Chapter 68: Intelligence
Chapter 68: Chapter 68: Intelligence
After leaving the County Magistrate’s Office.
Chen Li looked at Liu Wende with a wry smile. "Uncle, you’ve really put me in a tight spot this time."
Liu Wende gave an awkward laugh and tried to reassure him. "Don’t worry, my nephew. This might not be such a bad thing."
He glanced around, leaned in closer, and lowered his voice. "The Lord County Magistrate comes from the Wuzhong Zhang Family. Even though he’s only from a side branch, they are a top-tier Gated Community, the kind that has produced Four Generations of Three Dukes. If you serve him diligently and successfully curry his favor, both you and your two sons will reap endless benefits in the future."
The Wuzhong Zhang Family.
Four Generations of Three Dukes.
Chen Li’s expression shifted. ’That’s an astonishing background indeed,’ he thought. After a moment of contemplation, he suddenly asked, "How has Brother Yuejin been lately?"
At the mention of his son, a complex look crossed Liu Wende’s face. He let out a soft sigh. "His illness set him back quite a bit. He’s shut himself in at home to study now. I just hope he can pass the examinations and earn a position soon."
Chen Li smiled. "All work and no play isn’t good, even for a diligent student. I have a bold request, if I may. How about you let him come and help me? The duties of a Village Chief are overwhelmingly complex—coordinating with the villages, organizing the militia, relaying warnings... every task requires people. I’m afraid I can’t manage it all on my own."
"This..."
Liu Wende was dumbfounded. He never imagined Chen Li would make such a suggestion.
Chen Li pressed his advantage. "Don’t worry, Uncle. If he comes to help me, I will of course make it worth his while. I’ll pay him a salary of one hundred taels of silver per year. Please, Uncle, you must help me persuade him."
Liu Wende sighed. Chen Li had saved his son’s life. Even though he would much rather his son focus on his studies and pass the exams, he found it difficult to refuse his request.
He agreed on the spot. "Since it is you who asks... very well! I’ll go speak with him and have him go lend you a hand. If he does anything wrong, I hope you’ll be patient with him."
"Don’t worry, Uncle."
Chen Li clasped his hands in a gesture of thanks, feeling a little more at ease.
’With Liu Yuejin helping with the day-to-day business, I’ll have less to worry about in the future.’
...
Drunken Creek Pavilion.
This was the most prosperous part of Jingshan County.
When Chen Li arrived, it was mid-afternoon. It was still early, so the guests hadn’t arrived yet, giving the place a sense of calm before the evening’s clamor.
Chen Li strolled inside, and a sharp-witted Tea Master immediately came forward to greet him, a wide smile plastered on his face. "Well now, good sir! You’re a new face. Must be your first time at our Drunken Creek Pavilion, yes? Please, come in, come in!"
As he ushered him in, he quickly sized up Chen Li’s attire and demeanor. "I wonder, is sir here to listen to some music, or to watch a dance? Or perhaps... you’re looking for a companion?"
Chen Li’s expression was placid. His gaze went past the Tea Master as he said directly, "I’m looking for Miss Jing Hong."
The smile on the Tea Master’s face froze for a nearly imperceptible instant before he plastered on an even more obsequious one. "Sir, about Miss Jing Hong... she doesn’t typically receive guests. How about this? Why don’t you rest for a moment at one of our fine tables in the main hall, sample our new spring tea, and listen to a song from the new Qing? Those girls are exceptionally talented, and their beauty is..."
Chen Li remained unmoved. "Go tell her: an old acquaintance is visiting Su."
Upon hearing this, the Tea Master’s expression changed completely. His professional, fawning smile vanished, replaced by a genuine reverence tinged with fear. He bowed low. "So you’re a distinguished guest of Miss Jing Hong! I was blind not to see it. Forgive me, forgive me! Sir, if you would just wait a moment, I’ll go inform her right away. Right away!"
With that, he dared not delay a second longer, turning and scurrying into the inner hall.
Before long, a faint fragrance wafted over, and Linglong herself emerged to greet him. She was dressed in an elegant, light-colored gown, her face even more radiant than before.
Her features were different from when he had first met her. They now more closely resembled "Jing Hong," yet subtle alterations created a unique and bewitching allure.
Her skin seemed to glow with a pearlescent light, and her every glance was imbued with a natural, captivating allure that could steal a man’s soul.
’I wonder what new trick she’s used this time,’ he thought.
Seeing Chen Li, she gave him a dazzling smile and led him into an exquisitely furnished, quiet room where fragrant incense smoke curled in the air.
After dismissing the attendants, she personally took the teapot and poured a cup of fragrant tea for Chen Li. With a bewitching smile and a liquid glance, she said, "Senior, what brings you here in your precious free time? Could it be... you’ve finally started to miss me?"
Her tone was soft and delicate, laced with just the right amount of playful teasing and faint provocation.
Chen Li didn’t take the bait. He sat down and asked directly, "Have you stabilized your Realm?"
She had concealed her aura so well that it was impossible to gauge her strength unless she was actively channeling her energy.
Linglong covered her mouth with her hand in a light laugh, her eyes dancing. "It was a gift from you, Senior. How could I dare slack off? I reached Perfection some time ago and have already broken through to the next realm."
A hint of unconcealed pride laced her words.
Chen Li gave a slight nod and cut to the chase. "Any news lately?"
"Hehe... Why the rush, Senior?"
With another playful glance and a deepening smile, Linglong said, "You so rarely visit. Why not let me perform a dance for you to pass the time?"
Without waiting for Chen Li’s response, she rose gracefully, flicked her long, flowing sleeves, and began to dance.
Her body swayed like a willow in the breeze, her steps so light she seemed to be walking on waves. Every subtle expression, every glance, was fixed entirely on Chen Li.
At the peak of her dance, she spun, then audaciously dropped into Chen Li’s lap. Her soft arms wrapped around his neck, and her warm, fragrant breath brushed against his ear. "Senior... what do you think? Is my humble offering to your liking?"
"BUZZ!"
That familiar, soul-deep toll, like a monastery’s bell, exploded once again in the depths of Linglong’s spirit.
"Argh!"
She felt as if she had been struck by lightning. Her body convulsed, and the color instantly drained from her face, leaving it ashen white.
"Senior, forgive me! I was presumptuous! I’ll never dare again! I meant no harm!"
She scrambled out of Chen Li’s lap in a panic, stumbling back several steps before collapsing to her knees.
Her hip slammed into the low table behind her, sending the teacups rattling noisily.
After breaking through to the Spirit Realm, she had felt her Inner Qi flow with unprecedented smoothness and her Divine Sense become crystal clear. Because of this, she had secretly wondered if she had finally broken free of his control.
Her previous actions had been a test.
She never imagined that even after her breakthrough, Chen Li could still control her so easily, as if she were a puppet in the palm of his hand.
The terrifying power of the imprint made it crystal clear: her life and death still rested on his whim.
She quickly straightened her disheveled clothes and hair. All traces of her earlier flirtatiousness vanished, and she knelt obediently to one side.
The flicker of pride she had felt from her breakthrough had long since vanished into thin air.
Chen Li glanced up, his gaze sweeping over her impassively. "Speak."
Since breaking through the Profound Acupoint Pass, his Power of Divine Sense had surged dramatically. The phantom figure within his Dantian was now nearly solid. He was far more powerful than he used to be.
This was the source of his confidence, the reason he had dared to allow Linglong to make her breakthrough.
Linglong no longer dared to conceal anything or test him further. She reported in a serious tone, "After Chen Zhengping’s disappearance, the Jiang Family dispatched a Steward named Jiang Li to take over matters in Mirror Mountain. This man has a Qi Realm Perfection Cultivation and is ruthlessly overbearing, nothing like Chen Zhengping. He’s asked me about Chen Zhengping’s whereabouts several times and seems intent on investigating... Please be careful, Senior."
"Anything else?"
Chen Li nodded.
’Chen Zhengping is dead, and his family line is finished. I even used my Divine Sense to scramble the mind of his mother, Mrs. Wang of the Chen Family, leaving her a witless fool.’
’As for Chen Yongxiao, he would never dare report this to the authorities. I don’t need to worry about him.’
’The Jiang Family’s reaction, however, is something I need to pay attention to.’
Linglong hesitated for a moment before continuing, "A few days ago, an order came from my sect asking if there was any news about the ’secret of Mirror Mountain.’ I suspect this was a private directive given to Jing Hong by the Incense Saint Envoy, and it’s probably related to her reason for coming to Mirror Mountain in the first place. I haven’t been able to find out what the specific order was, though."
’The secret of Mirror Mountain?’
Chen Li was taken aback.
He suddenly remembered an ancient legend, one that was utterly fantastic but had been passed down through the generations, a story he’d heard from the village elders many years ago.
Mirror Mountain had not always existed.
Rather, one day, the sky had split open, and a colossal mountain, wreathed in roaring flames and heralded by a sky-shattering boom, fell from the heavens. It crashed deep into the earth, creating what was now known as Mirror Mountain.
He had always dismissed it as nonsense—a story told to frighten children.
But hearing Linglong mention it now, his suspicions were instantly piqued.
After all, Jingshan County was situated on a vast, flat plain. For a single mountain peak to appear so abruptly in such terrain was indeed suspicious.
’Could there really be a secret?’
As he was pondering this, Linglong spoke again. "There’s one more thing. The Imperial Court has dispatched an Imperial Envoy to Jiangzhou to inspect the grain provisions."
’Inspect the grain?’
Chen Li was taken aback. The Water Bandits in Jiangzhou were rampant, yet the Court wasn’t sending someone to oversee the military campaign against them. Instead, they sent an envoy to inspect grain supplies? The whole thing felt strange.
He instantly recalled that Ming’s Grain Shop was run by the County Magistrate’s brother-in-law, and that the other County Magistrate’s son was also collecting grain in the Zhuoyan Collection. He wondered if the two events were connected.