Li Qingxian said, "I just came back from Lord Zhou’s. He said it’s true."
Han Anbo and Yu Ping nodded.
The once-noisy Room A9 fell into a rare silence.
Li Qingxian asked, "Should we go see Captain Zheng today?"
Han Anbo said softly, "Brother Zheng is feeling down right now. Let’s wait a few days before we go."
Li Qingxian nodded silently. Zheng Hui had lost his True Essence, while he himself had been promoted to Tenth Grade to take over as Squad Commander. Going now would just be rubbing salt in the wound.
Han Anbo smiled, his short eyebrows and small eyes relaxing. He said, "Don’t overthink it. You taking over as Squad Commander is a good thing! If someone else came, who knows how they’d torment us. With you as the Squad Commander, Yu Ping and I can still have a good life. Don’t worry about Captain Zheng’s situation; we can deal with it in a few days."
"Yeah, it’s better than an outsider," Yu Ping said.
"Normally, a promotion to Tenth Grade calls for a big celebration, but I can see you’re not in the mood. We’ll wait a while and invite Brother Zheng to join us. And don’t forget the Flower Sea Brew!" Han Anbo said.
"Deal!" Li Qingxian said.
"By the way, is it true about getting a new deputy?" Han Anbo asked tentatively.
Li Qingxian snorted coldly. "Lord Zhou said it’s Wei Yong, the Disciplinary Officer of the Finance Department, who’s making trouble. But Lord Zhou didn’t seem to care much, and I can’t figure out why."
"Tell me the details. I’ll help you analyze it," Han Anbo said.
So, Li Qingxian explained the whole situation.
After hearing the story, Han Anbo laughed. "It’s not that Lord Zhou won’t help you; he’s testing you. That’s how an uncle figure should be. He can’t always protect you. A Junior Tenth-Grade deputy isn’t too high or too low—just right to be your whetstone."
"So that’s how it is." Li Qingxian’s face lit up with understanding.
"So you can’t let down Lord Zhou’s favor. Whatever you do, don’t act on impulse," Han Anbo advised.
Yu Ping glanced at Han Anbo and lowered his head, continuing to eat his sticky rice cake.
Li Qingxian paused for a moment, then asked, "A squad can only have one deputy. What about you?"
"Ha, I’m Ungraded. It doesn’t matter whether I’m the deputy or not," Han Anbo said with a relaxed expression.
Li Qingxian’s face was expressionless. He lowered his head, pondering inwardly.
"Qingxian, you absolutely cannot be rash this time. You’re a Night Guard, so you have to play by the Night Guard’s rules. Your performance will determine whether Lord Zhou can give you more responsibility. This officialdom isn’t like scrounging on the streets. In the world of officials, what matters are rules. What’s calculated are benefits. What’s spoken is compromise. What’s desired is harmony. What’s fought for are positions. What’s vied for is power. But in the end, it comes down to this: either you don’t draw your blade, or you draw it to spill blood. As for the conflicts between the major powers, those can’t be hidden anymore—it’s constant blades and constant blood. But we’re in the same Government Office; we can’t act like that."
"If it’s all about that, isn’t there any talk of fairness and justice?" Li Qingxian retorted.
Yu Ping suddenly said, "Stop talking. If you say any more, I’m going to spit out my food from laughing, and wasting food is a bad thing."
"No wonder Captain Zheng was always cursing you. You deserve it!" Li Qingxian didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
Han Anbo analyzed, "Pang Mingjing is in the Imperial Prison. As his direct superior, Wei Yong is naturally unwilling to accept this. So, if he can’t use force, he’ll resort to underhanded means. According to their usual tricks, they’ll deliberately find fault with you, provoke you, pick at your flaws, and ruin your reputation. The blade is already drawn. If it doesn’t draw blood, it has to keep hacking away. Therefore, you must keep your composure."
Li Qingxian remained silent.
Han Anbo said, "But don’t be too scared either. Over the next few days, I’ll help you get familiar with the duties of a Squad Commander to prevent others from finding fault. I’ve served in several departments of the Night Guard. My skills aren’t great, but I have plenty of experience."
Li Qingxian said, "Brother Han, you’ll have to really help me from now on. I honestly don’t understand all these twists and turns, and I’m too lazy to even try."
"Being too lazy to understand is not an option. If you want to climb the ranks, you have to understand everything. Why do the Confucians, Daoists, martial artists, Demon Evils, and Puppeteers break their heads trying to squeeze into the Imperial Court? Isn’t it all to fight for a share of Qi Fortune to strengthen themselves? The higher your Grade Level, the more Qi Fortune you’ll be protected by, and the safer you’ll be in these chaotic times. That wimp... The Guard Commander is such a cautious man. He’s never lost a battle in his life... hmm, never won one either, but isn’t he still risking his life for the Imperial Court to reach a High Grade? If you ask me, the Guard Commander is the smartest man in the world," Han Anbo said earnestly.
Li Qingxian remained silent.
"So, about the deputy matter, you should just endure it for a while," Han Anbo said.
But Li Qingxian just smiled. "Don’t worry. I’ll think it over some more. I promise I’ll handle it properly."
"Good!"
"By the way, Brother Han, first tell me how to be a Squad Commander. What should I pay attention to? I don’t want to just barge ahead and screw things up."
"Regardless of whether you have Lord Zhou backing you, the most important person is your direct superior: the Street Patrol Room’s Room Leader, Lord Hex Lei. You also need to slowly get familiar with the Room Leaders of places like the Accountant Office, the Civil Servant Office, the Detective Room, and the Ti Qi Room. After that are the Eighth and Ninth Grade officials in each room..."
Han Anbo spoke slowly, and Li Qingxian listened intently.
Li Qingxian listened and pondered, asking questions whenever he didn’t understand something.
Throughout the conversation, Han Anbo’s tone was calm, without a hint of pulling rank with his seniority.
Yu Ping finished his pastries, listened until he was drowsy, rinsed his mouth, and then lay down on his bed to sleep. He would eat again when he woke up.
Li Qingxian spent the entire day learning how to be a Squad Commander.
That evening, a Guard from Zhou Chunfeng delivered a brand-new Junior Tenth-Grade Official’s Uniform and a Determination Document.
Li Qingxian tried on the new Official Uniform, and Han Anbo and Yu Ping smiled and praised him.
The second watch bell rang, and the Squad Commanders of each room shouted for lights out and bedtime.
Before long, a symphony of roaring snores rose and fell from the next room.
Li Qingxian lay in bed, his mind racing with thoughts of how to be a Tenth-Grade captain and how to become a Fate Master. He couldn’t fall asleep.
’Maybe I should officially start my Fate Skill Cultivation?’
Li Qingxian carefully considered the methods of Fate Skill Cultivation.
Before Entering Grade, the Fate Measuring Sect’s Life Book had been like a Celestial Book to him—completely incomprehensible.
After Entering Grade, the profound knowledge of Fate Skills began to melt like stubborn ice over a fire.
The core ability of a Fate Master wasn’t seeing Qi Fortune, nor knowing fortune and misfortune, nor telling fortunes. It was to use their own power to analyze the relationships within a Fate Grid, to sort out Celestial Fate and human fate, and to influence or even completely change a person’s destiny.
They are not those who know fate, but those who determine it.
Observing Qi and seeing Qi Fortune was merely the most basic ability.
Every High Grade individual was protected by the Imperial Court’s Qi Fortune and their own Fate Grid. Only by first performing Divination and calculating a relatively clear Fate Grid could one then calculate their Qi Fortune.
He had been able to see Dong Ying’s Destiny Image because his Fate Grid and Life Mansion were weak, and even so, he had suffered a minor backlash.
The key was that Dong Ying was only Tenth Grade and considered insignificant, without even an Official Seal, so he had no protection from the Imperial Court’s Qi Fortune.
As for seeing Ye Han’s Destiny Image, that was entirely thanks to the Celestial Destiny Instrument taking the initiative. Even then, he had met resistance from the other’s Life Mansion and couldn’t probe deeper.
Li Qingxian mulled it over for a long time and decided to just focus on getting started first.
To begin with the Fate Measuring Sect’s Fate Skills, one first had to spend a great deal of money to forge a Destiny Measuring Ruler and a Destiny Scale.
One thousand taels of gold.
Li Qingxian was stunned. That was equivalent to ten thousand taels of silver! His maternal grandfather’s family had been of modest means, and he had only ever reached the Ninth Grade. Where would he have gotten ten thousand taels of silver?
’Could it be... he used the Li Family’s assets? Then Mother couldn’t afford good medicine...’
Li Qingxian temporarily pushed the thought aside.
’The Destiny Measuring Ruler is for measuring Qi Fortune, and the Destiny Scale is for determining one’s Destiny Star. It’s also one of the rare Life Artifacts that can gauge the reality of a Destiny Star. But... why does the Life Book say that the Fate Measuring Sect’s tools aren’t accurate? And not just the Fate Measuring Sect—none of the Fate Skill Sects, including the Celestial Fate Sect, are one hundred percent accurate.’
Li Qingxian was bewildered for a moment, then realized this was one of the fundamental laws of Fate Skills.