The Sword Dynasty Volume 1 Chapter 3: If You Live Long, You Will Go Far (2)

Proofreader: Zhu Yuan

Looking at Ding Ning's back, Mo Qinggong's eyes gradually became cold. After a moment, he called out: "Qin Huaishu!"

Qin Huaishu, a slim young man in a plain green gown walked into the temporary shelter after he had heard Mo’s voice.

Mo Qinggong looked at Qin Huaishu, with his fingers tapping on the unfolding file in front of him. After tapping more than ten times, he broke the silence and slowly asked: “You recorded the file of this teenager named Ding Ning who came from Phoenix Tree Lane. Do you remember?"

Qin Huaishu lowered his head with respect: "Yes."

Mo Qinggong gave him a cold look, asking in a low voice: "According to this file, the origins of him and his aunt who runs a wine shop are extremely clean, but the key is why you recorded these ‘clean’ people in the backup file in the first place?"

Qin Huaishu seemed to have already expected that Mo would ask such a question, and he replied without hesitation: "This boy is indeed one of our Qin people, whose origins of the past generations are also very clear. The reason for doing the file is because people from Fang Mansion used to contact with him, and they specially invited Fang Xiumu to visit him."

Mo Qinggong was puzzled for a moment: "Fang Mansion?"

Qin Huaishu nodded. "This young boy was taken care of by his aunt after his parents died of disease. His aunt has a wine shop in Phoenix Tree Lane, although the shop was very small, it was very famous. People of Fang Mansion bought wine from this shop. Possibly they felt some potential in this teenager, so they invited Fang Xiumu to visit him."

Mo Qinggong frowned slightly, unconsciously tapping his fingers on the file again. "And then?" he asked after a moment of silence.

Qin Huaishu replied: "Since Fang Xiumu visited him, Fang Mansion has never contacted him. I infer that Fang Xiumu doesn’t think that he is qualified to become a spiritual pract.i.tioner. There are no doubts about the teenager’s origin, so I just made a backup file to record the case, and no more effort was made to investigate further."

For the first time Mo Qinggong revealed his praise. "You did a good job."

Qin Huaishu had no change in his expression, saying calmly: "I just do what I should do."

Mo Qinggong thought about it and asked: "Can Fang Mansion be satisfied by the wine from such a small wine shop in Phoenix Tree Lane?"

Qin Huaishu shook his head. "The wine shop of his family is famous, for the owner, the teenager’s aunt, is extraordinarily beautiful."

Mo Qinggong was completely shocked.

Qin Huaishu still didn't look up, but there was a faint smile on his face. He thought that if Mo really met the woman, he would be more surprised.

Mo Qinggong smiled and looked at Qin Huaishu, whispering softly: "This time, Lingxu Sword School would open to accept new disciples, I put you on the recommendation list."

"My lord!"

Qin Huaishu always maintained a respectful posture. However, the whisper of Mo Qinggong made him tremble as if a thunder went through his body, and he exclaimed uncontrollably.

The expression of Mo Qinggong didn’t change much. He patted the shoulder of this excited young man and whispered: "Before you go to Lingxu Sword School to do spiritual practice, help me for the last time. Check the origins of him and the people around him, and find out what conclusions Fang Xiumu made."

......

All the streets and lanes of Changling, like Zhao Zhan said, were straight without any twists, and even the turrets were evenly distributed throughout the city.

At the moment, on the closest turret to Mo Qinggong, there was an old man in a plain gown sitting on a wisteria chair, who only had some spa.r.s.e gray hair scattering on the shoulders.

Behind the old man there was a young man in a yellow gown.

The young man was elegant and gentle, and he was the type that would give people a good impression at first sight. At this moment his hands were on the back of the wisteria chair, presenting a modest and close gesture.

"What are you thinking about?" The old man took back the gaze and looked at him, asking him with a smile.

The young man in yellow walked closer to the old man, answering with respect: "Master, I am thinking that since Head Officer Ye can kill Zhao Zhan alone, she must have at least broken into the middle level of the seventh realm. But I don’t understand why His Majesty called Head Officer Ye back from overseas. Obviously, there are other people in Changling who can kill Zhao Zhan alone."

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The old man smiled slightly, pointing out to the city in the rain: "What do you see?"

The young man in yellow looked hard through the rain, but only saw the straight streets. He replied in shame: "I can’t understand…please enlighten me, master."

"Your vision is short, so you only see these streets instead of the border of Changling." The old man slowly said with his eyes half closed: "But you should know that this city is the only one in the world without an outer wall to protect it. The reason why we don’t need the wall is because Qin people can use swords in their hands to protect the city."

The young man’s expression gradually became serious. He was still silent.

"His Majesty, or should I say Prime Minister Li, has a more thorough perspective than you" The old man kindly glanced at the young man, but his voice had some sarcasm. "He has at least two intentions in calling back Head Officer Ye. One intention is that although we have talents who can kill Zhao Zhan independently, it will be more guaranteed to have one more powerful helper. Head Officer Ye has already had a great reputation, but many people suspect that she has not even entered the seventh realm. Today, she killed Zhao Zhan by only one attack, which will be the strongest evidence of her strength. This can build up the invisible wall of Changling. The other intention is to dispel the rumors. Head Officer Ye worked on her spiritual practice overseas for several years. Many people, including us, doubted whether she had lost the trust of His Majesty, and inferred that she was actually exiled. Now Head Officer Ye suddenly returned to kill the enemy, which shows the tie between Head Officer Ye and His Majesty is still very strong, and rumors and doubts are dispelled by this action.”

"Prime Minister Li indeed has a more thorough perspective than me." The young man sighed.

When he said “Prime Minister Li”, his voice had both admiration and humility.

“Prime Minister Li” was a distinguished name.

Imperial Court had two prime ministers, one was Yan and the other one was Li.

The two prime ministers were different in age, appearance, preference and strength, but they were both mysterious and powerful. Their mystery and power had won respect from people in Changling. Everyone was deeply convinced that they were powerful pract.i.tioners, but no one had ever seen them using their power, or even seen them in person.

For really powerful people... Their power lied in the fact that many people who were already strong and fearful were willing to be their loyal subordinates.

People who were too strong often had no friends.

Therefore, in Changling, when people mentioned Yan and Li, they often had emotions of awe, fear or even resentment, but there was very little who had real admiration as this young man.

After sighing, the young man thought for a moment and continued, "Master’s opinion should be right. Under this period of time, His Majesty must be focusing on his practice, so this kind of thing should be taken care of by Prime Minister Li... Mount Lu a.s.sembly is coming soon, so he must have more consideration to call Head Officer Ye back."

The old man smiled with satisfaction. In his view, the young man, his last disciple, was indeed not very talented, but his temperament was as straight and magnanimous as the streets of Changling. He had no natural hostility to others and was serious about learning others’ strengths. Such a man would live long and go far in the turbulent environment.

There was no problem in having a short view for the moment. If he could go far enough, he would always see more things than others.

......

The rare storm didn’t seem to stop, and all the Changling’s streets were covered by a thin layer of water.

Ding Ning, with his face wiped but still in smudged clothes, staggered in the rain to a lane along which were planted many phoenix trees.