void Sword Sect opened the mountain gate, I put you on the list of recommendations."
"My lord!"
Previously, this withered young man had always maintained a respectful and composed stance, however, this whisper from Mo Qinggong caused his body to tremble violently as if he was being bombarded by five thunderbolts, and he uncontrollably let out a cry of alarm.
Mo Qing Gong's divine appearance however did not change much, he patted this emotional young man's shoulder and said in a slow voice, "Before you go to the Spirit Void Sword Sect to cultivate, do me one last favor, help me to double check the origins of him and the people around him, and help me to find out clearly what judgment Fang Xiu Mou has made about him."
......
All of Changling's streets and alleys, just like what Zhao Zhan had said, were straight, horizontal and vertical, and even the one corner building was evenly distributed throughout the city.
At this moment, on a corner building closest to this rainshelter of Mo Qing Gong, behind the curtain-like rain curtain, a purple rattan chair was placed, and on the chair sat an old man dressed in ordinary plain cloth, with sparse white hair hanging like ginseng whiskers over his shoulders.
Behind the old man was a long-bodied young man dressed in yellow cloth.
The young man's face was elegant, his demeanor quiet and gentle, belonging to the type that one could easily feel good at first sight, and at this moment, his hands were hanging down on the back of the purple rattan chair, appearing modest and intimate.
"What are you thinking about?"
The old man retracted his gaze that had fallen into the distance, smiled faintly, and took the initiative to say.
The yellow-shirted young man moved his feet lightly and walked to the old man's side, respectfully saying, "Master, since Night Head of the Division was able to kill Zhao Zhan alone, it means that she has at least stepped over the threshold of the middle grade of the seventh realm, it's just that I don't understand that at this moment in Changling... besides Night Head of the Division, there is still someone else who is able to kill Zhao Zhan alone, so why does His Majesty have to have the Night Head of the Division, who is far away from the country, to come back? The Night Division Head who is practicing cultivation to come back?"
The old man smiled faintly and stretched out his withered branch-like finger, pointing towards the front of the rain curtain outside the corner tower: "What do you see?"
The yellow-shirted young man gazed hard, like a waterfall of torrential rain, but only saw flat streets and alleys, he replied somewhat apologetically, "Disciple is incompetent, I look to my master for guidance."
"You are looking too close, you only see these streets and alleys in front of you, you cannot see the borders of Changling." The old man narrowed his eyes slightly and said slowly, "But you should know that this city, is the only capital city in the world that does not have an outer city wall. The reason why there is no need for a retaining wall is because the sword of every one of our Qin people is the wall."
The yellow-shirted young man's face grew solemn and silent.
"His Majesty, or Minister Li, sees much farther than you do."
The old man kindly glanced at this yellow-shirted young man, but said with some mockery, "There are at least two layers of intent in summoning the head of the Night Division back. One layer is that although there is no lack of strong members of our dynasty who can independently kill Zhao Zhan in the Changling, an additional surge of one is always one more point of power. Previously, although the head of the Night Division had already gained a great deal of prestige, however, most people suspected that she hadn't even crossed into the seventh realm yet. Today, Night Chief's sword assassination of Zhao Zhan will be the loudest thunderbolt in the fall, and my Changling's invisible wall will be one point thicker. Another layer of intent is that the Night Chief has been practicing overseas for several years, including some doubts in our hearts, wondering if the Night Chief does not have His Majesty's trust and is equivalent to being banished, and now that the Night Chief has suddenly returned to get rid of the sins, this can only mean that His Majesty's connection with the Night Chief has always been very close, and the rumors and doubts will not be dispelled by themselves."
"Minister Li indeed sees much farther than I do." The yellow-shirted young man let out a soft sigh.
When he spat out the words "Minister Li", he looked both admiring and ashamed.
Prime Minister Li was an honorable title.
The Great Qin Dynasty had two prime ministers, one surnamed Yan and the other surnamed Li.
These two prime ministers were different in age, appearance, preferences, and strengths, but equally mysterious and powerful.
Their mystery and power lay in the fact that most of the city of Changling was shrouded in their shadows, in the fact that everyone was sure that they were powerful practitioners, but no one had ever seen them in action, and not even a few people were qualified to see their true faces.
Truly powerful... lies in the fact that many people who are already strong and feared in this world are still just their loyal subordinates.
Those who were too strong often had no friends.
Therefore, in Changling, whenever Yan Xiang or Li Xiang were mentioned, the corresponding emotions were often awe, fear, and resentment, but rarely was there any true admiration in the eyes of this yellow-shirted young man.
"Master's opinion should be good, His Majesty's cultivation is the main focus during this period of time, this kind of thing should be Li Xiang's main concern... It's just that the Deer Mountain Alliance is just around the corner, and at this time summoning the night chief of the division back, he should still have more ideas." After a light sigh, the yellow-shirted young man pondered for a moment and continued.
The old man smiled in satisfaction.
In his opinion, this shut-in disciple of his was indeed not considered to be exceptionally gifted and intelligent, but his disposition was just as straight and open as Changling's path.
There was no innate hostility towards anyone, and he looked at people with the attitude of earnestly learning from each other's strengths.
Such a person, in such a windy Qin Dynasty, then live long and go far.
There is no problem with not seeing things far enough for the time being, as long as you can go far enough to see things, there will always be more than others.
......
Rare rainstorm temporarily can not see the meaning of stopping, the whole Changling street, accumulated a layer of thin water.
The face has been wiped clean, but the clothes are still full of stains Ding Ning, is a foot deep and a foot shallow towards a lot of sycamore trees planted in a street.
