The person who had just spoken to Xu Qing was not Zhang Qifan. Instead, he was a young man seated to the left of Xu Qing and Kong Xianglong, at the same table. He wore a pale yellow robe, and though he was handsome, he had affected a gentle expression that made him seem mild and kind-hearted. He was currently looking at Xu Qing with a smile on his face.

Xu Qing thought back to the introductions from moments before and remembered that this person was the grandson of the Minister of War. His name was Meng Yunbai. 1

Upon hearing Meng Yunbai’s question, the young woman seated next to him looked over. She wore a plain green garment and was very attractive. Her hair was tied into a ponytail, but the pupils of her eyes glittered so bewitchingly that anyone who looked at her would feel shaken to the core. According to Seventh Prince’s introduction, she was Immortal Fairy Gemspirit from the Creation Mansion.

“You smell like a god,” Immortal Fairy Gemspirit said. She was young and pretty, but she spoke with the voice of an old woman, which made her seem somewhat gruish.

Xu Qing looked at Meng Yunbai, then Immortal Fairy Gemspirit. He was about to tactfully decline to answer the question when Meng Yunbai laughed.

“How about we make a deal? You tell me the answer, and I’ll, er, I’ll tell you which of these people already have it out for you and why! How about that?”

Kong Xianglong’s brow furrowed slightly. He was already coming to realize that these people from the imperial capital were no simpletons. Meng Yunbai probably didn’t care about the answer to his question. He was using it as a pretext to show his own attitude. As for whether he had good intentions or not, that was impossible to say. But one thing was for certain: he wanted to influence Xu Qing’s opinions. The main question was whether he would provide legitimate information or lies. However, Kong Xianglong knew that games like that wouldn’t work on Xu Qing.

Xu Qing looked at Meng Yunbai for a moment, then took a jade slip out of his bag of holding and handed it over.

“What’s this?” Meng Yunbai said, his eyebrows shooting up. He scanned the jade slip with divine sense, and then his eyes went wide. He looked back at Xu Qing. “This is how you answered? It’s so comprehensive!”

“Yeah,” Xu Qing said calmly. “Those are basically all the answers that have been given in the assessment of the heart over the past several years in seven prefectures.” 𝘳𝑎.𝗇t

The jade slip was the very same one that the Captain had paid for years ago. He had later given a copy to Xu Qing.

Stunned, Meng Yunbai stared suspiciously at Xu Qing. He instinctively didn’t believe the story, but the jade slip really did have a lot of answers recorded in it. They were very detailed. They even went on to list how high the pillar of light was that came with each answer. At a glance, it was obvious it had taken a lot of money and work to get a list like this. As he hesitated about what to do next, other people at the banquet had somehow begun talking about the Nightshade godchild. The matter had been discussed a lot among the Holytides, and many other people had heard about the situation. Although most people who had been directly involved were dead, it wasn’t possible to stop rumors from spreading.

“You’re talking about that Nightshade godchild? I don’t know all the details, but I heard that big crater outside was made by him. From that alone you can understand the kind of astonishing things he does.”

“Unfortunately, nobody knows where he came from, nor why the Ten Entrails Tree suddenly disappeared.”

“The Nightshades are pure evil, and this godchild is probably more evil than the average Nightshade. Considering their culture revolves so much around sacrifices, I’d say there’s a high likelihood he sacrificed the Ten Entrails Tree to their god Crimson Mother.”

“Your Majesty Seventh Prince, during your victory against the Holytides, did you happen to hear anything about that Nightshade godchild?”

Seventh Prince shook his head. “I heard about the situation, and I did ask some Holytides about it. Based on how they described it, this Nightshade godchild had a shocking cultivation base and an extremely high status. With the wave of his hand, he could unleash the power of Crimson Mother. Even the Nightshade divine likenesses kowtowed to him and called him master.

“Sadly, after he vanished, no trace was ever found of him. Of course, my venerable sister knows much more about the Nightshades than me. Sister, the Creation Mansion oversees such matters, correct?” He looked at Princess Anhai.

Princess Anhai’s face remained expressionless as she spoke in a cold voice that matched her demeanor. “In all likelihood, the Nightshade godchild came from the Moonrite Region. It’s only there that the true family of Crimson Mother exists, and is kept like livestock.”

Xu Qing’s gaze sharpened. He hadn’t heard information like that before, but it made sense.

Off to the side, Kong Xianglong took a sip of alcohol to prevent himself from glancing at Xu Qing. He had not forgotten that Xu Qing and the Captain had disguised themselves as Nightshades and infiltrated this very area. And it was after they went on their mission that the whole Nightshade godchild incident occurred….

Everyone else present nodded knowingly in response to Princess Anhai’s assessment. However, Seventh Prince suddenly turned to Xu Qing and smiled.

“Xu Qing, Sea-Sealing County isn’t too far away from here. Did you hear about that Nightshade godchild?”

Xu Qing looked Seventh Prince in the eyes and said, “I heard about it after the fact.”

Seventh Prince smiled and said nothing further.

Xu Qing betrayed no reaction whatsoever. Eventually, the topic of conversation changed to topics relating to other species on the Revered Ancient mainland. For instance, they started talking about the Firemoon Darkheaven people, and their upcoming Great Hunt of Species. Everyone present seemed incensed.

At one point, everyone started praising Seventh Prince for his great service in bringing back the Holytides. He simply smiled in response. Discussion shifted to Dawning Sun, and the situation with humankind in other counties. People mentioned other random anecdotes and rumors. Xu Qing and Kong Xianglong didn’t participate in any of the chatter. They weren’t informed enough.

Then, out of nowhere, someone suddenly obliquely criticized Xu Qing.

“Your Majesty Seventh Prince, I’ve always been the kind of person to speak directly, and tend to offend people. You yourself have pointed that out to me. But I really just have to get this off my chest…. I just can’t hold it in! There’s someone who forgets favors and violates justice here! It’s disgraceful!”

The person who said this was the descendant of Heavenly Marquis Luo. Based on Seventh Prince’s introduction, his name was Luo Jinsong. 2

As he was speaking, he was looking straight at Xu Qing.

Xu Qing didn’t react. From a young age, he had witnessed the ugliness of humanity. And he had long since learned that when a person started a conversation by jabbering about their own personality, it usually meant that whatever came after that was hostile. As he sat there, he heard Meng Yunbai whispering into his ear as quietly as a mosquito.

“Brother Xu Qing, that’s Luo Jinsong. He’s not at all as direct as he just claimed to be. Let me tell you, he’s not the only person in the imperial capital who’s supposedly a descendant of a heavenly marquis. There are others. And all they have to rely on is past glory. They have no true authority or power. What’s more, few of them are talented in any way. Their bloodlines have become far too diluted.

“And that’s exactly what Luo Jinsong is like. He’s clever, and fancies himself a follower of Seventh Prince. But Seventh Prince doesn’t care about him one bit. That’s why he’s calling you out in front of everyone. It’s all to curry favor with Seventh Prince.

“Of course, he’s no fool, and has surely considered that Seventh Prince might not be too pleased by him doing this. But as long as rumors start to spread that he’s close with Seventh Prince, then he doesn’t care. I guess what he doesn’t realize is that people who are merely clever will always be that: just clever.”

Meanwhile, Luo Jinsong was glaring at Xu Qing with malice in his eyes. “It was a tough choice to try to save Sea-Sealing County, Your Majesty Seventh Prince. But you stood your ground against the opinion of the masses. In the heat of the fighting with the Nightshades, you led your army to Sea-Sealing County and saved them from imminent peril. You saved countless lives!

“Then you personally led the troops into battle, braving death to dauntlessly advance across the field of battle. The Holytides fell back again and again! If it wasn’t for their ancestral emperor achieving a breakthrough, I bet all of the Holytide Region would already be human territory again!

“Despite that, you still accomplished amazing things. You brought the Holytides back to humankind, thus earning glory in all of Revered Ancient. All the while, someone was behind your back slandering you in the most contemptible fashion! As a result, His Majesty the emperor reprimanded you for failing to manage the situation properly!”

Luo Jinsong was clearly turning right into wrong and obscuring the truth. The banquet hall went completely quiet.

Seventh Prince coolly said, “Shut up.”

Luo Jinsong stood, clasped hands, and bowed to Seventh Prince. Then he looked up and angrily continued, “Your Majesty, you are benevolent and generous by nature. In your righteous nobility, you decline to haggle with the hoi polloi. But I personally just can’t stand for this! Some dog got his life saved, only to forget favors and violate justice.” 𝑖𝘦.𝒸𝘰𝘮

With that, he sat back down, lifted his alcohol flagon, and took a long drink. Everyone else in the crowd looked at Xu Qing with a variety of different facial expressions. That included Meng Yunbai.

Xu Qing still betrayed no reaction whatsoever. He naturally didn’t put much stock in what Meng Yunbai had just told him. Luo Jinsong seemed like he was saying these things to Seventh Prince because he was outraged by injustice. But Xu Qing’s way of dealing with things in life had changed. He didn’t just pay attention to what was right in front of him. He had learned to widen his view and look at the situation from a more broad perspective. Doing so in this situation led to some different insights. It seemed unlikely that Luo Jinsong was simply doing this to curry favor with Seventh Prince. He was trying to open up some old scars and stir up some sort of controversy. Xu Qing noted that Princess Anhai’s facial expression had remained the same the whole time, and that she was just sitting there quietly instead of getting involved.

Kong Xianglong, in contrast, still kept his sight on what was right in front of him. He was already getting mad, and it looked like he was about to say something. Before he could, Xu Qing reached out and put his hand on his shoulder. Standing, he turned to Seventh Prince and Princess Anhai.

“Your Majesty. Princess. I only arrived today, and I’m tired from traveling. If there’s no official business to attend to, I’ll take my leave for now.”

Seventh Prince’s eyes glittered with profound light, and he smiled. It looked like he was about to speak, but before he could, Zhang Qifan from the Supreme Void Demonization Sect, who was sitting directly across from Xu Qing, slapped the table in front of him. As the bang echoed out, he shot to his feet and looked furiously at Luo Jinsong.

“That’s complete nonsense! Having just returned today, I got in touch with good friends of mine in my sect, and got all the details about the war. I know exactly what Secretary-General Xu did! You talk of Sea-Sealing County being saved from destruction? Well I’m from Sea-Sealing County, and I’d like to ask you, when the Holytides invaded, where were the relief troops? When countless Sea-Sealing cultivators were sacrificing their lives on the northern and western fronts, where were the reinforcements?

“My county marshaled all of its troops to defend against the forces of an entire region! They bitterly endured for months. The palace lord of our Swordsage Palace died! Countless people lost their lives. And who was it that stood atop all those corpses and gloriously accepted the credit for the win?

“If the backup troops had arrived earlier by one incense stick’s worth of time, then our palace lord wouldn’t be dead! Based on what I’ve heard, the relief troops actually left the imperial capital in plenty of time to arrive much earlier! What were the relief troops doing? Waiting for everyone else to die before they swooped in? I suppose they were worried if there were too many survivors, they would have to split the rewards too many times?

“Since you brought up managing the situation improperly… if a member of Torchlight was actually appointed as governor, then would Sea-Sealing County even be controlled by humans anymore? If that’s not failing to manage the situation properly, then what is?”

Xu Qing’s eyes narrowed. Kong Xianglong looked at him, and he suddenly realized what was going on. Zhang Qifan’s words came seemingly out of nowhere. Someone here wanted to use Xu Qing and Kong Xianglong to fan the flames of conflict!

Things had just settled down in Sea-Sealing County, and now was definitely not the time to be stirring up the pot. The county had just experienced a war and an attempted coup, and was still in the process of recovering. If things suddenly got out of control again, it could cause big problems. Most importantly, after the repeated catastrophes, the people of the county wouldn’t easily trust another leader.

And yet now, someone was muddying the waters for as-yet unknown reasons.

1. Meng Yunbai: Meng is #71 on the list of 100 common surnames. It’s the same surname as Meng Hao from ISSTH (I’m not implying that’s relevant, just pointing it out). Yun means “cloud” and Bai means “white, pure.” Madam Deathblade says that the cloud and sky imagery is impressive, but at the same time, seems like the name of a quiet and mellow person. ?

2. Luo Jinsong: Luo is #20 on the list of 100 surnames. Jin means “strength, energy, enthusiasm” and Song means “pine (tree), relaxed.” Madam Deathblade says this sounds like the name of a persistent and towering figure. ?

Updated from 𝑖𝘦.𝒸𝘰𝘮