Chapter 63 Tearing Off the Facade

Chapter 63 Tearing Off the Facade

Without the slightest warning.

In the southeastern sky, the clouds and winds suddenly changed color, accompanied by ceaseless flashes of lightning.

The bustling crowd instantly fell silent.

Everyone stretched out their necks like ducks, gazing toward the southeast.

Qin Yuan subconsciously released his divine sense.

He pulled it back before it had even left his body by a foot.

Curiosity kills the cat.

Remember that, always remember that.

Who knew if the other party was a being far more powerful than himself?

Who knew if there were entities not weaker than himself lurking nearby?

With the naked eye, one can see lightning at most a hundred miles away, which means the other party is... wait, rubbish, according to common sense, lightning can stretch for over a thousand miles.

That is to say, the other party was very likely out on the ocean a thousand miles away.

Anyone capable of undergoing a heavenly tribulation on the ocean in this day and age is no ordinary being.

Qin Yuan became even more cautious and careful.

"Looks like we're going to be annoyed to death by thunder and lightning from now on."

Lin Dongze joked.

This provoked hearty laughter from the crowd.

According to Lin Dongze's vision of everyone becoming dragons, thunder and lightning would never be lacking all year round.

After quite a while, the heavenly tribulation showed no signs of ending.

This was a good omen. Not long ago (Qin Yuan had long since lost all concept of time), when Zheng Sanfa seized the imperial capital, someone had also undergone a tribulation, only to perish in body and soul shortly after.

"Since ancient times, conquering the realm always calls for a celebration. Today, I wish to celebrate with all of you within the imperial city."

Lin Dongze declared.

The next moment, all the gates of the imperial city swung wide open.

Ah, this...

Although the emperor had long since vanished, the imperial city had always been regarded by everyone as a place of majesty and mystery.

After a moment of hesitation, a wave of the boldest souls stepped inside.

Then came tens of thousands—Qin Yuan had no idea how many people there were by now.

They poured in one after another.

Following them inside, Qin Yuan kept hearing gasps of awe.

To put it bluntly, it was just like going out for sightseeing in his past life.

Moving from a place where you're sick of living to a place where someone else was sick of living.

A novelty.

"Mengde."

A voice rang out.

Qin Yuan was startled.

Then he realized it was calling him.

He turned his head.

It was Yang Youqi, who had grown a circle rounder.

During the days this kid had fled to the Western Prefecture,

he definitely hadn't lacked meat burgers, mutton soaked in unleavened bread, or sazi noodles.

Wait, the sachet that Yang Youqi always hung at his waist was gone.

Qin Yuan smiled and asked, "Did you give your sachet to some maiden?"

In the imperial capital, sachets were often used as tokens of romantic commitment.

"No, when I entered the city just now, I met a family who didn't have enough travel money to get home, so I gave them the money in my sachet along with the sachet itself,"

Yang Youqi said.

"Was it a family of three? The husband had missing limbs, and the child had a missing eye."

"How did you know?"

Qin Yuan smiled. "That family lives right next door to me, and they've got several thousand taels of silver tucked away at home. The husband's limbs were chopped off because he drove people to ruin with high-interest loans, and the child's eye was gouged out by a shopkeeper because he set fire to another person's store."

No matter which world you're in, there are always too many fools, and smart people are never enough.

"So they were swindlers!"

"They didn't really swindle you; they were indeed heading home."

With that, Qin Yuan burst into uncharitable laughter.

Yang Youqi's face turned beet red with anger, his entire body trembling.

"I'm going to settle scores with them!"

"No need to rush."

Qin Yuan grabbed his sleeve. "What are your plans for the future?"

"Return to the Bureau of Astronomy, of course."

"Aren't you afraid of being treated as a remnant of the former Chief of Astronomy?"

Qin Yuan asked in surprise.

Mind you, Yang Youqi was, after all, a registered disciple of the Chief of Astronomy.

Yang Youqi frowned and retorted, "I've never practiced those heaven-defying Daoist soldiers, so why should I be afraid?"

Was this really the seed of the old Yang family?

Qin Yuan smiled without a word.

"We can chat another day, I'm going to settle accounts with them."

Yang Youqi huffed and stalked off in a rage.

Of all people for that family to scam, they had to scam an honest man.

When an honest man gets angry, it can be quite ter... uh, it didn't seem like it could be that terrible after all.

Ah, honest men!

Next, Qin Yuan joined the others in the experience of sitting on the dragon throne, visiting the old twisted-neck tree on Coal Hill to look at a hangman's rope that goodness knows who had put there (Uncle Qin wasn't so foolish; Uncle Qin went right up and tried out the rope himself), wandering through the Imperial Garden, rowing a boat on Houhai Lake, and experiencing the classic Huai Dynasty emperor falling into the water.

Then it was time for dinner.

Uncle Qin had never been one to wrong his own stomach.

Suddenly, he felt a craving for donkey meat.

Why did he feel a trace of guilt?

Ah, I remember now.

My donkey died of a hunger strike.

Just as he was about to leave.

Someone blocked his path.

The two of them stared at each other.

"Archivist Qin!"

Lin Dongze said in pleasant surprise.

Among the people who had left a relatively deep impression on Lin Dongze in the capital, Qin Yuan counted as one.

Even though they hadn't seen each other for many years.

Even though he looked a bit younger than before.

Lin Dongze still recognized him at a single glance.

"My name is Qin Cao, style name Mengde; Archivist Qin was my grandfather."

Qin Yuan unhurriedly corrected him.

Over the years, he hadn't been mistaken for someone else or tested on multiple occasions.

He was long used to it.

"Qin Cao?"

Lin Dongze carefully looked Qin Yuan up and down.

Indeed, he looked somewhat different; his facial features were slightly inferior to those of the former archivist.

He was a bit shorter.

His aura was completely different, and he was clearly stronger than the archivist had been.

"Is your revered grandfather well?"

"My grandfather passed away the year Zheng Sanfa launched the capital coup."

In the seventeenth year of the Gongzhi era, Zheng Sanfa led troops in a surprise attack against the Datong Army, an event known as the Capital Coup.

Lin Dongze felt a trace of regret.

He had wanted to catch up with Qin Yuan.

And by the way, have Qin Yuan record things one more time.

"Right, this is the money your grandfather lent me."

Lin Dongze retrieved three hundred taels of silver from his sea of qi.

Money?

It took Qin Yuan less than a second to recall the matter of giving Lin Dongze three hundred taels of silver as a wedding gift.

As long as it involved money, Uncle Qin's memory was always exceptional.

"Oh."

Qin Yuan took it without standing on ceremony.

This actually surprised Lin Dongze a little.

After a moment of silence.

Lin Dongze made small talk.

"I remember the peach tree in your courtyard grew exceptionally tall, taller than many I've seen in the south."

"That peach tree has already died; now it's a jujube tree."

Lin Dongze sighed with emotion, "Things remain, but the people are gone."

"The things have changed, and the people are gone too,"

Qin Yuan corrected him.

Lin Dongze was slightly stunned, then smiled and nodded, "Indeed, the things have changed and the people are gone."

Actually, it was the things that had changed while the person remained.

Qin Yuan muttered inwardly.

Lin Dongze didn't know Qin Yuan's inner thoughts, otherwise he definitely would have retorted: are you speaking in tongue twisters with me here?

"Where are you currently serving?"

"The Bureau of Astronomy, as a Junior Scribe in the Department of Gazing Qi. I've never done anything that defies heaven and earth."

Qin Yuan put on the expression of a timid, insignificant person.

In this regard, he really looked quite a bit like the former archivist.

Lin Dongze thought to himself.

After a moment of silence, Lin Dongze said, "The Bureau of Astronomy cannot remain vacant; would you be willing to take on the post of Chief of Astronomy?"

Asking Qin Yuan to be the Chief of Astronomy was a helpless move.

The people in the Bureau of Astronomy were either heinous warlocks,

or small fries.

"Not interested."

Qin Yuan answered very crisply.

Being the Chief of Astronomy was nowhere near as comfortable as being a Junior Scribe.

If he wanted to work, he worked; if he didn't want to work, he went to do...

Lin Dongze laughed.

This Qin Cao was truly too much like the archivist of yesteryear.

If the two weren't clearly different, he might have suspected they were the same person.

Suddenly, a bold thought occurred to him.

"Archivist Qin?"

Qin Yuan showed no reaction whatsoever.

Little fellow, I've eaten more salt than the roads you've walked, trying to play mind games with me.

A second passed.

"I am a Junior Scribe."

Qin Yuan corrected him.

A flash of disappointment crossed Lin Dongze's eyes.

It seemed this person truly was not the former archivist.

"I'd like to recommend someone to you."

"Who?"

"Yang Youqi, the grandson of Yang Huzhan. His rank is one step higher than mine, his cultivation is higher than mine, his moral character is rock solid, and he has never harmed anyone."

Instead, he was constantly being harmed by others.

Qin Yuan added silently in his heart.

"Very well."

With that, Lin Dongze looked in a certain direction, his gaze turning extremely sharp.

Qin Yuan feigned incomprehension as he looked over.

The next moment, a voice reached them: "Commander-in-Chief, envoys from the Gu tribe and the Five-Fowl Immortals request an audience."

Commander-in-Chief referred to the military governor.

"What do you think should be done?"

Lin Dongze looked at Qin Yuan.

Why ask a small fry like me about such major events?

"Do whatever should be done."

Qin Yuan uttered a phrase that amounted to saying nothing at all.

Lin Dongze laughed heartily.

This Qin Cao was much more interesting than his grandfather.

"Did you all hear that? Do whatever should be done."

As Lin Dongze's chilling words fell,

intense sounds of combat drifted over from a distance.

Yet it ended very quickly.

Because there were simply too many Datong soldiers making a move.

Qin Yuan roughly estimated it at around twenty thousand.

An average of six hundred people ganging up on one.

Even Master Ip would have to shake his head and walk away.

"I still have matters to attend to."

"Take care, Commander-in-Chief."

Qin Yuan cupped his fists in salute.

After Lin Dongze left, Qin Yuan frowned.

This practically meant tearing off the facade with the Five-Fowl Immortals and the Gu tribe.