"Of course there’s a problem," Zhou Chunfeng said. "He must have been sent by someone else... Wait. There’s more to what you’re saying."
He stared at Li Qingxian, his eyes suddenly brightening as if the wind had blown the clouds away.
Li Qingxian smiled. "Uncle Zhou, take me to see the Cowardly King. This is something you can’t solve on your own."
Zhou Chunfeng shot to his feet. "He holds a position in the Imperial Prison Department. You mean..."
Li Qingxian nodded emphatically.
Holding a smooth, jade-like Cow Bone Fan in his right hand, Zhou Chunfeng gently tapped it against his left palm as he paced back and forth.
After a long while, he looked up. "Let’s go. I’ll take you to see the Guard Commander, but we’ll tell everyone I’m going to plead your case."
The older and younger man exchanged a smile, then left with Zhou Henn.
The three of them journeyed on, winding through groves and passing through gates, soon arriving at a large compound with a wide gate.
The guards at the gate saw it was Zhou Chunfeng and, without announcing him, led them directly inside.
The paths within the courtyard were spacious, and every doorway was four to five times wider than that of a normal house.
Upon reaching the main building, the three of them stopped while the guard went inside to announce their arrival.
Li Qingxian peered inside.
A mountain of flesh, the Cowardly King, sat at the far end of the room. In front of him was a massive round table, twice the size of an ordinary one.
The round table was piled high with food, looking like a grand festival banquet.
On either side of the table stood two lines of maids. One line held serving dishes, while the other held rice and drinks, placing them beside the Cowardly King in a production-line fashion.
The Cowardly King had three thick blue aprons draped across his chest. He ate without chopsticks, simply grabbing the food with his hands and stuffing it into his mouth.
The Cowardly King devoured an entire rock-sugar-glazed pork knuckle in one go. Then, like an ordinary person pulling out a chicken bone, he drew the large knuckle bone from his mouth. After chewing and swallowing heartily, he proceeded to lick the sauce clean from each of his five fingers.
"This rock-sugar pork knuckle is good today. Add three more for my second brunch... No, my appetite is poor in the summer. Just add two."
Li Qingxian was speechless. ’Brunch, I can sort of understand. But what in the world is a second brunch?’
’So it’s true, the Cowardly King really eats ten meals a day. I always thought people were just exaggerating for a laugh.’
Li Qingxian’s throat tightened, and he swallowed hard.
The Cowardly King looked up and beckoned to the two of them with his freshly-licked hand. He then grabbed a whole steamed yellow croaker, put it in his mouth, and with a gentle tug on its tail, pulled out the head and skeleton, completely clean.
All the edible parts on the fish head—the cheek meat, the lips, the eyes—were gone, with not a scrap left behind.
Zhou Chunfeng whispered, "Let’s talk after he finishes eating."
Li Qingxian followed him inside and stood by the table, silently watching the Cowardly King gorge himself. He could feel his own mouth watering and his stomach churning in response.
Just as the maids cleared away the plates and bones after the Cowardly King finished the last plate of pork skin aspic, Li Qingxian breathed a sigh of relief.
"Prepare some fruit for them." The Cowardly King glanced to his left, and Li Qingxian looked over as well.
Four burly men, the type who carry sedan chairs, carried in another identical, massive tabletop and placed it on top of the existing one.
On this new surface, one half was covered in a vibrant array of fruits, the other in an equally colorful assortment of pastries.
Basin after basin of them.
Li Qingxian was silent for a long time. ’I get it,’ he thought sarcastically. ’What’s wrong with a little dessert after a meal?’
A short while later, four washbasin-sized bowls of fruit were brought out and placed on a nearby square table.
Li Qingxian didn’t stand on ceremony. He sat down at the table and began to slowly eat the mare-nipple grapes.
By the time Li Qingxian had finished his first bunch of grapes, the Cowardly King’s entire spread of fruits and pastries had been swept clean.
The Cowardly King wiped his hands clean, set down his towel, and with a wave of his right hand, dismissed everyone.
The four Seventh-Grade Officials who had carried the tabletop now stood guard at the main and side doors.
"What is it?" the Cowardly King asked with a grin.
"Li Qingxian lied in the Disciplinary Hall," Zhou Chunfeng said.
"Oh?"
Zhou Chunfeng looked toward Li Qingxian.
Li Qingxian said, "My Divination Skill normally wouldn’t be able to find much, but boosted by your Qi Fortune, it performed exceptionally well. I not only divined that Ge Dynasty is a mole planted in the Imperial Prison Department, but I also found out that just three months ago, he met with a man who seemed to be a high-ranking official of the Imperial Court. That man wore old Official Boots and has a mole on his right ring finger. He also claimed to be one of the Netherworld Lord’s people. In addition, there’s a Prison Guard who has been passing information to Ge Dynasty. If either of these two get close, my Fate Skill might be able to sense it."
The Cowardly King and Zhou Chunfeng snapped their heads toward each other at the same time.
"Continue," the Cowardly King said, his eyes narrowing.
"That person told Ge Dynasty to lie low in the Imperial Prison Department and wait for a major event. Oh, and he also gave Ge Dynasty thirty thousand taels of silver—half for personal use, and half to be used for the ’major event.’ In order to cast a long line to catch a big fish, I endured the disgrace and pretended to have made a mistake in the Disciplinary Hall."
The Cowardly King gazed out the door at the clear sky, two fingers of his right hand tapping gently on the armrest.
After a good while, he finally asked, "How certain are you?"
"Completely."
The Cowardly King looked to Zhou Chunfeng.
Zhou Chunfeng said, "Your Excellency, Guard Commander, I know Li Qingxian. He may be careless about trivialities, but he is never foolish when it comes to important matters. Besides, Ge Dynasty has always been quiet and unremarkable. For him to suddenly object this time, it’s obvious he doesn’t want a Fate Master to join the Night Guard. You know how much the Netherworld Lord’s faction hates the Imperial Court’s Fate Masters. Otherwise, there’s no explaining why a Seventh-Grade official would specifically stand up to oppose him."
Li Qingxian added, "This person possesses three Destiny Stars at once: Gray Sparrow’s Nest, Microscale Submerged Grass, and Chameleon Hideaway, on top of Outcast Horses. That last one, the Outcast Horses Destiny Star, was implanted by a Fate Master. It wasn’t acquired naturally."
"Outcast Horses? Can you divine when that Destiny Star was implanted?" the Cowardly King asked.
Li Qingxian carefully recalled the details, using his Inference Technique to further deduce. "About thirteen years ago," he said.
The Cowardly King and Zhou Chunfeng exchanged a look and nodded lightly.
The Cowardly King stared intently at Li Qingxian. "Excellent! I’ll arrange for you to identify the Prison Guard tomorrow. As for the high-ranking official, we’ll have you confirm his identity after we’ve narrowed down the suspects. You have willingly sullied your own reputation for the Night Guard and the Imperial Court. In a few days, your good name will be restored."
"My thanks, Lord Guard Commander!" Li Qingxian said.
"Your talent with Fate Skills is very special," the Cowardly King remarked nonchalantly.
Li Qingxian had long prepared an excuse for this. With a hint of pride, he puffed out his chest, lifted his chin, and said, "I will not hide it from the Guard Commander or Uncle Zhou. I possess the Spiritual Eye Sees Dragon. It occasionally allows me to see things that ordinary Fate Masters cannot."
"A Dragon-Seeing Fate Master. There have only been three in all of history, and each was a Great Fate Master whose fame shook the world. No wonder..." The Cowardly King nodded. "Go on, head back. Take a bowl of fruit with you."
Li Qingxian smiled. "Thank you for the gift, Lord Guard Commander."
Li Qingxian followed behind Zhou Chunfeng, carrying a basin of fruit.
Along the way, every Night Guard official who saw the red, water-ripple-patterned basin stopped in their tracks to stand still, their faces filled with envy.
Upon arriving at the Chunfeng Inn, Zhou Chunfeng saw Li Qingxian was still with him and said as he entered, "Don’t you have Cultivation to attend to?"
Li Qingxian set down the basin of fruit. "Uncle Zhou, I’m thinking of doing a little business on the side in the Imperial Prison Department to earn some extra silver. What do you say?"
Zhou Chunfeng sat down in a chair and pondered for a moment. "If the water is too clear, there can be no fish. I know a thing or two about the goings-on in the Imperial Prison Department, so you just need to know your limits. This is also a good way of sullying your own name. You’re a Fate Master at such a young age; if you act too pure and aloof, it might actually work against you."
"I really can?" Li Qingxian asked.
"Zhang Fugui owes me twenty-six favors that he hasn’t repaid. I was just looking for an excuse to bother him. Go ahead, raise as much of a fuss as you like in the Imperial Prison Department," Zhou Chunfeng said.
"You mean Zhang Fugui, the Disciplinary Officer of the Imperial Prison Department? The shameless one?" Li Qingxian asked.
"Would a man with any shame owe me twenty-six favors?"
"But if you knew he was shameless, why did you let him run up such a tab?"
"He’s that shameless. What was I supposed to do?"
Li Qingxian was stunned for a moment. "That... makes a lot of sense... He’s not just going to refuse to repay the favors, is he?"
"Hmm... That’s highly likely."
"So, can I still do my little side business?"
"You can. It’s not like you and Zhang Fugui aren’t cut from the same cloth anyway."
Li Qingxian: ???