Chapter 8: Sister, Why Would You Peek at Your Brother

 

Chapter 8: Sister, Why Would You Peek at Your Brother

(T/N: After sitting in the draft half-completed for the past week, it is finally done. Bear in mind that this is currently a passion project and I don't have much free time, so don't expect a stable release. Once again, I can't guarantee anything.

To the person that had been commenting, I do read them and it brightened my day. You know who you are. Thank you. Anyway, enjoy the release.)

Under the deafening silence, the aunt was the first to react as she yelled out in a shrill voice. “Nian’er…”

The parents worked together and rescued their dearest son that had zero desire to live. The aunt held the son and cried her heart out, while the second uncle stood aside and sighed deeply.

Xu Qi'An stared at the petrified cousin brother of his, he understood how Xu Xing’Nian felt deep within his heart.

A young man would be in the worst spot when they were: caught by their parents doing the ‘barrel cleaning’ using both hands; being heard clearly when sneakily commenting about a female teacher’s big *ss; being called out for a cringey smut story that they wrote privately.

(T/N: I wonder why was it so specific. Author’s past experience maybe? :^) )

Each of the aforementioned matter would be incredibly shameful to a person.

‘I am a trained professional. I will not laugh no mater how funny…’ Xu Qi'An had giggled at the side.

Xu Ling’Yue turned around and begrudgingly pouted at the elder brother (Xu Qi'An), silently berating him for gloating at the poor guy. Xu Ling’Yin planned to ask for candies from the elder brother, but had refrained from doing so after seeing what happened.

Xu Xing’Nian was indeed a scholar. He quickly thought of a solution with his quick wit. Hence, he rolled his eyes and flopped his body, rapidly losing consciousness.

…

In the courtyard that belonged to Xu Qi'An, he took off his clothes and soaked inside a wooden bathtub within his small house. The cool water soaked through his pores and relaxed his body.

Him at the peak of the Body-Refinement Stage was incredibly resistant to cold.

The biggest advantage of a martial artist was that their bodies were tough and could be ‘handled roughly’ (sexual innuendo that’s lost in translation.)

After being relieved from the life or death crisis, he could finally settle down. He thought of some philosophical questions about life.

‘Why were there no memories of the original host when the body was about to die or lose consciousness in that cell?’

Xu Qi'An knew exactly how he died in his past life, which was most probably caused by alcohol poisoning. But the original host did not seem to have any recollection about how he died.

As for Xu Qi'An himself, it was probably alcohol poisoning. He drank too much alcohol because he had been promoted and let himself go too much.

After quitting from the police force, he chose to start his own business. He was taught a painful lesson by society at the second year, then came to terms and started working from the bottom.

He became a foolhardy wage slave.

Utilizing his talent to grind out work hours, and his technique in ‘handling his desires in an empty room with one hand’, he finally impressed his boss. He was promoted and given a greater salary, successfully turning himself into a middle-classed citizen.

He went outside jubilantly and brought a few friends to celebrate in the bar. Since he could clearly grasp the future that he desired at this point. Which was to pay his mortgage, afford to marry, have a wife with beautiful children… as long as the neighbor was not an ugly bastard, he would have a good life ahead of him.

Bang! He slammed his palm onto the water surface, causing a big splash and was annoyed. “I worked hard to achieve a middle-class status, only to be smacked in the face by destiny. Now being sent to this feudal society… what shitty luck.”

“There’s still 60 thousand dollars’ worth of down-payment in my bank account. The saddest part of it is none other than losing all money while still being alive? No, no way, it is that the person is dead but all his money still remains…”

“Whatever, consider it my inheritance to my parents. Don’t know if the inheritance tax is high… Give me another season and I’ll reach Challenger.” (Highest competitive rank in League of Legends.)

“Shit. There’s 120 GBs of ‘homework’ that I hadn’t deleted in my hard drive…”

‘If my parents had discovered it, I might as well be erased from existence!!’

He somehow fell asleep. The sky had darkened as he woke up.

His whole body was pale from soaking in water and his fingers were creased. Xu Qi'An put on clean clothes and tied his hair in front of a copper mirror.

Within the reflection, it showed the face of a young lad. Bushy dark brows and sharp eyes. Due to the fact that he practiced martial arts for a long time, the shape of his face was sharp and rigid.

“Although it was not comparable to the face in my past life, which was handsomer that Tony Leung on a good day and better than Louis Koo on the worst day—the most attractive face that would shock the CCP itself; this face is acceptable too…” Xu Qi'An nodded silently.

(T/N: google the names if you’re interested, the author actually wrote all that lmao.)

Moreover, his body was way stronger to the one he had in his past life.

At least, he was a martial artist here.

“But that may not be a good thing, I’d rather transmigrate to the actual ancient times on Earth. Everyone would have the same physical ability over there. Unlike this place that is filled with talented fighters. Maybe my head would’ve been lopped off here before I could even react.”

There were not only Yao Guai tribes in this world. There were also numerous cultivation systems. Aside from cultivating as a martial artist that belonged to no specific faction; there were also practitioners of the arts, Buddhists, Daoists, sorcerers and voodoo artists (aka gu artists from south-asian myths).

600 years ago, when Great Feng was founded, the 1^st director of the Astronomy Directorate had classified tiers for each cultivation system.

Xu Qi'An was considered the 9^th tier (lowest), Body-Refinement Stage; the second uncle was the 8^th tier (2^nd lowest) Qi-Refinement Stage; while the 7^th tier would be called the Spirit-Refinement Stage.

Xu Qi'An did not know of the remainder.

But when it came to the cultivation of the practitioners in the Astronomy Directorate, Xu Qi'An knew quite a bit.

Because the Astronomy Directorate had a cultivation system that was unique to the Great Feng Empire, and they operated in a high-profile manner. Also, the various creations from the inventions and innovations of the 6^th tier practitioners, the Alchemists had assimilated into the common people’s homes.

Cultivation system for the practitioner of the arts: 9^th tier, Healer; 8^th tier, Qi Examiner; 7^th tier, Feng’Shui Master; 6^th tier, Alchemist.

Xu Qi'An was also unsure of what came after.

As for the other cultivation systems, Xu Qi'An that was born and raised in the capital city had little information about it.

At this time, a lady wearing green attire had entered the yard, she was the close handmaid of his aunt, name Lü’e (绿娥).

“Eldest lad, the master called you over for dinner.” Lü’e carried a hint of joy on her brows, but her eyes were filled with exhaustion and fatigue.

She had been sold in the Xu Family since she was 10 years old to serve the aunt. After the catastrophe landed on the family, all the servants were dismissed. She had been worried about her future lifelihood.

She had not imagined that the family had recovered after 5 days. She had heard it from the eldest lady that it was all made possible through the accomplishments of Xu Qi'An, the eldest lad of the family.

She was a dazzling young maid that was only 18 years old, she currently looked slightly shy and timid as she stood in front of Xu Qi'An.

“Uh, don’t call me ‘eldest lad’.” Xu Qi'An was embarrassed.

“But the eldest lad is the eldest lad.” Lü’e muttered.

‘Whatever, my surname isn’t Wu anyway.’

(T/N: Chinese joke lost in translation. Joke implying that a husband that is cucked by another man.)

Both of them left the courtyard and entered the Xu manor. Lü’e hesitated before saying, “Just now, the master and the madam was arguing.”

“What’s up?” Xu Qi'An asked.

“About that, the madam insists on knowing who had switched the tax silver, asking who did it. The master could not answer. There was a back and forth and then they started arguing.” Lü’e whispered, “Eldest Lad, you must know about it, right?”

On the way home, Xu Qi'An had told the second uncle that the tax silver was not robbed but switched with fakes beforehand.

At that time, the aunt had not said a thing but she apparently had kept that information to heart.

…

In the inner hall.

Just as Xu Qi'An crossed the door threshold, he heard wails. The tiny Xu Ling’Yin raised her arms backwards, tilting forwards with her head raised—deploying a sonic attack towards her mother.

Second uncle was calmly sipping on alcohol while Xu Ling’Yue ate rice with her head lowered. Meanwhile, Xu Xing’Nian had not recovered from having his scholarly persona ruined, he ate in silence.

The aunt had facepalmed herself and looked annoyed. Seeing that Lü’e had came over, she immediately ordered, “Bring her away!”

Xu Qi'An glanced at the wailing younger sister and spoke politely, “What’s going on?”

“Mommy lied. Mommy said if we can go home, she would bring me to GuiYue Restaurant.” The brat cried, “Daddy just said GuiYue Restaurant.”

GuiYue Restaurant was the top dining establishment in the capital city, everyone who patronized the place were influential people. They do not serve commoners and wealthy businessmen.

As a dull kid that could not even remember her brother and sister’s names, she could somehow remember the name of GuiYue Restaurant because she had eaten there once.

It would seem that the kid was not dumb, but instead she had utilized her talents in the wrong place.

‘Old Xu, you’re the man, knowing how to transfer aggro. You’d even use your own daughter as a tool.’ Xu Qi'An looked at Xu Ping'Zhi that was leisurely sipping on alcohol, and the aunt that was about to have a migraine.

Yet, the little kid was the pride and joy of the aunt.

“It was impulsive words from me back then, since we were at that state…” the aunt sighed.

“You’d even lie to a toddler. The aunty does not honor her promises.” Xu Qi'An instinctually antagonized her, angering the beautiful woman to the point that she could not catch her breath.

“Big bro, big bro bring me there!” Looking at Xu Qi'An’s sincere expression and the fact that he defended her, the little kid joyously ran to Xu Qi'An. She grabbed onto his trousers and crawled up his leg.

‘GuiYue Restaurant, minimum spending of 1 silver tael per person…’ Xu Qi'An spoke solemnly, “Lü’e, remove her presence!”

The little kid was snatched away.

The aunt kicked her husband and sneakily gestured at Xu Qi'An with the corner of her mouth.

Xu Ping'Zhi felt embarrassed and glanced at the knowledgeable son. Sadly, Xu Xing’Nian was dead internally from shame. The dead could not speak, but could only eat rice.

The food tasted normal. Chiefly, there was no flavorful broth prepared since the family had just made it home. Xu Qi'An felt like he was chewing wax as he ate. He then exasperatedly glanced at the dazzling beauty. “Ling’Yue, why would you keep peeking at your brother?”

Chapter 7: What a Pretty Sister

 

Chapter 7: What a Pretty Sister

Xu Ping'Zhi was dazed. “Ning’Yan?” (Xu Qi'An’s courtesy name, he is also known as Xu Ning’Yan.)

Li Ru’s tears still clung onto her face, as her happy expression had frozen.

“Two days ago, Xu Qi'An had clamored in his prison cell about meeting the magistrate, said that he had important information to report. Then, the magistrate had solved the case. In accordance to the Great Feng’s codex, for making up mistakes with accomplishments, all of you are pardoned obviously.” The clerk replied.

“Is, is that so…” Xu Ping'Zhi stuttered. He had taken Xu Qi'An home since when he was a toddler. He knew what kind of person Xu Qi'An was.

Xu Ping'Zhi suspected that the clerk was lying, but he had no proof of it.

‘It was that rascal nephew of mine…’ Li Ru was stunned.

‘Was it not the favors gathered by my son that saved the family? How was it done by the unfortunate nephew instead, was he not stuck in jail?’

Keeping massive doubts within him, Xu Ping'Zhi led his wife and children out of the prefectural office’s back door. He saw Xu Qi'An that was anxiously waiting in place, and was combing his hair that looked like a chicken’s nest.

The moment he saw his nephew, the doubts he had harbored within his heart had seemingly became unimportant. The man that came from a grunt’s background felt warmth within his heart, and his eyes moistened. He approached with the intent to give his nephew a big hug, then felt that it was too embarrassing to perform in action. He then smacked Xu Qi'An’s shoulders hard. “Ning’Yan, well done.”

Xu Qi'An was almost smacked to the afterlife.

“Second uncle, you are at the peak of the Qi-Refinement Stage, there’s a whole cultivation level between us.” Xu Qi'An naturally spoke those words, he felt proficient in speaking this way.

He was surprised at the closeness they shared. Meanwhile, he glanced across his second uncle and looked at the three women behind Xu Ping'Zhi.

‘Heh, aunty, even you have faced a tragedy that made you look like this…’ He uncontrollably thought.

His condescending mood did not last long, as he was attracted by the sister’s appearance.

The young lady wore loose prisoner’s clothing, her messy long hair hung above her aesthetically pleasing face with her tall nose. At a glance, it seemed like she was a partial mix-blooded beauty.

She was at the exact age where her appearance looked the purest, it was so vivid that nobody could avert their eyes from her charm.

‘Shit, I actually have such an angelic looking sister.’ Xu Qi'An was shocked.

(T/N: From now on, assume the MC’s cousin brother/sister as his brother/sister. There’s no distinction story-wise.)

In the memory of the original host, he recalled his (cousin) sister as a blurry figure. Perhaps it was because that he did not pay much attention due to his relationship with his aunt. He had felt quite peeved with anyone that had associated with his aunt.

Thus, he was not friendly when it comes to dealing with his cousin brother and sisters.

Feeling the intense gaze of his elder brother, Xu Ling’Yue shyly called out, “Older Brother.” She then lowered her head in slight embarrassment.

“Brother!” Somehow, he heard a hiss somewhere.

Xu Ling’Yin was 5-years-old, she was small sized. She ran over in a puff and did an emergency brake in front of Xu Qi'An. Raised her head and stared at him.

Xu Qi'An shook his arm. “No candy for you. I’ve just been released from jail as well.”

It was worth mentioning that the original host had not liked his cousin siblings, but he treated this younger cousin sister well. It was because her looks did not come from her mother.

“What is jail?”

“The place that you’ve been sleeping at in the past few days.”

“What about the other brother, did he bring candy?”

“He isn’t here.”

“Oh.” The tiny thing looked disappointed. The ‘other brother’ she mentioned was Xu Xing’Nian that was born from the same mother as she was. But she still had not realized the distinction between a cousin brother and brother.

This younger sister was not quite intelligent, she was dull. This must have been something that was inherited from her own mother…—That was what the original host had thought.

Finally, he looked at his aunt, Li Ru. This woman had always been oppressing Xu Qi'An, it was likely that she never imagined that she would ever need to thank her despised nephew in her entire lifetime.

The beautiful woman turned her head around robotically, and spoke unwillingly, “All thanks to Ning’Yan…”

Coincidentally, Xu Qi'An recalled a blurry memory within his head.

Back then, when Xu Qi'An was drove away from the house into the yard adjacent to their house by his aunt, he made an oath in anger: ‘I, Xu Qi'An will become successful one day. Don’t you regret it!’

Now that he thought about it, he felt so awkward. It seemed like this was a typical oppressed protagonist story with his evil aunt as the antagonist.

Xu Qi'An now observed the relationship between the original host and his aunt with an outsider’s perspective, that was purely logical. He actually did not fully blame the mistakes on this beautiful woman.

Xu Qi'An practiced martial arts, who ate away over 100 taels of silver every year. This was equal to a common household’s earnings after accumulating it for 30 years, granted if they worked hard for it.

It was not unreasonable for his aunt to be resentful about it. Thus, Xu Qi'An spoke sincerely, “Aunty, don’t be quick to thank me yet. Try thanking me again after we had returned home and had a meal.”

Li Ru immediately widened her eyes, angrily glaring at the damned nephew.

Xu Ping'Zhi’s scalp had gone numb, and muttered, “go home first!”

…

Xu Xing’Nian was holding a wine jug, stumbling back into the house. The home that he had lived inside for the past 19 years were now sealed with stickers on the front door. It was a pitiful sight to see the house that had been deserted.

Xu Xing’Nian broke through the main entrance with a kick, after swaying around for a few steps inside, he retraced his steps and shut the door.

Suicide by hanging was not a prideful thing to do, especially not for someone of his scholarly standing. Thus, he did not intend to draw attention from the public officials.

To save face.

He walked from the outer yard into the inner yard, just like he had progressed through a long lifetime.

He became literate at the age of three, and memorized poems at five. He was already familiar with the scriptures when he was ten, and entered the Cloud Deer Academy when he was 14. Passed the provincial imperial exam at 18.

It was not reaching to consider him as an incredibly talented person.

His intelligence and breadth of knowledge had formed his prideful demeanor.

He always held his pride when facing his family. He was successful, glorious, and always was the pride and joy of the Xu Family.

As a man, he would rather die in a blaze of glory, than to survive in humiliation.

Thinking up to this point, Xu Xing’Nian gulped down the remaining alcohol on hand, and smashed the wine jug onto the floor.

Relying on his drunkenness, he rushed into his room, prepared the ink and raised the ink brush. Then written the greatest farewell poem he had ever seen in his life.

He chuckled heavily, dragged the paper and rushed outdoors. He pulled out the rope that he had prepared and hung it on top of a gingko tree inside the inner yard.

He was surprised that he had not felt any fear when faced with death. He had only felt a sense of satisfaction in which that he had never ever experienced.

Suddenly, he understood the feelings of those unfettered, mad scholars. He knew that only the fearless could truly look down towards the entire world.

As he was no longer afraid of dying, he would not fear anything else in the world.

…

The capital city was prosperous, it was claimed to be the greatest city in the world.

Xu Qi'An slowly made his way through the bustling old town. Horses and carriages swarmed like ocean tides; shops allayed on the opposite ends of the street; cloth banners drifted through the air like they were dancing.

He could not help but think of a poem: The floating smoke formed bridges, winds draped as curtains, there were 100,000 families.

(T/N: Poems often are lost in translation regardless. So, I will only translate traditional Chinese literary works directly. As close to the original as possible, its up to you on how you decipher the words.)

In truth, the capital city was way more prosperous than what was described within that poem. As written in ‘Great Feng Geographics’, There were 1.96 million population in the capital city during the 1st year of Yuan’Jing.

It was currently the 36^th year of Yuan’Jing.

The population of the capital city should have exceeded 2 million. The Xu Residence had 3 layers of yards, and kept 7-8 servants. Now that they are all sent away, the main entrance was locked, the residence was deserted.

The aunt looked at the plaque on top of the main door and felt emotional. “Don’t know how Nian’er had been feeling by now, he must be worried sick of us. This child, he promised to save us before we were sent to jail.”

She talked as she walked.

‘Real-estate was pricey in the capital city. A big residence like this costed at least 5,000 taels of silver. The down-payment was 30%, hence it would be 1,500 taels… Shit, why am I thinking about real-estate prices after I’ve been isekai-ed?’

Xu Qi'An grinned.

Xu Ping'Zhi comforted her. “Nian’er had learnt many things, he is assertive and reliable. Perhaps he is still toiling for us at this point in time. Let’s wait for him to come back, and give him a surprise.”

‘Shit…’ Xu Qi'An’s expression changed, he knew that Xu Xing’Nian had planned on committing suicide.

In the eyes of his uncle and aunt, the second son of the Xu Family had indomitable will, assertive in nature and was dependable. He was a persistent scholar,

“Hahahaha, I, Xu Xing’Nian, born an unfettered soul, will die as a prideful ghost.

Xu Xing’Nian, talented beyond limits, yet the heavens vexed me.

If the heavens had not permitted Xu Xing’Nian to exist, the Great Feng will forever be shrouded in darkness…”

Under the gingko tree, the scholar stood on top of a stool. He suddenly tossed his hair ornament away, shook his head hard and scattered his hair.

He was egoistical. He was unfettered. He placed his head within the tied noose and came to saw the family members that had frozen in place, shocked beyond belief.

‘I, Xu Xing’Nian was an unfettered and freedom loving soul… Xu Xing’Nian had talent without limits but the heavens vexed me… If the heavens had not permitted Xu Xing’Nian to exist, the Great Feng will forever be shrouded in darkness…’ Xu Xing’Nian looked at his family members that had returned surprisingly. He felt that he should have committed suicide a tad quicker.

Chapter 6: Second Uncle was Confused

Chapter 6: Second Uncle was Confused

“Hey!” The young lady was named Cai Wei, blinking her beautiful eyes. “How could salt become silver?”

She finished speaking, then hesitated, pulled out a sugar cane and handed it to Xu Qi'An. “Here, you can eat this.”

‘Is she bribing me…’

The other two investigators had been gone. Xu Qi'An retracted his gaze, pondered slightly and replied, “this humble one had found the method of turning salt into silver in an ancient tome about alchemy.”

‘It is titled ‘Advanced Chemistry’, as for the author… Uhm, National Printing Press?’ Xu Qi'An said, “the tome was already destroyed. But, this humble one still remembers the contents.”

The young lady’s breathing had quickened. ‘Quick, tell me quickly.”

Xu Qi'An sighed, “This humble one’s life is in peril, there is no mood for me to teach anything.”

The young lady rolled her eyes and spoke exasperatedly, “You are actually cunning. We, the Astronomy Directorate can’t interfere with government actions. It is his majesty’s decision on deciding your fate. You negotiating with me has no meaning.”

“You guys could just take me in and be done with it. With the great director’s standing within the imperial court, there should be no problem requesting someone that was indirectly involved in the crime.” Xu Qi'An explained.

He had to find a way to safeguard himself, just in case that the tax silver was not recovered in the end.

The young lady’s eyes twinkled, as she judged him. “You are already a martial artist, why would you want to be a practitioner of the arts?”

Cultivation took time. Most cultivators had laid foundations on their respective systems since they were young. Now that he wanted to transition into a practitioner, it was way too late.

“It doesn’t matter if I could gain any benefits, it is mainly the fact that I deeply admired the great director’s charming demeanor.” Xu Qi'An spoke in reverence, his expression indicated that he was serious.

“Then you should tell me the contents of the ancient tome first,” she replied. Her eyes were bright and clear. Her large, hazel irises and jet-black pupils were clearly distinctive in comparison.

“The contents are quite ominous. I’m afraid you can’t understand if I were to tell you verbally. It must be taught to you from the surface until the very specifics for you to truly grasp the knowledge.” Xu Qi'An leveraged.

Cai Wei rolled her eyes in defiance. “Looking at all nine states in the empire, our Astronomy Directorate is the greatest organization when it comes to alchemical training.”

“Hydrogen, Helium, Lithium, Beryllium, Boron, Carbon, Nitrogen, Oxygen, Fluorine, Neon, Sodium, Magnesium, Aluminum, Silicon, Phosphorus…” Xu Qi'An recited in a flurry.

(T/N: Yes, the author actually wrote all that.)

“? ? ?”

‘What the heck was he saying?’ The young lady was confused, her brows furrowed. “You are fooling with me. We only take virgins as apprentices for the Astronomy Directorate.”

She snatched the sugar cane held by Xu Qi'An.

Her skirt fluttered, as she left with light footsteps.

‘I am a virgin too…’ Xu Qi'An gaped his mouth, then realized. What she meant was that their organization only recruited apprentices when they were still children.

‘Damn, this way won’t work.’

…

Two days had passed in an instant. Xu Qi'An had spent the past two days in the cells while living in a perpetual state of despair.

He feared that the tax silver was not recovered within the allocated time. Even if he was exiled before the case was solved, he would not be able to change his fate regardless.

Moreover, if Magistrate Chen was actually a dishonorable worm who had claimed the accomplishments as his own, he would still lose.

But there was nothing he could do otherwise. He had done everything he could. Afterall, as a lowly prisoner, there was little he could do.

Xu Qi'An once again felt the horrible aspects of living in a feudal society.

“Let the heavens decide my fate…” Xu Qi'An moan in agony.

Clang!

The metal door at the end of the hallway had opened. A prison guard walked in with a torch, and pulled out a key to open the cell. “Xu Qi'An, you are free to go!”

Xu Qi'An was ecstatic, curling his hands into fists. “The tax silver was recovered?”

“Follow me, sign the court mandate, and then you can go.” The guard examined him. “Kid, you are lucky.”

“How about my second uncle?” Xu Qi'An asked desperately.

“Don’t be blathering, just follow me.” The prison guard’s temper was fierce. He smacked Xu Qi'An’s bottom with his baton, urging him to leave the cell.

Under the arrangement of a clerk within the county’s office, he signed the court mandate and then retrieved the clothes he wore before he was incarcerated from the prison guards.

A constable escorted him out of the Jing Zhao prefectural office, from the backdoor.

At this moment, the sun had just dawned, the streets were still deserted.

…

Clang!

Xu Ping'Zhi was startled awake by the noise of the cell door opening. He opened his eyes, they were filled with blood vessels.

Xu Ping'Zhi with his unkempt hair shared a similar appearance with Xu Qi'An. On the other hand, both of them looked foreign when compared to Xu Ping'Zhi’s own son, Xu Xing’Nian’s overly handsome features.

In the opposite cell that was separated by the corridor, Li Ru that was dozing off suddenly shook, and then jolted awake. Her face was haggard, her face was filled with the expression of extreme terror.

The husband and wife looked at each other while separated by the corridor. Li Ru spoke sorrowfully, “Husband, I would rather die than to enter the Royal Arts Division.”

She was 35 years old and had aged well, she was a beautiful woman that had great charm. Even if she had been despairing in jail for the past five days with her appearance messed up, it was hard to mask the charm between her brows.

The Royal Arts Division:

It was hell for women.

Xu Ping'Zhi that was tattered with wounds opened his mouth but could not say anything. He then teared up all of the sudden. “Wife, I am sorry. We will enter the afterlife as husband and wife. I will do anything to make it up for you in the next life. I just feel bad for our son and that nephew of mine.”

Five days had already passed. The only thing that awaited him was the executioner’s axe. The women of his family would be sent to the Royal Arts Division. Aside from Li Ru, the Xu Family had two daughters. One was the elder daughter that was 16 years old, the other was the younger daughter that was 5 years old.

Both of them had curled up in the corner of the prison cell, which was also startled awake by now.

The 5-year-old child rubbed her eyes, mumbling for her mother. She knew nothing about the future that she was about to face.

The 16-year-old young lady sat upwards. Her unkempt hair contained a white, sharp oval face within. Her small mouth was thin but reddish, as her eyes were large and spirited. Her nose was not as small as a typical woman, but sharp. Thus, it seemed that her features stood out in shape, and that her appearance was aesthetically pleasing and cute.

As if her beauty was carved out.

She subconsciously huddled towards her mother, the thick eyelashes of hers quivered in fear.

Several prison guards carried blades on their waist, and walked in with confident steps.

Li Ru’s eyes flashed in hopelessness and determination.

Xu Ping'Zhi’s hands gripped onto the prison bars. His knuckles were deathly white while his teeth were gritted hard as steel. After losing the tax silver and failing in his duties, he knew that he deserved death. But he could never die in peace knowing that his wife and daughters were involved in punishment.

Especially her youngest daughter, that was only 5-years-old, that will be sent to the Royal Arts Division. She was destined to a life of darkness and despair.

As a parent, he was not willing.

“Xu Ping'Zhi, follow us. After signing the court mandate, you will be free to go.” The prison guard opened the cell door and did not put shackles on them. He only stood at the side and knocked the prison bars with the end of his blade. Gesturing them to come out on their own.

“I, Xu Ping'Zhi had been loyal to the emperor and country my entire life, my family are all patriots… Eh, what did you say?” Xu Qi'An thought he had become delusional.

‘What the heck?’

“Free to go? You just said we were free to go?” Xu Ping'Zhi was in disbelief for a moment. “What’s going on, are you not taking me to be executed?”

“Don’t know.” The prison guard was exasperated. “This is what the higher-ups had ordered. Go out and ask them yourself if you want.”

Li Ru was anxious as she held both her daughters. The family was silently following the prison guards, walking towards the end of the hallway.

“Hus… Husband, they wouldn’t lie to us, right?”

“How would they joke about this.” Xu Ping'Zhi’s body was littered with injuries, he limped as he walked. He was also confused, but filled with joy after surviving the ordeal. He was also somewhat confused about the situation.

Li Ru realized. “It’s Xing’Nian, it must be him gathering favors during the past few days. He gathered some contacts and made the government spare us.”

The more she thought about it the more she believed it to be true. She was emotional. “Husband, don’t forget that Xing’Nian’s mentor was the vice minister of the Department of Justice during the 18^th year of Yuan’Jing.”

‘18^th year of Yuan’Jing… that was over 20 years ago…’ Xu Ping'Zhi felt that it was wrong. But he could not think of another explanation. Since he himself had no influential officials to rely on anyway.

“Perhaps.”

“I already said before that our song is an elite amongst men. Back then I’ve told you to let him learn martial arts but you won’t agree. You just insisted for Xu Qi'An, that rabbit brained kid to do it.”

“Mom. Rabbits are cute, I want to eat rabbits.” The youngest daughter raised her small face and chewed on her tiny finger. Her eyes were filled with gluttony.

“All you think of is to eat…” Li Ru with a violent temper subconsciously scolded her. Looking at the dirty little face of the child, her expression calmed instantly. “Be a good girl. There will be rabbits to eat soon.”

Xu Ping'Zhi cannot be bothered to explain to his wife how her son had no aptitude for martial arts. Since no matter how many times he had mentioned her, his wife would automatically ignore those words.

As a mother, her son will always be the best at everything.

As they reached the place to sign the court mandate to be released from prison, Xu Ping'Zhi received the pen for the office clerk. His fingers trembled lightly. As he signed his name and marked his handprint, he felt like he had ascended in some aspects.

Just like a seedling that was buried deep within earth had broken the crust and seen sunlight.

Suddenly felt that the world was a wonderful place, even though he had not even picked up a single copper coin.

His wife and children did not need to leave their signatures, only handprints would suffice.

Xu Qi'An could not reign in his curiosity, and saluted. “Good sir, I wonder, I wonder why were we pardoned of our crimes.”

Li Ru instantly looked at the clerk.

“The case had been solved, the tax silver was recovered.” The clerk responded.

“The money is found? Haha, good, good! Damned monsters, you’d actually dare to rob our Great Feng’s tax silver.”

Xu Ping'Zhi was quite excited, only to come to realization after—according the Great Feng’s law, even if the tax silver was recovered, he was still considered to have failed in his duties.

Since reclaiming the money was not what he did, he wondered how could the government pardon his death penalty.

Even if they had showed mercy, they would be exiled to the frontier.

“Official Xu, this is your official robe, keep it well.” The clerk returned the seventh-grade official green robes that was taken off his back when he was first imprisoned.

‘My official title was even recovered…’ Xu Ping'Zhi felt that something was wrong, but still took his official robe and asked. “Good sir, could you solve my curiosity?”

With the official robe at hand, he could even add more composure to his tone of voice.

Using common sense, even if his death penalty was pardon, he should not have had his official title and occupation restored.

“Under the Great Feng’s codex, if an elderly member of the family had committed a crime, the younger generation could atone for their crimes by creating accomplishments.” The clerk explained.

“It is indeed Nian’er[1]. Husband, Nian’er helped the government to find the lost tax silver.” Li Ru wept from joy.

“Nian’er…” Xu Ping'Zhi’s eyes were moist. “Such a good son.”

The clerk glanced at the emotional couple. “It was your nephew, Xu Qi'An. He helped the magistrate in solving the case. He just left.”

---

[1] In Chinese culture, adding [‘er (儿)] behind a person’s name usually indicates affection, from an elder person to a younger one, or from romantic couples. Only these 2 groups could be applied. It can’t be used as a nickname.
i.e. Xu Xing’Nian was called Nian’er by his parents. Cai Wei would be called Wei’er. Etc.

Chapter 5: Unraveling the Mystery

Chapter 5: Unraveling the Mystery

After 15 minutes, two constables entered with the objects and placed them down.

The trio glanced at the items and then turned towards Xu Qi'An.

Magistrate Chen spoke in a deep voice, “everything that you wanted is now here. You must give me a satisfactory answer.”

His attitude had changed.

Within those 15 minutes, this upper fourth rank official had been wracking his brain for a long while. He must admit that Xu Qi'An’s deduction made sense. But, there were still many mysteries that were still unsolved. Such as the fact that the tax silver had really fell into the river.

He could not figure out the truth within all the conflicting information.

“If this humble one had assisted your excellency in solving the case, would an appeal be made to pardon my family of any punishments?”

The Great Feng paid great attention on paternal hereditary. A son could inherit his father’s punishments, and also dismiss his father’s punishments by creating accomplishments.

“Naturally.” Magistrate Chen affirmed.

Xu Qi'An nodded, then crouched down in front of the items. It composed of candles, salt, ceramic cups and metal wires.

What he wanted to do was a simple chemistry experiment taught in schools: Extracting sodium.

In the ancient world, it was impossible to produce such a feat. There were two issues: electricity, and the melting point of sodium chloride.

But, in this world, Xu Qi'An knows of someone that could achieve this.

A sixth-grade practitioner of the Astronomy Directorate: The Alchemist!

Alchemists were considered to be a known occupation in the Great Feng. Their numerous inventions, and creations had already assimilated itself into the life of a common person.

Xu Qi'An was not sure if the exploding silver was actually sodium, but it was not important. The priority is to open an alternative option to explain the phenomena in which the tax silver might have exploded.

In the process of solving cases, making bold hypotheses and intense scrutiny in deduction were important tasks to complete. At last, the ideas must be proven and evidences must be discovered.

He had been through a memorable murder case in his past life. The detectives spent entire days and nights figuring out the case according to the evidences provided. They made a few different hypothetical scenarios on the process and used it as the basis on gathering evidences.

Then they scrapped the hypotheses and started deducting again.

The tax silver might not actually be sodium, but it was enough if the alchemists could synthesize it.

That alone was enough.

In order to find the correct direction for the investigators, this was what he had to do.

If the direction was correct, then they could follow the grapevine and investigate. Then it would not be difficult to find the persons behind it.

If they were mired in the conclusion that the monsters were behind this, the case will never be solved. Even if it were solved eventually, he would be sent far away from his hometown at that point: Country rooads, take me home!

He first mixed the rough salt into the water. After mixing thoroughly, he covered the cup’s opening with paper and poured the salt water mix inside.

After the filtering, he heated that ceramic cup above a burning candle. He stirred it constantly with a bamboo stick.

Not long after, the salt water in the cup had evaporated. The remaining crystals inside were salt, sodium chloride.

The purpose was to further refine the salt.

Magistrate Chen, the middle-aged man, and the beautiful young lady stood around him and observed with great interest.

Xu Qi'An raised his head and grinned at the young lady. “Your excellency must be a practitioner in the Astronomy Directorate, right?”

He noticed the Feng’Shui tablet[1] on her waist. This trinket would only be useful for those who came from the Astronomy Directorate.

The young lady affirmed, she gleefully asked, “My master is the Astronomy Directorate’s director.”

Her beautiful oval face, was akin to a shell-less hard-boiled egg. It was flawlessly smooth.

‘Director’s own apprentice… the breasts are just whatever…’ Xu Qi'An spoke gently, “Sister, please melt these crystals for me.”

Sodium chloride’s melting point was about 800 degrees Celcius.

The young lady pouted her small lips. “Controlling fire is an ability that only alchemists could perform. I am only a Feng’Shui practitioner.

But my master gave me a trinket.” She changed her tone, pulling out the Feng’Shui tablet on her waist. Her slender fingers fiddled with it and inserted some qi. The ‘Fire’ symbol on the tablet lit up.

“Back off!”

Xu Qi'An immediately backed off. The next moment, a blinding gust of flame was ejected and it swallowed the ceramic cup.

“Stop!” Xu Qi'An immediately yelled. He then swiftly stuffed two metal wires into the ceramic cup, and asked, “Connect the elec… No, use thunder! Pay attention to the intensity… Uh, this is a difficult step, it might fail many times.”

She flicked the Feng’Shui tablet, her slender fingers lit up the ‘Thunder’ symbol. Few flashes of thunder crackled across the air, and made contact on the metal wires.

Bzzt… The melted sodium chloride started an intense chemical reaction.

“Stop!”

Xu Qi'An held his breath as he walked forward to peek at the cup’s opening. He saw a lump bright sliver metal had formed. There were still some crystals and waste substances around the rim.

It had succeeded on the first try, the electrical current was just right. Xu Qi'An was surprised.

Producing Sodium from electrolysis, it required an electrical current of 6 to 15 volts. He was already prepared for the experiment to fail.

But it seemed like luck was on his side, as he had already succeeded on the first try.

Magistrate Chen and the middle-aged man enthusiastically looked over, only to see a silver lump of metal within the cup. At a glance, it looked quite similar to white silver.

Magistrate Chen’s pupils had shrunk, he was shocked to the core.

Li Yu’Chun clenched his fist tightly. Looking at the silver metal in a daze, he felt as if a thunder had flashed through his brain. It had removed all the shroud of mystery in within him.

“Your excellencies, please observe.” Xu Qi'An poured out the piece of metallic sodium and wrapped it with a piece of paper, feeling it with his hand.

“This thing is much lighter than silver, but the appearance is almost identical. What if someone used it to imitate silver, could it be enough to achieve it? Your excellencies could also test it out.”

He handed the sodium to Magistrate Chen. At this moment, the metallic sodium slowly darkened, looking identical to a piece of silver.

The middle-aged man took it and felt its weight. His eyes glowed and he said, “it is indeed much lighter. If this is what was transported, everything would completely make sense. Miss Cai Wei, you try it out.”

The young lady took it and examined. Then she looked at Xu Qi'An with suspicion. “You, are you an alchemist?”

‘No. I am not. I am only a user of chemistry.’

A scholar’s thinking was always sharper, as Magistrate Chen shook his head soon after recovering from surprise. He muttered, “No. Not right. Even with the silver being replaced by this thing, how could the explosion be explained? Unless monsters were hidden under the river, it is impossible that the fake silver could explode underwater.”

Xu Qi'An did not answer, he took the piece of sodium and walked towards the table. Then tossed it into the brush-washing receptacle[2].

A bright flame erupted, smoke spewed into the air.

Bang!

Metallic sodium reacted violently in the water, the receptacle was left with many narrow cracks after the impact.

“This, this…” Magistrate Chen was stunned.

“This fake silver will explode in contact with water. This is able to explain why there were massive explosions after the silver had dropped into the river.” Xu Qi'An explained.

The middle-aged man muttered, “from the beginning, we were misguided. The mastermind behind this used the explosion and gust of wind to make us think that the monsters are behind this. So that it would become the focus and priority of the investigation.

No wonder the Astronomy Directorate’s Qi Examination Method couldn’t detect any monsters.”

Xu Qi'An added. “After the silver dropped underwater, the soldiers could only recover a thousand or so taels. If I were to guess, these are silver taels that were stacked at the top as a disguise.”

A tight-knit explanation, all of the discrepancies were matched.

“Xu Qi'An!” The middle-aged man’s eyes were filled with praise. “Good. You did well.”

His brows suddenly furrowed. His gaze was frozen on Xu Qi'An’s misaligned collar. Li Yu’Chun took the opportunity to properly adjust his collar as he was patting his shoulder.

Xu Qi'An was honored that such an esteemed person was giving him this much praise.

Magistrate Chen frowned. “Since the silver was actually fake, then where did the real ones go?”

The young lady’s face also turned solemn as she heard those words. “The tax silver leaving the treasury and entering the capital will have to go through many steps. If we were to track responsibilities, many government officials will be condemned into prison. Moreover, the difficulty in tracing the money is not easier than finding the needle in a haystack. This situation is well over our reach, we must inform his majesty.”

Magistrate Chen nodded, he also held the same opinion.

On the other hand, the middle-aged man had a different opinion. His voice was deep. “The tax silver was escorted all the way into the capital and went through many inspections. If it were fake, it would’ve been discovered much earlier. The only explanation is that it was recent that it was swapped with fakes.”

Magistrate Chen’s eyes lit up, this would greatly reduce the search radius.

“Hear me, prepare the carriage, quickly. I must head out.” Magistrate Chen ran out of the back hall hurriedly.

The middle-aged man quickly followed behind.

Xu Qi'An urgently yelled. “Sir Magistrate, do not forget the promise you made to this humble one.”

 

---

[1] AKA Feng’Shui compass/table. Looks like this.

[2] Ceramic ware to wash ink brushes. Looks like this.

Chapter 4: Time to flex my skills

 

Chapter 4: Time to flex my skills

Just as he walked into the back hall of the prefectural office, he felt three sharp gazes piercing him.

‘The man wearing crimson robes with Chinese goose embroideries. Yep, it’s a fourth rank official… The old man with a silver gong embroidered on his chest, shit, he’s from the Nightwatchers… Shit, this girl is looking real fine… is she married?

After glancing at her chest, Xu Qi'An became much calmer.

He immediately lowered his head, displaying an attitude of humility.

Magistrate Chen sat on his chair without any expression. He spoke with an imposing tone that was used for interrogation.

“Xu Qi'An, you had not told me about anything when you were incarcerated three days ago. Are you aware of the consequences of withholding important information?”

As a veteran official, he would never get to the point even if he was incredibly flustered. Instead, he chose to mentally suppress the opposition.

Since he had made it this far, it meant that his scheme had been halfway completed. Hence Xu Qi'An was considerably calm. “Your excellency, it was only just now that the second son of the Xu Family had met with me. Then I asked him for the case dossier.”

First, he had to be honest.

The original trio on scene knew of Xu Xing’Nian. It was not because that he was famous, but due to the reason that he was the eldest son of Xu Ping'Zhi. The three of them had made thorough investigations after all.

“What is the relation of that to the supposed information you have?” Magistrate Chen asked.

“This humble one had deduced the truth of the matter from reading the dossier.”

“Wait.” Magistrate Chen interrupted him, his body slightly leaned forward. “From the dossier?”

This was not what he had expected.

“I have already solved the case.” Xu Qi'An nodded, indicating that it was true.

Magistrate Chen suppressed his desire to have the kid sent back into prison, his face was serious. “Why don’t you tell me, but I must remind you. If you are making anything up, you will receive two-hundred baton strikes that will turn your flesh inside out.”

“The tax silver being robbed wasn’t done by any monsters. It was humans.”

The one sentence he spoke shocked all three of them.

Magistrate Chen slammed the table and yelled in anger, “Nonsense! Take him away and grant him two-hundred baton strikes, make it so.”

The monsters behind the case was a fact that was already agreed upon, it was a common conclusion made by the three investigators.

If they expected Xu Qi'An to provide valuable information beforehand, they were utterly disappointed by now.

It was nothing but an act of desperation committed by the kid.

The middle-aged man’s eyes lit up slightly and motioned for the constables that rushed in to back off. “Magistrate Chen, please calm down.”

He shifted his gaze onto Xu Qi'An, intensely, with judgement and expectation in his eyes. “Go ahead.”

The magistrate was currently in a bad temper… Xu Qi'An knew that it is now the time for him to prove himself. “According to the testimonies by the gate guards, my second uncle had entered the city at 5:20. By 7:10, the convoy had reached Southwide Street. By then, a supernatural gust of wind rose which spooked the horses and they ran into the river.”

(T/N: The specific times might conflict because I might’ve misrepresented it in the past chapters, but ignore it, it doesn’t mean anything important.)

He tried his hardest to not to dull his tone, in order to show that he was confident and make it more convincing.

Magistrate Chen nodded. “This is the reason why we suspected that monsters had hidden underneath the river, and planned to rob the tax silver.”

“No!” Xu Qi'An rebutted loudly, “The gust of wind was a distraction, the explosion in the river was also trickery. It was meant for all of you to miss a clue, a deadly weak-point.”

Magistrate Chen urgently asked, “What weak-point?”

The middle-aged man postured himself to listen.

The young lady stopped chewing on the candied fruit in her mouth. Her pair of lively eyes stared at Xu Qi'An in interest.

They had pored over the dossier again and again, and had thoroughly understood what was written. But they had never realized any clues from it.

“My second uncle was escorting fifteen-thousand taels of silver, may I ask your excellencies how much did all of them weigh?”

The middle-aged man’s face froze, while the young lady tilted her head and kept it there for a long time.

Magistrate Chen spoke in displeasure, “just spit it out, stop stalling.”

Xu Qi'An originally thought to provide a hint, allowing them to personally figure out the massive flaw in the case. But it seemed to have gone overboard.

‘You ancient people really have low calculation power…’ Xu Qi'An then stated, “It would be nine-thousand three-hundred seventy-five jin (4687.5 kg).”

According to this world’s calculation formula, 1 jin equates to 16 taels. 15,000 taels of silver would be 9,375 jin (4687.5 kg).

The middle-aged man frowned, he somewhat felt that he realized something.

The young lady raised a brow. “What does this mean?”

Her voice was crisp, akin to a silver bell chiming.

‘This means that you are dumb!’ Xu Qi'An said, “how long is the distance from the city gate from Southwide Street?”

The middle-aged man replied, “30 miles.”

“How many populated areas does it go through?”

“… Four.”

“What’s the predicted speed of horse carts?”

“Horse cart…” The middle-aged man suddenly had his eyes agape, and leapt onto his feet.

His eyes were wide as he showed an expression of grand realization.

After three days of pursuing, they could not even catch a single trace of the monsters. This experienced Nightwatcher had already realized that they went down the wrong direction.

But there was no clear answer inside his head, he had once brought up the issue but was shut down. Thus, he had not bothered to pursue the idea.

Magistrate Chen felt numbness on his scalp as he still had not figured out the problem. It was obvious that he did not display much intelligence at the matter.

Then Magistrate Chen glanced at the young lady, his feelings were soothed. (He thought he was the dumbest person in the room, then he remembered the girl.)

The young lady asked, “Then where’s the problem?”

The middle-aged man was excited. “Time. The time does not match.

There was a distance of 30 miles between the city gate and Southwide Street. They would have to pass through four populated areas. With the speed of horse carts, they would never be able to enter the city at 5:20 and reach Southwide Street by 7:10.”

He was initially affected by the preconceived judgement that the monsters are behind the case. But after Xu Qi'An had dissected the story, he immediately figured out a discrepancy.

“But the tax silver had already reached Southwide Street by that time, many civilians had witnessed the event where the horses had rushed into the river. It is impossible for that to be wrong.” The young lady spoke as a matter of fact.

Magistrate Chen nodded in satisfaction and responded, “How about that?”

The middle-aged man was stunned, he then looked at Xu Qi'An subconsciously.

“Because what they escorted weren’t silver.” Xu Qi'An stated boldly.

“Preposterous!” Magistrate Chen rebutted, “Maybe if we assumed that your second uncle and his subordinates were all blind. But the witness testimonies of civilians recorded in the dossier about the horses rushing into the river and the shiny silver taels that rolled into the water…”

He rattled the dossier in hand. “Is that fake too?”

“What you see may not be real… This humble one is willing to answer your excellency's question.” He looked at the table. “Please lend me writing implements.”

Magistrate Chen flicked his hand, hinting his approval.

Xu Qi'An dragged the shackles all the way to the table, prepared the ink and spread the paper. He then started writing in squiggly lines.

“Your excellency, please do as I ask and arrange what was written on the paper.” After writing, he handed over the piece of paper to Magistrate Chen.

Magistrate Chen received the paper and skimmed through, he was confused.

“let me see.” The young lady came forward, stretched out her snowy white hand and took the paper.

Then she was confused.

“…” The middle-aged man, Li Yu’Chun glanced at the paper and turned expressionless. He flattened the raised corner of the paper and handed it to Magistrate Chen.

 

 

Chapter 3: Facts and logic still applies in a Xianxia world

 

Chapter 3: Facts and logic still applies in a Xianxia world

T/N 1: It took way longer than it should for me to finish this, but it is what it is.
T/N 2: If you hopped onto this chapter after reading the first 2 chapters in idohobby's site, please read the first 2 chapters again in my blog. You must be aware that some terms and even the plot had changed differently, to an extent. 

Nobody could answer the question.

Li Yu’Chun asked, “what’s the reason for monsters to rob the shipment?”

Magistrate Chen pondered slightly. “Monsters do things solely for pleasure. Trying to seek out reasons does nothing but only troubles your own mind.”

The young lady disagreed on the other hand. “Wouldn’t human flesh taste better… uh, give me a second. Let me finish the meat bun.”

She chomped down the two big meat buns in an instant, turning her own face into a meat bun at the end. She worked hard to swallow and then took a sip of tea. Only then she continued the previous topic, able to smoothly talk about matters of human flesh and the like:

“Monsters does not leave reservations when doing anything. Silver might be less appealing than living, breathing humans in their eyes. Even if they wanted money, stealing or robbing it would be much easier than robbing a government convoy.”

In the Great Feng’s capital city, heisting the tax silver on transport was too risky.

Magistrate Chen nodded. “That’s reasonable, but we can’t exclude the fact that they might be instructed.”

Li Yu’Chun blinked his eyes. “Then who would be instructing the monsters to do it? What would the reason be? Why must it be this batch of tax silver, and it had to be 15,000 taels?”

“We could think of it this way, the person behind the scenes wanted a big sum of money and couldn’t cause too big of a commotion… More precisely, they can’t gather money recklessly.” Magistrate Chen focused.

“That is why they targeted the tax silver?” The young lady pinched her vibrant reddish lips.

“The route for the escort was chosen at random, the actual route was randomly chosen by the imperial guard’s captain, Xu Ping'Zhi. If the monsters could setup an ambush under the river, ahead of time… Then it was most likely that there’s an informant among the escort party.” Li Yu’Chun looked at Magistrate Chen and spoke, “go to Cloud Deer Academy and ask a Confucian expert to question the heart?”

The young lady rolled her eyes. “Are you looking down on our Qi Examination Technique? I have already told you, the soldiers that took part in the tax silver escort did not know of anything.”

The line of thought had been stuck once again, the trio went into silence.

The air itself froze.

Li Yu’Chun lowered his head and looked at the dossier in detail; Magistrate Chen silently lamented. The young lady was fidgeting with the Feng Shui tablet that hung from her waist. She thought to leave the prefecture before dusk, and enter the palace to smooch off dinner from the eldest princess.

The standards of the royal cooks in the palace are best in the world after all!

Compared to those two officials, the young lady named Cai Wei was more akin to a consultant, that assisted in handling the case.

She had no official standing or rank, although she was one of the persons that was responsible for solving the case—she did not need to bear much responsibility.

Magistrate Chen’s eyes wavered as he prodded, “The case is currently progressing slowly. But time is gravely limited. It is absolutely frustrating indeed. Mr. Li, how about we consult with Master Wei?”

The middle-aged man rolled his eyes and grunted, “you scholarly officials had to undergo the national exams, us Nightwatchers have an equivalent as well. To be honest, dealing with this is the exam that Master Wei had given to me.”

Magistrate Chen smiled bitterly. “If the case could not be solved, the seat under my bottom might be pull away from me, much like my position. Everyone in the royal court are watching us.”

Both men looked at each other in silence, the atmosphere was solemn.

---

“If it were monsters behind this, I wouldn’t be able to do anything!” Xu Qi'An’s face had turned pale, he felt that the heavens are looking to mess him up.

There are monsters in this world. Their tribes had existed since time began, they hunted and devoured humans, and the humans did likewise.

In the Eastern Expanse’s Hundred-Thousand Mountain Range, there exists a Ten-thousand Yao Nation, which is the greatest gathering spot for Yao Guai tribes.

Five hundred years ago, under the leadership of the Buddhists, the western nations declared war on the Ten-thousand Yao Nation. They had warred for nearly 60 years before the Yao Nation was finally razed.

The history books had named this war as: ’60 years Yao destruction’.

Since then, the luck of the monster tribes had been damaged and they slowly became little in presence. On the other hand, the Buddhists since had soared to the skies, their influence had prospered.

Using Xu Qi'An’s otherworldly wisdom to interpret, it meant that the humans had won their position after fighting a battle to claim the spot at the top of the food chain.

If the tax silver was robbed by the monsters, then he could only recover it from them to save himself and his family.

As someone at the peak of the Body-Refinement Stage, which is a silver-ranked bozo, Xu Qi'An felt that it was impossible for him to turn things around for the better.

The autumn season had arrived, the weather was cold and moist. It made Xu Qi'An exert cold sweat from his body.

He was afraid.

After merging memories with the original host, he knew that he could never break out from prison. He also realized that human rights are nonexistent in this world due to the feudal system where the imperial influence was far too strong.

His right to live could be taken by just a single flick of a finger.

He had imagined to regress back into Ancient China to recite poems and show off, which would be satisfying. But reality had come around and slapped him in the face.

He was hit with the grim reality of fate even after transmigrating.

“No. This is just a prediction by the county’s office. I can’t be affected by their judgement. I will do it on my own, I will investigate… maybe there’s still a chance, still a chance…”

His overwhelming will to live had swiftly calmed him down. His logical reasoning became sharp and intense.

“Why would monsters rob the tax silver, won’t human flesh be better… Even if they lack money they don’t need to target the tax silver… I heard tales that the Yao Guai ladies are all stunning and have bombshell figures… Would there be any dog or cat ladies…”

Slap! Xu Qi'An gave himself a slap. “Deduce again!”

The most important aspect of deduction is elimination. To pull out clues and categorize them bit by bit.

If not, it would become a ball of yarn, everything will only become more chaotic.

There two most obvious clues of this case were:

One—Supernatural gust of wind.

Two—An explosion occurred after the tax silver shipment fell into the river.

Aside from martial artists, multiple cultivation systems provide the ability to produce the gust of wind. Hence, ‘clue one’ could be used as evidence that a ‘cultivator’ had participated. But it could not provide any clearer details.

His second uncle that was a martial artist would invite less suspicion, although it could not be denied that he might have conspired it with someone else.

The second clue indicated that it was incredibly unreasonable. Though cultivators of higher tiers would commonly induce explosions while fighting; But when it comes to this case, it was not indicated that combat had happened. Thus, the explosions that had happened were simply unreasonable.

“Unless, it had to be an explosion!” Xu Qi'An muttered.

“In the respective cultivation systems, which one mandates causing explosions to achieve tasks?”

Xu Qi'An pondered for a moment but could not come up with an answer. Then he realized that he had made the same mistake just like the officials in Jing’Zhao Prefecture.

Their way of thinking had been wrong since the beginning. They followed the most obvious clue of the case and decided that monsters were involved. Then they began long-jumping into conclusions and never turned back.

This was not a wrong thing to do. But the issue was that the decision to do so was far too reckless.

Xu Qi'An had assimilated his memories, but he still comprehended logic using a modern human’s way to reasoning as the guide, and the experiences he had in his past life as the basis. He preferred thoroughly examining the dossier and squeeze out the barely noticeable details, and then make a conclusion.

“Since that my current line of thinking isn’t working, then I will change it. I’ll look for a breakthrough from other aspects. First, I will eliminate the monster factor, and hypothesize that this was a carefully executed plan by humans.

Then, they must’ve left behind clues in the case.

Locard’s Exchange Prinicple states that, once a physical crime had been committed, there must be a direct or indirect trace left behind on the scene…

The various traces could be classified into two general categories. I don’t remember the specifics, but it should generally be trails, fingerprints, tool usage and such.

The breakthrough is not on the two most obvious clues, but found within these various traces left behind…”

According to the dossier’s contents, Xu Qi'An simulated the process of the escort done by his second uncle using his imagination.

His adrenaline production spiked, and his brain activity became highly active. If information exchange within his brain could be simulated, it would look like koi fishes in a pond—they are intensely fighting over food, greatly churning the water around them.

Multiple attempts were made to reconstruct and deduce the scene.

All information written on the dossier had converged. His brain was operating like a stress-tested CPU.

As the amalgamation of information had merged, the outlook became clearer and clearer.

Unwittingly, Xu Qi'An felt like he had entered a trance. His soul seemed to have floated away and escaped the flesh. He went through the building and float upwards onto the skies of the capital city.

The time had reversed, the sun dawned on the eastern horizon. Xu Ping'Zhi was leading a group of armed warriors, they escorted the tax silver towards the revenue office.

Then, it was 6:30… walking towards Southwide Street. Suddenly, a supernatural gust of wind had spooked the horses, they ran into the river.

Bang!

The river exploded and the air was covered in water droplets.

The deafening explosion rang as if it occurred within Xu Qi'An’s heart. Reflexively, he flopped his feet and it woke him up.

His eyes were filled with exhaustion, but his face was filled with exhilarating joy.

“I know it! I know it! Hahaha, I have solved the mystery!”

Xu Qi'An laughed maniacally, while smacking the prison bars. “Somebody come here, come quickly!”

The prison guard on duty was shocked, he whipped out a baton and scolded, “Making all this noise, are you courting death?”

He smacked the bars hard in an attempt to shock Xu Qi'An.

Xu Qi'An backed off. He retracted his hands from the bars to avoid having his fingers smashed broken. He muttered, “I want to meet the magistrate.”

“A lowly prisoner wanted to meet the magistrate… Why don’t you piss on the floor and look through the reflection.” The prison guard was angrily amused. He extended the baton into the prison bars, trying to poke Xu Qi'An.

Xu Qi'An dodged backwards once again.

“You still dare to hide?” The prison guard pulled out the keychain from his waist and grinned. “I’ll break your legs right now.”

“I have important information about the lost tax silver. I want to meet the magistrate. You will face the consequences if you cause any delays.” Xu Qi'An stared at him.

The prison guard’s face turned stiff.

---

Inside the hall, the young lady who had finished eating the meat buns continued to chew on sugar canes. Occasionally pulling out a few candied fruits from her deerskin purse to complement the meal.

Her mood was plain. On the other hand, the other persons were suffering. She seemed heartless.

“His royal majesty ordered us to solve the case in five days. Now that the time had dragged on for so long, the tax silver might never be recovered again.” Magistrate Chen walked back and forth in the hall, he could not sit still any longer. “But with this little time, we simply couldn’t do much.”

Solving cases took time.

The magistrate slammed the table with his palm, and muttered, “I will personally meet Master Wei. Give me the dossier.”

Li Yu’Chun hesitated slightly. “I will go with you.”

The young lady glanced at him and stated, “This should work. Once this great figure of Great Feng had involved himself, the two of you wouldn’t be criticized by his majesty.

But, it would leave a bad impression on Master Wei. This will be a worse fate than being chastised by his majesty.” She grinned, showing two pearlescent, sharp teeth.

The middle-aged man’s face sank.

Then, a constable wearing work robes swiftly entered the hall with his head lowered, he then bowed. “Sir magistrate, the prison guards report that Xu Ping'Zhi nephew, Xu Qi'An mentioned that he had important information about the lost tax silver. He would like to have an audience with you.”

The trio was simultaneously stunned.

Xu Qi'An was a nobody that was not involved in the case if he recalled correctly. After initial questioning and interrogation, he was confirmed as a random that was unrelated to the case.

Magistrate Chen exhaled deeply, and commanded, “bring him here.”

Soon, Xu Qi'An wearing his prisoner’s outfit, with dried bloodstains on his body was brought forward by the constables. His shackles were rattling while he walked.

 

Chapter 2: Monsters Causing Trouble

Chapter 2: Monsters Causing Trouble

Xu Xing’Nian frowned. “What for?”

‘Solve the case…’ He spoke quietly, “I want to know the process, I won’t be satisfied if I die without knowing why.”

If he directly said he was to solve the case, Xu Xing’Nian would probably assumed that his brain was already fried. Hence Xu Qi'An changed his response.

After all, the original Xu Qi'An was a stubborn and foolhardy person.

Xu Xing’Nian muttered, “I’ve read the dossier, I can tell you…”

He had been travelling all around for the past few days trying to pull favors. But since the implications of the case were too massive, no one dared to help. Out of desperation, Xu Xing’Nian changed his line of reasoning and decided to change their fate by trying to locate the lost tax silver.

Utilizing connections from his family and the academy, and also some silver to grease palms—Xu Xing’Nian paid off a clerk of the prefectural office to make a copy of the dossier.

Nevertheless, he had to give up since he had zero experience in detective work and solving cases.

Xu Qi'An raised his hand in interjection. “Just write it down, there’s no purpose in reciting it.”

All of the details of the case were condensed within the writing. It takes deliberation to analyze the text. Costing him a portion of his attention to listen to words, would make him unable to analyze the situation with perfect calmness.

Xu Qi'An’s ability in logical deduction had been the top of the line when it comes to his past life. He was the exceptional person among his peers.

If it were before, Xu Xing’Nian would not have bothered. But considering that this might the brother’s final encounter before they could never meet again…

He agreed to his cousin brother’s request, and whispered, “One moment.”

He quickly left.

As the sound of footsteps had disappeared, Xu Qi'An sat down leaning on the prison bars while feeling trepidations in his heart.

He did not have a clear solution to the problem. Wanting to solve the case was only a deep desire, as he was unwilling to submit to fate.

This was the only way he realized that could save himself. It might be nothing more but the death throes of a desperate person, but he must at least try.

In the modern era, detective work was supported by three crucial factors: crime scene investigation, local surveillance and corpse examination.

There were no casualties when the tax silver was gone; and surveillance cameras did not exist in ancient times. Since that he was also stuck in jail, he had no condition to access the aforementioned three factors.

Luckily, the contents of the dossier should somewhat restore the original crime scene.

He was simultaneously digesting the memories of the original host and forcing himself to discard all negative emotions. Only a calm and collected mental state could have granted him perfect logical reason, in order to perform flawless deductions.

“To live or die, all depends on what’s next…” He muttered

After a full stick of incense’s time had passed, Xu Xing’Nian returned in an urgent pace and passed over several pieces of paper with its ink still wet.

“The time is up, I have to go.” Xu Xing’Nian hesitated before speaking, “Take care of yourself.”

Xu Qi'An did not respond, as his eyes were affixed onto the words written on the paper.

Time was short, thus the words written were in cursive. If Xu Qi'An had not studied in a private school for a few years, he would never be able to recognize these wobbly scribblings,

“Studying has a purpose, if the original host was illiterate… GGWP.” Xu Qi'An spoke self-depreciatingly.

The dossier on the case of the missing tax silver stated:

[3 days ago, on the morning of 6:30, Xu Ping'Zhi escorted a shipment of tax silver into the capital. 7:10, walked to Southwide street. As he crossed the bridge, a weird gust of wind blew. That spooked the horses and they rushed into the river beside the street.

Then, a deafening explosion sounded. The waters were blown up to 3 meters high, waves and water sprinkles clouded the air.

Soldiers tasked to escort the tax silver leapt into the river to find the silver, only recovering 1,215 taels. The rest of the silver were missing…]

Aside from the progress report of the case, there were recorded testimonies of nearby pedestrians and soldiers that were on escort duty.

In the array of testimonial statements, Xu Qi'An notice a short sentence highlighted by a red cinnabar inked pen: ‘Monsters causing trouble’.

“Monsters causing trouble?!” Xu Qi'An’s pupil shrank, his heart sank.

Jing’Zhao Prefectural Office, Back Hall.

After toiling about for three days, the three persons in charge of the lost tax silver had gathered.

The magistrate of Jing’Zhao Prefecture, Chen Han’Guang had a solemn expression. While holding a white porcelain teacup in his hands, the lid lightly tapping on the rims.

This upper fourth rank official was wearing scarlet robes with Chinese goose embroidery. He sighed, “There’s two more days. His royal majesty had ordered us to recover the tax silver before Xu Ping'Zhi’s execution. Gentlemen, we must act fast.”

The gentlemen as referred by Magistrate Chen were two individuals. One was a middle-aged man wearing a black uniform with a slick black cape. He had a tall nose bridge, slightly sunken eye sockets and light brown pupils—partly descended from the southern barbarians.

The other was a young lady with an oval face, wearing a yellow blouse. Her features were stunning and her skin was fair, her presence would enrich the space of wherever she went.

She held a sugar cane in her hand, there was a deerskin pouch and a Ba’Gua Feng’Shui tablet tied to her waist. Under her skirt, she wore a pair of boots with cloud embroidery.

Letting her feet swing.

These two individuals are here to assist. The middle-aged man is named Li Yu’Chun, hailing from a notorious organization that all Great Feng officials were fearful of: Nightwatchers.

The Nightwatchers was an organization that specialized in reconnaissance, arrests, and interrogation. They also took part in military espionage and unconventional warfare.

They are not under the jurisdiction of the Six Ministries nor the military.

They were the eyes and ears of the royal family, and also the guillotine that hovered over the heads of the government officials.

All officials of the Great Feng had heard of this saying: ‘If you did not do bad things during the day, you will not fear the Nightwatchers during the night'.

As for the lady in yellow blouse, she was a member of the Astronomy Directorate. Her standing was high as she was the apprentice of the directorate’s supervisor.

The middle-aged man with a silver gong embroidery on his chest glanced at his feet, and saw the accumulated sugar cane scraps spat out by the young lady. He frowned and made a spinning motion with his palm. Air swirled about and gathered the sugar cane scraps into one place.

He then lightly nodded and showed a fleeting expression of joy.

Only then did he respond to Magistrate Chen with a solemn expression, “This case is shrouded in mystery, strange even, perhaps our direction itself is wrong.”

“Mr. Lee, what do you mean.” Magistrate Chen frowned. Since the initial analysis, it was already determined that the tax silver was robbed by monsters.

“We do not have much time. Now we should focus on capturing these Yao Guai as soon as possible, not think of irrelevant things,” muttered Magistrate Chen.

These years, the national treasury is at a deficit. There were constant famines around the empire. 15,000 taels of silver equated to a year’s worth of tax income from a common county.

The emperor’s anger at the situation is completely understandable.

He was already down bad, but then he got absolutely pissed on. That is messed up.

Magistrate Chen had to handle the case cautiously, the burden of such responsibility made him unable to sleep and eat well.

The middle-aged man shook his head, he did not argue and simply spoke, “any new updates from Xu Ping'Zhi’s side?”

Magistrate Chen denied. “A mere grunt, all he does is protest his innocence. He doesn’t even know how did the silver went missing.”

The young lady plainly stated, “I have examined his qi, not lying.”

Li Yu’Chun and Magistrate Chen nodded along, and stopped discussing about this person.

As the person in charge, Xu Ping'Zhi was the first to be investigated and interrogated. His social relationships and financials had been thoroughly checked. And passed the Astronomy Directorate’s Qi Examination Method—he was removed of suspicion.

Of course, the tax silver was lost. Xu Ping'Zhi failed his duty and must serve the death sentence.

Li Yu’Chun and Magistrate Chen had solemn expressions, their moods were somber.

Only the young lady was unaffected by stress, chewing sugar cane as if she was heartless.

At this time, footsteps sounded. A clerk hurried inside. His right hand holding a small bamboo tube and his left grabbing a paper bag—which contained a steaming hot meat bun.

He first handed over the bamboo tube.

The young lady did not accept it. Instead she stared at the meat bun with her starry eyes.

He swiftly turned in the other. She only accepted the bamboo tube after happily munching on the meat bun. She then pulled up a slip of paper and extended it.

“I have information, there was no trace of monster qi 20 miles along the river. No trails left behind by the shore as well.”

Wham!

The pressured atmosphere on scene had finally reached the tipping point. Magistrate Chen slammed the table in anger, his face was about to turn green. “where could fifteen thousand taels of silver go? It has to go on shore somehow, anyhow. It’s been three days and there’s still no clue about anything.”

“Damn it, whatever Yao Guai it may be that dares to steal the Great Feng’s money, I will give you a painful reckoning!”

If the tax silver could not be recovered, he would take the blame. The emperor would not care how wronged he felt—once he was given this position he would have to take the fall for whatever bad things that had happened.

This was the reality of politics within the government officials. It was difficult to ascend into higher position but quick to be kicked out.

Li Yu’Chun let out a sigh and continued the topic. “Maybe our direction itself is wrong, maybe the monsters aren’t behind this.”

Magistrate Chen looked at him and took a deep breath, reigning in his anger. “If it isn’t monsters, then what of the supernatural gust of wind? How did the silver disappear once they enter the river? Why did the water explode upwards until several meters high, and sent shockwaves all across the shore?”

 

T/N: The names and purpose of various organizations might be a little vague and confusing by now but it will be explained in detail in later chapters. The Astronomy Directorate is a good example, just be patient and follow the plot.

T/N 2: All Yao Guai are monsters; not all monsters are Yao Guai. These 2 terms will be used interchangeably throughout the story and applied appropriately. Don't worry too much about it.