Han Anbo said with a wry smile, "My take on this is simple: let the matter rest. As long as the Ministry of Justice guarantees they won’t bother your family again, we can just let this go."
"The problem is, are you sure the Ministry of Justice will actually let it go?" Li Qingxian asked.
"That’s the heart of the problem. Whatever their goal is, they won’t rest until they achieve it."
"Come on, let’s go in and ask."
As he spoke, Li Qingxian led Han Anbo into the cell, looking at the blood-soaked secret agent from the Ministry of Justice.
Li Qingxian said, "If you had been sent to investigate me, I wouldn’t have much to say. We’re both colleagues in the Imperial Court, each serving our own masters. I’d have to let you go. However, you targeted my family members, who have no Cultivation. This is something I cannot tolerate. I’m asking you, is your Ministry of Justice willing to promise to stop targeting my family?"
The man said nothing.
"I’m trying to negotiate in good faith here," Li Qingxian said.
The man looked up at Li Qingxian, a peculiar smile playing on his lips. His eyes were dark and deep. Then he slowly lowered his head again.
Li Qingxian’s heart skipped a beat.
The two of them walked out of the interrogation room.
"This man is no ordinary secret agent," Han Anbo sighed. "His presence implies there must be a formidable figure behind him, at least a Sect Leader or a Ministry Minister. They might not be willing to negotiate with us."
"Unless we make them hurt, just like the Daoist Cultivators of Literature Cultivation have done in the past."
"For now, it seems that’s the only way. But the problem is, you don’t have enough power to fight the Ministry of Justice."
Li Qingxian thought for a moment and said, "What do you think if I do this...?"
After hearing Li Qingxian’s plan, Han Anbo pondered for a moment. "It’s worth a try. After all, the Demon Sect has been running rampant lately, and plenty of people are looking for an excuse to act. At Changg Mountain, the Demon Sect offended the Factory Guard, the Patrol Bureau, the Five Cities Military Department, the Beichang Guard, and Beichang County. Now that the Emperor’s birthday has passed, these major powers will surely retaliate the moment they get a chance."
"Alright, then let’s give it a try."
As he spoke, Li Qingxian moved the man to a different location for imprisonment and secretly employed various Fate Skill techniques.
Once everything was arranged, Li Qingxian found Zhou Chunfeng and explained the matter in detail.
Zhou Chunfeng was silent for a long time.
Li Qingxian looked at Zhou Chunfeng in surprise, suspecting the situation might be more serious than he had imagined.
Zhou Chunfeng sighed. "Next time something like this happens, remember to inform me first."
"I thought it was Zhang Yulin’s backer coming to make trouble for me, and I was afraid a delay would cause complications. Who knew the problem would be bigger than I thought? This kind of thing... even you couldn’t have predicted it," Li Qingxian said.
"True. Even I wouldn’t have discovered the problem until after the person was caught."
"Besides, I haven’t made my move yet. Isn’t that why I came to you first?" Li Qingxian said with an obedient look on his face.
"You were afraid of stirring up a hornet’s nest and came looking for me to clean up your mess!" Zhou Chunfeng shot Li Qingxian an annoyed glance.
"That’s not it at all," Li Qingxian said with a chuckle.
Zhou Chunfeng gently stroked his Cow Bone Fan. "You won’t get anything out of that man. Sending him back would be more trouble than it’s worth, so just kill him. My way would be to let things quiet down and observe from the shadows. But, you have your own methods, and I won’t stop you. However, you must consider the consequences."
"With your approval, Uncle Zhou, everything is easier. Besides, it doesn’t seem like it will cause any major consequences, right?" Li Qingxian said.
Zhou Chunfeng said, "The Literature Cultivators have been looking for an opportunity to move against the Demon Sect for a long time. This time, I’m afraid they’ll try to settle old and new scores all at once."
Li Qingxian thought for a moment, and a flash of insight struck him. He said, "They can’t do anything about the Emperor, so they’re going to take it out on the Demon Sect?"
"Nonsense!" Zhou Chunfeng’s expression darkened.
Li Qingxian just smiled faintly.
"This matter could very well trigger a much larger storm. Are you sure you want to get involved?" Zhou Chunfeng asked.
"I have no choice. If I don’t act now, should I wait until my family, friends, brothers, you—everyone close to me—are all dead, leaving me all alone, and only then make a move? Besides, I’m not planning to be on the front lines," Li Qingxian said.
"Very well. If things get out of hand, I will stop you. Go and prepare," Zhou Chunfeng said.
Watching Li Qingxian leave, Zhou Chunfeng took out his Communication Talisman Disc.
A moment later, a Huisun falcon landed and transformed into a person.
"A Ministry of Justice agent was tailing Gangfeng’s wife’s younger sister’s husband but was exposed. Someone must have spotted the agent and warned him. Send someone to investigate whether the agent was after Qingxian, Gangfeng, me, or all of us."
「The next day」
Rumors began to circulate in the Night Guard Office that the Ministry of Justice had sent someone to harm Li Qingxian’s family. The Night Guard were incensed.
「The third day」
Some scholars in teahouses and taverns heard about this, flew into a rage, and began to spread the story everywhere.
「The fourth day」
The Imperial Censorate sent people to the Patrol Bureau to verify the story. The Patrol Bureau produced evidence proving the man was a secret agent from the Ministry of Justice who intended to secretly harm the family of Li Gangfeng’s wife’s younger sister.
「On the fifth day」
Memorials from the Imperial Censorate impeaching the Minister of the Ministry of Justice flooded the Cabinet like snowflakes. Pandemonium broke out in Jinluan Hall.
In the afternoon, Li Qingxian chatted with Fei Yan for a while, learned what was happening in the Imperial Court, and mulled it over as he walked.
The Ministry of Justice was now reeling. The next step was to see how they would respond.
If they took the initiative to sue for peace and explained everything clearly, it would mean he had overthought things and it was never a big deal to begin with.
But if the Ministry of Justice remained silent, it would mean this matter wouldn’t end well. It wouldn’t matter whether he swallowed the insult or raised a huge fuss.
It was like when a Little Demon causes trouble. If it leads to a huge uproar but is ultimately resolved clearly and openly, it just proves that the Little Demon was only a Little Demon, and the incident wasn’t a big deal.
But if a Little Demon causes trouble and then suddenly vanishes without a trace, with everyone gradually forgetting about it, it must mean a big demon has intervened. To truly dig into that would be to unearth a world-shaking disaster.
’If a big demon really has made a move, my only option is to run...’
Li Qingxian sighed internally. ’My sincere, open, kind, and sunny personality is truly unsuited for the complex Imperial Court. The waters of this Daqi are deep and dark, filthy and foul.’
A flash of inspiration struck Li Qingxian. As he walked, whenever he saw an acquaintance, he would act like Xianglin Sao, pulling them aside to talk. He’d say that he couldn’t stay in the Capital City any longer, that villains were always trying to harm him, and that he was already preparing to request a transfer out of the Divine Capital to retire in some quiet province.
Li Qingxian talked to person after person until his mouth was dry, finally returning to the courtyard of the Left Wing.
Just as he entered the courtyard, someone under the large locust tree shouted, "Li Ke, someone’s looking for you! They’re waiting outside the gate."
Seeing a number of Night Guards standing under the large locust tree, Li Qingxian roused his spirits again and, just like Xianglin Sao, began to prattle on about how he was being persecuted and was preparing to leave.
Unexpectedly, this elicited the sympathy of the Night Guard, and they all started offering suggestions.
"I say go to Jiangnan. It’s stable there, and the environment is nurturing."
"Right, Jiangnan is the territory of Literature Cultivation and Daoist Cultivators. I can’t say it’s perfect, but its baseline is the highest in all of Daqi. Aside from natural disasters, things rarely go wrong there."
"No, no, no, Jiangnan is too prosperous. The infighting there is just as bad as in the Capital City. Better to do something drastic and go directly to the River Guard Army."
"Get lost! The River Guard Army is too dangerous! Who knows when you might suddenly be surrounded by a huge army of the Demon Race."
"Then go to the Northwest. It’s a bit desolate, but the relationships are simple. Other than potentially running into the Demon Race, there aren’t any major dangers."
"You can’t go to those few islands. They’re all strongholds of the Demon Sect Evil Faction. They literally eat people there."
"Actually, going to one of the smaller neighboring countries isn’t a bad idea..."
Seeing that these people were taking him seriously, Li Qingxian listened patiently for a while before making an excuse that he had to meet someone and hurrying to the side gate.